Though Simon Magus’ new religion grew rapidly and successfully, one problem continued to loom before her–God’s church. The Lord’s people, particularly the fearless, fiery apostles, continually brought forth God’s Word which contradicted the heathen doctrines of Catholicism. Because of this the Universal Church realized early on that true Christianity would continue to be her unrelenting enemy. God’s people would not allow her to deceive the masses without a spiritual fight. As “a city set on a hill,” the church would continue to send forth light into the darkness that was Catholicism. Today that tiny light continues to expose the darkness put forth by the false church which now includes the cults of Protestantism.

While on earth Jesus said: “I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” In so saying the Lord was guaranteeing that His true church would never die. This promise has been sorely tested beginning with her inception on the Day of Pentecost 31 A.D. As the Church of God went about preaching the gospel of repentance and obedience to God in preparation for entrance into His kingdom, there immediately arose opposition to her and her message as the gates of hell rose up in defiance of the God she represented. Satan-inspired individuals and groups attempted to silence her from without. When that failed, he created a counterfeit of her through Simon Magus–a false church based on a mixture of paganism, Judaism, Babylonian mystery religion combined with just enough Christian truth to lead people astray. This counterfeit church used the name of Jesus in an attempt to draw believers into her web. Though successful, she could not be satisfied with partial victories. God’s church had to be totally eliminated. The next step was to infiltrate the true church with false ministers who would attack her from within. These religious “moles,” having been deceived into believing themselves to be God’s messengers, did much damage to the early church as the Apostles’ writings attest. Today their spiritual descendants continue to lead the church masses astray through organizations that fall under the heading of Catholicism and Protestantism–a two-headed monster with a voracious spiritual appetite. One need only consult a phone book and look under the heading of “churches” to see that she keeps herself well fed.

From its inception, the Church of God has been at war with the “gates of hell.” It has been a continuous life-or-death struggle as Satan has relentlessly attacked her using both religious and governmental forces. Though backed by God, His church has remained small, politically impotent and rejected by the religious community. For this reason Jesus calls her His “little flock” (Lk. 12:32). In this passage He tells His church to “fear not,” thereby revealing that there will always be forces bent on her destruction. If there was no opposition He would not have told her not to fear. Today that opposition comes from the two-pronged religious organization that claims to represent Him–that which calls itself “the church”–His most effective enemy. One’s worst enemy is the one who claims to be one’s friend.

Though persecution of true believers had been ongoing since the founding of the church, first by the Jews, then by the Caesar-worshiping Romans, it would be Simon the Sorcerer’s cult that would perfect the art of hunting down, torturing and murdering God’s people. Hounded continually for hundreds of years, the church would flee from one area to another in an effort to find safe shelter where she could worship God according to His dictates. But Simon’s people–the symbolic “gates of hell”– would not allow her to worship her God in peace. As in the Garden of Eden, God’s Words had to be eliminated and replaced by Satan’s words. Thousands of saints died at the hands of the apostates rather than obey their god. See Hebrews 11:36-38. With the designation of Catholicism as the state religion, the apostate church gained governmental backing for its Satanic agenda as laws governing religion were enacted and enforced by federal power. Simon’s dream had come true–partially. There was still that tiny remnant of true saints to deal with. Christ’s church refused to die at the hands of Satan’s “gates” which refused to quit trying to kill her.

In 325 A.D. at the Council of Nicene, Roman Emperor Constantine, at the behest of the Catholic hierarchy, decreed that Passover would no longer be observed, but that the pagan holiday called Easter would be, and that it would be observed on Sunday. At that conference another pagan doctrine–the trinity–also became the law of the land. In 365 A.D. at the Council of Laodicea it was decreed that Sunday, the first day of the week, would henceforth be the day on which church worship would take place. There was to be no work done and no buying or selling on that day under threat of death. The fact that there had to be a law passed to stop Christians from observing the Biblical Sabbath and the Passover proves that God’s people had been observing both God-commanded Holy Days for over 300 years. See The Mark of the Beast and God’s Holy Days. The fact that a law enforcing the recognition of a trinity had to be enacted proves that for over 300 years God’s people had not recognized a three-membered Godhead. Nor do they today. See The Trinity. To be continued. L.J.