With the current economic condition of the European Union, is it possible that the EU will be forced to cull those nations that are weighing it down, and reduce its number of member nations to ten, and thus precipitate the timing for the anti-Christ?

If you want to buy and sell in the time of the anti-Christ you will need to get the ‘mark of the beast’ put on your forehead or right hand, Revelation 13:16, 14:9, 20:4.

Q. Why has the anti-Christ chosen these two locations?
A. Because God has reserved these two locations for His own seal, Revelation 14:1. Everything God does, Satan tries to counterfeit, and in so doing, tries to get God stirred up to cause Him to deviate from His plan, and to destroy as many of God’s created humans as possible; if you’re going to go down (not that Satan believes that he is), then you may as well try and take as many as you can with you.

If you willingly take the mark of the beast, then you forfeit the mark of God, and without the seal of God you forfeit heaven; you can’t have it both ways.

The problem is, those who are suspicious and don’t want to take the merchandising mark of the beast will be forcibly intimidated to do so. You will be branded as a traitor to society. You will not be able to buy food; your family will starve. The only way you will escape this pressure is to have in place the thing that God originally specified should already be in your forehead and on your right hand so that the false mark can’t be put on you. You will succumb to the mark of the beast unless the mark of God is fixed in your forehead.

Q. What is the thing that God has specified to protect you from the evil mark?
A. The answer is found in Deuteronomy 6:8 … it’s the Ten Commandments.

Somehow, God has created these spiritual laws to protect your spirit from evil deception. They are not just words, they are spirit.

Q. Why the right hand?
A. It represents ‘works’. We work with our hands, and with God’s laws as our guidelines we have the chance of doing good works, not selfish works contaminated by our pride.

Q. Why the forehead?
A. It represents the storage bank of the mind. We should keep God’s laws always in our mind so we are not deceived by evil.

Without the laws being implanted in your mind and functioning through your actions, you will be manipulated to take the mark of the beast. Pride thinks it will be ok, but that’s because pride can’t see. Willing surrender to God’s laws by faith in God, opens your eyes to the spirit realm and a different level of vision.

The church has degraded the value of these Ten Laws and thus can’t see past its nose. Of course, pride thinks it can see, and pride can’t be told otherwise. It’s the Ten Laws that open your eyes to your pride, Proverbs 29:18, so if you devalue the laws of God you’ll only see what you want to see, and it will never be the truth.

As the previous sermon points out, the laws of God define ‘sin’. Humans can either do good, or do sin. No one wants to know about sin anymore, that’s why the laws of God have been devalued; everyone wants to believe that everything they do is good. Sin is ‘old hat’, everyone wants to have fun, and laws restrict my fun, so sin is now considered good fun. But there’s a price for sin; nothing’s free. There are eternal benefits in facing your sin, and there’s eternal danger in ignoring your sin. One of those key dangers is succumbing to the power of the anti-Christ.

Now, let’s turn to the thoughts of the covenants. A covenant is a contract. A last will and testament is a contract that is activated on the death of the testator.

God instigated 5 covenants with His remnant.

1. Noahic covenant, Genesis 9:11 … “I will never again destroy the whole world at once with a flood”. The sign of the covenant is a rainbow, v.13.

2. Abrahamic covenant, Genesis 17:7 … “If you will serve me, I will be your God and your children’s God for ever.” The sign of this covenant was circumcision, representing the separation of the world’s lusts from your spirit, and the shedding of blood for your sins. Animal blood was shed as a payment for man’s sin.

3. Covenant with Israel, Exodus 19:5,6 … “If you will obey my laws, you will be a unique people, priests and holy.” The sign of this covenant is the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, & Deuteronomy 9:9.

4. Davidic covenant, 2 Samuel 7:10,16 … “The Jews will dwell in their own place and move no more; no one will afflict them anymore; and David’s kingdom will be established forever.” The first sign was fulfilled in 1948 by the founding of the country of Israel. The second sign was confirmed in the six day war in 1967, and the 3rd sign was confirmed by the birth of Jesus from the lineage of David, Matthew 1:1-17.

5. The New Covenant, is actually specified in the Old Testament, Jeremiah 31:33,34 … “I will put My Laws in your inward parts, and write it in your hearts, and will be your God and you will be My people. I will forgive your iniquity and no longer remember your sin.” Freedom from sin requires the laws written in your heart. This contract was activated by the death of Jesus, the testator. The sign of the New Covenant is ‘communion’, Matthew 26:28, representing the shed blood of Christ that covers all our sin.

The New Covenant doesn’t replace the other covenants; it qualifies them. It’s not brand new, it’s qualitatively new; that means it has better qualities, such as the blood of the perfect Lamb of God, rather than animals, and offers eternal salvation from your sins and eternal peace in heaven as an heir to the throne of David, Hebrews 9:15.

The modern church thinks it is under the new covenant agreement and thus has the freedom of its own mind to interpret the meaning of the laws. The fact of the matter is, the church knows all about the laws of God, but these laws are not written IN their hearts, otherwise they would respect Sabbath; therefore, they are NOT under the covenant agreement.

Everyone who unconditionally surrenders their heart and will to the lordship of Jesus Christ, becomes a child of God and a son of Abraham by faith, and thus automatically commits themselves to all the above covenant agreements, and receives the benefits of such. The laws are inherently implanted in the whole scheme of God’s plan of salvation from your sin. If you want God’s blessing you can’t avoid them.

The signs of the New Covenant Christian are ….

1. separation from the world (in his heart), James 1:27, 2 Corinthians 6:17, Romans 12:1.

2. communion relationship with God (in his heart)

3. the Laws of God in his heart and proven by his hand (your works will prove whether they’re in your heart).

A true New Covenant Christian values the Laws of God; he can’t help it, they’re written IN his heart. The benefit is, when he fails the laws’ standards, he sees it, he repents of his sin, he’s sin is covered already by God’s shed blood, and he’s restored to proper communion with his God. If the laws are truly written on your heart you’ll die for them, Revelation 12:17, 20:4 and the anti-Christ won’t get his way with you.

The Laws can’t save you, but without them you can’t see your sin and can’t get saved, because Jesus came to save you from your sin, and nothing else. The real issue is FAITH, and faith in God is strenghtened by committing to His laws, which is automatic if they’re written in your heart.

May God soften your heart to appreciate the full spirit value of His Ten Commandments written by His own hand.

Pastor James Goodhew