He Will Return.

 1895, 126 years ago. The excerpt in here was written 126 years ago. At that time A.T. Jones fully believed the end times were at hand. That's nothing new. Since the day our Lord ascended into heaven His followers have been eagerly awaiting His return. 1,990 years ago Jesus died on the cross and then rose from the dead and then ultimately ascended to heaven where He remains to this day. One thousand, nine hundred, and ninety years ago… let that sink in. For close to 2,000 years Christ's followers have been waiting for His return. There are plenty of people who use this as an excuse not to believe that He will ever return. A lot of people think it's been way too long and should have happened long ago. How can people throughout those 1,990 years constantly assert that Jesus will return soon? That is approximately 49 years of 40 year generations or 27 years of 72 year generations that have past.  No matter how you look at it, that is a long time and a whole lot of people who have had to hold fast to the belief that the Lord is going to return in their day and age. Each generation has its reasoning, and it's not that they're wrong.  How can I say that? Clearly Jesus didn't come as they expected so they had to be wrong, right? No. I say that in truth. I say that because the signs we have been given to look for prior to our Lord's return have been appearing at such a pace and in such a way that each generation is allowed to believe the truth that it is possible for the Lord to return in their lifetime. This isn't some sick, twisted game played by God. This is the ultimate in blessings for people. We have all been allowed to comprehend the truth and thereby we've all been in a state of surrendering our will to God, in a state of forgiveness, under the grace of our Lord, and this has allowed us all to belong to our Savior throughout the 1,990 years- a blessing. This blessing also has allowed us living now, 1,990 years after Christ's ascension to realize the mercy of the God we serve in a way each succeeding generation has done, only magnified each time. How GREAT is the mercy of our LORD! How wondrous is the MERCY and LONGSUFFERING of our GOD! 

Was A.T. Jones wrong about his beliefs? No. Are they even more fitting for our day and age? Yes, in a lot of ways, yes. Will the signs he states are yet to come, appear still? I believe so, yet as we are to do with ALL unfulfilled prophecy- we are to tread lightly- letting history unfold it. As the last generation before Christ's appearing will have to live in rapidly unfolding prophecy, may we all be prepared as we watch and pray always. Will I live to see my Lord return? I pray so. By the grace, and the will of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Amen.

(Excerpt)

A.T.JONES

LECTURES GIVEN IN 1895 on the WOMAN OF REVELATION 17

From his series of lectures given at the General Conference of 1895

 

The lesson tonight will be directly connected with the close of the second lesson, the one on the position and aims of the papacy, and that you may get the connection clearly, I will read a few lines from the last of it, taking again the sentence that was quoted from the letter from Rome, that what we do know is, that a world is in its death agony, and that we are entering upon the night which must inevitably precede the dawn, and that in preparation for this agony of death of the world, the papacy is casting off the old slough, putting on a new form in every conceivable way in order to fulfill her mission in these times that are to come, as was read. [Here was read that which is now on page 33 of the bulletin, the quotation,

"What we do know is that a world is in its death agony, ant that we are entering upon the night whcih must inevitably precede the dawn. In this evolution, the Church, in the eyes of the pope, has a mission to fill."

[This is in view of the times to come. What is she looking for? A world in its death agony. All nations uneasy, society racked, everything going to pieces as it is. The papacy sees all that is going on, and expects it to go on until the finish; and out of the agony, and the tearing to pieces that comes with it, she expects to exalt herself once more to the supremacy over the nations, as she did of old. And she is going to do it; we know that, the Scriptures point that out.]

Now we will study this a little more from the Scriptures. And these scriptures, like all others that we are quoting and studying here, are scriptures with which we are all perfectly familiar; scripture which all have often quoted and of which we expect the fulfillment. And the first one is in Rev. 13:8:

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.

That shows that the papacy is to have control of this whole world and all that is in it, and of everybody that is in it, except only those whose names are written in the book of life of the Lamb--those who belong to the kingdom of God and are separated from this world. 

So that, as an actual fact, the papacy does--that Scripture shows it, too--have possession in the times when these things shall culminate, of all those of this world, because Christ's disciples are not of this world. 

There stands the word--not that God wants it so, but it will be so in spite of all that He wants to the contrary--that all whose names are not in the book of life and retained there will worship the beast. They will do it; it matters not what they have their minds made up to do or not to do; that thing they will do. They cannot help doing it, because not having their names in the book of life of the Lamb, they will be of this world entirely and therefore will be of the papacy entirely, because whatsoever is of this world is of the papacy in the times in which we live. This shows that the power of the world is brought once more into her hand.

Now a verse in the 7th chapter of Daniel. This power will be used by her for the only purpose for which she ever used any power in the world or for which she ever shall use it--to compel all to do her bidding. All that she ever used any power for was to force upon everybody her dictates. All that she wants with power now is to do that, and everything that she is doing anywhere on the earth is devoted to that one point of getting back her power over the world. The evidences of this that have been given in the lessons we have already had are before all, and I need not cite any of these.

And so it is written, 21st and 22d verses:

I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

That is at the coming of Christ, of course. So that when it is written that "all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him," it is also written of the same time that this power which she shall have gained and is now gaining over the world and in the world is used for the purpose of compelling all to do her bidding--to compel all to worship the beast. And those who will not do that, she makes war against, till the day that they enter into the kingdom of glory at the coming of the Lord.

Another verse or two: Rev. 17:1,2.

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.

Now before reading the second verse, I wish to call a little more attention to the first verse. The angel that reveals this judgment and explains it and the time in which it comes is one of the angels that has the seven last plagues to be poured out. This shows that the revelation of this judgment is in the time immediately preceding the plagues, for it is one of the angels to whom was given one of the vials of the plagues to be poured out. So that when the time comes that the plagues are imminent and are as it were hanging over the world, then this chapter will be understood, then it will shine forth by the revelation of Jesus Christ, the revelation of the angel which he sends.

This, being one of the angels having the vials, he does not say, Come here and I will show thee the woman; he does not say, Come here, and I will show thee the great whore; but "Come hither; I will show thee the judgment of the great whore."

Then again: As it is one of the seven angels that have the seven last plagues who reveals this, that shows that the revelation will be in the time when the plagues are just hanging over the world and are ready to fall. And as the revelation is the judgment of her and not the revelation of herself that shows that the revelation and this chapter which describes it and the times which are connected with it--that there and then will be the time of the revelation of these things that the angel has to tell.

Now I am not starting on a study of the seventeenth chapter of Revelation, nor undertaking to explain that chapter. I am reading this simply to get the time when the thing is to be, and now for the second verse:

The judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

When? When does this angel appear? Just before the judgment of her falls. Who is he? One of the seven that have the plagues. So that, by this double count, this is plainly just before the judgment of her. When is it, then, that the kings of the earth are referred to in this verse? At the same time, assuredly. At that time what will be the condition of the kings of the earth--not some of them, but them--as respects this great harlot? O, they have all held illicit connection with her. And the inhabitants of the earth at that time have all been made drunk by her. Then that tells the same thing that the other verse does, that "all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life."

Well, after the angel goes on describing this judgment of her, or rather the events that immediately precede the judgment, then another angel joins. Rev. 18:1:

After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations--

How many nations? All. When? In this time when one of the seven angels with the seven plagues appears and tells of the judgment of Babylon.

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her.

How many nations? All of them.

And the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven.

Do not forget then; it is a voice from heaven saying it.

Saying, Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities.

What has he remembered her iniquities for? What does that mean, that God hath remembered her iniquities? Back in Egypt it was said of the Lord, "I have remembered my covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I have remembered the promises I made to your fathers. And I will deliver you with a stretched out arm and with great judgments." Ex. 6:5,6. When he "remembered" that the thing was done that had been promised formerly. "God hath remembered her iniquities." And this shows that this remembrance of her iniquities means the visiting of the judgment upon her iniquities.

Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen and am no widow and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning, and famine. And she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

This is still the description which the angel gave when he said, "Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore."

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Thus when Babylon triumphs, she is destroyed "in one hour," the shortest period of time that is measured in the Bible, aside from the resurrection moment, which is the "twinkling of an eye." So that when this judgment does fall, it falls in that way, and before it falls, these warnings are given, and God gives us signs by which we may know and mark the way up to the time when that is the thing, and the one thing, that comes next.

Now before our eyes in the daily papers, in the situation even as we have examined it in the previous lessons, the papacy is now carrying on the very movement that is here marked out and is succeeding at every step. In former lessons we have merely touched evidence as relates to the United States. Brother Robinson gave me a copy of Present Truth a day or two ago, and there, on the first page, are quotations from Catholic papers of London, touching the nations of Europe that are counted as not being exactly Catholic and how that these are falling more and more and one by one back into the hands of the papacy.

In the American Sentinel two or three weeks ago you had the evidence, taken from Catholic papers, as to Germany and Switzerland. The Catholic Church holds the balance of power in Germany--a Catholic for Chancellor of the German Empire, and the Catholic Church party in the Reichstag holding the balance of power, so that the government cannot do anything it wants to without their will and permission and they hold for the repeal of all the laws that have been enacted against the papacy or else nothing goes. And they are getting what they want as the days go by.

Switzerland has a Catholic for a president, and of him the London Universe says that he "is as papal as a Swiss guard." It is not strange therefore that the experiences which we have heard from brethren in Switzerland should be manifesting themselves against the truth of God and against the Lord.

The other day I saw a German paper in which the editor and proprietor spoke of a trip he had taken through Europe and, passing through Holland, he saw the parade of Catholics in celebrating the recovery of Holland to the Catholic Church.

In England, for the papacy to get control, only one thing remains of all the things that were done in making England a Protestant country and establishing the succession of sovereigns--all that remains is just that one requirement, that the sovereign shall be a Protestant. The oath to sustain the Protestant succession is gone. And the one remaining point that requires a Protestant succession has become so weakened that the papacy herself is in expectation that even this will soon be so modified that it may be at a moment set aside and she have control once more. 

About a year ago, the pope, in receiving a band of pilgrims from England and giving them his blessing said to them that there were many signs in favor of England's once more returning to the Church.

These are simply--well, they are more than signs of what is going on; they are the actual facts in the proceedings themselves of what is going on. We cannot count them as signs; they are the thing itself.

In these extracts from the Catholic papers that were printed in the Present Truth, the United States was mentioned among the countries where the papacy is having its greatest success; and directly in the line of these evidences that we have presented already in the lessons is the fact that the United States is to be used, as the pope says, in the molding all the other nations and that this country is to shape the destiny of the other nations, and the destiny of the other nations is always intended to be simply the return of the world to the papacy and to do her will and to promote her interests in the earth.

So then we stand in the presence and a long way forward, too, in the presence of the events that are bringing the fulfillment of these prophecies to the point when all nations indeed shall be actually joined once more to her. And when she shall have succeeded in all this movement that is being carried on, when these things are fulfilled, then her judgment falls. When that point is reached, when that time comes, in which she stands at the place where she can congratulate herself that all these nations are joined to her once more and she has lifted herself to the supremacy out of the turmoils and the agonies, the anarchy and the violence of every kind, to the supremacy, as she did once before, when this is fulfilled, that is the last thing that we shall see before her judgment falls.

A few years ago we preached the coming of the Lord, as we do yet. We preached everywhere the coming of the Lord, the soon coming of the Lord, even in the generation that is upon the earth and that generation a long way forward in its life. Yet at the same time we told all the people to whom we preached that the Lord was coming, that He could not come until the United States government had recognized the Christian religion and had set up Sunday instead of the Sabbath. We told them, in other words, that he could not come until this government had made the image of the beast. Then, after having told them that the Lord is coming and coming soon and that the generation is far spent in which He will come, we had to tell them that this thing had to come before He could come, and then we turned to point out to them the steps that were taken and the progress that had been made toward that recognition of religion in the United States and the setting up of Sunday instead of the Sabbath. These things we told them were the signs by which they might mark the way up to that thing that should be done, and as soon as it should be done, then we would know the coming of the Lord was to be looked forward to as never before.

Now that has been done. We cannot in truth tell the people that the United States is going to recognize the Christian religion. We cannot tell the people any more that the United States government is going to put away the Sabbath of the Lord from the fourth commandment and put Sunday in its place. No man can do that and speak truly. Everyone that speaks the truth on that has to say that has been done and point the people simply to the official record in the proceedings of the government that shows it and there it stands. Therefore, as this is truly so, this text applies as never before, "Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."

We also told the people that when that thing should succeed, the papacy would rise in triumph at the expense of the Protestants who were doing that and without their expectations and put herself in the place and would receive strength and influence and power from it to mold the world once more to her hand.

Well, we cannot say anymore that the papacy is going to do that. The only thing we can now say is. She is doing it, and point the people now to the facts which show that she is doing it and that that is her one grand scheme for the whole world, to be worked through this power which she already has upon the United States.

But the success of that scheme, the completion of that plan of hers, is simply the fulfillment of this prophecy that we have read, that all the nations would be joined to her; all would be worshiping her; the inhabitants of the earth connected with her; all the world under her hand; all worshiping her, and the power of all the world in her hands to pour out in wrath against those who fear God. The Scripture sets forth in prophecy precisely the thing that everyone of us sees and cannot help seeing, that the papacy is doing. And the very point that the prophecy sets out is the very point at which the papacy aims and toward which she is working and which, when she reaches it, will see the prophecy fulfilled, "I sit a queen and am no widow and shall see no sorrow." And when that plan of the papacy is completed and the prophecy and the papacy meet at that point, then, says the word, "In one hour" from that point her judgment comes; "She shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her."

Where then are we but in the very days when the judgment of the great whore in the plagues of God are hanging over the world? There is where we certainly stand.

And in this time what word has the Lord put there to be given to the world? "Come out of her, my people." What for? Why, "that ye be not partakes of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues."

The success of this movement of the papacy that is being carried on is its ruin; her success is her ruin. Her triumph is her destruction, in an hour. Then whoever would not be ruined must separate from her, leave here entirely. And whosoever would not see his fellowmen endangered and ruined must, in the fear of God and the love of souls, say to them, "Escape for your life; for ruin is about to fall."

Her ruin will be how widespread? How much does it embrace? How much is under her control? How many are worshiping her? How far does her wrath extend? And how many are made drunk with the wine of the wrath of her fornication? All the world. Then when the judgment falls upon her, how widespread will be the judgment? worldwide. When the ruin falls, how complete is the ruin? Utterly. It is said that he cometh up out of the bottomless pit, and "goeth into perdition." 

"Perdition" means utter destruction; she goes into utter destruction.

Then as certainly as her influence is worldwide; as certainly as all nations are joined to her and the inhabitants of the earth are drunk with the wine of the wrath of her fornication and as certainly as that all that dwell upon the earth are worshiping him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb; so certainly all this shows that everyone will fall in the ruin and will be ruined by the ruin, whose name is not in the book of life.

Then, also as certainly as we stand here, so certainly God has given a message to us in the midst of these events and that message is to warn the world that it is indeed "in its death agony," that out of that death agony the papacy triumphs, that her triumph is her certain ruin, and that whoever will escape must "come out of her."

Now I think we have time to bring a word here that will illustrate this thing so forcibly that all can see it. 

There was a Babylon of old. God caused the prophet to write out her judgment. In the 50th and 51st chapters of Jeremiah there is written out, in prophecy, the judgment of Babylon. I am not going to read a description of it; all can read it at your leisure, because there is a great deal in it for us even now, but we will read the last verses of the 51st chapter, beginning with the 59th verse:

The word which Jeremiah, the prophet, commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maasciah, when he went with Zedekiah [margin: on behalf of Zedekiah] the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon and shalt see and shalt read all these words; then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever. And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it in the midst of Euphrates; and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her, and they shall be weary.

Look at Rev. 18:21, in connection with this, in the judgment of Babylon, the description of it:

A mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all.

Is there any correspondence between these two stones? Assuredly there is. Then that sinking of old Babylon pointed to the sinking of Babylon now; the judgment of Babylon in old time pointed to the judgment of Babylon in this time.

Now we notice Jeremiah 51:45: "My people, go ye out of the midst of her." God's people were in that Babylon; he had a people there. He did not want them to be there when the judgment of Babylon fell and caused her ruin; therefore, he said, "My people, go ye out of the midst of her and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord."

What is the word now? As the angel is about to cast that mighty stone into the sea and say, "Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all," the call is, 'Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of here sins and that ye received not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembered her iniquities. . . . For strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.'" Reading again in Jeremiah of the old Babylon:

And lest your heart faint and ye fear for the rumor that shall be heard in the land; a rumor shall both come one year and after that in another year shall come a rumor, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

The people in Babylon were to have two rumors as the sign for leaving Babylon. Two rumors of what? Two rumors of her fall, two rumors of her destruction. A rumor was to come one year that the armies of the Medes and Persians were on the way! But were they to be afraid that the ruin would be then and was everyone to go as quickly as he possibly could? NO. He could go if he chose, but the ruin was to be in another year. So when the first rumor was to come, then was "the preparation" to "get ready" to go, so that when the second rumor should come, then they had to go or her ruin would be their ruin.

Accordingly, the Medo-Persian army started from Ecbatana in the spring of A.D. 539--the year before Babylon fell--and went partly on the way and then stopped and stayed until the next spring. When the army started, of course the first rumor spread rapidly to Babylon. That was the first sign that everybody there should prepare to get away just as soon as they could. They could in a sense take their time for the actual going, but they must prepare and be ready at the second rumor, for when the second rumor came they must go or perish. When the next spring came, the "other year," the armies started again on the way to Babylon. Then came the second rumor of Babylon's ruin, and the ruin came with the second rumor, and whoever would escape the ruin had to flee when the rumor came.

Now look at modern Babylon and the two rumors of her fall. In 1844 there came the first rumor of the fall of Babylon. Rev. 14:6-8:

I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 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. And there followed another angel 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. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

There was a rumor of the fall of Babylon; that was the first rumor. Now read Rev. 18:1-4:

I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. . . . And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues.

When that second rumor comes, the rumor ceases only with the judgment which is her ruin. Are we in the time of the second rumor of the fall of the second Babylon? Oh, we are; we certainly are. Then as certainly as that second rumor of the Medo-Persian army in ancient Babylon meant her certain ruin, as certainly as that is true, so certainly we are in the midst of the second rumor now; and whoever will escape that ruin must go. "Come out of her, my people."

And therefore, as certainly as we to whom that message has been given have any care for the souls of men, any fear of God, or any love for the message which Jesus Christ has given us, what is there alone for us to do but to tell the people what is going on; what Babylon has done, what she is doing, how ruin hangs right over her? Tell them the ruin is there, the second rumor has come, she is to sink to rise no more, nor be found anymore at all. But God does not want any man to sink with her. He would have every soul turn away from her and turn to him for the life and salvation there is in Him; therefore, He calls, "Come out of her my people, that ye receive not of her plagues."

That is where we are; there is the rumor abroad. Oh, is it abroad? That is the question. Is it abroad? Have you been sounding it abroad? How long have we been in the time of the loud cry? More than two years. Have you been sounding that rumor these two years, brethren? Have you all been giving the message which has been given you to sound, urging the people to escape from the ruin that is impending and that they must flee to God if they would escape the ruin?

Well, then, shall we not go from this Conference to sound that rumor with the loudest voice that God can give? Is there anything else to do? How can there be anything else to do? And of all things how can there be anything else thought of by those to whom God has given the message and upon whom He has laid the responsibility of sounding that rumor? "Come out of her, my people."

I

 I was raised to believe as my parent's believed.

I became aware my parents beliefs were not God's.

I had to choose.

I was raised to believe from sincere parents.

I became aware that their sincerity isn't always true.

I had to choose. 

I was raised to believe in lies.

I became aware the liars didn't know they lied.

I had to choose.

I was raised to believe the majority is right.

I became aware that was far from true.

I had to choose. 

I was raised to believe good.

I became aware of evil.

I had to choose. 

I was raised being loved.

I became aware love hurts.

I had to choose.

I was raised with excuses.

I became aware of human failings.

I had to choose.

I choose God.

I choose Love.

I am fault-filled.

I know we are all fault-filled.

I forgive.

I pray to be forgiven.

(Excerpt)

CHAPTER V. THE FATHERS AGAIN

We verily believe that there never was an extended argument made in favor of the Sunday-sabbath in which appeal for help was not made to the Fathers, and we never expect to see an argument on that subject that does not so do. The treatise now under consideration is by no means an exception. We wish that the American Sunday-school Union, or the trustees of Dartmouth College, or whoever else may have the management of a prize fund, would offer a prize of five hundred or one thousand dollars for an essay on the perpetual obligation of the Sunday-sabbath which should make no mention of the Fathers, and no reference to any human authority, but should be confined strictly to the word of God. Such a production would be worth such a prize as a curiosity in Sunday-sabbath literature, if for nothing else. 

To what purpose is a reference to the Fathers anyhow? What is the good of it? Suppose all the Fathers with one voice should say that Sunday is the Lord’s day, that the first day of the week is the Christian Sabbath; still to the man who fears God and trembles at his word (and to such alone the Lord looks, Isaiah 66:2) the question would be, What saith the Scripture? To that question there is but one answer that ever comes to anybody on this subject. That answer is, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” The Scripture said to the Fathers, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” If the Fathers disregarded it, they sinned, that is all. The Scripture says to the American Sunday-school Union, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” If the American Sunday-school Union disregards it, the Union sins, that is all. The Scripture says to Mr. A. E. Waffle, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” When Mr. Waffle disregards it, he sins, and when he or any other teaches others to disregard it, he teaches rebellion against the Lord, that is all. 

Suppose the Fathers and everybody else from the apostles’ day to our own should have disregarded the commandment of God, it would still be just as much our duty to obey that commandment as it would if all had kept it strictly. It is not a question of what the Fathers did, but what they should have done. We are not to interpret the commandment of God by what men have done; but what men have done must be tested by the commandment. The law of God is the immutable standard, and men’s actions must conform to that or they are wrong. Mr. Waffle himself admits as much. Thus he says:— 

“We are under no obligation to follow the example of Christians who lived in any age subsequent to that of the apostles. Perversions of Christian doctrine and corrupt practices sprang up so early and prevailed so widely as to make such an imitation altogether unsafe.”—P. 203. 

Why then does Mr. Waffle, as well as do Sunday advocates generally, go to an age of “perversions of Christian doctrine,” an age of “corrupt practices” so widely prevalent as to make it “altogether unsafe”? This is why:— 

“We study their history because it throws additional light upon the teaching and the example of the apostles.”—Id. 

Go to an age of darkness to throw additional light upon the age of light itself! Go to an age of “perversion of Christian doctrine” to gain “additional light” upon the perfection of Christian doctrine! Go to an age of “corrupt practices” to gain “additional light” upon the only age of pure practices that the world has ever seen! Study the perversion of Christian doctrine, and the corrupt practices of men, because it throws “additional light” upon the word of God! Use a tallow-dip or a rush-light because it throws “additional light” upon the sun!! To what depths of absurdity will men not run in their attempts to justify their disregard of the commandment of God? What will they not sanction in their endeavors to make void the commandment of God by the traditions of men? 

The teaching of the apostles is the word of God, and the word of God is light. Apart from the example of Christ there is no such thing as “the example of the apostles;” and the example of Christ is but the shining of that Light which came into the world, to which men will not come because they love darkness rather than light. And these men, instead of coming to the true Light, run away off to an age of darkness, to an age of confessed “corrupt practices” and “perversions of Christian doctrine,” and there, by rummaging around among the Fathers, they manage to find some obscure passages in corrupt texts, and these are seized upon because they “throw additional light” upon the true Light. They run away into the darkness, where all things look alike, and in groping around there they find some men to whom they say, You look like us; you talk as we do; you walk as we do; your views of morals are just like ours;—you are our Fathers, and behold what great light is thrown, by your ways, upon the teaching and example of the apostles, that is, upon what we are doing. True, the apostles said nothing at all about it, but we are doing it, and you did it before us, and that is proof that the apostles intended to do it. 

We know that between the Fathers and these their sons there is a most striking family resemblance. They do look alike; they do talk alike; they walk alike; and their ideas of what constitutes obedience to the word of God, are just alike, and we would be fully justified in saying that they all belong to the same family, even though the sons should not own it, but when they take every possible occasion to advertise it and to parade the Fathers as indeed their Fathers, they cannot blame us if we admit it, and do our best to give them the benefit of the relationship. But even though this family resemblance be so perfect that we can hardly tell the Fathers and their children apart, there is one fatal defect about it all, that is, none of them look like Christ. Not one of them walks as he walked; for he kept the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord. It matters not how much they may resemble one another, the question with us is, Do they resemble Christ? It matters not how closely their words may agree among themselves, the question still is, Do their words agree with the word of God? 

We have not the disposition, even though we had the time, to go with Mr. Waffle and the American Sunday-school Union in their one-thousand-dollar excursion into that age where “perversions of Christian doctrine and corrupt practices sprang up so early and prevailed so widely,” because Mr. Waffle himself has told us that it is “altogether unsafe,” and, besides that we remember a statement in our Guide-Book, written about just such excursions as this, that says: “Be not deceived; evil communications corrupt good manners.” Moreover, we have before us the statement of what Mr. Waffle learned by it, and that is enough for us. Here it is:— 

“Every statement bearing upon the subject, that can be discovered in the writings of the Fathers, is to the effect that the Christians of the first two centuries were accustomed to keep holy the first day of the week, and that most of them regarded themselves at liberty not to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.”—P. 214. 

The commandment of God, written with his own finger on the tables of stone, says: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.... The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” But here we are informed that “every statement bearing on the subject, that can be discovered in the writings of the Fathers, is to the effect that the most of them [Christians] regarded themselves at liberty not to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.” But this is simply to say that they regarded themselves at liberty not to keep the commandment of God. Well, we know a great many people in our own day who regard themselves at liberty to do the same thing; and, like their Fathers, too, they will call themselves “Christians,” yea, they will even hold that to be the distinguishing feature of a Christian. The Mormons too regard “themselves at liberty not to keep the seventh-day Sabbath,” and also not to keep the commandment that forbids adultery, and they call themselves “saints.” Well, if disobedience to that one commandment is what makes a Christian, why should not disobedience to two commandments make a saint? Will Mr. Waffle or the American Sunday-school Union tell us why? 

The commandment of God directs the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath. The Fathers and Mr. Waffle and other Christians of that kind “regard themselves at liberty not to keep it.” The word of God likewise directs the keeping of the commandment which says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery;” the Mormons “regard themselves at liberty not to keep it.” The word of God directs the keeping of the second commandment; the Catholics “regard themselves at liberty not to keep it.” The word of God directs the keeping of the third commandment; Colonel Ingersoll and his kind “regard themselves at liberty not to keep it.” Now upon what principle can these “Christians” convince those “saints,” and Catholics, and atheists, of sin? We should like to see Mr. Waffle frame an argument that would show that they are wrong, that would not equally condemn himself, and all those who with him “regard themselves at liberty not to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.” 

Well, when Mr. Waffle finds that the Fathers, and others of their day, regarded themselves at liberty not to keep the commandment of God, what does he do? Does he say that they were disobedient? Does he repudiate such an example and hold to the commandment of God instead? Not he. He just settles down upon the sinful example as though it were righteousness itself. It is the very thing which he has been all this time striving to reach—something to strengthen and confirm him, and others whom he can reach, in their disregard of the commandment. For he says of these writings of the Fathers:— 

“Thus they strengthen the conclusion we have reached from our examination of the example and teachings of the apostles, that the latter intended to transfer the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day.”—P. 214. 

It never requires a great deal of evidence, nor of a very strong kind, to strengthen a conclusion we have already reached, especially when we have reached the conclusion without evidence. And that such is the way Mr. Waffle has reached his conclusion is plain by his own words. He had already written this:— 

“So far as the record shows, they [the apostles] did not give any explicit command enjoining the abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath and its observance on the first day of the week.” 

If, then, the apostles gave no command for it, the conclusion which he has reached is, so far as the teaching of the apostles goes, totally without evidence. And as he has said that “the authority must be sought in the words or in the example of the inspired apostles,” when he admits that there is no command for it, he has nothing at all left but what he calls the example of the apostles, upon which to base his conclusion. And upon this we would remind him of his own words, that “the average mind is more readily moved by a direct command than by an inference drawn from the example of even inspired men.”—P. 242. He has reached his conclusion, then, by an inference drawn from the example of the apostles. But how does he know and how can he show that his inference is just? Oh, by studying the history of an age of “corrupt practices and perversions of Christian doctrine,” he learns “that the most of them regarded themselves at liberty not to keep the seventh-day Sabbath,” and that they “could hardly have made a mistake concerning the import of their [the apostles’] words and actions.” And so having landed himself and his whole Sunday-sabbath scheme squarely upon Catholic ground in the midst of an age of “corrupt practices” and perversions of Christian doctrine, his great one-thousand-dollar task is completed; his grand one-thousand-dollar prize is won, and there we leave him to enjoy it. 

We have now examined the reasons for keeping Sunday which have been given in a five-hundred-dollar-prize essay, and in a one-thousand-dollar-prize essay. We have been asked which is the better one of the essays. We can only reply that there is no “better” about it—each is worse than the other. Yet we are not prepared to say that the trustees of Dartmouth College, and the American Sunday-school Union, have done a wholly bad work in paying the prizes by which these essays were put before the world. We are certainly justified in supposing that these essays furnish the very best argument for Sunday-keeping that can be made in the United States; and we think it well that the utter groundlessness of the Sunday institution either in Scripture or reason, should be made to appear, as is done in these essays, even though it be at an expense of $1,500. Yet it does seem a pity to pay so much good money for so many bad arguments, in support of a worthless institution. 

The commandment of God reads the same to us that it does to these prize essayists and to everybody else. It says to all: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.... The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” And for our part we hope we shall never reach the point where we shall regard ourselves at liberty not to keep the commandment of God, for to keep the seventh-day Sabbath is the commandment of God. He who regards himself at liberty not to keep it, regards himself at liberty to commit sin. (End Excerpt)

• 

God, Help Us Not to Be Deceived.

 Listen! An angel was seen! This angel was flying in heaven and he had the gospel of Jesus with him! This gospel would be given to everyone on earth, everyone. And this angel cried out loudly, telling us to reverence God, to stand in awe of God, to comprehend what it means to fear God, and we are to give God glory! We are told the hour of God's judgment has come! The living and the dead, all will be judged prior to the return of Christ, not a single person will escape this judgment. The angel cried loudly so all would hear, all would know that we are to worship God- God who in the beginning made heaven and earth, the sea and the fountains of water. God created all of heaven and earth and we know this from the beginning! We worship God… we are told to keep the Sabbath, our Creator who made heaven and earth made the Sabbath for us so we could worship Him continuously!

Worship God our Creator, never forget to worship Him.

Another angel was seen and the angel had this message for us. Spiritual Babylon is fallen, the harlot, the opposer of all things of God. Babylon whose poison infected all the nations of the earth, every single one! Babylon who played the harlot, the complete opposite of the bride of Christ! Babylon who longs to take all with her, to keep all from God. Babylon whose poison has seeped into the human race wreaking havoc by stealing all those she can through deceit, through lies!

Then a third angel was seen! And this angel too cried out very loudly wanting ALL to hear! We are told if we worship the beast and the beast's image, if we receive the mark that labels us followers of the beast. If we consent with our sound minds, and agree through our actions to follow this beast, we are marked! If we are marked as the beast's, marked as belonging to the image of that beast,  marked as receiving the beast's name -we will received all the horrors of the wrath of God!

Told to worship God.

Told Babylon (the opposer of God) is fallen.

Told the beast, the beast image, will mark our entire lives permeate our actions our thoughts, and if this happens we will endure God's wrath, for the beast opposes God.  

We also know this…. That those who claim and really, truly, honestly believe they are doing God's will and worshiping Him will also receive the mark of the beast! They will! When Christ comes they are going to tell them they are His, but He is going to tell them He doesn't know them!  All those living when Christ returns will have either the mark of the beast, or the seal of God, all. 

If Christians can receive the mark of the beast, if you can think you are doing God's will and still receive the mark of the beast, how can you prevent this!?

We are told how. We MUST keep the COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, and we MUST have the FAITH OF JESUS.

You say you do this already? Remember, those who think they are doing this will be told by Christ that He doesn't know them! So how can we know!?

We have to KNOW the commandments of God, particularly the one that talks about heaven and earth and worship…  why this one? Because we are told by that first angel to Fear God, to give glory to God, to worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of water-- this is why! 

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

Keep it holy… we worship on the Sabbath of the LORD our GOD, the Sabbath He created for us, for that purpose! Our Creator created all and if we aren't worshiping Him on the DAY He created but some substituted day, we will be deceived and we will receive the mark of the beast and not the seal of God.

God help us NOT to be deceived!

2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 

2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 

2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 

2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

*******

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,  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. 

And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 

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, 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: 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. 

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.   And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them

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.  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. 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.  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? 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.  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 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. 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. 

If any man have an ear, let him hear. 

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. 

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. 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. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,  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. 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. 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: 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. 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. 

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

(Excerpt)

Syllogism- logical argument involving three propositions. 

FIRST SYLLOGISM

MAJOR PREMISE: “The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:28. 

MINOR PREMISE: “The seventh day is the Sabbath.” Exodus 20:10. 

CONCLUSION: Therefore, the Son of man is Lord of the seventh day. 

Just as surely as the Scripture is true so surely is this conclusion true. Then using this conclusion as a major, we form a 

SECOND SYLLOGISM

MAJOR: The Son of man is Lord of the seventh day. 

MINOR: The day of which he is Lord is the Lord’s day. 

CONCLUSION: Therefore, the seventh day is the Lord’s day. 

Now with this conclusion as a major, we form our 

THIRD SYLLOGISM

MAJOR: The seventh day is the Lord’s day. 

MINOR: John says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” Revelation 1:10. 

CONCLUSION: John was in the spirit on the seventh day. 

If there is any truth in Scripture or logic, these premises and conclusions are true. Of course the second and third syllogisms are dependent upon the first; but as both the major and the minor in the first are plain, positive statements of Scripture, the conclusion is strictly according to Scripture. And, we repeat, just as surely as the Scripture is true the conclusion is true, that the Son of man is Lord also of the seventh day; that the seventh day, and that day only, is the Lord’s day; and that John “was in the Spirit” on the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord. Whosoever therefore would keep the Lord’s day must keep the seventh day; for “the Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath,” and “the seventh day is the Sabbath.”

(End Excerpt)

Perfect God, Perfect Law

 The royal law, the ten commandments, the law written by the finger of God Himself, the law placed into the ark of the covenant, the law Jesus reiterated in His ministry, the commands that are never to be done away with- not a dot of an i, or a cross of a t, the moral law, unless we have this law there is no light in us, the love of this law converts our souls, the saints keep the commandments of God, commands Jesus witness as He was in the wilderness with God and the newly freed children of Israel.  

You want to know how important it is to recognize the full force of the ten commandments is still in effect today? 

There could be NO sin without the ten commandments being an integral part of our lives. You say, fine, do away with the ten commandments and there will be no more sin. I say, it's impossible to ever do away with the ten commandments. You may stop enforcing them in your life, but God never will, they are the representation of God Himself. We can never do away with them, never. Those ten commandments sum up love. 

It is Satan who instigated the very breaking of the ten commandments, even before they were written in stone and only known as God is known. Satan caused Eve to put another before God- the first sin, the first breaking of one of the ten commandments. All sin has its roots in the ten commandments because we are told sin is the transgression of the law. 

We know the ten commandments are unchangeable and when one would think to change the law… we know they are evil. God's perfect could never be less than perfect. Man could corrupt it and change it into something it isn't, but God would never change it, never. The epitome of evil is to think God would ever have to change, or that His perfect law would ever be less than perfect in any way. 

(Excerpt)

CHAPTER IV. SOME ONE-THOUSAND-DOLLAR REASONS FOR KEEPING THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK

Having now seen Mr. Waffle’s and the American Sunday-school Union’s, presentation of the reasons for disregarding and abandoning the plain precept to observe the seventh day, the Sabbath of the Lord, there yet remains to be noticed the reason why the first day of the week is kept. Mr. Waffle tells us that the apostles “were led to observe the first day of the week as the Sabbath, and gradually to abandon the seventh, by a variety of occurrences which seemed to them to warrant the change, and which, when carefully studied, leave no doubt in our minds that they acted in accordance with the divine intention.” But how Mr. Waffle knows that these things seemed to the apostles to warrant the change, he nowhere tells us. And, as the apostles themselves have nowhere said a word on the subject, we have no confidence in Mr. Waffle’s imagination of motives which he attributes to them. 

Of these “occurrences” he says:— 

“The first of them was the resurrection of our Lord. Each of the evangelists mentions very particularly the fact that this took place upon the first day of the week, showing that they felt it important to mark the day.... But they might not have given the day the prominence they did if Christ had not distinguished it, by choosing it for most of his appearances to them and other disciples. On the same day on which he arose, he appeared no less than five times.... But the fact that Christ rose on that day and manifested himself so often to the disciples, would not necessarily imply a purpose on his part to honor it, had it not been for subsequent occurrences.”—Pp. 192-194. 

Here it is admitted that our knowledge of the purpose of Christ to honor the first day of the week depends upon occurrences other than his resurrection, and upon occurrences after those of that same day. Therefore, if these “subsequent occurrences” should not be what Mr. Waffle claims, then the fact stands confessed that we have nothing that implies a purpose of Christ to put honor on the first day of the week. Now the first of these subsequent occurrences he relates as follows:— 

“For six days he did not appear to them at all, so far as the record shows; but ‘on the eighth day, or as we should say, on the seventh day afterwards,’ he appeared to the eleven as they were gathered in a closed room.”—P. 194.

But there is no such record as that he appeared to his disciples “on the eighth day.” The reference here is, of course, to John 20:26, which reads: “And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them; then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.” And when Inspiration has written “after eight days,” we should like to know by what right, or rule, it is that Mr. Waffle reads “on the eighth day,” and then, not satisfied with that, gives it another turn and reads, “as we should say on the seventh day afterward.” “On what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he is grown so great” that he can thus boldly manipulate the words of Inspiration? And what can a cause be worth that can be sustained only by resort to such unworthy shifts? It is true that Mr. Waffle quotes the clause from Canon Farrar, but we deny the right of Canon Farrar, or any other man, just as much as we deny the right of Mr. Waffle, to so manipulate the word of God. And it is one of the strongest evidences of the utter weakness of the Sunday cause that, to sustain it, such a consummate scholar as Canon Farrar is obliged to change the plain word of God. But someone may ask: Will not the Greek bear the construction that is thus given to the text? We say, emphatically, No. The words exactly as John wrote them, using English letters in place of Greek letters, are these, “Kai meth’ hemeras okto,” and is, word for word, in English, “And after days eight.” These are the very words that were penned by the beloved disciple, exactly as he penned them, by the Spirit of God; and when any man, we care not who he may be, changes them so as to make them read “on the eighth day,” or “on the seventh day afterward,” he is guilty of deliberately changing the word of God, as it was written by his own inspired apostle. And no cause can be the cause of God that is dependent for its support upon a change of the truth of God. 

The next occurrence is the claim that Pentecost was on the first day of the week. But even though it were admissible that Pentecost was on Sunday, the word of God is still silent about the first day of the week being thereby set apart and made the Sabbath. And so long as we have only the opinions of men, and these opinions only the fruit of their own wishes, and these wishes supported only by their own imaginations, that Sunday is the Sabbath, or the Lord’s day, so long we have the right to deny the truth of it, and to stand upon the “plain precept” of God, which, as Mr. Waffle says, “directs” that “the seventh day of the week” shall be kept holy. 

Again Mr. Waffle says:— 

“The Christians, at a very early date, were accustomed to hold their religious meetings on that day. The custom seems to have been begun a week from the day of the resurrection (John 20:26), though a single instance of the kind would not make this certain. But there can be no doubt concerning their habit at a later date. We read in Acts, ‘Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.’ The plain implication of these words is that it was the custom of Christians to meet on that day for the Lord’s Supper.”—Pp. 197, 198. 

Notice that he says of this “custom” that “a single instance of the kind would not make this certain.” Now it is a fact as clear as need be that the instance in John 20:26 was not on the first day of the week. It is likewise a fact that, so far as the word of God tells, the meeting recorded in Acts 20:7 is the only religious meeting ever held on the first day of the week. This, then, being the one single instance of the kind, and as “a single instance of the kind” would not make it certain that it was the custom, therefore it is plainly proved that there is nothing that would make it certain that it was the custom for the apostles to hold meetings on the first day of the week. Well, then, it seems to us that service having for its authority only a custom about which there is nothing certain, is most certainly an unsafe foundation upon which to rest the reason for disregarding the plain precept of Jehovah. Reader, we want something more substantial than that to stand upon when every work shall be brought into the Judgment. 

Next Mr. Waffle quotes 1 Corinthians 16:2: “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store,” etc., and says:— 

“It is evident that Paul desires them to bring in their offerings week by week and leave them in the hands of the proper church officers.”

It is certainly evident that if that is what Paul desires he took the poorest kind of a way to tell it. Just think of it, Paul desires that Christians shall “bring in their offerings week by week and leave them in the hands of the proper church officers.” And so that his desires may be fulfilled, he tells them, “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store.” That is, each one is to lay by him his offerings, by leaving them in the hands of somebody else! And such are the reasons for keeping Sunday instead of the Sabbath of the Lord! 

There is one more; he says:— 

“John speaks of this as ‘the Lord’s day.’ He says, ‘I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.’ If he had meant the Sabbath, he would have called it by that name. His expression is analogous to ‘the Sabbath of the Lord,’ which we find in the Old Testament; but it cannot mean the same day.”—P. 199. 

And why not, pray? “Analogous” means “correspondent; similar; like.” Now if the expression “the Lord’s day” is correspondent to; if it is similar to; if it is like the expression “the Sabbath of the Lord,” then why is it that it cannot mean the same day? Oh, Mr. Waffle’s prize essay says that it cannot, and isn’t that enough? Hardly. Christ said, “The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.” The day of which Christ is Lord, and that day alone, is the Lord’s day. But the day of which he was speaking when he said those words is the seventh day. He had not the slightest reference to any other day. He was speaking of the day which the Pharisees regarded as the Sabbath, which everybody knows was the seventh day of the week. Therefore, when “he said unto them,” “The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day,” it was with sole reference to the seventh day. God had said, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord,” and now when, with sole reference to the seventh day, Christ says, “The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath,” it shows that the seventh day, and that alone, is the Lord’s day. 

Here we shall present a series of syllogisms on the subject, which will make the point so plain that no person can fail to see it. (End Excerpt)

Knowing What Isn't In God's Word Is Important Too.

 Luk 12:11  And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 

Luk 12:12  For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. 

1Pe 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 

Joh_5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

2Ti_3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness

Sometimes it is important to know what isn't in the Bible.

People might be shocked to realize what things they can't find in God's word, things God's had nothing to do with. Others want you to believe they are God's word and do all they can to pass them off as being of God, but they aren't.

Amo 3:7  Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

Isa_8:20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

We are told this…

Rev 14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 

God's commands are all in His word to us. If we cannot find the truth in His word then it isn't truth.

May God give us open hearts and open eyes through the Holy Spirit to enlighten us to what is truth, so we are NOT deceived by the carefully cultivated lies of Satan. Satan twists the truth, and makes his lies so close to truth only God can help us discern the true from the lie. Please, God, help us to be convicted of YOUR truth and only Your truth! Let those cherished lies we've believed for years and years hold no weight with us any longer. Let Your revealed truth be our only standard, our only hope. All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever, in His peace and grace! 

Amen!

(Excerpt)

CHAPTER III. SOME ONE-THOUSAND-DOLLAR “REASONS” FOR DISREGARDING THE PLAIN PRECEPT OF JEHOVAH

We come now in this one-thousand-dollar-prize essay to the discussion of the change from the seventh to the first day of the week in the observance of the Sabbath. It is true that, as already shown, the author of this essay leaves no room for any change; nevertheless he insists that there has been a change, and insists on giving “reasons” for it. And as reasons to be worth $1,000 ought to be pretty good, we shall, as far as in us lies, give our readers the full benefit of them. To get a full and fair statement of the question before us we shall quote again a passage previously referred to, as follows:— 

“Accepting the conclusion that the fourth commandment is still in force, it may very properly be asked, Why then do not Christians obey it by keeping holy the seventh day of the week, as it directs? By what right is this plain precept disregarded and the first day of the week observed? This question is a natural one, and unless a satisfactory answer can be given, the Christian world must stand convicted of error.” 

Now we are prepared to hear what he proposes shall be the “satisfactory answer,” and which we have good reason to suppose the American Sunday-school Union considers “a satisfactory answer,” seeing they paid $1,000 for it. Mr. Waffle’s first effort at “a satisfactory answer” is the following:— 

“The fact that the observance of the first day of the week is so nearly universal and has been of such long continuance is very significant.”

That certainly is not a satisfactory answer. In fact, it is no answer at all. It is simply a begging of the question. But he says it is “very significant.” Significant of what? Why, this:— 

“It suggests that there must have been some good and sufficient reason for the change.”—P. 184. 

That is to say: The “plain precept” of God has been disregarded by nearly everybody for a long while; therefore there must be some good and sufficient reason for it. In other words: It must be right because nearly everybody does it. But he knows that such doctrine as that will never do, even in a one-thousand-dollar-prize essay, so he immediately adds this caution:— 

“Too much should not be made of this, for the church has sanctioned many false doctrines and been tainted by many corrupt practices.” 

That is the truth. And one of the falsest of her many false doctrines, and one of the most corrupt of her many corrupt practices, is the disregard for the “plain precept” of God as laid down in the fourth commandment, and the substitution for it of the observance of the heathen institution of Sunday, in defense of which Mr. A. E. Waffle writes, and the American Sunday-school Union prints, this essay, which was counted worth a thousand dollars. 

His next attempt at a satisfactory answer is this:— 

“We have taken the custom of keeping the Sabbath on the first day of the week as we found it; and while this does not exempt us from the duty of inquiry, it throws upon those who question our course ‘the burden of proof.’”—P. 185. 

Can anything be too absurd to find a place in a prize essay on the Sunday-sabbath? Here is a proposition that is contrary to the commonest king of common sense, as well as to the rules of logic and of evidence. Dr. Carson says: “It is self-evident that in every question the burden of proof lies on the side of the affirmative. An affirmation is of no authority without proof. It is as if it had not been affirmed. If I assert a doctrine, I must prove it; for until it is proved it can have no claim to reception. Strictly speaking, it exists only on its proof; and a mere affirmation of it is only an existence on affirmation. If I obstinately refuse proof, I leave my doctrine without foundation, and a simple denial of it is sufficient. No man can be called upon to disprove that which alleges no proof. It is a truth as clear as the light of the sun, that, in every instance, proof lies with the affirmative, or with the holders of the doctrine or rite. If presumption has the privilege of casting the burden of proof on the other side, then every man has a right to decline defending his own opinions, and to cast the burden of proof upon those who dispute them. Can anything be more monstrous?” Yet in this grand prize essay this monstrosity is just what is presented as “a satisfactory answer” to the question, “By what right is the plain precept of the fourth commandment disregarded and the first day of the week observed?”

One other statement he makes in this connection, which we wish to transcribe. He says:— 

“It is not claimed that the apostles began to keep the Sabbath on the first day of the week immediately after the death of Christ.”—P. 189. 

Then on what day did they keep the Sabbath immediately after the death of Christ? Did they keep it on the seventh day, or did they keep no Sabbath at all between the death of Christ and the time when it is claimed they began to keep the first day of the week? In either case, would there not be just as much apostolic example for not keeping the first day of the week as there would be for keeping it? 

After having begged the question of “a satisfactory answer” through more than five pages, he comes to the discussion of the question of reasons for the change. This he introduces with the question:— 

“Was there any reason for such a change?”—P. 190. 

And in answer to his own question he again begins at once to beg the question thus:— 

“If the apostles were guided by the Holy Spirit when they made it, we need not ask for their reason.” 

This might be readily enough allowed if the apostles had anywhere told us that they did make the change. But when, as Mr. Waffle himself says, “so far as the record shows, they did not give any explicit command enjoining the abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath, and its observance on the first day;” and when men insist upon palming off upon us by the authority of the apostles something that the apostles knew nothing about, we insist that we do “need to ask for the reason.” 

But Mr. Waffle continues to beg his question. He says:— 

“But since the reality of the change is disputed, we may say that if good reasons for it can be discovered, they furnish presumptive proof that it really took place under divine direction.” 

But if reasons were discovered which should seem to us good, does it follow that these would be good reasons in the sight of God? Does it follow that these reasons will bear the test of the Judgment? And if, without any command of God, reasons should be discovered which seem to us good for the performance of what we deem religious duties, and we insist upon men’s performing these supposed duties, then what is that but to make human reason, instead of the word of God, the standard of human duty? And what is that but to usurp the prerogative of God? And what is that but to imitate the papacy? This is just what is done by Protestants when they insist upon the observance of Sunday, when, even as they admit, so far as the record of God shows, there is no command for it. Though they number to the one hundredth figure their so-called reasons for it, we care not. If there be no command of God for it, there can be no reason for it. 

At last, by the help of all this beating about, Mr. Waffle actually reaches the place where he introduces the “reasons” which he has begged so hard may be admitted. The first of these is this:— 

“One such reason can undoubtedly be found in the abuses which had gathered around the Jewish Sabbath. Christ would not burden his church with such a Sabbath as the rabbis had made; and the easiest way to get rid of these abuses was to change the day.”—P. 190. 

The second reason is:— 

“The Gentile churches would never have accepted the Sabbath of the Jews as they had come to observe it.”—Id. 

The third reason is:— 

“Christians were not to observe the Sabbath precisely as the Jews had kept it before these abuses arose and while they were acting in accordance with the divine law.”—P. 191. 

To take the space to refute such puerile “reasons” as these, seems to us an imposition upon the good sense and intelligence of our readers. As for the first, if there be any truth at all in it, we should be obliged to believe that Christ changed almost every precept of God; for there was scarcely one which the rabbis, the scribes, and Pharisees had not made void by their traditions and abuses. As for the second, it really has no place; for the great Author of Christianity never asked the Gentile churches, nor any other churches, to accept “the Sabbath of the Jews as they had come to observe it.” But he does ask all to accept the Sabbath of the Lord as he himself observed it, and as he taught that it should be observed. For this cause he swept away the traditions and abuses that the Jews had heaped upon it. As for the third, what is said there is, in fact, that “Christians were not to observe the Sabbath by acting in accordance with the divine law”(!), which is simply abominable. 

But such are the “reasons” for disregarding the plain precept of Jehovah. It was for such “reasons” as this that the American Sunday-school Union, “after a painstaking and protracted examination,” paid a prize of $1,000. There is, however, just one redeeming feature of this subject. That is, the author of these “reasons” relieves the apostles of all responsibility for them. He says:—

“We do not say that the apostles saw these reasons and were governed by them. We offer them in explanation of the fact that they were led by the Spirit to make the change, and as suggesting a probability that it would be made.”—P. 192. 

We think Mr. Waffle does well to relieve the apostles from the folly of any knowledge of these preposterous “reasons.” And we are certain that all will do well to remain just as far from seeing and being governed by these “reasons” as were the apostles. In this we have an instance of “apostolic example” that we can all safely follow. 

Right here we would insert another important consideration. It is this: Why should Mr. Waffle search for reasons, or for any example of the apostles for not keeping the seventh day? He had already written on pages 167-8 of his book (page 137 of this book) that:— 

“[Christ] not only maintained the sacredness of the Sabbath by his words, but he also kept it as an example for us.” 

The only day whose sacredness Christ ever maintained as the Sabbath was the seventh day. The only day which Christ ever kept as the Sabbath, “as an example for us” was the seventh day of the week. Then why does not Mr. Waffle follow that example? Why does he pass by the example of Christ and try to create and hold up before men an “example of the apostles” which differs from the example of Christ? The fact of the matter is, and this point conclusively proves it, that in refusing to keep the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath of the Lord, Christians not only disregard the plain precept of Jehovah, but they also repudiate the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. (End Excerpt)

It's Coming- The Time of Trouble Such As Never Seen Before.

 We want the world to be redeemed. We want governments to be truly for the people. We want good to overrule evil. We want justice, and fairness, we want peace in our world. We live in such a fractured time, but I honestly believe that most people say that of the times they live in. We have a long, long history of chaos. In fact, some movies depict alien races reviewing our history and deciding we aren't worth saving, we are too violent as a rule, our leadership is so poor there has never been worldwide peace. Just like those fiction writers can make their characters see our world from an other worldly point of view, they do so with the other world having achieved peace. Of course as stories go, just for the sake of trying to redeem our human race the writers will have that other worldly race have its own problems- they make them have underlying evils that are just hidden by a façade of peace and so on and so forth.

We're a broken world, and we will remain a broken world until it is made new.

We have a history book that first of all tells us of past history, then it gives us prophetic history. The book has a perfect record of its prophetic word. So of course people who have studied this book want to know if it still contains prophetic history to yet be unfolded. It does. Having a perfect track record enables the people to realize that anything that is still in store for this world that has been written in this book will come to pass in the future, without a single doubt.

This book tells us that there will be chaos in our world until the world is redeemed. There is no prophecy for world peace prior to this redemption. We are told prophetically great evil is in store, evil that will rival any prior evil- right before the Redeemer returns. Trouble such as never was seen.

Dan_12:1  And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

That time of trouble is looming larger and larger to life. The thing is, many people are imagining how that time of trouble will come and their imagination is leading them astray. They are very confident that they are following all of God's truth, of His commandments, His royal law- but in truth they are following blindly the laws man has substituted for God's laws- and very convincingly so.  I've actually heard someone once say to me that if so many people believe it, then it has to be right. Like a knife to the gut those words hit me because that is a Satanic deception that has blinded the eyes of so many people. They read these words of God that mean this-- that broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go that way- and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few go that way-- and they still don't comprehend the truth. Their words of so many believing it has to be true are saying….the broad path to destruction is truth. Blind, wanting to remain blind, even as God's word cries out to be comprehended. Ultimately, God allows mankind to be blind knowing that is the choice of the mankind- God forces truth upon no one

God help us ALL! Open our eyes LORD, open our understanding! Let us see the truth and only the truth even if it means knowing the majority of people will NOT follow Your truth, but their cherished traditions and fables, all fabricated by Satan.

Save us, Lord! Save us from ourselves! We believe, help Thou our unbelief!!!!!!!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, NOW and FOREVER! Amen. 

1Jn 5:19  And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 

1Jn 5:20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 

1Jn 5:21  Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

The whole world lies in wickedness. 

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 

Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 

Many go to destruction, few go to find life.

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 

1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 

1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. 

Of the world, or of God.

Joh 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 

Joh 15:19  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 

Joh 15:20  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also

The world hates those chosen to be out of the world. We are not of the world.

Gal 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father

He will deliver us from this present evil world.

Tit 3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 

Tit 3:4  But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 

Tit 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 

Tit 3:6  Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 

Tit 3:7  That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life

According to HIS MERCY.

(Excerpt)

CHAPTER II. “THE CHRISTIAN WORLD MUST STAND CONVICTED OF ERROR.”

Having shown that the Sabbath was given “at the beginning of human history,” “for the whole human race, and should be observed by every human being;” having shown that the law of the Sabbath not only has never been abrogated, but that it “can never be abrogated,” Mr. Waffle proceeds thus:— 

“Accepting the conclusion that the fourth commandment is still in force, it may very properly be asked, ‘Why then do not Christians obey it by keeping holy the seventh day of the week, as it directs? By what right is this plain precept disregarded and the first day of the week observed?’ This question is a natural one, and unless a satisfactory answer can be given, the Christian world must stand convicted of error.”—P. 184. 

Here are some important acknowledgments. It is acknowledged (1) that the fourth commandment “directs” that “the seventh day of the week” shall be kept holy. This is important in this connection in view of the claim so often made nowadays by Sunday-keepers that the fourth commandment does not refer to any particular day. And (2) it is acknowledged that this “plain precept” is “disregarded” by Christians. We think he does well to state that “unless a satisfactory answer can be given” to the question as to why this is, “the Christian world must stand convicted of error.” We are perfectly satisfied that the Christian world must stand convicted of error on this question. And to prove that this is so, we need nothing better than Mr. Waffle’s one-thousand-dollar-prize essay; and that is the use that we propose to make of it in this chapter. 

The fourth commandment, which Mr. Waffle here admits “directs” that “the seventh day of the week” shall be kept holy, is the law of the Sabbath. Says Mr. Waffle, “The law of the Sabbath can never be abrogated.”—P. 157. Now as the law of the Sabbath directs that the seventh day of the week shall be kept holy, and as that law can never be abrogated, it is plainly proven that the “Christian world,” in disregarding “this plain precept,” must stand convicted of error. 

Again, Mr. Waffle says:— 

“Unless it can be shown that the law of the Sabbath, given at the creation, has been repealed by a new legislative act of God, it is still binding upon all men who learn of it.”—P. 136. 

And:— 

“Up to the time of Christ’s death no change had been made in the day.” “The authority must be sought in the words or in the example of the inspired apostles.”—P. 186. 

Then he quotes Matthew 16:19, and John 20:23, and says:— 

“It is generally understood that these words gave to the apostles supreme authority in legislating for the church.... So far as the record shows, they did not, however, give any explicit command enjoining the abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath, and its observance on the first day of the week.”—P. 187. 

Now as “the law of the Sabbath” “is still binding upon all men who learn of it” “unless it has been repealed by a new legislative act of God;” as that law “directs” the observance of “the seventh day of the week;” as “up to the time of Christ’s death, no change had been made in the day;” as “the authority [for the change] must be sought in the words or in the example of the inspired apostles,” to whom (according to Mr. Waffle’s claim) was given “supreme authority in legislating for the church;” and as in the exercise of that legislative authority, “they did not give any explicit command enjoining the abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath, and its observance on the first day of the week;” as, therefore, there has been no new legislative act of God—by Mr. Waffle’s own words it stands proven to a demonstration that the law of the Sabbath which enjoins the observance of “the seventh day of week” is still binding upon all men, and that in disregarding “this plain precept” “the Christian world must stand convicted of error.” 

Again we read:— 

“If the law of the Sabbath, as it appeared in the ten commandments, has been abolished, it must have been done by some decree of Jehovah. Where have we the record of such a decree? Through what prophet or apostle was it spoken?” “We can find no words of Christ derogatory to this institution as it was originally established, or as it was intended to be observed.” “There is nothing in the writings of the apostles which, when fairly interpreted, implies the abrogation of the Sabbath.”—Pp. 160, 165, 183. 

The law of the Sabbath, “as it appeared in the ten commandments,” is the fourth commandment. And that commandment, by Mr. Waffle’s own interpretation, “directs” that “the seventh day of the week” shall be kept holy. Now as the abolition of that commandment would require some decree of Jehovah; and as no such decree has ever been recorded, nor spoken, neither by prophet nor by apostle, the obligation of the fourth commandment still remains upon all men to keep holy “the seventh day of the week.” Therefore, in disregarding this “plain precept,” “the Christian world must stand convicted of error.” 

We must recur to a sentence before quoted. It is this:— 

“The authority [for the change from the seventh to the first day of the week] must be sought in the words or in the example of the inspired apostles.” 

Now with that please read this:— 

“A law can be repealed only by the same authority that enacted it. It certainly cannot be done away by those who are subject to it.”—P. 160. 

Was the law of the Sabbath enacted by the authority of the words or the example of the inspired apostles? Was it enacted by the authority of inspired men of any class, or at any time? No. The very idea is preposterous. Then it can never be repealed by the authority of inspired men, be they apostles or what not. That law was enacted by the living God in person. And it can never be repealed except by the personal act of the Lord himself. Any attempt of an inspired man to nullify any portion of the moral law would vitiate his inspiration. “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20. This is also conveyed in Mr. Waffle’s argument: “It certainly cannot be done away by those who are subject to it.” The inspired apostles were subject to the law of the Sabbath, as well as to all the rest of the law of God. And to charge to their words or to their example, the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, is to deny their inspiration, to declare that there is no light in them, and to place them beyond the pale of being men of God. This, too, is even admitted in Mr. Waffle’s argument. He says:— 

“There is nothing in the example of the apostles to oblige the most tender conscience to abstain from secular employment on the first day of the week, if there is no other authority for observing a weekly Sabbath.”—P. 160. 

Please bear in mind (1) that the aim of this one-thousand-dollar prize essay is to prove that the first day of the week is the true, genuine, and only weekly Sabbath; (2) that the author of the essay admits that the fourth commandment “directs” that “the seventh day of the week” is to be kept holy; (3) and that he likewise declares that the apostles, as supreme legislators for the church, “did not give any explicit command enjoining the abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath, and its observance on the first day of the week.” Then it is plain that all that remains to which he can appeal, and in fact the only thing to which he does appeal as authority for keeping the first day of the week, is the example of the apostles. Then when even this he sweeps away with the declaration that “there is nothing in the example of the apostles to oblige the most tender conscience to abstain from secular employment on the first day of the week,” his argument leaves not a vestige of authority upon which to rest the observance of the first day of the week. Thus, again, he demonstrates that in disregarding the “plain precept” of the fourth commandment, which “directs” the “keeping holy the seventh day of the week,” and which is “still in force,” “the Christian world must stand convicted of error.” 

That is exactly what we have believed for years. It is just what we are constantly endeavoring to set before the “Christian world,” as well as before the world in general. And we are thankful that the American Sunday-school Union, by its one-thousand-dollar prize, has enabled us to lay before our readers such a conclusive demonstration of it. We are not prepared to say but what the Union has done a good work in awarding the one-thousand-dollar prize to the essay of Mr. A. E. Waffle, M. A., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature, etc., etc.; for we cannot see how it would be possible to put together an argument for the first day of the week which could more positively convict the Christian world of error in disregarding the plain precept to keep the seventh day. (End Excerpt) 

Death of Your Eternal Life.

 Killing Your Eternal Life.

2Ti 2:25  …those that oppose themselves

Opposing ourselves. Do you oppose yourself?  You might instantly say no, you might think you are all about loving yourself, but if you've dismissed eternal life, if you've dismissed God, if you've dismissed Jesus Christ, then you've missed salvation and ultimately you are your own enemy, you've dismissed your eternal life. 

Throwing away eternal life, who in their right mind would do such a thing?! If you were approached on the street by a stranger who offered you eternal life at no cost to you, you'd dismiss them instantly, right? They would have to be a looney. But let's suspend reality for a moment. Let's imagine this is a real thing, the person is the real deal. They hold out a card and tell you to just say the words on the card out loud seven times and poof, you have eternal life.

Would you do it? Would you want eternal life? Why wouldn't you? That's a good question isn't it? They are all good questions. 

But because eternal life is not found in a magical, mystical way. Because eternal life isn't given in an instant with you disappearing and going off and living happily ever after in that very moment, a lot of people simply dismiss it entirely.

Satan would have us believe we are very wise, very smart- smarter than the deceived fools who believe in a Creator, and a Redeemer.  Satan loves listening to men and women go on and on about how they don't believe, he revels in that kind of talk. Satan takes great pleasure in the millions of enlightened people who have believed his urging towards not believing in God or Jesus. Of course, those same enlightened people don't believe in him either and that is just fine with him. Satan could care less if you believe in him, he just doesn't want you believing in God and Jesus.

Are you against yourself? We've all heard about being our own worst enemies and you know what, it's often true. We can be our own worst enemies and the thing is, it can happen without our even recognizing it. How awful it is when we are so deceived we don't even know that we are mortally, eternally wounded. 

We oppose ourselves. We endanger our eternal life, why?

2Ti 2:25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 

2Ti 2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. 

Please God, peradventure and give repentance to those who oppose themselves and are caught in the snare of the devil, captive by him. Please.

Thank you, Father, thank you.

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever.  Amen.