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Rank: Advanced Member  Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the preparation day.......the sabbath is drawing on.
Genesis 4:7 (KJV)
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 26:5 (KJV)
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Isaiah 56:1-2 (KJV) 1 Thus saith the LORD,
Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
for my salvation is near to come,
and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this,
and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it,
and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV) 13 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;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction
(Jeremiah 17:21-23 KJV)
The Bible holy day is the Seventh Day.
Genesis 2:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Exodus 20:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Leviticus 23:3
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Isaiah 58:
13 ¶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; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Section 9
The Sabbath
Chapter 96.
The Sabbath in the New Testament
1. ACCORDING to the New Testament, what day immediately precedes the first day of the week?
"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." Matt. 28:1.
NOTE.-According to the New Testament, therefore, the Sabbath had passed when the first day of the week began.
2. After the crucifixion, what day was kept by the women who followed Jesus?
"And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.
3. What day is the Sabbath, "according to the commandment"?
"But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10.
4. What was Christ's custom respecting the Sabbath?
"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16.
5. In what instruction to His disciples did Christ recognize the existence of the Sabbath long after His ascension?
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." Matt. 24:20.
NOTE.-The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus occurred in the spring and summer of 70 A.D. The flight of the Christians took place three and one-half years earlier, or late in October, 66 A. D., following the arrival and sudden withdrawal of Cestius and his army. See readings in Chapter 68. of this book.
6. On what day did the Jews meet for worship?
"Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day." Acts 15:21.
7. On what day did Paul and Barnabas preach at Antioch?
"They came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day." Acts 13:14.
8. When did the Gentiles request that Paul should repeat the sermon he had preached at Antioch on the Sabbath?
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Verse 42.
9. On what day did Paul and his companions preach to the devout women at Philippi?
"And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Acts 16:13.
10. What was Paul's manner respecting the Sabbath?
"They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." Acts 17:1,2.
NOTE.-It was Paul's manner, as it was Christ's custom (Luke 4:16), to attend religious services on the Sabbath.
11. How did the apostle spend the working days of the week when at Corinth?
"After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; . . . and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tent-makers." Acts 18:1-3. See Eze. 46:1.
12. What did he do on the Sabbath days?
"And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Acts 18:4.
13. How long did he continue this work there?
"And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them." Verse 11.
NOTE.-Here, then, were seventy-eight Sabbaths on which Paul preached in one city. The record further says that he worked at his trade, and we may justly infer that Paul worked at tent-making just as many Sundays as he preached Sabbaths. If to these seventy-eight Sabbaths we add the three he spent at Thessalonica, the one at Philippi, and the two at Antioch, we have a record of eighty-four Sabbaths on which the apostle held religious services, while, so far as the record shows, he held only one meeting on the first day of the week, and that a night meeting, immediately following the Sabbath. See Acts 20. Evidently Sunday was not the Sabbath in Paul's day.
14. On what day was John in the Spirit?
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." Rev. 1:10.
15. Who is Lord of the Sabbath?
"The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28.
16. What, through the prophet Isaiah, does the Lord call the Sabbath?
"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day." Isa. 58:13.
17. Why does the Lord call the Sabbath His day?
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex.20:11.
18. Through whom did God create the world?
"God. . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, . . . by whom also He made the worlds." Heb. 1:1,2.
NOTES.-From beginning to end, the Bible recognizes but one weekly Sabbath,- the day upon which God rested in the beginning; which was made known to Israel at Sinai (Neh. 9:13,14); was observed by Christ and His apostles; and is to be kept by the redeemed in the world to come. Isa. 66:22,23.
The terms Sabbath, Sabbaths, and Sabbath days occur sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case but one refer to the seventh day. In Col. 2:16,17, reference is made to the annual sabbaths connected with the three annual feasts observed by Israel before the first advent of Christ.
The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in the four Gospels, and refer to the day on which Christ arose from the dead. See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19. The other two (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) refer to the only religious meeting held on the first day of the week after the ascension, in apostolic times, recorded in the New Testament and to a systematic accounting and laying by in store at home on that day for the poor saints in Judea and Jerusalem.
It is evident, therefore, that the Sabbath of the New Testament is the same as the Sabbath of the Old Testament, and that there is nothing in the New Testament setting aside the seventh-day Sabbath, and putting the first day of the week in its place.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=
"The Catholic Church,... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.
" The Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.
"Is Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible and the 10 Commandments?"
"I answer yes".
"Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the 7th day, Saturday, for Sunday, the 1st day?"
"I answer yes".
"Did Christ change the day?"
"I answer no!" Faithfully yours, "J. Cardinal Gibbons" Gibbons' autograph letter.
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 Sunday for the Sabbath.
But this theory is 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."
John Laux A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies 1936, vol.1 p.51
What day is the Sabbath day?
Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemity from Saturday to Sunday."
Peter Geiermann, The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1946 ed.), p.50. Geiermann received the "apostolic blessing" of Pope Pius X on his labors, January 25, 1910.
"The Catholic Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.
In this matter the Seventh Day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant. The Catholic Universe Bulletin, Aug. 14, 1942, p.4
"The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church." Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today (1868), p. 213
Exodus 20: 8-11,
(8) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: (10) But the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the Seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Colossians 2:8 warns us to:
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
What power has claimed authority to change God's law?
The Papacy in Rome.
"The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even Divine Laws...The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth." Translated from Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca (Ready Library), "Papa", art. 2.
What part of the law of God has the papacy thought to change?
The Fourth Commandment.
"Catholics alledge the change of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, contrary, as it seemeth, to the Decalogue; and they have no example more in their mouth than the change of the Sabbath. They will needs have to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue." The Augsburg Confession (Lutheran), part 2, art. 7, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Harper), vol. 3, p. 64.
"It [the Roman Catholic Church] reversed the Fourth Commandment by doing away with the Sabbath of God's word and instituting Sunday as a holiday." N. Summerbell, History of the Christian Church (1873), p. 415.
Todays' Sabbath school lesson: Friday.....September 8
Further Thought: Paul’s respect for children as fellow believers (Eph. 6:1 thru 3 heightens our concern for the ways in which children are treated in our world today. His word to fathers (Eph. 6:4) invites us to consider parental responsibilities. Applying Paul’s counsel to slaves (Eph. 6:5–8), and, espe- cially, his counsel to slave masters (Eph. 6:9), is more challenging, since the social setting is distant for many of us and because we know that slavery, in any form, is one of the greatest of moral evils. Still, since these words are inspired ones that are part of Scripture, we should ponder how to apply them today.
With the believers in Ephesus in the first century, we have the privilege and responsibility of applying the values of the gospel to our relationships. The discussion questions below are designed to foster that important work.
Discussion Questions:
Ê What does it mean for Adventists that love for children is iden- tified as evidence of “a people prepared for the Lord”? Luke 1:17 (quoting Mal. 4:6).
Ë Paul’s obvious respect for children suggests a searching ques- tion: What is our responsibility to extend the care of Christ to children who have experienced violence, sexual abuse, and shame in their early lives? In view of research on the profound impact of adverse childhood experiences (or ACEs; see https://www.cdc .gov/violenceprevention/), what is our responsibility toward them?
Ì As an extension of Paul’s respect for children and Jesus’ care for them, what responsibilities does the church have to nurture and protect the children in its care? What systems and procedures need to be in place to do so?
Í Paul’s counsel to slaves and slave masters, Ephesians 6:5–9, is often applied to the relationships between employees and employers. In what ways might this be appropriate? What dangers present themselves in doing so?
Î Slavery remains a painful reality in our world, with more than 40 million people enslaved (according to “The Global Slavery Index,” http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/). As free people whose spiritual forebears were firmly committed to the abolition of slavery, what are our responsibilities to these enslaved sons and daughters of God as we sing of Christ, “Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, and in his name all oppression shall cease” (lyrics to “O Holy Night,” public domain)?
94
Inside Story A Book and a Ride
By andrew Mcchesney
Alexei Arushanian, a 33-year-old Ukrainian living in Poland, was running late. He had just finished his work, installing windows, and had to stop at the gas station as he raced to meet his wife for an evening shopping trip.
At the gas pump, Alexei noticed a young man trying to start his scooter. He kept trying to start the scooter but to no avail. A large, insulated bag on the back of his scooter showed that he was making a food delivery. Alexei didn’t speak good Polish, but he didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to help. He thought about the young man as he filled up the tank and paid for the gas. Back in the car, he opened the window and called out, “What’s wrong?”
The young man was Polish. He said, “The scooter doesn’t want to start.”
Alexei belonged to a group of church members who distribute Ellen White’s The Great Controversy. It is a difficult task with few receptive people, and he saw an opportunity. He handed the young man a book.
“I have a gift for you,” he said. “It’s a Christian book that contains the history of Christianity from the first Christians who defended the truth after Christ returned to heaven to the events that will occur at the end of the world. I think that you will find it interesting.”
The young man accepted the book and thanked him. Alexei returned to his car. And sat. And thought. I can’t leave. I haven’t done my duty as a Christian, he thought. I gave him a book, but I didn’t fill his need. Opening the car door, he said, “I can take you to your delivery place.”
“Really?” the young man asked with surprise.
“Really,” Alexei said. “I understand how you feel. I’ll take you.”
The young man grabbed the bag of food, and Alexei drove him about 2
miles (3 km) to the address. “Will you wait for me?” the young man asked. “Of course. I brought you.”
On the way back to the gas station, the young man marveled at Alexei’s
kindness. “In Poland, very few Christians stop and offer help, but you are a Ukrainian Christian and offered help,” he said. He introduced himself as Kamil. Alexei spoke about the love of God, and Kamil listened intently. As they arrived at the gas station, a coworker from Kamil’s workplace pulled
up to fix the scooter.
Alexei left. Kamil had help, and he could leave. Alexei was late to his appointment to meet his
wife—but it was worth it. He had been delayed by a divine appointment.
This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will go to the Trans-European Division, which includes Poland. Thank you for planning a generous offering.
Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School
mission offerings to spread the gospel worldwide. Read new stories daily at AdventistMission.org. 9Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. HAPPY SABBATH!!! Today is the Lords' Day.
Genesis 4:7 (KJV)
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 26:5 (KJV)
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Isaiah 56:1-2 (KJV) 1 Thus saith the LORD,
Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
for my salvation is near to come,
and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this,
and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it,
and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV) 13 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;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction
(Jeremiah 17:21-23 KJV)
The Bible holy day is the Seventh Day.
Genesis 2:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Exodus 20:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Leviticus 23:3
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Isaiah 58:
13 ¶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; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
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Does the papacy acknowledge changing the Sabbath?
It does.
The Catechismus Romanus was commanded by the Council of Trent and published by the Vatican Press, by order of Pope Pius V, in 1566. This catechism for priests says: "It pleased the church of God, that the religious celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to 'the Lord's day. Sunday.'" Catechism of the Council of Trent (Donovan's translation, 1867), part 3, chap. 4, p. 345. The same in slightly different wording, is in the McHugh and Callan translation (1937 ed.), p. 402.
Do Catholic authorities acknowledge that there is no command in the bible for santification of Sunday?
They do.
"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." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp. 72,73.
How did Sunday observance originate?
As a voluntary celebration of the Resurrection, a custom without pretense of Divine authority.
Who first enjoined Sunday keeping by law?
Constantine the Great.
"The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321 A.D., enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor." Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., art. "Sunday".
By what church council was the observance of the seventh day forbidden and Sunday observance enjoined?
The Council of Laodicea, in Asia Minor, fourth century.
What kind of worship does the Saviour call that which is not according to God's commandments?
"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men." Matt. 15:9
Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1957), p. 50.
"Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
"Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
"Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?"Answer. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."
Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About (1927),p. 136.
"Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday .... Now the Church ... instituted, by God's authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made.
We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday."
Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society (1975),Chicago, Illinois.
"Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:
That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
"2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.
It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible."
"I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says,
Enright, C.S.S.R., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, Feb. 18,1884.
'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The Catholic Church says: 'No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.' And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church."
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Sabbath......*September 9–15 The Call to Stand
Sabbath afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Eph. 6:10–20; Deut. 20:2–4; Rom. 13:11–14; 1 Thess. 5:6–8; 1 Cor. 15:23, 24.
Memory Text: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10, 11, ESV).
Bleary-eyed, the servant stumbles out of his lodgings and sees an alarming sight—a large, well-equipped and hostile army with “troops, horses, and chariots everywhere.” Speaking to the prophet Elisha, he stammers out the news, along with his harried ques- tion, “ ‘Oh, sir, what will we do now?’ ”
Elisha responds, “ ‘Don’t be afraid! . . . For there are more on our side than on theirs!’ ” a response that fails to register in the face of his servant. Elisha, pulling him close, prays for him: “ ‘O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!’ ” The prophet’s prayer is answered immediately. The servant steps to the ramparts again, but this time the veil between the seen and the unseen lifts. He now sees not one army, but two. “The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire” (2 Kings 6:15–17, NLT).
In composing Ephesians 6:10–20, Paul prays for an enhanced vision for believers so that they will be able to see the full reality of the great controversy and to draw hope from what it reveals to them.
* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 16.Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the first workday of the week....or if you prefer, the RCC/"PROTESTANTS WHO ARE NO LONGER PROTESTING".....SELF MADE HOLY DAY......?????
Section 11
Life Only In Christ
Chapter 111.
Life Only In Christ
1. WHAT is the wages of sin?
"The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23.
2. Through whom only is there salvation from sin?
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under .heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12.
NOTE.-If men do not die, why should Christ die to save them from death? And what need of the resurrection and the second advent?
3. Why did God send His only begotten Son to this world?
"That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
4. What does Christ declare Himself to be?
"I am the way, the truth, and the life." John 14:6.
5. What does He say He gives to those who follow Him?
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." John 10:27,28.
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6. Upon what is the possession of this life conditioned?
"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." John 6:53.
7. In whom is the life eternal?
"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." 1 John 5:11.
8. Who only have this life?
"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." Verse 12. "He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24.
9. What is Christ therefore fittingly called?
"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." Col. 3:4.
THERE Is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
Thou dying Lamb! Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are saved, to sin no more.
E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.
Lord, I believe Thou hast prepared,
Unworthy though I be,
For me a blood-bought, free reward-
Eternal life for me.
There in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stam'ring tongue
Is ransomed from the grave.
WILLIAM COWPER.
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Protestant Confessions
Protestant theologians and preachers from a wide spectrum of denominations have been quite candid in admitting that there is no Biblical authority for observing Sunday as a sabbath.
Anglican/Episcopal
Isaac Williams, Plain Sermons on the Catechism , vol. 1, pp.334, 336.
"And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day .... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it."
Canon Eyton, The Ten Commandments , pp. 52, 63, 65.
"There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday .... into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters.... The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday."
Bishop Seymour, Why We Keep Sunday .
We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy Catholic Church."
Baptist
Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a paper read before a New York ministers' conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner , Nov.16, 1893.
"There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week .... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament absolutely not.
"To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years' intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question . . . never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated.
"Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history . . . . But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!"
William Owen Carver, The Lord's Day in Our Day , p. 49.
"There was never any formal or authoritative change from the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath to the Christian first-day observance."
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: sunday....September 10 Battle Speech
Study Paul’s ringing conclusion to his letter, Ephesians 6:10–20. What does Paul’s battle cry mean to us today, as combatants in the great controversy?
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Paul concludes Ephesians with a call to battle, urging believers to take their stand in the church’s war against evil (Eph. 6:10–20). He begins with an overarching exhortation to “be strong in the Lord” (Eph. 6:10), which he repeats as a call to “put on the whole armor of God” (Eph. 6:11). He supports this call by specifying a purpose (to be able to stand against the devil’s schemes, Eph. 6:11), and by offering a rationale: the battle is against powerful, spiritual forces of evil (Eph. 6:12). In a detailed way, Paul then reissues the call to arms. Believers are to “take up the whole armor of God” in order to stand firm in battle (Eph. 6:13, ESV), donning belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword (Eph. 6:14–17). Paul invites believers, now fully armed and ready to enter the fray, to do what soldiers on the ancient battlefield might do—and that is, pray (Eph. 6:18–20).
By echoing battle exhortations or eve-of-battle speeches in the Old Testament, Paul speaks of the church’s mission in terms of military conflict and weapons. Paul signals this in his first, overarching com- mand: “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10, NKJV).
Battle exhortations in the Old Testament (see, for instance, Deut. 20:2–4; Judges 7:15–18; 2 Chron. 20:13–20; 2 Chron. 32:6–8; Neh. 4:14, 19, 20) underline the idea that Israel’s success in battle does not depend on the superiority of its own weapons or an army that outnum- bers its foes. Rather, victory results from depending on the presence and power of God. The key to the Israelites’ success was not conf idence in themselves but firm trust in God’s power and His provision for their success. Paul makes bold use of these themes to exhort believers to be: (1) active in pursuing the church’s mission; (2) attentive to the unseen dimensions that impact their lives and witness; (3) cognizant of the divine provision for their success; and (4) always alert to the impor- tance of unity and collaboration among believers.
What should Paul’s warning that we fight not against flesh and blood but against supernatural enemies teach us about where our only hope of victory is?Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Remembering those who lost their lives on 9/11...........
May their loved ones be warmly comforted by our Lord Jesus!
Section 11
Life Only In Christ
Chapter 112.
The Intermediate State
1. By what figure does the Bible represent death?
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." 1 Thess. 4:13. See also 1 Cor. 15:18,20; John 11:11-14.
NOTE.-In sound sleep one is wholly lost to consciousness; time goes by unmeasured; and the mental functions which are active during consciousness are suspended for the time being.
2. Where do the dead sleep?
"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." Dan. 12:2. See also Eccl. 3:20; 9:10.
3. How long will they sleep there?
"So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." Job 14:12.
4. For what did Job say he would wait after death?
"If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." Verse 14.
5. Where did he say he would wait?
"If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness." Job 17:13.
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6. While in this condition, how much does one know about those he has left behind?
"His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." Job 14:21.
7. What becomes of man's thoughts at death?
"His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that
very day his thoughts perish." Ps. 146:4.
8. Do the dead know anything?
"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten." Eccl. 9:5.
9. Do they take any part in earthly things?
"Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Verse 6.
NOTE.-If one continued in consciousness after death, he would know of the promotion or dishonor of his sons. But Job says he does not know this. Not only so, but in death one loses all the attributes of mind,- love, hatred, envy, etc. Thus it is plain that his thoughts have perished, and that he can have nothing more to do with the things of this world. But if, as taught and held by some, man's powers of thought continue after death, he lives; and if he lives, he must be somewhere. Where is he? Is he in heaven, or in hell? If he goes to either place at death, what then is the need of a future judgment, or of a resurrection, or of the second coming of Christ? If the judgment does not take place at death, but men go to their reward at death, then their rewards precede their awards, and there would arise the possibility that some have at death gone to the wrong place, and must needs be sent to the other, after having been in bliss or torment for ages, perhaps.
10. What does the psalmist say about the dead praising God?
"The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." Ps. 115:17.
11. How much does one know of God when dead?
"For in death there is no remembrance of Thee." Ps. 6:5.
NOTE.-There is not even a remembrance of God. As already seen, the Bible everywhere represents the dead as asleep. If they were in heaven or in hell, would it be fitting to represent them thus? Was Lazarus, whom Jesus loved, in heaven when the Saviour said, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth"? John 11:11. If so, calling him to life was really robbing him of the bliss of heaven that rightly belonged to him. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus, recorded in Luke 16, was given to teach, not consciousness in death, but that in the judgment riches will avail nothing unless rightly and beneficently used, and that poverty will not keep one out of heaven.
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12. But are not the righteous dead in heaven?
"For David is not ascended into the heavens." Acts 2:34.
13. What must take place before the dead can praise God?
"Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isa. 26:19.
14. When did David say he would be satisfied?
"As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Ps. 17:15.
15. Were there to be no resurrection of the dead, what would be the condition of those fallen asleep in Christ?
"For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." 1 Cor. 15:16-18.
16. When is the resurrection of the righteous to take place?
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thess. 4:16.
NOTES.-If, as stated in Eccl. 9:5, the dead know not anything, then they have no knowledge of the lapse of time. "Six thousand years in the grave to a dead man is no more than a wink of the eye to the living." To them, consciousness, our only means of measuring time, is gone; and it will seem to them when they awake that absolutely no time has elapsed. And herein lies a most comforting thought in the Bible doctrine of the sleep of the dead, that in death there is no consciousness of the passing of time. To those who sleep in Jesus, their sleep, whether long or short, whether one year, one thousand years or six thousand years, will be but as if the moment of sad parting were followed instantly by the glad reunion in the presence of Jesus at His glorious appearing and the resurrection of the just.
It ought also to be a comforting thought to those whose lives have been filled with anxiety and grief for deceased loved ones who persisted in sin, to know that they are not now suffering in torments, but, with all the rest of the dead are quietly sleeping in their graves. Job 3:17.
Again, it would mar the felicity of one's enjoyment in heaven could he look upon earth and see his friends and relatives suffering from persecution, want, cold, or hunger, or sorrowing for the dead. God's way is best,-that all sentient life, animation, activity, thought, and consciousness should cease at death, and that all should wait till the resurrection for their future life and eternal reward. See Heb. 11:31,40.
SLEEP on, beloved! sleep, and take thy rest;
Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour's breast.
We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best-
Good night.
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Congregationalist
Dr. R. W. Dale, The Ten Commandments (New York: Eaton &Mains), p. 127-129.
" . . . it is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath - . . 'Me Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday .... There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday."
Timothy Dwight, Theology: Explained and Defended (1823), Ser. 107, vol. 3, p. 258.
" . . . the Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scriptures, and was not by the primitive Church called the Sabbath."
9
Charles Spurgeon
Jesus did not come to change the law, but He came to explain it. (Mt 5:17-20) and that very fact shows that it remains, for there is no need to explain that which is abrogated. Assuredly there was no abrogation of law.
It was a wonderful exhibition of its’ far reaching sovereignty and of its searching character. Once more, that the Master did not come to alter the law is clear, because after having embodied it in His life He willingly gave Himself to bear its penalty, though He had never broken it, bearing the penalty for us, even as it is written, “ “Christ hath redeem us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.”
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6 KJV). But because the law asked only what it ought to ask…namely perfect obedience and exacted of the transgressor only what it ought to exact, namely, death, as the penalty for sin, death under divine wrath, therefore the Saviour went to the tree, and there bore our sins, and purged them once for all. (Charles Spurgeon, Perpetuity of the Law of God. pp 4-7)
Dwight L. Moody: Now man may cavil as much as they like about other parts of the Bible, but I have never met an honest man that found fault with the Ten Commandments. Infidels may mock the Lawgiver and reject Him who has delivered us from the curse of the law, but they can’t help admitting that the commandments are right…they are for all nations and will remain the commandments of God through the centuries…The people must be made to understand that the TC are still binding, and that there is a penalty attached to their violation….Jesus never condemned the law and the prophets, but He did condemn those who did not obey them (See Mat 5:17-20) Dwight L. Moody, Weighed and Wanting pp 11,15,16
The Character of God and His Law……
God Law
Just…Rom 3:26 Rom 7:2; Eze 18:5
True….John 3:33 Neh 9:13
Pure….1 John 3:3 Ps 19:7,8
Light…1 John 1:5 Prov 6:23
Faithful….1 Cor 1:9 Ps 119:86
Good…Nahum 1:7 Rom 12:7, 16
Spiritual…1 Cor 10:1-4 Ro 7:14
Holy…..Is 6:3; 1 Pet 1:15 Rom 7:12
Truth…John 14:6 Ps 119:142, 151
Life….John 14:6 John 12:50; Mt 19:17
Righteousness…Jer 23:6 Ps 119:172
Perfect Deu 32:4; 2 Sam 22:31 Ps 19:7, James 1:26
Forever… John 8:35, Heb 13:8 Ps 111:8; Luke 16:17
Dr. Carl Bath quotes in his church dogmatics……”Where the Holy Day becomes a day of man, society and humanity wither away and the demons rule”…De Quervain
Todays' Sabbath school lesson: Monday.....September 11 Finding Strength in Christ
Paul ends his letter with a powerful call to battle that draws together themes and ideas important to the letter as a whole. He begins by announcing the overarching theme of the conclusion, offered in the tone of a commander’s battle cry: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph. 6:10, ESV). The rest of the passage (Ephesians 6:11–20) illustrates and unpacks this large theme.
Read again Ephesians 6:10–20. How do you see the reality of the great controversy, which involves literal supernatural powers, as central to Paul’s point? Why is keeping this crucial truth before us so important in our own daily walk with God?
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Paul identifies Christ as the Source of believers’ strength with his phrase “in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Eph. 6:10, NKJV) since “Lord” refers to Christ, as is consistently the case in Ephesians (Eph. 2:21; Eph. 4:1, 17; Eph. 5:8; Eph. 6:1, 21). “The Church’s strength lies in the almightiness of her risen Lord, the Captain of her warfare.”—G. G. Findlay, The Epistle to the Ephesians (New York: Ray Long & Richard R. Smith, 1931), p. 398.
Paul uses repetition in Ephesians 6:10, employing the synonyms power and might to underline his point: the power to be exhibited by the church is not inherent in believers but is derived. It comes from the Lord, from Christ. Paul summarizes here an important theme of the letter, God’s power shared with believers (Eph. 1:19–22; Eph. 2:4–6; Eph. 3:16, 17). Strength for every current and future conflict is to be found in believers’ solidarity with the resurrected and exalted Christ.
While the initial command announces Christ as active in providing strength to believers (Eph. 6:10), all three members of the Godhead are engaged in strengthening them for spiritual combat against evil. God (the Father) makes His own weapons available as the “armor of God” (Eph. 6:11, 13; compare Isa. 59:17). Earlier, Paul has identified the Spirit as active in strengthening believers. Paul prayed that God may grant you “to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (Eph. 3:16, ESV). Here, it is the Spirit who issues the sword, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17). Also, believers are to pray “at all times in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18, ESV). Paul wishes his hearers to understand that the triune God is fully engaged in equipping them to battle against these evil powers.Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the third workday of the week.
Section 11
Life Only In Christ
Chapter 113.
The Two Resurrections
1. WHAT comes to all men as the result of the fall?
"In Adam all die." 1 Cor. 15:22. See also Rom. 5:12.
2. Where do all go at death?
"All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." Eccl. 3:20.
3. In what condition is man while in the grave? "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;
for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge. nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Eccl. 9:10.
NOTE.-That is, man, when dead, has no use of the powers of mind or body. He cannot, therefore, while in the grave, praise God, or even think of Him (Ps. 6:5); for in the day he dies his thoughts perish. Ps. 146:2-4. See preceding reading.
4. What has been promised in order that man may be redeemed from this condition?
"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction." Hosea 13:14.
5. Through whom will come this redemption from the grave?
"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 1 Cor. 15:21,22.
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6. What would have been the result to the dead had not Christ procured their release from the grave?
"For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." Verses 16-18.
7. Why did God give His only begotten Son to the world?
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
8. What did the Sadducees in Christ's time deny?
"Then came to Him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is any resurrection." Luke 20:27.
9. How did Christ, from the Old Testament Scriptures, prove the resurrection?
"Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the
bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For He is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him." Verses 37,38.
NOTE.-That is, in view of the resurrection- of the fact that there is to be a resurrection- all live unto God. In His purpose, all are alive. It is in this sense that Paul speaks of God as the one "who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were." Rom. 4:17.
10. Under what illustration from nature are the resurrection and the final salvation of the righteous taught?
"That which thou sowest is not quickened, ~xcept it die." 1 Cor. 15:36. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." John 12:24.
NOTES.-The seed dies to spring forth into new life. In this we are taught the lesson of the resurrection. All who love God will spring forth to life, and live again through endless ages in the earth made new.
The Open Grave.- The truth of the resurrection has been forcibly illustrated by the following incident: In the city of Hanover, Germany, is a grave known as "The open grave." It is that of a woman, an infidel German princess, who died over one hundred years ago, and who, on her death-bed, gave orders that her grave should be covered with a great marble slab, weighing perhaps a ton, surmounting solid blocks of stone firmly bound together with clasps of iron, with this inscription placed on the lowermost stone of the tomb: "This grave purchased for eternity, must never be opened." But no human device can thwart the plans of God, or hinder the workings of life from Him. It happened, providentially no doubt, that a birch-tree seed was buried with the princess. Soon it began to sprout. Its tiny shoot, soft and pliable at first, found its way up through the ponderous stones of the massive masonry. Slowly and imperceptibly, but with irresistible power, it grew, until at last it burst the bands of iron asunder, and opened this never-to-be-opened grave, leaving not a single stone in its original position. What a rebuke to infidelity! and what a mute but striking promise that, erelong, in God's own time, all graves shall be opened, and the sleeping ones awake from their dusty beds!
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11. Where are the dead when they hear the voice of Christ calling them to life?
"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth." John 5:28,29.
12. How many distinct classes will have a resurrection?
"There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 24:15.
13. By what terms did Christ refer to the two resurrections?
"All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28,29.
14. When will the resurrection of the just occur?
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thess. 4:16. See also 1 Cor. 15:23.
15. When are the righteous to be recompensed?
"For thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Luke 14:14.
16. In what condition did David expect to rise?
"As far me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." Ps. 17:15.
17. What great contrast will be seen between the present body and the one to be put on in the resurrection?
"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in
corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body." 1 Cor. 15:42-44.
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18. After whose body will these resurrected ones be fashioned?
"We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body." Phil. 3:20,21.
19. What will the righteous do upon rising from the grave?
"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isa. 26:19.
20. In what words will their triumph over death and the grave be expressed? ,
"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:55.
21. How long will they live?
"Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." Luke 20:36.
22. How long do the other class wait after the first resurection before they are raised?
"And they [the righteous] lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Rev. 20:4,5.
23. What is to be their fate?
"And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Verse 9.
24. Who are to share this fate?
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Rev. 21:8.
25. What is the last enemy to be destroyed?
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Cor. 15:26. See Rev. 20:13,14.
26. How will the righteous ever afterward appear?
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." Matt. 13:43.
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Medieval Scholastic philosophers and theologians, such as Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Bonaventure, held that all the commandments are a part of the natural law and are therefore knowable to all thinking people. They maintained that God revealed the commandments to Moses to remind humankind of its obligations, easily forgotten because of original sin.
Actually, these scholars were echoing a similar idea expressed by early Fathers of the Church, such as Tertullian and Augustine, that the commandments had already been engraved on the human heart before they were written on the tablets of stone.
Parallels to the Decalogue are found in the laws of other ancient peoples. In Egyptian religion, for example, the observance of certain precepts (prohibitions against theft, murder, and injustice) was necessary for entrance into the shrine of Osiris, god and judge of the dead. Biblical scholars feel, however, that the Ten Commandments differ from the moral codes of other ancient religious systems in their explicit monotheism, their doctrine of God's awesome majesty and boundless goodness, and their extension of moral obligation to the most intimate and hidden desires of the human heart.
In the New Testament, all the commandments are mentioned but never in a list of ten.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her;—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
A Doctrinal Catechism by the Rev. Stephen Keenan, p. 174
“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act,… (A quotation from a letter written in November, 1895, by Mr. H. F. Thomas, chancellor to Carkinal Gibbons, replying to an inquiry as to whether the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath.)
WHO CHANGED THE
SABBATH SATURDAY TO SUNDAY?
Roman Catholic: No such law in the Bible "Nowhere in the bible do we find that Jesus or the apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is, the Seventh day of the week, Saturday. Today, all Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman] church outside the Bible." Catholic Virginian, Oct. 3, 1947
"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 sanctified." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp.72,73
"If protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath Day, that is Saturday. In keeping Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church." Albert Smith, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the cardinal in a letter of Feb. 10, 1920.
"Have you not any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?"
"Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the Seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority" Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed. p. 174
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Tuesday...September 12
The Great Controversy in Paul’s Letters
Read Romans 13:11–14, 1 Thessalonians 5:6–8, and 2 Corinthians 10:3–6. How do these verses compare with Ephesians 6:10–20? Why do you think Paul uses this kind of imagery?
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In his letters, Paul frequently employs military language and imagery, inviting believers to mimic exemplary, soldierly behavior. While Ephesians 6:10–20 represents his longest and most concentrated use, military lan- guage exhibits one of his major ways of understanding the gospel story. Having conquered the “rulers and authorities” at the cross (Col. 2:15, ESV), the exalted Christ now works out the results of that victory from His position as exalted Lord over the powers (Phil. 2:9–11). Recruiting His followers as combatants in the cosmic war, Christ leads the armies of light toward a grand day of victory (1 Cor. 15:54–58, 2 Thess. 2:8, Rom. 16:20). Gathering up Paul’s uses of military symbolism, we see that he understands the conflict between good and evil to be “a long-running cos- mic war: battles ebb and flow between two armies which face each other down through the ages until one wins the final confrontation.”—Peter W. Macky, St. Paul’s Cosmic War Myth: A Military Version of the Gospel (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1998), p. 1.
Paul’s frequent theme of cosmic war is also part of the fabric of Ephesians. In his call to arms (Eph. 6:10–20), Paul draws together ele- ments of the cosmic conflict, that he has already used: God’s empower- ing of believers with immense “power” (Eph. 1:18–20; Eph. 3:16, 20); Christ’s victory and exaltation over the powers (Eph. 1:20–23); believers as a resurrected army of the once-dead but now empowered by their identity with the exalted Christ and able to fight against their former, dark master (Eph. 2:1–10); the church’s role in revealing to the powers their coming doom (Eph. 3:10); the use of Psalm 68:18 to portray Christ as the conquering, divine Warrior (Eph. 4:7–11); and the call for believers to “put on” gospel clothing (see Eph. 4:20–24). When called to put on God’s “full armor,” we are well prepared to understand the central role of cosmic conflict, but, also, we are to remain firm in the assurance that we have of participating in Christ’s ultimate victory.
What are some of the ways that you personally have experienced the reality not only of this cosmic conflict but of the victory we can claim for ourselves in Jesus? Why is understanding His vic- tory for us so foundational to our hope and experience?Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the fourth workday of the week.....mittwoch.
Section 11
Life Only In Christ
Chapter 114.
Fate of the Transgressor
1. WHAT question does Peter ask regarding the wicked?
"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the
house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" 1 Peter 4:17.
2. What does the Bible say is the wages of sin?
"For the wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18:4.
Die: "To pass from physical life; to suffer a total and irreparable loss of action of the vital functions; to become dead; to expire; perish."- Webster.
3. What will be the character of this death?
"Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." 2 Thess. 1:9.
Destroy: "To unbuild; to break up the structure and organic existence of; to demolish; to spoil utterly; to bring to naught; to put an end to; to annihilate."- Webster.
4. How complete will be the destruction of the wicked?
"Fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matt. 10:28.
5. What does Christ say will befall those who do not repent?
"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Luke 13:3.
Perish: "To be destroyed; to pass away: to become nothing; to be lost; to waste away; to die."- Webster.
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6. How does the apostle Peter say they shall perish?
"But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in, their own, corruption." 2 Peter 2:12.
7. To what are the wicked in their punishment compared?
"But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away." Ps. 37:20.
Consume: "To destroy; as by decomposition, dissipation, waste, or fire."- Webster.
8. How does John the Baptist describe the destruction of the wicked?
"He that cometh after me is mightier than I, . . . whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. 3:11,12.
9. For whom does Christ say the fire which will finally destroy the wicked was originally prepared?
"Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt. 25:41.
NOTE.-This fire is called "everlasting" because of the character of the work it does; just as it is called "unquenchable" because it cannot be put out, and not because it will not go out when it has done its work.
10. What will be the result of this punishment?
"As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation." Prov. 10:25.
11. Will any part of the wicked be left?
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1.
12. What will then be their condition?
"For as ye have drunk upon My holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been." Obadiah 16.
13. Where will the place of the wicked then be?
"For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." Ps. 37:10.
NOTE.-It would be difficult to keep the wicked in eternal torment without any place for them, even, in which to exist.
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14. Where are both the righteous and the wicked to be recompensed?
"Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner." Prov. 11:31.
15. Do the wicked go directly to their punishment at death, or wait till the day of judgment?
"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished." 2 Peter 2:9.
16. To what are the present heavens and earth reserved?
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:7.
NOTE.-Both the present heavens and earth and sinners await the fires of the last day.
17. What will be the result of the fires of the last day? "Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of
God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." "The earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Verses 12, 10.
18. By what means does Christ say His kingdom is to be cleansed from sin and sinners?
"The; Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire." Matt. 13:41,42.
NOTE.-Satan and the wicked now have this world as their "place." In due time Christ will have it. He will cleanse it from sin and sinners, and restore it, that He may give it to the saints of the Most High for an everlasting possession. See Dan. 7:18,22,27.
19. When are the wicked dead to be raised to receive their final punishment?
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Rev. 20:5.
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20. Whence will come the fire that will destroy them?
"And they went up on the breadth of the earth. and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Verse 9.
NOTE.-This is called God's "strange act" and His "strange work,"- the work of destruction. Isa. 28:21. But by this means God will once and forever cleanse the universe of sin and all its sad results. Death itself will then be at an end- cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:14.
21. To what will this fire reduce the wicked?
"And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." Mal. 4:3.
NOTE.-The wicked are to be utterly destroyed- consumed away into smoke, brought to ashes. Having inseparably allied themselves with sin, they have forfeited the right to life and an immortal existence, and chosen the way of death and destruction. By their choice they have proved themselves worthless. For this reason they are compared to chaff, briers, thorns, etc. Their destruction will consequently be no real loss. "They will themselves have lost their opportunity to obtain eternal life; but by the way in which they used their probationary time they proved themselves unworthy of it. Their destruction will, in fact, be an act of love and mercy on the part of God; for to perpetuate their lives would only be to perpetuate sin, sorrow, suffering, and misery. Terrible, therefore, as this judgment will be, there will, in consequence of it, be nothing of value lost,- nothing lost worth saving. The experiment of sin will be over, and God's original plan of peopling the earth with a race of holy, happy beings will be carried out. 2 Peter 3:13.
22. What is this final destruction of the wicked called? "This is the second death." Rev. 20:14.
23. After the burning day, what will appear?
"Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for
new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter 3:13.
24. Where will the righteous then be found?
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Matt. 13:43.
25. What promise of the Saviour will then be fulfilled?
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Matt. 5:5. See also Ps. 37:11,29; Isa. 65:17-25; Dan. 7:18.
26. What universal song of praise will then be sung?
"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. 5:13.
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How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holydays?
By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church." Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine (1833 approbation), p.58 (Same statement in Manual of Christian Doctrine, ed. by Daniel Ferris [1916 ed.], p.67)
"The Catholic Church,... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.
" The Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.
"Is Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible and the 10 Commandments?"
"I answer yes".
"Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the 7th day, Saturday, for Sunday, the 1st day?"
"I answer yes".
"Did Christ change the day?"
"I answer no!" Faithfully yours, "J. Cardinal Gibbons" Gibbons' autograph letter.
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 Sunday for the Sabbath.
But this theory is 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."
John Laux A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies 1936, vol.1 p.51
What day is the Sabbath day?
Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemity from Saturday to Sunday."
Peter Geiermann, The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1946 ed.), p.50. Geiermann received the "apostolic blessing" of Pope Pius X on his labors, January 25, 1910.
"The Catholic Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.
In this matter the Seventh Day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant. The Catholic Universe Bulletin, Aug. 14, 1942, p.4
"The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church." Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today (1868), p. 213
Exodus 20: 8-11,
(8) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: (10) But the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the Seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Colossians 2:8 warns us to:
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
todays' Sabbath School lesson: Wednesday.....September 13 Standing on the Ancient Battlefield
Read through Ephesians 6:10–20, noting each time Paul uses some form of the verb stand. Why is this idea so important to him?
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We must understand Paul’s military metaphor in the context of the ancient battlefield. What did it mean to “stand” (Eph. 6:11, 13, 14)? Does the verb suggest a defensive-only posture? Battle speeches included in the writings of Thucydides, one of the great classical authors of battle literature, highlight three successive actions that must occur if a side is to be victorious: (1) soldiers must “close with the enemy,” which means they must march to meet their foes; then, (2) they must attack and “stand fast,” or “stand our ground,” fighting hand-to- hand with their foes; and finally, (3) they must “beat back the enemy” (see Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War [New York: E. P. Dutton, 1910], 4.10.1–5).
The key moment of an ancient battle occurred with the second of these three actions, when the two opposing phalanxes came crashing together in “a terrible cacophony of smashed bronze, wood, and flesh,” which ancient author Xenophon refers to as that “ ‘awful crash.’ ”—Victor Davis Hanson, The Western Way of War (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 152, 153. Standing firm, holding one’s ground at this strategic moment, was the great challenge of ancient battle. In the close combat that would ensue, each side would seek momentum for “the push.”
Paul’s call to arms reflects combat in which soldiers were “bunched together, giving and receiving hundreds of blows at close range.”—Victor Davis Hanson, The Western Way of War, p. 152. This is confirmed by Paul’s depiction of the church’s battle against its foes as a wrestling match (Eph. 6:12; see Thursday’s study) and in his use of an intensive form of the verb “to stand” in verse 13: “that you may be able to withstand in the evil day” (NKJV, ESV; emphasis added).
This is no relaxed stance! To “stand,” then, is to be vigorously engaged in battle, employing every weapon in close-order combat, a point obvious from the military imagery in Paul’s earlier exhortation to be found “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27, ESV).
Read Hebrews 12:4. How does this verse help encapsulate what it means to stand in the Lord? What is the corporate nature of this standing, as well?Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the fifth workday of the week....come sundown begins the preparation.
Section 11
Life Only In Christ
Chapter 115.
The Ministration of
Good Angels
1. OF what family does Paul speak in Ephesians?
"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Eph. 3:14,15.
2. By what name are the members of this family called?
"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord." Job 1:6. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." 1 John 3:1.
3. By what name are those composing the family in heaven commonly known to us?
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne." Rev. 5:11.
4. Did angels exist before the death of any of the human family?
"So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim." Gen. 3:24.
Cherub: "A creature of a sacred and celestial nature."-Gesenius.
5. Who witnessed the laying of the foundations of the earth?
"Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner-stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:6,7.
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6. How many of these beings did John see around the throne?
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne; . . . and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." Rev. 5:11.
7. What does Paul say of their number?
"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels." Heb. 12:22. See also Dan. 7:10.
8. Are angels of a higher order of beings than man?
"Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels." Ps. 8:5.
NOTES.-There are different orders of angels: "Cherubim" (Gen. 3:24); "Seraphim" (Isa. 6:2,6); "Archangel" (1 Thess. 4:16; Jude 9).
Some of their names are: "Michael" (Dan. 10:13,21; 12:1; Jude 9); "Gabriel" (Dan. 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19); "Uriel" (2 Esdras [Apocrypha] 4:1,36; 5:20. See 1 Chron. 15:5); "Ariel" (doubtless of angelic origin. See Ezra 8:16).
Michael means, "Who is like God," and hence is a fit title for Christ. Gabriel signifies, "The strength of God," an appropriate name for the angel or being who stands next to Christ (Dan. 10:21). Uriel means, "The light of God;" Ariel, "The lion of God."
9. Is Christ ever called an angel?
"Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared." Ex. 23:20. See verse 23; Acts 7:38; and margin of 1 Cor. 10:4. "The Angel of His presence saved them." Isa. 63:9. "Michael the Archangel." Jude 9. See also Dan. 12:1; 1 Thess. 4:16.
NOTE.-Angel means messenger. In Mal. 3:1, Christ is called "the messenger of the covenant."
10. What is said of the strength and character of the angels?
"Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, harkening unto the voice of His word." Ps. 103:20.
11. What description is given of Gabriel in Daniel?
"His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude." Dan. 10:6.
NOTE.-Similar descriptions are given of God, the "Ancient of days." in Dan. 7:9; and of Christ. "the Son of man." in Rev. 1:13-15.
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12. What was the appearance of the angel that rolled away the stone from the sepulcher at the resurrection of Christ?
"His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow." Matt. 28:3.
13. What shows that the angels sent to Abraham and Lot were real beings?
"And he [Abraham] took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat." " And he [Lot] made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat." Gen. 18:8; 19:3.
14. What reason does Paul give to encourage us to entertain strangers?
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Heb. 13:2.
15. In his dream at Bethel, what did Jacob see?
"And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angls of God ascending and descending on it." Gen. 28:12.
16. To whose authority are the angels subject?
"Jesus Christ: who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him." 1 Peter 3:21, 22.
NOTE.-In Joshua 5:13-15, Christ is called "captain of the Lord's host."
17. In what work are angels engaged?
"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? " Heb. 1:14.
18. What scripture indicates that each child of God has an accompanying angel?
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven." Matt. 18:10.
NOTE.-Another has said: "Christians who live in the light of God's countenance are always accompanied by unseen angels, and these holy beings leave behind them a blessing in our homes."
19. How is their watch-care over God's people expressed?
"The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them." Ps. 34:7.
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20. By what means were the three Hebrews protected while in the fiery furnace?
"I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. . . . Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him." Dan. 3:25-28.
21. When cast into the lions' den, how did Daniel say he had been saved from death?
"My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me." Dan. 6:22.
22. When surrounded by the Syrian host, what did Elisha say, and for what did he pray, to encourage his frightened servant?
"And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." 2 Kings 6:16,17.
23. What does the psalmist say of the chariots of God?
"The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels." Ps. 68:17.
24. By what means were the apostles delivered from prison?
"The angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth." Acts 5:19.
25. How was Peter delivered later?
"The angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. . . . And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. . . . They came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forth with the angel departed from him." Acts 12:7-10.
NOTE.-"What we call physical law is no obstruction to angelic ministrations. Bolts and bars and prison gates disappear at their volition, and dungeons like palaces shine in their presence. No place can be so dismal, no cavern so deep and dark, no Inquisition cell so hidden and fetid, no fortress so strongly guarded, that they cannot find quick and easy access, if a child of God is there."- "Footprints of Angels in Fields of Revelation," by E. A. Stockman, pages 74, 75.
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26. When Elijah was about to take a forty days' journey, how was he strengthened for it?
"And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God." 1 Kings 19:7,8.
27. After His forty days' fast and temptation in the wilderness, how was Christ strengthened?
"Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him." Matt. 4:11.
28. How was Christ strengthened while suffering in the garden of Gethsemane?
"And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him." Luke 22:43.
29. Are the angels interested in the plan of salvation?
"Which things the angels desire to look into." 1 Peter 1:12.
30. Are they interested in the conversion of men? "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." Luke 15:10.
31. Before whom are we said to speak?
"Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou
shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?" Eccl. 5:5,6.
32. For what must men give account in the judgment?
"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." Matt. 12:36. See also Eccl. 12:13,14.
33. Out of what will they be judged?
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Rev. 20:12.
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34. What shows that the actions of men are recorded?
"And the Lord harkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name." Mal. 3:16. See also Isa. 65:6; Jer. 2:22.
35. In the judgment how many angels minister before God?
"A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." Dan. 7:10.
NOTE.-Since the angels are our ministering spirits, and our lives are open before them, it is reasonable to infer that they make the record of our lives. Then when the books are examined, they will of necessity be present, to minister before God.
36. What does Christ promise overcomers?
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels." Rev. 3:5.
37. What protection has God promised His people during the seven last plagues?
"There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." Ps. 91:10-12.
38. When Christ comes, who will come with Him, and what will they do?
"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels." "And they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matt. 16:27; 24:31.
39. Where will all the saints then go?
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:17.
NOTE.-We shall then have the privilege of seeing and conversing not only with the good and blest of all ages, but with the angels who have ministered to us during our earthly pilgrimage.
O, MAY Thine angels, while I sleep,
Around my bed their vigils keep;
Their love angelical instil,
Stop every avenue of ill!
May they celestial joys rehearse,
And thought to thought with me converse.
BISHOP KENT.
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What power has claimed authority to change God's law?
The Papacy in Rome.
"The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even Divine Laws...The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth." Translated from Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca (Ready Library), "Papa", art. 2.
What part of the law of God has the papacy thought to change?
The Fourth Commandment.
"Catholics alledge the change of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, contrary, as it seemeth, to the Decalogue; and they have no example more in their mouth than the change of the Sabbath. They will needs have to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue." The Augsburg Confession (Lutheran), part 2, art. 7, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Harper), vol. 3, p. 64.
"It [the Roman Catholic Church] reversed the Fourth Commandment by doing away with the Sabbath of God's word and instituting Sunday as a holiday." N. Summerbell, History of the Christian Church (1873), p. 415.
Does the papacy acknowledge changing the Sabbath?
It does.
The Catechismus Romanus was commanded by the Council of Trent and published by the Vatican Press, by order of Pope Pius V, in 1566. This catechism for priests says: "It pleased the church of God, that the religious celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to 'the Lord's day. Sunday.'" Catechism of the Council of Trent (Donovan's translation, 1867), part 3, chap. 4, p. 345. The same in slightly different wording, is in the McHugh and Callan translation (1937 ed.), p. 402.
Do Catholic authorities acknowledge that there is no command in the bible for santification of Sunday?
They do.
"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." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp. 72,73.
How did Sunday observance originate?
As a voluntary celebration of the Resurrection, a custom without pretense of Divine authority.
Who first enjoined Sunday keeping by law?
Constantine the Great.
"The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321 A.D., enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor." Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., art. "Sunday".
By what church council was the observance of the seventh day forbidden and Sunday observance enjoined?
The Council of Laodicea, in Asia Minor, fourth century.
What kind of worship does the Saviour call that which is not according to God's commandments?
"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men." Matt. 15:9
Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1957), p. 50.
"Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
"Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
"Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?"Answer. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."
Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About (1927),p. 136.
"Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday .... Now the Church ... instituted, by God's authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made.
We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday."
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Thursday.....September 14
Wrestling Against Evil Powers
What do you judge to be Paul’s purpose in listing a variety of titles for the evil spiritual powers depicted in Ephesians 1:21, Ephesians 3:10, and Ephesians 6:10–20?
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Paul describes “our struggle” (Eph. 6:12, NRSV), using a Greek word for the competition between wrestlers (pale). Since wrestling was regarded as excellent preparation for battle, this is an appropriate description of the weapon-against-weapon and hand-to-hand combat that takes place when armies clash. Paul is emphasizing the reality of believers’ close struggle against the evil powers.
Ephesians 1:21
every ruler (or every rule)
(every) authority
every name named
Ephesians 3:10
the rulers
the authorities
Ephesians 6:12
the rulers
the authorities
(every) power
the cosmic powers over this present darkness
(every) dominion
the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places
every name mentioned
In his broad descriptions (“every name named,” Eph. 1:21, LEB; “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places,” Eph. 6:12, ESV), Paul does affirm that all evil and supernatural powers are subjugated to Christ (Eph. 1:21).
However, in any battle, it is never a good strategy to underestimate the forces on the opposing side. Paul warns that we do not just confront human enemies, but “spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12, NKJV), led by a wily general, the devil (Eph. 6:11).
However, while we must be on the alert against our powerful foes, we need not be daunted by them. God is present with us in the battle (Eph. 6:10) and has supplied us with the finest of weaponry, His own armor, the “armor of God” (Eph. 6:11; compare Isa. 59:15–17). He has placed at our disposal His truth, righteous- ness, peace, faith, and salvation, and the Holy Spirit (Eph. 6:13–17). With God going before us and our being equipped from head to toe in the armor He has supplied, we cannot fail (Rom. 16:20; 1 Cor. 15:23, 24; 2 Thess. 2:8).
What should the reality of these supernatural evil powers—against whom we, ourselves, are utterly helpless—teach us regarding why we must grasp hold of the Lord Jesus, who is not only greater than these powers but has already defeated them?Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Good Morning. Today is the preparation, the sabbath is drawing on.
Get out your Bibles, read .....sundaY IS A WORKDAY......IT IS the first working day of the week.
Genesis 4:7 (KJV)
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 26:5 (KJV)
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Isaiah 56:1-2 (KJV) 1 Thus saith the LORD,
Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
for my salvation is near to come,
and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this,
and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it,
and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV) 13 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;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction
(Jeremiah 17:21-23 KJV)
The Bible holy day is the Seventh Day.
Genesis 2:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Exodus 20:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Leviticus 23:3
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Isaiah 58:
13 ¶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; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Section 9
The Sabbath
Chapter 96.
The Sabbath in the New Testament
1. ACCORDING to the New Testament, what day immediately precedes the first day of the week?
"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." Matt. 28:1.
NOTE.-According to the New Testament, therefore, the Sabbath had passed when the first day of the week began.
2. After the crucifixion, what day was kept by the women who followed Jesus?
"And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.
3. What day is the Sabbath, "according to the commandment"?
"But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10.
4. What was Christ's custom respecting the Sabbath?
"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16.
5. In what instruction to His disciples did Christ recognize the existence of the Sabbath long after His ascension?
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." Matt. 24:20.
NOTE.-The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus occurred in the spring and summer of 70 A.D. The flight of the Christians took place three and one-half years earlier, or late in October, 66 A. D., following the arrival and sudden withdrawal of Cestius and his army. See readings in Chapter 68. of this book.
6. On what day did the Jews meet for worship?
"Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day." Acts 15:21.
7. On what day did Paul and Barnabas preach at Antioch?
"They came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day." Acts 13:14.
8. When did the Gentiles request that Paul should repeat the sermon he had preached at Antioch on the Sabbath?
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Verse 42.
9. On what day did Paul and his companions preach to the devout women at Philippi?
"And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Acts 16:13.
10. What was Paul's manner respecting the Sabbath?
"They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." Acts 17:1,2.
NOTE.-It was Paul's manner, as it was Christ's custom (Luke 4:16), to attend religious services on the Sabbath.
11. How did the apostle spend the working days of the week when at Corinth?
"After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; . . . and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tent-makers." Acts 18:1-3. See Eze. 46:1.
12. What did he do on the Sabbath days?
"And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Acts 18:4.
13. How long did he continue this work there?
"And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them." Verse 11.
NOTE.-Here, then, were seventy-eight Sabbaths on which Paul preached in one city. The record further says that he worked at his trade, and we may justly infer that Paul worked at tent-making just as many Sundays as he preached Sabbaths. If to these seventy-eight Sabbaths we add the three he spent at Thessalonica, the one at Philippi, and the two at Antioch, we have a record of eighty-four Sabbaths on which the apostle held religious services, while, so far as the record shows, he held only one meeting on the first day of the week, and that a night meeting, immediately following the Sabbath. See Acts 20. Evidently Sunday was not the Sabbath in Paul's day.
14. On what day was John in the Spirit?
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." Rev. 1:10.
15. Who is Lord of the Sabbath?
"The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28.
16. What, through the prophet Isaiah, does the Lord call the Sabbath?
"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day." Isa. 58:13.
17. Why does the Lord call the Sabbath His day?
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex.20:11.
18. Through whom did God create the world?
"God. . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, . . . by whom also He made the worlds." Heb. 1:1,2.
NOTES.-From beginning to end, the Bible recognizes but one weekly Sabbath,- the day upon which God rested in the beginning; which was made known to Israel at Sinai (Neh. 9:13,14); was observed by Christ and His apostles; and is to be kept by the redeemed in the world to come. Isa. 66:22,23.
The terms Sabbath, Sabbaths, and Sabbath days occur sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case but one refer to the seventh day. In Col. 2:16,17, reference is made to the annual sabbaths connected with the three annual feasts observed by Israel before the first advent of Christ.
The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in the four Gospels, and refer to the day on which Christ arose from the dead. See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19. The other two (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) refer to the only religious meeting held on the first day of the week after the ascension, in apostolic times, recorded in the New Testament and to a systematic accounting and laying by in store at home on that day for the poor saints in Judea and Jerusalem.
It is evident, therefore, that the Sabbath of the New Testament is the same as the Sabbath of the Old Testament, and that there is nothing in the New Testament setting aside the seventh-day Sabbath, and putting the first day of the week in its place.
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Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society (1975),Chicago, Illinois.
"Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:
That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
"2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.
It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible."
"I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says,
Enright, C.S.S.R., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, Feb. 18,1884.
'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The Catholic Church says: 'No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.' And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church."
Protestant Confessions
Protestant theologians and preachers from a wide spectrum of denominations have been quite candid in admitting that there is no Biblical authority for observing Sunday as a sabbath.
Anglican/Episcopal
Isaac Williams, Plain Sermons on the Catechism , vol. 1, pp.334, 336.
"And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day .... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it."
Canon Eyton, The Ten Commandments , pp. 52, 63, 65.
"There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday .... into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters.... The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday."
Bishop Seymour, Why We Keep Sunday .
We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy Catholic Church."
Baptist
Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a paper read before a New York ministers' conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner , Nov.16, 1893.
"There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week .... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament absolutely not.
"To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years' intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question . . . never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated.
"Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history . . . . But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!"
William Owen Carver, The Lord's Day in Our Day , p. 49.
"There was never any formal or authoritative change from the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath to the Christian first-day observance."
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Friday......September 15
Further Thought: “Our work is an aggressive one, and as faithful soldiers of Jesus, we must bear the blood-stained banner into the very strongholds of the enemy. ‘We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’ If we will consent to lay down our arms, to lower the blood-stained banner, to become the captives and servants of Satan, we may be released from the conflict and the suffering. But this peace will be gained only at the loss of Christ and heaven. We cannot accept peace on such conditions. Let it be war, war, to the end of earth’s history, rather than peace through apostasy and sin.”—Ellen G. White, Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, May 8, 1888.
How does Ephesians 6:10–20 relate to the book of Revelation? The passage exhibits the same basic view of last-day events, or eschatology, as the battle motif in the book of Revelation (see Revelation 12, Rev. 16:12–16, Rev. 19:17–21, Rev. 20:7–10). In both, the people of God are under attack by the enemy who is “in heavenly places” and “is active and powerful in the present aeon” (or age). In both, the people of God are encouraged by “the picture of the future aeon.” Further, “both scenarios explicitly point to the final battle when the enemy will be conquered completely after which the new aeon will be established forever,” a new age in which “the final glorious state of the people of God” and “the eternal doom of the enemy” will be evident (see Yordan Kalev Zhekov, Eschatology of Ephesians [Osijek, Croatia: Evangelical Theological Seminary, 2005], pp. 217, 233–235).
Discussion Questions:
Ê When have you most clearly confronted the powers of dark- ness? What have you found to be the most helpful strategies at those times?
Ë Informed by Ephesians 6:10–20, how would you minister to someone who seems especially oppressed by “the spiritual forces of evil” (Eph. 6:12, ESV)?
Ì How do we best discern and reject “the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11, ESV)? For example, how often do you feel ready to give up your faith because you feel that you are too sinful, too corrupt, to be saved? Who is putting that thought in your head—Christ or the forces of darkness? Especially at times like that, why must you claim many of the wonderful promises we have been given in Jesus?
102
Inside Story Finding the Right Words
By andrew Mcchesney
Alexei Arushanian, a 33-year-old Ukrainian national living in Poland, noticed a Bible and many other religious books in the apartment of the woman whose windows he was installing.
Alexei belonged to a group of church members who distributed Ellen White’s The Great Controversy. It was a difficult task with few receptive people, and he prayed for an opportunity to share a book in this home.
Then the woman, who was about 40 and lived alone, offered him a cup of tea. Alexei sat and sipped the tea as the woman went about her activi- ties. She sang as she worked. Alexei prayed about what to do. Finally, he spoke.
“I see that you love to read books,” he said.
“Yes, I really love to read,” she said. “You might have noticed that I don’t have a TV. I read all the time.”
The woman resumed working and singing.
Alexei had an idea. “Are you a Christian?” he asked.
“Yes, I sing in a choir at church,” she said.
“I also go to church, at Foksal 8,” Alexei said, giving the address of the
only Seventh-day Adventist Church in Poland’s capital, Warsaw. “I’m a Protestant. I’m a Seventh-day Adventist.”
Seeing that the woman was listening intently, Alexei grew bolder.
“I’d like to give you a gift, a book about the history of Christianity,” he said. “It’s really interesting.”
The woman agreed to look at the book.
As Alexei took his tools out to the car, he worried that she wouldn’t open the door when he returned with the book. But she welcomed him back in. She was visibly impressed with the handsomely bound volume, and she immediately began to leaf through it. From the expression on her face, Alexei could see that she didn’t agree with everything that she saw.
“It’s up to you to accept or reject what’s in the book,” he said.
The woman accepted the book, saying, “Thank you very much.”
The pair spoke a little longer, and Alexei was filled with joy when he left.
He was so happy that he had found a way to give her the book.
“I could have stayed silent,” he says. “But she had the right to decide whether to accept the book or not. My duty only was to offer it to her.”
This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will go to the Trans-European Division, which includes Poland. Thank you for planning a generous offering.
Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School missionofferingstospreadthegospelworldwide.ReadnewstoriesdailyatAdventistMission.Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the preparation, the sabbath is drawing on.
Get out your Bibles, read .....sundaY IS A WORKDAY......IT IS the first working day of the week.
Genesis 4:7 (KJV)
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 26:5 (KJV)
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Isaiah 56:1-2 (KJV) 1 Thus saith the LORD,
Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
for my salvation is near to come,
and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this,
and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it,
and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV) 13 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;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction
(Jeremiah 17:21-23 KJV)
The Bible holy day is the Seventh Day.
Genesis 2:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Exodus 20:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Leviticus 23:3
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Isaiah 58:
13 ¶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; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Section 9
The Sabbath
Chapter 96.
The Sabbath in the New Testament
1. ACCORDING to the New Testament, what day immediately precedes the first day of the week?
"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." Matt. 28:1.
NOTE.-According to the New Testament, therefore, the Sabbath had passed when the first day of the week began.
2. After the crucifixion, what day was kept by the women who followed Jesus?
"And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.
3. What day is the Sabbath, "according to the commandment"?
"But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10.
4. What was Christ's custom respecting the Sabbath?
"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16.
5. In what instruction to His disciples did Christ recognize the existence of the Sabbath long after His ascension?
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." Matt. 24:20.
NOTE.-The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus occurred in the spring and summer of 70 A.D. The flight of the Christians took place three and one-half years earlier, or late in October, 66 A. D., following the arrival and sudden withdrawal of Cestius and his army. See readings in Chapter 68. of this book.
6. On what day did the Jews meet for worship?
"Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day." Acts 15:21.
7. On what day did Paul and Barnabas preach at Antioch?
"They came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day." Acts 13:14.
8. When did the Gentiles request that Paul should repeat the sermon he had preached at Antioch on the Sabbath?
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Verse 42.
9. On what day did Paul and his companions preach to the devout women at Philippi?
"And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Acts 16:13.
10. What was Paul's manner respecting the Sabbath?
"They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." Acts 17:1,2.
NOTE.-It was Paul's manner, as it was Christ's custom (Luke 4:16), to attend religious services on the Sabbath.
11. How did the apostle spend the working days of the week when at Corinth?
"After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; . . . and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tent-makers." Acts 18:1-3. See Eze. 46:1.
12. What did he do on the Sabbath days?
"And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Acts 18:4.
13. How long did he continue this work there?
"And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them." Verse 11.
NOTE.-Here, then, were seventy-eight Sabbaths on which Paul preached in one city. The record further says that he worked at his trade, and we may justly infer that Paul worked at tent-making just as many Sundays as he preached Sabbaths. If to these seventy-eight Sabbaths we add the three he spent at Thessalonica, the one at Philippi, and the two at Antioch, we have a record of eighty-four Sabbaths on which the apostle held religious services, while, so far as the record shows, he held only one meeting on the first day of the week, and that a night meeting, immediately following the Sabbath. See Acts 20. Evidently Sunday was not the Sabbath in Paul's day.
14. On what day was John in the Spirit?
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." Rev. 1:10.
15. Who is Lord of the Sabbath?
"The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28.
16. What, through the prophet Isaiah, does the Lord call the Sabbath?
"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day." Isa. 58:13.
17. Why does the Lord call the Sabbath His day?
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex.20:11.
18. Through whom did God create the world?
"God. . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, . . . by whom also He made the worlds." Heb. 1:1,2.
NOTES.-From beginning to end, the Bible recognizes but one weekly Sabbath,- the day upon which God rested in the beginning; which was made known to Israel at Sinai (Neh. 9:13,14); was observed by Christ and His apostles; and is to be kept by the redeemed in the world to come. Isa. 66:22,23.
The terms Sabbath, Sabbaths, and Sabbath days occur sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case but one refer to the seventh day. In Col. 2:16,17, reference is made to the annual sabbaths connected with the three annual feasts observed by Israel before the first advent of Christ.
The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in the four Gospels, and refer to the day on which Christ arose from the dead. See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19. The other two (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) refer to the only religious meeting held on the first day of the week after the ascension, in apostolic times, recorded in the New Testament and to a systematic accounting and laying by in store at home on that day for the poor saints in Judea and Jerusalem.
It is evident, therefore, that the Sabbath of the New Testament is the same as the Sabbath of the Old Testament, and that there is nothing in the New Testament setting aside the seventh-day Sabbath, and putting the first day of the week in its place.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++==
Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society (1975),Chicago, Illinois.
"Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:
That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
"2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.
It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible."
"I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says,
Enright, C.S.S.R., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, Feb. 18,1884.
'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The Catholic Church says: 'No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.' And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church."
Protestant Confessions
Protestant theologians and preachers from a wide spectrum of denominations have been quite candid in admitting that there is no Biblical authority for observing Sunday as a sabbath.
Anglican/Episcopal
Isaac Williams, Plain Sermons on the Catechism , vol. 1, pp.334, 336.
"And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day .... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it."
Canon Eyton, The Ten Commandments , pp. 52, 63, 65.
"There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday .... into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters.... The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday."
Bishop Seymour, Why We Keep Sunday .
We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy Catholic Church."
Baptist
Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a paper read before a New York ministers' conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner , Nov.16, 1893.
"There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week .... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament absolutely not.
"To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years' intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question . . . never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated.
"Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history . . . . But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!"
William Owen Carver, The Lord's Day in Our Day , p. 49.
"There was never any formal or authoritative change from the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath to the Christian first-day observance."
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Friday......September 15
Further Thought: “Our work is an aggressive one, and as faithful soldiers of Jesus, we must bear the blood-stained banner into the very strongholds of the enemy. ‘We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’ If we will consent to lay down our arms, to lower the blood-stained banner, to become the captives and servants of Satan, we may be released from the conflict and the suffering. But this peace will be gained only at the loss of Christ and heaven. We cannot accept peace on such conditions. Let it be war, war, to the end of earth’s history, rather than peace through apostasy and sin.”—Ellen G. White, Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, May 8, 1888.
How does Ephesians 6:10–20 relate to the book of Revelation? The passage exhibits the same basic view of last-day events, or eschatology, as the battle motif in the book of Revelation (see Revelation 12, Rev. 16:12–16, Rev. 19:17–21, Rev. 20:7–10). In both, the people of God are under attack by the enemy who is “in heavenly places” and “is active and powerful in the present aeon” (or age). In both, the people of God are encouraged by “the picture of the future aeon.” Further, “both scenarios explicitly point to the final battle when the enemy will be conquered completely after which the new aeon will be established forever,” a new age in which “the final glorious state of the people of God” and “the eternal doom of the enemy” will be evident (see Yordan Kalev Zhekov, Eschatology of Ephesians [Osijek, Croatia: Evangelical Theological Seminary, 2005], pp. 217, 233–235).
Discussion Questions:
Ê When have you most clearly confronted the powers of dark- ness? What have you found to be the most helpful strategies at those times?
Ë Informed by Ephesians 6:10–20, how would you minister to someone who seems especially oppressed by “the spiritual forces of evil” (Eph. 6:12, ESV)?
Ì How do we best discern and reject “the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11, ESV)? For example, how often do you feel ready to give up your faith because you feel that you are too sinful, too corrupt, to be saved? Who is putting that thought in your head—Christ or the forces of darkness? Especially at times like that, why must you claim many of the wonderful promises we have been given in Jesus?
102
Inside Story Finding the Right Words
By andrew Mcchesney
Alexei Arushanian, a 33-year-old Ukrainian national living in Poland, noticed a Bible and many other religious books in the apartment of the woman whose windows he was installing.
Alexei belonged to a group of church members who distributed Ellen White’s The Great Controversy. It was a difficult task with few receptive people, and he prayed for an opportunity to share a book in this home.
Then the woman, who was about 40 and lived alone, offered him a cup of tea. Alexei sat and sipped the tea as the woman went about her activi- ties. She sang as she worked. Alexei prayed about what to do. Finally, he spoke.
“I see that you love to read books,” he said.
“Yes, I really love to read,” she said. “You might have noticed that I don’t have a TV. I read all the time.”
The woman resumed working and singing.
Alexei had an idea. “Are you a Christian?” he asked.
“Yes, I sing in a choir at church,” she said.
“I also go to church, at Foksal 8,” Alexei said, giving the address of the
only Seventh-day Adventist Church in Poland’s capital, Warsaw. “I’m a Protestant. I’m a Seventh-day Adventist.”
Seeing that the woman was listening intently, Alexei grew bolder.
“I’d like to give you a gift, a book about the history of Christianity,” he said. “It’s really interesting.”
The woman agreed to look at the book.
As Alexei took his tools out to the car, he worried that she wouldn’t open the door when he returned with the book. But she welcomed him back in. She was visibly impressed with the handsomely bound volume, and she immediately began to leaf through it. From the expression on her face, Alexei could see that she didn’t agree with everything that she saw.
“It’s up to you to accept or reject what’s in the book,” he said.
The woman accepted the book, saying, “Thank you very much.”
The pair spoke a little longer, and Alexei was filled with joy when he left.
He was so happy that he had found a way to give her the book.
“I could have stayed silent,” he says. “But she had the right to decide whether to accept the book or not. My duty only was to offer it to her.”
This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will go to the Trans-European Division, which includes Poland. Thank you for planning a generous offering.
Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School missionofferingstospreadthegospelworldwide.ReadnewstoriesdailyatAdventistMission.Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the holy sabbath day....the Lords' Day. The seventh day.
Get out your Bibles, read .....sundaY IS A WORKDAY......IT IS the first working day of the week.
Genesis 4:7 (KJV)
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 26:5 (KJV)
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Isaiah 56:1-2 (KJV) 1 Thus saith the LORD,
Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
for my salvation is near to come,
and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this,
and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it,
and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV) 13 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;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction
(Jeremiah 17:21-23 KJV)
The Bible holy day is the Seventh Day.
Genesis 2:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Exodus 20:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Leviticus 23:3
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Isaiah 58:
13 ¶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; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
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Congregationalist
Dr. R. W. Dale, The Ten Commandments (New York: Eaton &Mains), p. 127-129.
" . . . it is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath - . . 'Me Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday .... There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday."
Timothy Dwight, Theology: Explained and Defended (1823), Ser. 107, vol. 3, p. 258.
" . . . the Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scriptures, and was not by the primitive Church called the Sabbath."
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Charles Spurgeon
Jesus did not come to change the law, but He came to explain it. (Mt 5:17-20) and that very fact shows that it remains, for there is no need to explain that which is abrogated. Assuredly there was no abrogation of law.
It was a wonderful exhibition of its’ far reaching sovereignty and of its searching character. Once more, that the Master did not come to alter the law is clear, because after having embodied it in His life He willingly gave Himself to bear its penalty, though He had never broken it, bearing the penalty for us, even as it is written, “ “Christ hath redeem us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.”
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6 KJV). But because the law asked only what it ought to ask…namely perfect obedience and exacted of the transgressor only what it ought to exact, namely, death, as the penalty for sin, death under divine wrath, therefore the Saviour went to the tree, and there bore our sins, and purged them once for all. (Charles Spurgeon, Perpetuity of the Law of God. pp 4-7)
Dwight L. Moody: Now man may cavil as much as they like about other parts of the Bible, but I have never met an honest man that found fault with the Ten Commandments. Infidels may mock the Lawgiver and reject Him who has delivered us from the curse of the law, but they can’t help admitting that the commandments are right…they are for all nations and will remain the commandments of God through the centuries…The people must be made to understand that the TC are still binding, and that there is a penalty attached to their violation….Jesus never condemned the law and the prophets, but He did condemn those who did not obey them (See Mat 5:17-20) Dwight L. Moody, Weighed and Wanting pp 11,15,16
The Character of God and His Law……
God Law
Just…Rom 3:26 Rom 7:2; Eze 18:5
True….John 3:33 Neh 9:13
Pure….1 John 3:3 Ps 19:7,8
Light…1 John 1:5 Prov 6:23
Faithful….1 Cor 1:9 Ps 119:86
Good…Nahum 1:7 Rom 12:7, 16
Spiritual…1 Cor 10:1-4 Ro 7:14
Holy…..Is 6:3; 1 Pet 1:15 Rom 7:12
Truth…John 14:6 Ps 119:142, 151
Life….John 14:6 John 12:50; Mt 19:17
Righteousness…Jer 23:6 Ps 119:172
Perfect Deu 32:4; 2 Sam 22:31 Ps 19:7, James 1:26
Forever… John 8:35, Heb 13:8 Ps 111:8; Luke 16:17
Dr. Carl Bath quotes in his church dogmatics……”Where the Holy Day becomes a day of man, society and humanity wither away and the demons rule”…De Quervain
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Saturday......September 16–22 Waging Peace
Sabbath afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Eph. 6:10–20, 1 Pet. 4:1, 1 Pet. 5:8, Isa. 59:17, Isa. 52:8–10, 1 Thess. 5:16–18.
Memory Text: “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:16, 17, ESV).
In John Bunyan’s devotional classic, The Pilgrim’s Progress, written while he was in jail, Christian is escorted into a palace armory and shown “all manner of furniture [weaponry], which their Lord had provided for pilgrims, as sword, shield, helmet, breastplate, all-prayer, and shoes that would not wear out.
And there was here enough of this to harness [fit] out as many men for the service of the Lord, as there be stars in the heaven for multitude.” Before Christian departs, he is again escorted into the armory where “they harnessed [fitted] him from head to foot with what was of proof [impenetrable], lest, perhaps, he should meet with assaults in the way.”
Bunyan’s writing in 1678 recalls a document written some 1,600 years earlier by the apostle Paul, the Epistle to the Ephesians, also composed in prison. In it the great missionary apostle imagines a great army, the church, visiting God’s armory and suiting up in the divine panoplia, the Greek term for full, head-to-toe armor. God’s armory holds enough of the finest weaponry for every soldier in His army to be “clad with northern steel from top to toe,” as they set forth to wage peace in His name.
* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 23.Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Good Morning. Today is the first workday of the week...or if you prefer the RCC/Prot self made "holy day"......
Get out your Bibles, read .....sundaY IS A WORKDAY......IT IS the first working day of the week.
Genesis 4:7 (KJV)
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 26:5 (KJV)
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Isaiah 56:1-2 (KJV) 1 Thus saith the LORD,
Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
for my salvation is near to come,
and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this,
and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it,
and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV) 13 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;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction
(Jeremiah 17:21-23 KJV)
The Bible holy day is the Seventh Day.
Genesis 2:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Exodus 20:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Leviticus 23:3
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Isaiah 58:
13 ¶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; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
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Medieval Scholastic philosophers and theologians, such as Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Bonaventure, held that all the commandments are a part of the natural law and are therefore knowable to all thinking people. They maintained that God revealed the commandments to Moses to remind humankind of its obligations, easily forgotten because of original sin.
Actually, these scholars were echoing a similar idea expressed by early Fathers of the Church, such as Tertullian and Augustine, that the commandments had already been engraved on the human heart before they were written on the tablets of stone.
Parallels to the Decalogue are found in the laws of other ancient peoples. In Egyptian religion, for example, the observance of certain precepts (prohibitions against theft, murder, and injustice) was necessary for entrance into the shrine of Osiris, god and judge of the dead. Biblical scholars feel, however, that the Ten Commandments differ from the moral codes of other ancient religious systems in their explicit monotheism, their doctrine of God's awesome majesty and boundless goodness, and their extension of moral obligation to the most intimate and hidden desires of the human heart.
In the New Testament, all the commandments are mentioned but never in a list of ten.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her;—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
A Doctrinal Catechism by the Rev. Stephen Keenan, p. 174
“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act,… (A quotation from a letter written in November, 1895, by Mr. H. F. Thomas, chancellor to Carkinal Gibbons, replying to an inquiry as to whether the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath.)
WHO CHANGED THE
SABBATH SATURDAY TO SUNDAY?
Roman Catholic: No such law in the Bible "Nowhere in the bible do we find that Jesus or the apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is, the Seventh day of the week, Saturday. Today, all Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman] church outside the Bible." Catholic Virginian, Oct. 3, 1947
"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 sanctified." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp.72,73
"If protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath Day, that is Saturday. In keeping Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church." Albert Smith, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the cardinal in a letter of Feb. 10, 1920.
"Have you not any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?"
"Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the Seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority" Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed. p. 174
Todays' Sabbath school lesson: sunday.....September 17 The Church: A Unified Army
Read Ephesians 6:10–20. What is Paul saying about the kind of war- fare the church is engaged in? Is Paul primarily depicting just an individual believer’s spiritual battle against evil, or the church’s corporate war against evil?
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Victory in Greek and Roman warfare was dependent on the coopera- tion of the soldiers in a military unit and especially in their support for each other in the heat of battle. Individualism in battle was regarded as a characteristic of barbarian warriors, dooming them to defeat.
There are important reasons to support the idea that Paul, in line with this usual military understanding, is primarily addressing the church’s shared battle against evil in Ephesians 6:10–20: (1) The passage is the climax of a letter that is all about the church. It would be strange for Paul to conclude his letter with a picture of a lone Christian warrior doing battle against the foes of darkness; (2) At the end of the passage, Paul highlights Christian camaraderie in his call to prayer “for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18–20, ESV); (3) Most signifi- cant of all, earlier in the letter when Paul discusses the powers of evil, he places them over against the church, not the individual believer: “So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10, ESV).
Thus, Ephesians 6:10–20 does not portray a solitary, lone warrior confronting evil. Instead, Paul as a general addresses the church as an army. He calls us to take up our full armor and, as a unified army, vigorously and unitedly press the battle. Paul chooses to conclude his thoroughgoing emphasis on the church, which has included sustained descriptions of the church as the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22, 23; Eph. 4:1–16), the building/temple of God (Eph. 2:19–22), and the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:21–33), with a final metaphor, the church as the army of the living God. Since we are approaching “the evil day”
(Eph. 6:13), the final stages of the long-running battle against evil, it is no time to be fuzzy about our commitment to God or our loyalty to one another as fellow soldiers of Christ.
In what ways can we, as a corporate body, work together in the great controversy, in order to help each other in our struggles against evil, in whatever form it comes?
Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the second workday of the week.
Section 11
Life Only In Christ
Chapter 116.
The Dark Ministries
of Bad Angels
1. AGAINST whom do we wrestle?
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness [margin, wicked spirits] in high places [margin, heavenly places]." Eph. 6:12.
NOTE.-"The facts of history concur with the statements of revelation in forcing upon us the unwelcome conviction that the human race is subject to the malevolent influence of an organized and all-pervading demonism. Alike in the career of nations and in the phenomena of personal destiny the presence of demoniacal skill and power is often prominent, frequently dominant, always evil."- "Footprints of Angels in Fields of Revelation," by E. A. Stockman, page 2.
2. To what place were the angels that sinned cast?
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell [Greek, tartarus, a place of darkness], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." 2 Peter 2:4.
3. What is Satan himself called?
"The god of this world." 2 Cor. 4:4. "The prince of this world." John 14:30. "The prince of the power of the air." Eph. 2:2.
4. How numerous are these wicked spirits, or fallen angels?
"And He asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many." Mark 5:9.
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5. What is the chief occupation of Satan and his angels?
"And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted
of Satan." Mark 1:13. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8. See Rev. 12:9,12; 16:14.
NOTES.-"In undiminished possession of their intelligence and strength, they constantly assault us in every weakness, through every avenue, by every means, by methods foul or fair. . . . Whom they cannot destroy they cease not to worry, torment. They inspire evil tempers; arouse dark passions; instill ill will; beget malice, envy; impose care, fear, distrust; suggest deceit, fraud, and all the forms of crime." "Supremely do they revel in the criminal domain. They foster falsehood incite revenge, fan jealousy, beget quarrels, help on thefts, robbery, and arson, further divorces, plan defalcations, instigate murders. They run the saloons and edit the Police News."- "Footprints of Angels in Fields of Revelation," pages 9,10,22.
6. What are we admonished not to do?
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil." Eph. 4:26,27.
NOTE.-Those who give vent to anger or retain old grudges, who parley with temptation or tamper with vice, who indulge in intemperance, pride, foolishness, or levity, or give way to any other weakness, give place to the devil; that is, they give the devil an opportunity to work through them- give him an advantage over them. We should therefore close every avenue to Satan and his angels. We should suppress anger, be sober and watchful, and nip in the bud every prompting to sin.
7. What spirits stand ever ready to deceive and ruin those who are off guard or bent on going astray?
"And the Lord said, Who shall persuade [margin, deceive] Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? . . . And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so." 1 Kings 22:20-22. See 2 Thess. 2:10,11.
8. With what were many possessed in Christ's time?
"And they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils." Matt. 4:24.
NOTE.-Vampire-like, evil angels take possession of, and make their abode with, all over whose minds and bodies they can gain control. Only through Christ can this demoniacal captivity be broken. Until this is done, one in this condition is led captive by Satan "at his will." His self-control and power to resist temptation are gone. See 2 Tim. 2:26.
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9. How do evil spirits sometimes treat those thus possessed?
"And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him." Luke 9:42.
NOTE.-Those under demoniacal control are simply the sport and plaything of the evil spirits possessing and controlling them.
10. As we near the closing scenes of human probation, why may we expect an increase in demoniacal manifestations?
"Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Rev. 12:12.
NOTE.-Acquainted, as they are, with the laws of nature, Satan and his angels raise storms and scatter disease and death as far as lies within their power; and, as enemies of God, they likewise pervert the truth and disseminate error as far as possible. Far better, also, than the inhabitants of the world, do they know that the end of all things is fast approaching, and that their time to work is short.
11. Concerning what have we been definitely informed?
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." 1 Tim. 4:1.
12. What class of God's servants have evil angels, through wicked men, seemed to make special objects of attack?
"Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" Acts 7:52.
NOTES.-"Of all classes of men employed by the Heavenly Father in the work of redemption, none are more fiercely hated by the wicked angels than the whole line of the prophets; for from the first to the last they foretell the final and eternal overthrow and utter extinction of the 'powers of darkness,' the 'spirits of disobedience.'" - "Footprints of Angels in Fields of Revelation," page 14.
Evil angels also incite men and nations to war, and by this means divert their attention from things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and so take peace from the earth. Rev. 16:14. This will end in Armageddon.
"Familiar with the laws which govern mental conditions, the fallen hosts ply all their specious arts to excite personal suspicions and animosities, and to create national resentments and bloody conflicts, their chief delight being to compass the destruction of peace and the banishment of concord from the earth, to embitter the poor children of sin and sorrow against each other, and turn our world into an arena of strife and crime."- Id., page 22.
13. What will be the final doom of Satan and his angels?
"Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt. 25:41. "And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1. See Rev. 20:9.
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How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holydays?
By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church." Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine (1833 approbation), p.58 (Same statement in Manual of Christian Doctrine, ed. by Daniel Ferris [1916 ed.], p.67)
"The Catholic Church,... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.
" The Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.
"Is Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible and the 10 Commandments?"
"I answer yes".
"Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the 7th day, Saturday, for Sunday, the 1st day?"
"I answer yes".
"Did Christ change the day?"
"I answer no!" Faithfully yours, "J. Cardinal Gibbons" Gibbons' autograph letter.
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 Sunday for the Sabbath.
But this theory is 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."
John Laux A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies 1936, vol.1 p.51
What day is the Sabbath day?
Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemity from Saturday to Sunday."
Peter Geiermann, The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1946 ed.), p.50. Geiermann received the "apostolic blessing" of Pope Pius X on his labors, January 25, 1910.
"The Catholic Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.
In this matter the Seventh Day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant. The Catholic Universe Bulletin, Aug. 14, 1942, p.4
"The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church." Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today (1868), p. 213
Exodus 20: 8-11,
(8) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: (10) But the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the Seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Colossians 2:8 warns us to:
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Monday...September 18 Belt and Breastplate
How does Paul imagine believers beginning their preparation for the bat- tle against evil? Eph. 6:14; see also 1 Pet. 4:1, 1 Pet. 5:8, Rom. 8:37–39.
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Paul’s warning of an intense battle (Eph. 6:13) prepares readers for his final call to stand (his fourth, compare Eph. 6:11, 13) and is a detailed call to arms (Eph. 6:14–17). Paul describes the action of “girding up one’s waist” (compare Isa. 11:5). Ancient, loose-fitting garments needed to be tied up around the waist before work or battle (compare Luke 12:35, 37; Luke 17:8). Paul imagines the believer suiting up in armor as would a Roman legionnaire, beginning with the leather military belt with its decorative belt plates and buckle. From the belt hung a number of leather straps covered with metal discs, together forming an “apron” worn as a badge of rank for visual effect. It served the essential function of tying up the garments and holding other items in place.
Truth is not the believers’ own; it is a gift of God (compare salvation in Eph. 2:8). It is not, though, to remain abstract, a distant asset with- out any transforming impact on their lives. They are to “put on” God’s truth, to experience and use this divine gift. They do not so much pos- sess God’s truth as God’s truth possesses and protects them.
Paul next urges believers to put on “the breastplate of righteousness” (compare 1 Thess. 5:8). Like the belt of truth, it is of divine origin, being part of the armor of Yahweh in His role as the divine warrior (Isa. 59:17). The body armor used by soldiers in Paul’s day was made of mail (small, intertwined iron rings), scale armor (small, overlapping scales of bronze or iron), or bands of overlapping iron fastened together. This body armor or breastplate protected the vital organs from the blows and thrusts of the enemy. In an analogous way, believers are to experience the spiritual pro- tection offered by God’s protective gift of righteousness. In Ephesians, Paul associates righteousness with holiness, goodness, and truth (Eph. 4:24, Eph. 5:9), thinking of it as the quality of treating others justly and well, especially fellow church members.
In what ways have you experienced the idea that goodness, holi- ness, and truth can be a protection?Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the third workday of the week.
Section 11
Life Only In Christ
Chapter 117.
Spiritualism
1. WHAT is Spiritualism defined to be?
"A belief that departed spirits hold intercourse with mortals by means of physical phenomena, as by rapping, or during abnormal mental states, as in trances, or the like, commonly manifested through a medium; spiritism."- Webster.
Spiritism: "The theory that mediumistic phenomena "are caused by spirits of the dead."- Webster.
NOTE.-"The very central truth of Spiritualism is the power and possibility of spirit return, under certain conditions, to communicate with those in the material form."- N. F. Ravlin, Spiritualistic lecturer, of California.
2. Did this doctrine exist in ancient times?
"Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God." Lev. 19:31.
NOTE.-"The phenomenal aspect of modern Spiritualism reproduces all essential principles of the magic, witchcraft, and sorcery of the past. The same powers are involved, the same intelligences are operating."- F. F. Morse, in "Practical Occultism," page 85.
3. How does God regard sorcerers?
"And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers." Mal. 3:5.
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4. What does He say of the teachings of enchanters and sorcerers?
"Therefore harken not ye to. . . your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, . . . for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land." Jer. 27:9,10.
NOTES.-Rev. F. B. Meyer, of England, gives the following warning against dabbling in Spiritualism: "I have known several families that have been cursed by having recourse to clairvoyants and mediums. There are grave dangers in these things; and when occult powers are used for selfish ends, it is possible for men and women to be filled with evil spirits. as was the girl at Philippi. People are fools to play with the dregs of the spirit world."- Present Truth, Sept. 7, 1911.
"I am perfectly certain that the whole movement known as modem Spiritualism is in the hands and under the direction of the father of evil spirits; in other words, is thoroughly and unmistakably diabolical."- Dr. C. Williams, of London, England.
5. Before their entrance into Canaan, what instruction did Moses give Israel concerning these things?
"When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God." Deut. 18:9-13.
NOTES.-Whoever consults or has to do with mediums or any who profess to receive instruction or communications from the spirits of the dead, disregards this plain instruction, and places himself upon the enemy's ground. Ever since Satan told that first lie in Eden, when he denied that death would be the result of sin, in the very face of death itself he, working upon man's natural dread of death and upon his distress at the thought of being separated from loved ones, has been endeavoring to persuade men to believe that the dead are not dead, and that men do not die. Idolatry, heathenism, Spiritualism, occultism, and the whole brood of false isms of this kind, it will be noticed, deal very largely with death. This, of itself, indicates their origin, and should be a warning to all to let them alone- to have nothing whatever to do with them. They are from beneath, and not from above. However promising or pleasing they may be at first, they are downward and destructive in their tendency, and ultimately lead away from God, into unbelief of His Word and into sin. They promise life by denying death, and apparently "make good" Satan's lie m Eden, through the ministration and manifestations of evil angels representing themselves to be the spirits of the dead.
In a sermon on "Spiritualism an Imposture," Rev. T. De Witt Talmage said: "Spiritualism takes advantage of those who are weak and morbid with trouble. We lose a friend. The house is dark, the world is dark, the future seems dark. If we had, in our rebellion and weakness, the power to marshal a host and recapture our loved one, we should marshal the host. Spiritualism comes in at that moment, when we are all worn out by watching,- all worn out, body, mind, and soul,- and says: 'Now I will open that door; you shall hear the voices. Take your places around the table; all be quiet now.' . . . O, I hate Spiritualism, because it takes advantage of people when they are weak, and worn out, and morbid under life's bereavements and sorrows! . . . If Spiritualism had its way, it would turn the world into a pandemonium of carnality. It is an unclean and adulterous system."
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6. Under the theocracy of Israel, what was the law concerning witches and those who had familiar spirits?
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Ex. 22:18. "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death." Lev. 20:27.
NOTE.-This shows how dangerous and deadly everything of this character is in God's sight.
7. With what is witchcraft classed by Paul, and what does he say to those who are guilty of such things?
"Idolatry , witchcraft; hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies. . . . I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5:20-23.
8. What should one do if asked to inquire of a familiar spirit?
"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?" Isa. 8:19.
NOTE.-Giving the sense of this passage, Dr. Adam Clarke says: "Should not a nation seek unto its God? Why should you seek unto the dead concerning the living?" But this is exactly what Spiritualism teaches men to do,- to seek unto the dead concerning the living.
9. What instruction does the apostle John give touching this subject?
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God." 1 John 4:1.
10. By what are we to try them?
"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:20.
11. Should we allow ourselves to be influenced by signs or wonders performed by those who would try to lead us away from God and His law?
"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not harken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall wall after the Lord your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice." Deut. 13:1-4.
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12. How much do the dead know of what is going on among men?
"Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." Job 14:20,21.
13. Do the dead know anything?
"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything." Eccl. 9:5. "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Ps. 146:4.
14. What scripture forever precludes the idea that the dead come back to earth to communicate with the living?
"Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Eccl. 9:6.
15. Then when miracles are performed by spirits purporting to be those of our dead friends, to what shall we attribute them?
"For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles." Rev. 16:14.
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16. What will be one characteristic of last-day apostasies?
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." 1 Tim. 4:1.
NOTES.-The following items illustrate a condition widely prevalent:-
"'A lawyer with a national reputation, well known to me,' said J. L. Hall, of New York, 'never begins the preparation of a difficult case without getting "advice from the other side," as he describes the search. . . . Another distinguished man of New York City once asserted to me that he had his familiar spirit with which he talked as freely as with a human companion.'"- Washington Herald, May 8, 1911.
A noted Brooklyn divine some years ago, not realizing that he was voicing Spiritualistic views, gave expression to the following: "What are our departed Christian friends, who in this world had their joy in the healing art, doing now?- Busy at their old business. No sickness in heaven, but plenty of sickness on earth."- Christian Herald, July 8,1882.
Writing concerning "Communion With the Departed," General Booth, of the Salvation Army, said: "Through all my history, my personal intercourse with the spirit world has been but limited. I have not been favored with many visions, and it is but seldom that I dream dreams that impart either pleasure or profit; and yet I have a spiritual communion with the departed saints that is not without both satisfaction and service. And especially of late the memories of those with whom my heart has had the choicest communion in the past, if not the very beings themselves, have come in upon me as I have sat at my desk or lain wakeful on my bed in the night-season. Amongst these, one form, true to her mission, comes more frequently than all besides, assuring me of her continued partnership in my struggle for the temporal and eternal salvation of the multitudes- and that is my blessed, my beautiful wife!"- War Cry, Nov. 27, 1897.
"Dr. Joseph Parker, of the City Temple, London, has openly declared that he prayed to his departed wife every day. He said that he never came to the City Temple to preach without asking her to come with him. He further says: 'I encourage my friend to pray to his wife, and to pray God to ask her to come to his help. She will be more to him than twelve legions of unknown angels."- The Living Church, Nov. 14,1899.
"The emperor Nicholas . . . has fallen under the influence of a Spiritualist named Philipp, who rules the emperor to such an extent that His Majesty makes no important decision, even in relation to family life, without consulting his Spiritualistic guide."- Melbourne Age, Nov.15,1902.
In a statement given out Dec. 20, 1910, soon after the death of Mrs. Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, Mrs. Amelia Stetson, one of the leaders of the Christian Science Church of New York City, said: "Mrs. Eddy, who was the female Christ, will return to earth. I am watching and waiting for the manifestation of Mrs. Eddy in the semblance of human form. It may come today, it may come next week, it may not come for ten years, but it will surely come. . . . The millennium is at hand. Mrs. Eddy is not dead. She is still alive, and when she appears again on earth, it will be as herself- as Mary Baker Eddy."
"A message purporting to come from Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, through Mr. William T. Stead, the noted English journalist, shortly after the formers death, says, 'There is no death; all is life; all is freedom.'"- Signs of the Times, Feb. 28,1911.
And soon after Mr. Stead himself went down on the "Titanic," April 15,1912, Spiritualists in different parts of the world received numerous messages purporting to have come from him.
17. How does Satan deceive the people?
"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." 2 Cor. 11:14.
18. What role do his agents assume?
"Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness." Verse 15.
19. Will Satan and his agents attempt to counterfeit the coming of Christ, and work signs and wonders to confirm their pretentious claims?
"Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christ's, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matt. 24:23,24.
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20. What will be one of the last great signs performed by this means, to fasten men in deception?
"And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." Rev. 13:13,14.
21. What scripture shows that Satan is to work with special power and deceptive wonders just before Christ's second coming?
"Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." 2 Thess. 2:9,10. See also Rev. 12:12.
22. While many will be deceived by these wonders, and accept of the false Christ's that appear, what will those say who have maintained their love for the truth, and patiently waited for Christ's return?
"And it shall be said in that day, Lo, THIS is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: THIS is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:9.
23. What warning has been given us through the apostle Peter?
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8.
WICKED spirits gather round thee,
Legions of those foes to God-
Principalities most mighty-
Walk unseen the earth abroad;
They are gathering to the battle,
Strengthened for the last deep strife;
Christian, arm! be watchful, ready.
Struggle manfully for life.
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What power has claimed authority to change God's law?
The Papacy in Rome.
"The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even Divine Laws...The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth." Translated from Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca (Ready Library), "Papa", art. 2.
What part of the law of God has the papacy thought to change?
The Fourth Commandment.
"Catholics alledge the change of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, contrary, as it seemeth, to the Decalogue; and they have no example more in their mouth than the change of the Sabbath. They will needs have to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue." The Augsburg Confession (Lutheran), part 2, art. 7, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Harper), vol. 3, p. 64.
"It [the Roman Catholic Church] reversed the Fourth Commandment by doing away with the Sabbath of God's word and instituting Sunday as a holiday." N. Summerbell, History of the Christian Church (1873), p. 415.
Does the papacy acknowledge changing the Sabbath?
It does.
The Catechismus Romanus was commanded by the Council of Trent and published by the Vatican Press, by order of Pope Pius V, in 1566. This catechism for priests says: "It pleased the church of God, that the religious celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to 'the Lord's day. Sunday.'" Catechism of the Council of Trent (Donovan's translation, 1867), part 3, chap. 4, p. 345. The same in slightly different wording, is in the McHugh and Callan translation (1937 ed.), p. 402.
Do Catholic authorities acknowledge that there is no command in the bible for santification of Sunday?
They do.
"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." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp. 72,73.
How did Sunday observance originate?
As a voluntary celebration of the Resurrection, a custom without pretense of Divine authority.
Who first enjoined Sunday keeping by law?
Constantine the Great.
"The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321 A.D., enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor." Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., art. "Sunday".
By what church council was the observance of the seventh day forbidden and Sunday observance enjoined?
The Council of Laodicea, in Asia Minor, fourth century.
What kind of worship does the Saviour call that which is not according to God's commandments?
"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men." Matt. 15:9
Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1957), p. 50.
"Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
"Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
"Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?"Answer. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."
Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics Are Asked About (1927),p. 136.
"Nowhere in the Bible is it stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday .... Now the Church ... instituted, by God's authority, Sunday as the day of worship. This same Church, by the same divine authority, taught the doctrine of Purgatory long before the Bible was made.
We have, therefore, the same authority for Purgatory as we have for Sunday."
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Tuesday.....September 19
Shoes: The Church Wages Peace
A Roman soldier, preparing for battle, would tie on a pair of sturdy, military sandals. A multilayered sole featured rugged hobnails, help- ing the soldier hold his ground and “stand” (Eph. 6:11, 13, 14). Paul explains this military footwear with language from Isaiah 52:7, which celebrates the moment when a messenger brings the news that Yahweh’s battle on behalf of His people is won (Isa. 52:8–10) and peace now reigns: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace” (Isa. 52:7, ESV).
Review the eight times Paul highlights peace in Ephesians.Why does he use a detailed military metaphor when he is so interested in peace? Eph. 1:2; Eph. 2:14, 15, 17; Eph. 4:3; Eph. 6:15, 23.
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Paul celebrates peace as the work of Christ, “our peace,” the One who preaches peace “to you who were far off and peace to those who were near” (Eph. 2:14–17, ESV), drawing Jew and Gentile together into “one new humanity” (Eph. 2:15, NIV). By keeping alive the gospel story of Christ’s rescue and His creative work of peace, by celebrating His vic- tory past and looking toward the victory shout in the future, believers shod their feet and stand ready for battle. Like the messenger in Isaiah 52:7, believers are messengers proclaiming the victory of Christ and His peace.
Paul, however, does not wish us to understand his call to arms as a call to take up military weapons against our enemies. That’s why he describes believers as proclaiming “the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15). Nor does he wish believers to be combative in their relationships with others, since he has been emphasizing unity, edifying speech, and tenderheartedness (see especially Eph. 4:25–5:2). The church is to “wage peace” by employing the gospel arsenal of Christian virtues (humility, patience, forgiveness, etc.) and practices (prayer, worship). Such acts are strategic, pointing toward God’s grand plan to unify all things in Christ (Eph. 1:9, 10).
How does the following quote help us understand what Paul’s military imagery should mean in our lives as believers? “God calls upon us to put on the armour. We do not want Saul’s armour, but the whole armour of God. Then we can go forth to the work with hearts full of Christ-like tenderness, compassion, and love.”—Ellen G. White, [Australasian] Union Conference Record, July 28, 1899.
Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the fourth workday of the week....mitwoch......
Section 12
Christian Growth and Experience
Chapter 118.
Growth in Grace
1. HOW does the apostle Peter close his second epistle?
"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:18.
2. How may grace and peace be multiplied in believers?
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord." 2 Peter 1:2.
3. What is implied in a knowledge of God and Jesus Christ?
"And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John 17:3.
4. By what may we be partakers of the divine nature?
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter 1:4.
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5. What graces are we to add in our character building?
"Add to your faith virtue [courage]; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance [self-control]; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." Verses 5-7.
NOTES.-Faith is the first round in the Christian ladder, the first step Godward. " He that cometh to God must believe." Heb. 11:6.
But an inoperative faith is useless. "Faith without works is dead." James 2:20. To be of value, there must be coupled with faith that virtue, or courage of conviction, which impels to action.
To courage there needs to be added knowledge; otherwise, like the stumbling Jews, one may have a zeal, "but not according to knowledge." Rom. 10:2. Fanaticism is the result of such courage, or zeal. Knowledge, therefore, is an essential to healthy Christian growth.
To knowledge there needs to be added temperance, or self-control- self-government. See Acts 24:25, American Standard Version, and margin of Revised Version. To know to do good, and not do it, is as useless as is faith without works. See James 4:17. Instead of temperance, the Twentieth Century New Testament invariably says self-control.
Patience naturally follows temperance. It is well-nigh impossible for an intemperate person to be patient.
Having gained control of oneself, and become patient, one is in a condition to manifest godliness, or God-likeness.
Having become godly, kindness toward the brethren, or brotherly kindness, naturally follows.
Charity, or love for all, even our enemies, is the crowning grace, the highest step, the eighth round, in the Christian ladder.
The arrangement in this enumeration of graces is by no means accidental or haphazard, but logical and sequential, each following the other in natural, necessary order. The finger of Inspiration is seen here.
6. What is said of charity in the Scriptures?
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; . . . thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." 1 Cor. 13:4-7. "And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8. "Love covereth all sins." Prov. 10:12.
7. What is charity called?
"And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Col. 3:14.
8. What is the result of cultivating these eight graces?
"For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:8.
9. What is the condition of one who lacks these graces?
"But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." Verse 9.
10. What is promised those who add grace to grace?
"If ye do these things, ye shall never fall." Verse 10.
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Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society (1975),Chicago, Illinois.
"Regarding the change from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath to the Christian Sunday, I wish to draw your attention to the facts:
That Protestants, who accept the Bible as the only rule of faith and religion, should by all means go back to the observance of the Sabbath. The fact that they do not, but on the contrary observe the Sunday, stultifies them in the eyes of every thinking man.
"2) We Catholics do not accept the Bible as the only rule of faith. Besides the Bible we have the living Church, the authority of the Church, as a rule to guide us. We say, this Church, instituted by Christ to teach and guide man through life, has the right to change the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament and hence, we accept her change of the Sabbath to Sunday. We frankly say, yes, the Church made this change, made this law, as she made many other laws, for instance, the Friday abstinence, the unmarried priesthood, the laws concerning mixed marriages, the regulation of Catholic marriages and a thousand other laws.
It is always somewhat laughable, to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible."
"I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says,
Enright, C.S.S.R., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, Feb. 18,1884.
'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The Catholic Church says: 'No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.' And lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church."
Protestant Confessions
Protestant theologians and preachers from a wide spectrum of denominations have been quite candid in admitting that there is no Biblical authority for observing Sunday as a sabbath.
Anglican/Episcopal
Isaac Williams, Plain Sermons on the Catechism , vol. 1, pp.334, 336.
"And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day .... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it."
Canon Eyton, The Ten Commandments , pp. 52, 63, 65.
"There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday .... into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters.... The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday."
Bishop Seymour, Why We Keep Sunday .
We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy Catholic Church."
Baptist
Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, a paper read before a New York ministers' conference, Nov. 13, 1893, reported in New York Examiner , Nov.16, 1893.
"There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week .... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament absolutely not.
"To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years' intercourse with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question . . . never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated.
"Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history . . . . But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!"
William Owen Carver, The Lord's Day in Our Day , p. 49.
"There was never any formal or authoritative change from the Jewish seventh-day Sabbath to the Christian first-day observance."
Congregationalist
Dr. R. W. Dale, The Ten Commandments (New York: Eaton &Mains), p. 127-129.
" . . . it is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath - . . 'Me Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday .... There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday."
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Wednesday......September 20 Shield, Helmet, and Sword
When and how should believers as combatants in the great contro- versy use the shield, the helmet, and the sword? Eph. 6:16, 17.
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Paul’s shield is the large, rectangular shield of a Roman legionnaire. Made with wood and covered with leather, its edges curved inward to guard against attacks from the side. When soaked in water, shields were “able to quench . . . fiery darts” (NKJV), extinguishing arrows dipped in pitch and set on fire. Paul’s description of the “shield of faith” reflects the Old Testament use of the shield as a symbol of God, who protects His people (Gen. 15:1, Ps. 3:3). To take up “the shield of faith” (Eph. 6:16) is to enter the cosmic battle with confidence in God, who fights on behalf of believers (Eph. 6:10), supplies the finest weaponry (Eph. 6:11, 13), and who ensures victory.
At the same time, the Roman battle helmet was made of iron or bronze. To the bowl that protected the head were added a plate at the back to guard the neck, ear guards, a brow ridge, and hinged plates to protect the cheeks. Given the essential protection the helmet provided, “the hel- met of salvation” (Eph. 6:17) symbolizes the present salvation believers experience in solidarity with the resurrected, ascended, and exalted Christ (Eph. 2:6–10). To put on “the helmet of salvation” means to reject the fear of spiritual powers so common in the time and, instead, to trust in the supreme power of Christ (compare Eph. 1:15–23, Eph. 2:1–10).
The final item of armor is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17), referring to the Roman legionnaire’s short, two-edged sword. The usual battle tactic was to throw two javelins (not mentioned by Paul) and then draw the sword and charge, employing the short sword in a thrusting motion. The believers’ sword is “the sword of the Spirit” in that it is supplied by the Spirit, a weapon identif ied as “the word of God.” Paul steps forward as general and issues a call to arms, speaking promises of hope and victory from the divine Commander in Chief. It is these promises, issued in Ephesians 6:10–20, that constitute “the word of God” as the lead weapon in the battle against evil. The “word of God,” then, refers to the broad promises of the gospel that we find in the Bible.
Even if we might not like so many military images, what should this imagery teach us about just how literal the great controversy really is and how seriously we should take it?Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the fifth workday of the week.....come sundown begins the preparation...a man can not change that!!!
Section 12
Christian Growth and Experience
Chapter 119.
The Christian Armor
1. WHAT power was to make war upon the remnant church prior to the second advent?
"And the dragon [Satan] 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." Rev. 12:17.
2. What reward is promised to the overcomer?
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. 2:7. See also Rev. 2:11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 21. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things." Rev. 21:7.
3. Through whom are we able to conquer?
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." Rom. 8:37.
4. Who was the invisible leader of the armies of Israel?
"Behold, there stood a man over against him with His sword drawn in His hand: and Joshua went unto Him, and said unto Him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And He said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come." Joshua 5:13,14. See also 1 Cor. 10:1-4.
5. What is the character of the Christian's weapons of warfare?
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." 2 Cor. 10:4.
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6. What are these weapons able to conquer?
"Casting down, imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Verse 5.
7. What are we to put on?
"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Eph. 6:11.
8. With what kind of forces do we have to contend?
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Verse 12.
NOTE.-The margin says, "wicked spirits" in "heavenly" places.
9. What are the first essentials of the needed armor?
"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness." Verse 14.
10. What is the truth with which one's loins should be girded?
"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth." "I am the way, the truth." John 17:17; 14:6.
11. What is meant by having the loins girded?
"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind." 1 Peter 1:13.
12. What is the righteousness of which the breastplate is composed?
"My tongue shall speak of Thy word: for all Thy commandments are righteousness." Ps. 119:172. "And this is His name whereby lie shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness." Jer. 23:6. See Rom. 13:14; 1 Thess. 5:8.
13. With what are the feet to be shod?
"And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Eph. 6:15. See also Eph. 2:14; James 3:18.
14. What piece of armor is next mentioned as necessary?
"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Eph. 6:16 See 1 John 5:4; Heb. 11:6.
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15. What armor is to be put on as a protection to the head?
"And take the helmet of salvation." Eph. 6:17.
NOTE.-In 1 Thess. 5:8 the helmet is called "the hope of salvation." The helmet was worn to protect the head. So the hope of salvation will preserve the courage, and thus aid in protecting the spiritual life of the Christian pilgrim when beset by the enemy of righteousness.
16. With what sword is the Christian soldier to be armed?
"The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Eph. 6:17.
NOTE.-By this Christ defeated the enemy. See Matt. 4:1-1; Luke 4:1-13. But no one can use this sword who does not know it. Hence, the importance of studying and knowing the Bible.
17. In what words are the courage, faithfulness, and loyalty of the remnant church expressed?
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Rev. 12:11.
18. Will Christ's loyal soldiers be victorious under Him?
"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." Rev. 15:2.
SOLDIERS of Christ, arise,
And put your armor on;
Fight, for the battle will be ours;
We fight to win a crown.
We fight not against flesh,
We wrestle not with blood;
But principalities and powers,
And for the truth of God.
With wicked spirits, too,
That in high places stand,
Perverting oft the Word of God,
And say 'tis by command.
Put all the armor on,
Like valiant soldiers stand;
Let all your loins be girt with truth,
Waiting our Lord's command.
While Jesus is our friend,
And His rich grace supplies,
We'll march like valiant soldiers on:
We're sure to win the prize.
The battle's almost o'er;
The race is nearly run;
Then with our glorious, conquering King
We'll sit down on His throne.
CHARLES WESLEY.
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Timothy Dwight, Theology: Explained and Defended (1823), Ser. 107, vol. 3, p. 258.
" . . . the Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is not in the Scriptures, and was not by the primitive Church called the Sabbath."
9
Charles Spurgeon
Jesus did not come to change the law, but He came to explain it. (Mt 5:17-20) and that very fact shows that it remains, for there is no need to explain that which is abrogated. Assuredly there was no abrogation of law.
It was a wonderful exhibition of its’ far reaching sovereignty and of its searching character. Once more, that the Master did not come to alter the law is clear, because after having embodied it in His life He willingly gave Himself to bear its penalty, though He had never broken it, bearing the penalty for us, even as it is written, “ “Christ hath redeem us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.”
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6 KJV). But because the law asked only what it ought to ask…namely perfect obedience and exacted of the transgressor only what it ought to exact, namely, death, as the penalty for sin, death under divine wrath, therefore the Saviour went to the tree, and there bore our sins, and purged them once for all. (Charles Spurgeon, Perpetuity of the Law of God. pp 4-7)
Dwight L. Moody: Now man may cavil as much as they like about other parts of the Bible, but I have never met an honest man that found fault with the Ten Commandments. Infidels may mock the Lawgiver and reject Him who has delivered us from the curse of the law, but they can’t help admitting that the commandments are right…they are for all nations and will remain the commandments of God through the centuries…The people must be made to understand that the TC are still binding, and that there is a penalty attached to their violation….Jesus never condemned the law and the prophets, but He did condemn those who did not obey them (See Mat 5:17-20) Dwight L. Moody, Weighed and Wanting pp 11,15,16
The Character of God and His Law……
God Law
Just…Rom 3:26 Rom 7:2; Eze 18:5
True….John 3:33 Neh 9:13
Pure….1 John 3:3 Ps 19:7,8
Light…1 John 1:5 Prov 6:23
Faithful….1 Cor 1:9 Ps 119:86
Good…Nahum 1:7 Rom 12:7, 16
Spiritual…1 Cor 10:1-4 Ro 7:14
Holy…..Is 6:3; 1 Pet 1:15 Rom 7:12
Truth…John 14:6 Ps 119:142, 151
Life….John 14:6 John 12:50; Mt 19:17
Righteousness…Jer 23:6 Ps 119:172
Perfect Deu 32:4; 2 Sam 22:31 Ps 19:7, James 1:26
Forever… John 8:35, Heb 13:8 Ps 111:8; Luke 16:17
Dr. Carl Bath quotes in his church dogmatics……”Where the Holy Day becomes a day of man, society and humanity wither away and the demons rule”…De Quervain
Todays' Sabbath school lesson: Thursday.....September 21
Practicing Battlefield Prayer
In concluding his battle exhortation, Paul urges believers as soldiers to participate in crucial, continuing prayer “for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18, NKJV) and for himself as imprisoned ambassador (Eph. 6:19, 20). This call to prayer can be seen as an extension of the military imagery, since calling out to God (or to the gods) in prayer was a common practice on the ancient battlefield. To cite a biblical example: following the battle exhortation of Jahaziel, Jehoshaphat leads “all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem” in falling down “before the Lord, worshiping the Lord” (2 Chron. 20:18, ESV). While prayer is not a seventh piece of armor, it is an integral part of Paul’s battle exhortation and military metaphor.
In the first of two prayer requests, Paul asks the addressees to par- ticipate in fervent, urgent, and perseverant prayer “for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18, NKJV). If the church is to be successful in its battle against the powers of evil, it will need to practice dependence on God through Spirit-inspired prayer.
Paul’s second prayer request is for himself: “and also for me” (Eph. 6:19, ESV). He asks for prayer that God might grant him the right message (“that words may be given to me”), at the right time (“in opening my mouth”), delivered in the right way (“boldly to proclaim”), and addressing a most important theme, “the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19, ESV). This last phrase refers to what we might call the “open secret” of God’s intervention in Christ to redeem Gentiles along with Jews (see Eph. 3:1–13), creating “one new humanity” (Eph. 2:15, NIV; see also Eph. 2:11–22) as a signal of the overarching plan “to unite all things” in Christ (Eph. 1:10, ESV).
Review the following “calls to prayer” in the New Testament. Which one inspires you most? Why? Luke 18:1–8, Phil. 4:6, Col. 4:2, 1 Thess. 5:16–18.
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Why are believers so often urged to participate in earnest, persevering prayer? Paul’s military metaphor suggests two answers: (1) the threat of spiritual battle against an array of supernatural enemies is dire and real; and (2) God’s promises of spiritual strength and victory are illustrated through Paul’s military imagery (Eph. 6:10–17). Earnest, persevering prayer provides opportunity for us to listen carefully to these promises, to celebrate them, and to thank God for the resources of His grace.Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the preparation, the sabbath is drawing on.....
Genesis 4:7 (KJV)
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 26:5 (KJV)
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Isaiah 56:1-2 (KJV) 1 Thus saith the LORD,
Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
for my salvation is near to come,
and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this,
and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it,
and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV) 13 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;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction
(Jeremiah 17:21-23 KJV)
The Bible holy day is the Seventh Day.
Genesis 2:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Exodus 20:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Leviticus 23:3
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Isaiah 58:
13 ¶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; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Section 9
The Sabbath
Chapter 96.
The Sabbath in the New Testament
1. ACCORDING to the New Testament, what day immediately precedes the first day of the week?
"In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." Matt. 28:1.
NOTE.-According to the New Testament, therefore, the Sabbath had passed when the first day of the week began.
2. After the crucifixion, what day was kept by the women who followed Jesus?
"And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.
3. What day is the Sabbath, "according to the commandment"?
"But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10.
4. What was Christ's custom respecting the Sabbath?
"And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." Luke 4:16.
5. In what instruction to His disciples did Christ recognize the existence of the Sabbath long after His ascension?
"But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day." Matt. 24:20.
NOTE.-The destruction of Jerusalem under Titus occurred in the spring and summer of 70 A.D. The flight of the Christians took place three and one-half years earlier, or late in October, 66 A. D., following the arrival and sudden withdrawal of Cestius and his army. See readings in Chapter 68. of this book.
6. On what day did the Jews meet for worship?
"Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day." Acts 15:21.
7. On what day did Paul and Barnabas preach at Antioch?
"They came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day." Acts 13:14.
8. When did the Gentiles request that Paul should repeat the sermon he had preached at Antioch on the Sabbath?
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath." Verse 42.
9. On what day did Paul and his companions preach to the devout women at Philippi?
"And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a riverside, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." Acts 16:13.
10. What was Paul's manner respecting the Sabbath?
"They came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." Acts 17:1,2.
NOTE.-It was Paul's manner, as it was Christ's custom (Luke 4:16), to attend religious services on the Sabbath.
11. How did the apostle spend the working days of the week when at Corinth?
"After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; . . . and because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tent-makers." Acts 18:1-3. See Eze. 46:1.
12. What did he do on the Sabbath days?
"And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." Acts 18:4.
13. How long did he continue this work there?
"And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them." Verse 11.
NOTE.-Here, then, were seventy-eight Sabbaths on which Paul preached in one city. The record further says that he worked at his trade, and we may justly infer that Paul worked at tent-making just as many Sundays as he preached Sabbaths. If to these seventy-eight Sabbaths we add the three he spent at Thessalonica, the one at Philippi, and the two at Antioch, we have a record of eighty-four Sabbaths on which the apostle held religious services, while, so far as the record shows, he held only one meeting on the first day of the week, and that a night meeting, immediately following the Sabbath. See Acts 20. Evidently Sunday was not the Sabbath in Paul's day.
14. On what day was John in the Spirit?
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." Rev. 1:10.
15. Who is Lord of the Sabbath?
"The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28.
16. What, through the prophet Isaiah, does the Lord call the Sabbath?
"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day." Isa. 58:13.
17. Why does the Lord call the Sabbath His day?
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex.20:11.
18. Through whom did God create the world?
"God. . . hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, . . . by whom also He made the worlds." Heb. 1:1,2.
NOTES.-From beginning to end, the Bible recognizes but one weekly Sabbath,- the day upon which God rested in the beginning; which was made known to Israel at Sinai (Neh. 9:13,14); was observed by Christ and His apostles; and is to be kept by the redeemed in the world to come. Isa. 66:22,23.
The terms Sabbath, Sabbaths, and Sabbath days occur sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case but one refer to the seventh day. In Col. 2:16,17, reference is made to the annual sabbaths connected with the three annual feasts observed by Israel before the first advent of Christ.
The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in the four Gospels, and refer to the day on which Christ arose from the dead. See Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19. The other two (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) refer to the only religious meeting held on the first day of the week after the ascension, in apostolic times, recorded in the New Testament and to a systematic accounting and laying by in store at home on that day for the poor saints in Judea and Jerusalem.
It is evident, therefore, that the Sabbath of the New Testament is the same as the Sabbath of the Old Testament, and that there is nothing in the New Testament setting aside the seventh-day Sabbath, and putting the first day of the week in its place.
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Medieval Scholastic philosophers and theologians, such as Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Bonaventure, held that all the commandments are a part of the natural law and are therefore knowable to all thinking people. They maintained that God revealed the commandments to Moses to remind humankind of its obligations, easily forgotten because of original sin.
Actually, these scholars were echoing a similar idea expressed by early Fathers of the Church, such as Tertullian and Augustine, that the commandments had already been engraved on the human heart before they were written on the tablets of stone.
Parallels to the Decalogue are found in the laws of other ancient peoples. In Egyptian religion, for example, the observance of certain precepts (prohibitions against theft, murder, and injustice) was necessary for entrance into the shrine of Osiris, god and judge of the dead. Biblical scholars feel, however, that the Ten Commandments differ from the moral codes of other ancient religious systems in their explicit monotheism, their doctrine of God's awesome majesty and boundless goodness, and their extension of moral obligation to the most intimate and hidden desires of the human heart.
In the New Testament, all the commandments are mentioned but never in a list of ten.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her;—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
A Doctrinal Catechism by the Rev. Stephen Keenan, p. 174
“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act,… (A quotation from a letter written in November, 1895, by Mr. H. F. Thomas, chancellor to Carkinal Gibbons, replying to an inquiry as to whether the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath.)
WHO CHANGED THE
SABBATH SATURDAY TO SUNDAY?
Roman Catholic: No such law in the Bible "Nowhere in the bible do we find that Jesus or the apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is, the Seventh day of the week, Saturday. Today, all Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman] church outside the Bible." Catholic Virginian, Oct. 3, 1947
"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 sanctified." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp.72,73
"If protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath Day, that is Saturday. In keeping Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church." Albert Smith, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the cardinal in a letter of Feb. 10, 1920.
"Have you not any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?"
"Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the Seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority" Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed. p. 174
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Friday.....September 22
Further Thought: “An army in battle would become confused and weakened unless all worked in concert. If the soldiers should act out their own impulsive ideas, without reference to each other’s positions and work, they would be a collection of independent atoms; they could not do the work of an organized body. So the soldiers of Christ must act in harmony. They alone must not be cherished. If they do this, the Lord’s people in the place of being in perfect harmony, of one mind, one purpose, and consecrated to one grand object, will find efforts fruitless, their time and capabilities wasted. Union is strength. A few converted souls acting in harmony, acting for one grand purpose, under one head, will achieve victories at every encounter.”—Ellen G. White, Spalding and Magan Collection, p. 121.
What is the significance of Paul’s labeling himself “an ambassador in chains” (Eph. 6:20, ESV)? Ambassadors often played challenging roles during wartime; so, Paul’s self-description fits the context of his military metaphor. Ambassadors were to be treated with the respect due the person or country that sent them. So there is stark contrast between Paul’s status as ambassador for the Supreme Ruler of the cosmos and the utter disrespect signaled by his chains (literally, “chain”). However, since ambassadors would wear a “chain of office,” Paul’s mention of a “chain” may be “spiced with irony,” in which he sees his chain as “a decoration to be worn with distinction.”—David J. Williams, Paul’s Metaphors: Their Context and Character (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1999), p. 152.
Discussion Questions:
Ê In your corner of a world divided and at war, what does it mean for you and your congregation to “wage peace”? How can we be agents of peace in a world so increasingly characterized by aggression and violence?
Ë What particular “fiery darts” are being hurled in your direc- tion? How can you ensure that the “shield of faith” is in place to extinguish them?
Ì We sometimes speak of “prayer warriors.” How might we con- duct “prayer ministry” based on Ephesians 6:18–20?
Í How should we treat those who are wounded on the battlefield of the great controversy? How should we treat the Christian believer who, in the heat of the battle, flees out of fear or openly capitulates to the other side?
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inside Story
Power of a Few Words
By andrew Mcchesney
When armed conflict erupted in his homeland of Ukraine in 2022, Alexei Arushanian was living safely across the border in Poland, where he had worked for several years installing windows in people’s homes. But he had many relatives in Ukraine, and he was worried about them.
He called relative after relative to check on their well-being and to see if he could help. “How are you, Aunt Lyuda?” he asked.
“All is fine, praise God,” she replied. “We are in hiding.”
She said her daughter, Nastya, and her young son were planning to join refugees spilling across the border to Poland. During normal times, the trip would have taken a day. But now the trip would take two to three days.
“Will they come to Warsaw?” Alexei asked. “Have them call me. They can stay with me as long as they need. I can meet them at the border.”
A short time later, another relative called from Ukraine to say that Nastya and her son were already in Poland. They had crossed the border and were staying with a Polish family who had opened their home to them. Many Polish people generously offered temporary housing to refugees.
Alexei called Nastya and promised to come for her and her son.
She and her son were waiting when Alexei drove up to the house. The 60-year-old owner of the house accompanied Nastya and her son to the car. Nastya waved goodbye as she got into the car, and Alexei opened the car trunk to place her and her son’s belongings inside. As the trunk lid opened, he saw several copies of Ellen White’s The Great Controversy inside. Alexei belonged to a church group that distributed the book, a difficult task with few receptive people, and he always kept several books in the trunk. Alexei grabbed a book. “I have a gift for you,” he told the 60-year-old man.
“What kind of gift?” the man asked, curiously.
“It’s a Christian book that contains the history of Christianity from the first Christians who defended the truth after Christ returned to heaven to the events that will occur at the end of the world,”Alexei said. “I think that you will find it interesting.”
The man accepted the book. Then he gave Alexei a big hug. “Thank you,” he said.
Alexei was overjoyed. He had not expected it to be so easy. “This was the will of God,” he says. “All I had to do was say a few words, and he took the book. I pray that he reads it and that his wife and children read it, too. I hope that he accepts it.”
This quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will go to the Trans-European Division, which includes Poland. Thank you for planning a generous offering next Sabbath.
Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School missionofferingstospreadthegospelworldwide.ReadnewstoriesdailyatAdventistMission.org. Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Good Morning. Today is the holy sabbath day.....the Lords' Day.
Genesis 4:7 (KJV)
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 26:5 (KJV)
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Isaiah 56:1-2 (KJV) 1 Thus saith the LORD,
Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
for my salvation is near to come,
and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this,
and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it,
and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (KJV) 13 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;
and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. 23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction
(Jeremiah 17:21-23 KJV)
The Bible holy day is the Seventh Day.
Genesis 2:
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Exodus 20:
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Leviticus 23:3
Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
Isaiah 58:
13 ¶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; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
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How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holydays?
By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church." Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine (1833 approbation), p.58 (Same statement in Manual of Christian Doctrine, ed. by Daniel Ferris [1916 ed.], p.67)
"The Catholic Church,... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.
" The Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.
"Is Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible and the 10 Commandments?"
"I answer yes".
"Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the 7th day, Saturday, for Sunday, the 1st day?"
"I answer yes".
"Did Christ change the day?"
"I answer no!" Faithfully yours, "J. Cardinal Gibbons" Gibbons' autograph letter.
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 Sunday for the Sabbath.
But this theory is 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."
John Laux A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies 1936, vol.1 p.51
What day is the Sabbath day?
Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemity from Saturday to Sunday."
Peter Geiermann, The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1946 ed.), p.50. Geiermann received the "apostolic blessing" of Pope Pius X on his labors, January 25, 1910.
"The Catholic Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.
In this matter the Seventh Day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant. The Catholic Universe Bulletin, Aug. 14, 1942, p.4
"The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church." Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today (1868), p. 213
Exodus 20: 8-11,
(8) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: (10) But the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the Seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Colossians 2:8 warns us to:
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Todays' Sabbath school lesson: Saturday...*September 23–29 Ephesians in the Heart
Sabbath afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Ephesians 1–Ephesians 6.
Memory Text: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8–10, NKJV).
Visitors to London climb on board the London Eye, a Ferris- wheel-like attraction. From 450 feet above the River Thames you can see it all: Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and the many historic palaces and cathedrals. For New Testament scholar Nicholas Thomas “Tom” Wright, “the letter to the Ephesians stands in relation to the rest of Paul’s letters rather like the London Eye. It isn’t the longest or fullest of his writings, but it offers a breathtaking view of the entire landscape. From here, as the wheel turns, you get a bird’s- eye view of one theme after another.”—Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters (London: S.P.C.K. [Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Publishing], 2004), p. 3.
In Ephesians, Paul is not focused on issues of local concern. The letter reads as though Paul were addressing believers everywhere and Christian churches wherever they exist. The letter’s timeless feel allows the “breathtaking view” Paul offers to invade our own world and thought. As we review each chapter, let’s keep this question in mind: What important truths embedded in Ephesians should continue to shape our lives as believers?
* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 30.Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the first workday of the week......the RCC and the Protestants...who no longer protest....call this day sunday....their self-made "holy day"
Section 12
Christian Growth and Experience
Chapter 120.
Walking in the Light
1. HOW important is it that we walk in the light when it comes to us?
"Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth." John 12:35.
NOTE.-It is important to settle a plain question of duty at once, and not delay obedience under the excuse of waiting for more light. To do as did Balaam- ask God again concerning that which He has plainly and expressly spoken- is dangerous. Nor should we, like the unbelieving Jews, seek a sign from heaven to convince us that we ought to obey the written Word. Has God spoken? Is it His word? Then obey. Do not insult Heaven with the question whether it is right to obey. If one gets an answer to such prayers, it will more than likely be a permission to have one's own chosen way of continuing in disobedience, the end of which is death. See 1 Kings 22:1-36; Eze. 14:1-5.
2. Upon what condition are we promised cleansing from sin?
"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7.
3. How long may the just expect increased light to shine upon their pathway?
"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." Prov. 4:18.
4. For whom is light sown?
"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Ps. 97:11.
NOTE.-The more earnestly one desires to know the will of God while living up to all the light he has, the more light and truth from God will shine upon his pathway. The fact that one has the evidence of his acceptance with God, is no proof that he has all the light there is for him. If light is sown for the righteous, such are the very ones who may expect advanced light to come to them, and to see new duties presented to them from a study of the Word of God.
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5. Who was told by an angel of God that his ways pleased the Lord?
"He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God." Acts 10:3,4.
6. Because Cornelius's ways pleased the Lord, was this evidence that he had nothing more to learn or do?
"And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the seaside: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." Verses 5,6.
NOTE.-The reason why the Lord favored Cornelius with a visit from one of His angels, was not because Cornelius knew the way of salvation perfectly, but because the Lord saw in him a sincere desire for more light, and a willing mind to comply with every known requirement. That spirit was pleasing to God, and He therefore opened the way for Cornelius to learn the whole truth from Peter, that he might be saved. God never changes. He does the same now with sincere, devoted persons. All may now receive advanced light, if, like Cornelius, they seek it, and are willing to walk in it when it comes to them. If it is neglected, they are guilty before God, and will be left to the buffetings of the enemy.
7. What will become of the light which one has if he fails to walk in it?
"The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness." Luke 11:34,35.
8. Why did Christ say that the sin of those who rejected Him remained?
"Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth." John 9:41. See also John 15:22.
NOTE.-With advanced light comes increased responsibility. Duty is always in proportion to one's light and privileges. Present truth always brings with It present duty. See reading on "Present Truth," chapter 30. of this book.
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9. Why are those condemned that do not come to the light?
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." John 3:19.
10. If one is really seeking for truth, what will he do?
"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." Verse 21.
11. What will those who reject light and truth, finally be led to believe?
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thess. 2:11,12.
NOTE.-The opposite of light is darkness; the opposite of truth is a lie. For those who reject light and truth, only darkness and error remain. God is sometimes in the Scriptures represented as sending that which he permits to come. See Ps. 81:12; 1 Kings 22:20-23; Rom. 1:21-28.
12. Who is the light of the world?
"I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12.
13. How are we to walk in Christ?
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him." Col. 2:6.
14. What has God given to guide our feet aright in the path of truth and duty?
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Ps. 119:105. See Prov. 6:23.
15. What does the entrance of God's word give?
"The entrance of Thy word giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." Ps. 119:130.
16. Who does Christ say will be blessed through the prophecies of the book of Revelation?
"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein." Rev. 1:3.
NOTE.-We are in the last days, in the generation that is to hear the final warning message contained in this book. See Rev. 14:6-10; 18:1-5. Those who accept this message are described as keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. See Rev. 12:17; 14:12; 22:14; and readings in chapters 56 thru 58. Now especially these chapters should be studied.
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17. May those who have once been led of God, be rejected by Him on account of unbelief?
"I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once
knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not." Jude 5.
18. Upon what condition only may we be made partakers of Christ?
"For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." Heb. 3:14. See Matt. 10:22; 24:12,13; Heb. 10:35-39.
WALK in the light! so shalt thou know
That fellowship of love
His Spirit only can bestow
Who reigns in light above.
Walk in the light! and thou shalt own
Thy darkness passed away;
Because that light on thee hath shone
In which is perfect day.
Walk in the light! and e'en the tomb
No fearful shade shall wear;
Glory shall chase away its gloom,
For Christ hath conquered there.
Walk in the light! and thine shall be
A path, though thorny, bright;
For God, by grace, shall dwell in thee,
And God Himself is light.
BERNARD BARTON.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What power has claimed authority to change God's law?
The Papacy in Rome.
"The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even Divine Laws...The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth." Translated from Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca (Ready Library), "Papa", art. 2.
What part of the law of God has the papacy thought to change?
The Fourth Commandment.
"Catholics alledge the change of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, contrary, as it seemeth, to the Decalogue; and they have no example more in their mouth than the change of the Sabbath. They will needs have to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue." The Augsburg Confession (Lutheran), part 2, art. 7, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Harper), vol. 3, p. 64.
"It [the Roman Catholic Church] reversed the Fourth Commandment by doing away with the Sabbath of God's word and instituting Sunday as a holiday." N. Summerbell, History of the Christian Church (1873), p. 415.
Does the papacy acknowledge changing the Sabbath?
It does.
The Catechismus Romanus was commanded by the Council of Trent and published by the Vatican Press, by order of Pope Pius V, in 1566. This catechism for priests says: "It pleased the church of God, that the religious celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to 'the Lord's day. Sunday.'" Catechism of the Council of Trent (Donovan's translation, 1867), part 3, chap. 4, p. 345. The same in slightly different wording, is in the McHugh and Callan translation (1937 ed.), p. 402.
Do Catholic authorities acknowledge that there is no command in the bible for santification of Sunday?
They do.
"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." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp. 72,73.
How did Sunday observance originate?
As a voluntary celebration of the Resurrection, a custom without pretense of Divine authority.
Who first enjoined Sunday keeping by law?
Constantine the Great.
"The earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty is a constitution of Constantine in 321 A.D., enacting that all courts of justice, inhabitants of towns, and workshops were to be at rest on Sunday (venerabili die solis), with an exception in favor of those engaged in agricultural labor." Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., art. "Sunday".
By what church council was the observance of the seventh day forbidden and Sunday observance enjoined?
The Council of Laodicea, in Asia Minor, fourth century.
What kind of worship does the Saviour call that which is not according to God's commandments?
"But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men." Matt. 15:9
Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1957), p. 50.
"Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
"Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
"Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?"Answer. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: sunday.....September 24 We Are Blessed in Christ
Someone has described Ephesians as the Alps of the New Testament. Paul, our mountaineering guide, takes us on a rapid ascent in Ephesians 1. We are quickly breathless and amazed at the view from the summit.
Reflect on Ephesians 1. What especially inspires you? What peaks do you see?
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Ephesians 1:3–14 functions like a map at a mountain’s summit that identifies the peaks on the horizon, as Paul orients us to our blessed place in the vast landscape of the plan of salvation. The scenery cov- ers the full span of salvation history, from eternity past, through God’s grace-filled actions in Christ, to eternity future. God’s redemption of believers reflects divine initiatives taken “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4), which are now being worked out in our lives (see Eph. 1:7, 8, 13, 14). These pre-Creation strategies will be fully accom- plished at the end of time (Eph. 1:9, 10). Then, “all things,” both “in heaven” and “on earth” will be gathered together or united in Christ, and God’s plan for “the fullness of time” (ESV) will be fulfilled (Eph. 1:10). Then, we will experience fully God’s mysterious plan (Eph. 1:9). In the present, we may be certain that the Christ-centered salvation in which we stand is an important part of God’s wide-reaching plan for the redemption of “all things.”
Being on a mountaintop inspires thanksgiving. In Ephesians 1:15–19, Paul gives thanks to God as he prays that believers may experience the salvation God has planned for them. We find ourselves on another steep climb as he points us upward to the risen, ascended, exalted Christ, who rules over every imaginable power for all time (Eph. 1:20–23).
Through the grace of God expressed in Christ Jesus, we may live this day on the mountaintop!
Ephesians 1:4 tells us that Christ “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (NKJV). Think about what that means. Chosen in Him before the world existed! What great hope should this offer you in regard to God’s desire for you to be saved?Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the second workday of the week.
Section 12
Christian Growth and Experience
Chapter 121.
Saving Faith
WHAT is faith?
"Faith is the substance [margin, ground, or confidence] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb. 11:1.
2. How important is faith?
"Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Verse 6.
3. How only can we truly know God?
"Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." Matt. 11:27.
4. In whom must we believe in order to be saved?
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
5. What challenge does the apostle James make as to the evidence that one has genuine faith?
"Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." James 2:18.
6. How did Abraham show that he had perfect faith in God?
"Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?" Verses 21,22.
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7. By what practical example does the apostle illustrate the difference between genuine, living faith, and a dead faith?
"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?" Verses 15,16.
8. How necessary are works in maintaining living faith?
"But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? . . . . For as the body without the spirit [margin, breath] is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Verses 20-26.
NOTES.-The apostle was not here arguing for justification or salvation by faith and works, but for a living faith- a faith that works. "There are two errors against which the children of God- particularly those who have just come to trust in His grace- especially need to guard. The first. . . is that of looking to their own works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with God. He who is trying to become holy by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. It is the grace of Christ alone, through faith, that can make us holy. The opposite and no less dangerous error is that belief in Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do with our redemption. . . . Obedience- the service and allegiance of love- is the true sign of discipleship. . . . Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience. We do not earn salvation by our obedience for salvation is the free gift of God, to be received by faith. But obedience is the fruit of faith. . . . That so-called faith in Christ which professes to release men from the obligation of obedience to God, is not faith, but presumption."- "Steps to Christ," pages 64-66.
Says Luther: "If Christ alone takes away sin, we cannot do so by all our works. But good works follow redemption as surely as fruit appears upon a living tree."- D' Aubigne's "History of the Reformation," book 2, chap. 6.
9. What does the hope of salvation lead one to do?
"And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." 1 John 3:3.
10. Upon what condition are we made partakers of Christ?
"For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." Heb. 3:14.
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11. Upon what conditions has God promised us cleansing and the forgiveness of our sins?
"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. . . . If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:7-9.
NOTE.-Intelligent faith as to what God will do for us touching any matter must be gained by what God's Word says concerning that point. No one can consistently hope for that which God has not promised. To expect that God will do that which He has never promised to do is only presumption. Faith is distinct from presumption. To have abiding confidence in the promise of God is faith; but presumption may rest entirely on feeling or desire. Feeling cannot therefore be relied on in the matter of faith. Faith is a pure belief, a confiding trust, in the promises of God, irrespective of feeling. This perfect trust enables one to surmount difficulties under the most trying circumstances, even when the feelings are depressed or well-nigh crushed.
12. Upon what, then, is genuine, saving faith based?
"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. 10:17.
13. What was the cause of Peter's sinking after he had started to meet the Saviour on the stormy sea?
"And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" Matt. 14:31.
NOTE.-The boisterous sea caused Peter to doubt the strength of Christ's word, "Come."
14. With what is it our privilege to be filled?
"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Rom. 15:13.
NOTE.-Faith may be strengthened by daily exercise. It is not some great thing, done once for all, that gives an individual faith; but an every-day, simple, childlike trust in God, and an implicit obedience to His Word. Some make faith a more difficult matter than God would have them, because they try to embrace too much at one time. They take on the burdens of tomorrow or next week, when the Lord supplies strength only for today. When tomorrow comes, grapple with its duties, but not until it does come. We should remember the precious promise, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." Deut. 33:25.
AWAY, my unbelieving fear!
Fear shall in me no more have place:
My Saviour doth not yet appear,
He hides the brightness of His face;
But shall I therefore let Him go,
And basely to the tempter yield?-
No, in the strength of Jesus, no;
I never will give up my shield.
CHARLES WESLEY.
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Medieval Scholastic philosophers and theologians, such as Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Bonaventure, held that all the commandments are a part of the natural law and are therefore knowable to all thinking people. They maintained that God revealed the commandments to Moses to remind humankind of its obligations, easily forgotten because of original sin.
Actually, these scholars were echoing a similar idea expressed by early Fathers of the Church, such as Tertullian and Augustine, that the commandments had already been engraved on the human heart before they were written on the tablets of stone.
Parallels to the Decalogue are found in the laws of other ancient peoples. In Egyptian religion, for example, the observance of certain precepts (prohibitions against theft, murder, and injustice) was necessary for entrance into the shrine of Osiris, god and judge of the dead. Biblical scholars feel, however, that the Ten Commandments differ from the moral codes of other ancient religious systems in their explicit monotheism, their doctrine of God's awesome majesty and boundless goodness, and their extension of moral obligation to the most intimate and hidden desires of the human heart.
In the New Testament, all the commandments are mentioned but never in a list of ten.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her;—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
A Doctrinal Catechism by the Rev. Stephen Keenan, p. 174
“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act,… (A quotation from a letter written in November, 1895, by Mr. H. F. Thomas, chancellor to Carkinal Gibbons, replying to an inquiry as to whether the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath.)
WHO CHANGED THE
SABBATH SATURDAY TO SUNDAY?
Roman Catholic: No such law in the Bible "Nowhere in the bible do we find that Jesus or the apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is, the Seventh day of the week, Saturday. Today, all Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman] church outside the Bible." Catholic Virginian, Oct. 3, 1947
"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 sanctified." James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (1917 ed.), pp.72,73
"If protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath Day, that is Saturday. In keeping Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church." Albert Smith, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the cardinal in a letter of Feb. 10, 1920.
"Have you not any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?"
"Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the Seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority" Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed. p. 174
How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holydays?
By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same Church." Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine (1833 approbation), p.58 (Same statement in Manual of Christian Doctrine, ed. by Daniel Ferris [1916 ed.], p.67)
Todays' Sabbath School lesson: Monday.....September 25
We Are Redeemed for Community
As you read Ephesians 2, seek to answer the following question: What has God done for us through His Son Jesus Christ?
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“But God. . . .” Those two words must be the most hope-filled ones known to humankind. In Ephesians 2:1–10, Paul describes the grim past of his audience. Sharing the plight of all humanity, they were bent toward rebellion against God, their lives dominated by sin and Satan (Eph. 2:1–3). “But God, who is rich in mercy . . . ”And what did God do for them and for us? (1) He made us alive with Christ—Christ’s resurrection is our own. (2) He raised us up with Christ—Christ’s ascension is our own. (3) In heaven, He seated us with Christ—Christ’s coronation is our own (Eph. 2:4–7). We are not just bystanders to the cosmos-shifting events of Christ’s life! God takes these remarkable actions, not because of any merit in us but because of His grace (Eph. 2:8, 9), and He intends believers to live in solidarity with Jesus and practice “good works” (Eph. 2:10).
If Ephesians 2:1–10 teaches that we live in solidarity with Jesus, Ephesians 2:11–22 teaches that we live in solidarity with others as part of His church. Jesus’ death has both vertical benefits, establish- ing the believer’s relationship with God (Eph. 2:1–10), and horizon- tal ones, cementing our relationships with others (Eph. 2:11–22). Through His cross, Jesus demolishes all that divides Gentile believers from Jewish ones, including the misuse of the Law to widen the gulf (Eph. 2:11–18). Jesus also builds something—an amazing, new temple composed of believers. Gentiles, once excluded from worship in sacred places of the temple, now join Jewish believers in becom- ing one. We, too, become part of God’s church, a “holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:19–22).
Through the grace of God, you have the privilege of living this day in solidarity with Jesus and your fellow believers.
Ephesians 2:8–10 has played a role in the conversion of many. Martin Luther found in these verses a grace that won his heart, and he discovered as well some central affirmations of the Reformation: salvation comes by faith alone, through grace alone, by Christ alone, and to the glory of God alone. In 1738, eighteen days after experiencing conversion in London’s Aldersgate Street, John Wesley preached at Oxford University, offering “a cry from the heart” and “the manifesto of a new movement.” His text? Ephesians 2:8. (See A. Skevington Wood, “Strangely Warmed: The Wesleys and the Evangelical Awakening,” Christian History [magazine], vol. 5, no. 1 [1984]).Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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Rank: Advanced Member Joined: 1/17/2008 Posts: 9,491
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Good Morning. Today is the third workday of the week.
Section 12
Christian Growth and Experience
Chapter 123.
Overcoming
1. WHAT overcomes the world?
"For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world." 1 John 5:4, first part.
2. In whose victory may the Christian ever rejoice and take courage?
"These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33.
3. Who is it that overcomes?
"Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" 1 John 5:5.
4. Through what, then, is the victory gained in the work of overcoming?
"And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." Verse 4, last part.
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5. Through whom do we obtain the victory?
"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 15:57. "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." Rom. 8:37.
6. How did Christ overcome when tempted?
By the Word of God. See Matt. 4:1-11.
7. How do the Scriptures say the saints overcame the
enemy?
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." Rev. 12:11.
8. With what does the apostle Paul tell us to overcome evil?
"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."
Rom. 12:21.
9. Why was Jacob's name changed to Israel?
"And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." Gen. 32:28.
EXCEEDING GREAT AND PRECIOUS PROMISES
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. 2:7.
"He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." Verse 11.
"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna." Verse 17.
"He that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations." Verse 26.
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels." Rev. 3:5.
"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God." Verse 12.
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." Verse 21.
"He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son." Rev. 21:7.
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"The Catholic Church,... by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.
" The Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.
"Is Saturday the 7th day according to the Bible and the 10 Commandments?"
"I answer yes".
"Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the 7th day, Saturday, for Sunday, the 1st day?"
"I answer yes".
"Did Christ change the day?"
"I answer no!" Faithfully yours, "J. Cardinal Gibbons" Gibbons' autograph letter.
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 Sunday for the Sabbath.
But this theory is 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."
John Laux A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies 1936, vol.1 p.51
What day is the Sabbath day?
Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemity from Saturday to Sunday."
Peter Geiermann, The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1946 ed.), p.50. Geiermann received the "apostolic blessing" of Pope Pius X on his labors, January 25, 1910.
"The Catholic Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.
In this matter the Seventh Day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant. The Catholic Universe Bulletin, Aug. 14, 1942, p.4
"The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church." Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today (1868), p. 213
Exodus 20: 8-11,
(8) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. (9) Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work: (10) But the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: (11) For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the Seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Colossians 2:8 warns us to:
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
What power has claimed authority to change God's law?
The Papacy in Rome.
"The Pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even Divine Laws...The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth." Translated from Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca (Ready Library), "Papa", art. 2.
What part of the law of God has the papacy thought to change?
The Fourth Commandment.
"Catholics alledge the change of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, contrary, as it seemeth, to the Decalogue; and they have no example more in their mouth than the change of the Sabbath. They will needs have to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue." The Augsburg Confession (Lutheran), part 2, art. 7, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Harper), vol. 3, p. 64.
"It [the Roman Catholic Church] reversed the Fourth Commandment by doing away with the Sabbath of God's word and instituting Sunday as a holiday." N. Summerbell, History of the Christian Church (1873), p. 415.
[color=green]Todays' sabbath school lesson: Tuesday.....September 26
We Are the Church of the Living God
Why is it both important and exciting to be part of God’s church? Ephesians 3.
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We are encouraged when we hear church members say positive things about the church. However, the most enthusiastic among us falls short of Paul’s exuberant testimony in Ephesians 3 about the church. Paul starts a report of his prayers for believers in Ephesus (Eph. 3:1; compare Eph. 1:15–23, NKJV) but breaks off to discuss God’s creation of the church (Eph. 3:2–13), and then completes his prayer report (Eph. 3:14–21). Along the way we come to understand important things about God’s “plan” or “mystery”:
• In eternity, God conceives of “the mystery” or “the plan” about the church (Eph. 3:3–5, 9, 11).
• Through the life and death of Jesus, that long-hidden plan is “accom- plished” (Eph. 3:11, NKJV; compare Eph. 2:11–22).
• Byrevelation,Paullearns“themystery”ofthechurchandtheastonishing fact that Gentiles are to be full partners in it (Eph. 3:3–6).
• Paul participates in spreading this good news as preacher to the Gentiles of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8, 9).
• With many won to Christ, the church, composed as it is of both Jews and Gentiles, displays “the manifold wisdom of God” to “the principal- ities and powers in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10, NKJV), announc- ing their coming doom (compare Eph. 6:10–20). The plan to unite all things in Christ (Eph.
1:10) is underway, and their time is short.
This understanding of the church motivates Paul to pray for believers. Why not imagine him praying the heartfelt prayer of Ephesians 3:14–21 about you? Why not imagine him praying that you will be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19) and participate fully in the amazing, unfolding mystery of a unified church?
What are the kinds of barriers between believers in our church that, in light of what Paul has written, should not be there? What can you do to help remove them?[/color]Many wonder today why the Republican party does nothing to defeat the treasonous
schemes of the Democrats. It is because the pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly
infiltrated the Republican party as well as the Democratic party. Many wonder why
the news media lie so much to support and protect the Democrats. It is because the
pope’s Jesuits have thoroughly infiltrated the news media. The news media and
schools and colleges, with their lies and propaganda, have so conditioned the
people of the country that they are unable to recognize what has been done to them.
Victory for the Jesuits seems very near. The Jesuits are like a cancer that has
pervaded nearly every fiber of the society of the United States. We are being
defeated by the enemy within.
For many years the Jesuits have prevented the United States from developing
additional sources of energy within its own territory. Exploiting the vast oilfields on
the Alaskan north slope, that probably contain more oil than the entire middle east,
is forbidden. New nuclear power plants, the safest source of electric energy ever
discovered, are not permitted. There is no end to the lies people have been made to
believe about Nuclear energy. The environment is used as the club to subdue the
people of the country into going along with this idiocy. Modern technology is able to
develop these sources of power without any damage to the environment. France
gets 80% of its power from nuclear power plants without any problems. Needless to
say, without sufficient energy, the United States will not be able to defend itself. All
the papacy has to do is cut off the oil supply from the middle east.
The United States is now starting to feel the pinch of the energy shortage the Jesuits
have created. People have experienced blackouts over large areas as power is shut
off to stay within the limits of generating capacity. Today, instead of constructing
additional nuclear power plants, some of these plants are being dismantled! Will the
people of the United States be able to wake up in time to prevent the coming
national tragedy?
Not only in the United States is this treachery being perpetrated by the papacy, but
they are secretly at work all over the world to subvert all the nations of the world.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Rev 13:3 last part.
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