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Hidden Eyes and Closed Ears

 Copyright by Joe Crews.
  All rights reserved.

Some of the most astonishing prophecies in the Bible have to do
with the proportion of people who will be saved at the coming of
Christ.  Jesus clearly taught that only a comparative few would
be ready to inherit His kingdom.  He said, "Enter ye in at the
strait gate:  for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth
unto life, and few there be that find it."  Matthew 7:13, 14.
In Luke 18:8, by asking a very penetrating question, Jesus
implied that the "few" might be even less than we could hope or
imagine.  "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he
find faith on the earth?"  Again, the Master spoke of the final
separation in these words:  "And as it was in the days of Noe,
so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man."  Luke 17:26.
Only eight people were saved from the flood and "as it was then"
so shall it be at His coming.  Other Bible writers and prophets
use similar language to portray the "little flock," the
"remnant," and the "few" who will prove faithful to the very
end.
The fact that so few will be saved is not nearly as shocking as
the reason given in the Bible for their loss.  It seems obvious
that great multitudes will be excluded from heaven even though
they professed Christ, worshiped Him regularly, and spend much
of their time doing wonderful works in His name.  Jesus said,
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have
cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:  depart from
me, ye that work iniquity."
Matthew 7:21-23.
These verses reveal that the earth will be flooded with a lot of
false religion in the last days.  Millions will be spending
their time, their effort, and their money in promoting a
religion that involves apparent miracles, apparent spiritual
gifts, and much enthusiastic activity.  All of this is
explicitly spelled out in the teaching of our Lord.  Yet those
many will finally be utterly rejected by Jesus and shut out of
heaven.  Talk about startling truth!  More people need to get
their eyes open to this little-understood situation that will
characterize the end time.  Then we need to find out how to
avoid the vast spiritual delusions which will cause so many
religious people to be lost.
Why will they be rejected in spite of their devoted worship and
ministry in the name of Jesus?  It has caused some people almost
to despair of salvation.  How can one know that his own religion
will not finally be found in this category?  Let us seriously
look for the answers to these questions.  Our salvation does not
depend upon our sincerity, but upon finding the truth in God's
Word and obeying it!

Obedience Is the Acid Test
of a Valid Religion

The first point we must understand is this:  RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY
IS QUITE USELESS IF WE ARE NOT DOING THE WILL OF GOD.  Christ
declared that calling on God's name, and even leading out in
great selfless humanitarian programs, will be wasted if
obedience to God's will is excluded.  Mark this fact upon the
table of your mind and never forget it--the Scriptures exalt
OBEDIENCE as the distinguishing test of a valid religion.  Those
who engage ever so fully in the preaching the name of Jesus--
with time, talent, and money--and do not keep His commandments,
cannot meet the approval of God.  In fact, because they are not
obeying Christ, such worshipers actually open a door by which
Satan can enter unrecognized and work miracles through them, IN
THE NAME OF JESUS, which they ascribe to the power of God.  The
plaintive plea, "Have we not prophesied ... and in Thy name cast
out devils?"  is proof positive that their miracles had been
done by some other power than that of Christ, albeit in His
name.  If Jesus never knew them, who else could work such
miracles?  Only  Satan.  The Bible speaks of "the spirits of
devils, working miracles," in Revelation 16:14.
By the way, what did Jesus mean when He said, "I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity"?  How does one really
come to "know" the Lord?  The beloved John tells us, "Whosoever
sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."  1 John 3:6.  "He
that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a
liar, and the truth is not in him."  1 John 2:4.  Knowing Him
means we obey Him.  Biblically, it is impossible to be a true
child of God while refusing to obey the commandments of God.
Willful disobedience cuts off the relationship, drives away the
Holy Spirit by which we are sealed, and effectively removes the
individual from the position of grace.
Now we begin to see how simple it is to test the religious
spirits that are in the world today.  It is time that we look
past the stimulating music, the spellbinding oratory, and even
the exciting witnessing programs and apply the test set up by
the great Author of all truth--Jesus Himself.  He made it
exceedingly clear that the original requirements of God have
remained unchanged.  The condition of obedience which would have
kept man in Eden becomes the condition for his restoration to
Eden.  "If ye love me, keep my commandments."  John 14:15.

Love Is Not Legalism

We must not fail to emphasize at this point that element of love
which must also attend all acceptable obedience.  Forcing the
forms of compliance without a personal love-experience with
Christ the Saviour is fully as fatal a mistake as omitting all
obedience.  Jesus had to deal with the cold formalism of the
Pharisees over and over again.  And because He so thoroughly
condemned the program of salvation by works, many have hastily
assumed that He considered obedience unimportant.  Now we need
to see the beautiful balance in Christ's doctrine of faith and
works.  He taught that obeying in order to be saved is the worst
kind of legalism, but obeying because we are saved is the acid
test of a true religious experience.  Obedience follows true
faith just as surely as day follows night.  Incidentally, the
word "legalist" has been thrown around with too much abandon.  I
greatly fear that many sincere Christians have been accused of
legalism only because their love for Christ led them to be more
particular in their obedience than their accusers.  Never forget
that a legalist is one who believes that he can be saved by his
works.  The person who keeps the commandments because he doesn't
want to displease the God he loves is not a legalist at all.
The old argument is often heard, "I'd rather see a happy, loving
Christian who doesn't keep all of the commandments than to see
an unloving one who strictly obeys the law."  Why try to measure
degrees of guilt?  Both are completely wrong.  Our feelings have
nothing to do with it.  Christ has established the standard of
measurement.  Nothing less than a "faith which worketh by love"
will be accepted.
But let us return to the alarming proposition that most of
mankind will be lost, including the fervent religious activists.
Worship is commanded in the Bible and is a necessary ingredient
of true religion, but will a host of worshiping Christians be
lost?  Jesus said, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandments of men."  Matthew 15:9.  Another
shattering statement of truth!  People will engage in vain
worship if they reject true doctrine in favor of man's
tradition.

When Is Worship Vain?

On several occasions Jesus urged the necessity of walking in all
known truth.  "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had
not had sin:  but now they have no cloak for their sin."  John
15:22.  "If ye were blind, ye should have no sin:  but now ye
say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth."  John 9:41.  When a
man learns a point of truth in the Bible and refuses to obey it,
he is guilty of practicing sin.  Such a man is fighting the Holy
Spirit whose primary work is to guide into all truth.  This
refusal to obey hardens the conscience, causing the Holy Spirit
to finally withdraw and leads to the unpardonable sin.  No
wonder such worship is vain.  By rejecting the commandments of
God in favor of human traditions, the Holy Spirit is spurned.
According to Acts 5:32 only those who obey are eligible to be
filled with the Spirit.
Let us pause now and consider the profound significance of what
we have discovered.  The vast majority of people will be lost,
including many who work miracles in Christ's name, worship Him,
and claim to know Him as His children.  The reason they will be
lost is that they do not love Him enough to keep all of His
commandments.  For some reason these ardent church workers have
learned to look lightly upon the law of God.  Most of them
consider it legalism to believe that disobedience could keep
them out of heaven.  Satan has blinded their eyes to the
beautiful, intimate relationship of love and obedience.
Millions of Protestant Christians have actually been taught that
their obedience or disobedience can have no effect whatever upon
their ultimate salvation.
In view of the deep-rooted tradition of popular Christianity
today, we can see how Satan has manipulated millions into a
state of mind to reject the claims of God's moral law.  Under
the twisted interpretation of a cheap grace (someone has called
it "sloppy agape") the stage has been set for the devil's master
strategy of deception.  The final contest between truth and
error will revolve around the basic issue of loyalty or
disloyalty, obedience or disobedience.  And the focus will be
squarely on the fourth commandment which contains the great
distinctive sign of God's creative power and authority.

Sunday--A Tradition of Man

It seems more than coincidental that Jesus spelled out
"traditions of men" as the false doctrine that would lead into
vain worship.  The chief tradition today which has turned
multitudes from keeping the Ten Commandments is the doctrine of
Sunday-keeping.  Almost any Christian of any persuasion can
defend and extol nine of the Ten Commandments.  It is only the
Sabbath which has stirred deep hatred and prejudice against the
holy law of God.
Who inspired that attitude of contempt for the only part of the
Bible which God wrote with His own hand?  How have so many
millions been led to equate obedience with legalism?  The
tragedy is that ministers have largely been responsible for
turning people away from obedience.  Repeatedly in my
evangelistic crusades people tell me of angry tirades made by
their own pastors against the Sabbath.  Unable to give any Bible
reason for Sunday observance, and frustrated by the insistent
questions of their flock, many pastors turn to emotional attacks
upon the validity of the law.  I have found that these attacks
generally follow two lines of argument.  The fundamentalist
group of preachers emphasizes the "spirit of the law" while
insisting that the letter is not binding.  This allows for the
specific seventh day to be set aside for Sunday.  The other
group of more liberal theologians contends that no special day
of worship is necessary and the believer is entirely free from
all claims of the law.
Since sin is defined in the Bible as "the transgression of the
law," and Paul affirms that "Where no law is, there is no
transgression," any attack on the law serves only to weaken
man's convictions about sin.  1 John 3:4; Romans 4:15.  James
tells us that the breaking of even one commandment is a
violation of all ten, and constitutes transgression or sin
(James 2:10-12).
Is it a serious matter to tear down confidence in this great
hand-written moral code of God?  Do men take sin more lightly
when they lose faith in the authority of the Ten Commandments?
Without question they do.  The strange circumstance of ministers
teaching people to sin is not easy to comprehend.  It is only
when we study the great lines of prophecy concerning these last
days that we can begin to understand the phenomenon.
Apparently, God had to deal with unfaithful pastors in both Old
and New Testament times.  Some strong judgments had to be
pronounced against the shepherds who misled the flock.  Watchmen
who would not tell the truth about approaching dangers were held
accountable for the deaths which resulted.  Such preachers are
actually turned into agents of the evil one.  Paul wrote, "And
no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be
transformed as the ministers of righteousness."  2 Corinthians
11:14, 15.
Only the inspired Book would label these ministers in such a
blunt manner.  Apparently, God looks upon such men as actual
ministers of Satan because they fear to tell the truth and,
instead, give their own ideas.  It is time to understand the
great conspiracy of Satan to lead men of the cloth--high-placed
religious leaders--to teach perverse doctrines in the name of
Christ.  Paul predicted that "the time will come when they will
not endure sound doctrine ... And they shall turn away their
ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."  2
Timothy 4:3, 4.
It is interesting to note that these last-day teachers are
described as turning their ears away from the truth.  This means
that they saw it, understood it, but did not want to acknowledge
it.  God made exactly the same charge against His priests in the
Old Testament.  "Her priests have violated my law, and have
profaned mine holy things:  they have put no difference between
the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference
between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from
my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them."  Ezekiel 22:26.
The priests of the Old Testament hid their eyes from the Sabbath
and the ministers of the last days would turn their ears from
the truth.  How tragic!  In other words, they would see it but
would try to get away from it by refusing to keep looking.  I
have often talked to ministers of various persuasions on the
subject of the Sabbath.  Some have honestly admitted that
Saturday is the true Lord's day of the Bible.  Others reject it
for various reasons.  A few just could not believe that God was
so particular about which day to observe.  They reasoned that
God would be understanding with those who found it more
convenient to keep a different day than the seventh day.  Some
ministers that I talked with do not really accept the Bible as
the inspired Word of God.

Preachers in Doubt

It is shocking to realize how skepticism and higher criticism
have robbed many pastors of their faith in the Bible.  Even many
of the old-line conservative evangelical denominations are
becoming riddled with doubts about the inspiration of the
Scriptures.  Often that is used to justify their rejection of
the Sabbath.
In one Amazing Facts crusade I spent an interesting afternoon
with a Southern Baptist minister who had requested an interview
on the Sabbath subject.  Some of his members were attending the
Amazing Facts crusade and had questioned him about what they had
learned.  For the first time in his life he delved into the
subject in order to find answers for his people.  Then he asked
me to meet him in his church office.  I listened in amazement as
he explained why he could not accept the Sabbath.   I was amazed
because the Southern Baptists have had the historic reputation
of being fundamental, Bible-believing Christians.  But this
young man, who graduated from the Louisville Southern Baptist
Seminary in 1975, did not believe in the Genesis story of
creation.  He denied the flood story and affirmed his belief in
evolution as the explanation of man's existence.  He explicitly
rejected the story of Jonah and the whale.  Finally, I asked him
if he believed in the virgin birth of Jesus.  His answer was, "I
don't believe it is necessary to believe in the virgin birth to
be saved."
I wish I could tell you that this attitude is exceptional among
the Baptists, but it is not.  This pastor assured me that over
half of the Southern Baptist ministers believed just like he
did.  I certainly hope he is mistaken about that estimation, and
I'm frankly of the opinion that he was exaggerating the numbers.
Nevertheless, I'm convinced that the majority of this young
preacher's classmates had lost their faith in the inspired Word
while studying at the seminary, just as he had.
Finally, under close questioning, he weakly affirmed some kind
of personal faith in the virgin birth even though he didn't
think it was too important.  I asked him if his congregation
knew about his views on the Bible, and he assured me that they
did not.  He did not dare preach the things that he believed.  I
said, "Dave, if your church knew what you have expressed to us,
they would fire you on the spot."  I could understand perfectly
why he was afraid to preach his convictions.
It should not be too great a surprise to see this wave of
skepticism growing.  Basically, it is one of the signs of the
end of time.  We are watching prophecy being fulfilled before
our eyes.  What I have just told you is only one of the dramatic
signs that Jesus is coming very soon.
Do you wonder how the seminaries and great denominations have
drifted into this sort of open doubt of the Word of God?  One
reason is obvious.  By denying the Sabbath they opened the door
to doubts about the literal six-day creation.  Another easy step
led to the vast periods assigned to evolution.  God gave the
Sabbath as a divine reminder of His sovereign creative power.
Representing His authority as the only true God, the Sabbath was
to be a weekly reminder that the only God deserving of worship
is the One who alone had the power to create and recreate.  As a
sign of both creation and redemption, observance of the Sabbath
would be a perpetual protection against the evil of evolution as
well as modernism.  When the churches rejected the Sabbath, they
also rejected the strongest bulwark which would have protected
them from the kind of deadly disbelief which the young minister
expressed.  No man can be an evolutionist or a modernist who
truly believes and keeps the Sabbath.

If the Sabbath Can Be Changed
Then the Bible Can Be Changed

This state of confusing doubt is also the fruit of antinomianism
which has been so widely espoused.  By trying to do away with
the moral law of the Ten Commandments, the churches have
compromised the doctrine of an infallible Bible.  If the Sabbath
can be explained away, if the great basic moral law can be
nullified, then almost any other part of the Bible can be
rationalized.  And it has been, by millions who were taught to
do so by the preacher behind the pulpit.
What does God think about those who have created this shameful
breach in His law?  Through the prophet Malachi God describes
the failure of His ministers to uphold the law:  "For the
priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the
law at his mouth:  for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to
stumble at the law ... according as ye have not kept my ways,
but have been partial in the law."  Malachi 2:7-9.
God charges the preachers with being partial in the law.  That
means they preached part of it but not all of it.  They caused
people to stumble at the law, which indicates that they
influenced people to break it.  Throughout the Old Testament God
outlined the development of a Satan-inspired program to set
aside His law.
Closing this subject, I would like to trace one chain of such
prophecies, all links of which are related by a common symbol.
I want you to notice the connecting thread which is picked up by
both major and minor prophets and woven through their writings.

God's Law--A Protecting Wall

The chief symbol of God's law seems to be that of a wall, and it
is used extensively throughout the Old Testament.  Isaiah
dramatically represented disobedience to the law as a break in
the wall.  "This is a rebellious people ... children that will
not hear the law of the Lord. ... Therefore this iniquity shall
be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high
wall."  Isaiah 30:9-13.
Follow closely now as we allow other inspired writers to enlarge
upon this basic concept of the breached wall.  Ezekiel indicated
that some transgressors of the law would try to cover their act
of sin by smoothing over the break in the wall.  Unfortunately,
they would substitute some weak, counterfeit material to make
the wall look good but which would not prove to be acceptable at
all.  "Woe unto the foolish prophets. ... Ye have not gone up
into the gaps, neither made up the hedge ... and one built up a
wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar."  Ezekiel
13:3-10.
Here God rebukes the spiritual leaders for not making up the
gaps and breaches in the wall.  As the watchmen on the walls
they were to be the very first ones to notice any weakness and
to warn of the break immediately and make restoration of the
defenses.  In this case, not only were the priests not making
proper repair of the breach but were condoning a dangerous
substitute of weak materials which God  could not approve.  The
untempered mortar represents an effort to gloss over the
seriousness of the defect by false teaching instead of leading
the people back to full obedience.  Repeatedly God had to warn
the priests against weakening the authority of His law.  Malachi
warned the priests:  "Ye have caused many to stumble at the law
... ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law."
Malachi 2:8-9.  It was such an attitude that caused God to
rebuke them for daubing the wall with untempered mortar.
The Wall Broken--
The Sabbath Breach

Now we are ready to establish the interesting fact that the
primary breach in the law had to do with the fourth commandment.
The prophet picked up the theme of the wall again in Ezekiel
22:26-28.  "Her priests have violated my law, and profaned mine
holy things ... and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths. ...
And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar ...
saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken."
Here we have a specific breach of the law (Sabbath breaking)
connected with the untempered daubing.  Again, it is the
priests, or preachers, themselves who are responsible for the
error.  As we have already noted, they have broken the law by
hiding their eyes from the Sabbath.  This indicates that they
clearly saw it but deliberately turned away and refused to
recognize or obey it.  But what does it mean that they daubed
the wall with untempered mortar?  It doesn't take a lot of
intelligence to see that they were trying to fill up the Sabbath
breaking with counterfeit material that did not really restore
the wall at all.
Furthermore, they would try to make it seem that God had
approved what they had done, saying, "Thus saith the Lord God,
when the Lord hath not spoken."
Question:  Have religious leaders tried to put some false,
unscriptural day in place of the true Sabbath and tried to make
it appear that God condones it?  Indeed they have!  Instead of
restoring the true seventh-day Sabbath, which had been breached
by pagan infiltration of the early church, they brought in a day
dedicated to ancient sun worship.  Without a line of biblical
authority they honored that day with the title "Lord's Day" and
continually say, "Thus saith the Lord, when the Lord hath not
spoken."

God Measures the Wall

Does the Lord indeed approve of this unholy tampering with His
perfect law?  Jesus said, "In vain they do worship me, teaching
for doctrines the commandments of men."  Matthew 15:9.  No
amount of  daubing with foreign, untempered material can make
the wall whole again.  Only the restoration of the original
material, the seventh day of the week, can satisfy the great
plumbline of God's scrutiny.  He is the Author of that law--the
builder of the wall--and He will accept nothing less than the
full original strength and proportion.  "Thus he shewed me:
and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline,
with a plumbline in his hand. ... Then said the Lord, Behold, I
will set a plumbline in the midst of my people."  Amos 7:7, 8.
A plumbline is used to determine the exact straightness of a
wall, and God will measure His people by His holy law.  Jesus
declared that even worship is vain and empty when the
commandments of men are taught instead of His commandments.
"Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your
tradition."  Matthew 15:6.  By these words Christ surely
established that tradition will be used to nullify His law.
Thus we can see how the untempered mortar represents the
tradition of Sunday worship, which is applied to the breach in
the law.  The result is the institution of a section of wall
which is alien to the original, perfect one.
Someone may object that we are taking verses out of context and
that the wall symbol does not refer to God's law in these modern
days.  The prophet Ezekiel indicated that the counterfeit wall
would be daubed with untempered mortar in the last days, and
that the seven last plagues would bring its total destruction.
"Say unto them that daub it with untempered mortar, that it
shall fall ... and a stormy wind shall rend it."  Ezekiel 13:11.

Wall-Daubers
Destroyed by the Plagues

Does the Bible give us any information about the time of this
great deluge of hail?  John the revelator describes the event in
these words:  "And there fell upon men a great hail out of
heaven _ and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the
hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great."  Revelation
16:21.
Here is evidence that the false wall of tradition will be dealt
with at the time of the seven last plagues.  God speaks of that
judgment on the wall as "my wrath" in Ezekiel 13:14-15.  "So
will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered
mortar _ and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the
midst thereof. _ Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall
and upon them that have daubed it."  What is His wrath?
God refers to the seven last plagues as His wrath:  "Seven
angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up
the wrath of God."  Revelation 15:1.  Do you get the picture
now?  His wrath in the destruction of the counterfeit wall is
accomplished by the overflowing hail, which is one of the last
plagues, also designated as God's wrath.  This places the
judgment on the wall-daubers at the end of time when the seven
last plagues are poured out.
But how can we be sure that this untempered mortar is truly the
tradition of Sunday worship?  In case there is any doubt
remaining on this point, please weigh this final proof.  The
wrath of God falls ONLY upon those who have the mark of the
beast.  "If any man worship the beast _ and receive his mark _
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God."
Revelation 14:9, 10.
Now let's do some reasoning together.  The facts of God's Word
are before us.  Since the seven last plagues fall only upon
those who have the mark of the beast, and since the counterfeit
wall-builders receive the plagues, we have to conclude that the
wall-builders have the mark.  We have already shown that the
Sunday tradition was used in the daubing.  Does this mean that
Sunday-keeping is connected with the mark of the beast?  Indeed
it does.  For a full explanation of this fascinating connection,
write for the free booklet, THE BEAST, THE DRAGON, AND THE
WOMAN.  Even without looking into the subject any further we can
see that those who daub the wall (change God's law) are Sunday
advocates and that they also receive the plagues which fall ONLY
upon those who have the mark of the beast.  One would have to be
blind to miss the fact that the mark is tied closely to Sunday-
keeping.
Let us now pursue the wall symbolism further in the writings of
the Old Testament prophets.  God was deeply concerned about the
gap or breach that had been made in His law.  He is quoted as
saying, "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up
the hedge, and stand in the gap before me."  Ezekiel 22:30.
In view of the diversionary tactics of daubing tradition into
the breach, creating a false wall, God is represented by the
prophet as searching for someone who will "make up the hedge"
and "stand in the gap."  What a picture is presented here!  Did
God find those who would have the courage to restore unpopular
truth?  Does the Bible finally describe the faithful rebuilding
of the wall to meet the specifications of God's plumbline?
Let Isaiah take up the thread now and paint the final picture.
"And they that shall be of thee (of God) shall ... be called,
The repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy
pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the
holy of the Lord, honourable _" Isaiah 58:12, 13.
Here, without any equivocation, we find a clear description of
those who will repair the breach and restore the original wall.
It is those who turn back to the true Sabbath, and who enter
into the work of clearing the debris of tradition, so that the
Sabbath may again glow as the delight of God's people--a holy
day and honorable.  Freed from the false allusions cast by
antinomians and libertines, the law of God will be recognized as
the great moral standard of grace-saved Christians--evidence of
a genuine love relationship with Jesus.
Gathering up these golden threads of Bible truth, we can
summarize the prophetic story very easily and quickly.  In the
last days great thrusts will be made by false shepherds to
weaken the authority of God's law.
Influential religious groups will join forces to lead people to
reject the true Sabbath.  By setting aside the fourth
commandment, a breach is made in the law which is represented as
a protecting wall.  While counterfeit material is used to
restore the gap in the form of Sunday worship, God finds a
people who will be called the repairers of the breach and who
turn back to keeping the true Sabbath.  Those who try to change
His law by substituting the pagan day of the sun receive the
mark of the beast and experience the punishment of the seven
last plagues.
But let us close this discouraging prophetic picture on a note
of hope and assurance.  Not all will be found tearing down or
trying to change God's law.  In the book of Revelation God
points out His saints and describes them in these words:  "Here
is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."  Revelation 14:12.
A remnant will not go along with the traditions of men.  They
will not accept any substitute for the requirements of God.  As
the last end-piece of the apostolic church, they are
characterized by loving Jesus supremely and keeping His
commandments.  Satan's final desperate battle against God will
take place over the loyalty of this little group.  Here's the
way John viewed that clash:  "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."  Revelation 12:17.
May God grant you the courage to be a part of that remnant
church which has the faith of Jesus, the testimony of Jesus, and
keeps all of His commandments.  These truly may be designated as
the saints.
In summary, note how link upon link of related texts show the
fortunes and misfortunes of the wall--God's law.
1.    The wall represents God's law.  A breach in the wall
represents breaking the law (iniquity).  Isaiah 30:9-13, "This
is a rebellious people _ children that will not hear the law of
the Lord _ therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach
ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall."
2.    False ministers did not repair the break.  But they did try
to mend the gap with weak, untempered mortar, a counterfeit
material.  Ezekiel 13:3-14, "Woe unto the foolish prophets _ ye
have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge _ and
one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered
mortar."
3.    The breach in the wall was the Sabbath, which the preachers
saw, but hid their eyes from it.  Instead of restoring the true
Sabbath, they used the pagan Sunday (untempered mortar) as a
substitute, claiming that the Lord said it was all right, when
"the Lord hath not spoken."  Ezekiel 22:26-28, "Her priests have
violated my law, and profaned mine holy things _ and have hid
their eyes from my sabbaths _ and her prophets have daubed them
with untempered mortar _ saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when
the Lord hath not spoken."
4.    The counterfeit wall (Sunday) will be revealed and
destroyed when the plagues fall (hail).  Ezekiel 13:11, "Say
unto them that daub it with untempered mortar that it shall
fall:  there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great
hailstones, shall fall and a stormy wind shall fall; and a
stormy wind shall rend it."
5.    Hail is one of the seven last plagues.  Revelation 16:21,
"And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven _ and men
blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague
thereof was exceeding great."
6.    The plagues are called "the wrath of God."  Revelation
15:1, "Seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them
is filled up the wrath of God."
7.    The wrath of God (plagues) fall on those who have the mark
of the beast.  Revelation 14:9, 10, "If any man worship the
beast _ and receive his mark _ The same shall drink of the wine
of the wrath of God."
8.    God's wrath (plagues) fall on those who used the untempered
mortar (Sunday).  The plagues and destruction prove that these
events take place at the end of the world and that these
prophecies apply to our day.  Ezekiel 13:13-15, "I will even
rend it _ and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.  So
will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered
mortar _ Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall and upon
them that have daubed it."
9.    God looked for those who would repair the gap or breach in
His law correctly.  Ezekiel 22:30, "And I sought for a man among
them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before
me."
10.    God finds those who will repair the breach.  They will
restore the true Sabbath to its right place.  Isaiah 58:12, 13,
"And they that shall be of thee _ shalt be called, The repairer
of the breach, The restorer of the paths to dwell in.  If thou
turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on
my holy day."

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