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A Catholic Priest Says that the Conversion of the Entire World to Catholicism is Approaching
James Blount, a Catholic priest from the Archdiocese of Atlanta, recently expressed that something big is coming to the world, which he called the greatest triumph of the church in all of world history. He claims that everyone will soon convert to Roman Catholicism and that this will usher in a new era. We understand that this period will be characterized by the resurgence of temporal power by the papacy, highlighting the old saying that Rome never changes.
“Rome never changes. Her principles have not altered in the least. She has not lessened the breach between herself and Protestants; they have done all the advancing” (Signs of the Times, February 19, 1894).
“And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome that she never changes. The principles of Gregory VII and Innocent III are still the principles of the Romish Church. And had she but the power, she would put them in practice with as much vigor now as in past centuries” (Great Controversy, p. 580).
“Rome never changes. She claims infallibility. It is Protestantism that will change. The adoption of liberal ideas on its part will bring it where it can clasp the hand of Catholicism” (Review and Herald, June 1, 1886).
Rome’s goals are still to restore her temporal dominance and her position as the world’s preeminent power. Today, the Vatican is active in a wide range of global initiatives. Rome participates in every international program that exists today. These programs cover a wide range of topics, including politics, humanitarianism, religion, culture, economics, climate change, sustainability, peace, education, immigration, and every other social justice issue. In fact, Pope Francis’ encyclicals are being used as the blueprint for both secular and religious policies. But the role Pope Francis is playing in uniting the Protestant churches and bringing them into the communion of Rome provides the strongest evidence that his influence has achieved a sense of respect and awe that is shared by all.
Revelation 13:3 says that the deadly wound will be healed, and the entire world will wonder after the beast. This describes the moral dilemma that our world is in. What this means to us, the faithful commandment-keeping, non-ecumenical members of the Remnant Church of Revelation 12:17, is that we have but a short time in which we can proclaim to the world with power the messages of Revelation 14:6–12 before the voice of the dragon is heard and the fires of persecution return. There must be a world-wide proclamation given right now, warning the people against the worship of the beast and his image and against receiving his mark on the forehead or in the hand.
“The Lord gives a special truth for the people in an emergency. Who dare refuse to publish it? He commands his servants to present the last invitation of mercy to the world. They cannot remain silent, except at the peril of their souls” (Great Controversy, p. 609).
Advent Messenger provides news and commentary on current events, top stories, social trends, and political and religious issues. For more news visit www.adventmessenger.org
God bless
ADVENT MESSENGER
Hi all
The Sabbath and the Prophets
By Pastor Aubrey Duncan
In the previous episode, it was clearly established that it was God who gave His Sabbath to mankind. He bestowed it on us as a gift. This gift, like all other gifts from God, is for our edification and His glorification. His Sabbath is to us a precious treasure and an eternal emblem by which we may always remember who is our Creator. God’s Sabbath affords us rest from our labors. It is a time when we come apart from the stresses and challenges of the world to contemplate His great works of creation and appreciate His manifold blessings on us.
We also discovered that whatsoever God blesses, He blesses forever, and no man can curse or change. God’s Sabbath, therefore, is changeless and is intended to be honored by all men at all times. And how does God ensure that this is accomplished? The apostle Paul answers: “God who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets” (Hebrews 1:1). But who are the prophets, and what did they have to say about God’s Sabbath?
God’s prophets are a unique class of humanity whom God raises up to speak to His people on His behalf. As men and women of God, the prophets deliver the word of God directly from God. Peter declared: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (1 Peter 1:21). The life of a prophet of God is always in conformity with God’s word and His will. His or her work is to comfort God’s people when they are hurt and to correct them when they are going down the wrong path. The counsel of the prophet is to direct men’s hearts towards God and His requirements for their lives. He or she does not speak contrary to the word of God.
We are admonished: “Believe in the Lord your God so shall you be established; believe his prophets, so shall you prosper” (2 Chronicles 20:20). With this understanding of who the prophets are, let us examine how they related to and what they taught about God’s Sabbath.
For some time after the creation record, no specific mention is made of the Sabbath. Neither was there any indication that God’s Sabbath was abolished or irrelevant. We next encounter the Sabbath in a direct way when the prophet Moses is accused of giving his people ‘rest’ from their labors while in Egyptian bondage. Moses forsook the fame and fortune of Egyptian royalty to dwell and suffer with his people, the Hebrew slaves of Egyptian captivity. The record reveals: “And Pharaoh said, Behold the people of the land now are many, and you (Moses) make them to ‘rest’ from their burdens” (Exodus 5:5).
The word Sabbath is translated to mean rest. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that, within the context of this narrative, the rest mentioned is the Sabbath. The Hebrews, having been released from Egyptian bondage and journeying through the wilderness, had the high privilege of being fed by God with food that descended from on high. The heavenly food, called Manna, was miraculously rained down from heaven for six days each week. For the first five days, just enough manna to feed the people each day was provided.
But on the sixth day, the Scripture declares: “And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread (manna), two omens for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses … And he said unto them: this is that which the Lord hath said, tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which you shall today: and seethe that you will seethe: and that which remained over, lay up for you to be kept until the morning” (Exodus 16:22–24). God’s Sabbath, which He gave at creation, is here clearly referred to by Moses, God’s prophet.
Of such importance is the Sabbath to God that, upon giving Moses His moral law, He included Sabbath-keeping as one of His holy commandments. The record reads: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, six days shall thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shall not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates … For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore God blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).
One may be quick to say, ‘But that was for Israel of the Old Testament and is not binding on us Christians today’. But the question is, ‘Who is Israel?’ The apostle Paul answers plainly: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:28–29). A Jew, therefore, is simply one who acknowledges the God of creation as the only true God and demonstrates faith in His word by keeping all His commandments, including His Sabbath commandment. Israel is a spiritual term, not necessarily a political entity.
Paul reiterates: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for we are all one in Christ Jesus… And if you be Christ’s then are you Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28–29).
Following the example and admonitions of Moses, the people of God held fast to the Sabbath. They recognized its significance and importance in their lives. When they neglected to honor the Sabbath, peril and destruction followed. The prophets of God, who came after Moses, likewise admonished the nation of Israel to hold the Sabbath in the highest esteem as God intended it to be.
For example, the prophet Jeremiah, recognizing the evil that was to befall the people of God if they continued to defile the Sabbath, issued this stern warning: “Thus says the Lord: take heed to yourselves and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do you any work, but hallow you the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers” (Jeremiah 17:21, 22).
Jeremiah concluded by pronouncing the evil that will befall the people if they refuse to obey God’s command to keep the Sabbath holy. He warned the people on behalf of God: “But if you will not hearken unto me to hallow my Sabbath-day, and not to bear a burden, even entering into the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath-day, then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched” (Jeremiah 17:27).
The people did not heed the word of God sent through His prophet Jeremiah. The result was catastrophic. Within a few years, with uncanny accuracy and divine precision, as a consequence of trampling upon God’s Sabbath, the Israelites were taken captive by the Babylonian monarch, King Nebuchadnezzar. The record reveals: “Therefore He [God] brought upon them the king of the Chaldees who slew their young men with the sword in the house of the sanctuary and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old men, or him that stopped for age: He gave them all into his [Nebuchadnezzar’s] hand” (2 Chronicles 36:17).
But God remained a God that did not change. He is a God of love, mercy, and forgiveness. Even in Babylonian captivity, He raised up a prophet to proclaim the sacredness of His Sabbath to His people. Ezekiel writes from Babylonian captivity: “Thus says the Lord God: the gate of the inner court that looks toward the east shall be shut six working days: but on the Sabbath it shall be opened.” (Ezekiel 46:1). The God of Creation, who bequeathed His Sabbath to man from the beginning, has never, under any circumstance, relieved man from the obligation of keeping His Sabbath-day holy. But someone else claims to change God’s law.
To be continued
God bless
Hi to all,
The Christian Post Published the False Assertion that the Angels in Heaven Observe the Eternal Sabbath from Sunday to Sunday
The Christian Post is one of the largest non-denominational, conservative, and evangelical Christian news publications, with approximately ten million monthly readers. [1] The Christian Post wrote an article titled “Why should I go to church?” on April 24, 2024, asserting that Sunday is the “eternal Sabbath” and the Lord’s Day. Additionally, they falsely claimed that in heaven, the angels gather from Sunday to Sunday to worship God. Tragically, The Christian Post has blurred the lines between biblical truth and pure fiction. Sunday rest is the product of the imagination, while Saturday, the true Sabbath, is rooted in the word of God.
The Christian Post published the following statements, fraught with grave errors and intellectual dishonesty:
• “Revelation 21 gives us this picture of a bride like a city, with gates in every direction. This astonishing image shows us all the people of God, from everywhere, in every age, gathering to worship the God who is in the midst of His people.” [2]
• “When we meet together on the Lord’s Day with our brothers and sisters, it is a foretaste of that great day. We need to recognize that reality when we gather with the Lord’s people not only in our local congregation but around the globe, as well as with the church triumphant in heaven and the angelic hosts.” [2]
• “Our earthly gatherings Sunday by Sunday are meant to cultivate a longing for the eternal Sabbath. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath day was particularly characterized by rest. That aspect of the Lord’s Day still remains, and we are told to look forward to that eternal rest. But in the New Testament, one of the changes to the Lord’s Day is that it is increasingly characterized by worship.” [2]
Attempting to pass on error as biblical fact is a deception that betrays the integrity of the Scriptures. It undermines the credibility of those who spread such false information. It is a sad fact that, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, far too many people want to imagine that Sunday is the new day of rest and worship. Declaring Sunday to be the new Sabbath is to continue a deception. Such statements do not lead us to enjoy the blessings of God’s eternal rest, but rather to disappointment, betrayal, and deception during the coming crisis of the Mark of the Beast. God’s word is clear: the seventh day, Saturday, is the true day of worship and eternal rest.
“Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.” Exodus 31:16.
“It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” Exodus 31:17.
“Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” Mark 2:28.
“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.” Matthew 24:20.
“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” Revelation 1:10.“And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.” Acts 13:42.
“For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works … There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God … Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest.” Hebrews 4:4, 9, 11.
“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.” Leviticus 23:3.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8.
“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22, 23.
“And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:54-56.
Sources
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christian_Post
[2] https://www.christianpost.com/voices/why-should-i-go-to-church.html
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