Obedience - the highest form of worship
Where are we in the stream of time?
Dear friend, it should be clear when we look at the world around us that we are at the end of this earth’s history. The image of Nebuchadnezzar, which we read about in Daniel chapter 2, confirms that we are at the end of time – in the toes of this world’s history. The Rock (Jesus) will soon come back to put an end to the wickedness of this world and to establish His eternal kingdom.
The mighty kingdoms have come and gone and as we look at what is going on in the world today, we should realize that the 2nd coming of Christ is imminent.
In verse 4 and verse 14 Jesus answers them: “Take heed that no man deceives you.” (4) “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all, and then shall the end come.” (14)
- Before His coming there will be large-scale deception. Beware! Jesus says.
- Before His coming, the eternal gospel will be preached and then the end will come!
There are about 45 000 different denominations in the world today and more than 200 Christian denominations in the USA alone. 1 Bible, 1 truth, but hundreds of Christian denominations (most of which originated after the Reformation in 1517).
Among Christians we differ in respect of matters like the Trinity, creation, baptism, heaven and hell, salvation, the state of the dead…to name but a few. Definitely large-scale deception. Beware! Jesus says.
The 2nd sign that we must pay attention to according to Jesus in Matthew 24 is the proclamation of the everlasting gospel.
We read of this everlasting gospel in Revelation chapter 14 (the Three Angels Message).
- John saw the 1st angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come and worship Him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters.” We are to worship God the Creator (not images, people or false religious systems).
- And the 2nd angel followed, saying: “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” [Revelation 17 depicts spiritual Babylon (apostate Christianity) as an immoral woman – verses 1 to 5]. She stands in contrast to the pure woman of Revelation 12 who represents the true Christian church.
- The 3rd angel followed them, saying with a loud voice: “If any man worships the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation”.
The Three Angels Message is the final message of warning to a perishing world. These messages ensure that everyone had a chance to make a choice between God’s Kingdom and the kingdom of the Earth – Satan’s kingdom.
(1) We should therefore understand that we should worship God alone as Creator and (2) that we should avoid all forms of worship and beliefs that come from man and that are not entirely based on God’s Word.
Over the centuries, religious systems have developed that are false and contrary to Scripture and that have led to great confusion (Babylon).
(3) The message of the third angel demands a decision. It divides the whole world into two groups – and only 2 groups. On one side stand apostate Christianity who worship “the beast and his image” and receive “his mark on his forehead or on his hand.”
On the other side stand those who reject the authority of the beast; these are the saints “who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
“Here comes the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12
It is important to know who the beast is against whom the Lord warns us and what his mark is that we should not receive.
We read about the beast in Daniel chapter 7. Daniel saw four great beasts (kingdoms) that came up from the sea, each different from the other. The lion with wings represents the Babylonian Empire, the bear represents the Medo-Persian Empire, the leopard with 4 heads and 4 wings represents the Greek Empire and the terrible beast with iron teeth represents Pagan Rome.
The fourth beast, that the Lord warns us against in Daniel 7: 7, 8 is a fourth kingdom on earth, which is different from all the others: it swallows up the whole earth, tramples and crushes it. The 10 horns represent the 10 kings or kingdoms into which pagan Rome was eventually split. (Daniel 7:24)
(These 10 kingdoms are the same as the 10 toes of the image described in Daniel 2:41–44.) Between them will rise another horn, unlike the other kings and he will bring down three kings and will wage war against the saints of God. This horn with the face of man will speak words against the Most High and will abuse the saints of the Most High; and he will try to change times and law, and they will be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. (Daniel 7:12 – 25)
History confirms that Papal Rome is the little horn power which, as predicted, rose after the breakup of the Roman Empire. In 533 A.D. Justinian, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, legally recognized the bishop (pope) of Rome as the head of all the Christian churches and by the military intervention of the Eastern Roman Empire, the bishop of Rome became all-powerful throughout the area of the old Roman Empire. In 538 A.D. the transition of the Pagan Roman Empire to the Holy Roman Empire took place and saw the establishment of the Papacy.
The Bible gives us 9 characteristics of the Antichrist in Daniel chapter 7 and the Papacy (not the people in the church, but the system) meets all these characteristics.
(1) It came up among the 10 kingdoms of Western Europe. (The geographical location of the papal power is in Rome, Italy—in the heart of Western Europe.) (2) It would have a man at its head who speaks for it. (The pope) (3) Three kingdoms (Vandals, Heruli, and Ostrogoths) were plucked up to make way for the rise of the papacy. (4) It would be different from the other kingdoms (it will also be a religious power). (5) It would make war with and persecute the saints. (The Catholic Church killed at least 50 million believers who chose the Bible over the belief system of the Catholic Church.) (6) It would emerge from the fourth kingdom of iron—the pagan Roman Empire. (7) God’s people (the saints) would “be given into his hand” for “a time and times and half a time”. (The little horn (antichrist) was to have power over the saints for 1 260 prophetic days; that is, 1 260 literal years. Ezekiel 4:6) (8) It would speak “pompous words” of blasphemy “against God”. (The pope claims that he can forgive sins (Luke 5:21) and he claims to be God. (John 10:33) (9) The Papacy would “intend to change times and law”. Dan 7:25 (They took away the 2nd commandment. They changed the Sabbath day into the “Lord’s Day” (Sunday). And they divided the 10th commandment into two.)
The Papal power has equated itself with God and even exalted itself above the Word of God by bringing pagan doctrines and human traditions (Matt 15:9) into the church that are in direct conflict with Biblical truth.
Catholique Nationale – the Church Gazette of July 13, 1895, quotes Pope Pius X: “The Pope is not only the Representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ Himself, hidden under the veil of the flesh”.
L. Ferraris in Prompta Bibliotheca, (part 4, p. 26, art. Papa) writes: “The Pope was crowned with a Triple Crown, as King of Heaven, Earth, and Purgatory … the Pope is of such high dignity and so exalted, that he is not an ordinary man, but, so to speak, God and the Substitute of God”
The Inquisition (Counter-Reformation) was both the creation and tool of the Papal Power to exterminate “heretics” who rejected the teachings of the Catholic Church.
William Lecky, in History and Influence of The Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, Vol. 2, p. 35, writes that: “Any Protestant, who has a thorough knowledge of history, will acknowledge that the Church of Rome shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind”.
According to the 3rd angel’s message in Revelation 14, God warns us not to worship the beast and his image and not to receive his mark on our foreheads (minds, thoughts) or on our hands (actions).
We know that the Papacy is the beast spoken of in Daniel 7:7, 8
What then is the mark of the beast that the Lord warns us against?
The beast (Papal Rome) itself gives the answer to this question.
According to the Catholic Record of London, Ontario, September 1, 1923 “Sunday is our sign of authority … the church is above the Bible.”
Sunday worship is an institution of the Catholic Church and the Papacy transferred the solemnity of the Sabbath to Sunday. The Sabbath (Saturday) is an institution of God at creation and is contained in the 4th commandment that God himself wrote with His finger in stone. Keeping the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the true God.
“And sanctify my Sabbaths; and it shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.” (Ezekiel 20:21)
In the Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, we read:
Q. Which day is the Sabbath day?
A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q. Why do we celebrate Sunday instead of Saturday?
A. We celebrate Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church in the Council of Laodicea (336 A.D.) transferred the solemnity of the seventh-daySabbath to Sunday.
James Cardinal Gibbons writes in “The Faith of our Fathers”, 88th ed., pp. 89.
“But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”
Rome’s Challenge – Why Do Protestants Celebrate Sunday?
Most Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Roman Catholic church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the Biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, they should worship on Saturday. From the Catholic Mirror of Sept. 2, 1893.
“For centuries millions of Christians have gathered to worship God on the first day of the week. Graciously He has accepted this worship. He has poured out His blessings upon Christian people as they have sought to serve Him. However, as one searches the Scriptures, he is forced to recognize that Sunday is not a day of God’s appointment. Like many other worship days observed in Christendom, Sunday is a day of human appointment only. It has no foundation in Scripture, but has arisen entirely as a result of custom.” Frank H. Yost, Ph.D. in The Early Christian Sabbath.
The Protestant world has been, from its infancy, in the sixteenth century, in thorough accord with the Catholic Church, in keeping “holy” not Saturday, but Sunday.
The great sin of the Jews was their rejection of Christ; the great sin of the Christian world today will be their rejection of the law of God, the foundation of His government in heaven and on earth.
Ignorance will not excuse young or old, nor release them from the punishment due for the transgression of God’s law.
The message of the third angel points to the results of accepting false religious systems. It contains the most terrifying message God has ever sent to mankind. According to Revelation 14: 9-12, the sign (deliberate Sunday observance) contrasts with the fourth commandment (Sabbath keeping) of the Bible. Mankind’s attention is drawn to God’s law, especially the Sabbath commandment (the seal of God). (Ezekiel 20:21)
Because the Beast (Papacy) receives his authority from the Dragon (Satan) according to Revelation 13: 2, recognition of that authority is worshiping the Dragon – Satan himself.
“If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4)
“His priests have violated my law and profaned my holy things; between holy and unholy they make no distinction, and the difference between unclean and clean does not make them known; and they shut their eyes to my Sabbaths; yea, I am profaned among them.” (Ezekiel 22:26)
The argument that Sunday was made holy by the resurrection of Jesus is not Biblical and there is no text in the Bible indicating that the sacredness of God’s Sabbath was transferred to Sunday.
God is unchanging, dear friend and does not have different gospels for different people. Psalms 19:9 is clear that the law of God is eternal. God changes not. “For I am the LORD, I change not.”(Malachi 3:6) “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
It is through baptism by immersion (Matt 3:13–17) that we confess our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ according to scripture. (Romans 6:3-5; Col 2:12-13)
The Third Angel Message asks us to keep God’s Commandments and reject the mark of the Beast. This is not a message of legalism, because without Jesus we can do nothing. It is an acknowledgment of the power and dominion of Christ – His authority.
Obedience is the highest form of worship. It demonstrates our love and respect for God. Obedience sets us apart. It is a demonstration of our faith and the expression of our love for Christ.
Accepting the authority of the falsified religious system and to worship on the first day (Sunday), while knowing the truth, means accepting the authority of the Beast in the place of the authority of God. It is a choice dear friend that all of us will soon have to make.
“And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying: Who is like unto the beast? Who can wage war against him?” (Revelation 13:4)
Our world today is in a crisis with collapsing economies, uprisings, protests, wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, terrorism and famines.
There is however another agenda that the leaders of the world, under the authority of the Pope, are pushing, namely climate change. Everywhere in the news we see the movement towards a “rest day” for the earth.
The current state of the world lends itself to the introduction of legislation that will have a tremendous impact on our lives.
This crisis will consequently cause the governments of the world to propose and enforce the mark of the beast – mandatory Sunday worship as the day of rest that the earth needs.
Everyone on earth will soon be forced to make a choice. A choice between Sabbath (Saturday) worship and Sunday worship. Obedience to the Law of God or obedience to a man-made institution.
Satan desires for himself the worship that belongs to Christ alone and through the ages has instituted false religious systems to deceive mankind.
“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 bear the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 12:17)
God loves us, dear friend and wants us to keep His commandments.
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” (1 John 5:3)
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt not serve me as priest; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6)
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)
Let us follow the example of the Bereans in Acts 17 verse 10 and 11 that received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.