Keeping the Sabbath day holy is much more than just physical rest. It involves spiritual renewal and worship.
–James E. Faust
Satan Introduces Toxic Doctrine To Destroy Us
Let’s take a look at how God’s enemy Satan operates here on earth. How does Satan attempt to get us to compromise God’s words to us? For example, rat poison is 99.995% inert ingredients–practically 100% good food. The active ingredient in rat poison is only 0.005% toxic–more or less 0% lethal. Right? Wrong. The rat poison is simply undetectable to the rats that consume the poison with gusto until it is too late. At the end the rats die.
Satan or Lucifer attacks in the same manner with a minuscule amount of lies introduced into the words of God so that we cannot perceive them. The corruption is simply undetectable to humans without the knowledge from God’s Holy Spirit teaching us all things!
Recall what God says in Exodus 20:8-11. We ought to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. God blessed the sabbath day and set it aside for a holy purpose. Satan comes along and says let us worship God every day! This sounds reasonable on the surface except that is not what God says! God instructs us to,
8 “Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. 9You have six days in which to do your work, 10but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work — neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. 11In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the sea, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the Lord, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.
Special Feast Sabbaths Done Away Not God’s Ten Commandments
The sabbath day has been with us since the beginning of creation and will remain for ever. Many, however, argue that the sabbath day Jesus nailed to the cross along with the ten commandments. Yes, that is true that it was part of the old covenant nailed to the cross along with the ordinances or book of Moses including the following: tithing, sacrificing animals, seven feast days that encompassed special sabbath days that no longer apply to us and hundreds of laws that were against us. So, this can appear confusing. “How can God allow murder, lying, stealing, adultery, etc.?” my father thought to himself. It just did not make any sense! So, he prayed and asked God to help him understand the truth.
God led him to turn in his Bible to 2 Corinthians 3:3 seconds after his prayer. Paul states that the ten commandments are now written in our hearts by God’s Holy Spirit.
Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
What Does Satan Want From Us?
Satan of course wants us to dishonor God’s sabbath day of rest and worship of God because Satan wants us to worship him! Let’s look at Matthew 4:9 below where Satan is speaking to Yeshua (Jesus) literally begging Him to bow down and worship him:
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
How did Yeshua respond in verse 10, and how should we respond? [ Do we even recognize when Satan speaks to us or when God speaks to us?]
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
What Does The Sabbath Signify?
The church members are still under attack by Satan today to compromise and worship our enemy. We must fight back by speaking God’s words to Satan as Yeshua did. When we obey God, this signifies (it’s a sign) that we are His people. When we disobey God’s command to remember to keep the sabbath day holy, this is also a sign that we are not representing God. If we do not worship God, we obviously worship Satan. You cannot obey two masters Jesus said; you will love one and hate the other.
“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
(Luke 16:13)
On Fire For God!
You also cannot be lukewarm or God will spit you out of His mouth–Revelation 3:16.
But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth!
God Is The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever!
Furthermore Exodus 31:13-18 states the sabbath is a sign between Yahweh and His people throughout their generations.
12The Lord commanded Moses 13to say to the people of Israel, “Keep the Sabbath, my day of rest, because it is a sign between you and me for all time to come, to show that I, the Lord, have made you my own people. 14You must keep the day of rest, because it is sacred. Whoever does not keep it, but works on that day, is to be put to death. 15You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a solemn day of rest dedicated to me. Whoever does any work on that day is to be put to death. 16The people of Israel are to keep this day as a sign of the covenant. 17It is a permanent sign between the people of Israel and me, because I, the Lord, made heaven and earth in six days, and on the seventh day I stopped working and rested.”
18When God had finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two stone tablets on which God himself had written the commandments.
God will not change what He says to us. He says in Malachi 3:6 the following:
For I am the Lord, I do not change.
Why Do We Fall For The Lies Of The Enemy?
How will you establish a relationship with Yahweh if you do not honor what He commands? Yahweh says He will blind us with strong delusions if we do not obey Him–see 2 Thessalonians 2:11.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Can the whole world and Satan be right that the Sabbath day is irrelevant to God? Satan placed poison amongst God’s words to us to cause us to forget one of God’s key commandments that God knew we would forget! That is why God tells us at the start of that commandment to remember it.
Satan understands fully when we honor God’s sabbath and God’s words to us, we will become blessed by God! When we obey God’s words to us, Yahweh gives us His Spirit! His Spirit gives us life and the opportunity to live for eternity with God!
God’s Words That Leaves His Mouth Will Accomplish What He Says
Remember, Yahweh’s words will not go out of His mouth void states Isaiah 55:11 and neither will His fourth commandment for us to remember His Holy day of rest to honor Him the creator.
So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will not return to Me void (useless, without result),
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
The sabbath is a day of rest where we spend time together reflecting not only on God’s words to us, but spending time with God in the day that He chooses to rest, makes holy and walks with us. His sacred day blesses us. We recognize God’s children because they remember and honor God’s sabbath day of rest. Remember, God says the sabbath signifies God’s people.
So understand that Satan wants to convince the world that God’s sabbath does not matter nor is it relevant in our day and age. Everyday is holy is Satan’s mantra, but that is not what God says!
Ezekiel 20:12 also confirms that the sabbath day is a sign between God and His people.
Moreover also 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.
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10)
How Do We Get Back Into God’s Kingdom?
James the head of the church promotes honoring God’s commandments in the new testament. John the most beloved disciple of Jesus spoke about honoring God’s commandments in the new testament. In Revelation 22:14 John says that those who honor God’s commandments have a right to the tree of life.
14Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Obedience brings peace in decision making. If we have firmly made up our minds to follow the commandments, we will not have to redecide which path to take when temptation comes our way.
–James E. Faust
Satan Symbolized By The Snake Twist God’s Words
- How does Satan try today to fool God’s children like he tricked Eve into going against what God said in the Garden of Eden?
- Why must we stay vigilant?
- Why must we recognize the traps of the enemy?
- How are we to respond to Satan?
- How can we overcome God’s enemy when we are limited in flesh form and knowledge?
These are tough questions that you ought to stop and ponder because God expects us to overcome our enemy. Jesus did His part dying on the cross for us, but we have our role to play in our salvation through obedience to God.
We must spend time in prayer with God and obey God’s words to us to overcome our highly manipulative, cunning and often charming enemy! God warns us that if He does not intervene that Satan will fool even the very elect!
For false Christs and false prophets will appear and they will provide great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect (God’s chosen ones). (Matthew 24:24)
So How Can You Know You Worship God, God Knows You And You Know God?
Finally, the individuals selected by God will not listen to the lies of Satan. They will hear God’s voice and obey. They will know without a doubt that God will not make void any word that goes forth from His mouth. They will pray for understanding when God’s words appear to conflict. They will continue to seek God daily. They will serve God with their whole hearts.
Believers will not walk lukewarm in this world. They will have a fire burning within them that will empower them to do what God calls them to do. That fire will come from the Holy Spirit living within them.
They will recognize God’s voice and walk in the way that Yahweh directs them. They will believe that when God says remember the sabbath day to keep it holy that they must do as their Father commands. They will let every man be a liar, but they will not act as if their God is a liar. They will possess wisdom which comes from above.They will know the truth, and the truth will truly set them free from the lies of the enemy!
Recognizing God’s People By Their Fruits
You will recognize the God’s elect because they will love Yahweh with their whole hearts, minds and soul and their brethren as themselves. You will know them by their fruits (the fruits of the Holy Spirit): love, joy, peace, patience and long suffering. There is no law stipulating how much we should love, exhibit joy, quantify a specific amount of peace, patience or long suffering, but, God’s children will reflect these fruits emanating from the power of Yahweh’s Holy Spirit living and working in them.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
God’s Children Possess His Spirit Which Embodies His Character Overflowing With Love
So you can know for sure that you worship God and not Satan when you receive God’s Holy Spirit by accepting and obeying God’s words to us. The Holy Spirit will not only set you free from Satan and His lies, but will teach you the truth. God’s Spirit will help you to grow into the character of Yeshua. When others see and hear you, they will see and hear none other than Yeshua and Yahweh living in you!
God’s Children Hate Sin And Walk In Righteousness
Thus with the power of the Holy Spirit, you will learn to truly hate sin and walk in righteousness! You won’t understand or be capable of this without God’s Holy Spirit empowering you! You will grow day by day in love . You will also learn more and more about love and reflect God’s character. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things concerning God and live within you!
God Reveals Himself To His Children
When you obey God’s words revealed to you, God will give you greater understanding of His words. So you will know that you serve God and not Satan. You will not need to wonder because you will know without a doubt! God will live and work and manifest Himself in you!
You Will Recognize Satan When He Comes To You
Satan will come to you at some point after you jump ship and submit yourself one hundred percent over to God and ask God to help you eliminate all sin in your life! Satan will attempt to get you off course with God. You, however, will reject him, recognize him for the liar and subtle deceiver that he is and understand who is speaking to you. The Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to you and teach you things to come. You will know the voice of God and will only serve and listen to God. You will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed!
The Sabbath Is A Sign Between God And His People For Ever
Exodus 31:16-17 “Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”