From day one of the history of the New Testament Church God’s weekly Sabbath (Isa. 58:13) was observed on the seventh day of the week for the next 294 years. Then, in 325 A.D., Roman Emperor Constantine, at the Council of Nicene, changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week for the Roman Empire in order to placate the many sun worshipers whom his nation had defeated and forced to become citizens of the Holy Roman Empire, the greatest nation on earth at that time. The empire, being anything but holy, was so named because it operated in conjunction with the Roman Catholic Church, an equally unholy entity which claimed to be God’s singular church on earth. Having been made official citizens of the empire, the captives were forced to embrace the official state religion–Catholicism–at the point of a sword. Pope Sylvester I officially changed the Sabbath Day for the Catholic (Universal) Church from Saturday to Sunday on March 7, 364 A.D, at the Council of Laodicea.

Since that time the Sunday Sabbath has been the most visual and most notable characteristic shared by all segments of that which calls itself “the church.” When the protesters (“Protestants”) left the mother church they took many of her heathen beliefs and practices with them. The Sunday Sabbath was chief among them, followed in order of importance by the celebration of Christmas and Easter, along with beliefs in such theories as the trinity, immediate entrance into heaven or hell at death and original sin. Later both heads of the religious snake would add such unbiblical beliefs as the secret rapture of the church and the division of Protestantism into what would become known as denominations. Most of these “truths” were taken from the many different religions practiced by those the Roman Empire defeated and forced into the Catholic Church. As a matter of course, the state religion embraced their captives’ beliefs and their gods into one all-encompassing mechanism which I have labeled “the Catholic/Protestant Religious System.” Note that I do not include the word “church” in the title because it bears no resemblance to the Church of God–the name the Lord gave to His true church, the name by which He calls His true church 12 times in the New Testament.

Contrary to God’s command for one church the religious conglomerate known as “the church” has divided itself into hundreds of different mini-groups, each with a different name. Each group (church, denomination, faith, etc.) has its own savior and its own god. Only the Lord’s tiny, Law-keeping congregation recognizes the Biblical Jesus as her head and His Father as her God. Jesus warned that His true church would be extremely small in number in Matthew 7:13,14; 22:14 and in the parable of the mustard seed found in Matthew 13:31. That the tiny church He founded would distance itself from His Word and become huge in size is noted in verse 32. Here, and in Revelation 3:14-20, Jesus perfectly describes the modern day Laodicean Catholic/Protestant Religious System that has given itself such blasphemous titles as “the church” and “the Body of Christ.”

In order to identify who was obedient to the Sunday Sabbath Law, each person within the Roman Empire, which encompassed most of Europe, was forced to “wear” a “mark” which identified its “bearer” as a loyal member of the state and its official religion. The all-powerful state is symbolized in Revelation 17:1-5 as a political “beast” being “ridden” (influenced) by a “woman.” The “beast,” as prophesied about in the Book of Daniel, will be the final (7th) resurrection of the Roman Empire. The “woman” will be the powerful Roman Catholic Church and her harlot (Protestant) daughters who will return to her in the last days of the age–the age in which we now live. This is explained in the series titled The Ingathering. Key word–Ingathering.

During the time of the Roman Empire/Catholic Church’s rule over much of the civilized world, the system caused those under their control to bear a “mark” that prohibited the people without the mark from working, buying or selling on Sunday–the kingdom’s new, self-designated Sabbath. According to the Apostle John, the absence of the same mark will have the same effect on the entire world during the final 3 1/2 years of this current age. John recorded that the governmental (Roman) beast and its (church) rider will cause everyone on earth to receive a mark. No one will be able to buy or sell except those who have the mark (Rev. 13:16,17). This relates back to the empire/church system which enforced the original mark during the Middle Ages. That “mark” was observance of the Sunday Sabbath. John is telling us that the descendants of the ancient Roman Empire will one day enforce the same mark on the people under its reign. This time the beast’s rule will include the entire world. Both the United Nations and the European Union have proclaimed Sunday as the official Sabbath for their members as stated in their respective constitutions.

Many of the so-called “Christian nations” were still enforcing that spiritual law on a local basis during the mid-1980’s, including Athens, Texas where I live today. The irony is that from 325 A.D. to the 1980’s no one bothered to determine the Biblical legality of observing God’s commanded Sabbath on Sunday. Those municipalities which officially observed the Catholic-decreed Sunday Sabbath Law forced all places of business to close on the first day each week with the exception of one designated drug store. From my youth until the 1980’s such “Blue Laws” were strictly enforced in the South. I am not sure about the other parts of the nation. The attitude was: “If the church does it, then it must be Biblical,” even though God nowhere in His Word sanctioned a change relative to His weekly Sabbath, THE day which He sanctified, blessed and called “My Holy Day” in Isaiah 58:13. To this day, when God’s command concerning His “Holy Day” are read or brought to people’s attention, God’s Words are summarily dismissed as Old Testament Law that only applied to the Jews. Not only that, but it had been “nailed to the cross” at the time of Christ’s crucifixion. Because of my public stand relative to God’s Law, I have been accused by local church leaders of having “fallen from grace.” One preacher invited me to visit his church so that I could “get saved.” And what was my soul-condemning sin?–belief in and obedience to God’s Holy Scriptures. I plead “guilty as charged.”

As will be shown in the following segment, the days ahead will bring about the rise of the “beast” from the east and its “rider” (Rev. 17:1-5) which will come on the scene and rule what is left of the world’s population with an iron fist. A good indication of how this catastrophe will look in operation, read about how the Catholic Church martyred over 50,000,000 people during her “Inquisition” because they would not bow to her religious dictates. Having the world-ruling “beast” as her official enforcer, she will once again kill all who dare to buck her religious system.

As the prophesied signs of the end times reveal, those days are just ahead of us. Read about them using the key word–Signs. The time for true conversion and holiness of life’s walk is now. God has promised to remove His true saints to a place of safety just prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Once that happens it will be too late to escape the beheading sword which will await any and all who, having realized their mistake, will accept Christ. Having been “left behind” when Christ resurrects His true saints upon His return to earth, multitudes of people will willingly give their lives in order to be accepted by Him during the Tribulation Period. Read the Three Resurrections, The Ingathering, Simon of Samaria, The Kingdom of God, The Great Tribulation and the Great Multitude. Key words–Three, Ingathering, Simon, Kingdom, Tribulation and Multitude respectively. L.J.

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