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"SPIRITUAL IDENTITY
THEFT
...WHO DO YOU WORSHIP?"
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Have you ever heard of Identity theft? It is very common. The thief
may use your social security number or credit card number to
establish a false identity and rob you blind.
Did you know that there is a commandment that deals with this very
type of problem! Can you think of which one it is? It has to do with
stealing God’s identity. It is this one...“You shall not take my
name in vain.” How would we like it if someone else claimed to be
us, and they took our "name in vain..." Believe it or not, with your
name and other personal information, a criminal can conduct a wide
range of crimes against you, obtaining goods and privileges which
they might be denied if they were to use their real name. We don’t
want anyone to use our name in vain do we! ...and neither does God.
Read the New Revised Standard Version. It says, “You shall not make wrongful
use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit
anyone who misuses his name.” In fact, the first four commandments are all
about God’s true identity and how He wants to be worshipped....
But this is how most people falsely read the
commandments!
1. You may worship another god. (Just so long as you use my name, or
my Son’s name to do it.)
2. Make lots of graven images...I encourage you to make religious
pictures and lots of statues made of wood and stone. Pray to them if
you want. Make lots of pictures of my son Jesus, even though you
don‘t know really know what He looked like. I’m sure you wouldn't mind
if people made images of themselves and palmed those images off as
you.
3. Even though you don’t do one thing I say, feel free to use my
name or my sons name as part of your worship service. Feel free to
use my name to curse.
4. I created the Sabbath on the very next day after man was made. This
is why remembering the Sabbath Day is important, because when you
observe the Seventh day Sabbath, you identify me as the right God,
the true Creator of mankind... BUT, I changed my mind in the fourth
century. I wanted to bring the sun worshipping
element into the church, so I adopted the day the sun worshippers
kept, otherwise they wouldn't have come into the church and guess
what? They brought a lot of extra $$$ into the church coffers. (I
was having a financial crunch at the time...) So remember the first
day of the week instead of the day of worship that I made at
creation which identifies me as the true creator God!
It seems funny, but this is how some people “translate” the
commandments! What is this covenant called the 10 commandments all about with God? Why are the
first four commandments so important to God? Why does God ask us to
respect His identity and His name and His day?
The 10 commandments are the “The Covenant.” Exodus 34:28 says
so, "And he (Moses) was there with the LORD forty days and forty
nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon
the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments."
These commandments are important to keep because they identify who the
real creator God is and whether you are worshipping Him or not. When
ancient Israel rejected the law and went with Baal, the sun god, they rejected the
true God.... And He rejected them because of it. (II Kings
17:16-18)Does God still want us to keep the 10 commandments in
this modern day or not??? Some say that the New Covenant does away
with the law. But what does the Bible
really say about the New Covenant? In
Jeremiah where it is first mentioned it says, “But this will be the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those
days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people.” Keeping the commandments is how we do that. God DID NOT say that the New Covenant would do away with
the law, He says the New Covenant WILL PUT HIS LAW IN THEIR INWARD
PARTS...The Law will be written deeply in their hearts and then and only
then will He be their God and they will be His people. Those who
transgress the law, do not really know God, and the worst part is
that He doesn’t know those who practice lawlessness. Proof of
this??? Matthew 7:21-23.
"Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will
say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name, and cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders
in
Your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you, depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness." The proper translation is “
depart from me, you who transgress the law.”
Worshipping the true God is all about His real identity. And this is the main
point... It doesn’t matter if you “know the Lord.” The real question
is, does He know you? If you don’t have a covenant with Him...
then according to Christ, no, He never knew you, no matter how many
good works you do.
Just using God's name doesn’t cut it with God.
Christ says 3 different times in Matthew 7 that these folks had used
His name to “prophesy, to cast out demons and to do many wonders” But He still says to them,
“I never knew you, depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” The reason is because
Christ only "knows" those who are under the covenant with Him.
We must have a covenant with the true God on His terms...and keeping
the 10 commandments is our part of that covenant. In the book
of Revelation, those that worship the true God instead of the beast
power are keeping the 10 commandments! So we know that God
expects us to keep them even in this modern day.
Revelation 14:12 says, "Here
is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Do you want to
worship the right God, or to just use His identity? The
question still remains...who do you worship?
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Published By: The Churches Of God
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