Mention the Law of God to many professing Christians today during these end times and they will label you as a Pharisee. Why? Because the Law of God has been trampled down and people don't study their Bible to find out the truth. Most will say "Oh, I'm under grace now." Yes, we are all under grace, but that doesn't mean you should no longer keep the Ten Commandments. What did Paul say? ... Romans 6:15 ...'What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.' ... God forbid! Paul couldn't have used stronger words. No, being under grace not under law does not mean we can forget the Law of God. I truly believe that being under grace demands MORE from us. Afterall, Jesus DIED for us! Are we now going to count His death so cheaply and carry on in a sinful worldly life? No, we must obey God and keep His Commandments, not out of duty, but out of love for Him.
So do we find God's Law in Bible prophecy? Yes we do. The most well known, but rarely understood Bible prophecy book in the Bible is the book of Revelation. And it is in this book that we find the Commandments of God mentioned a few times concerning the end times. Let's take a look at those verses:
Revelation 12:17 ...'And the dragon was wroth with the 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.'
Here we see the dragon, which is satan going after the remnant of the woman's seed, which is the true church of God, the remnant end time church. Now why is satan going after this church to make war with her? Because she (the remnant church) is keeping the Commandments of God, and not only that, she has the testimony of Jesus. Satan hates God's Law and obedience to it, because he wants your obedience for himself, which is why he tempted Eve in the garden. He wants to exalt himself above God, and he can do that with us buy getting us to disobey God and follow him instead. If you take a look at the remnant church in Revelation 12, you will see that this verse 17 describes the time we are living in now, the very end time. Isn't it interesting that satan is only going after those who are keeping God's Commandments? Why doesn't he go after those professing Christians who don't keep God's Commandments also? Because he knows they are not obeying God, and if you are not obeying God, then you are obeying satan. There are two choices, obey God or obey satan, there is no in between.
Just a quick important note on the fact that the end time church as confirmed in the above verse have the 'testimony of Jesus'. What does that mean? Well, I believe it has two meanings. First, if you think about someone's testimony, it is the evidence of what they have done and how they have lived. So those who have the testimony of Jesus, have lived a life in the footsteps of Jesus. The evidence of their life shows they have followed their Lord wherever He goes. The second meaning is this ... Revelation 19:10 ...'And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.' ... The testimony of Jesus is 'the spirit and prophecy'. So the true church of God have a special understanding of Bible prophecy, and Bible prophecy is a big part of their teaching in these end times.
Revelation 14:12 ...'Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.'
Again, in different words, we have the Commandments of God associated with the saints, the true Christians during the end times, they are keeping God's Commandments. This is an important verse because the verses before describe the judgment of those who receive the mark of the beast. So how do we stop ourselves receiving the mark of the beast? KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD. Notice also that the true end time saints are keeping the faith of Jesus. Now have a good think about this one. Many professing Christian preachers and teachers will say that you only need to believe IN Jesus to be saved. But what does this verse say? The true Christians are the one's who are keeping the faith OF Jesus. That word 'of' meaning that they are following in the footstep of Jesus and living the same faithful life that He lived. The evidence of whether our belief in Him is true or false, is the kind of life we are living. Is your life totally devoted to Jesus, or are you still holding on to the things of this world?
The end time saints are those keeping God's Commandments
Revelation 22:14 ...'Blessed 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.'
I wish the professing Christian world would hold on to this verse more. What a promise this is to those who DO God's Commandments. There is an eternal life awaiting all those who truly love the Lord and obey Him. A life that no man can even begin to imagine. Please don't get me wrong, we are not saved by keeping the Bible ten Commandments. We are saved by the grace of God, and by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross. But the way we live our lives will show God if we have truly accepted His gift of grace. The true end time saints keep God's Commandments out of love for Him, and that shows God that they have accepted His grace and become His children ... 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.'
Did you notice an interesting pattern in the above verses with regards to God's Commandments and end time Bible prophecy?
FIRST - Satan is making war with those who keep God's Commandments.
SECOND - The mark of the beast is enforced, and those who don't take the mark are those keeping God's Commandments.
THIRD - Those who keep God's commandments get the right to eat of the tree of life in Heaven.
Now many christians will reject this truth because they will think of Colossians 2:14, saying that Jesus abolished the ten commandments on the cross. This is a misunderstanding of that verse. That Bible verse is talking about the ceremonial laws, not the ten commandments.
Is God's Law in Bible prophecy? Most certainly! God's Commandments have a vital role to play in the end times, and Bible prophecy reveals that truth. Now many Christians will say that yes, keeping the Ten Commandments is important, EXCEPT the 4th Commandment to do with the Sabbath Day. They will say that Commandment no longer needs to be kept. The Jews didn't think that the Sabbath Commandment was important either. Take a look at a prophecy from Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 17:21,22,27 ...'Thus saith the LORD; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.'
Through Jeremiah, God told the people that if they did not keep His Sabbath Commandment, then He would cause Jerusalem to be destroyed. Did they listen to Jeremiah? No. Was Jerusalem destroyed? Yes, by Babylon. This is why the Pharisees had so many man made laws to do with the Sabbath Day. They didn't want to make the same mistake as the Jews in the Old Testament, but unfortunately they went too far and applied 500 man made laws to the Sabbath Commandment and turned it into a legalistic day, rather than a day of love spent with our Heavenly Father.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 ...'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.'
Will you keep God's Commandments? Will you do it out of love for Him? If you do, then God will guard you against being deceived in these end times. No one knows where the earthly ark of the covenant is, but the ORIGINAL, true ark is in Heaven ... Revelation 11:19 ...'And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.' ... Friend, this is the judgment seat of God, which we will all stand before one day soon. And what is in the Heavenly ark? God's eternal law, the Ten Commandments! I challenge you to make a stand for the truth and the Law of God in these end times.