A WAR FOR YOUR SOUL! If you could pull back the curtains, you would see that there is a cosmic war going on around you. This war is a fierce battle between good and evil. It is a war between Christ and Satan.  It is a war for your soul. Who initiated this war, and what role do we play in it?

In the context of the three angels’ messages in Revelation 14, we take a closer look at this war between good and evil and what role we play in it today.

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Seeking God’s Help

God Almighty we thank you for your love and protection. This is your kingdom; you have all power in your hands. We, therefore, ask that you to deliver us from evil. In Jesus’ Name Amen

This cosmic war between God and Satan started thousands of years ago in heaven. Satan initiated this war when he challenged God’s authority and rulership. Interestingly, this war continues today.

Revelations 14:7, 9, and 12 identify the central focus of this war.

In Revelation 14:7, there is a call to worship:

7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” (Revelation 14:7) (Split)

Revelation 14:9 makes a solemn appeal asking us not to worship the beast and his image. The beast, of course, represents Satan.

9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, (Revelation 14:9)

And Revelation 14:12 describes the people of God in the end time.

12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12)

What do we learn from these verses?

We learn that in the last days of Earth’s history, the central issue in the conflict between good and evil, Christ and Satan is all about worship.

Do we worship God, our creator? Or do we worship the beast? (Split)

It all reverts back to our belief. Do we believe we evolve through natural processes over billions of years, or do we believe that in the being, God created the heavens and the earth, including us humans in six literal days?

The foundation of our belief is the Bible. The Bible teaches that God made the heavens, earth, and everything in it.

Without that belief, nothing else we believe matters. Included in the Genesis story in Genesis 2:1-3 is God’s initiation of the seventh day, the Sabbath, as a day of rest and worship:

Genesis 2:1-3

1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.

2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2:1–3).

So, we see that the Sabbath is a permanent reminder and a sign that God made the heavens, the earth, and everything in it in six literal days and rested on the seventh day. In other words, the Sabbath is a reminder and undisputable proof that God made us.

Moreover, teaching contrary to what the Bible says, according to 2 Thessalonians 2:4, is an attempt to dethrone God. This is exactly what Satan has attempted to do in counterfeiting the Bible’s teaching on creation and the Bible’s teaching regarding God’s Day of Rest. (Split)

2 Thessalonians 2:4

4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

The point is that the real test in the end times will be about our love and loyalty to Jesus, our creator. The thing is according to the Bible, as expressed in John 5:3 and Revelation 14:12, our love and our loyalty are displayed by our obedience to His commandments. 

I John 5:3

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

And Revelation 14:12

12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12).

Do you realize that the Sabbath is the only commandment that points to God as our creator? Read again Exodus 20:8–11.

Here is what it says in the book Son’s and Daughters of God. (Split)

[The Sabbath] is the only commandment in the whole Decalogue that tells who God is. It places God in distinction with every other god. It says the God that made the heaven and the earth, the God that made the trees and the flowers and that created man; this is the God that you are to keep before your children, and you have only to point to the flowers and tell them that He made these and that He rested on the seventh day from all His labors. The seventh day is a God-given memorial.

Pointing to God as the maker of the heavens and the earth distinguishes the true God from all false gods. All who keep the seventh day signify by this act that they are worshippers of Jehovah. Thus the Sabbath is the sign of man’s allegiance to God.—Sons and Daughters of God, p. 59.

When you think about it. It comes as no surprise that since the Sabbath points to God as our creator, it would be in the last days of earth’s history a litmus test between those who worship God and those who worship the beast.

Why is this issue of the Sabbath such a controversy?

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Find out, Part 6: The Sabbath and Eternal Rest

Hebron Seventh-day Adventist Church

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