Doctrine

Discerning the Spirits

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The true definition of understanding is directly connected with obedience to God. “Disobedience has closed the door to a vast amount of knowledge that might have been gained from the Scriptures. Understanding means obedience to God’s commandments. The Scriptures are not to be adapted to meet the prejudice and jealousy of men. They can be understood only by those who are humbly seeking for a knowledge of the truth that they may obey it.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 112.

The Holy Scriptures tell us that “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Psalm 119:130).

Rightly stated the word of God illuminates the mind of the receiver. The Hebrew word for light as used by the Psalmist in this verse is ore which means illumination or luminary which involves enlightening, happiness, etc. It also means bright, clear, etc.

It would be correct for me to say that most human beings desire or crave enlightenment. We want to be illuminated to the level whereby we can achieve happiness, perfect peace of mind, complete understanding of ourselves and the mysteries of the world and the universe around us. The problem is that the greater number of those seeking enlightenment are seeking it the wrong way, through the wrong path. There is only one way to be truly enlightened, to attain a correct understanding of ourselves and the mysteries of the world around us, to gain perfect peace and happiness!

Examples of Man’s Quest for Enlightenment Throughout the Ages

Throughout the centuries many people have sought enlightenment in the religion known as Buddhism and many today are still pursuing that path. Buddhism, history tells us, started with Siddhartha Gautama. Born a prince in Nepal (581–501 B.C.), he gave up his possessions and set out to search for a solution to human suffering, the riddle of life, when he was twenty-nine years old.

The record tells us that Gautama first joined five Hindu holy men who believed the way to learn the truth was to starve the body. He starved himself until, pressing his stomach, he could feel his backbone. But this taught him nothing. Soon he began to eat normally again, and the holy men left him in disgust.

That was one extreme. The other extreme, the life of pleasure and richness, he knew well. And it had left him hungry for truth. So he decided to try the Middle Way. He ate enough so that hunger did not occupy his thoughts. Then he sat down quietly under a tree—the sacred Bodhi tree.

For 49 days he meditated. In a vision he saw the armies of Mara, the evil tempter of the world. Mara and his three daughters attacked him with storms, rain, rocks and blazing weapons. And Mara himself offered the wealth of the world if he would give up his search for truth. But Gautama sat unmoved. The armies of Mara fled.

After 49 days of meditation under the tree and after a night of spiritual struggle with the evil one, Siddhartha Gautama overcame him and his evil forces, became awakened, and achieved the enlightenment he was seeking, and entered a transcendental, eternal realm of being. Thereafter he was known as the Buddha, or “the Enlightened One.” He spent the remaining forty-five years of his life proclaiming the Dhamma, the eternal truth into which he had “awakened,” making converts to his beliefs and organizing a formal religion.

In his first address, which centered on the core of his teachings – the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path – he taught: “There are two extremes to be avoided by those who have renounced the world. What are they? Everything to do with passion and luxurious living …, and everything to do with torture of the self and useless pain.”

Avoiding those two extremes the Tathagata (a title of the Buddha indicating that he has gone before into complete Truth) has reached the Enlightenment of the middle Way. (The term “Middle Way” was used in the first teaching that the Buddha delivered after his awakening. In this sutta, the Buddha describes the middle way as a path of moderation, between the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification. This, according to him, was the path of wisdom). This enlightenment brings perfect insight and knowledge, and it leads to peace, higher knowledge, enlightenment and Nirvana.

Millions of people throughout time immemorial have sought enlightenment by pursuing the Hindu path. Hinduism has one god, Brahman, who is the eternal spirit. But it also has 330 million lesser gods—enough so that each family can have a favorite to honor at its household shrine. Most important of the gods are the trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The three of them are but three aspects of the supreme god, Brahman.

Hindus teach that “the sublime objective of Hinduism is to leave behind this harsh, material world and to be united with God. This union is reached not only through prayers and rituals but through the ideals of Hindu living: purity, self-control, detachment, truth, nonviolence, charity and the deepest of compassion toward all creatures.” The World’s Great Religions (by Life), 1958 edition, p. 15.

For Hindus, Brahman is present within humans as the inner self or soul. The material body and world are obstacles preventing the achievement of oneness with Brahman. Therefore, when this enlightenment and oneness occur the “Self is Brahman,” “pure Consciousness is Brahman.”

It is out of this desire to be enlightened and attain to oneness with Brahman—chief god, that yoga (yoking, joining, union) becomes significant in the spiritual experience of Hindus. “The aim of yoga is the achievement of true insight through the liberation of the soul. The means of achieving this are renunciation, abstinence and asceticism, rejection of all comforts and possessions, the killing of desires and through this the attainment of spiritual serenity and inner gentleness, expressed as inner retreat in contemplative meditation.” The Story of World Religions, Markus Hattsteih, 2005 edition, p. 14.

Dr. John Bowker in his book The Message and the Book, page 177, gives an even deeper understanding of the role of yoga in the life of an Hindu. He states that “Yoga is often associated outside India with techniques, exercises and postures that lead to calmness or other new states of consciousness, but that is only a small part of Yoga and of no importance on its own.”

He clearly reveals “The point of Yoga is that it leads to a transformed understanding of the cosmos and of human nature within it, and on the basis of that transformed understanding it teaches the way in which through practice one can attain extraordinary powers (siddhi) and the state known as Samadhi. The word Samadhi has various meanings, such as concentration, contemplation and altered consciousness of a trancelike kind. In its strongest and ultimate meaning, it is a state of complete and blissful stability far beyond the seething turmoil of ideas and events.” Ibid.

Geoffrey Parrinder in his analysis of the philosophy, mythology and ethics of Hinduism affirms in his book World Religions pages 214, 215, that “The yoga known to western enthusiasts is a late elaboration of these earlier practices, with heavy emphasis on more difficult physical postures and a physiological theory according to which the yogi in meditation seeks to raise the kundalini. This is a spiritual force conceived as a dormant snake lying coiled at the base of the spine, up the central vein (sushumma) which lies in the vertebral column, through six ‘circles’ of psychic power along the column to the ‘lutus’ at the top of the head, by accomplishing which he wins salvation (Laya Yoga).”

Kundalini Awakening

  • Kundalini means “the coiled one.”
  • Kundalini is described as lying “coiled” at the base of the spine, represented as either a goddess or sleeping serpent waiting to be awakened … Kundalini awakening is said to result in deep meditation, enlightenment and bliss.” Wikipedia
  • One Hindu author argues, “You may hear it called many things. Like Kundalini-Sakti, Serpent Power, Goddess (Devi) Kundalini, Shakti, The Holy Spirit or just plain Kundalini. She is the Divine Cosmic Energy in the body. Her movement is serpentine so it’s often described as snake-like. All the Yogas are methods to help awaken the Kundalini. The goal is to have the Kundalini to rise through the seven Chakras (Energy Centers) and obtain Enlightenment. When the Kundalini passes the Seventh Chakra (Crown Chakra), she unites with Siva which is the masculine part of the Universe. You become one with the cosmic consciousness while still in your living body. You become one with your Higher Power … You have reached Enlightenment.” (Article: What is Kundalini Awakening?)

Justin O’Brien, in his book Christianity and Yoga: a Meeting of Mystic Paths, states that “Yoga is a systematic science, a set of techniques, and while yoga itself is not a religion, its practical teachings are an integral part of the great religions of the world … . Its central teaching is that man’s essential nature is divine, perfect and infinite … . Through the meditative methods of yoga one can dispel the darkness of ignorance, and become aware of his essential nature, which is free from all imperfections.” p. xi.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE IN POSTURE?

The “Lotus” Position

“Eastern meditators take very seriously the preparation for meditation and physical positions. They begin by relaxing their bodies and minds. They seek out a quiet place, where they sit down, usually in what the Hindus call the ‘lotus’ position. The lotus position involves sitting cross-legged on the floor with torso held upright and eyes closed. This position is the most common meditative posture used … as facilitating communion with the spirits.” The Danger Within, Manuel Vasquez, p. 66.

Dr. Cathy Burns’ records of the “lotus”: “You will sometimes see strange little Chinese gods or Oriental Buddhas sitting on the blossom of a Lotus. In fact, if you look carefully you will find nearly all the Oriental gods are so depicted. This means that they have opened within themselves that Spiritual Consciousness which they call the Kundalini. One of the emblems of Isis is the lotus, which is a symbol of the resurrection. Of course, in Egyptian mythology, the idea of resurrection means rebirth or reincarnation. The lotus was also associated with sun gods.” Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, 271.

The Hand Signal

“A Dictionary of Mysticism notes that the mudra is a ‘mystic seal’ of Oriental occultism; a series of occult signs made with the fingers, and considered to have magical effects.” Ibid., 231.

“In addition to mantras (form of enchantment) and yantras (instrument, means or emblem), the third way of representing deities is through gestures (mudra). There is a large number of symbolic gestures used in rituals and believed to evoke supernatural beings. Many of the mudras through which a deity can be evoked are also used in sacred dance. The fingers are formed into circles. This is called a mudra.” Ibid., 231, 232.

Mystical Meditation

In his book The Danger Within, page 58, Pastor Manuel Vasquez argues that “Although meditation has always been a legitimate part of Christianity, there appears to be a ‘meditation movement’ in Christian circles today that incorporates New Age concepts and that is adversely affecting some sincere Christians. Take for instance, Joey Orman, who was introduced to mystical meditation by a deacon in her church. He promised her ‘astro travel’ and a closer walk with the Lord. But soon the cosmic energy forces she received overwhelmed her and caused a disorder in her central nervous system. Joey ended up in a psychiatric ward.”

Pastor Vasquez states further that “Some Christian leaders today are teaching, through seminars and books, questionable meditation techniques and such dangerous elements as ‘guided imagery’ and ‘visualization.’ Christians are instructed to conjure up the image of Christ, dialogue with Him in their minds, and equate His messages (“given through an inner voice”) with those of Scripture.” Ibid., 58, 59.

In answering the question of Why the interest in meditation? Pastor Vasquez shows that “Eastern mystics, especially Hindus and Buddhists, have practiced meditation (yoga) for centuries as a part of their religious, spiritual exercises. They also engage in ‘inner listening’ or ‘inner communion.’ …

“Some Christians believe that Hindu meditation techniques such as hatha yoga are a practical way of handling daily stress, with the added bonus of increasing spirituality and intimacy with God … . But perhaps the most prominent reason Christians become involved in meditation is for spiritual enrichment.” Ibid., 61, 62.

What about Spiritual Formation?

Pastor Rick Howard, a retired Seventh-day Adventist pastor, addresses the relevant subject, Spiritual Formation in his book entitled The Omega Rebellion. Beginning on page 25 he shows the history of this doctrine by highlighting Martin Luther and Ignatius Loyola. He wrote that “Martin Luther and Ignatius Loyola were contemporaries. Both were drawn to God by His Spirit; both were convicted of the sin in their lives and both sought a way of escape from their guilty consciences through the power of God. Finding God and His power to bring them victory was at the core of their search.

“For reasons that will only be revealed in the judgment, they looked for that victory in different places. Martin Luther searched the Holy Scriptures and found the God of creation, while Loyola searched the world of ‘spirits’ and believed he found God in His creation. … Loyola chose to suppress his guilty conscience, refusing to think any more of his sins. Instead of searching the Holy Bible, he sought enlightenment through the supernatural world, satisfying his own carnal propensities. He always desired to see God in everything, everywhere, all the time. This was the desire of his heart.

“Loyola longed for supernatural experiences, believing them to be evidences of God’s presence and power. Deceived, he turned to the writings of Roman Catholic mystics and saints, longing for God to reveal himself in everything, all the time. He desired God’s presence on his terms, and Satan made sure he would think he found Him. From these experiences he was profoundly changed and for the rest of his life asserted that God miraculously gave him the enlightenment of a lifetime in just a few moments.” Ibid., 26.

From the autobiography of Ignatius Loyola, Pastor Howard reveals the following concerning Loyola’s hunger for illumination in the spirit world. He wrote, “And he was seated there, the eyes of his understanding began to be opened: not that he saw some vision, but understanding and knowing many things, spiritual things just as much as matters of faith and learning, and this with an enlightenment so strong that all things seemed new to him.” The Autobiography of St. Ignatius Loyola, p. 30. Ibid., 26.

Ignatian Spiritual Exercise Schedule

Furthermore, according to Pastor Rick Howard, “The concept of God as revealed to Loyola in these mystical experiences revealed a God who is pantheistic—His person existing in the things of His creation.” Loyola developed what is called today his “Spiritual Exercises,” which contain all the teachings from which modern spiritual formation was constructed.

This is the type of divine understanding/enlightenment that is being taught to many Seventh-day Adventist leaders who in turn teach it in our churches today to Seventh-day Adventists. As Pastor Howard puts it, “The basic theology behind what is being taught in the very missions and institutes where Seventh-day Adventists have gone to learn spiritual formation is the theology of Loyola: pantheistic, mystical, and Roman Catholic. It includes contemplative/mystical prayer, leading one into an altered state of consciousness believed to be the ‘presence of God.’

“Spiritual formation counterfeits the work of the Holy Spirit that directs our minds to Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary. People are deceived by the teaching that they can come into Jesus’ presence whenever they desire, communicating with Him through the practice of ‘centering’ and ‘contemplative prayer,’ which brings them into the mystical state of the silence. Furthermore, they are taught a false type of pantheism that claims Jesus, in His fullness, can be found in every human being and in all of His creation, everywhere.” Ibid., 30.

Why Many SDA Are So Blind

“In following the path of Satan’s choosing, we are encompassed by the shadows of evil, and every step leads into deeper darkness and increases the blindness of the heart.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 92.

“It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts. He sends them light to correct their errors, and to lead them in safe paths; it is by the rejection of this light that the eyes are blinded and the heart hardened. Often the process is gradual, and almost imperceptible. Light comes to the soul through God’s word, through His servants, or by the direct agency of His Spirit; but when one ray of light is disregarded, there is a partial benumbing of the spiritual perceptions, and the second revealing of light is less clearly discerned. So the darkness increases, until it is night in the soul.” The Desire of Ages, 322.

The Way to True Divine Enlightenment

“Let the purpose be sincere and unwavering to discern the truth and to obey it at whatever cost, and you will receive divine enlightenment. Real piety begins when all compromise with sin is at an end.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 91.

The One Who Gives Divine Enlightenment

  • “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (John 16:13).
  • “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9, 10).
  • The Holy Spirit openeth many dark and deep mysteries. “(Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand My knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:4, 5).
  • “Thou gavest also Thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst” (Nehemiah 9:20).
  • “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26).

“It is the Spirit itself that teaches and enlightens. The most powerful preaching of the Word, the reading of the Scriptures, will not be able to transform the character and save souls unless the Spirit works with and through the human agents. The planning and devising must not be of a character to draw attention to self. The Word is a power, a sword, in the hands of the human agent, but the Holy Spirit in its vital power is the efficiency to impress the mind. ‘They shall be all taught of God’ (John 6:45). It is God that causes the light to shine into hearts. … The reason why God can do so little for us is that we forget that living virtue in the Holy Spirit is to combine with the human agent.” Sons and Daughters of God, 30.

“Let all humble themselves before God, asking for grace and wisdom, that they may see wherein they have violated His holy law. Unless His Spirit enlightens them, they will never know, even though it is set before them by their brethren.” The Upward Look, 240.

“The Lord speaks to the heart that humbles itself before Him. At the altar of prayer, as the throne of grace is touched by faith, we receive from the hand of God that celestial torch which enlightens our darkness, and convinces us of our spiritual necessity. The Holy Spirit takes of the things of God, and reveals them to the one who is sincerely seeking for the heavenly treasure. If we yield to His guidance, He leads us into all light. As we behold the glory of Christ, we become changed into His image. We have that faith which works by love, and purifies the soul. Our hearts are renewed, and we are made willing to obey God in all things.” The Review and Herald, December 15, 1896.

Those Only Who Will Receive the Knowledge of Divine Truth

“The knowledge of divine truth is promised to those who will render obedience to the light and truth that have been given to them. An entrance into the strait gate is not dependent upon the possession of learning or riches, but it is dependent upon the possession of a teachable spirit. He who appreciates the first ray of heavenly light, and appropriates it, and walks in it, bringing his actions into harmony with that ray, and becoming sanctified through it, will receive yet more light. He will understand that the gospel is the plan of salvation.” Ibid., March 28, 1912.

Only Those Who Acknowledge Christ as Saviour and Lord Will Be Enlightened!

“The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind of the one who depends on the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, and indites a prayer of confession and repentance that is acceptable to the Lord.” Loma Linda Messges, 51, 52.

Christ promised that the Holy Spirit will illuminate man’s understanding concerning the mysteries of redeeming love.

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: … He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 16:12–14).

Pastor Ivan Plummer ministers through the Emmanuel Seventh Day Church Ministries in Bronx, New York. He may be contacted by telephone at: 718-882-3900.

God’s Telescope and Microscope

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“Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God?”

Psalm 77:13

“The subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery of the disappointment of 1844. It opened to view a complete system of truth, connected and harmonious.”
The Great Controversy, 423

As we begin this study, there is a concept that we need to understand. That concept is this: the sanctuary, the third angel’s message, the plan of redemption or new covenant, Christ the great center – all these terms refer to different facets of one great truth, the truth of God’s divine, omnipotent plan to redeem fallen man, to restore in man His image.

Our beginning quote from Inspiration gives us several critical pieces of information that will be the focus of our study. It says that the subject of the sanctuary is a complete system of truth. If something is complete, nothing more is needed. Nothing can be added. Nothing can be taken away, and still have completeness. This inspired statement also says the subject of the sanctuary is connected. Spend some time pondering and trying to grasp the meaning of that word, and what God is trying to communicate to us through that word. And then, lastly, these sentences declare that the subject of the sanctuary is one of harmony – it is in agreement, accord, coherence, with itself.

This study begins in the book Education from the chapter entitled “Mental and Spiritual Culture,” which begins on page 123, and is grand and beautiful in the significance of its words.

We need to have a context for the paragraphs we want to study, which we find in the first three sentences of the chapter. “For the mind and the soul, as well as for the body, it is God’s law that strength is acquired by effort. It is exercise that develops. In harmony with this law, God has provided in His word the means for mental and spiritual development.” We read here that in His holy word, we find the means for both the development of our mental faculties and for spiritual growth. Also stated is the fact that this is gained only through effort. These sentences introduce the focus of the chapter – mental and spiritual development.

In the next few paragraphs this thought is expanded, broadened, deepened and explained. Then follows the paragraph on which we are going to focus. It says, “In its wide range of style and subjects the Bible has something to interest every mind and appeal to every heart. In its pages are found history the most ancient; biography the truest to life; principles of government for the control of the state, for the regulation of the household [marriage and family life]—principles that human wisdom has never equaled. It contains philosophy the most profound, poetry the sweetest and the most sublime, the most impassioned and the most pathetic. Immeasurably superior in value to the productions of any human author are the Bible writings, even when thus considered; but of infinitely wider scope, of infinitely greater value, are they when viewed in their relation to the grand central thought. Viewed in the light of this thought, every topic has a new significance. In the most simply stated truths are involved principles that are as high as heaven and that compass eternity.” Education, 125.

The beauty, the grandeur, the depth, the breadth, the meaning in this paragraph gives food for a long period of prayerful thought and contemplation.

“The Bible contains all the principles necessary.” That means every aspect of life, every subject. There is tremendous food for thought just in that phrase. The Bible is immeasurably superior in value to the productions of any human author.

Let’s continue and we will read an astonishing and beautiful truth: “… but of infinitely wider scope, of infinitely greater value, are they when viewed in their relation to the grand central thought. Viewed in the light of this thought, every topic has a new significance. In the most simply stated truths are involved principles that are as high as heaven and that compass eternity.”

Oh, my friends, we add to immeasurable, the word infinitely. Another word with no comparison.0 Nothing even comes close. The Bible, when considered and understood in relation to the grand central thought is of infinitely greater value. Why? Why is its relation to the grand central thought so important that God says in this light it has infinitely greater scope and value? This question also is answered in the paragraph itself. It is because “in the most simply stated truths are involved principles that are as high as heaven and that compass eternity.”

Only through the understanding, acceptance and cooperation with this great central thought is salvation, life eternal, possible! Is it important to know what the grand central thought is? Yes. It is of vital, eternal consequence.

What is the grand central thought? Must human mind and wisdom define the grand central thought? No. Inspiration provides it in the very next paragraph. We read,

“The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God. From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden to that last glorious promise of the Revelation, ‘They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads’ (Revelation 22:4), the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme—man’s uplifting—the power of God, ‘which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (I Corinthians 15:57).” Education, 125, 126.

“He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study. He has the key that will unlock to him the whole treasure house of God’s word.” Ibid., 126.

What beauty, what grandeur we find in these few sentences. What food for thought is found therein. God tells us to believe something only on the testimony of two or more witnesses. On this subject there are not just two, or three, or four, but many witnesses. But for the sake of space we will briefly consider two more quotes beautiful in simplicity and clarity on this subject.

This first paragraph gives us a setting for the one we wish to study. “There is nothing more calculated to strengthen the intellect than the study of the Scriptures. No other book is so potent to elevate the thoughts, to give vigor to the faculties, as the broad, ennobling truths of the Bible. If God’s word were studied as it should be, men would have a breadth of mind, a nobility of character, and a stability of purpose rarely seen in these times.” Steps to Christ, 90.

Here is the crucial thought: “But there is but little benefit derived from a hasty reading of the Scriptures. One may read the whole Bible through and yet fail to see its beauty or comprehend its deep and hidden meaning. One passage studied until its significance is clear to the mind and its relation to the plan of salvation is evident, is of more value than the perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view and no positive instruction gained.” Ibid.

Did you comprehend that? If we do not study each passage until we understand its significance and its relation to the plan of salvation, we have gained no positive instruction. We may have gleaned wonderful knowledge and understanding for temporal benefit, but we have not gained positive instruction for eternity.

What subjects are covered in the Bible? History, biography, government, marriage and family, philosophy, poetry. In fact, Inspiration tells us, “The Bible contains all the principles that men need to understand in order to be fitted either for this life or for the life to come.” Education, 123. There is no subject of life that is not covered in the Bible.

“The Sabbath school should be a place where the jewels of truth are searched for and rescued from their environment of error, and placed in their true setting in the framework of the gospel. … Sacred and eternal principles connected with the plan of salvation have long been lost from sight, but they must be restored to their proper place in the plan of salvation, and made to appear in their heavenly light, and penetrate the moral darkness in which the world is enshrouded.” Counsels on Sabbath School Work, 12, 13.

What are the jewels of truth spoken of here? They are simply the divine instructions for living a happy, peaceful, successful life. Sometimes we call them beliefs or doctrines. Again we find that these must be placed in the framework of the gospel—the plan of salvation—or they are in an environment of error.

Let us reason together now. Of what eternal value, in reality, is any belief that is disconnected from God’s plan and desire for our salvation? God has an intensity of interest in healing the broken relationship with mankind that mortal mind cannot comprehend. We are told over and over again that this interest, this purpose is the central theme, the grand central thought of the Bible. It is the theme of every passage, every book of the Bible. Dare we value any less, dare we place any less importance on this theme, this purpose, this goal than does the great God, the Creator, the Redeemer, the Sanctifier?

Let us remember what He says. The word of divinity is, “of infinitely wider scope, of infinitely greater value, are they when viewed in their relation to the grand central thought. Viewed in the light of this thought, every topic has a new significance. In the most simply stated truths are involved principles that are as high as heaven and that compass eternity.”

I know that old habits and thought patterns are difficult to change. But, we claim to worship and have faith in the great Creator of the universe. Does He not have the power, the ability to help us? Pray. Ask Him for help. Tell Him you want to understand every jewel of truth, every passage of His word and its significance and relation to His plan of salvation. Make a commitment, with faith in His promises, to study, to contemplate, to chew carefully and thoroughly, His great revelation to mankind. Commit that with the aid of His Holy Spirit that you will study His word as He has instructed. Study one passage at a time. Study for a depth of understanding that “infinitely” surpasses the “immeasurable” benefit of the scriptures gained through the Bible from a temporal viewpoint. Study for that eternal benefit, the benefit of the grand central thought—your redemption.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New International Version.)

Brenda Douay is a staff member at Steps to Life. She may be contacted by email at: brendadouay@stepstolife.org.

The Christian Walk

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In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he wrote in chapter 1, verses 9 and 10, that he did not cease to pray that they might walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him.

A bit later in his letter, he wrote, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6, 7).

Then near the end of his letter, he wrote, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time” (Colossians 4:5).

It is clear that Paul was not simply talking about the act of putting one foot in front of the other. In his letter to the Colossians, he was using the word “walk” in the same sense that Christ did when He said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life,” and again in John 12:35, when He said, “Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.”

The Greek word translated “walk” is peripateō, which Strong’s Concordance defines as “figuratively to live, deport oneself, follow.” With that understanding, the relationship between the Bible writers’ use of ‘walk’ and the principle expressed in this quote from the Testimonies becomes clear: “God leads His people on step by step. The Christian life is a battle and a march. In this warfare there is no release; the effort must be continuous and persevering. It is by unceasing endeavor that we maintain the victory over the temptations of Satan. Christian integrity must be sought with resistless energy and maintained with a resolute fixedness of purpose.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 313.

It would be a challenge to find in inspired writings stronger counsel concerning our daily challenge, i.e., our Christian walk.

Paul often referred to the conduct of our daily lives as a walk. In Romans 6:4–6, he wrote, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

In chapter 8 of Romans, verses 1 through 4, he wrote, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

As he neared the end of his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Romans 13:13, 14).

Paul’s understanding of life as a walk is expressed throughout his epistles. Each one of them contains similar usage of the word. We have already cited instances in Colossians and Romans. Here are some from his other letters:

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:3–6).

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (verse 25).

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1–3).

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (verses 17–19).

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1, 2).

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (verses 8–10).

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (verses 15, 16).

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern” (Philippians 3:13–17).

“Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus” (I Thessalonians 4:1, 2).

“For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies” (2 Thessalonians 3:11).

It would be near impossible to read through these texts without gaining a fairly comprehensive understanding of what the Christian walk should be like—and what it should not be like. Perhaps most importantly, we are to walk, meaning, of course, to live, in a manner that fully pleases the Lord. To accomplish that noble task, we must know not only what pleases Him, but what He finds abominable as well. Such can only be accomplished through a thorough and continuing search of His word.

Understanding the enlightened instruction Paul provides in his letters gives us an excellent starting point for knowing how to walk in a manner that is “fully pleasing” to God the Father. A recurring theme is Paul’s admonition to “walk in the spirit” versus his caution against walking in the flesh. A summary of the principles expressed in the verses cited above should provide clear guidance for living the Christian walk. Let’s look at some of Paul’s instructions to gain a fuller understanding of the manner in which a Christian should conduct his daily life.

  • After baptism, we are to walk “in newness of life.” Old habits and conduct that is contrary to the will of God must be “done away with” (Romans 6:4–6).
  • The Christian walks “according to the Spirit,” not “according to the flesh,” (Romans 8:1–4), “and by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
  • The Christian does not make provision for the flesh, but rather walks “properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy” (Romans 13:13, 14). Note the similarity in Paul’s allusion here to walking “in the day” to that which Christ made in John 8:12 and John 12:35 regarding light and darkness.

Paul provides an excellent summary of the Christian’s spiritual walk versus walking in the flesh in Ephesians 4. A Christian walks “with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (verses 1–3).

Contrary to that is the fleshly walk, expressed so clearly in verses 17 through 19: “You should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”

Paul continues to clarify the contrast between the Christian walk and walking in darkness in Ephesians 5:1–21. A prayerful reading of those texts will provide an excellent means of “finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (verse 10).

Truly, the Christian walk is “a battle and a march,” but with prayerful study of God’s word, the sincere seeker can obtain clear instruction on how to win that battle and how to march successfully.

All quotes NKJV unless otherwise noted.

John Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. After retiring as chief financial officer for the Grand Canyon Association, Grand Canyon, Arizona, he moved to Wichita, Kansas, to join the Steps team. He may be contacted by email at: johnpearson@stepstolife.org.

Independent Units

by

“Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth (the seven last plagues) there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times.” The Great Controversy, 464.

According to this statement by Ellen White, primitive godliness has not existed since the times of the apostles in the first century, but it will exist again before the close of probation.

Under the training of Christ, His disciples had finally come to recognize their need of receiving the Holy Spirit. One of the first things Jesus said to His disciples after His resurrection was “receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). Under the Spirit’s teaching during the next few weeks, the disciples received their final qualification to go forth in their life work.

Incidentally, the disciples’ mission was second in importance only to the mission of Christ Himself. “No longer were they ignorant and uncultured. No longer were they a collection of independent units or discordant, conflicting elements.” The Acts of the Apostles, 45. That is what they had been during the entire time of Jesus’ ministry. Before Jesus called them and even throughout His ministry, from a worldly standpoint they were looked upon as ignorant, uncultured men. They had not been called from among the higher classes of society but from among the lowly, a collection of independent units. They were discordant, without harmony or unity, conflicting with one another.

There are many churches throughout the world today of all denominations that are simply a collection of independent units such as were the twelve disciples while they were being trained for Jesus. But after receiving His Spirit they were united and ready to carry out the plan of spreading the Gospel.

I have often asked myself what it will take for those professing Christ today to no longer be a collection of independent units. Finally, in the upper room they got it. Acts 2:46 says, “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.”

In Acts 4 we are told that there were several thousand Christians at that time. They were of one heart and one soul, no longer a collection of discordant independent units to the point that “… neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common” (Acts 4:32).

There was only one way that this experience was possible and is possible today. “Christ filled their thoughts; the advancement of His kingdom was their aim. In mind and character they had become like their Master, and men ‘took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus’ (Acts 4:13).” The Acts of the Apostles, 45.

At this time the church was possessed of one common interest that controlled everybody, which was the success of the mission that had been entrusted to them. “… after Christ’s ascension His enthronement in His mediatorial kingdom was signalized by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost the Spirit was given. Christ’s witnesses proclaimed the power of the risen Saviour. The light of heaven penetrated the darkened minds of those who had been deceived by the enemies of Christ. They now saw Him exalted to be ‘a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins’ (Acts 5:31).” Christ’s Object Lessons, 120.

So the very people that had been deceived, and some of those were directly responsible for the crucifixion of Christ, “… saw Him encircled with the glory of heaven, with infinite treasures in His hands to bestow upon all who would turn from their rebellion.” Ibid.

Jesus wanted to give these infinite treasures to anybody who would turn from his rebellion against the government of heaven. As the apostles set forth the glory of Christ, people became convicted of their sinful condition and that they were wretched and polluted, but they saw at the same time that Jesus Christ was somebody who could take their pollution, wretchedness, and guilt away. As Christ was lifted up as an all-powerful mediator and as they saw that He was the very same one who had born humiliation and suffering and death itself in order that they might not perish and to be given the opportunity to have everlasting life, they began to realize something of His power and majesty. People by the thousands started to stretch forth their hands and say, “I believe,” “This is what I need,” “This is who I need.”

The people who accepted Jesus as their Saviour were compelled in their spirit to relate to other people the message of hope and salvation they had heard. Within one generation, the glad tidings of a Saviour who had not only died for their sins, but who had risen and gone to heaven where He was interceding to God for His children, had spread to the utter most bounds of the entire inhabited world.

Colossians 1:5, 6: “… because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth.” The church beheld converts flocking to her from every direction. Those who were already believers were reconverted. People who had been living in sin united with Christians in seeking for the pearl of great price and the prophecy of Zechariah 12:8 was fulfilled: “In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them.”

Every Christian looked and saw in his brother or in his sister the divine similitude, the divine image, of benevolence and love and there was only one interest that prevailed throughout the entire church, one object that swallowed up all others. All hearts beat in harmony and their one ambition was to reveal the likeness of the character of Christ in their life and to labor for the enlargement of His kingdom.

The divine design was that the church was to be a reincarnation of Christ in every believer. At that time the entire congregation was animated by the Spirit of Christ, for they had found the pearl of great price.

This was the experience of the early church. According to the statement in The Great Controversy, 464, that very same thing is going to happen again. Ellen White describes it this way: “These scenes are to be repeated, and with greater power.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 121.

The question is, When these scenes are repeated again with greater power, would you like to be part of it? The latter rain is going to be more abundant than the former rain. Christ again is going to be revealed to this world in His fullness by the power of the Holy Spirit. People again are going to receive and see the pearl of great price and respond to its call.

The problem is that we are a long way from that kind of condition or experience today. However, we do not need to be discouraged because that was also the condition of the disciples. The world then was not that much different from the world now. In the ancient world, similar to the modern, position meant self-aggrandizement. The masses simply existed for the benefit of the ruling classes. Those with influence, wealth or education used their position as the means for getting control of the masses of the people, believing they were to think, to enjoy, and to decide and rule, while the lower classes were to obey and serve. The condition of the population of the Roman world at the time of Christ was terrible. The majority were slaves with no rights whatsoever and did not do much more than what their superiors told them to do. The right of a man to think for himself was not recognized. That was the world that Jesus Christ was born into.

Jesus came to establish a kingdom that was based on a completely different principle, and His disciples had a hard time learning that. They were still trying to operate on the principles of this world as we see in Matthew 20:20–23: “Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, ‘What do you wish?’ She said to Him, ‘Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.’ But Jesus answered and said, ‘You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ So He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.’ ”

Now, notice verse 24: “And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.” They knew that the highest position came with power, authority and control.

“But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you [My followers]; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave …’ ” (verse 25).

Christ’s kingdom is set up on a different principle from the kingdoms of this world. Jesus did not call His disciples to authority. He called them to service, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (verse 28).

All who call themselves Christian are not called to authority but to service. This service means that the strong are called to bear the infirmities of the weak, and that those with power, position, talent or education have a greater obligation because of those benefits to serve their fellows.

Paul told the Corinthian church, “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15). Jesus set the example. He was a caretaker and a burden bearer. When you study His life you find that He shared the poverty of the lowest class and that on behalf of His disciples, He practiced self-denial.

The principle on which Jesus acted is the principle which is to actuate the members of the church, His body. Those who are greatest in the kingdom of Christ will follow His example and act as servants of the flock. Paul said, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more” (I Corinthians 9:19) and “Just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved” (I Corinthians 10:33).

Christ’s kingdom is different from all other worldly kingdoms. It is based not on the principle of authority, but on the principle of service. The higher the position of leadership, the greater the responsibility to be a servant of all.

There is another way that Christ’s kingdom is different from earthly kingdoms. Romans 14:12 says, “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” In verse 5 we read, “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.”

These texts influenced the congressional testimonies of one of the pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist faith regarding the Sabbath/Sunday controversy. In 1888, 1890 and 1891, Elder A.T. Jones went to Congress to testify against the institution of a national Sunday law. During the debate, he was asked if the tables were turned and the majority of the people in the country kept Sabbath, would you support a law enforcing that? Elder Jones responded that it would not be all right. Even if 90% of the people in the country were resting on Saturday, it would still be wrong to enforce a Sabbath law. Why? In the last part of Romans 14:5 it says, “Let each be convinced in his own mind.”

In matters of conscience, no human being is to attempt to control another’s mind, judge for another, or prescribe somebody else’s duty. God gives to every human being freedom to think and follow his own convictions and each must give account of ourselves to God.

In Christ’s kingdom there is no lordly oppression, no compulsion of behavior. In fact, the angels of heaven do not come to this world to give orders, to rule or to exercise authority. They come as ministering spirits to sinners who are lost. If all of God’s professed people would receive the light that shines on them from God’s word and receive the truth, we would reach that state of unity for which Christ prayed. “… endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:3–5).

The early church reached that condition and received the Holy Spirit, resulting in having the bond of peace. They were of one body, one spirit, one hope, one calling, one lord, one faith and one baptism. It has been almost 2000 years since that condition has existed in the church.

What is preventing that condition today?

One reason for lack of unity among God’s people is the many people striving to become a center of influence themselves. Like the disciples, “Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest” (Luke 22:24). People now say that we are not like that. However, in Lift Him Up, 296, it says: “We have need of divine illumination. Every individual is striving to become a center of influence, and until God works for His people, they will not see that subordination to God is the only safety for any soul. His transforming grace upon human hearts will lead to unity that has not yet been realized, for all who are assimilated to Christ will be in harmony with one another. The Holy Spirit will create unity.”

To reach that condition is going to take a lot of self examination and hard work. All need to pray, “Lord, what is it in me that is keeping it from happening.” The first job is to go to the Lord and ask Him to change me.

I was always taught as a child growing up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church that the Bible was our only creed. However, Ellen White taught, “The prayer of Christ to His Father, contained in the seventeenth chapter of John, is to be our church creed.” Ibid.

Jesus said, “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are” (John 17:11).

He was not willing for His children to remain a collection of independent units and prayed to His Father that His disciples be one just as He and His father are one. There is much instruction in this prayer recorded in verses 12 to 19, but notice verses 20, 21: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word (every Christian in the world); that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Nowhere do you see in any nation of the world controlled by the devil’s principles a situation where there is a group of people that are one, one in heart, one in mind, and one in spirit. To move forward as one is only possible under the control of the Holy Spirit. Instead of unity, you see collections of independent units that are discordant and conflicting, which indicates to the whole world that those people are still part of the devil’s kingdom. It is impossible for demonic spirits to create unity. It is only possible under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said, “… that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (verses 21–23).

When this happens, the desire will be fulfilled that Jesus expressed in His prayer when He prayed, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (verse 24). For 2000 years this has been the prayer of all who look for the return of Jesus.

“Christ is the uniting link in the golden chain which binds believers together in God. There must be no separating in this great testing time. … The children of God constitute one united whole in Christ, who presents His cross as the center of attraction. All who believe are one in Him.” Lift Him Up, 296.

Imagine what could happen if God’s people around the world right now, who are mostly just a collection of independent units, would receive the Holy Spirit and become united with one heart and one spirit. When that happens, there will be unity of action.

“Unity of action is necessary to success. An army in battle would become confused and be defeated if the individual soldiers should move according to their own impulses instead of acting in harmony under the direction of a competent general.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 139.

“Moving according to their own impulses” describes much of the work today and why we see so much defeat. Individual soldiers are moving according to their own impulses instead of acting in harmony under the direction of a competent general. However, “A few converted souls, uniting for one grand purpose under one head, will achieve victories in every encounter. …

“Those who are not yoked up with Christ always pull the wrong way. They possess a temperament that belongs to man’s carnal nature, and at the least excuse passion is wide awake to meet passion. This causes a collision; and loud voices are heard in committee meetings, in board meetings, and in public assemblies …” Ibid.

One of the marks of a mature Christian is knowing how to deal with somebody who does not agree with you and thinks you are wrong.

Jesus told Nicodemus, a prominent leader in the Jewish church, that there is no chance of being in the kingdom of heaven unless you are born of the Holy Spirit (see John 3). This does not mean receiving some wonderful feeling, because the first thing the Holy Spirit does is reprove of sins (John 15). If you are really serious about receiving the Holy Spirit, you will be willing to be rebuked. An unwillingness to be corrected is one of the reasons that receiving the Holy Spirit is not as sought after as it should be.

It is never pleasant for anybody to have mistakes pointed out, but the Lord wants to make changes in your life, even if it hurts initially. God is going to finish the work He commenced in each life (see Philippians 1:6). He cannot take anyone to heaven while they hold on to any sin. Therefore He has to tell me what needs to be changed and I have to be willing to receive that discipline or that rebuke and be willing to change.

After the ascension of Christ, a 10-day prayer meeting was held in the upper room, where the disciples prayed to the Lord and spent time making things right with each other. After that time “… they were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1). When this group of people had the unity of spirit, the Holy Spirit came and the world was changed in one generation and it has never been the same since then.

That same experience is needed before the latter rain can fall and Jesus can return. If you are willing to be changed and would like to be part of such an experience, pray earnestly and often that Jesus will change you.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Rome’s Challenge

Why do Protestants keep Sunday?

The Cross and worshipMost Christians assume that Sunday is the biblically approved day of worship. The Roman catholic church protests that it transferred Christian worship from the biblical Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday, and that to try to argue that the change was made in the Bible is both dishonest and a denial of Catholic authority. If Protestantism wants to base its teachings only on the Bible, it should worship on Saturday.

A number of years ago the Catholic Mirror ran a series of articles discussing the right of the Protestant churches to worship on Sunday. The articles stressed that unless one was willing to accept the authority of the Catholic Church to designate the day of worship, the Christian should observe Saturday. This is a reprint of those articles.

February 24, 1893, the General Conference of Seventh day Adventists adopted certain resolutions appealing to the government and people of the United States from the decision of the Supreme Court declaring this to be a Christian nation, and from the action of Congress in legislating upon the subject of religion, and the remonstrating against the principle and all the consequences of the same. In March, 1893, the International Religious Liberty Association printed these resolutions in a tract entitled Appeal and Remonstrance. On receipt of one of these, the editor of the Catholic Mirror of Baltimore, Maryland, published a series of four editorials, which appeared in that paper September 2, 9, 16, and 23, 1893. The Catholic Mirror was the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons and the Papacy in the United States. These articles, therefore, although not written by the Cardinal’s own hand, appeared under his official sanction, and as the expression of the Papacy on this subject, are the open challenge of the Papacy to Protestantism, and the demand of the Papacy that Protestants shall render to the Papacy an account of why they keep Sunday and also of how they keep it.

The following matter (excepting the footnotes, the editor’s note in brackets beginning on page 25 and ending on page 27, [in this document, it’s pages 15- 16] and the two Appendixes) is a verbatim reprint of these editorials, including the title on page 2.

THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH

The Genuine Offspring of the Union of the Holy Spirit and the Catholic Church His Spouse. The claims of Protestantism to Any Part Therein Proved to Be Groundless, Self- Contradictory, and Suicidal.

(From the Catholic Mirror of Sept. 2, 1893.)

Our attention has been called to the above subject in the past week by the receipt of a brochure of twenty- one pages published by the International Religious Liberty Association entitled, “Appeal and Remonstrance.” embodying resolutions adopted by the General Conference of the Seventh- day Adventists (Feb. 24, 1893). The resolutions criticize and censure, with much acerbity, the action of the United States Congress, and of the Supreme Court, for invading the rights of the people by closing the World’s Fair on Sunday.

The Adventists are the only body of Christians with the Bible as their teacher, who can find no warrant in its pages for the change of day from the seventh to the first. Hence their appellation, “Seventh-day Adventists”. Their cardinal principle consists in setting apart Saturday for the exclusive worship of God, in conformity with the positive command of God Himself, repeatedly reiterated in the sacred books of the Old and New Testaments, literally obeyed by the children of Israel for thousands of years to this day and endorsed by the teaching and practice of the Son of God whilst on earth.

Per contra, the Protestants of the world, the Adventists excepted, with the same Bible as their cherished and sole infallible teacher, by their practice, since their appearance in the sixteenth century, with the time honored practice of the Jewish people before their eyes have rejected the day named for His worship by God and assumed in apparent contradiction of His command, a day for His worship never once referred to for that purpose, in the pages of that Sacred Volume.

What Protestant pulpit does not ring almost every Sunday with loud and impassioned invectives against Sabbath violation? Who can forget the fanatical clamor of the Protestant ministers throughout the length and breadth of the land against opening the gates of the World’s Fair on Sunday? The thousands of petitions, signed by millions, to save the Lord’s Day from desecration? Surely, such general and widespread excitement and noisy remonstrance could not have existed without the strongest grounds for such animated protests.

And when quarters were assigned at the World’s Fair to the various sects of Protestantism for the exhibition of articles, who can forget the emphatic expression of virtuous and conscientious indignation exhibited by our Presbyterian brethren, as soon as they learned of the decision of the Supreme Court not to interfere in the Sunday opening? The newspapers informed us that they flatly refused to utilize the space accorded them, or open their boxes, demanding the right to withdraw the articles, in rigid adherence to their principles, and thus decline all contact with the sacrilegious and

Sabbath-breaking Exhibition.

Doubtless, our Calvinistic brethren deserved and shared the sympathy of all the other sects, who, however, lost the opportunity of posing as martyrs in vindication of the Sabbath observance.

They thus became “a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men,” although their Protestant brethren, who failed to share the monopoly, were uncharitably and enviously disposed to attribute their steadfast adherence to religious principle, to Pharisaical pride and dogged obstinacy.

Our purpose in throwing off this article, is to shed such light on this all important question (for were the Sabbath question to be removed from the Protestant pulpit, the sects would feel lost, and the preachers be deprived of their “Cheshire cheese”.) that our readers may be able to comprehend the question in all its bearings, and thus reach a clear conviction.

The Christian world is, morally speaking, united on the question and practice of worshipping God on the first day of the week.

The Israelites, scattered all over the earth, keep the last day of the week sacred to the worship of the Deity. In this particular, the Seventh- day Adventists (a sect of Christians numerically few) have also selected the same day.

Israelites and Adventists both appeal to the Bible for the divine command, persistently obliging the strict observance of Saturday.

The Israelite respects the authority of the Old Testament only, but the Adventist, who is a Christian, accepts the New Testament on the same ground as the Old: viz.. an inspired record also. He finds that the Bible, his teacher, is consistent in both parts, that the Redeemer, during His mortal life, never kept any other day than Saturday. The gospels plainly evince to him this fact; whilst, in the pages of the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse, not the vestige of an act canceling the Saturday arrangement can be found.

The Adventists, therefore, in common with the Israelites, derive their belief from the Old Testament, which position is confirmed by the New Testament, endorsing fully by the life and practice of the Redeemer and His apostles the teaching of the Sacred Word for nearly a century of the Christian era.

Numerically considered, the Seventh- day Adventists form an insignificant portion of the Protestant population of the earth, but, as the question is not one of numbers, but of truth, fact, and right, a strict sense of justice forbids the condemnation of this little sect without a calm and unbiased investigation: this is none of our funeral.

The Protestant world has been, from its infancy, in the sixteenth century, in thorough accord with the Catholic Church, in keeping “holy,” not Saturday, but Sunday. The discussion of the grounds that led to this unanimity of sentiment and practice for over 300 years must help toward placing

Protestantism on a solid basis in this particular, should the arguments in favor of its position overcome those furnished by the Israelites and Adventists, the Bible, the sole recognized teacher of both litigants, being the umpire and witness. If, however, on the other hand, the latter furnish arguments, incontrovertible by the great mass of Protestants, both classes of litigants, appealing to their common teacher, the Bible, the great body of Protestants so far from clamoring, as they do with vigorous pertinacity for the strict keeping of Sunday, have no other recourse left than the admission that they have been teaching and practicing what is Scripturally false for over three centuries, by adopting the teaching and practice of the what they have always pretended to believe an apostate church, contrary to every warrant and teaching of sacred Scripture. To add to the intensity of this Scriptural and unpardonable blunder, it involves one of the most positive and emphatic commands of God to His servant, man: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

No Protestant living today has ever yet obeyed that command preferring to follow the apostate church referred to than his teacher, the Bible which from Genesis to Revelation, teaches no other doctrine, should the Israelites and Seventh- day Adventists be correct. Both sides appeal to the Bible as their “infallible” teacher. Let the Bible decide whether Saturday or Sunday be the day enjoined by God. One of the two bodies must be wrong, and , whereas a false position on this all- important question involves terrible penalties, threatened by God Himself, against the transgressor of this “perpetual covenant,” we shall enter on the discussion of the merits of the arguments wielded by both sides. Neither is the discussion of this paramount subject above the capacity of ordinary minds, nor does it involve extraordinary study. It resolves itself into a few plain questions easy of solution:

1st. Which day of the week does the Bible enjoin to be kept holy?
2nd. Has the New Testament modified by precept or practice the original command?
3rd. Have Protestants, since the sixteenth century, obeyed the command of God by keeping “holy” the day enjoined by their infallible guide and teacher, the Bible? and if not, why not?

To the above three questions, we pledge ourselves to furnish as many intelligent answers, which cannot fail to vindicate the truth and uphold the deformity of error.

[From the Catholic Mirror of Sept. 9, 1893]

“But faith, fanatic faith, once wedded fast To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last” Moore Conformably to our promise in our last issue, we proceed to unmask one of the most flagrant errors and most unpardonable inconsistencies of the Biblical rule of faith. Lest, however, we be misunderstood, we deem it necessary to premise that Protestantism recognizes no rule of faith, no teacher, save the “infallible Bible.” As the Catholic yields his judgment in spiritual matters implicitly, and with unreserved confidence, to the voice of his church, so, too, the Protestant recognizes no teacher but the Bible. All his spirituality is derived from its teachings. It is to him the voice of God addressing him through his sole inspired teacher. It embodies his religion, his faith, and his practice. The language of Chillingworth, “The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, is the religion of Protestants,” is only one form of the same idea multifariously convertible into other forms, such as “the book of God,” “the Charter of Our Salvation,” “the Oracle of Our Christian Faith,” “God’s Text- Book to the race of Mankind,” etc., etc. It is, then, an incontrovertible fact that the Bible alone is the teacher of Protestant Christianity Assuming this fact, we will now proceed to discuss the merits of the question involved in our last issue.

Recognizing what is undeniable, the fact of a direct contradiction between the teaching and practice of Protestant Christianity –the Seventh- day Adventists excepted– on the one hand, and that of the Jewish people on the other, both observing different days of the week for the worship of God, we will proceed to take the testimony of the only available witness in the premises: viz., the testimony of the teacher common to both claimants, the Bible. The first expression with which we come in contact in the Sacred Word, is found in Genesis 2: 2: “And on the seventh day He [God] rested from all His work which He had made.” The next reference to this matter is to be found in Exodus 20, where God commanded the seventh day to be kept, because He had Himself rested from the work of creation on that day: and the sacred text informs us that for that reason He desired it kept, in the following words: “Wherefore, the Lord blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.” Again, we read in chapter 31, verse 15: “Six days you shall do work: in the seventh day is the Sabbath, the rest holy to the Lord:” sixteenth verse: “It is an everlasting covenant,” “and a perpetual sign,” “for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and in the seventh He ceased from work.”

In the Old Testament, reference is made on hundred and twenty- six times to the Sabbath, and all these texts conspire harmoniously in voicing the will of God commanding the seventh day to be kept, because God Himself first kept it, making it obligatory on all as “a perpetual covenant.” Nor can we imagine any one foolhardy enough to question the identity of Saturday with the Sabbath or seventh day, seeing that the people of Israel have been keeping the Saturday from the giving of the law, A. M. 2514 to AD 1893, a period of 3383 years. with the example of the Israelites before our eyes today, there is no historical fact better established than that referred to: viz., that the chosen people of God, the guardians of the Old Testament, the living representatives of the only divine religion hitherto, had for a period of 1490 years anterior to Christianity, preserved by weekly practice the living tradition of the correct interpretation of the special day of the week, Saturday, to be kept “holy to the Lord,” which tradition they have extended by their practice to an additional period of 1893 years more, thus covering the full extent of the Christian dispensation. We deem it necessary to be perfectly clear on this point, for reasons that will appear more fully hereafter. The Bible– Old Testament– confirmed by the living tradition of a weekly practice for 3383 years by the chosen people of God, teaches then, with absolute certainty, that God had, Himself, named the day to be “kept holy to Him,”– that the day was Saturday, and that any violation of that command was punishable with death. “Keep you My Sabbath, for it is holy unto you: he that shall profane it shall be put to death: he that shall do any work in it, his soul shall perish in the midst of his people.” Ex. 31: 14.

It is impossible to realize a more severe penalty than that so solemnly uttered by God Himself in the above text, on all who violate a command referred to no less than one hundred and twenty- six times in the old law. The ten commandments of the Old Testament are formally impressed on the memory of the child of the Biblical Christian as soon as possible, but there is not one of the ten made more emphatically familiar, both in Sunday school and pulpit, than that of keeping “holy” the Sabbath day.

Having secured with absolute certainty the will of God as regards the day to be kept holy, from His Sacred word, because he rested on that day, which day is confirmed to us by the practice of His chosen people for thousands of years, we are naturally induced to inquire when and where God changed the day for His worship; for it is patent to the world that a change of day has taken place, and inasmuch as no indication of such change can be found within the pages of the Old Testament, nor in the practice of the Jewish people who continue for nearly nineteen centuries of Christianity obeying the written command, we must look to the exponent of the Christian dispensation: viz., the New Testament, for the command of God canceling the old Sabbath, Saturday.

We now approach a period covering little short of nineteen centuries, and proceed to investigate whether the supplemental divine teacher– the New Testament– contains a decree canceling the mandate of the old law, and, at the same time, substituting a day for the divinely instituted Sabbath of the old law. Viz. Saturday; for, inasmuch as Saturday was the day kept and ordered to be kept by God. Divine authority alone, under the form of a canceling decree, could abolish the Saturday covenant, and another divine mandate, appointing by name another day to be kept “holy,” other than Saturday, is equally necessary to satisfy the conscience of the Christian believer. The Bible being the only teacher recognized by the Biblical Christian, the Old Testament failing to point out a change of day and yet another day than Saturday being kept “holy” by the Biblical world, it is surely incumbent on the reformed Christian to point out in the pages of the New Testament, the new divine decree repealing that of Saturday and substituting that of Sunday, kept by Biblicals since the dawn of the Reformation.

Examining the New Testament from cover to cover, critically, we find the Sabbath referred to sixty- one times. We find, too, that the Saviour invariably selected the Sabbath (Saturday) to teach in the synagogues and work miracles. The four Gospels refer to the Sabbath (Saturday) fifty- one times.

In one instance the Redeemer refers to Himself as “the Lord of the Sabbath,” as mentioned by Matthew and Luke, but during the whole record of His life, whilst invariably keeping and utilizing the day (Saturday). He never once hinted at a desire to change it. His apostles and personal friends afford to us a striking instance of their scrupulous observance of it after His death, and, whilst His body was yet in the tomb, Luke (23: 56) informs us: “And they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” “But on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came, bringing the spices they had prepared Good Friday evening, because the Sabbath drew near.” Verse 54. This action on the part of the personal friends of the Saviour, proves beyond contradiction that after His death they kept “holy” the Saturday and regarded the Sunday as any other day of the week. Can anything, therefore, be more conclusive than that the apostles and the holy women never knew any Sabbath but Saturday, up to the day of Christ’s death?

We now approach the investigation of this interesting question for the next thirty years, as narrated by the evangelist, St. Luke, in his Acts of the Apostles. Surely some vestige of the canceling act can be discovered in the practice of the apostles during that protracted period. But alas! We are once more doomed to disappointment. Nine times do we find the Sabbath referred to in the Acts, but it is the Saturday (the Old Sabbath). Should our readers desire the proof, we refer them to chapter and verse in each instance. Acts 13: 14, 27, 42, 44. Once more, Acts 15: 21; again, Acts 16: 13; 17: 2; 18: 4. “And he (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” Thus the Sabbath (Saturday) from Genesis to Revelation!!! Thus, it is impossible to find in the New Testament the slightest interference by the Saviour or His apostles with the original Sabbath, but on the contrary, an entire acquiescence in the original arrangement; nay, a plenary endorsement by Him, whilst living: and an unvaried, active participation in the keeping of that day and no other by the apostles for thirty years after His death, as the Acts of the Apostles has abundantly testified to us.

Hence the conclusion is inevitable: viz,. that of those who follow the Bible as their guide, the Israelites and Seventh- day Adventists have the exclusive weight of evidence on their side, whilst the Biblical Protestant has not a word in self- defense for his substitution of Sunday for Saturday. More anon. [From the Catholic Mirror of Sept. 16, 1893.] When his satanic majesty, who was “a murderer from the beginning.” “and the father of lies,” undertook to open the eyes of our first mother, Eve, by stimulating her ambition, “You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” his action was but the first of many plausible and successful efforts employed later, in the seduction of millions of her children. Like Eve, they learn too late. Alas! the value of the inducements held out to allure her weak children from allegiance to God. Nor does the subject matter of this discussion form an exception to the usual tactics of his sable majesty.

Over three centuries since, he plausibly represented to a large number of discontented and ambitious Christians the bright prospect of the successful inauguration of a “new departure,” by the abandonment of the Church instituted by the Son of God, as their teacher, and the assumption of a new teacher– the Bible alone– as their newly fledged oracle.

The sagacity of the evil one foresaw but the brilliant success of this maneuver. Nor did the result fall short of his most sanguine expectations.

A bold and adventurous spirit was alone needed to head the expedition. Him his satanic majesty soon found in the apostate monk, Luther, who himself repeatedly testifies to the close familiarity that existed between his master and himself, in his “Table Talk,” and other works published in 1558, at Wittenberg, under the inspection of Melancthon. His colloquies with Satan on various occasions, are testified to by Luther himself– a witness worthy of all credibility. What the agency of the serpent tended so effectually to achieve in the garden, the agency of Luther achieved in the Christian world.

“Give them a pilot to their wandering fleet, Bold in his art, and tutored to deceit:

Whose hand adventurous shall their helm misguide To hostile shores, or’whelm them in the tide.”

As the end proposed to himself by the evil one in his raid on the church of Christ was the destruction of Christianity, we are now engaged in sifting the means adopted by him to insure his success therein. So far, they have been found to be misleading, self- contradictory, and fallacious. We will now proceed with the further investigation of this imposture.

Having proved to a demonstration that the Redeemer, in no instance, had, during the period of His life, deviated from the faithful observance of the Sabbath (Saturday), referred to by the four evangelists fifty- one times, although He had designated Himself “Lord of the Sabbath,” He never having once, by command or practice hinted at a desire on His part to change the day by the substitution of another and having called special attention to the conduct of the apostles and the holy women, the very evening of His death, securing beforehand spices and ointments to e used in embalming His body the morning after the Sabbath (Saturday) as St. Luke so clearly informs us (Luke 24: 1), thereby placing beyond peradventure, the divine action and will of the son of God during life by keeping the Sabbath steadfastly; and having called attention to the action of His living representatives after His death, as proved by St. Luke, having also placed before our readers the indisputable fact that the apostles for the following thirty years (Acts) never deviated from the practice of their divine Master in this particular, as St. Luke , Acts 18: 1) assures us: “And he [Paul] reasoned in the synagogues every Sabbath (Saturday, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” The Gentile converts were, as we see from the text, equally instructed with the Jews, to keep the Saturday, having been converted to Christianity on that day, “the Jews and the Greeks” collectively.

Having also called attention to the texts of the Acts bearing on the exclusive use of the Sabbath by the Jews and Christians for thirty years after the death of the

Saviour as the only day of the week observed by Christ and His apostles, which period exhausts the inspired record, we now proceed to supplement our proofs that the Sabbath (Saturday) enjoyed this exclusive privilege, by calling attention to every instance wherein the sacred record refers to the first day of the week.

The first reference to Sunday after the resurrection of Christ is to be found in St. Luke’s gospel, chapter 24, verses 33- 40, and St. John 20: 19.

The above texts themselves refer to the sole motive of this gathering on the part of the apostles. It took place on the day of the resurrection (Easter Sunday), not for the purpose of inaugurating “the new departure” from the old Sabbath (Saturday) by keeping “holy” the new day, for there is not a hint given of prayer, exhortation, or the reading of the Scriptures, but it indicates the utter demoralization of the apostles by informing mankind that they were huddled together in that room in Jerusalem “for fear of the Jews”, as St. John, quoted above, plainly informs us.

The second reference to Sunday is to be found in St. John’s Gospel, 20th chapter, 26th to 29th verses: “And after eight days, the disciples were again within, and Thomas with them.” The resurrected Redeemer availed Himself of this meeting of all the apostles to confound the incredulity of Thomas, who had been absent from the gathering on Easter Sunday evening. This would have furnished a golden opportunity to the Redeemer to change the day in the presence of all His apostles, but we state the simple fact that, on this occasion, as on Easter day, not q word is said of prayer, praise, or reading of the Scriptures.

The third instance on record, wherein the apostles were assembled on Sunday, is to be found in Acts 2: 1; “The apostles were all of one accord in one place.” (Feast of Pentecost– Sunday) Now, will this text afford to our Biblical Christian brethren a vestige of hope that Sunday substitutes, at length, Saturday? For when we inform them that the Jews had been keeping this Sunday for 1500 years and have been keeping it for eighteen centuries after the establishment of Christianity, at the same time keeping the weekly Sabbath, there is not to be found either consolation or comfort in this text. Pentecost is the fiftieth day after the Passover, which was called the Sabbath of weeks consisting of seven times seven days and the day after the completion of the seventh weekly Sabbath day, was the chief day of the entire festival, necessarily Sunday. What Israelite would not pity the cause that would seek to discover the origin of the keeping of the first day of the week in his festival of Pentecost, that has been kept by him yearly for over 3,000 years? Who but the Biblical Christians, driven to the wall for a pretext to excuse his sacrilegious desecration of the Sabbath, always kept by Christ and His apostles would have resorted to the Jewish festival of Pentecost for his act of rebellion against his God and his teacher, the Bible.

Once more, the Biblical apologists for the change of day call our attention to the Acts, chapter 20, verses 6 and 7; “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread.” etc. To all appearances the above text should furnish some consolation to our disgruntled Biblical friends, but being a Marplot, we cannot allow them even this crumb of comfort. We reply by the axiom: “Quod probat nimis, probat nihil”–“ What proves too much, proves nothing.” Let us call attention to the same, Acts 2: 46; “And they, continuing daily in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house,” etc. Who does not see at a glance that the text produced to prove the exclusive prerogative of Sunday, vanishes into thin air– an ignis fatuus– when placed in juxtaposition with the 46th verse of the same chapter? What the Biblical Christian claims by this text for Sunday alone the same authority, St. Luke, informs us was common to every day of the week; “and they, continuing daily in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house.”

One text more presents itself, apparently leaning toward a substitution of Sunday for Saturday. It is taken from St. Paul, I Cor. 16: 1,2; “Now concerning the collection for the saints.” “On the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store,” etc. Presuming that the request of St. Paul had been strictly attended to, let us call attention to what had been done each Saturday during the Saviour’s life and continued for thirty years after, as the book of Acts informs us.

The followers of the Master met “every Sabbath” to hear the word of God; the scriptures were read “every Sabbath day.” “And Paul, as his manner was to reason in the synagogue every Sabbath, interposing the name of the Lord Jesus,” etc. Acts 18: 4. What more absurd conclusion than to infer that reading of the Scriptures, prayer, exhortation and preaching, which formed the routine duties of every Saturday, as has been abundantly proved, were overslaughed by a request to take up a collection on another day of the week?

In order to appreciate fully the value of this text now under consideration, it is only needful to recall the action of the apostles and holy women on Good Friday before sundown. They bought the spices and ointments after He was taken down from the cross; they suspended all action until the Sabbath “holy to the Lord” had pass, and then took steps on Sunday morning to complete the process of embalming the sacred body of Jesus.

Why, may we ask, did they not proceed to complete the work of embalming on Saturday?– Because they knew well that the embalming of the sacred body of their Master would interfere with the strict observance of the Sabbath, the keeping of which was paramount; and until it can be shown that the Sabbath day immediately preceding the Sunday of our text had not been kept (which would be false, inasmuch as every Sabbath had been kept), the request of St. Paul to make the collection on Sunday remains to be classified with the work of the embalming of Christ’s body, which could not be effected on the Sabbath, and was consequently deferred to the next convenient day: viz. Sunday, or the first day of the week.

Having disposed of every text to be found in the New Testament referring to the Sabbath (Saturday), and to the first day of the week (Sunday); and having shown conclusively from these texts, that, so far, not a shadow of pretext can be found in the Sacred Volume for the Biblical substitution of Sunday for Saturday; it only remains for us to investigate the meaning of the expressions “Lord’s Day,” and “day of the Lord,” to be found in the New Testament, which we propose to do in our next article, and conclude with apposite remarks on the incongruities of a system of religion which we shall have proved to be indefensible, self- contradictory, and suicidal.

[From the Catholic Mirror of Sept. 23, 1893.]

“Halting on crutches of unequal size.
One leg by truth supported, one by lies,
Thus sidle to the goal with awkward pace,
Secure of nothing but to lose the race.”

In the present article we propose to investigate carefully a new (and the last) class of proof assumed to convince the biblical Christian that God had substituted Sunday for Saturday for His worship in the new law, and that the divine will is to be found recorded by the Holy Ghost in apostolic writings.

We are informed that this radical change has found expression, over and over again, in a series of texts in which the expression, “the day of the Lord,” or “the Lord’s day,” is to be found. The class of texts in the New Testament, under the title “Sabbath,” numbering sixty- one in the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles; and the second class, in which “the first day of the week,” or Sunday, having been critically examined (the latter class numbering nine [eight]); and having been found not to afford the slightest clue to a change of will on the part of God as to His day of worship by man, we now proceed to examine the third and last class of texts relied on to save the Biblical system from the arraignment of seeking to palm off on the world, in the name of God a decree for which there is not the slightest warrant or authority from their teacher, the Bible. The first text of this class is to be found in the Acts of the Apostles 2: 20: “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord shall come.” How many Sundays have rolled by since that prophecy was spoken? So much for that effort to pervert the meaning of the sacred text from the judgment day to Sunday!

The second text of this class is to be found in I Cor. 1: 8; “Who shall also confirm you unto the end. That you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What simpleton does not see that the apostle here plainly indicates the day of judgment? The next text of this class that presents itself is to be found in the same Epistle, chapter 5: 5; “To deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” The incestuous Corinthian was, of course, saved on the Sunday next following!! How pitiable such a makeshift as this! The fourth text, 2 Cor. 1: 13,14; “And I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end, even as ye also are ours in the day of our Lord Jesus.”

Sunday, or the day of judgment, which?

The fifth text is from St. Paul to the Philippians, chapter 1, verse 6: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.” The good people of Philippi, in attaining perfection on the following Sunday, could afford to laugh at our modern rapid transit!

We beg leave to submit our sixth of the class; viz. Philippians, first chapter, tenth verse: “That he may be sincere without offense unto the day of Christ.” That day was next Sunday, forsooth! not so long to wait after all. The seventh text, 2 Peter 3: 10; “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” The application of this text to Sunday passes the bounds of absurdity.

The eighth text, 2 Peter 3: 12; “Waiting for and hastening unto the coming of the day of the Lord, by which the heavens being on fire, shall be dissolved.” etc. This day of the Lord is the same referred to in the previous text, the application of both of which to Sunday next would have left the Christian world sleepless the next Saturday night.

We have presented to our readers eight of the nine texts relied on to bolster up by text of Scripture the sacrilegious effort to palm off the “Lord’s day” for Sunday, and with what result? Each furnishes prima facie evidence of the last day, referring to it directly, absolutely, and unequivocally.

The ninth text wherein we meet the expression “the Lord’s day,” is the last to be found in the apostolic writings. The Apocalypse, or Revelation, chapter 1: 10, furnishes it in the following words of St. John: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day;” but it will afford no more comfort to our Biblical friends than its predecessors of the same series. Has St. John used the expression previously in his Gospel or Epistles?– Emphatically, No. Has he had occasion to refer to Sunday hitherto?– Yes, twice. How did he designate Sunday on these occasions? Easter Sunday was called by him (John 20: 1) “The first day of the week.”

Again, chapter twenty, nineteenth verse: “Now when it was late that same day, being the first day of the week.” Evidently, although inspired, both in his gospel and Epistles, he called Sunday “the first day of the week.” On what grounds then, can it be assumed that he dropped that designation? Was he more inspired when he wrote the apocalypse, or did he adopt a new title for Sunday because it was now in vogue?

A reply to these questions would be supererogatory especially to the latter, seeing that the same expression had been used eight times already by St. Luke, St. Paul, and St. Peter, all under divine inspiration and surely the Holy spirit would not inspire St. John to call Sunday the Lord’s day whilst He inspired St. Luke, Paul, and Peter, collectively, to entitle the day of judgment “the Lord’s day.” Dialecticians reckon amongst the infallible motives of certitude, the moral motive of analogy or induction, by which we are enabled to conclude with certainty from the known to the unknown being absolutely certain of the meaning of an expression uttered eight times, we conclude that the same expression can have only the same meaning when uttered the ninth time, especially when we know that on the nine occasions the expressions were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Nor are the strongest intrinsic grounds wanting to prove that this like its sister texts, contains the same meaning, St. John (Rev. 1: 10) says: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day;” but he furnishes us the key to this expression, chapter four, first and second verses; “After this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven.” A voice said to him; “Come up hither, and I will show you the things which must be hereafter,” Let us ascend in spirit with John. Whither?– through that “door in heaven,” to heaven. a And what shall we see?–“ The things that must be hereafter,” Chapter four, first verse. He ascended in spirit to heaven. He was ordered to write, in full, his vision of what is to take place antecedent to and concomitantly with, “the Lord’s day,” or the day of judgment; the expression “Lords day” being confined in Scripture to the day of judgment, exclusively.

We have studiously and accurately collected from the New Testament every available proof that could be adduced in favor of a law canceling the Sabbath day of the old law, or one substituting another day for the Christian dispensation. We have been careful to make the above distinction, lest it might be advanced that the third (in the Catholic enumeration the Sabbath commandment is the third of the commandments) commandment was abrogated under the new law. Any such plea has been overruled by the action of the Methodist Episcopal bishops in their pastoral 1874, and quoted by the New Your Herald of the same date, of the following tenor; “The Sabbath instituted in the beginning and confirmed again and again by Moses and the prophets, has never been abrogated. A part of the moral law, not a part or tittle of its sanctity has been taken away.” The above official pronunciamento has committed that large body of Biblical Christians to the permanence of the third commandment under the new law.

We again beg leave to call the special attention of our readers to the twentieth of “the thirty- nine articles of religion” of the Book of Common Prayer: “It is not lawful for the church to ordain anything that is contrary to God’s written word”

CONCLUSION

We have in this series of articles, taken much pains fro the instruction of our readers to prepare them by presenting a number of undeniable facts found in the word of God to arrive at a conclusion absolutely irrefragable. When the Biblical system put in an appearance in the sixteenth century, it not only seized on the temporal possessions of the Church, but in its vandalic crusade stripped Christianity, as far as it could, of all the sacraments instituted by its Founder, of the holy sacrifice, etc., etc., retaining nothing but the Bible, which its exponents pronounced their sole teacher in Christian doctrine and morals.

Chief amongst their articles of belief was, and is today, the permanent necessity of keeping the Sabbath holy. In fact, it has been for the past 300 years the only article of the Christian belief in which there has been a plenary consensus of Biblical representatives. The keeping of the Sabbath constitutes the sum and substance of the Biblical theory. The pulpits resound weekly with incessant tirades against the lax manner of keeping the Sabbath in Catholic countries as contrasted with the proper, Christian, self- satisfied mode of keeping the day in Biblical countries. Who can ever forget the virtuous indignation manifested by the Biblical preachers throughout the length and breadth of our country, from every Protestant pulpit as long as the question of opening the World’s Fair on Sunday was yet undecided; and who does not know today, that one sect, to mark its holy indignation at the decision, has never yet opened the boxes that contained its articles at the World’s Fair?

These superlatively good and unctuous Christians, by conning over their bible carefully, can find their counterpart in a certain class of unco- good people in the days of the Redeemer, who haunted Him night and day, distressed beyond measure, and scandalized beyond forbearance, because He did not keep the Sabbath in as straight- laced manner as themselves.

They hated Him for using common sense in reference to the day, and He found no epithets expressive enough of His supreme contempt for their Pharisaical pride. And it is very probable that the divine mind has not modified its views today anent the blatant outcry of their followers and sympathizers at the close of this nineteenth century. But when we add to all this the fact that whilst the Pharisees of old kept the true Sabbath, our modern Pharisees, counting on the credulity and simplicity of their dupes, have never once in their lives kept the true Sabbath which their divine Master kept to His dying day and which His apostles kept, after His example, for thirty years afterward according to the Sacred Record, the most glaring contradiction involving a deliberate sacrilegious rejection of a most positive precept is presented to us today in the action of the Biblical Christian world. The Bible and the Sabbath constitute the watchword of Protestantism: but we have demonstrated that it is the Bible against their Sabbath. We have shown that no greater contradiction ever existed than their theory and practice. We have proved that neither their biblical ancestors nor themselves have ever kept one Sabbath day in their lives.

The Israelites and Seventh- day Adventists are witnesses of their weekly desecration of the day named by God so repeatedly, and whilst they have ignored and condemned their teacher, the bible, they have adopted a day kept by the Catholic Church. What Protestant can, after perusing these articles, with a clear conscience, continue to disobey the command of God enjoining Saturday to be kept which command his teacher, the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, records as the will of God?

The history of the world cannot present a more stupid, self- stultifying specimen of dereliction of principle than this. The teacher demands emphatically in every page that the law of the Sabbath be observed every week, by all recognizing it as “the only infallible teacher,” whilst the disciples of that teacher have not once for over three hundred years observed the divine precept! That immense concourse of Biblical Christians, the Methodists, have declared that the Sabbath has never been abrogated, whilst the followers of the Church of England, together with her daughter, the Episcopal Church of the United States, are committed by the twentieth article of religion, already quoted, to the ordinance that the Church cannot lawfully ordain anything “contrary to God’s written word.” God’s written word enjoins His worship to be observed on Saturday absolutely, repeatedly, and most emphatically, with a most positive threat of death to him who disobeys. All the Biblical sects occupy the same self- stultifying position which no explanation can modify, much less justify.

How truly do the words of the Holy Spirit apply to this deplorable situation! “Iniquitas mentita est sibi”- “Iniquity hath lied to itself.” Proposing to follow the Bible only as a teacher, yet before the world, the sole teacher is ignominiously thrust aside, and the teaching and practice of the Catholic Church – “the mother of abominations,” when it suits their purpose so to designate her – adopted, despite the most terrible threats pronounced by God Himself against those who disobey the command, “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath.”

Before closing this series of articles, we beg to call the attention of our readers once more to our caption, introductory of each; vis., 1. The Christian Sabbath, the genuine offspring of the union of the Holy Spirit with the Catholic Church His spouse. 2. The claim of Protestantism to any part therein proved to be groundless, self- contradictory and suicidal.

The first proposition needs little proof. The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday. We say by virtue of her divine mission, because He who called Himself the “Lord of the Sabbath,” endowed her with His own power to teach, “He that heareth you, heareth me;” commanded all who believe in Him to hear her, under penalty of being placed with the “heathen and publican;” and promised to be with her to the end of the world. She holds her charter as the teacher from him- a charter as infallible as perpetual. The Protestant world at its birth found the Christian Sabbath too strongly entrenched to run counter to its existence; it was therefore placed under the necessity of acquiescing in the arrangement, thus implying the Church’s right to change the day, for over three hundred years. The Christian Sabbath is therefore to this day, the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church as spouse of the holy Ghost without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant world.

Let us now, however, take a glance at our second proposition, with the Bible alone as the teacher most emphatically forbids any change in the day for paramount reasons. The command calls for a “perpetual covenant.” The day commanded to be kept by the teacher has never once been kept. Thereby developing an apostasy from an assumedly fixed principle, as self- contradictory, self- stultifying, and consequently as suicidal as it is within the power of language to express.

Nor are the limits of demoralization yet reached. Far from it. Their pretense for leaving the bosom if the Catholic Church was for apostasy from the truth as taught in the written word. They adopted the written word as their sole teacher, which they had no sooner done than they abandoned it promptly, as these articles have abundantly proved; and by a perversity as willful as erroneous, they accept the teaching of the Catholic Church in direct opposition to the plain, unvaried, and constant teaching of their sole teacher in the most essential doctrine of their religion, thereby emphasizing the situation in what may be aptly designated “a mockery, a delusion, and a snare.”

[Editor’s note –It was upon this very point that the Reformation was condemned by the Council of Trent. The Reformers had constantly charged, as here stated that the Catholic Church had apostatized from the truth as contained in the written word. “The written word,” “The Bible and the Bible only,” “Thus saith the Lord,” these were their constant watchwords; and “The Scripture as in the written word the sole standard of appeal.” This was the proclaimed platform of the Reformation and of Protestantism. “The Scripture and tradition.” “The bible as interpreted by the Church and according to the unanimous consent of the fathers.” This was the position and claim of the Catholic Church. This was the main issue in the Council of Trent, which was called especially to consider the questions that had been raised and forced upon the attention of Europe by the Reformers. The very first question concerning faith that was considered by the council was the question involved in this issue. There was a strong party even of the Catholics within the council who were in favor of abandoning tradition and adopting the Scriptures only, as the standard of authority. This view was so decidedly held in the debates in the council that the pope’s legates actually wrote to him that there was “as strong tendency to set aside tradition altogether and to make Scripture the sole standard of appeal.” But to do this would manifestly be to go a long way toward justifying the claim of the Protestants. By this crisis there was developed upon the ultra- Catholic portion of the council the task of convincing the others that “Scripture and tradition” were the only sure ground to stand upon. If this could be done, the council could be carried to issue a decree condemning the Reformation, otherwise not. The question was debated day after day, until the council was fairly brought to a standstill. Finally, after a long and intensive mental strain, the Archbishop of Reggio came into the council with substantially the following argument to the party who held for scripture alone:

“The Protestants claim to stand upon the written word only. They profess to hold the Scripture alone as the standard of faith. They justify their revolt by the plea that the Church has apostatized from the written word and follows tradition. Now the Protestant’s claim, that they stand upon the written word only is not true. Their profession of holding the Scripture alone as the standard of faith, is false. PROOF: The written word explicitly enjoins the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath. They do not observe the seventh day, but reject it. If they do truly hold the Scripture alone as their standard, they would be observing the seventh day as is enjoined in the scripture throughout. Yet they not only reject the observance of the Sabbath enjoined in the written word, but they have adopted and do practice the observance of Sunday, for which they have only the tradition of the Church. Consequently the claim of “Scripture alone as the standard. ’ fails; and the doctrine of “Scripture and tradition” as essential, is fully established, the Protestants themselves being judges.”

There was no getting around this, for the Protestants own statement of faith– the Augsburg Confession 1530– had clearly admitted that “the observation of the Lord’s day” had been appointed by “the Church” only.

The argument was hailed in the council as of Inspiration only; the party for “Scripture alone,” surrendered; and the council at once unanimously condemned Protestantism and the whole Reformation as only an unwarranted revolt from the communion and authority of the Catholic Church; and proceeded, April 8, 1546 “to the promulgation of two decrees, the first of which enacts, under anathema, that Scripture and tradition are to be received and venerated equally, and that the deutero- canonical {the apocryphal} books are part of the cannon of Scripture. The second decree declares the Vulgate to be the sole authentic and standard Latin version, and gives it such authority as to supersede the original tests; forbids the interpretation of Scripture contrary to the sense received by the Church, “or even contrary to the unanimous consent of the Fathers,” etc.

Thus it was the inconsistency of the Protestant practice with the Protestant profession that gave to the Catholic Church her long- sought and anxiously desired ground upon which to condemn Protestantism and the whole Reformation movement as only a selfishly ambitious rebellion against church authority. And in this vital controversy the key, the chiefest and culminative expression, of the Protestant inconsistency was in the rejection of the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, enjoined in the Scriptures and the adoption and observance of the Sunday as enjoined by the Catholic Church.

And this is today the position of the respective parties to this controversy. Today, as this document shows, this is the vital issue upon which the Catholic Church arraigns Protestantism, and upon which she condemns the course of popular Protestantism as being “indefensible, self- contradictory, and suicidal,” What will these Protestants, what will this Protestantism, do?]

Should any of the reverend parsons, who are habituated to howl so vociferously over every real or assumed desecration of that pious fraud, the Bible Sabbath, think well of entering a protest against our logical and Scriptural dissection of their mongrel pet, we can promise them that any reasonable attempt on their part to gather up the disjectamembra of the hybrid, and to restore to it a galvanized existence, will be met with genuine cordiality and respectful consideration on our part.

But we can assure our readers that we know these reverend howlers too well to expect a solitary bark from them in this instance. And they know us too well to subject themselves to the mortification which a further dissection of this antiscriptural question would necessarily entail. Their policy now is to “lay low” and they are sure to adopt it.

********************

APPENDIX I

These articles are reprinted, and this leaflet is sent forth by the publishers, because it gives from and undeniable source and in no uncertain tone, the latest phase of the Sunday- observance controversy, which is now, and which indeed for some time has been, not only a national question, with leading nations, but also an international question. Not that we are glad to have it so; we would that it were far otherwise. We would that Protestants everywhere were so thoroughly consistent in profession and practice that there could be no possible room for the relations between them and Rome ever to take the shape which they have no taken.

But the situation in this matter is now as it is herein set forth. There is no escaping this fact. It therefore becomes the duty of the International religious Liberty Association to make known as widely as possible the true phase of this great question as it now stands. Not because we are pleased to have it so, but because it is so, whatever we or anybody else would or would not be pleased to have.

It is true that we have been looking for years for this question to assume precisely that attitude which it has now assumed, and which it so plainly set forth in this leaflet. We have told the people repeatedly, and Protestants especially, and yet more especially have we told those who were advocating Sunday laws and the recognition and legal establishment of Sunday by the United States, that in the course that was being pursued they were playing directly into the hands of Rome, and that as certainly as they succeeded, they would inevitably be called upon by Rome and Rome in possession of power too, to render to her an account as to why Sunday should be kept. This, we have told the people for years, would surely come. And now that it has come, it is only our duty to make it known as widely as it lies in our power to do.

It may be asked, Why did not Rome come out as boldly as this before? Why did she wait so long? It was not for her interest to do so before. When she should move, she desired to move with power, and power as yet she did not have. But in their strenuous efforts for the national governmental recognition and establishment of Sunday, the Protestants of the United States were doing more for her than she could possibly do for herself in the way of getting governmental power in her hands. This she well knew, and therefore only waited. And now that the Protestants, in alliance with her, have accomplished this awful thing, she at once rises up in all her native arrogance and old- time spirit, and calls upon the Protestants to answer to her for their observance of Sunday. This, too, she does because she is secure in the power which the Protestants have so blindly placed in her hands. In other words, the power which the Protestants have thus put into her hands she will now use to their destruction. Is any other evidence needed to show that the Catholic Mirror (Which means the Cardinal and the Catholic Church in America) has been waiting for this, than that furnished on page 21 of this leaflet? Please turn pack and look at that page and see the quotation clipped from the New York Herald in 1874, and which is now brought forth thus. Does not this show plainly that that statement of the Methodist bishops, just such a time as this? And more than this, the Protestants will find more such things which have been so laid up, and which will yet be used in a way that will both surprise and confound them.

This at present is a controversy between the Catholic Church and Protestants. As such only do we reproduce these editorials of the Catholic Mirror. The points controverted are points which are claimed by Protestants as in their favor. The argument is made by the Catholic Church; the answer devolves upon those Protestants who observe Sunday, not upon us. We can truly say, “ This is none of our funeral.”

If they do not answer, she will make their silence their confession that is right, and she will use that against them accordingly. If they do answer she will use against them their own words, and as occasion may demand, the power which they have put into her hands. So that, so far as she is concerned, whether the Protestants answer or not, it is all the same. And how she looks upon them, and the spirit in which she proposes to deal with them henceforth is clearly manifested in the challenge made in the last paragraph of the reprint articles.

There is just one refuge left for the Protestants. That is to take their stand squarely and fully upon “the written word only,” “the Bible and the Bible alone,” and thus upon the Sabbath of the Lord. Thus acknowledging no authority but God’s, wearing no sigh but His (Eze. 20: 12, 20), obeying His command, and shielded by His power, they shall have the victory over Rome and all her alliances, and stand upon the sea of glass, bearing the harps of God , with which their triumph shall be forever celebrated. (Revelation 18, and 15: 2- 4)

It is not yet too late for Protestants to redeem themselves. Will they do it? Will they stand consistently upon the Protestant profession? Or will they still continue to occupy the “indefensible, self- contradictory, and suicidal position of professing to be Protestants, yet standing on Catholic ground, receiving Catholic insult, and bearing Catholic condemnation? Will they indeed take the written word only, the Scripture alone, as their sole authority and their sole standard? Or will they still hold the “indefensible, self- contradictory, and suicidal “doctrine and practice of following the authority of the Catholic Church and of wearing the sign of her authority? Will they keep the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, according to Scripture? or will they keep the Sunday according to the tradition of the Catholic Church?

Dear reader, which will you do?

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Appendix II

Since the first edition of this publication was printed, the following appeared in an editorial in the Catholic Mirror in Dec. 23, 1893:

“The avidity with which these editorials have been sought, and the appearance of a reprint of them by the International Religious Liberty Association, published in Chicago, entitled, ‘Rome’s Challenge: Why Do Protestants Keep Sunday? ’ and offered for sale in Chicago, New York, California, Tennessee, London, Australia, Cape Town, Africa, and Ontario, Canada, together with the continuous demand, have prompted the Mirror to give permanent form to them, and thus comply with the demand.

“The pages of this brochure unfold to the reader one of the most glaringly conceivable contradictions existing between the practice and theory of the Protestant world, and unsusceptible of any rational solution, the theory claiming the Bible alone as the teacher, which unequivocally and most positively commands Saturday to be kept ‘holy, ’ whilst their practice proves that they utterly ignore the unequivocal requirements of their teacher, the Bible, and occupying Catholic ground for three centuries and a half, by abandonment of their theory, they stand before the world today the representatives of a system the most indefensible, self- contradictory, and suicidal that can be imagined.

“We felt that we cannot interest our readers more than to produce the ‘Appendix’ which the

International Religious Liberty Association, an ultra- Protestant organization, has added to the reprint of our articles. The perusal of the Appendix will confirm the fact that our argument is unanswerable, and that to retire from Catholic territory where they have is either to retire from Catholic territory where they have been squatting for three centuries and a half, and accepting their own teacher, the Bible, in good faith, as so clearly suggested by the writer of the ‘Appendix, ’ commence forthwith to keep the Saturday, the day enjoined by the Bible from Genesis to Revelation; or, abandoning the Bible as their sole teacher, cease to be squatters, and a living contradiction of their own principles, and taking out letters of adoption as citizens of the kingdom of Christ on earth – His Church – be no longer victims of self- delusive and necessary self- contradiction.

“The arguments contained in this pamphlet are firmly grounded on the word of God, and having been closely studied with the Bible in hand, leave no escape for the conscientious Protestant except the abandonment of Sunday worship and the return to Saturday, commanded by their teacher, the Bible, or, unwilling to abandon the tradition of the Catholic Church, which enjoins the keeping of Sunday, and which they have accepted in direct opposition to their teacher, the Bible, consistently accept her in all her teachings. Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.”

 

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Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 19

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 19 – The Crowning Act in the Drama of Deception– Satan’s Personation of Christ

Friends, I believe the demon-originated, counterfeit Virgin Mary will soon make her bodily appearance to the world, and by this masterpiece of Satan’s, thousands, yea, millions of innocent people will be deceived! And perhaps, the Virgin herself, a very familiar spirit, will present her son, the counterfeit Jesus, to the world, who, in reality, is Satan himself . If so, this will be the crowning act of Satan’s deceptions! But even before this, we may see demons in the form of the apostles, such as Peter and Paul, contradict what they wrote at the dictation of the Holy Spirit when on earth. Here is one such prediction: “After three days of darkness, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, having come down from Heaven, shall preach in the whole world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and will settle upon the cardinal who is to become Pope. Christianity, then, will spread throughout the world. He is the Holy Pontiff, chosen by God to withstand the storm. At the end, he will have the gift of miracles, and his name shall be praised over the whole earth. Whole nations will come back to the Church and the face of the earth will be renewed.” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 353). It is perilous to conclude that “seeing is believing.” Satan is counting on this human fallacy in order to delude earth’s inhabitants.

Dear friends, I can not say that Satan, through his hellish arts, will, or will not, enact the above scene in exactly the way it has been described, but this I do know— that the Scriptures warn us that “such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ . And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light . Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (II Cor. 11: 13- 15)

“Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle- working demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven. By these agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be Christ Himself, and claiming the title and worship which belong to the world’s Redeemer. They will perform wonderful miracles of healing and will profess to have revelations from heaven contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures.

“As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1: 13- 15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air: ‘Christ has come! Christ has come!’ The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday , and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give heed to these sorceries, saying: This is ‘the great power of God. ’ Acts 8: 10.

“But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false christ are not in accordance with the Scriptures. His blessing is pronounced upon the worshipers of the beast and his image, the very class upon whom the Bible declares that God’s unmingled wrath shall be poured out.

“And, furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s advent. The Saviour has warned His people against deception upon this point, and has clearly foretold the manner of His second coming. ‘There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect…. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ’ Matthew 24: 24- 27, 31; 25: 31; Revelation 1: 7; 1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17. This coming there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will be universally known— witnessed by the whole world.

“Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive . By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. To all the testing time will come. By the sifting of temptation the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible and the Bible only?” (The Great Controversy, pp. 624, 625).

Oh, friends, I know that it is not a question of whether these supernatural deceptions will happen or not, but of when they will happen! By their own admission, the authors of The Thunder of Justice believe that since Mary, in giving birth to Jesus, brought Him into the world for His first coming, she will be the one who will usher in His second coming to the world . After all, the book continues: “As John the Baptist prepared the way for the first coming of Jesus, Mary prepares the way for His Second Coming. Mary proclaims that a new world and era is upon us, and the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart and the Second Pentecost (the outpouring of the Holy Spirit) will usher in the Reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Blessed Mother spoke through Father Gobbi on October 13, 1990, about the glorious reign of Jesus and His Second Coming: ‘The glorious reign of Christ, which will be established in your midst with the Second Coming of Jesus in the world is close at hand… This is His glorious return, to establish His reign in your midst and to bring all humanity, redeemed by His most precious blood, back to the state of His new terrestrial paradise. That which is being prepared is so great that its equal has never existed since the creation of the world .” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 12).

The authors conclude, according to their expectations and predictions, that Mary will not only make more grand appearances very soon (perhaps in full bodily form this time for millions to see), but many supernatural things will also take place in the near future— like a permanent pagan red cross for all the world to see in the sky (with its “T” for Tammuz). Also, “she has promised to leave a visible sign for all humanity at the site of the apparitions of Medjugorje [‘ the new Fatima ’ (Newsweek, August 25, 1997, p. 52)].” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 207). Others say that Mary will leave a prominent sign for the world to see by the year 2000. I guess we will just have to wait and see. And will the counterfeit “Mother of God,” together with the ecumenical efforts of the pope, be the one to tip the scales of public opinion in favor of uniting the churches of the world and of bringing the harlot “daughters” back to their mother? Not only is this possible, friends, but Mary, since she “never saw corruption, but was assumed into heaven” according to the Catholic belief, or, as most Christians and non-Christians believe, is a “living spirit” after death, could be the one who will unite the churches of the land in a common goal under spiritualism in its modern form— the New Age movement! A three- fold union consisting of Catholicism, apostate Protestantism, and spiritualism will thus be formed by the beliefs they hold in common— Sunday sacredness [or the worship of the Babylonian sun- god, which New Agers call their “father”] and the doctrine of the immortality of the soul [which the New Agers simply call “reincarnation”]. God has prophesied that this three- fold union will be formed, and He revealed it to John in the following symbolic language: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon [pagan spiritualism], and out of the mouth of the beast [Roman Catholicism], and out of the mouth of the false prophet [apostate Protestantism]. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles , which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Rev. 16: 13- 15). The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which is the basic reason behind image worship and the adoration of the Virgin Mary, in whatever form one accepts it, sets the stage for the worship of demons! If you believe that a spirit from the dead can communicate with the living, you are a sitting- duck, just waiting for the over- powering delusion of the New (Age) Eve— the Queen of the Coming (New) Age .

And could the Virgin Mary be the one to sway the Moslems to join with the other religions on common points of faith? Interestingly enough, Fatima, the famed city in Portugal where the Virgin Mary has appeared many times, was named after Muhammad’s daughter, Fatimah. Furthermore, one of the books of the Koran is entitled Maryam or Marium (the Virgin Mary). She is respected by Moslems all over the world as the ”the pious woman of the Word,” who, some Moslems have told me, is already in Heaven!

Go to Chapter 20 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 18

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 18 – The New Eve of the Coming New Age

Friends, the final events will be rapid ones because God “will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness.” (Rom. 9: 28). Satan, therefore, knowing his time is running out, is working diligently to deceive the world through his lying sophistries, in which the Marian Movement is a key pawn. This player continues its assaults against the truths of the Bible by making the claim that Mary is the “Second or New Eve,” because as our so- called “CoRedeemer, Mediatrix, and Advocate,” she plays a major role in our salvation. In fact, in the August 25, 1997, issue of Newsweek , which portrayed the Virgin Mary on its cover, it stated in their feature article entitled “Hail Mary,” that “a growing movement in the Roman Catholic Church wants the pope to proclaim a new, controversial dogma: that Mary is Co- Redeemer . Will he do it… in time for the millenium?” “In the last four years, the pope has received 4,340,429 signatures from 157 countries— an average of 100,000 a month— supporting the proposed doctrine,” added Newsweek.

Friends, does the Bible tell us in John 3: 16, that: “God so loved the world, that he gave the Virgin Mary, that whosoever believeth in her should not perish, but have everlasting life”? Of course it doesn’t! It was Christ who bore the sins of the whole world. He is called the second Adam, because He took upon Himself human nature and passed over the ground where the first Adam fell. “For verily he took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.… like unto His brethren… a merciful and faithful high priest… to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” (Heb. 2: 16, 17). Yet, the authors of The Thunder of Justice have the audacity to argue that since Christ was conceived in Mary by the Holy Ghost [see Matt. 1: 18, 20], Mary, therefore, is the Holy Spirit’s wife or spouse— she is the bride of the Holy Spirit, and together they will give the call: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come, And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22: 17). But that is not what the verse implies at all! The “bride” in this verse refers to the holy city, the New Jerusalem. The Bible clearly states: “And I John saw the holy city , new Jerusalem , coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues… saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife . And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem , descending out of heaven from God.” (Rev. 21: 2, 9, 10). Friends, it is not the Virgin Mary, but the still small voice of the Holy Spirit and the wooing appeal of the Holy City, the bride, that are calling every human being, every sinner, to heed the invitation to come Home to her— the “house” of “many mansions,” prepared for those who choose to be among God’s Redeemed. We should all “desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city [the New Jerusalem].” (Hebrews 11: 16).

My home is not this earth, and I hope it is not yours either. My home is the New Jerusalem which will come down out of Heaven to this earth after the thousand- year period of Satan’s imprisonment on a desolate planet and forever plant itself on the soil of the Earth Made New (Rev. 21: 1, 2)! So was John the Revelator wrong when he wrote the words above— words that never once identify the Virgin Mary as the “bride” referred to in the Book of Revelation? Had he received a false vision from God in regard to these last- day events? Or are the appearances, apparitions, bleeding icons, and the words of this purported Mary themselves that which is wrong, indeed? Once again, the counterfeit Mary’s words contradict the Holy Scriptures!!!

The counterfeit Mary, last but not least, identifies herself as the “Queen of the Coming Age.” Where in the Bible are we told that a “Queen” will rule the Earth Made New? The Bible, to the contrary, tells us that the “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19: 16) will reign in the Earth Made New, and that “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,” proceeded “out of the throne of God and of the Lamb .” (Rev. 22: 1).

The time is short, oh, so short! On Saturday, December 21, 1996, one of the stories in The Denver Post read: “Virgin Mary sightings rise as millennium nears . Hundreds flock to Virgin apparition on office tower.” The story reported that an estimated 250,000 people have come to the Seminole Finance Corporation building in Clearwater, Florida, to see the reflection on its windows that looks like the Virgin Mary. “In these times of sin and confusion, in these days of the approaching millennium, believers say the Mother of God is visiting Earth with increased regularity ,” the Post reported. “Seeing is believing,” they said. But is it? Can we trust our senses in this day and age? Should we? What does the Bible say? “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).

Go to Chapter 19 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 16

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 16 – The Madonna of Rome Is the Madonna of Ancient Babylon

In The Thunder of Justice, these idolaters boldly state that the world is “witnessing the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and true beacon for all Christians.” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 5). But Mary is dead— dead and in the grave! And the people that claim to have seen the Virgin Mary are actually being duped by an evil spirit. And the statues of Mary are nothing more than mere clumps of cement shaped like the Babylonian Madonna from whom she originated. Strong words, but are they true? Take another look at the picture on the cover of this book, if you doubt my word! No wonder the language used in the Second Commandment prohibiting image worship, which was written with God’s own finger, by the way (see Ex. 31: 18), was so strong! No wonder the Pope of Rome, steeped in paganism, removed the Second Commandment from the Ten, for it pronounces judgment from a jealous God not only upon all violators, but also upon their children and their children’s children! “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” (Ex. 20: 4- 6). Oh, dear reader, nowhere in the law of God do we find stronger words than these!—“ them that hate me”! God is truly offended and rightly called “a jealous God,” Who will also visit the iniquity of their predecessors upon the descendants of these idolaters who continue the pagan practices of their parents, unless they repent! God, in mercy, may overlook their ignorance and do everything He can to win their hearts; but as they continue to transgress His laws after receiving light on the matter, just how long will God hold back His hand? That no one knows! Hosea 4: 6 says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

I find it immensely interesting that the prophet Jeremiah also had something to say about Israel’s worship of images of false gods, and was quite specific in his address. While dwelling in Egypt as forlorn exiles, instead of being witnesses for God against the heathenism around them, the Israelites were as much devoted to this form of idolatry as the Egyptians themselves. Jeremiah was sent of God to denounce wrath against his own people, if they continued to worship the “queen of heaven,” but his warnings were in vain. “Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee . But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.” (Jer. 44: 15- 17).

Alexander Hislop, the author of The Two Babylons, remarks: “The worship of the goddessmother with the child in her arms continued to be observed in Egypt till Christianity entered. If the Gospel had come in power among the mass of people, the worship of this goddess- queen would have been overthrown. With the generality it came only in name. Instead, therefore, of the Babylonian goddess being cast out, in too many cases her name only was changed . She was called the Virgin Mary, and, with her child, was worshipped with the same idolatrous feeling by professing Christians, as formerly by open and avowed Pagans …. It just amounts to this, that if Christ be admitted to be truly and properly God, and worthy of Divine honours, His mother, from whom He derived merely His humanity , must be admitted to be the same, must be raised far above the level of all creatures, and be worshipped as a partaker of the Godhead . The divinity of Christ is made to stand or fall with the divinity of His mother. Such is Popery…. This, however, is just the exact reproduction of the doctrine of ancient Babylon in regard to the great goddess- mother. The Madonna of Rome, then, is just the Madonna of Babylon. The ‘Queen of Heaven’ in the one system is the same as the ‘Queen of Heaven’ in the other…. The Roman and Babylonian Madonnas are the same .” (The Two Babylons, pp. 82, 83, 85). No wonder Alexander Hislop named his book The Two Babylons , for the New Testament Babylon is nothing more than a modernized Old Testament Babylon! In many cases, only the names have been changed! For example, the statues of the gods from the Pantheon are now found in the Vatican Museum, with the exception of the great statue of Jupiter, which has been modified, retitled, and seated on a throne in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome as St. Peter. Thousands of pilgrims kiss the foot of Jupiter, while thinking it is the statue of Peter.

Hislop brings out yet another remarkable characteristic between the Madonna of Babylon and the Madonna of Rome, and that is the nimbus or peculiar circle of light (the halo) that frequently encompasses their heads, as well as the heads of the Saints and Christ. Where could such a device have originated? Where in the whole compass of Scripture, do we ever read that Christ’s head was surrounded with a disk, or circle of light? What you will never find in the Word of God is found in the artistic representations of the great gods and goddesses of Babylon. The disk or halo, and particularly the circle, “were the well- known symbols of the Sundivinity , and figured largely in the symbolism of the East. With the circle or the disk the head of the Sun- divinity was encompassed. The same was the case in Pagan Rome. Apollo, as the child of the Sun, was often thus represented. The goddesses that claimed kindred with the Sun were equally entitled to be adorned with the nimbus or luminous circle,…. in the very same way as the head of The Roman Madonna is at this day surrounded.” (Ibid., p. 87).

Friends, let me now quote the last verses of Ezekiel eight: “Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north [remember, Satan, according to Isaiah 14, wanted to set himself up ‘in the sides of the north’— where God’s throne is in Heaven]; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz . Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these [greater than ‘the image of jealousy’]. And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces to the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east …. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” (Ezek. 8: 14- 16, 18).

Dear reader, there are two points that can immediately be drawn from these verses, in addition to the many points we have already discussed. First, “Women,” and not one woman, “sat weeping for Tammuz”— the god of Babylon. Do you remember the words on the forehead of the whore of Revelation 17— “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth”? Notice that the “Mother” has “Harlots,” or harlot daughters. Apparently, there are a number of other apostate churches that are following the ways or dogmas of their mother, Rome. Who are these daughters? And second, the “greater abominations” involve sun- worship! Somehow, Babylonian- style sun worship has been set up in the church. Does this have anything to do with the churches in the United States of America? How are they worshipping the sun? Does it have anything to do with Sunday— a day that is worshipped throughout America and the world, but is contrary to the day that the Lord instructed that we worship Him? All these questions will be answered in the next chapter on the “mark of the beast.”

Go to Chapter 17 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 13

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 13 – A Personal Testimony in Regard to the Sacraments

It is interesting that the word “Sacrament,” which is a Roman Catholic term for “a visible, tangible sign through which God approaches us, enters into our lives, and draws us to Himself through his grace…. comes from a Latin translation of the Greek ‘mysterion’ or ‘mystery. ’ ” (Basics of the Faith: A Catholic Catechism, p. 151). Three of the seven sacraments, or “mysteries,” are these: infant baptism, which is non- Biblical; the Eucharist Presence of Christ, which is certainly a mystery unlike any other; and the Holy Orders, the priesthood, in which priests are sworn to celibacy as a discipline of the Roman Catholic Church, even though the Bible says: “It is not good that the man should be alone” and “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior… Not given to wine.” (Gen. 2: 18; I Tim 3: 2, 3).

One only needs to look in the newspapers to see the fruit of this “Holy Sacrament,” for they are filled with reports of the lewd and promiscuous practices of celibate priests. Some of the headlines include: “Priests and Pedophelia: A Silence That Needs Breaking”; “Sex abuse cases sap church budget”; “Sex abuse lawsuits”; and “40% of U. S. Roman Catholic Priests Reported To Be Gay.” Not surprising is the fact that homosexual priests are dying from AIDS worldwide. In fact, in the past few years the Roman Catholic Church has spent one billion dollars in outof- court costs involving the sex affairs of priests. Did not the prophecy of the Apostle Paul hit the mark when he wrote the following: “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; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” (I Tim. 4: 1- 3). With all the sexual exploits of celibate priests coming out in the open, Paul’s words are very apropos: “Speaking lies in hypocrisy [their messages on moral purity, anti- homosexualism, abortion, and taking an oath of celibacy while practicing sexual perversion are certainly ‘lies in hypocrisy’], having their conscience seared with a hot iron [insensitive, scarred, non- functional]. (Verse 2). May we all pray that they repent of such deeds. Also, to add to the testimony that the prophecy of I Timothy 4 applies to the Roman Catholic Church, I, while growing up in our Catholic home, was not allowed to eat meat on Fridays. My mother would serve me fish. Later the Church changed the rule and made it applicable only to Lent. But it still fulfils the prophecy.

Friends, not only had I, as a young Catholic boy, confessed my sins to the priests (many of whom were committing grievous sins), I also had offered prayers to and lit candles for my departed loved ones, prayed to dead saints and the Virgin Mary while kneeling in front of their images, and said, literally, thousands of Hail Marys. As I look back, I see even more Babylonian practices in which I unknowingly participated. For instance, here are a few: my baptism as an infant (because of my family’s belief in original sin); my participation in the Sacrifice of the Mass, which I attended hundreds of times and which is a celebration of the Eucharist (Holy Communion); and my belief in purgatory, a place where I could still be purified from sin even after death. To redeem my past, I feel I need to expose the origin of these other Roman Catholic practices and their pagan roots, as being further identifying characteristics of “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots” and to help others meet God’s approval in the coming contest.

First, let us look at infant baptism. Nowhere in the Bible will you find one instance of the baptism of an infant. But if one believes the Roman Catholic Doctrine of original sin— which means that every person born into this world inherits Adam’s sin, guilt, and condemnation— then should a person die, whether as an infant or not, before baptism, that person would be lost for eternity. Therefore, Roman Catholicism advocates infant baptism as a means of cleansing, or purifying, that child from original sin. Today, I realize that I had no choice, as is the case with millions of babies, in deciding whether or not to be a Roman Catholic. I became a member of that denomination before I could even speak or think for myself. Had I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior at just a few months of age? Of course not. But the Catholic Church substitutes the church’s faith for that of the child. Furthermore, baptism, which is to be by immersion [the whole body being covered by water (see Matt. 3: 16), and never simply by the sprinkling of water on the person’s head], is a public declaration of the baptismal candidate’s acceptance of Christ both as his personal Savior from sin and for His substitutionary death on that person’s behalf. It is a declaration that the “old man (the carnal man)” is being buried in the watery grave, “that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin [which an infant knows nothing about].” (Romans 6: 6). So with baptism, it is “a seal of the righteousness of the faith” (Rom. 4: 11) which the man has before he is baptized; for it is said, “He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.” (Mark 16: 16). Where faith exists, if it be genuine, it is the evidence of a new heart, of a regenerated nature. (See Gal. 2: 20). All these aforementioned things are impossible for a babe.

Friends, this doctrine and discipline of the Roman papacy, as it is with many of its doctrines, was never derived from the Bible. Therefore “regeneration by baptism” —the belief that your sins, including “original sin,” are actually washed away by the water used, and not by your faith in the cleansing blood of Christ that preceded the ceremony —is fundamentally an article of Rome. It is as if baptism, or works, and not faith, justifies or pardons us from sin. In contrast, the Bible says: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood [not baptism, which is the statement a person makes after he has accepted Christ and His atoning sacrifice, and has repented and confessed his sins to His Savior, for it is called ‘the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins’ (Mark 1: 4)], we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5: 9; see also Romans 3: 24, 28; 4: 2; 5: 1). By Rome, baptism is pronounced as absolutely necessary for salvation, insomuch that infants dying without it (unless, according to Catholic Doctrine, they have received the baptism of blood, or martyrdom, such as in the case of the babies murdered by King Herod) cannot be admitted to glory; and its virtues are so great, that it is declared in all other cases to “regenerate us by a new spiritual birth, making us children of God.” It is to be “the first door by which we enter the fold of Jesus Christ; therefore the merits of His death are by baptism applied to our souls…. to satisfy Divine justice for all demands against us whether for original or actual sin.” (Bishop Hay, Sincere Christianity, pp. 363, 358). This is antiScriptural! What if the child, John the Baptist, had died in his mother’s womb? What would have happened to him? Would he, according to the doctrine of Rome, never be admitted into heaven? Such a belief gives birth to such questions. Friends, as this doctrine never came from the Bible, from what source did it originate?

It came from heathenism— from Babylon! In the Chaldean mysteries, before any instruction could be received, it was required, first of all, that the person to be initiated submit to baptism in token of blind and implicit obedience [such as with a child who has no choice]. Pagans would baptize their children “by sprinkling them with water or by plunging them, as soon as they were born, into lakes or rivers.” (Antiquities, Vol. 1, p. 335).

Second, I want to address the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharist Presence of Christ, and the wafer used in that ceremony. According to Roman Catholic teaching, each Mass is a true sacrifice, in which the risen Christ becomes bodily present, under the appearance of bread and wine, on the altar as a victim who is offered anew by the church to God the Father as expiation for the sins of the people. The Mass is considered to be a renewal, an unbloody sacrifice (or in an unbloody manner), by the mandate of Christ, of the one universally effective sacrifice freely offered by Christ Himself in His crucifixion, for the redemption of the world. How can an unbloody sacrifice redeem anyone from sin when the Bible explicitly states: “Without shedding of blood [there] is no remission [of sin]” (Heb. 9: 22),” and “In whom [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1: 7)? Yet according to Catholic doctrine, “The Holy Mass is one and the same Sacrifice with that of the Cross, inasmuch as Christ, who offered Himself to His Heavenly Father, continues to offer Himself in an unbloody manner on the altar, through the ministry of the priests.” (A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, p. 47). The Mass is the means of applying the merits of Calvary which is done over and over again. It is not difficult for one to see that the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church contradict the Scriptures when the Bible says, “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor… that He should offer Himself often…. but now once … to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” (Heb. 9: 24- 28). “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” (I Pet. 3: 18). Besides, what did Jesus mean when He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19: 30) just before he died?

The Mass is a celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The priest who performs the Mass, or celebrant, reads or sings in Latin. But the ceremony is translated into various languages, so that all present may understand. The Mass, which includes two basic parts— the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, “re- enacts the greatest event of history and of Christian faith: the paschal mystery— the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…. In the Eucharistic Prayer during which the solemn Consecration of bread and wine takes place…. Catholics believe that at this point, by God’s sovereign power and will, the bread and wine truly become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” “This was no symbolic reception,… but was actually eating the body of Christ and drinking His blood even if this body and blood still appears to our senses as bread and wine…. Catholic Christians believe that when they receive the bread and wine of the Eucharist, they are actually partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” (Basics of the Faith: A Catholic Catechism, pp. 195, 196, 164, 165). Blasphemy! The priest, or the celebrant— the creature— has the audacity to create, as it were the Creator! With all the Masses offered every week throughout the world, are the millions of tiny wafers used simultaneously, the literal body of Christ?

The other day I called a Catholic bookstore to verify what I am telling you, and it so happened that the clerk handed the phone to a priest who was in their store. She felt he could better answer my questions. I asked him if the breaking of the wafer portrayed the breaking of Christ’s body— his sacrifice for us. To this he answered, “Yes.” I then asked him how many times the Eucharist wafer is lifted above the altar. To this he answered, “Twice.” Then he added: “The second time the Host— Christ’s body— and the chalice of His blood are raised, the priest says ‘through Him, with Him, and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory are yours almighty Father, forever and ever! ’” I then asked him if the Eucharist bread actually becomes Christ’s body, and the wine his blood? He continued, “The philosophical term used for this is transubstantiation, which means that the substance of the bread and wine becomes the substance of the Godhead, which is Christ.” He then said, “The Lutheran will say that it is bread, but to a Catholic, it is Christ!” “The Mass,” he emphasized, “is a reenactment of what happened 2,000 years ago, and is for us today.” He then asked me if I understood what he had said, to which I answered, “Perfectly!” He responded, “Very good. I have students in my classes who cannot understand what you grasped so quickly.”

From historians we learn that no blood was allowed to be offered on the altars of the Assyrian Venus— the great goddess of Babylon. The very shape of the unbloody sacrifice of Rome may also indicate its origin. The Eucharist wafer, which is broken as was the body of Christ, is a small thin round wafer, and it is on its roundness that the Church of Rome lays so much stress. What could have induced the papacy to insist so much on the roundness of its unbloody sacrifice? Clearly not from the Bible, for there is no reference of a round wafer at the Lord’s supper, but to the contrary, the Lord took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to His disciples saying, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me.” (1 Cor. 11: 24). But if we look at the altars of Egypt, we will find the thin, round cake. The round disk, so frequent in the sacred emblems of Egypt, symbolized the sun, in honor of Osiris, the sun- divinity. “In Egypt, the disk of the Sun was represented in the temples…. In the great temple of Babylon, the golden image of the Sun was exhibited for the worship of the Babylonians. In every respect, then, we see how justly Rome bears on its forehead the name, ‘Mystery, Babylon the Great. ’ It is striking to find that the image of the sun , which apostate Israel worshipped , was also erected above their altars. When the good king Josiah set about the work of reformation, we read that his servants in carrying out the work, proceeded thus: ‘And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence, and the images (margin, sun- images) that were on high above them, he cut down. ’ ” [II Chron. 34: 4] (The Two Babylons, pp. 162, 163). The Eucharist is a term of Roman Catholic usage, but we are seeing it employed more and more frequently in some of the Protestant churches today. In fact, when John Paul II came to America, the Protestants flocked to see him, as well as the Catholics. I heard that Protestant ministers, as well as their members, were seen kissing the pope’s ring. Evidently, John Paul’s ecumenical efforts to organize all the churches under his leadership is working! The deadly wound has been healing spectacularly. In fact, it may already have healed completely!

Third, though not a sacrament, as a Roman Catholic I had believed in the doctrine of purgatory. Purgatory, according to the Catholic Church, is a place or state following death in which “God purges or purifies any remaining sin or the effects of sin that prevented the person from entering into full communion with God in heaven.” (Basics of the Faith: A Catholic Catechism, p. 306). This doctrine, which has no foundation in the Bible, I had blindly believed in as a security for salvation. I remember purgatory as “that other place,” other than heaven or hell, where I might end up if I were not good enough. There I would be punished by fire until I was purified from all sin, at which point, I would finally be admitted into heaven. “The Catholic tradition concerning purgatory includes the notion of purgation from sin by the fire of God’s love and holiness. Fire implies pain, and thus it should not surprise us if purgatory is painful.” (Ibid., p. 307). This is utterly ridiculous! As if God would literally burn people for a while to purify them! But had I not been taught that prayer, good works, and penance do foster God’s work of purification of ourselves, others living on earth, and those in purgatory? “Prayer and sacrifice for each other that we may be freed from sin are among the primary ways that the saints— members of the body of Christ whether on earth, in heaven, or in purgatory— can aid each other.” (Ibid., pp. 307, 308). Thank God, that today I believe in righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ, and not in righteousness by works, to merit salvation. Not in penances and the “Sacraments” of Rome, but in the mercy and power of God and His grace! “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” (Titus 3: 5, 6). Yet, The Thunder of Justice claims that the visionaries at Medjugorje had reported seeing purgatory, and claim “there are many different levels, some close to Heaven and some close to hell.” They also say: “Mary has recommended praying at least seven each of the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, plus the Apostles’ Creed, for the souls in purgatory and for their intentions. Souls there are waiting for your prayers and sacrifices, Mary has emphasized.” (The Thunder of Justice, pp. 203, 204). Again, friends, it is plain to see that the one promoting this error is not the Virgin Mary, but a demon in disguise!

Go to Chapter 14 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 4

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 4 – The Thunder of Justice and the Marian Movement

The world is ready and ripe for this almost overpowering deception. In fact, the December, 1996, issue of Life magazine featured, on its front cover, a picture of a statue of Mary and the caption: “Two thousand years after the Nativity, the mother of Jesus is more BELOVED, POWERFUL, and CONTROVERSIAL than ever. The Mystery of MARY.” The ending of this article was especially of interest to me. It stated: “Mary… might lead to an ecumenical reunion of Christian churches . It might lead to a closer understanding of the teenage girl who gave birth in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. We could come to know Mary…

“Can we ask this simple girl to guide what has become not a cult but a huge and passionate congregation, a movement requiring a hero, a worldwide flock that has long demanded more of her? That has demanded, in some instances, that she deliver her message herself? I wonder: If Mary became merely human— if people could truly touch Mary— would Mary be enough?”

Please beware, friends, of the expositors of this type of thinking, who also refer to Mary as “Co- Redeemer, Mediator, and Advocate.” First of all, nowhere in the Bible is there any reference to the Virgin Mary as being man’s “Co- redeemer.” The prophet Isaiah, when writing about Jesus Christ, said the following: “And thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer , the mighty One of Jacob.” (Isaiah 60: 16). In the New Testament, the apostles Paul and Peter each made poignant statements when referring to the price that was paid and the blood that was shed for man’s redemption. Paul said: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God [not Mary] in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” And Peter tells us what the purchase price was: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold… But with the precious blood of Christ , as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (I Cor. 6: 19, 20; I Pet. 1: 18, 19). There can be, then, only one Redeemer— Jesus Christ, the One Who paid the ransom price of His life’s blood, thus giving up an infinite life for a lost human race. Secondly, how can Mary be our “Mediator” when the Bible explicitly warns: “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name [than that of Jesus Christ— see verse 10] under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved ” and “For there is one God, and one mediator [not two] between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”? (Acts 4: 12; I Timothy 2: 5). Obviously, Jesus is the only Being qualified to be mankind’s Mediator. And thirdly, would the mother of Jesus ever claim to be our “Advocate” when I John 2: 1 says: “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous ”? If the true Virgin Mary were alive, would she contradict the words of her Son? Yet, the book, The Thunder of Justice , which records many of the so- called statements made by the counterfeit Virgin Mary to different people around the world, says that Mary’s role is that of “Co- Redeemer, Mediatrix, and Advocate.” “While Calvary was first and foremost the scene of Our Lord’s Passion and death, it also caused Our Lady to suffer hidden and mystical wounds. No longer does God want the precious wounds of Our Lady to be hidden. Rather, His people are to understand the tremendous purification mankind received and will receive through devotion to Mary’s Hidden and Mystical wounds .” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 29). As if she were crucified for us also! or had an infinite life to give!

Friends, was it Mary’s wounds that Isaiah wrote about in his famous Chapter 53? Was she the one “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”? Was she the one “bruised for our iniquities”? or the one brought “as a lamb to the slaughter”? No! No! It was Christ! Isaiah did not mince his words when he wrote: “Surely He hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed…. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted…. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.” (Is. 53: 4- 9). It was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who said: “I have trodden the winepress alone [or by Myself]; and of the people there was none with Me [not even Mary].” (Is. 63: 3).

Yet, The Thunder of Justice further claims that when the so-called Mary appears to people, some of the other blasphemous titles she uses to identify herself are the following: “The Lady of All Nations,” “The Guardian of the Faith,” “The Immaculate Conception,” “The Pure Sinless One,” “The Mother of the Church,” “Queen of the Holy Rosary,” “Our Lady of Guadalupe” (which means, “She Who Crushes the Serpent”), “His Immaculate Spouse [of the Holy Spirit],” “The Second Eve” or “The New Eve,” “The Queen of the World,” “The Queen of Heaven,” and, last but not least, “The Queen of the Coming Age.”

Please do not think that I am being disrespectful toward Mary by writing this book, for I hope and pray I will meet her on Resurrection Day, when the saints come forth from the grave.

She was indeed a wonderful Christian lady. That is why God chose her to be the mother of the Messiah. But when Satan uses her image as his means of deceiving souls , as a watchman on the walls of Zion, I must blow the trumpet. Therefore, I must take the time to expose the blasphemy implied by some of these names. First, let me address the title of “The Immaculate Conception” together with “The Pure Sinless One.” Did you know that when you mention the name “Immaculate Conception,” almost everyone believes the title applies to the virgin birth of Jesus? But that is incorrect. The Immaculate Conception, which is a Roman Catholic doctrine, doesn’t apply to Jesus at all. It refers to the birth of the Virgin Mary, who, according to the Roman Catholic Church, was conceived without the stain of original sin (see Webster’s Dictionary). This is why she is called “The Pure Sinless One.” The Bible, on the contrary, tells us plainly that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” and “there is none righteous, no not one .” (Romans 3: 23; 3: 10). Besides this, it is very clear from the genealogical records in the Bible and from the fact that Mary was a full- blooded Israelite that she was descended from Abraham on both sides of her family. Now notice this statement by the apostle Paul in Hebrews 2: 16 concerning the human nature of Jesus: “For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.” And Abraham dwelt in fallen, human flesh 2000 years after Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden and several centuries after God destroyed the world by a Flood for the great wickedness of man. Yet, the Catholic Church and the Marian Movement would like us to believe that Mary was holy. In fact, the well- known Catholic prayer, “Hail Mary,” includes the words: “Holy Mary , Mother of God , pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death,” which words the Roman Catholic Church admits in A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, p. 27, were composed by the Church itself under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, not once in Scripture is Mary called “holy Mary,” but, on the contrary, the Scriptures authored by the Holy Spirit (II Pet. 1: 21), when referring to Jesus, call Him “that holy thing” and “Thy holy child Jesus.” (Luke 1: 35; Acts 4: 30). Christ is the only person in the Bible whose human birth is described thus!

Still again, The Thunder of Justice contradicts the Word of God when referring to what has been labeled the “Assumption”: “Mary was assumed into heaven… Because of her sinlessness, her body did not have to undergo corruption in the grave …. The Church has always held the truth about Mary’s Assumption, and in 1950 it was formally declared to be part of the Catholic dogma by Pope Pius XII .” (Ibid., p. 44). This doctrine, therefore, has now received the stamp of papal infallibility. But has it the stamp of Scriptural authority? If we study our Bibles to see whether “those things were so,” as did the faithful Bereans as recorded in Acts 17: 11, we will, in fact, learn that the only mortals that have been taken into heaven from Adam unto this day are Enoch, Moses, Elijah, and many saints that were resurrected with Christ when He rose from the dead. The Bible says of Enoch: “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him” (Gen. 5: 24); of Elijah, the Word says: “Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (II Kings 2: 1); of Moses, Jude 9 says: “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses,” and Matthew 17: 1- 3 says that when Jesus was “transfigured…. there appeared unto them [Peter, James, and John] Moses and Elias [Elijah] talking with Him.” In this awesome scene, Jesus had given to the three disciples that were watching, a glimpse of His glory, and the two mighty men of God that appeared with Him were perfect representatives of every person who will be saved throughout history. Moses, though having died, was resurrected by Christ, and thus, as it were, was a pledge to all who die in Christ— that they, too, will come forth from the grave at the resurrection of the righteous (John 5: 28, 29; I Thess. 4: 16), and Elijah was a type of all the saved who will be alive and translated when Christ comes the second time. (I Thess. 4: 17). To see that such is a proper interpretation, read Matthew 16: 27, 28— 17: 1- 3 and compare with Peter’s own evaluation in II Peter 1: 16- 18.

In addition to the three patriarchs mentioned above, there was a host of saints that came out of their graves at Christ’s resurrection. Matthew 27: 51- 53 states: “The earth did quake… And the graves were opened: and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” Ephesians 4: 8 tells us that these people, more trophies, were taken to Heaven at Christ’s ascension: “Wherefore he saith, When He ascended up on high, He led Captivity captive (or “a multitude of captives”— margin ), and gave gifts unto men.” These heroes of faith were raised as a part of the antitypical offering of “firstfruits” from the grave with Jesus and as a pledge of the final great harvest of the rest of the redeemed on Resurrection Day at His Second Coming! On the other hand, it is also interesting to note that in addition to the definition given to the word “Assumption” by the Roman Catholic Church— namely, “the bodily taking up into heaven of the Virgin Mary”— the word’s primary definition, according to Webster’s College Dictionary, is: “something taken for granted; a supposition; or to assume as true.” Today I know more about the “Assumption” than when I was attending Catholic schools, because while there, I assumed it was truth.

Furthermore, I find it strange that the Apostle John, who lived a number of years after all the other disciples had died and who wrote the Gospel of John and the Apocalypse during the mid 90’s A. D. (when he was an old man), never once mentioned anything about Mary’s having been taken to Heaven, as Rome claims. John, of all the disciples, would have been the final authority on this matter. Please notice why. As Christ’s death on the cross drew near, Jesus beheld His mother and His Disciple John standing beside her at the foot of the cross. As He gazed into her grief- stricken face and then upon John, “He saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her… unto his own home .” (John 19: 26, 27). Christ had made John His mother’s caretaker for as long as she should live! “John understood Christ’s words, and accepted the trust. He at once took Mary to his home, and from that hour he cared for her tenderly. O pitiful, loving Saviour; amid all His physical pain and mental anguish, He had a thoughtful care for His mother…. and in receiving her as a sacred trust, John was receiving a great blessing. She was a constant reminder of his beloved Master .” (The Desire of Ages, p. 752). And John wrote about this matter in the Gospel of John not long before his own death, at a time when Mary, his senior by 25 to 30 years or more, was undoubtedly dead. Why, then, did not John record anything about her “Assumption” in Sacred Writ? Because it just did not happen! For she, just like the beloved apostle, is peacefully sleeping in the grave until that climactic day when she will once again hear the voice of her Son, calling her from the grave on Resurrection Morn!

But it is true that Mary was “highly favoured” [or graciously accepted— see Bible margin] by God and “blessed… among women” (Luke 1: 28), because she had been chosen by God to conceive [miraculously]… in her womb “and bring forth a son,” whose name she should call “Jesus.” (Luke 1: 31). But, the very next verse pinpoints the only One in the verse who deserves to be extolled: “He [Jesus] shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the House of Jacob for ever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” (Luke 1: 32, 33). In fact, just a few verses later, after Mary had conceived and had gone to visit her cousin Elizabeth, Mary plainly declares with her own lips: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour .” (Luke 1: 46, 47). Please notice, that Mary humbly acknowledged that the child within her womb was the Son of God— the long- promised Messiah and Deliverer of mankind, Who had consented to become a member of the human race in order to save it, Whom she was to name Jesus, and Who was, just as He is for every person in the world, her Saviour —for the name Jesus means “Jehovah is salvation, or “Saviour” [Matt. 1: 21, margin].

Mary held no illusions that she was the “Mother of God” [words of Catholic origin and part of the “Hail Mary”], for no member of the Godhead had an original mother. “Yahweh” (or “Jehovah”) was the “Self- existent One,” the basic meaning of the term, or the Great “I AM.” Moses, who talked with the “I AM” for a period of forty years, clearly understood this. In Psalm 90, of which he is the author, he wrote, “Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.” And the prophecy in Micah 5: 2 that pinpointed Bethlehem of Judea as the birthplace of the promised Messiah describes Him as One “Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting [‘ the days of eternity’— margin].” Rather, Mary realized that she was “blessed among women” to be so “highly favoured” as to become the human instrument by which a member of the Godhead could become incarnate as a human being to effect the rescue of a lost human race. She was the mother of the Messiah, the God- man, when He transferred His original existence into a human one. He became the Son of man, but He remained Deity— the Son of God.

Mary always knew and kept her proper place. When Gabriel told her of the miraculous manner in which she would conceive a child through the agency of the Holy Spirit and that “therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God…. For with God nothing shall be impossible,” her humble response was, “Behold the handmaid [female slave, Greek] of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” (Luke 1: 35, 37, 38). The word “handmaid” in the Greek is doule, which means slave, involuntary or voluntary (as in Mary’s case). The word actually describes real slavery, bondage, or servitude; but even when its usage was meant to be qualified to indicate a perceived relationship to another, as in Mary’s foregoing acknowledgment, it still indicated an attitude of subjection or subserviency by the user. In any event, it is obvious from Mary’s words that she was very humbly compliant with God’s will.

This is also apparent again when she arrives at the home of her cousin Elizabeth, mother- tobe of John the Baptist— Christ’s messenger to announce His arrival and mission— and exchanges initial greetings with her, both being under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. After Elizabeth had acknowledged Mary as “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1: 43), Mary replied, as already noted above, “My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. ” But note carefully her attitude expressed in her next remarks: “For He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” (Luke 1: 46- 48). “Low” in the Greek comes from a word with the connotation of “humiliation” or “abasement,” and is very appropriately used with her choice of “handmaiden,” or submissive “female slave.” She is saying, “Socially, prestige- wise, I am a nobody.” But then she quickly acknowledges the fact that it is the child she bears Who is the Hero and Whose mighty achievements will be so wonderful and so permanent that all future generations, even in eternity, will call her “blessed” for being the willing human agent, in cooperation with God, to make the reality of mankind’s redemption possible. It is hard to imagine a woman who possessed such demonstrated humility now emerging in today’s world as a person assuming such presumptuous titles and boastful achievements as those listed in this chapter, which exalt her to a position of Deity. Interestingly enough, there is not one prayer to Mary in the entire Bible— not one instance of her miraculously helping anyone, nor any promise that she could or would. Jesus is the Savior of the world, the Lamb that was slain, the Sin- bearer with whose stripes and wounds we are healed, the Resurrection and the Life, our High Priest and Mediator before the Father, the “Seed” of the woman who would crush the “serpent’s” head, the descendant of David who was to become ruler on David’s throne forever and ever. In fact, dear friends, notice this beautiful and unequivocal prophecy of the Messiah’s birth and eventual rulership on the throne of His human ancestor David as given by the “gospel prophet” Isaiah: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God , The Everlasting Father , The Prince of Peace . Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9: 6, 7). This prophecy, dear friend, includes all of Heaven’s intent!

Go to Chapter 5 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries