Article archive’s: Articles and posts from Critics of A. Jan Marcussen book, UPDATED:

Started 04 04 2009

Finished / UPDATED: 3 6 2021

UPDATE: 3 1 2021

Due to websites closing down I have decided to alter my old article and replace those articles that have been closed down / deleted with other articles, posts from various authors who have left their responses to A. jan marcussens teachings. I TAKE NO credit for other authors articles or posts. NO copyright or other legal issues are meant. I again am freely using my freedoms to posted articles or posts from various authors left online for years in some cases.

I am highlighting those articles that I’ve found over the years and want to keep up a achieve of those subjects for anyone to read.

This achieve is VERY LONG and takes up several pages. You have been warned.

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“RESPONSE TO ‘THE NATIONAL SUNDAY LAW’ “

“by A. Jan Marcussen of the Seventh Day Adventists:”

“Originally, I had no plans to review A. Jan Marcussen’s National Sunday Law. It appeared unsolicited in the mail one day and after skimming it over briefly, I placed it on a shelf in a bookcase thinking it might be worth a laugh or two. There it remained forgotten until recently when I moved and in restocking my bookcases, I came across it again. This time I recognized it as a book referenced by several Seventh Day Adventists’ websites and decided to give it a read.”

“Having read poor apologetical works by numerous groups, I had come across my share of illogical and at times illucid treatises. Yet National Sunday Law belongs in a class of its own – it may be to apologetics books what Plan 9 from Outer Space is to science fiction movies. Attaining a level of historical ignorance and logical absurdity reached in the past only by Jack Chick, Marcussen weaves a fabric of factual errors, paranoia, and anti-Catholic bigotry that is as fascinating as it is appalling.”

“Beginning with a laundry list of social ills, Marcussen displays the bunker mentality common with conspiracy theorists as he bemoans how Christian leaders are trying to galvanize the Church to work for the common good of society (apparently this is a bad thing). It must be, he claims, for the purpose of enacting a national law to force everyone to worship on Sunday (say what?).”

“As preposterous as this sounds, Marcussen ties any and all social ills to an alleged conspiracy to make Sunday worship the law of the land. To illustrate, he offers the tragic story of a two year old girl who was kidnapped, molested, and buried alive. The killer was later apprehended and sentenced to death. So what is Marcusson’s take on this horror? It is “obvious” to him that such horrible tragedies are used to bring back the death penalty so that in the future those who do not worship on Sunday can be executed. Besides the obvious question of Marcussen’s sanity, it is clear that he, like all “restorationists,” has an inflated sense of his own miniscule movement’s importance. Frankly, no one really cares if a bunch of descendants of the Millerite fantasy want to have Saturday services.”

“So, one might ask, who are the evil villains behind this nefarious plot? Well, besides the devil himself, it is the Catholic Church (big surprise, huh?). Marcussen spends considerable time “proving” the Catholic Church is the Beast of the Book of Revelation (fundamentalist fringe groups always debate whether they’re the Beast or only the Whore of Babylon). He pulls out all the usual evidence common to all anti-Catholic bigots with a dog-eared copy of Alexander Hislop’s tribute to historical inaccuracy and know-nothing religious bigotry, Two Babylons. One of the more amusing points is when he recycles the old canard of translating the Latin for an alleged title for the papacy, Vicar of the Son of God (Vicarius Filii Dei) into Roman numerals and comes up with 666 – the number of the Beast. Of course, the problem is the title for the papacy alluded to is actually Vicar of Christ – whose Latin does not add up to 666. Vicar of the Son of God has never been used by the papacy. On the other hand, “Ellen Gould White”, the real name of the founder of the Seventh Day Adventists movement, does add up to 666! What does all this prove? Not much, actually.”

“Like most “restorationists”, Marcussen’s understanding of Church history merely recycles long discredited “baptist successionist” theories into his own ecclesial context. In his weak grasp of historical facts, Marcusson lines up the usual villains with the emperors Constantine and Justinian getting special mention. How he missed his chance to demonize St. Augustine I’ll never know. He, of course, goes on about the underground “remnant Church” that believed just what he believes but was in hiding. Who they were or the location of their hiding place is never revealed – primarily because it didn’t exist.”

“National Sunday Law is a monument to historical ignorance and religious bigotry. As a quick read, its sheer awfulness can be amusing. Amusing, that is, until you realize how many well intentioned men and women believe it and are left ignorant of their great heritage as Christians.”

http://www.raeshomepage.bravehost.com/7thday.html

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“Jesus Gives A Hand on the Sabbath”

“Luke 6:6-11”

“Jeremy Myers”

“Making the Sabbath Too Much Work (Luke 6:1-11)”

“        1. Don’t Be Legalistic with the Law (6:1-5)”

“        2. Be Loving with the Law (6:6-11)”

“As we continue to learn about some Sabbath day controversies Jesus had, we need to pause and learn why we as Christians meet on Sunday, rather than on Saturday which is the traditional and historical “Sabbath.”  This is a question all of us should be able to answer because of the teachings floating around out there about the Sabbath. “

“A little book appeared on my lawn one morning called “National Sunday Law” written by A. Jan Marcussen. It is being distributed by the Seventh Day Adventists, who, as you all know, meet for church on Saturday, and continue to observe the Sabbath by not doing any work in similar ways that we talked about last week. The basic argument to the book is that the Catholic Pope will be the false prophet of the anti-Christ, Catholicism will be the one world religion of the anti-Christ, and that the Catholic church, in cooperation with worldly governments, has duped Christians into meeting on Sunday rather than on Saturday. The book says that in the end times, businesses will be forced to shut down on Sunday, and people will be forced to go to church on Sunday. If they want to go to church on Saturday, on the traditional Sabbath day, they will be put to death. So basically, attending church on Sunday is the prelude to receiving the mark of the beast. “

 

 

“To those who are not students of the Word, the book seems to be very compelling. It appears to make a lot of sense. The new Christian, or the Christian who doesn’t know the Word, or who ignores certain statements in the Bible, might be convinced by the arguments of this book. So let me explain to you this morning why we do meet on Sunday. A brief history of the Sabbath to Sunday transition. Just so you know, the book contains an appendix trying to refute the reasons I am about to give you, but does a very poor job explaining. “

“A Brief History of the Sabbath-to-Sunday Transition”

“First, it is true that in the Old Testament, the Sabbath was observed on Saturday, the seventh and last day of the week. It was to be a day of resting, reflecting and rejoicing. The basis for this was in God taking a day of rest after six days of creating the world. “

“One of the things this book fails to recognize is that the Sabbath is actually a sign of the Mosaic covenant. Any time God makes a covenant, he provides a sign, or a symbol to go along with it so that we can remember what He has promised. God gave the rainbow to Noah, he gave circumcision to Abraham. The Sabbath was the sign of the Mosaic covenant between God and Israel (Ex. 31:12-17; Ezek. 20:12). Are we living under the Mosaic covenant any more? No, we are not. We are living under the new covenant in Christ’s blood, and the sign of this new covenant is communion, the Lord’s Supper. That is the main reason we do no have to keep the Sabbath any more. “

“But besides that, how did it come about that we began to gather for worship on Sunday rather than on Saturday? Why not just stick with Saturday?  The simple answer is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Sunday, the first day of the week. Because it was on this day that he rose, it became known as “the Lord’s Day.” It became a day set aside for the Lord. That, in a nutshell, is how it happened. “

“God did not change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. He is very clear in the Bible that the Sabbath cannot be changed. The Sabbath is always on Saturday. But what God did do was give us a new day, called the Lord’s day. In the book of Acts, we see the early Christians meeting on the Lord’s Day, on the first day of the week to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection and eventual return. In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul instructed the Christians to take an offering on the first day of the week when they met. In Revelation 1:10, the apostle John, while in exile on the island of Patmos, held his own little church service on the Lord’s Day, and it was on that day which he received his Revelation about the end times. Furthermore, in church history, we read that by 115 A.D., Christians had ceased to keep the Sabbath, and lived by the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week. They gathered to sing, study the Word of God, pray, and fellowship together. “

“This “National Sunday Law” book has some very creative explanations for all of this. Explanations that may or may not be true. But do you want to know why we can know the book is wrong? Because the book never mentions, never explains, never deals with several very important passages in the Bible. It deals with a couple vague passages, but completely ignores many key passages. “

“For example, the book ignores Paul’s statement in Colossians 2:16, which says, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or…sabbaths.” Paul goes on in Colossians 2 to say that the point is not whether you keep these days or not. The point is not whether you observe Christmas or not. The point is not whether you celebrate Easter or not. The point is not whether you go to church on Saturday or Sunday or some other night. The point is, “Are you gathering with other Christians to pray, fellowship, sing, learn the Word of God and edify one another?” I hear a lot of people today say that they sure wish they could attend church, but they have to work on Sunday mornings. Well, Sunday morning is not the only time you can go to church. We have a service here on Sunday nights, and Bible studies on Wednesday night. “

“Sunday is the traditional time, and probably the best time to come to church. A Bible study is not a perfect substitute for church, but if you have to work, well come on Sunday nights, or Wednesday nights. You see, Paul says in Colossians 2 that the day is not what is important. What is important is Christ. In fact, I know of churches that have services on Friday night, and Saturday night and Tuesday night so that all people, no matter what their work schedule, can come to church. “

“We can worship on any day of the week. In fact, we should worship on every day of the week. The point is not what day you worship on, but Who are you worshipping? Is Christ being lifted up? Is Christ being glorified and honored? Is Christ being focused on? Or is some command, some legalistic moral code being emphasized to the point that Christ gets shoved out of the way? Are we, as we attend church, becoming more and more like Christ? That is Paul’s point. “

“Jesus himself says the same thing over and over again in the Gospels. He says in Mark 2:27 that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man. Jesus is saying that the whole point of the Sabbath is to get a day of rest, reflecting on God and His Word, rejoicing in all He has done for you. If you do that on Saturday, fine. But if you do it on Sunday, or Wednesday, that’s okay too. The point is Christ, not the day of the week. That’s what Christ says over and over again, and the National Sunday law book avoids all these statements. “

“The book never deals with the passage we are looking at today, either. In Luke 6:6-11, Christ reveals to us one of the purposes for the Sabbath. In Luke 5:33-39, we saw that Jesus came to change some things. To put new wine in new wineskins. To bring grace and a new way of doing things.   In Luke 6:1-5, we saw Jesus confront one of the staunchest Jewish traditions – their legalistic and overbearing regulations about the Sabbath. We saw that the Jews had made the Sabbath too much work. They had made it too difficult to keep. So in Luke 6:1-5, Jesus and his disciples went against the grain of the Sabbath day laws, and Jesus taught that they were not to be legalistic with the Sabbath. Instead, what we are going to see today from Luke 6:6-11, is that they were supposed to be loving with the Sabbath. “

“The Sabbath day rest was not just a day to stop working, it was a day to stop working for ourselves, and spend the day focusing on Christ and serving others, loving others. Don’t use the Sabbath to be legalistic and self-righteous, Jesus says, use it to love and serve others. During the work week, we must often work for ourselves. The Sabbath was an opportunity to stop working for yourself, and spend a day working for someone else. Jesus illustrates this in the passage before us. Beginning with verse 6. “

“6Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered.

“Jesus, as was his custom on the Sabbath, went to the synagogue to teach. And, as always happened, many people gathered to listen, to learn, to be taught. We know from other Scriptures that it was his practice on the Sabbath to read a passage of Scripture, and then to sit and teach through that passage. And that is what the people came to hear – the teaching of the Word of God. Teaching the Bible and being taught the Bible are two of the best things that can be done on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day when you take your eyes off yourself, and put them on the Word, on Christ, on God, and on others. Jesus wants to emphasize serving others. “

“On this particular Sabbath, we learn in verse 6 that a man was there whose right hand was withered.”

“Now, let me ask a question? Why was this man there? Why was he there? “

“Did the Pharisees bring him? It doesn’t appear so. It’s possible, but the text doesn’t give us any reason to think this may be the case. “

“Did the man come to be healed? It doesn’t appear that this is the case either. Generally, when people come to Jesus to be healed, the Bible clearly tells us that this was their reason, their motive, for seeking out Jesus. So why was he there?”

“I think this man came to be taught. He did not come to the synagogue for healing. He came for teaching. He wanted to learn the Bible. “

“But look at the contrast in verse 7. “

“7So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him. “

“Why did the Pharisees come to the synagogue? What did they show up for? Was it to be taught by Jesus? No, they were not there to be taught, but to pick a quarrel. To find some fault with Jesus. It says they came and watched Him closely. The Greek word for watched means “to spy on” or “to watch out of the corner of one’s eye” (cf. Ps. 36:12 LXX). They did not come to learn, but to try to find a charge to level against Jesus. It says to find an accusation against Him.  The man came to be taught, the Pharisees just came to spy on Jesus. “

“Why do you come to church? Some people only go to church because they hope that by doing so, God is going to fix all their problems. Or maybe make them rich. Some people, I know this is surprising, but some people go to church because they want to pick a fight with another Christian, or find something wrong in what the pastor said or did. Some people go to church because it is their religious duty. They know that they are supposed to go to church, they’ve been going all their life, and so they show up just to put in their time. Some people go to church looking for an experience, a thrill, a rush, an encounter with the Holy Spirit. Some people go to church out of guilt. They’ve sinned all week, and so they go to church to try to appease God. “

“Some go to church to appear holy. They like to raise their hands and say long prayers, and nod their head during the pastor’s sermon. These things are not wrong – if it’s genuine. But as soon as you start thinking, “I sure hope so-and-so hears me singing so loud and sees me taking so many sermon notes,” that is an indication you are just coming to church to appear holy. “

“I don’t know why you go to church. All of us, I’m sure, have had one or another of these motives at times. But I want to encourage you, be the man with the withered hand. You’re not perfect, and you don’t care. You just want to be taught. You’re not looking to get anything from God. You just want to be taught. You have your blemishes, your problems, your struggles in life, your sin. But you know that you don’t have to be perfect. You just want to be taught. There are many reasons to attend church, but this is one of the best. Almost everywhere in the Bible when we read about reasons for attending church, right near the top of the list is being taught the Word of God. That is why this man came. I am convinced of it. “

“Jesus knew why the man came, and he knew why the Pharisees came, and what the Pharisees were thinking. He knew that they were trying to find some fault with him. But He is not afraid. He does not shy away from them. He doesn’t get scared by them. He doesn’t try to avoid the conflict; he makes a bee-line for it. He doesn’t think, “Well, Pharisee Jehoash is here today, I better watch what I say and do, or he might make a stink and cause controversy.” No, He says, “Well, they’re not here to be taught, but I’m going to try to teach them anyway.” He decides to show them again that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. That they have completely misunderstood the purpose and intention of the Sabbath. Look at verse 8. “

“8But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. 9Then Jesus said to them (the Pharisees), “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?”

“Jesus asks the Pharisees a question. One of the best ways to teach people who don’t want to learn is to ask them a question. Jesus asks them what it is lawful to do on the Sabbath. We saw last week, that in the thinking of the Pharisees, it really was not lawful to do anything! They could do some minor tasks, but anything major was strictly forbidden. In asking the question, Jesus has also answered it. By the way he phrases the question, he reveals that there is no neutral ground when it comes to helping people. Jesus asks them what it is lawful to do on the Sabbath, and their basic answer was that it was not lawful to do anything. But Jesus indicates here that by doing nothing, they are actually doing evil. By failing to rescue a life, they are actually helping to destroy a life. “

“German citizens during Word War II who tried to stay out of the mess, who failed to stand up for the Jews, were actually helping the Nazi’s. In New York city, a woman was beaten for half an hour out in a street, while she screamed for help. But nobody came to help her…and nobody even dialed 9-1-1. Those people were just as guilty as the one doing the beating. “

“When Jesus asks, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?” he is saying that when it comes to choosing sides between good and evil, saving life or destroying it, there is no neutral ground. Inactivity is to fight on the side of evil. “

“That is what Jesus is saying by asking the question. But the fact of the matter is that the Pharisees knew all of this. They had laws which essentially said the same thing. So Jesus was not asking them this question to teach them. He was not even asking them this question to see if they knew the answer. Jesus was not asking the question because He thought they had never thought about it before. He asked the question to show them that neither the question nor the answer really mattered. You say, “What? The question doesn’t matter? The answer doesn’t matter? Why would He ask it then?” “

“Let me tell you why. The question Jesus raises here was very similar to a question which the Pharisees already answered in one of their books. Remember, they had considered all aspects of what could and could not be done on the Sabbath. One of the questions in their books on the Sabbath was whether it was permitted to heal on the Sabbath or not. Here is the neat and tidy three point answer they had come up with in their books of Sabbath day regulations: “

“1. On the Sabbath, healing to save a life is not only permitted, but a duty. They were allowed to work if it would save the life of a person who    would otherwise die. “

“2. Caring for the seriously ill was sometimes allowed, but only with certain restraints and conditions which I won’t get into here. “

“3. Treating minor ailments is prohibited. This is because a minor ailment is not life threatening, and can therefore wait until after the Sabbath is over. Also, treating minor ailments often required the grinding of herbs to prepare medicine, and grinding is one of the prohibited forms of work. “

“That was their answer. Nice, neat, simple three points. A flowchart for whether they could help a person on the Sabbath or not, and who they could and could not help. “

“Jesus did not ask the question because He was ignorant of their answer. He asked them because he knew the answer…and He hated their answer. It’s not that their answer was wrong. It may have been wrong, but that’s not what Jesus was trying to point out. The answer was well thought out. It was logical. Jesus wasn’t trying to get into a theological debate with them about healing on the Sabbath. Jesus was not trying to argue with them about the answer. If fact, I believe Jesus didn’t even want them to answer the question. That wasn’t the point, either. “

“Do you know what Jesus wanted them to see? “

“He wanted them to see the person. “

“He was saying, “Look, while you come up with your three simple steps to deciding whether you can heal on the Sabbath or not, here is a real, live human being who is hurting and in need of your help, and all you can do is sit there and debate about him like he was a log blocking the road.  He’s a person!”

“Jesus wanted to show them that they were being legalistic with the Sabbath, rather than loving with it, as they should have been. The Sabbath is a day to show love to others, to do good for others, if you can. You know what Jesus would do in our day? “

“He would show up on a Sunday when a young woman visited. She would be 17, unmarried, without a job, pregnant and considering an abortion.  And Jesus would stand up and say, “What do you think, should abortion be allowed or not? And as long as we’re talking about abortion, maybe we should also discuss one of the things that lead to abortion – a bad welfare system. What can be done to fix the welfare system?”

“He would show up on a Sunday when a homosexual visits our church, and Jesus would stand up and ask, “What do you think, should homosexuals be allowed to get married, or not?” “

“Jesus would show up on a Sunday when a drug addict visits, and Jesus would ask, “What do you think, should the medicinal use of marijuana be legalized or not?” “

“And do you know why Jesus would ask these questions? Not because He doesn’t know the answers. He knows the answers, and He cares very much about how these questions are answered. But on those Sunday mornings, when we are worshipping God as a church, and digging into His Word, you want to know what He cares about more than the answers to those questions? He cares about the pregnant teenager. He cares about the homosexual. He cares about the drug addict. He cares about the person. “

“He cares about you and me, our hurts, our worries, our struggles. And He wants to see each and every one of us healed and delivered from what has us in bondage. Whether it is that teenage girl, or that homosexual, or that drug addict, or a struggle with pornography, or materialism and greed, or lying, or stealing, or overeating. When someone else struggles with their marriage, or their job, or their kids, we tend to sit back and say, “Well, if they had just done this with their kids.” “Well, if they had just gone to this marriage conference and read this book, and if he would have been at home more, she wouldn’t have had that affair.”

“You know what? Those are the questions and comments of Pharisees. They would rather talk and debate about such issues rather than actually help. It’s not that knowing the truth is wrong. But debating the truth is wrong when it paralyzes us into inactivity. The Pharisees, like too many of us today, got too caught up in the political and theological debates which focus on the issues, and completely ignored the people who were in need. “

“James 4:17 says, “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do, and doesn’t do it, sins.” We think it reads, “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do, doesn’t have to do it if he can articulate his opinion, write letters to the editor and votes on election day.” We think James 4:17 reads, “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do, doesn’t have to do it if he can defend his views to others, and write a check to local charity.” No, James 4:17 says, “Anyone who knows the good he ought to do, and [he] doesn’t do it, sins.” It’s not enough to vote. It’s not enough to debate. It’s not enough to write out a check. These things are good, but Jesus would say, “They’re people! Help them!”

“10And when He had looked around at them all, “

“He looked around at them all. Do you think they flinched? Do you think they picked at their fingernails? Cleaned their glasses? All of a sudden became very interested in the pages of their Bible? Do you think they stared at their feet and avoided His gaze? Maybe a few of them stared back at Him, in brazen rebellion, but not for long. You’ll never win a staring contest with Jesus. “

“He looked around at them all. I think with disappointment. They had all the answers, but none of the love. They noticed all the detail of the law, and had dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s, but had failed to notice a person in need. “

“He looked around at them all. You know, there will be a time when He will look at you also. Will you be able to look Jesus in the eyes without being ashamed? Have you done everything you can with what He has given to you? Your time, your money, your skills? “

“I know I haven’t…but I’m trying. If I were to die right now, I do not think Jesus would say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I do not think I could look Jesus in the eyes. But I’m trying to get there. How? Well, 1 John 2:28 says, “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” Abiding in Christ is how we live a life pleasing to God. Abiding in Christ should be the goal of every Christian. Jesus tells us how to do this in John 13-17, and John tells us how in the book of 1 John. But you will have to study those passages on your own. All we see here in Luke 6 is that Jesus looked at them all – probably with disappointment, maybe even some anger in his eyes. And then, in answer to his question in verse 9, He shows the Pharisees what God would do on the Sabbath. Look again at verse 10. “

“He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.”

“Jesus healed the man. “

“In my study this week, I read all of the commentaries on this passage, and almost all of them debated about whether Jesus broke the Sabbath day laws or not. Almost all of them said that he did break the Pharisees understanding of it, but not God’s. I read explanations about how the Pharisees said work could be done to save a life, but not work to heal some minor, non-life-threatening ailment. And the shriveled hand was definitely not life threatening, nor was it serious. Other commentaries brought out how the Pharisees probably had a bit of conundrum, because Jesus didn’t actually grind any herbs or use any medicine and so the argument could have been made that he had not violated the Sabbath. I think all of the commentaries missed the point. It’s not about the law. It’s about the person. It’s not about whether Jesus broke the Sabbath or changed the Sabbath or really wanted to teach anything about the Sabbath at all. “

“Jesus wanted the Pharisees, and His disciples…and us…to see the man. Jesus saw him. Jesus saw his need. And Jesus had compassion on Him, and healed him. He saw something good to do for somebody, and He did it. Well, the account has a tragic end. Look at the reaction of the Pharisees in verse 11. “

“11But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.”

“The Greek word for rage is a strong term, describing irrational anger, even pathological rage. They were livid. “

“This is a very sad verse for several different reasons. First of all, they never did see the man. In their minds, he was only a good illustration for a theological argument. “

“A second reason though, that their reaction was so tragic is because they knew that healing only came from God. Nicodemus, a Pharisee, says to Jesus in John 3 that they all know that no man can do the things Jesus does unless God is with him. And so the Pharisees, so intent on keeping the Sabbath, won’t even allow God Himself, who gave them the Sabbath, to go against their manmade traditions about the Sabbath. “

“But the worst part about this verse, is what they decide to do with Jesus. It says they discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.  In other words, they plot to kill Jesus. In effect, their reaction here answers Jesus’ question from verse 9. In asking His question, he indicated that there are only two options – either save life or destroy life. There is no neutrality. And the Pharisees prove the truth of this here. Their law made it wrong for them to help the man with the shriveled hand, but at the same time, they can plot the death of Jesus. In rejecting to do the good that was in front of them, they ended up doing evil. They would not save a life on the Sabbath, but they will plot the death of Jesus on the Sabbath. Isn’t that tragically ironic? “

“You see, when people get legalistic about the law, that is exactly what happens. In our zeal to obey God, we sometimes blindly accomplish exactly the opposite of what God intends. When we start focusing on the law, we miss the people that the law was supposed to help. You see, the law was never intended to be an end in itself.  The law was only given as a guideline to help show love to God and to one another.  Jesus says later that the entire law can be summarized with one word: love. Love God, and love others. If you do that, you are fulfilling the entire law. “

“Don’t be legalistic with the law, coming up with lists of what can and cannot be done. Be loving with the law in order to help people in need. Look at people, not through the legalistic eyes of the law, but through the loving eyes of Christ. “

“Amy Carmichael wrote a little prose poem called “If.” Let me read it to you in closing. “

“IF I belittle those who I am called to serve, talk of their weak points in contrast perhaps with what I think of as my strong points; if I adopt a superior attitude, forgetting [that God made us different and He has given me all that I have], then I know nothing of Calvary love.

“IF I take offense easily, if I am content to continue in cool unfriendliness, though friendship be possible, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

“IF I feel bitterly towards those who condemn me, as it seems to me, unjustly, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself they would condemn me much more, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

“Do you know Calvary love? If you do, then you will follow the pattern of Christ here in Luke 6. Don’t be legalistic with the law. Be loving with it. Use it for the purpose God intended.”

http://www.tillhecomes.org/Text%20Sermons/Luke/Luke%206%206-11.htm

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“National Sunday Law: Fact or Fiction?”

“By D. Anderson (1999) “

“Its Strange Origins”

“A CONSPIRACY? “

“The Lord’s Day Alliance denies allegations made by some Seventh-day Adventists of a National Sunday Law conspiracy! “

“The Seal of God?”

“A Final Test?”

“What are the Odds?”

“A Real or Imagined Threat?”

“The Mark of the Beast?”

“Does it Matter? “

http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/egw22.ht

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“National Sunday Law – Fact or Fiction?”

“Chapter 1 Strange Origins of the National Sunday Law”

“In order to understand the origin of the National Sunday law, one must go back to the turbulent 1840s. This was an era of unprecedented religious controversy in the Northeastern United States. The controversy centered around the date of Christ’s return. It all began when a farmer-turned-preacher named William Miller set out on a campaign to warn communities in his region that, according to his own Biblical calculations, Christ’s return was imminent. As Miller’s popularity grew, other end-time revivalist preachers jumped on the band-wagon to spread the cry of alarm. Although Miller and his associates suffered a serious setback when Christ failed to return as predicted in 1843, it was quickly discovered that a “mistake” had been made in Miller’s calculations. A new date of October 22, 1844, was finally agreed upon by Miller’s followers, and the leaders of the movement went around to the local churches and communities trying once again to stir people up with the warning of Christ’s imminent return. “

“While most Christians and serious Bible students dismissed Miller as a misguided fanatic, some were impressed by his so-called Biblical “proofs” and they wanted to know if the Bible had indeed set a date for Christ’s return. Christians began to call upon Bible scholars to examine Miller’s “proofs” to determine if they were indeed accurate. Scholars familiar with Bible prophecy and the original languages of the Bible examined Miller’s 15 “proofs” and found them to be fatally flawed. Scholars pointed to numerous unfulfilled Biblical prophecies as proof that Christ’s return was not yet imminent. They explained how Miller was standing upon dangerous ground in ignoring Christ’s explicit instruction that no one knows the day of His return (Matthew 25:13). [For more info on how Miller was refuted by Bible scholars, click here] “

“Concerned pastors began warning their flocks of the deceptions and falsehoods of Miller’s teachings. As Christians became more widely aware of the serious errors in Miller’s teachings the churches began closing their doors to him. Accusations began to fly between the two groups and antagonism began developing. Millerites claimed that other Christians did not want the Lord to return, while the other Christians derided the Millerites as deluded fanatics. Some Millerites who were members of mainstream churches made such a nuisance of themselves that their churches felt compelled to expel them from their congregations, creating animosity on both sides. “

“Millerites were scoffed at, lampooned, ridiculed, and ostracized. Hooligans released greased pigs in their camp meeting crowds and collapsed tents on them. As the awaited hour approached, the Millerites became increasingly aggressive in their attacks on the churches and the clergy. Millerite Charles Fitch did his part in raising the level of animosity by writing: “

“If you are a Christian, come out of Babylon. If you intend to be found a Christian when Christ appears, come out of Babylon, and come out now…”1

Although William Miller initially captured the attention of some Christians in the early 1840s, by 1843 the movement had begun to crumble. As Bible scholars exposed the errors in Miller’s proofs the tide began to turn against him and his fanatical teachings. Pastors were so successful in exposing the flaws in Miller’s teachings that the movement began losing momentum. Miller’s efforts to recruit new adherents to his doctrine were thus stymied and he and his associates reacted angrily. They denounced the Christian churches as “fallen Babylon,” falsely accused them of not desiring Christ to return, and they withdrew themselves from the Christian churches and began meeting in homes and rented halls. Bitter animosity blossomed between the two groups with each side deserving part of the blame for the ensuing hostility. “

“As the date for Christ’s return approached, many Millerites sold their farms and businesses and invested their life’s savings with Miller and his associates to spread the message of Christ’s soon return. By October 22, 1844, the movement had managed to garner close to 50,000 followers, almost entirely in the northeastern United States. As with all fanatical movements, this movement appears to have held a special attraction for the uneducated, the young, and those prone to follow after the latest religious excitement. “

“When the October 22, 1844, date passed without event, Miller’s followers were severely disappointed. Many had suffered financial loss and ruin. Many had sold their means of making a livelihood. Now they were poor, destitute, and miserable. There were some who were so devastated that they committed suicide. The movement disintegrated and Miller finally admitted he was in error. His followers gradually began returning to their former churches. However, there was a small group that refused to return to their former churches for various reasons. Some were not ready to swallow their pride and return to churches they had so recently condemned as being synagogues of Satan. Some did not desire to face the censure and reprimands of their former brethren. These people began forming their own churches which eventually became known as the Adventist churches. “

“The split between the “Adventists” and the “non-Adventists” would form the foundation upon which the Sunday law teaching would later be built. After the Disappointment, the “Adventists” needed an issue upon which they could differentiate themselves from other Christians whom they referred to as Babylon. It was here that Joseph Bates stepped in and made his mark in Adventist history, developing a doctrine which would eventually lead to the National Sunday Law teaching. “

“Joseph Bates, father of the Sunday Law”

“One small group of Adventists was led by sea captain Joseph Bates. Bates felt burdened to understand the reason for the great disappointment of 1844. So he began studying Bible prophecy. Having no formal training in the principles of Biblical interpretation, Bates took an approach that differed widely from traditional scholarly work. For example, Bates took non-prophetic passages of the Old Testament and “discovered” end-time prophecies in those passages. He also assumed that the Book of Revelation was unfolding in the events of the Millerite movement. “

“Bates learned the Sabbath doctrine from a tract written by a Millerite preacher named Thomas M. Preble who is thought to have learned it from Rachel Oakes, a Seventh Day Baptist. When Bates discovered that the true day of worship was Saturday, not Sunday, he finally found what he believed to be a credible reason for why Adventists had been separated from the other Christian churches. They had been separated so that they could more readily adopt the Sabbath teaching of the Seventh Day Baptists.”

“Joseph Bates and the Shut Door”

“By 1845, the Adventists began splintering off into separate groups, and one of these groups became known as the “shut door Adventists.” This group would later develop into the Seventh-day Adventist church. Joseph Bates was a leader among the “shut door Adventists.” He believed that the door of salvation had been shut on all those who rejected the 1844 teachings of William Miller. In 1847, Bates published a book in which he quotes Miller: “

“We have done our work in warning sinners and trying to awake a formal church. God in his providence has shut the door. We can only stir one another up to be patient. Never since the days of the Apostles has there been such a division line drawn, as was drawn about the 10th, or 23d day of the 7th Jewish month. Since that time they say ‘they have no confidence in us.’ We have now need of patience after we have done the will of God, that we may receive the promise; for he says, ‘Behold I come quickly, to reward every one as his work shall be.'”2

“Even though Miller had earlier repudiated this belief, Bates continued to hold that there was a division line drawn between the Adventists and non-Adventists. He believed that the Adventists were the only ones who could be saved and the door of salvation had been shut to the Christian churches who had rejected Miller. Bates regarded the “nominal churches” as being part of Babylon:

“And last, the cry is made in the Protestant churches, ‘Come out of her, my people.’ What is now the response? Thousands on thousands dissolve their connection, and out they come, under the full conviction that this loud cry is to them, and the churches which they are leaving are fallen Babylon, because they have rejected the message which preceded this. ‘The hour of his judgment is come.’ Their houses which they have closed against this second advent message, are left unto them desolate. God has left them in their own confusion. … The advent doctrine was the last, and crowning test which God ever gave his people to come away and separate themselves from all unrighteous unbelievers.”3

“Bates’ bitter animosity against the mainstream Protestant churches is evident as he uses the derisive terms “desolate,” “confusion,” and “unrighteous” to describe them. Amazingly, Bates decreed the Protestant churches to be Babylon simply because they rejected a message that even the originator of the message himself admitted was a falsehood! In essence, Bates was claiming the Protestant churches were lost because they had rejected a false teaching!”

“Bates held to the belief that the labor of Christians for lost souls had ended in 1844, and he made no personal effort to save lost souls: “

“Here then of course ended the 2300 days of the vision, because there is to be a tarrying after. Don’t forget this, neither. ‘For at the time appointed the end shall be.’ Here too ended our last work in warning the world; and our labor ceased. Why? Because the messages ceased, and left us entirely destitute of labor. And there was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour, a whole week or seven and a half days. Here we say our glorious High Priest began the cleansing of the sanctuary, and ‘received his kingdom, dominion, and glory,’ the ‘New Jerusalem.'”4 “

“In 1847, when Bates wrote the book quoted above, he believed the Adventist people were in the midst of a “seven day” period, which he taught was a seven-year period during which God would “test” the Adventist people–those who had been part of the 1844 Millerite movement. How did Bates arrive at this seven-year period? From a non-prophetic passage in the book of Leviticus. Here is how he describes it in his book: “

“The seven spots of blood on the Golden Altar and before the mercy seat, I fully believe, represent the duration of the judicial proceedings on the living saints in the Most Holy, all of which time they will be in their affliction, even seven years; God by his voice will deliver them, ‘for it is the blood that maketh the atonement for the soul’ (Lev. 17:11). Then the number seven will finish the day of atonement (not redemption).”5 “

“Somehow, in Bates’ mind, those “seven spots of blood” on the altar became seven years. It is impossible to rationally explain how Bates came to this conclusion! Following in the footsteps of William Miller’s questionable Bible scholarship, Bates apparently had his own methods of interpreting the Bible which remain a mystery to this day. “

“According to Bates, over those seven years, from 1844 to 1851, God intended to “test” the Adventists to determine which of them would accept the Seventh Day Baptist’s Sabbath teaching. Bates claimed: “

“…this message was urged on God’s people, to test their sincerity and honesty in the whole word of God…”6

At the culmination of this seven-year period, in 1851, Christ would return to the earth. Those who accepted the Sabbath would receive the “Seal of God” and would be saved. Those Adventists who rejected the Sabbath would rejoin the Sunday keeping churches and receive the “Mark of the Beast.” Bates’ teachings on the Seal of God and Mark of the Beast would later become the foundation of Seventh-day Adventist doctrine on end-time events. “

“Bates and the end of the world”

“While to most candid observers there was no evidence of the imminent end of the world, Bates found evidence everywhere he looked. We must remember that Bates assumed large portions of the book of Revelation were being fulfilled in his day. Therefore, Bates tried to match current events to certain passages of Bible prophecy. His efforts reveal how truly flawed was his understanding of Bible prophecy. In every fire, in every storm, he saw another sign of the end being fulfilled: “

“Here lies before me a pamphlet of 83 pages, entitled, the voice of God, or an account of the unparalleled Fires, Hurricanes, Floods, and Earthquakes, beginning with 1845; also Pestilence, Famine, and Crime – compiled by Thomas M. Preble. Since this work was issued at the beginning of this year, the periodicals of foreign countries and those of our own boasted happy Republic, show that these calamities among men are still increasing to a fearful extent. The inhabitants of many nations are at their wits’ end.”7

“Bates warned that the third woe of Revelation was falling upon the world: “

“…and tell me if you can what all these calamities mean. If it is not the third wo [sic] that is rumbling through the nations of the earth, and hastening greatly to form its focal centre for ‘such a time of trouble as never was since there was a nation.'”8

“Bates warns of fires… “

“The entire loss by fires of the last two years amounts to about 65 millions of dollars, about 45 millions in this country. In 1845, about 31 millions of dollars’ worth was destroyed in something like 38 cities and towns; in a majority of cases the heart, or business part, was destroyed; besides the multitude of small fires under twenty-five thousand dollars, and also thousands of acres of woodland, probably swelling the amount to about forty millions of dollars, and according to numerous accounts, in a majority of instances they raged beyond the control of man.”9

.”..and floods…”

“Sea and waves roaring. – The tremendous gales and storms of 1845, and many in ’46, certainly have not been surpassed in past ages. … Floods and inundations in 1845-6 – Since the days of Noah I believe we have no such records.”10

“…and, of course, earthquakes…”

“Earthquakes. – I will not stop here to enumerate. The Scientific American records upwards of fifty in 1846.”11

“…and pestilences…”

“Pestilence. – The Asiatic cholera, a dreadful pestilence, God’s flying messenger with a drawn sword in his hand…”12

As for famines, Bates turned to the apocryphal book of Esdras which he apparently believed to be inspired…

“Esdras says, ‘the seed shall fail through blasting and hail.’ xv. same prophet says, ‘provision shall be cheap, (they have been) and suddenly the sown places appear unsown, ( seed rotted under the clods,) the full storehouses suddenly be found empty.’ Here is the fulfillment: hundreds on hundreds of our ships almost constantly leaving our shores, laden with provisions from the store-houses, to supply the famine in Europe. If accounts respecting the famine be true, they will continue to go until our store-houses be emptied. This is neither fancy nor fable, but history and the word of the Lord our God. The prophecy of Esdras begins to search and burn like fire.”13

“After reading these “fulfillments” of prophecy, it quickly becomes evident that Bates was wresting the Scriptures, trying to make the “square pegs” of current events fit into the “round holes” of Bible prophecy. There is no hiding the fact that his prophetic interpretations were based more upon his own personal theories about Christ’s imminent return than upon actual facts. Furthermore, it calls into question Bates’ entire prophetic theology. Here are some other examples of Bates’ unusual teachings on prophecy, all of which were rejected by later generations of Seventh-day Adventists: “

“Bates claimed the third angel’s message completed in the fall of 1844:”

“I ask you to look back to the summer and fall of 1844, where you see the fulfillment of this 3d angel’s message in a most wonderful and striking manner in almost every town and city throughout New England.”14 “

“In answering the question of why the 1844 movement [3rd angel’s message] was largely restricted to the United States instead of the whole world, Bates contends that only the first angel’s message went into all the world:”

“If you will look at the 14, ch. again, you will see that it was the first messenger only that sent his message to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.”15

“Bates claimed that Christ received His kingdom in 1844:”

“Here then is positive corroborated proof of Christ’s receiving his dominion and glory and kingdom or as in the parable of the ten virgins the Bridegroom came to the marriage under the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and after the third angel’s message, and before six of the seven plagues are poured out.”16

Most astounding of all, Bates claimed the Sabbath could not be kept prior to 1844…

“Says the reader, why did not the people ‘keep the commandments of God,’ as in the text, before the fall of 1844? Because the message had not been presented, nor could not be until the third angel’s message (9th to 11th v.) had made this separation, for they could not keep the fourth commandment, the seventh day Sabbath, while they were united with the nominal church, (Babylon,) hence the separation.”17

Bates’ interpretation of the three angels’ messages (Rev. 14) forces him to the conclusion that the keepers of the commandments of God did not exist before 1844. This ironic conclusion ignores the fact that Bates himself learned about the Sabbath from the Seventh Day Baptists, a large group of Christian Sabbath-keepers who were presenting the “message” of the Sabbath to Sunday-keeping Christians for over 100 years! “

“Joseph Bates: Can you trust this man’s prophetic theories?

Let us review what we know about Joseph Bates and Bible prophecy. “

“He claimed that 7 drops of blood on the alter in Leviticus 17 indicated that Adventists were going to go through 7 years of testing on the Sabbath truth. At the conclusion of that 7 years, in 1851, Christ would return to take home those Adventists who had the Seal of God (Sabbath observance).”

“He claimed that minor disasters that occurred in the late 1840s were signs of the imminent end of the world.”

“He claimed the gospel message for the lost ended in 1844.

Can you see a pattern beginning to emerge? It is a pattern of prophetic miscalculation, bungling, distortion, and outright error. It is a pattern of a man who was self-deceived about the return of Christ and the meaning of Bible prophecy. The ultimate example of Bates’ delusion is found in his claim that the gospel message itself ended in 1844! This quote alone should be sufficient evidence to any Christian that this man was not guided by the Spirit of God in his teachings:

“Now let this door be shut, and the preaching of this gospel will have no effect. This is just what we say is the fact. The gospel message ended at the appointed time with the closing of the 2,300 days; and almost every honest believer that is watching the signs of the times will admit it.”18

How can we possibly trust a man who developed such warped and perverted understandings of Bible prophecy? Yet, Bates’ teachings became the foundation upon which the National Sunday Law would later develop! Any Adventist will recognize that Bates’ teachings about Babylon, the Sabbath, the Seal of God, the Mark of the Beast, and the “remnant” are the same prophetic teachings that form the core of Seventh-day Adventist Bible prophecy.19 Bates laid the foundation for the National Sunday Law teaching and later Adventists have built upon his foundation.

Naturally, these bizarre teachings generated some resistance from the Christian churches in the 1840s. This resistance was interpreted by Sabbath-keeping Adventists as persecution and yet further evidence that the Christian denominations were fallen and lost. Bates’ theories were easily shot to pieces by Biblical scholars, and the Sabbath-keeping Adventists gained few adherents. Bates needed some help to keep his sinking theories afloat and he soon found the help he needed in the young and impressionable prophetess Ellen G. White.  “

“Bates finds a friend”

Who was Ellen White? At the time they met, she was a frail nineteen-year-old girl who had been a devoted follower of William Miller. She had serious health problems resulting from a childhood brain injury. Later, she claimed to be receiving visions from God although many who witnessed her visions felt they were more the product of her ill health than inspiration. Sister White and her family were among the fanatics who had been ejected from a Methodist church in September of 1843 for causing disturbances during church services. According to the Methodist Church… “

“The reason for their dismissal was not that they preached the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a tenant of our orthodox faith which is confirmed from the Articles of Religion 1784.Their dismissal was occasioned by their breach of discipline in proclaiming the views of William Miller’s time-setting. …after much quiet counsel to refrain from their disruptive behavior in church meetings the members of Chestnut Street Church took what they believed to be their only recourse, to dismiss the Harmon Family.”20

Ellen White’s ejection from the Methodist church and subsequent events led her to believe the same thing Bates believed: The Protestant churches were Babylon. Mrs. White lost no opportunity to blast the Christian preachers who had opposed Miller’s time-setting:”

“Many shepherds of the flock, who professed to love Jesus, said that they had no opposition to the preaching of Christ’s coming, but they objected to the definite time. God’s all-seeing eye read their hearts. They did not love Jesus near. They knew that their unchristian lives would not stand the test, for they were not walking in the humble path marked out by Him.”21

“It was not long before Ellen White and Joseph Bates had linked up in their battle against the hated Sunday-keeping churches. Although Biblical evidence for Bates’ teachings was severely lacking, the deficiency of inspiration was soon supplied by Sister White, who began having “visions” supporting the theories Bates had fabricated. Although the “visions” were merely repetitions of what Bates had already been promulgating, this put the prophetic seal of approval on his teachings. Bates, in turn, accepted Ellen White as a prophet, which gave the Whites a much-needed boost in their own efforts to establish Sister White’s claim to be the Spirit of Prophecy of the book of Revelation.”

“By 1850, Bates, Ellen White, and her husband James White had managed to convince several hundred followers that Bates’ teaching about the Sabbath was God’s last message to the world. However, the group fell on hard times in 1851, when Christ failed to materialize as Bates had promised. As the date approached and it became increasingly obvious Christ was not coming, the Whites began distancing themselves from Bates. When 1851 passed without event, the Bates and the Whites suffered a humiliating defeat. The Adventists began turning against Bates and the Whites. They questioned how a prophet of God could not have foreseen how Bates was wrong about the 1851 date. The Whites, disappointed that many of their followers had turned against them, decided to put some distance between Bates and themselves, and so they moved to the Midwest where they were not so well known. “

“While they discarded Bates’ teachings about the 7-year period of testing, they continued preaching that the Sabbath was the final test for mankind. Mrs. White wrote, “

“The light of the Sabbath was seen, and the people of God were tested, as the children of Israel were tested anciently, to see if they would keep God’s law.”22

As Bates faded into the background, the Whites took charge of the work and managed to gather a small following and formed the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863.

The Seventh-day Adventists soon gained a reputation among other Christians. They became known for their efforts to recruit members from out of other Christian denominations. They were also known for referring to Catholicism as Babylon, and Protestants as Apostate Protestantism. The Whites were still convinced all other Christian churches were apostate because they had rejected Miller’s fanatical time-setting movement. Needless to say, the Adventists’ hostility towards other Christian denominations generated plenty of animosity between the groups. Ellen White describes her displeasure with the “fallen” Christian denominations:”

“I saw that the nominal churches have fallen; that coldness and death reign in their midst.”23

“The sins of the popular churches are whitewashed over. Many of the members indulge in the grossest vices and are steeped in iniquity. Babylon is fallen and has become the cage of every foul and hateful bird! The most revolting sins of the age find shelter beneath the cloak of Christianity.”24 “

“Ellen White and her angel were so upset with Sunday-keeping Christians that they were prepared to pour out the wrath of God upon them:

“I saw that since Jesus left the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and entered within the second veil, the churches have been filling up with every unclean and hateful bird. I saw great iniquity and vileness in the churches; yet their members profess to be Christians. Their profession, their prayers, and their exhortations are an abomination in the sight of God. Said the angel, “God will not smell in their assemblies. Selfishness, fraud, and deceit are practiced by them without the reprovings of conscience. And over all these evil traits they throw the cloak of religion.” I was shown the pride of the nominal churches. God is not in their thoughts; their carnal minds dwell upon themselves; they decorate their poor mortal bodies, and then look upon themselves with satisfaction and pleasure. Jesus and the angels look upon them in anger. Said the angel, “Their sins and pride have reached unto heaven. Their portion is prepared. Justice and judgment have slumbered long, but will soon awake. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” The fearful threatenings of the third angel are to be realized, and all the wicked are to drink of the wrath of God. An innumerable host of evil angels are spreading over the whole land and crowding the churches. These agents of Satan look upon the religious bodies with exultation, for the cloak of religion covers the greatest crime and iniquity.”25 “

“In Ellen White’s mind the non-Adventist Christian churches were full of sin. In her mind, their worst enemies were not atheists, pagans, and infidels. Their worst enemies were Sunday-keeping Christians! “

“Ellen White devises National Sunday Law teaching”

“In the mid-1800s there were a series of incidents where Seventh-day Adventists ran into trouble with the law because they worked on Sunday. In many states there were “blue laws” forbidding work on Sunday. It was against this background of persecution by the state that prophet Ellen White describes the coming persecution of Sabbath-keepers in a series of books and articles. She wrote: “

“Then I saw the leading men of the earth consulting together, and Satan and his angels busy around them. I saw a writing, copies of which were scattered in different parts of the land, giving orders that unless the saints should yield their peculiar faith, give up the Sabbath, and observe the first day of the week, the people were at liberty after a certain time to put them to death.”26

In 1884, the end-time scenario is said to be brought about by the “superhuman” efforts of the clergy, who prevail upon the legislators to enact laws enforcing Sunday observance, with each subsequent set of laws gradually increasing in severity:

“The clergy put forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light, lest it should shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and in this work, papists are solicited to come to the help of Protestants. The movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided. The law is invoked against commandment-keepers. …

“In the last conflict the Sabbath will be the special point of controversy throughout all Christendom. Secular rulers and religious leaders will unite to enforce the observance of the Sunday; and as milder measures fail, the most oppressive laws will be enacted. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the land ought not to be tolerated, and a decree will finally be issued denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment, and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death.”27 “

“By the late 1880s the end appeared imminent to Adventists. The reason they believed the end was imminent was because a law was being considered before the United States Congress in the late 1880s which would have made Sunday a nationally recognized holiday. In 1886, Mrs. White warned of the soon-coming end:

“The end of all things is at hand. The time of trouble is about to come upon the people of God. Then it is that the decree will go forth forbidding those who keep the Sabbath of the Lord to buy or sell, and threatening them with punishment, and even death, if they do not observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath.”28 “

“Then the unexpected happened. The Sunday law was defeated by Congress. While there may have been more than one reason the law was rejected, it was apparent that some in Congress felt the law would violate the separation between church and state. Besides, if the law was enacted, it would have likely been struck down by the Supreme Court. After this event, the Sunday Law movement lost steam and gradually turned its attention to other issues. By the early 1900s it was beginning to appear unlikely that a Sunday law was going to be passed any time in the near future. Adventists now had a dilemma on their hands. They needed to come up with an explanation as to how a Sunday law could possibly be passed given the current circumstances. By 1904, the former scenario of an organized movement of religious leaders pushing Sunday legislation through Congress seemed unrealistic. Since a Sunday law now appeared extremely unlikely to occur under ordinary circumstances, there must be some extraordinary external events that trigger it. Thus, Ellen White concocts a new scenario in which the United States is faced with a sudden, terrible crisis. If the United States does not act to kill the Sabbath-keepers, there will be a terrible national catastrophe:

“They will point to calamities on land and sea–to the storms of wind, the floods, the earthquakes, the destruction by fire–as judgments indicating God’s displeasure because Sunday is not sacredly observed. These calamities will increase more and more, one disaster will follow close upon the heels of another; and those who make void the law of God will point to the few who are keeping the Sabbath of the fourth commandment as the ones who are bringing wrath upon the world. This falsehood is Satan’s device that he may ensnare the unwary.”29

During this horrific crisis the Sunday law will be justified by politicians who would, under normal circumstances, reject the law. However, in a crisis situation, they are convinced to pass a Sunday law in order to prevent the whole nation from being “thrown into confusion and lawlessness.”30

While this is certainly a creative scenario, Mrs. White gives no Bible evidence for this new scenario, nor does she explain how killing the Sabbath keepers could prevent the nation from being thrown into confusion and lawlessness. The assumption here being that political leaders stop thinking rationally during a crisis and pass laws which make no sense to anyone. While it made sense to few, if any, outside the SDA Church, the followers of Ellen White gobbled it up and the unlikely scenario eventually found its way into the prophet’s major book on end-time events, the Great Controversy. “

“In earlier years Mrs. White talked as if only “Christendom” would pass Sunday laws, but by 1911, she had once again changed her scenario, this time to include the entire world. Mrs. White writes in her landmark book, Great Controversy, published in 1911:”

“The powers of earth, uniting to war against the commandments of God, will decree that “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond” (Revelation 13:16), shall conform to the customs of the church by the observance of the false Sabbath. All who refuse compliance will be visited with civil penalties, and it will finally be declared that they are deserving of death.”31

This “universal” Sunday Law is further expounded upon in Mrs. White’s final book published in 1917, a year following her death:

“In this our day, many of God’s servants, though innocent of wrongdoing, will be given over to suffer humiliation and abuse at the hands of those who, inspired by Satan, are filled with envy and religious bigotry. Especially will the wrath of man be aroused against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment; and at last a universal decree will denounce these as deserving of death.”32

Thus we find the doctrine of the Sunday Law continually evolving and changing over the years to meet the particular challenges of that generation. After the death of the prophetess Ellen White in 1916, the position of the church on the National Sunday Law became frozen, and has remained relatively unchanged. This is understandable, since there is no longer anyone with prophetic authority in the church to modify the teaching. The church continues to teach the same doctrine today that was taught in the early 1900s. “

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NOTES:

1. Ronald Numbers and Jonathan Butler (editors), The Disappointed, p. 197.

2. William Miller, Voice of Truth, Dec. 11th, 1844, as quoted in Joseph Bates, Second Advent Waymarks and High Heaps, p. 86.

3. Joseph Bates, Ibid., p. 69, 70.

4. Ibid., p. 84.

5. Joseph Bates, The Typical and Anti-typical Sanctuary, pp. 10-13.

6. Second Advent Waymarks and High Heaps, p. 114.

7. Ibid., p. 89.

8. Ibid., p. 91.

9. Ibid., pp. 91,92.

10. Ibid., p. 92.

11. Ibid., p. 93.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid., p. 122.

14. Ibid., p. 69.

15. Ibid., p. 69.

16. Ibid., p. 103,104.

17. Ibid., p. 114.

18. Second Advent Waymarks and High Heaps, p. 110.

19. Adventists continue to teach Bates’ theories regarding the Sabbath, the Seal of God, the Mark of the Beast, and the “remnant” in the year 2007 as presented in their “Revelation Seminars”. Many Adventists are not aware that Joseph Bates is the originator of these teachings.

20. Letter to Mr. Keith Moxon from the Chestnut Street United Methodist Church, June 3, 1988, sourced from Truth or Fables web site.

21. Ellen G. White, Early Writings, pp. 229-249.

22. Ibid., p. 254.

23. Ibid. p. 116.

24. Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 13.

25. White, Early Writings, p. 274.

26. Ibid., p. 282.

27. Ellen White, Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4 pp. 425, 444.

28. Ellen White, Historical Sketches, p. 156. See also “Special Testimonies on Education”, p. 99: “The time is not far distant when the laws against Sunday labor will be more stringent” (Feb., 1894).

29. Ellen White, Southern Watchman, June 28, 1904.

30. Ellen White, Youth Instructor, Jul. 12, 1904: “When the Sabbath becomes the special point of controversy throughout Christendom, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state, ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. This argument will appear conclusive; and against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will finally be issued a decree, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment, and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death.”

31. Ellen White, Great Controversy, p. 604, (1911).

32. Ellen White, Prophets and Kings, p. 512.

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1999,2007 Ellen White Research Project

http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/nsl/egw22a.htm

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“National Sunday Law – Fact or Fiction?”

“Chapter 2”

“Is the Sabbath the Seal of God?”

“In the 1840s, Joseph Bates first proposed that Sabbath-keeping was the Seal of God and Sunday-keeping the Mark of the Beast. In 1849, he published a book on the subject entitled, A Seal of the Living God, in which he writes:

“Now all advent believers that have, and do, participate in the advent messages as given in Rev. 14:6-13, will love and keep this covenant with God, and especially His Holy Sabbath, in this covenant; this is a part of the 144,000 now to be sealed.

“The other part are those who do not yet so well understand the advent doctrine; but are endeavoring to serve God with their whole hearts, and are willing, and will receive this covenant and Sabbath as soon as they hear it explained. These will constitute the 144,000 now to be sealed with ‘a seal of the living God,’ which sealing will bear them through this time of trouble.”1 “

“The Whites soon adopted Bates’ teaching and Mrs. White began having “visions” supporting Bates’ idea. It is apparent that Bates, Mrs. White and other early Adventists believed the sealing process to have already commenced because Mrs. White wrote an article in January of 1849 entitled, “To Those who are receiving the seal of the living God”. In that article she writes thus:

“Now is the time for the law of God to be in our minds (foreheads), and written in our hearts. … Time has continued on a few years longer than they expected, therefore they think it may continue a few years more, and in this way their minds are being led from present truth, out after the world. In these things I saw great danger; for if the mind is filled with other things, present truth is shut out, and there is no place in our foreheads for the seal of the living God. This seal is the Sabbath.”2

To Ellen White, the Sabbath is what marked the difference between those loyal to God and those disloyal:

“The Sabbath is the great test question. It is the line of demarkation between the loyal and true and the disloyal and transgressor. … It is the seal of the living God.”3

“Thus the distinction is drawn between the loyal and the disloyal. Those who desire to have the seal of God in their foreheads must keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Thus they are distinguished from the disloyal, who have accepted a manmade institution in place of the true Sabbath. The observance of God’s rest day is a mark of distinction between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.”4 “

“A Unique Adventist Teaching

The idea that the Sabbath was the “line of demarkation” between the loyal and disloyal represents a radical departure from traditional Protestant teachings of the 1800s. Protestants of that day taught the Mark of the Beast was allegiance to the papacy. Allegiance to the papacy included allegiance to the many errors and superstitions of the papacy, such as: “

Veneration of the pope as God upon earth who is able to forgive sins

Adoration and worship of the Virgin Mary

Transubstantiation (bread becomes the body of Christ)

Purgatory

The confessional

An unmarried priesthood

Prayers to apostles and saints, prayers for those in purgatory, and repetitive prayers (rosaries)

Adoration of relics and idols of saints

Salvation by works

Extra-Biblical sources of inspiration such as the church fathers

Christianization of pagan holy days such as Easter and Christmas

More could be listed. As you can see, there are numerous items indicating allegiance to the errors of the papacy. Joseph Bates in his book A Seal of the Living God makes little mention of all of the profound differences between Catholicism and Protestantism and focused instead upon the one issue that was important to him: Sabbath-keeping. In Bates’ mind, the Mark of the Beast was not Mary worship. It was not belief in Purgatory. It was not belief in the confessional or transubstantiation. The Mark of the Beast was Sunday worship.

Why did Bates choose Sunday worship over all of the other identifying marks of Catholicism? In chapter 1 we read of the raging animosity between Bates and the mainstream Protestant churches. By identifying Sunday as the Mark of the Beast, Bates found a clever way to lump the hated Protestants churches into the same basket as the Catholics. With this master stroke he was able to consign to hell those Protestant churches that had so infuriated him and his associates for rejecting Miller’s time-setting movement. In one bold move Bates managed to redefine nearly three hundred years of Protestant teachings from Luther and other great reformers that identified the Mark of the Beast as allegiance to the heretical teachings of Rome listed above.

“ Stop for a moment and compare Joseph Bates with the great Protestant reformers. The Protestant Bible scholars, like Huss, Jerome, Luther and Zwingli, were all men of great learning, church leaders who were received by princes and kings. They had all distinguished themselves in the universities, they were fluent in the original Biblical languages, and they were recognized by both friend and foe for their scholarly achievements. Contrast these great leaders with Joseph Bates. He was a little-known sea captain. He had no knowledge of the original Biblical languages. He had little understanding of Biblical principles of interpretation. He made reckless and unfounded predictions based on his flawed understanding of Bible prophecy. We learned about many of Joseph Bates’ absurd and outlandish prophetic teachings in chapter 1. Despite all this, Bates placed himself in the position to overrule three hundred years of highly educated and highly esteemed Protestant Biblical scholars. In one masterful sweep he brushed aside the Protestant Reformers and shoved their churches into Babylon. He declared that a single heretofore unrecognized heresy, Sunday-worship, was the dreaded Mark of the Beast. Amazingly, a handful of believers actually took Bates’ word over the word of esteemed and proven Protestant reformers, and Bates teaching would later become the core of Seventh-day Adventist prophetic teaching. “

“While Bates’ theory appeared to find acceptance with those already predisposed to thinking of the Protestant churches as Babylon, it never really caught on with others. It was hard for some to understand how the Christian denominations could be lost, and yet they were the ones sending out missionaries all over the world spreading the gospel while Adventists were claiming the gospel message had ended in 1844 and spent most of their time bickering among themselves over the Sabbath and differing interpretations of prophecy. Bates had a difficult task on his hands to try and convince people that the Mark of the Beast was no longer allegiance to the teachings of Rome as a whole, but only one teaching: Sunday-worship. Fortunately for him, he found an ally who could provide the inspiration that was so obviously lacking from the Bible. Bates turned to the young prophetess Ellen White who saw the following in vision: “

“I saw that God had not changed the Sabbath, for He never changes. But the pope had changed it from the seventh to the first day of the week; for he was to change times and laws.”5

So, with a little help from the prophetess, Adventists tied the change of the day of worship to the papacy, thus identifying Sunday worship as the single most important distinguishing feature of false Christianity. “

“Unfortunately for Ellen White, the theory that the Pope changed the day of worship was later refuted by one of Adventism’s own scholars, Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi. In his ground-breaking book, From Sabbath to Sunday, Dr. Bacchiocchi provides irrefutable evidence that the change in Sabbath-keeping from Sabbath to Sunday actually occurred far earlier than previously supposed. In the 1970s, Bacchiocchi was the first and only non-Catholic to ever be allowed to study at the Catholic Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. While there he was given access to the Church’s archives and was able to find priceless research material for his book. While it probably was not the purpose of his book to exonerate the Pope, his research showed that the change from Sabbath to Sunday worship occurred far earlier in history than had been previously admitted by Adventists. In fact, the change happened long before the papacy was established in power. These findings cast considerable doubt on whether Sunday worship could be considered allegiance to the papacy since the practice was well established throughout Christianity centuries before the first Pope arose. “

In 1997, Dr. Bacchiocchi, wrote:

“I differ from Ellen White, for example, on the origin of Sunday. She teaches that in the first centuries all Christians observed the Sabbath and it was largely through the efforts of Constantine that Sunday-keeping was adopted by many Christians in the fourth century. My research shows otherwise. If you read my essay HOW DID SUNDAYKEEPING BEGIN? which summarizes my dissertation, you will notice that I place the origin of Sunday-keeping by the time of the Emperor Hadrian, in A.D. 135.”6

Emperor Hadrian, A.D. 135 was nearly half a millennium removed from the first pope who began serving in A.D. 606.7 While most Adventists accepted Bacchiocchi’s findings, some ultra-conservatives derided him as a Jesuit sent secretly by the Catholics to infiltrate and destroy the Adventist church. However, his vocal critics were never able to produce any evidence to refute his teachings or prove he ever had any connections with the Jesuits. “

“The True Meaning of “Seal of God”

Having established the Mark of the Beast as being Sunday worship, it only made sense to Bates that Sabbath worship should be the Seal of God. Bates found his evidence in the Old Testament where the Sabbath was a sign of the Old Covenant between God and the Jews.8 However, Bates ignored the evidence given in the New Testament showing that the sign or seal of the New Covenant is the Holy Spirit. The Bible explains how Christ, as our example, was given the seal of the Holy Spirit:”

“For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. (John 3:34)

Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. (John 6:27) “

“The Bible is clear that Jesus was “sealed” by the Holy Spirit, not Sabbath-keeping. Paul indicates the Holy Spirit is deposited into our hearts to “seal” us for salvation: “

“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (2 Cor. 1:22)

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. (Eph. 1:13) “

“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Eph. 4:30) “

“Not once in the New Testament is the Sabbath ever referred to as a sign or a seal for Christians. Just as the Lord’s supper celebration replaced the Jewish Passover celebration, so has the Holy Spirit replaced the Sabbath as the “sign” or evidence that a person is a member of the Christian church. “

“Consider this carefully. What is the best way to tell whether or not a person is a true Christian? Is it by what day they go to church on? Even Adventists will tell you that going to church on Saturday does not make someone a Christian. There are some people who go to church on Saturday while they deny their Christian faith by their actions. Their hearts are filled with perversion, hatred, adultery, and idolatry. So what is the best way to tell if a person is a true Christian? By their spirit! If they have the Holy Spirit in their hearts, they will manifest the fruits of the Spirit in their lives: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.” These fruits of the indwelling Holy Spirit will be evident to all. The Sabbath is not the sign of a true Christian. It never has been. It never will be. The New Testament evidence testifies that the Holy Spirit is the “seal” with which the Father seals His faithful children.”

NOTES:

1. Joseph Bates, A Seal of the Living God, pp. 61, 62.

2. Ellen White, Present Truth, Jan. 31, 1849.

3. Ellen White, Selected Messages Book 3, p. 423.

4. Ellen White, Review & Herald, April 23, 1901.

5. Ellen White, Early Writings, p. 32.

6. Samuelle Bacchiochi, Ph.D., February 8, 1997, in an E-mail message posted to the “Free Catholic Mailing List” catholic@american.edu.

7. The title, pope, which is derived from the Latin papa (father), was used in the second, third, and fourth centuries AD to refer to various leading bishops. At that time, it did not signify the universal leader of the Christian church, as the title pope is understood today. According to Catholics, the first pope was Peter, and there has been a line of popes succeeding after him. According to Christianity Through the Centuries (Earle Cairns, 1981), the “first medieval pope” was Gregory (590-604) who consolidated power within the church in Rome and asserted the spiritual supremacy of the bishop of Rome. However, he disclaimed the title pope. Hence, the first pope would be his successor, Sabinian, who followed after him in 606 AD. In reality, the bishop of Rome was not universally recognized as the leader of the Christian church until at least the seventh–and some historians say the eighth–century AD.

8. See for example, Exodus 31:13,17 and Ezekiel 20:12,20.

© 1999,2007 Ellen White Research Project

http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/nsl/egw23.htm

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“National Sunday Law – Fact or Fiction?

Chapter 3

Is the Sabbath the Final Test?”

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“The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The observance of the false sabbath will be urged upon us. The contest will be between the commandments of God and the commandments of men.”1

You have just spent the entire evening with your head buried in your school books studying for your final college exam. You believe you have prepared well. The professor gave you a list of important topics and you have studied them thoroughly. With confidence in your step you walk into class and take your seat. The professor smiles and announces that there will only be one question on the test. You smile to yourself thinking that it will certainly be one of the items the professor passed out last week on the final test study guide. When the exam is placed on your desk your mouth falls open as you stare at the question in utter disbelief. The question is not one of the questions on the study guide. In fact, the question asks you to write a five-page dissertation on a topic that was not even presented in class! As the anger and frustration build inside of you, you find yourself asking,

“What kind of a foolish teacher would test his students on a subject that he never stressed the importance of nor even discussed in the classroom?”

That is a fair question, is it not? After all, we expect the teacher cover the most important subjects in class, and we have every right to expect those same subjects to be part of the final test. If any teacher did what the teacher in the above illustration did, we would be outraged. It goes against every sense of human fairness and decency. We would consider it an offense, a sly trick, a sign of total incompetence. We would have every right to bring this behavior to the school board and ask for the teacher to be reprimanded. “

“Now consider Jesus. He is the greatest Teacher this world has ever known. There has never been a better teacher. Nor will there ever be another as good as Him. He was simply the best. He knew exactly how to prepare His students for the tests they would face in life. If Jesus and the Apostles understood that the Sabbath was going to be the great “final test” that will come to every soul, then surely they would have spent an appropriate amount of time teaching this to their followers. Surely they would have stressed the importance of Sabbath-keeping to their followers and warned them of the terrible dangers of worshipping on Sunday. If they failed in doing this, then we would consider them to be incompetent teachers. “

“Jesus an Incompetent Teacher?

Was Jesus an incompetent teacher? Did He somehow fail to get the point across about the Sabbath, leaving subsequent generations in mystery about the overwhelming significance of the Sabbath? The truth is that Jesus and the New Testament authors rarely mentioned the Sabbath, and the few times they did so, they left the impression that the day of worship was not to be a point of contention between believers. “

“One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth [it] unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [it].”2

“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.”3 “

“Instead of focusing on the Sabbath, Jesus and the Apostles focused on the grand Christian themes of salvation, faith, self-sacrificing love, forgiveness, and eternal life. Why would Jesus and the Apostles focus so much attention on these themes if the Sabbath was to be the great deciding factor that would determine who was a true Christian and who was a false Christian? Why did they ignore the topic of the Sabbath instead of preparing us for the great final battle over what day to worship on? “

 

“According to prophetess Ellen White, the Sabbath is the great final test of mankind: “

“The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not.”4

Contrast this with the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles who never describes the Sabbath as a “final test” of any kind. Jesus is very explicit as to what the “final test” is. In fact, in one of His greatest sermons to His disciples he explains precisely what the “final test” will be when He returns to earth the second time. Here it is in the Adventist-authored Clear Word Bible

“Everyone on earth will be gathered before Him, and He will separate whose who are genuinely His from those who are not, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats during shearing time. He will call the sheep to His right and the goats to His left. Then He will say to those on His right, “You are God’s children because you are so much like Him. Come! It’s time for you to receive you inheritance. You have cared about others, which shows that you care about me. When others were thirsty, you gave them water. When they were hungry, you gave them food, and when they were without a place to live, you took them in. When they had nothing suitable to wear, you gave them clothes. When they were sick, you visited and comforted them, and when they were in jail, you didn’t forget them.”5

Did Jesus say, “You are God’s children because you went to church on Saturday and criticized those who went to church on Sunday?” No! The Sabbath has never been a test for gentile Christians and it never will be. The final test will be whether or not a person has the unselfish and loving character of Jesus Christ.

One could argue that the individual who most craves for the Sabbath to be the “final test” is actually Satan himself. Satan has always been portrayed in the Bible as one who seeks ways to distract Christians from the true gospel. For thousands of years he has been seeking to turn our attention to bickering over what legalistic requirements must be met in order to be saved. If he can get Christians arguing over legalism, moral laws, health laws, days and times, and other trivial requirements, then he can divert their eyes from the main theme of Christianity, which is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Satan’s strategy is to get Christians to focus on what legal requirements they must do in order to be saved rather than focusing on Christ’s finished work of atonement. If Satan can make the Sabbath the “final test” then he has succeeded in substituting a legal requirement for the true final test, which is to be born again, receiving the self-sacrificing character of the Lamb of God. “

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NOTES

1. Ellen White, Prophets and Kings, p. 188.

2. Romans 14:5,6

3. Colossians 2:16,17.

4. Ellen White, Great Controversy, p. 605 (1911).

5. Matthew 25:32-36 as found in the Clear Word Bible.

© 1999, 2007 Ellen White Research Project

http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/nsl/egw22b.htm

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National Sunday Law – Fact or Fiction?

Chapter 4

What are the Odds of a National Sunday Law?

“The world of the 21st century is far different than the world of the late 1800s. The demographics in the nation that is said to play the center stage in this drama–the United States–have shifted dramatically in the last 120 years. In the late 1880s the United States was a nation of church-going Protestants. Not so today. The nation is much more diverse today. About one-fourth of the population is now Roman Catholic. There are also now other religions with significant memberships in the United States. Let us consider some of these other religions and the power and influence the wield. “

“The Jews”

 

“The most significant example of the changing demographics of the United States is the Jews. Over the last century many Jews have immigrated to the United States. There are now about seven million Jews in the United States. Many of these either keep the Sabbath themselves or are sympathetic with those who observe the Sabbath. Any Sunday law would have to be passed over the objections of these seven million Jews. That is highly unlikely. The Jewish community has never been more influential in the United States’ legal and political systems than it is today. In 2000, the first ever Jew–a Sabbath-keeping Senator from Connecticut named Joseph Lieberman–was nominated as a vice-presidential candidate and was narrowly defeated in the United States electoral college despite winning a majority of the popular vote. The U.S. media, legal system and the general power structure in Washington, D.C., are all inordinately influenced by Sabbath-keeping Jews. Many Jews hold key positions of power in high government positions where they can influence the American way of life. There are prominent Jews who hold substantial financial empires giving them wide influence in American society. To imagine the Jews would allow any type of law mandating Sunday observance to even advance to the serious consideration stage is utterly ludicrous. “

“The Muslims”

 

“The next significant minority to consider is the Muslim community. Islam is the fastest growing religion and the second largest religion in the world, with over 2 billion adherants. This rapidly growing religion now claims more than seven million adherents in the United States. The weekly holy day of Islam is Friday. This large community of believers would be outraged should Christians attempt to force them to observe Sunday as a day of worship. There is no doubt they would use their growing political muscle and any other means at their disposal to block such an attempt. “

“Secularism

The next large community to consider is the secular community. Unlike the 1880s when this community was small, today there are approximately thirty million members in this community. This includes agnostics, secular humanists, and well over a million atheists. Over the last forty years this group has been very successful in removing religion from the public arena. They have succeeded in removing the Ten Commandments and prayer from public schools. They have won success after success against the opposition of Christian groups. The Christians have been on the run from this group for decades. It is preposterous to suppose that this huge, highly educated, and politically powerful group of secularists is going to allow Christians one inch of ground in returning religion into public life. You can be sure this group will oppose any religious legislation, and it is probable they will have the same success against Sunday laws that they have had against every other religious institution in the United States during the past decades. “

“The Homosexuals

Another group that has to be considered is the homosexual community. These people, who potentially number ten to twenty million, belong to a variety of religions, including secularism. Because of the resistance of Evangelical Christianity to homosexuality, this community is strongly opposed to Catholics and Evangelicals–the two groups that would be most likely to favor a Sunday law. Homosexuals have tremendous political influence in the United States. Again, it is very likely that any proposed Sunday legislation would be opposed by this group. “

“Sabbath Keepers”

 

“Another increasingly powerful group is the Sabbath-keeping community itself. Sabbath-keeping has become an increasingly popular practice in the United States and through-out the world. This is shown by the Seventh-day Adventist church’s rising political influence and its rising world membership–over fourteen million members worldwide in 2006. Seventh-day Adventists themselves, far from being a poor, impotent minority susceptible to the tyranny of the “power structure,” have for some time now been a part of that very power structure. Adventists comprise a relatively affluent, well-positioned, politically conservative and widely accepted segment of American society. In all ways other than their quirky beliefs, they are virtually indistinguishable from the great mass of well-off, materialistic, middle-to-upper-middle-class Americans. Unlike the 1800s, when Adventists were an isolated group with bitter animosity existing between them and other Christian churches, Adventists today are more accepted than ever. The Adventist church has softened some of its harsher, legalistic teachings, and the Christian community has become more accepting of them, even to the point of dropping the “cult” label that was so widely used in reference to Adventists in the mid-1900s. “

 

“There have never been more citizens of the United States worshipping on Saturday than there are today. There are reportedly over 300 different religious organizations which worship on Saturday, including Adventists, various churches of God, Seventh Day Baptists, Messianic Jews, and a host of others. Some of these groups have experienced near record rates of growth over this last century. Sabbatarianism has never been more popular and more accepted than it is today. There is no doubt that any Sunday legislation would be bitterly opposed by these groups. “

:Eastern Religions”

“Another large group that would likely oppose Sunday legislation includes eastern religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Followers of these religions now number in the millions in the United States. These religions have absolutely nothing to gain by legislation enforcing Christian Sunday observance, and there is little doubt they would oppose it. “

“New Agers”

“There are a plethora of New Age, pagan, Native American, and tribal religions in the United States. Their adherents now number in the millions. These religions are experiencing a tremendous resurgence in recent years. For example, the Wiccan Church (witchcraft) is now the fastest growing church in the United States. These groups have no interest in any laws enforcing a Christian day of worship and would almost assuredly fight against it. “

“Other Christian Groups”

“In addition to all of these groups, there are a number of Christian churches which would be very unlikely to support any legislation enforcing religious observances. The Church of Jesus Christ of LatterDay Saints (Mormons), with a U.S. membership near six million, shares many similarities with the Adventist movement and would be unlikely to support such laws. Likewise, the Jehovah’s Witness, with over a million members, would also be unlikely to support it. The Baha’I Faith would probably not support it. Neither would some Baptist groups which have a centuries-old tradition of championing religious liberty and the separation of church and state. Neither would the two million members of the Church of Christ. It is a fundamental doctrine of this church, maintained for many years, that neither Sunday nor Sabbath should be considered a holy day of worship. It is impossible to believe these 2 million members would support any type of Sunday legislation. They teach that no part of the Old Testament law is binding upon Christians. On the liberal side of the religious spectrum, the post-Christian Unitarian church would also be unlikely to push for laws enforcing religious observances. “

“Is there anyone left to push for Sunday laws?”

“So what are we left with? We are left with the mainstream Catholic and Protestant churches which have shown very little interest in pursuing Sunday legislation in the past 100 years. The legislation that these groups have pursued, such as returning prayer to public schools and banning abortion, have been repeatedly thwarted over the years. Various political action groups have arisen over the years, such as the “Moral Majority” and the “Christian Coalition,” but have met with only limited success. “

“While keeping the Sabbath has been made into a gargantuan issue by Seventh-day Adventists, to non-Sabbatarians it is no issue at all. It is a meaningless, non-issue, and they give the whole subject no more attention than did Jesus Himself. Non-Adventists are certainly not threatened by Sabbath-keeping. If anything, they look upon Sabbatarians with pity–as being ignorant, spiritually blinded, self-deluded legalists. They do not see them as posing any threat whatsoever to themselves or to their belief systems. Therefore, it is certainly doubtful that even Evangelical Christians would make any effort at all to enforce their beliefs on Sabbatarians. “

“Native Americans successfully resist U.S. Government”

Just to show how little political power is needed to resist governmental legislation in the United States, consider the tiny group of Native American Indians who smoke peyote, an illegal drug, in their religious services. The United States was unable to ban the use of an illegal drug by this tiny Native American religious group. If they could not even stop the use of illegal drugs in a religion, how are they possibly going to force a hundred million non-Sunday-keepers to worship on Sunday? Think about it.

”

“A Universal Sunday Law? Is it possible?”

What about the rest of the world? Christians account for less than one third of the global population. Who is going to enforce Sunday worship on the two billion Friday-worshipping Moslems? What about the two billion Hindus, Buddhists, and other eastern religions? Who is going to make them start observing Sunday? What about the hundreds of millions of people who are secularists, agnostics, and atheists? Who is going to make them worship anything at all? Are we supposed to believe that the United States is strong enough to not only force its own people to worship on Sunday, but also force the entire world to do likewise? We have seen the great difficulty the United States had in trying to maintain order in the tiny nation of Iraq in 2005-2007. If the United States cannot even maintain order in this one small nation, then how is it going to take on the whole world? “

“Communist China, a rising super-power with its rapidly expanding nuclear missile capabilities and the largest military machine on the planet, replete with high-tech hardware from the former Soviet Union, is not going to let the United States decide what day its people worship on. Hindu India, Muslim Pakistan, and Jewish Israel all have nuclear weapons. The United States cannot dictate anything to these nations. Let us face the facts. There is simply no possibility the United States can force the whole world to worship on Sunday and kill Sabbath-keepers. “

“A far-fetched end-time scenario”

In order to extricate themselves from this predicament Seventh-day Adventists have invented a far-fetched end-time scenario which is not even remotely found anywhere in the Bible. According to Adventists, Satan is going to masquerade as Jesus, in order to convince the world to pass Sunday laws. Satan is going to appear as Jesus in certain places of the earth and somehow convince the entire world to start worshipping on Sunday and kill those keeping the Sabbath. “

“Stop for a moment and consider how ludicrous this truly is. We ask, what Christian is going to believe a Christ who wants to kill people for going to church on Saturday? Christ Himself said, “

“For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9:56)

Who is going to believe a Christ that directly contradicts the words He spoke in the Bible? Christ would not even allow Peter to use his sword in self defense! Can you imagine Christ ordering people to be murdered for worshipping Him on the Sabbath? We ask, What Christian is going to be foolish enough to believe a Christ who wants to kill people for no better reason than that they go to church on a Saturday? The Bible clearly says Satan is a murderer (see John 8:44). Who is going to believe a Christ that wants to murder certain Christians? One would have to look far and wide to find a single Christian that is asinine enough to believe Christ is a murderer! If Satan made an appearance touting a “kill the Sabbath-keepers” plan, and tried to foist such an incredibly absurd ploy upon the world, the entire world would probably rise up against him and crucify him!

Why would Satan attempt something so self-defeating as passing a Sunday law? He is doing just fine now! The world is rapidly moving into a post-Christian era. Some claim that Australia and Europe have already entered a post-Christian era and the United States is not far behind. Pagan, New Age, and occultic religions are experiencing a tremendous surge in popularity. Secularism, materialism, and sensualism are eating out the heart of Christianity. Why are Adventists looking into the future for persecution? Christians are already suffering record numbers of persecutions through-out the world. With all the success he is currently enjoying, persecuting Christians and leading people away from Christianity, why would Satan want to establish laws enforcing a traditional Christian practice upon the world? If he did so, he would be turning people’s attention back towards Christianity, forcing people to spend time contemplating God. He would be fighting his own best interests!”

http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/nsl/egw22c.htm

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“National Sunday Law – Fact or Fiction?”

“Chapter 5”

“Is the National Sunday law a real threat?”

“In 1998 a number of worried Seventh-day Adventists sent me e-mails. The Vatican had recently released an apostolic letter the Pope had written entitled “Dies Domini.” In this letter Pope John Paul II extols the virtues of Sunday-keeping to his followers. Some Adventists conjectured that this might be the long-awaited beginning of the National Sunday Law. I read the Pope’s letter and found nothing to warrant any concern about forthcoming Sunday legislation. The Pope briefly stressed the necessity of Catholics ensuring that governmental legislation respects their freedom to worship on Sunday: “

“Therefore, also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy.”1

Of course, Seventh-day Adventist leaders often encourage their members to do the exact same thing–supporting legislation that guarantees their freedom to worship on the Sabbath. “

“Even though there was nothing in the letter to cause concern, for a while their was some excitement among Adventists. Perhaps their prophet’s words were finally coming true. But alas, nothing happened and the excitement gradually fizzled out. It began to appear as if the Adventists, desperate for any validation of their National Sunday Law theory, were grasping onto any mention of Sunday by a Christian leader as an indication of the long-awaited Sunday laws. “

“While Adventists are fretting over a National Sunday Law, their Christian brothers and sisters seem to have no interest whatsoever in forcing Sabbath-keepers to worship on Sunday. It is true that there are some Christians who would like laws that would give them freedom to worship on Sunday without being forced to go to work. However, to imagine that Sunday-keeping Christians want to force others to observe Sunday as a religious day is preposterous. “

“The most avid group promoting Sunday observance in the United States is the “Lord’s Day Alliance.” Recently the leader of that organization was asked if he intended to enforce Sunday observance upon Sabbath-keepers. Here is his response:”

“I believe in the volunteer way of worship and I do not believe that there should ever be a state church and therefore do not propound any kind of a civil religion.

I appreciate the freedom we have in our country and as I told you, I will do everything I can to help maintain that freedom, which includes freedom of worship. It is also completely foreign to me…to be involved in any kind of persecution with anyone who disagreed with me on any subject including the day of worship. …we believe that the best way for people to worship as they should, is to worship as they are led without any legislation forcing that worship or that day of rest.2 “

“This is a typical response from Christian leaders. They have no interest in enforcing Sunday observance on Sabbath-keepers. Below is an example of how one typical Christian church views the subject of enforcing religious laws on others: “

“Individual Soul Liberty”

Every individual, whether a believer or an unbeliever, has the liberty to choose what he believes is right in the religious realm. No one should be forced to assent to any belief against his will. Baptists have always opposed religious persecution.3

Most Christians agree with what the apostle Paul said:

“One man esteemeth one day above another; another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.”4

Most Christians would agree with Paul that the day of worship should be a matter of personal conscience and should never be an issue to divide believers. Most Sunday-keeping Christians would probably be shocked and outraged if they were told that Adventists teach that Sunday-keepers are going to be involved in persecuting Sabbath-keepers. Most Sunday-keeping Christians would be appalled at any such action and would fight against any legislation that would infringe upon the religious freedoms of other Christians.

The truth is that the Seventh-day Adventists have never produced any substantial evidence that Christian leaders intend to enforce Sunday observance on Sabbatarian Christians. On the contrary, there is significant evidence that Congress has no intention of passing any Sunday laws any time in the foreseeable future. For example, notice what the former United States House majority leader, Dick Armey wrote: “

“I have not heard of any legislation in Congress which would establish a national blue law setting aside sunday as a national day of worship.”5

The only evidence Adventists have is the behavior of the Catholic church in the past. Their theory is that the Catholic church will once again regain supremacy in the world and will re-institute the inquisition and other religious persecutions of the past. “

“After spending centuries apologizing for past errors it is difficult imagining the Catholic church re-instituting the very institutions it now admits were wrong. It is also difficult imagining the world community sitting idly by and letting the Vatican murder all the Sabbath-keepers in the world. What would Catholicism possibly hope to gain by killing all the Sabbath-keepers in the world? If they ever were to attempt such an outrageous act, they would be regarded as worse than Hitler, whom the entire world loathes. Would that be a wise thing for the Catholic church to do? Would that make them popular? Far from it! If they ever attempted such an act the whole world would probably rise up against them just as it rose up and destroyed Hitler. “

“All the speculative talk of Catholicism regaining control of the world is amusing. For centuries the Catholic church has been on a steady decline of power. The church is losing ground in many places throughout the world. Pentecostal and other Protestant churches, including Seventh-day Adventists, have made tremendous progress in winning converts in the once Catholic strongholds of Central and South America. If the conversions continue at present rates, the Catholic church will soon become a minority in a number of these countries. In Europe the people are, for the most part, living in a secular, post-Christian world. Christianity in general and the Catholic church in particular no longer have any relevance for many Europeans. The Catholic church has been struggling financially. It has been having difficulty attracting new priests and nuns. The Catholic church has even gone so far as to meet with its one-time enemies–the Lutheran church–and redefine its teaching on salvation in order make peace with the Lutherans. The Catholic church is also facing difficulties with sexual misconduct of priests, priests who publicly differ from the papal policies, and internal strife on a number of issues, such as the ordination of female priests. Rather than being a super-power poised to take control of the world and enforce Sunday observance upon everyone, Catholicism is a declining church, struggling to survive in a world that no longer grasps its relevance. “

“What about when Catholics and Protestants unite upon an issue? When they stand together do they have the political muscle to enforce their will upon the people of the United States? Not at all. For over 30 years Evangelical Christians and Catholics have unitedly battled to stop the murder of innocent babies in abortion clinics. This is a passionate issue that evokes strong feelings from many Christians. Despite all the strong feelings, despite all the attempts by church leaders to get their flocks involved in the battle, very little has been accomplished. If Catholics and Protestants have united upon the abortion issue for over 30 years and yet have not managed to pass a law stopping it, then how does one expect them to pass a law regarding Sunday observance–an issue that most Catholics and Evangelicals have no interest in? Can you imagine a pastor standing up in his pulpit trying to get his flock motivated to go out and pass laws to kill Sabbath-keepers just because they prefer to worship on Saturday instead of Sunday? That is the height of absurdity! If any pastor got up and said such a thing to his congregation it would probably be the last sermon he ever delivered in that church! “

“The religious groups that are supposed to be so strong and so anxious to persecute Sabbath-keepers are in reality suffering from the same spiritual bankruptcy, malaise, materialism, confusion, corruption and internal divisiveness as the Seventh-day Adventist church is suffering from. The Christian church is no longer making the rules in the United States. The Christian church is struggling just to maintain its position in an increasingly secular and materialistic society. In fact, the church does not even have the power to keep existing Sunday laws (called blue laws) on the books in the United States. According to Joseph Conn, a leader in the organization “Americans United for Separation of Church and State,” new Sunday legislation is now highly unlikely in the United States: “

“I think there is little chance of Sunday legislation in the United States in the immediate future. Here the trend is in the opposite direction. Sunday closing laws are gradually being repealed or struck down by the courts.6

While Ellen White’s end-time Sunday law scenario might have seemed somewhat plausible in the 1880s, it is so implausible today that it borders on absurdity. One would have to search long and hard to find a single Sunday-keeping Christian who wants to use force to get Sabbath-keepers to worship on Sunday. In recent years some Seventh-day Adventists have suggested that the Sunday law movement is taking place covertly. It is happening behind closed doors, under the covers of secrecy. Thus the National Sunday Law has become the ultimate conspiracy theory. Who are these mysterious people who want to enforce Sunday worship upon the world? Where are they? What are their names? What are they possibly gaining by hiding? “

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NOTES:

1. Pope John Paul II, Dies Domini.

2. Jack P. Lowndes, Executive Director, The Lord’s Day Alliance of the United States, in a letter to Azenilto Brito, dated March 5, 1993.

3. Regular Baptist Church, The Baptist Distinctives.

4. Romans 14:5,6.

5. Dick Armey in letter to Paul Lorenz, October 2, 1992. To view a scanned copy of the entire letter, click here.

6. Joseph Conn as quoted in Liberty.

1999,2007 Ellen White Research Project

http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/nsl/egw22d.htm

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“National Sunday Law – Fact or Fiction?”

“Chapter 6”

“Mark of the Beast?”

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“In 1847 Ellen White wrote:”

“I saw that the number (666) of the image beast was made up; and that it was the beast that changed the Sabbath and the image beast followed on after and kept the Pope’s, and not God’s Sabbath. And all we were required to do, was to give up God’s Sabbath and keep the Pope’s and then we should have the mark of the beast and of his image.”1

Fifty years later, in 1897, Adventist pioneer Uriah Smith reiterates the Adventist stance that the Pope’s Sabbath is the mark of the beast:

“This change of the fourth commandment must therefore be the change to which the prophecy points, and the Sunday sabbath must be the mark of the beast!”2

In 1898 Mrs. White wrote:

“John was called to behold a people distinct from those who worship the Beast and his image by keeping the first day of the week. The observance of this day is the mark of the Beast.”3

How does one obtain the mark of the beast? According to Seventh-day Adventists, it is by observance of Sunday. How does one observe Sunday? Mrs. White makes that perfectly clear:

“If the light of truth has been presented to you, revealing the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and showing that there is no foundation in the Word of God for Sunday observance, and yet you still cling to the false sabbath, refusing to keep holy the Sabbath which God calls “My holy day,” you receive the mark of the beast. When does this take place? When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday and worship God, while you know that there is not a word in the Bible showing Sunday to be other than a common working day, you consent to receive the mark of the beast, and refuse the seal of God.”4

Notice carefully that in order to receive the mark of the beast one must:  “Cease from labor on Sunday” and … “

“Worship God” on Sunday “

“In the 1800s a few Seventh-day Adventists managed to get themselves arrested and imprisoned for brief durations for violating laws forbidding work on Sunday. Two of their publishing houses, one in London and one in Basil, Switzerland, were closed for disregarding Sunday laws and laws regulating the hours of female labor. At this time many Adventists regarded ceasing from labor on Sunday as a violation of the 4th Commandment. The reason behind their refusal to cease from work is found in Exodus 20:9, “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work.” They interpreted this to mean they were under a requirement from God to work six days a week. Therefore, they felt it was a violation of God’s commandment and a renunciation of their faith to cease working on Sunday.

There was a rift in the church on this subject. Some in the church questioned the necessity of purposely inciting local authorities by working on Sunday. They proposed that Adventists comply with the local laws forbidding Sunday labor. Finally, a small crisis occurred in Australia in the early 1900s. A law was enacted requiring the closing of certain businesses, including publishing houses, in Melbourne on Sundays. After receiving notice of the law the Adventists continued to operate their publishing facility for three Sundays. Finally, local authorities threatened them with arrest. Adventists were now faced with a decision. Was it worth being arrested to prove their point about working six days a week? Adventist leaders turned to their prophetess who provided a testimony from God to solve the problem:”

“The light given me by the Lord at a time when we were expecting just such a crisis as you seem to be approaching was that when the people were moved by a power from beneath to enforce Sunday observance, Seventh-day Adventists were to show their wisdom by refraining from their ordinary work on that day, devoting it to missionary effort.”

“At one time those in charge of our school at Avondale inquired of me, saying: ‘What shall we do? The officers of the law have been commissioned to arrest those working on Sunday.’ I replied: ‘It will be very easy to avoid that difficulty. Give Sunday to the Lord as a day for doing missionary work. Take the students out to hold meetings in different places, and to do medical missionary work. They will find the people at home and will have a splendid opportunity to present the truth. This way of spending Sunday is always acceptable to the Lord.'”5

“Notice that Mrs. White directs Adventists to keep Sunday the same way all conscientious Sunday observers do! They are instructed to hold religious “meetings” and do “missionary work!” They are to refrain “from their ordinary work on that day.” Furthermore, the prophetess told them that “this way of spending Sunday is always acceptable to the Lord.”

“Ellen White, 1898  Ellen White, 1902  “

“…you receive the mark of the beast… When you obey the decree that commands you to cease from labor on Sunday.”  “Seventh-day Adventists were to show their wisdom by refraining from their ordinary work on that day.”

“…you receive the mark of the beast… When you obey the decree that commands you to…on Sunday…worship God.”  “Give Sunday to the Lord…to hold meetings in different places, and to do medical missionary work.”

“It appears that the threat of arrest was enough to convert the Adventist prophetess to Sunday observance! In 1902 she said that holding religious meetings, refraining from ordinary work, and doing missionary work is an acceptable way for Adventists to spend Sunday. Therefore, it must also be acceptable for Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, and other Christians to do the same. How could Sunday-keeping Christians receive the mark of the beast for observing Sunday when God’s prophet said that this type of Sunday observance is “acceptable to the Lord?” If Sunday-keeping Christians receive the Mark of the Beast for spending Sunday in religious meetings and doing missionary work, it logically follows that Adventists will also receive the mark of the beast for doing the same! “

“If Adventists follow the counsel of their prophet, how will they ever possibly be persecuted for violating the Sunday law? What reason could Sunday-keepers possibly conceive to persecute and kill people who are holding religious meetings and doing missionary work on Sunday? Since Adventists will be holding religious meetings and doing missionary work on Sunday it will be impossible to distinguish them from Sunday worshippers! Therefore, it will be impossible to arrest them and impossible to prosecute them. “

“Why should Adventists fear persecution from a future Sunday law? They have already been given instructions that will prevent them from ever being persecuted for working on Sunday. This testimony invalidates the entire Great Controversy scenario of Sabbath-keepers being persecuted for not worshipping on Sunday. If a Sunday law is ever passed, Adventists will not be hiding in the woods or mountains. They will be holding religious meetings on Sunday and doing missionary work. The authorities will see that the Adventists are doing the exact same thing the Baptists next door are doing. Therefore, there will be no arrests and no persecution. It will be a non-event. “

“Do you remember the story of the three Hebrews who refused to bow down to the image in Daniel 3? Have you ever wondered what happened to all the tens of thousands of other Hebrews? Why weren’t they standing up? There were probably plenty of Hebrews on the plain of Dura that morning that acted the same way the Adventists did in Australia. They compromised. The book of Daniel does not mention those Hebrews because they are not worth mentioning. Only those who have the determination to stand up for what they believe–even at the risk of their lives–are worth mentioning. True Christians do not try and see how close they can appear to non-Christians so that they can avoid detection. True Christians stand for what they believe. Ellen White and her associates backed down on the Sunday law issue when they agreed it was not an issue worth getting arrested over. There are only two possible reasons for this: “

“Either Sunday laws are not the mark of the beast.   OR”

“The church’s prophet and its leaders compromised their values.   Which was it? “

NOTES:

1. Ellen G. White, A Word to the Little Flock, p. 19 (1847).

2. Uriah Smith, Daniel and the Revelation, p. 606, 1897 edition.

3. Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, page 133.

4. Ellen G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 980.

5. Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 9 pp. 232, 238. The testimony was written in 1902 to Elder Irwin who was in Australia at that time (see Report of Progress, December 3, 1907).

1999,2007 Ellen White Research Project

http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/nsl/egw22e.htm

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“National Sunday Law – Fact or Fiction?”

“Chapter 7”

“Does it Really Matter?”

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“After reading the previous six chapters are you beginning to get a sense of just how absurd, impossible, illogical, and ridiculous this whole Sunday law scenario is? Following are seven solid reasons to reject this teaching: “

“1. It originated from a biased source

Do you believe everything a smiling salesman tells you? Of course not! Why? Common sense tells you to be wary in believing something a person is telling you if you know that person holds a personal bias regarding that subject. “

“Consider Joseph Bates. Besides being an inept Bible scholar, Bates had a powerful personal bias against mainstream Protestant churches. After the bitter disappointment of 1844, this retired sea captain was searching for some way to condemn the Christian denominations and prop up his own prophetic theory that the door of salvation was shut. His strong personal bias against the Protestant churches is evidenced in his writing. Should it be any surprise to us that he opened his Bible and “discovered” that Sunday-keeping was the Mark of the Beast? Was this man really a true Bible scholar? Or was he twisting Bible verses out-of-context to prove his own personal prejudices? “

“2. The story keeps changing

Do you trust someone who keeps changing their story? When the National Sunday Law teaching was first proposed by Ellen White, the Adventists did not think that Christians needed any special prompting to pass the Sunday law. When Christians failed to enact a law as planned in the late 1800s, the story began to change. It was then proposed that a crisis would occur, and the law would be passed amidst a “stupendous crisis.” When even this appeared unlikely, the story changed once again. Now it was proposed that Satan himself would masquerade as Jesus in order to convince world leaders they needed to kill people who go to church on Saturday. “

“3. Sunday-keepers have little interest in the issue

There is very little interest in establishing Sunday laws even amongst the most ardent Sunday-keepers. In fact, most existing Sunday laws are being repealed. To most Sunday-keepers, the Sabbath-Sunday issue is irrelevant. There is no evidence that Sunday-keeping Christians have the least inclination to persecute Sabbath-keepers over their day of worship. Most Christians would be appalled at the very thought of persecuting another Christian to death over a doctrinal issue. “

 

 

“4. Sunday-keepers do not have the political power to pass a Sunday law

The landscape of the United States has changed to the extent that it would be virtually impossible to pass a Sunday law over the objections of Jews, Muslims, secularists, homosexuals, and Sabbath-keeping Christians. Sunday-keeping Christians have neither the political power nor the will to pass a Sunday law. “

 

 

“5. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles ever said it was a “test”

Adventists insist it will be a “final test” even though it is impossible to believe Jesus and the Apostles would be silent on such a profound issue. If the final climatic battle between good and evil, the war to end all wars, is to be fought over the Sabbath, then why did Jesus and the Apostles ignore the issue entirely? The day of worship is said to be so significant that it determines who has the Mark of the Beast and who has the Seal of God, even though Paul said that what day a person worships on should never be an issue to separate believers (see Rom. 14). “

“6. Their own prophet says its okay to worship on Sunday!

Adventists say they are going to be put to death for not worshipping on Sunday even though their prophet said God was “pleased” if they held religious meetings and performed missionary work on Sunday. If God is pleased by such activity, then why do Baptists and Methodists receive the Mark of the Beast for holding religious meetings and doing missionary work on Sunday? If both Adventists and non-Adventists are holding religious meetings and doing missionary work on Sunday, how are authorities going to be able to determine who is breaking the National Sunday law? “

“7. It is economically impossible

Imagine the chaos that would result from such a law. Businesses and factories would have to be shut down on Sunday. The United States would suffer irreparable economic harm. The reduction in work hours would probably drive many businesses to move overseas. Imagine a U.S. police force that can barely keep up with chasing real criminals, trying to cope with forcing the 100 million people who do not worship on Sunday to start worshipping on Sunday! Imagine a U.S. prison system, that is already filled to the brim, trying to handle millions upon millions of new prisoners. Imagine the terrible economic impact of taking millions of hard-working individuals out of the work-force, putting them in prison, where they must be clothed and fed by tax-payers. The economic and social impact of this scenario would probably bankrupt the United States, both financially and morally. “

“Is this teaching dangerous?

After considering all of the evidence presented, some might say that while it is true that a Sunday law appears extremely unlikely, what is the danger of believing such a teaching? What harm could possibly come from it? The truth is that it is always harmful to believe a falsehood about Bible prophecy. Adventists, of all the people on the earth, should be able to understand how dangerous it is! Look what happened in 1844! Perhaps as many as 50,000 people were deluded by a fanatical leader to believe that Christ was returning in 1844. That delusion led to financial ruin, destruction of families, bitter disappointment, and in a few instances, even suicide. Is it dangerous to believe a false teaching? Was it dangerous for the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas, to believe the misguided teachings of leader David Koresh? “

“Teachings such as the National Sunday law are deceptive. They take the focus off of the real issues of Christianity, and the real persecutions that are taking place around the world. Instead, they focus the attention on future events that are unlikely to ever take place. While other Christians are following Christ’s command to take the gospel into all the world, some Adventists spend all their time and effort trying to convince other Christians that a Sunday law is going to be passed and they need to start keeping the Sabbath in order to be one of the remnant that is saved when Christ returns. One Adventist pastor spends his time traveling around the world, visiting Adventist churches in order to warn people about the coming Sunday laws. This type of activity is not only a waste of time and effort, but it is also direct disobedience to Christ who commanded Christians to take the “good news” of salvation–not the “bad news” of fear–into all the world. “

“Teachings such as the National Sunday law are dangerous. Since Adventists know that a Sunday law will be passed before Jesus returns, there is always the danger that some will delay preparing their hearts for Christ’s return because they think to themselves, “Well, the Sunday law is still years away, so I do not have to worry yet about getting my life in harmony with God’s pattern right now.” Humans have a tendency to procrastinate. Adventists are being lulled to sleep by a false sense of security. While they are putting Christ’s return years into the future after a National Sunday Law is passed by Congress, Christ may decide to return far sooner than they expected. “

 

“Teachings such as the National Sunday law are divisive. Rather than promote love and understanding between those of different faiths, these teachings create fear and suspicion. How can an Adventist have fellowship with a Sunday-keeper whom they suspect is secretly planning to pass laws to torture and kill them? “

“The National Sunday Law serves only one purpose. It generates fear. No cult can survive long without fear. The time has come for Adventists to face the facts and admit that a National Sunday Law is no longer feasible or even meaningful. It is time for them to turn away from this unscriptural teaching and turn away from fear. It is time for Adventists to stop using fear tactics to persuade people to join their church. Many people become Sabbath-keepers for reasons other than fear. Giving up the Sunday law teaching does not mean Adventists must give up their Sabbath or any of their other distinctive teachings. It simply means that they are willing to take a second look at Bible prophecy and admit that perhaps the future may not unfold in the exact manner that their pioneers had predicted. It is time for Adventists to stop preaching fear and join wholeheartedly with their Sunday-keeping brothers and sisters in fulfilling Christ’s great commission to take the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ into all the world. “

1999,2007 Ellen White Research Project

http://www.ellenwhiteexposed.com/nsl/egw22f.htm

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“Refuting The National Sunday Law By A. Jan Marcussen”

“A review of “National Sunday Law” By A. Jan Marcussen”

“INTRODUCTION:”

“Jan Marcussen, Mark Finley and other SDA teachers twist God’s word as I will show below, in order to force the prophecies of E.G. White to appear true. She has created much division within the body of Christ with her false prophecy that there will one day be a law forcing you to worship Jesus on Sunday (National Sunday Law)! I have received several letters from SDA’s who believe that the Christian church will persecute the SDA’s and kill them for worshipping on Saturday, making (in their deceived minds) their Christian brothers and sisters into their persecutors! Here is a quote in a letter sent to me from one of these misdirected brothers in the SDA church: “

“Tell me something, Are you determined to prepair the way for satan”s big deception? Because if you are then get ready burn!!!!!!!!! I will be praying for you and God gives you a change of heart like he did Paul for persecuting christians.”

“Satan’s big deception” he is referring to, is the “National Sunday Law” and the persecution of the SDA’s by their Christian brothers who worship Jesus on Sunday! Never once do these SDA’s consider the fact that Satan has already deceived them by causing them to divide and separate themselves from the rest of Christ’s body, which is what Paul charges the Corinthian church in chapters 1-3! Jesus said: A house divided cannot stand! The truth is, the Christian church will be persecuted for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ, NOT whether or not you keep Saturday Sabbath! The proof is seen in atheistic Communist countries, where Christians of every denomination who professed Christ, were persecuted and put to death! Our enemy, the ones who want us dead, are the Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and atheistic zealots to name a few! Not the saints that worship Jesus Christ on another day of the week! “

“While the mentality of the SDA member is being programmed to see their Christian brothers as their persecutors and executors, they haven’t noticed who is terrorizing the Christians as prophesied! Anyone who would turn on the evening News could figure this out quickly! Have you seen any news of the “National Sunday Law”? None! On the contrary, anything that represents “God” or “Jesus” is being removed from America, which is becoming a godless, heathen nation! Can you imagine the Muslims, Hindu’s, Buddhists and atheists being forced to worship “Jesus” on Sunday? Wake up and smell the coffee! Do you really believe the Evangelical Christian church’s are going raise up an army to kill the unsaved, heathen nations in order to force them to worship Jesus on Sunday? “

“Pastor Beaten by Radicals While Police Watch”

“Brought to you by The Voice of Martyrs “

“Pastor M. Aharon”

“While distributing Christian literature, Pastor M. Aharon, was mercilessly assaulted by a group of militant Hindus. He was assaulted for converting Hindus and Muslims to Christianity. His face was covered with blood from heavy blows to his mouth and nose. He survived the brutal attack at the hands of Hindu radicals in the town of Nizamabad, Andhra Pradesh, located about 300 miles east of Bombay in central India.”

“During this violent incident, a mob of over 100 Hindu radicals cheered and yelled in support of the attack on Pastor Aharon, inciting the rest of the crowd to turn against him. Police stood by as the extensive attack was being carried out, and the constables even prevented the pastor from escaping. Only after Aharon could barely hold himself up did police begin to escort him from the tumultuous scene. They carried out their attack plan as a secret mission to keep other pastors from spreading the gospel in India.”

“Pastor Aharon, who has led 700 Hindus and Muslims to Christ and has established 12 churches in this community, has outraged radical Hindus and Muslims. When a VOM contact asked Pastor Aharon what was going through his mind during the attack, he said, “I remembered Christ and many others persecuted for their faith in the last twenty centuries.”

“May I wake you up to the truth?! What we DO see in the evening news each night, is the terror of the Muslims that are killing anything that represents Christ or the God of the Jews! In other news, which we do not hear on the evening news, you will read of the persecution of the saints in foreign countries by the Hindu’s, Buddhist’s and other idol worshipping sects! You can read more at “Voice of the Martyrs” web page to see what the Christian brothers and sisters are enduring for the sake of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ regardless of which day of the week they worship Him! “

“Origins of the National Sunday Law.”

“This sign on East Ridge, put up by the SDA Church, is one of several billboards with this message around Chattanooga, TN! Can you imagine every Muslim being “forced” to worship Jesus on Sunday?”

“An interesting note about the above billboard; the Lord’s Day is NOT the Sabbath Day (see this link for a complete study)!  Although the Jewish Sabbath is Saturday, The Lord’s Day is Sunday, (the 8th day) the day of Christ’s Resurrection, and has always been Sunday! Here is a quote from one of the earlist church fathers, Ignatius:”

“….no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him…  let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for “he that does not work, let him not eat.” For say the [holy] oracles, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.” But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the   Lord’s Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]. Looking forward to this, the prophet declared, “To the end, for the eighth day,” on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ,     (Ignatius, A.D. 30-107, 2nd Bishop of Antioch and personal disciple of the Apostles)”

“SDA DOCTRINE IS BUILT UPON SAND!”

“Is Sunday worship “The Mark of the Beast” as 7th Day Adventists teach? Can you imagine this? The SDA teachers say “If you worship the Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday, you will be thrown in the Lake of Fire!” I suppose that SDA’s might want to forbid anyone to worship on any other day of the week also. By definition, the SDA’s teach that God has determined our salvation by which day of the week we worship HIM! Anyone who loves Jesus can see through this deception! Are we ONLY to worship the Lord on Saturday? According to the SDA’s, if you worship the Lord on Sunday, your condemned to hell as a lawbreaker for taking the Mark of the Beast, since anyone who takes the Mark of the Beast will be cast into the Lake of Fire!”

“Rev. 14:11      And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. “

“Please note that Sunday worship is NOT mentioned in this scripture!”

“For a cult to build a false doctrine, it is necessary to build a foundation first. Without the foundation being established, they cannot proceed to build the rest of the house. The foundation then, supports the walls and roof of the house. Although the house may look structurally sound on top, if the foundation is on sand “it will fall!” In order to build their house, they will spend a tremendous amount of effort to establish their foundational basics for the student of their error.”

“They try to convince you that the bag of “flour” is “cement”! The “peanuts”, they will try to convince you, are “stones”! And so on! So you lay your foundation with “flour mixed with peanuts” and then you build your house upon this fragile and worthless floor! “

“This is exactly what we find in A. Jan Marcussen’s book “National Sunday Law.” In chapters 3,4 and 5, he repeats “Stop! If you haven’t read chapter 2, “The Beast Identified,” Don’t read this chapter.”    Why does he tell you not to read the other chapters without reading chapter 2 first? Because it is important for Jan to first build his foundational precepts in order for the rest of the theory to work! It is vitally important that Jan is able to convince you that the Catholic Church is the Beast so that he can further convince you that the “Mark of the Beast” is Sunday worship!”

“In this study, I will focus on Chapter 2, the foundation of his theory!”

“It might help to study the following web page that explains the Origins of the Romans Catholic Church for a true understanding of the date of its historical birth! The quotes of the early church fathers I have shown on these web pages (such as the one below the photo shown above),  pre-exist the Roman Catholic Church era!”

 

“Defining the word “MARK”

 

“G5480    charagma    Thayer Definition:”

“1) a stamp, an imprinted mark”

 

“1a) of the mark stamped on the forehead or the right hand as the badge of the followers of the Antichrist”

 

“1b) the mark branded upon horses”

 

“2) thing carved, sculpture, graven work”

 

“2a) of idolatrous images”

 

“BY definition, the word “MARK” which will be received by which those who worship the Beast, is a physical mark of identification which will be “stamped, branded, carved or sculptured” upon the persons hand or forhead! The “Mark” must be visable so that the person that is “Marked” cannot buy or sell without it! The SDA teachers twist the definition and apply it to a day of worship, which cannot be branded on a hand or forhead, which is NOT what the scriptures say! “

“THE BEAST CANNOT BE THE WHORE TOO!”

“Although Jan has a lot of good history information about the kingdoms of the book of Daniel, his problem begins when he tries to force its definitions in order to structurally attack the Catholic Church as being the Beast AND also as the Harlot of the book of Revelation.”

“He has never once, in his assumptions and presumptions and formulations ever considered that the Beast and the Harlot CANNOT be the same entity!”

“Rev. 17:16-18

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. [17] For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. [18] And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. “

“This verse alone is enough to pull out an important structural beam that will cause this house to fall since it is the “Mark of the Beast” that is Jan’s Roof, which he claims is Sunday Worship! Without this support, the Sunday Worship Law and the entire doctrine folds up and collapses. The Mark of the Beast, in Rev. chapter 13, is identified as a physical mark given to those who will worship an idol made in the image of the beast, like the statue of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 3, NOWHERE does Rev. 13 point to a “spiritual mark” and nowhere does it speak of Sunday worship!”

“In regards to the Beast and the whore in Rev. 17:16-18, the 10 kingdoms will surrender their kingdoms to the will of the beast and these together will destroy the Whore! Now the Whore could be the Catholic church, but for Jan Marcussen’s theory to work, his WHOLE foundation must remain structurally sound, otherwise the house of his theory will fall with a great crash! Chapter 2 of Jan’s book defines the Beast as the Catholic church. Yet the Beast will destroy the Whore! “

“The key point Jan wants to attack, is that if he can convince you that the Catholic church is the Beast, then the Beast changed “times and laws” (Dan. 7:25), and the law that was changed is the 4th Commandment and therefore, in conclusion, Sunday Worship is the “Mark of the Beast”.  But if the Catholic church is NOT the Beast, then the whole house falls to the ground.”

“ In my other studies, you will find that Sunday is in fact, considered a Sabbath day to be practiced “forever” in scriptures (Lev. 23:39,41) and the early church fathers came together on Sunday to worship long before the creation of the Catholic Church which was sometime after 300 AD.”

“For a complete discussion on all the details concerning Sunday worship by a former SDA Pastor, please go to Sabbath!”

“Returning to the Catholic church and the Beast, there are many other false religions and prophets who claim to be Christ. So then the claim of being “God” or “Christ” can fit a multitude of others than the Catholic Church alone.”

“Although the Catholic church has committed blasphemy with its position of the Pope as “Christ on Earth” or “Vicar of Christ”, in order to build their case, on page 9, Jan (as well as Mark Finley in “Studying Together”) both proclaim that anyone who claims to have power to forgive sins commits blasphemy! This is an attempt to pinpoint the Catholic church amongst the others. But scriptures elude this intention of these false teachers.”

“Here is my response to Marks teaching.”

“Luke 5:21     Mark writes “If any human being claims he has the power to forgive sins, he commits blasphemy.”

“Luke 5:21

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? “

“Interesting to note, Mark Finley is speaking the words of the Pharisees!  Jesus and Paul the apostle speak contrary to the words of Mark Finley and the Pharisees!”

“John 20:23    Jesus said:

Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”

“2 Cor. 2:10    Paul said:

To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; “

“ PROPHETIC YEARS, 1 YEAR = 1 YEAR”

“Another attempt, and their most critical proof, is to calculate the number of years of the reign of the Catholic Church.

On Page 19, Jan gives the number of 1260 years from Daniel 7:25 in order to calculate how long the Catholic church will rule. “

“But I want to show you the error in these numbers. Daniel 7:25 says “

“Daniel 7:25

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. “

“Their ONLY real proof to point the finger at the Catholic church as the Beast, is to define “a time and times and the dividing of time” as it is vital to get to the year 1798 AD from the year 538 AD (1,260 yrs) which the SDA’s claim is when the Catholic church received her power until the power was ended. Needless to point out, Sunday worship had already been practiced from the earliest days of the church so the Pope had nothing to do with which day the saints gathered to worship our Lord Jesus Christ, which they would have to place within the years 538-1798 AD!”

“But I would like to focus on their manipulation of prophetic years!”

“In truth, in Daniel 7:25,  3 ½  years = 3 ½ years NOT 1,260 years.”

“In order to make their calculation work, they do a reverse calculation from years, to days and then back to years again. 3 ½ years equals 1,260 days, and NOW we turn them BACK into years again to equal 1,260 years. This is scriptural manipulation wouldn’t you agree?”

“In Appendix 2, Jan suggests that a year equals 360 days. Please forgive me if I have missed something here, but a year has 365 days, not 360, thus adding 17.5 years to their calculations equating to 1277.5 years, not 1260.”

“Also in Appendix 2, Jan compares the same 1,260 days with Rev. 11:3, but the problem is that in Rev. 11:3, it can ONLY be defined as a literal 1,260 days not years, as this scripture speaks of the two witnesses (Whom early church fathers of the church identify as Enoch and Elijah and others claim may be Elijah and Moses). These two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days and when they are finished, the Beast will kill them. Their dead bodies will lay in the streets of Jerusalem and ALL the world will see their dead bodies (on TV?) for 3 ½ days. The world will see them rise from the dead and ascend into heaven. This takes place during the 6th trumpet of the great tribulation.”

“I can foresee that, for Jan to correct this error, he will no doubt attempt to spiritualize these two witnesses and create a 1,260 year old pair of witnesses. Yet everyone on earth will see their dead bodies laying on the street for 3 ½ days (which Jan would have to convert to 3 ½ years to be consistent).  Then the world will see them rise from the dead and stand on their feet. For the whole earth to look upon their corpses for 3 ½ days, they MUST be 2 men! They cannot be 2 groups of people who existed for 1260 years since their ministry takes place during the 6th trumpet of the great tribulation!”

“May I ask you, is there ANY scripture that can be taken “literally” by the SDA’s? The Jehovah’s Witness cult (which took its doctrine from the SDA church) does the same manipulation to confirm their heresies, turning every scripture that conflicts with their doctrine and making it “Symbolic” instead of literal!”

“Jesus prophesied he would be in the belly of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights (Matt. 12:40) Can you tell me, did this mean 3 years or 3 days?  WHO makes the decision when we should take a scripture literally and when to take it symbolically? Of course, the SDA teachers have decided to make this decision only when it explains and fits their false teachings.”

“Since Rev. 12:14 uses the same terminology as in Daniel 7:25 “time and times and half a time”, my further study will prove that this too, is a literal 3 and a half years! “

“Scripture proves “prophetic years” are a literal interpretation!”

“In Biblical prophecy 1 day equals 1 day and 1 year equals 1 year! In Appendix 2, Jan points to the scriptures in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 for his redefining the years and he says “For this reason ALL time prophecies must be first broken into days.” (Caps mine)”

“If “ALL time prophecies must be first broken into days” , then that means that NO time prophecy can be taken literally. If you will follow me on this topic, I will soon prove his statement to be false by scripture!  “

“In the context of these verses in Ezekiel and Numbers, they were both defined and used by the Lord to meet out the punishment for Israel and the Lord clearly defined what they represented without any guesswork by the reader.”

“In Numbers, Israel was to be punished 40 years for their 40 days that they searched the land. “

“Numbers 14:34

After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise. “

“In Ezekiel, he was to lie on his side for 390 days to represent his punishment to Israel in years and 40 days for the punishment of Judah in years. “

“Ezekiel 4:6

And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. “

“There is NO confusion, nor is there ANY assumption in the above prophecies and the identification of each day for a year! Both scriptures clearly define the day representing a year, or year representing a day for their punishment, but neither is used for interpreting other prophetic scriptures elsewhere! It is Biblical heresy to take these two scriptures and apply them as a standard to other prophecies and assume that a day equals a year! “

“Nor do you find in ANY scripture, where there is freedom to manipulate prophecy by turning years, into days, and then, with the many added days, turn them BACK into years again!  ie:  3 years = 360 days = 360 years.

Thus 3 years = 360 years?”

“Daniel interpreted scripture literally!”

“If you will review the following Old Testament prophecy, and its fulfillment, you will notice that Daniel interpreted the prophetic year as a literal “year”, not symbolically broken down into days and then again into years!”

“Prophecy:”

“Jeremiah 25:11-12     And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.  And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. “

“Prophecy fulfillment:”

“Daniel 9:2     In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. “

“This literal interpretation by Daniel came to pass as seventy years.  70 years = 70 years”

“How many years was Abraham told that his descendents would be in captivity?”

“Genesis 15:13

And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; “

“So then, how many years did 400 prophetic years equal?”

“Exodus 12:40-41

Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. [41] And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. “

“Acts 7:6

And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. “

“Galatians 3:17

And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. “

“With various explanation”s for the extra 30 years by the commentators, you will note that a Biblical prophecy of 400 years, actually equals 400 years!

“An SDA calculation would be: 400 x 360 (dys) = 144,000 years, Which calculation would you trust?”

“I have met many cults who manipulate scriptural numbers to support false doctrine. Such as the Bahai faith, for example, whom have used the same deceptive maneuvers to create a date that supports the coming of their messiah, “Baha Ulla”. Anyone can create a date to support their false doctrine using Biblical numbers and manipulating them.”

“IDENTIFYING THE BEAST:”

“Although Jan would like to manipulate the scriptures to create his own interpretation of the Beast, and cause this beast to be recognized as the Catholic church, I would like to show you some scriptures that disqualify the Catholic church from being the beast itself. She may be the whore, but cannot be the beast. Since the entire foundation of the house which Jan built to support the idea that Sunday worship is the “Mark” of the beast, is laid with weak support of false assumptions, misinterpretations and manipulations of scripture, if the foundation collapses, so does the house of his theory.”

“Rev. 17:16-18

And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. [17] For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. [18] And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. “

“The Beast hates the Whore and makes her desolate! The Beast CANNOT be the Whore also! The Catholic church can only be one OR the other (or neither), but she CANNOT be both! The Catholic church does not qualify as the Beast!”

“2 Thes. 2:3-4

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; [4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. “

“This  “Beast” is NOT the Catholic church. It is a MAN, who will sit in `the Temple of God” claiming to be God!  The Temple of God is NOT the Vatican!   It is in Jerusalem and has NOT yet been rebuilt!”

“All the world will “worship” this man. May I encourage you to read ALL of Rev. chapter 13, and you will see that it is a MAN, and as of yet, he has not been revealed. “

“Daniel 11:30-32

For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. [31] And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. [32] And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. “

“This Beast (Antichrist) will not be known until the Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt, and the sacrifices of the Jews begin again. (2 Thes. 2:3-4) Then, he will take away the daily sacrifice, He will cease the Jews from offering sacrifices as he himself sits in the Temple of God claiming to BE God.   This has NOT yet happened!”

“Daniel 11:36-38

And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. [37] Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. [38] But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. “

“The Beast, this King or Antichrist is a MAN, NOT an organization or church! He is not the Pope as he will speak against the God of gods and he honors the God of forces (War). He does not even regard any god. The Pope, although deceived by false doctrine, contrary to your teachers words, does regard Jesus Christ.  NONE of these features of the above scriptures revealing the Beast, identify the Roman Catholic Church. I’ve never heard the Pope deny Jesus Christ!

This identification sounds more like a Muslim, yet he will not even regard the god of his fathers. So the beast cannot even be a Muslim, nor a Pope.”

“This man, the Beast, has no desire for woman. He is a man of WAR!”

“He will commit abominations in the holy place, which is NOT in Rome. It is Jerusalem, and has not yet been built!.”

“Jesus alluded to this scripture in Daniel when he said:”

“Matthew 24:15

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) “

“Once again, it will be in Jerusalem not Rome. Rome is not the Holy Place.”

“In Conclusion:”

“The Sunday Law has been a successful maneuver of the SDA’s to skillfully manipulate the saints from many denominations to fearfully leave their home church and join the SDA’s for the sole purpose of not offending God. The fear of breaking the 4th commandment has placed many saints to fall into legalism as the false teachers of the SDA church have twisted the gospel and the scriptures to create what appears to be a sound structure, but built on the SAND of a shaky foundation. To the unlearned who love the Lord, young Christians who want to please the Lord and not offend the Lord in any way, have found themselves being placed into the bondage of a legalistic church, sheep in the hands of Pharisees who now control their lives and their walk in Christ. The end result, is that these misdirected sheep then see their Christian brothers in other church’s, as their persecutors and enemies. A house divided cannot stand, and Satan, using the deception of SDA teachers, has effectively divided the body of Christ!”

“See the MAN, who will be the BEAST! It is NOT the Catholic church!”

“Rev. 13:1-18

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. [2] And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. [3] And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. [4] And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? [5] And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. [6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. [7] And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. [8] And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. [9] If any man have an ear, let him hear. [10] He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. [11] And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. [12] And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. [13] And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, [14] And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. [15] And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. [16] And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: [17] And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [18] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. “

“MARK FINLEY DECEPTIVE COMMENTS:”

“Here are some of Mark Finley’s false doctrines to gain support for the above false teaching of the Sabbath as being the mark of the Beast.”

“Rev. 14:7     Mark Finley in “studying together” writes “Calls us to true worship of the Creator on the Sabbath.”

“Rev. 14:7

Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. “

“Do YOU see anything at all about the Sabbath in this verse? How did Mark identify the Sabbath as part of Rev. 14:7 when it doesn’t exist!”

“Rev. 14:9-11     Mark writes “Calls us to avoid the counterfeit Sabbath on Sunday”.”

“Rev. 14:9-11

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, [10] The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: [11] And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. “

“Do YOU see ANY mention of the Sabbath or Sunday in these verses?  “

“The word for “Mark” – “Charagma” from the same as Greek 5482 (charax); a scratch or etching, i.e. stamp (as a badge of servitude), or sculptured figure (statue) :- graven, mark.”

 

 

“The Mark of the Beast IS NOT a day of worship! Do You see ANY mention of the Mark meaning “Sunday Worship”!  Chapter 13 clearly identifies that it is an idol or statue which they worship in order to receive a mark, not a day of worship!”

 

 

“Rev. 13:14-15

    And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. [15] And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. “

 

 

“Anyone who would take the time to read through these scriptures can clearly see that the Mark of the Beast has NOTHING at all to do with Sunday worship, but rather that it is a Mark, (scratch, Stamp) given to those who will worship an image or statue of the beast himself!”

“Sunday worship has NOTHING at all to do with worshiping an idol.”

“Rev. 14:12     Mark writes “Calls us to keep God’s commandments as a sign of loyalty to Him.”

“Rev. 14:12

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. “

“Mark would love for us to believe this scripture is speaking of the Commandments given by Moses, but the New Testament commandment is this:”

“1 John 3:23

And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. “

“John 13:34

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. “

“1 John 4:21

And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. “

“2 John 1:5

And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. “

“Romans 13:8-10

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. [9] For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [10] Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. “

“Matthew 24:12-13

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. [13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. “

“This last verse has a direct link to Rev. 14:12 which Mark deceptively claims is talking about the Sabbath. It has to do with our love for one another, NOT what day we worship the Lord our God, Jesus Christ!”

“Rev. 14:12

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

“Are YOU walking in love towards your brothers and sisters in Christ? Or are YOU with the Pharisees of the SDA church, dividing the body of Christ and condemning your brothers in Christ because they worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…. on Sunday!?”

“Our REAL ENEMY is the spirit of darkness that is behind the terrorism of the Muslims, the Buddhists, the idol worship of Hindus, the atheists and wickedness of godless people to name a few! Lets win them to Jesus Christ through repentance from sin and salvation by bowing their knees to the living God, and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord! Let’s stop fighting each other!”

“Col. 2:16

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: “

“Romans 14:4-6

Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. [5] One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. [6] He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.”

http://crossbearer-brian.tripod.com/id172.htm

————————————————————————————-

While I have a distain for sda teaching and it’s occult beliefs. I well add marcussens website information as I did before.

His Challenge:

“Sunday, holy Sunday? Pastor resurrects Sabbath debate with $1 million reward”

 

“By Joe Kovacs”

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=11265

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Mr. Marcussens website:

http://www.seventh-day.org/Read_NSL.htm

————————————————————

Here is an answer to Marcussens challenge from 2007:

“The Seventh-day Sabbath Has Been Both Changed Many Times and Abolished”

“ By Russell Earl Kelly, Ph. D. Author of Exposing Seventh-day Adventism”*

A. Jan Marcussen’s challenge met from 2007

*Please note his previous website was closed down and his previous refutation is lost.

Due to changes he is blogging at:

https://russkellyphd.blogspot.com/

Home

EXPOSTING SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

And my own response:

“My belated response to: a jan marcussens world net daily challenge”

“Nov 2013”

My belated response to a Jan marcussens world net daily challenge

==============================================

In my own studies about multiple SDA Sabbath issues.

1) Sabbath was not meant for the Gentile

2) A Day of worship can be chosen by the authority of the Disciples of Christ Romans 14:5-6.

3) Jesus NEVER Commanded his Gentile followers to keep the Law of Moses or the Sabbath.

4) Keeping the Sabbath is not a sign, or a ‘mark’ of salvation for Gentiles.

5) EG White who is the originator of this fake doctrine was not saved by her supposed Sabbath keeping only by her Faith in Jesus did he save her on her death bed.

6) Keeping Sunday is not a mark of the beast.

===============================================

And in case there are further misunderstandings… I am NOT A FAN of Mr. marcussen or other sda authors. I believe that they are deceived and part of a cult system that they should ALL LEAVE and ask forgiveness of their brother and sister Christians for their 100+ years of poor teaching and foolishness.

========================================================

July 2018 UPDATE:

 

Over the years I’ve received multiple comments on this post and are mostly critical of what I’ve written. Here is my longer response to my critics.

 

1 All my study materials are from sda book publishers and websites. This means I’ve read the varied writings of eg white or others who believe in her doctrines. Then I’ve compared her writings and those of her followers to the Holy Bible.

 

2 IF your offended with my post then do your own research on sda doctrines and then compare them to the Holy Bible and what present Christians believe. I can promise you there will be many differences.

 

3 The 6 items listed are actual doctrines that sda followers believe and it is up to you to do your own research on them. I’ve listed these few as a starting point.

 

4 A regular attack on my research from sda followers is that I am a catholic. I HAVE NEVER BEEN PART OF NOR WILL I EVER JOIN THE catholic church. Like the sda church I feel both organizations or churches have false teachers and are tools of the devil. Both have flawed and false doctrines and ideologies and are untrust worthy.

 

5 My Beliefs are not my opinion. My beliefs come from 20 years of research from the Holy Bible and noticing all the differences from multiple groups during those years. IF you donot accept my posts / doctrines than you can either reject me, reject the Holy Bible or do your own research and perhaps you will be shown the same flaws and falsehoods written those who follow eg white and her followers.

 

6 Doctrines or teachings from the sda are contrary to the teachings of both Jesus and the Disciples. This means that the 10 commandments’ and Sabbath as taught by the sda organization / church are part of a cult system and endanger the souls of all those who put their faith in them and eg white or others who teach her garbage.

 

7 While I may have offended many I simply ask those in the sda or other Sabbath keeping churches / organizations’ to read their Bibles and stick with Jesus and the Disciples’ not dead men or women.

 

~Will