I hope you all will consider the following study: In 1 Corinthians 10:1-12, is a New Testament warning to consider what happened with Israel and to not follow their example. The children of Israel had trouble FALLING AWAY from their Creator God and His ways. This was exactly what was foretold to happen within the church before the Messiah/Christ would return. See 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, which includes, “…The day of Christ …Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a FALLING AWAY first …” Other texts that support this are: Acts 20:28-31; 2 Timothy 4:2-4; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 3,4; 1 John 2:18,19; 4:1-3; 2 John 1:7; Matthew 10:17-23,28; and 24:23-27. The belief that the church was made to be infallible and unable to fall away from truth does not agree with Scripture, especially with this example of Israel given to the believers (1 Corinthians 10:1-12) and its warning not to do likewise. Scripture’s prophecies of Daniel and Revelation foretold what would happen within the religious power that the church would become. For example, Daniel foretold it would “speak great words against the most High, and … wear out the saints of the most High” (Daniel 7:25). The church and papacy has spoken blasphemous words (claiming to be “God,” when just “a man” [John 10:33]) against the true God in Heaven (also see “blasphemy” in Revelation 13:1-7) and did persecute His faithful people. “The Pope and God are the same, so he has all POWER in Heaven and earth.” (Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Cities Petrus Bertanous, chapter XXVII: 218; I will add all caps in these for emphasis) “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” (Pope Leo XIII, Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae—The reunion of Christendom [Rome, 1894]) Daniel’s prophecy also foretold that religious power would “think to CHANGE TIMES and laws” (Daniel 7:25). It did “think to change times and laws”—tried to change them and believed it had the POWER to do so—as Daniel foretold. A few acknowledgements and historical comments are as follows: “The Pope has POWER to CHANGE TIMES, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ.” (Decretal de Translat. Episcop. Cap.) “The Cath. Church abolished, not only the Sabbath, but ALL the other Jewish festivals.” (Letter by T. Enright CssR, Bishop of St. Alphonsus Church, St. Louis, Missouri, June 1905) “Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His Church the POWER to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days.” (A Course in Religion for Catholic High School sand Academies, by John Laux, vol. 1, p. 51, 1936) “The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a Divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday.” (The History of the Christian Religion and Church, by Augustus Neander, p. 186) I especially point out the Sabbath change here, because it was to be the mark or “SIGN between” the true God and His people (Exodus 31:13,17). (See “sabbaths” in Exodus 31:12,13; Ezekiel 20:12,20; and Isaiah 56:1-7.) His Sabbath (“sabbaths” or “feasts” [Leviticus 23]) were to acknowledge His creative POWER in following His example after Creation, it would also acknowledge His re-creative POWER as their Sanctifier (Exodus 31:13), and it would prove their loyalty and obedience to Him. See in Exodus 16:4,5,15-29, how the Sabbath would “prove” (vss. 4,27,28) His people, whether they would obey Him. The RCC has acknowledged it changed the Sabbath (or at least it tried to—Daniel 7:25) and holds that change up as proof of its POWER and “MARK of authority.” See the following quotes: “The Pope has POWER to CHANGE TIMES, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ.” (Decretal de Translat. Episcop. Cap.) “Sunday is our MARK of authority … The church is above the Bible, and this transference of sabbath observance is proof of that fact.” (The Catholic Record, London, Ontario, September 1, 1923) “Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act … And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things.” (H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons) Do you see, that church’s “mark” is a counterfeit of our Creator’s? Theirs is the “mark” “of the beast” that has been foretold in Revelation (Revelation 13:17; 14:9-11), which will soon be globally enforced through legislation with economic pressure upon everyone—“all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond” (Revelation 13:16). For many years, it has been foretold and understood there is coming a worldwide law enforcing worship on Sunday. Since we now realize there is an expanded meaning to “the Sabbath,” we can see there is likewise an expanded meaning to its counterfeit sabbath. You can be sure, those coming religious laws will include enforcement of rest on all of the Christian “holidays,” which have served to replace our Creator’s holy days (remember the letter by T. Enright Cssr, quoted above, and others). We can see in the following quotes that this is a true understanding: “Sanctifying Sundays AND holy days requires a common effort. Every Christian should avoid making unnecessary demands on others that would hinder them from observing the Lord’s Day. … AUTHORITIES SHOULD ENSURE CITIZENS A TIME INTENDED FOR REST AND DIVINE WORSHIP. Employers have a similar obligation toward their employees.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2000, par. 2187 [issued October 11, 1992]) “… Christians should seek recognition of Sundays AND the Church’s holy days AS LEGAL HOLIDAYS. They have to give everyone a public example of prayer, respect, and joy and defend their TRADITIONS as a precious contribution to the spiritual life of society.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2000, par. 2188 [issued October 11, 1992]) Keep in mind that Revelation gives fearful warning against worshipping “the beast” and getting his “mark,” and says to “worship” the Creator instead (Revelation 14:6-11). The Sabbath is a memorial of Creation. That passage in Revelation is followed with a description of the faithful people at the end of time: “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12; also 12:17). If we end up with the Creator’s “seal” on our foreheads (Revelation 7:2,3; 9:4; 14:1; 22:3,4), instead of the counterfeit “mark” (Revelation 13:16; 14:9), we will need to be obeying His Word and not following the TRADITIONS of men, like the nation of Israel ended up doing (Acts 5:29; see “tradition” in Mark 7:7-9 and Matthew 15:3-6).
Posted on: Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:33:30 +0000
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