#9
How Millions Have Been Misled
Don’t Let it Happen to You

There was a time in World History when most people believed that the earth was flat. When Columbus boarded his ships and sailed west from Spain for several weeks, his sailors were terrified. They were certain they would fall off of the edge of the world! A few centuries before that, most sailors were afraid to leave the Mediterranean Sea and sail down the coast of Africa, for fear that they would soon reach the end of the world.

Had the people back then taken the Bible seriously and looked into it they would have seen that God said the earth was round! The prophet Isaiah, writing about God, says,

<Isaiah 40:22>
“It is He who sits above the circle of the earth...”

That’s written 2,000 years before Columbus sailed west in search of India.

Just because most people believed the earth was flat didn’t make it so! Tonight I especially want to talk with my Protestant friends because we’re going to look into the Bible and history to discover how millions of us have been fooled by a myth. But believing a myth doesn’t make it true! Are you ready? Give me 30 minutes before anybody moves!

The speed with which the early Christian church tobogganed downhill into apostasy takes one’s breath away. Even before Peter, Paul, and the other apostles died, things were going terribly wrong. That’s because immediately after Jesus went back to heaven, Satan launched a cunning campaign against the infant church, determined to lead people into error. To ruin Christianity.

Paul cried out in 2 Thessalonians 2:7:

“...the mystery of lawlessness is already at work...”

“Beware of [these] dogs, beware of evil workers...”

he said in Philippians 3:2. Beware of compromises.

Christianity. Tumbling, tumbling downhill into apostasy. In the 1st century, some began teaching heresies. Like, for example:

1. They denied Jesus had a real body. (1 Jn. 4:1-3)
Paul was bitterly harassed by an off-shoot group who followed him preaching.

2. “Another gospel” – of works. (Phil. 3:2; Gal. 1:6)
Immediately after the days of Jesus, Satan stirred up this great controversy again. This great play and counter-play between the forces of good and evil in the universe. And you and I are the prize. We’re the game. Every time God’s divine inspiration reveals truth to us, Satan counters by attempting to confuse, twist and distort the truth – to wrench away our allegiance to Christ. And Satan’s greatest deceptive efforts to produce apostasy zeroed in to fool millions by myths.

3. The doctrine of what happens when you die.
Satan widely distorted it in the second century A.D. In the 3rd century one of the early church fathers by the name of Origen taught that you have…

4. A second chance after death.
The doctrine of…

5. Righteousness by faith faded completely from the picture very early. Satan saw to it that it gave way to forgiveness by penance through bishops.

Another strange doctrine arose in the second century when Christian novels began to popularize…

6. Virginity and celibacy as much more pleasing to God than marriage.
In fact some synods even went as far as to say adultery could never be forgiven, so best not to marry at all. So monasteries and convents popped up everywhere. You see, Satan set the stage very early for…

7. The exaltation of tradition – what people say – above Scripture.
Putting more importance on man’s ideas than on what the Bible says.

8. The doctrine of apostolic succession.
The idea that the bishop in Rome automatically had all of the authority of the apostle Peter.

9. The supremacy of the church in Rome all the way before A.D. 300! And we might well expect that…

10. The Sabbath was among the earliest doctrines to be abandoned in the first centuries. Why not? In view of the special place God intended the Sabbath to fill, it would be strange if Satan had not attacked the Sabbath early.

But the same prophetic “voice” that predicted the rise and fall of political world empires also predicted many centuries before, the rise and progress of great religions upon this earth. It predicted a great historical apostasy – turning away from the truth. And tonight this Voice of Prophecy SPEAKS again!

“Johnny,” said the teacher, “How many legs does a puppy have if you call its tail a leg?” “Five,” said little Johnny. “Wrong!” said the teacher. “For to call his tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg!” It doesn’t matter what you call something – it doesn’t change what it really is. You can call this table a chair. But it is still a table!

Millions of sincere people today believe the day God wants them to worship Him is Sunday, the first day of the week: but to call Sunday “Sabbath” doesn’t make it so!

The Bible from beginning to end testifies to the fact that God established the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week. No place in Scripture does God indicate that He has changed that day of worship and rest. Before I unfold “Evil’s Masterstroke Revealed,” let me first carefully review for a moment what we have found by a study of His prophetic Word. Follow me closely.

When God finished creating Planet Earth, He created the 7th-day Sabbath as a memorial of Creation. When God wrote His 10 Commandment Law at Mt. Sinai, the Sabbath was put in the very heart of those commandments.

<Exodus 20:8, 9>
“Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work...”

“Oh! And don’t forget,” God reminds us:

<Deuteronomy 4:2>
“Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”

God says,

<Psalm 89:34>
“My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.”

Jesus, in His Sermon on the Mount, said:

<Matthew 5:17-19>
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. [give full meaning.] For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven...”

And that’s why the Bible tells us Jesus modeled for us keeping holy the Sabbath. He gave us an example. When the high muckety-muck religious leaders accused Jesus of violating the Sabbath and breaking it, Jesus said, “Don’t tell Me how to keep the Sabbath. I’m Lord of that day. I made it!”

<Mark 2:27, 28>
“...The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

In Matthew 24, looking far into the future to the days of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., Jesus said, in Verse 20,

“And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.”

Of course, Orthodox Jews have worshiped on the seventh day since the Exodus, more than 3,500 years ago. Throughout the rest of the New Testament, Jesus’ followers continued to honor the Sabbath.

You see, friend, even if the Bible were our only source of information, we would still be able to determine which day is the seventh day Sabbath. Take Easter for example.

The Gospel of Luke explicitly identifies the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday morning as the “Sabbath according to the commandment.”

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John identify the resurrection day – Sunday – as “the first day of the week,” and they call the seventh day “Sabbath.” The biblical record is crystal clear, showing us Christ and His disciples never changed the day of worship.

If they had changed God’s 10 Commandments, that would have been the lead article in every New Testament Book of the Bible – a momentous change! No one has the right to alter God’s Law! Did you know that scholars from Sunday-keeping churches agree?

Catholic Cardinal James Gibbons wrote: “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday.”

Clovis G. Chappell, a Methodist, concedes the same point: “The reason we observe the first day instead of the seventh is based on no positive command. One will search the Scriptures in vain for authority for changing from the seventh day to the first.”

R. W. Dale, for the Congregationalists, says:
“It is quite clear that, however rigidly or devoutly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath...There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday.”

We could quote others: From “The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church;” the Church of England; Baptists; Lutherans; Christian Church. Father T. Enright, a Catholic priest, said, “I have repeatedly offered $1,000 to anyone who can prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy. There is no such law in the Bible. It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone. The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church says, ‘No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.’ And, lo! The entire civilized world bows down in a reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church.”

But the real question is this: If there’s no biblical record Christ or His disciples kept any other day – and any minister today agrees – then how did Sunday-keeping get started?

Since there’s no hint of a change in the Bible, we have to turn to history. How? Why? and When was this change made? It came about through an involved combination of circumstances in history. Let me share just a few highlights. But first, let me share something very important so we don’t point fingers of criticism at anyone or any particular denomination.

When we go back into early Christianity there were no denominations. So we’re talking about our church – the Christian church as a whole – here. Let’s remember that. My church and your church.

Sure, there was persecution. There were heresies! There were compromises. But to simply point the finger at any one denomination is misleading. Because for 1000 years there weren’t any other denominations. So, whether you’re a Protestant or a Catholic, this was our heritage. Our church.

Did they make tragic mistakes? Yes. Just like they do today.

Our Christian church committed these mistakes and adopted these myths.

But an honest love for the Lord and a desire to rediscover end-time prophetic truth demands that we pray real hard and hold hands together as we with humble heart prove and study all things. Let’s proceed. The evidence points us to Rome.

We learn from Socrates Scholasticus, a fifth-century historian: “Almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries (the Lord’s Supper) on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.”

A gradual change of days in some areas began sometime between A.D. 70 and 135, the dates when two bitter and bloody rebellions by the Jews were crushed by the Romans. You’ll remember Jews hated Rome. Well, Rome finally got fed up with the Jewish revolts.

A doctoral thesis on the Change of the Sabbath, written at the Pontifical University in Rome, states, “Beginning with the first Jewish Revolt against Rome (66-70), various repressive measures military, political and fiscal – were imposed by the Romans upon the Jews.”

That only added fuel to the fire! So again in A.D. 135 another major Jewish revolt led by Bar-Kokkba was crushed by the armies of Emperor Hadrian. Listen to what history says happened:

“Outraged, Roman Emperor Hadrian at this time prohibited the practice of the Jewish religion throughout the empire, condemning especially Sabbath observance.”

Notice what’s happening here. Christians were keeping the Sabbath, too. But they weren’t Jews! And since the Romans were becoming more and more hostile to Jews, Christians didn’t want to be thought of as Jews. And since Sabbath-keeping tended to identify them with the Jews, some Christians decided not to give much emphasis to Sabbath observance anymore.

Quoting history, “Impressive indications (suggest) that Sunday observance was introduced at this time in conjunction with Easter-Sunday, as an attempt to clarify to the Roman authorities the Christian distinction from Judaism.” In other words, some Christians – especially in Rome – began using Sunday as their day of worship instead of Saturday – so that the Romans wouldn’t treat them like Jews.

This is a historical fact. At first, Sunday was kept only once a year – at Easter – when Christians celebrated Christ’s resurrection.

But with this background in mind, it’s easy to see how Christians living in Rome, the capital city of the Roman Empire, where they hated Jews, led the way in disassociating themselves from Sabbath-keeping. Rome held Jewish Sabbath-keeping in contempt. Roman Christians protested, too:

“We’re not Jews! And to prove it, we’re going to go so far as to shy away from Sabbath-keeping!” Now no Jew would say that! But the Bible does tell us the church at Rome was composed mostly of Gentiles.

Paul, addressing the church in Rome, said:

<Romans 11:13>
“I am talking to you Gentiles...” – converts who were former pagans.

The Gentile pagans weren’t nearly as familiar and established in Sabbath-keeping as were Jewish Christians, who’d always practiced Sabbath-keeping.

But why was Sunday finally chosen rather than some other day of the week? Good question! But pagans – guess what day they worshiped on? They’d been sun worshipers for millennia, celebrating Sun-day as the sun god’s day.

So Christians in Rome saw an advantage in compromising with paganism. We’ll worship on the pagan’s “sun-day” but call it the Lord’s Day instead! By adopting just a few pagan customs, all these pagans will convert to Christianity more quickly and feel more at home. Besides, we’ll benefit the Roman empire, uniting its subjects into one great religion. How right they were! But oh, how wrong! Christianity slid into apostasy as all kinds of pagan rites and ceremonies crept into the church! (Read Alexander Hislop’s, THE TWO BABYLONS!)

History tells us, at first Sunday was celebrated, not as a holy day at all, but just a holiday. For years both days were kept. The Apostolic Constitutions, Book 7: “The erosion of the purity of the Apostolic church stood firm and pure, but when the second and third generation Christians came along, we see evidence of compromise and apostasy.”

Historian Dr. W. D. Killen writes, “Between the days of the apostles and the conversion of Constantine [that would be about 300 years later]...rites and ceremonies of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank of Divine institutions.”

“Oh, we’ll just adopt a few pagan customs. Sprinkling instead of baptism by immersion. Images that people bow down to. Prayers to saints. Belief in purgatory. Infant baptism instead of baptism of believers who have carefully thought out their decision to be Christians. Worshiping on the sun-god’s day.” But now the church became more pagan than Christian. In fact, Emperor Constantine was so amazed at how popular Christianity was becoming throughout the Roman empire, he decided he’d be baptized, too. History tells us one day he marched his entire army down into the river and said, “Now you’re all baptized!” (Well, they got wet, all right. But it didn’t change their hearts. Christianity was now more pagan than Christian!) Tumbling into apostasy and compromise.

Then came the first civil Sunday law passed by the Roman Emperor Constantine on March 7, A.D. 321. He was still a pagan sun-worshiper, but he legislated: “On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrates and people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits.”

But then, the church jumped on the band wagon. Because the next step in making Sunday-keeping part of Christianity was taken by the church at Rome in the Council of Laodicea. The first religious law concerning the keeping of Sunday. Notice:

“In the year 325, Sylvester, Bishop of Rome changed the title of the first day, calling it the Lord’s day.”

And then at the Council of Laodicea, in A.D. 364, the Roman Church issued this law: “Christians shall not Judaize (keep Sabbath) and be idle on Saturday...but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honor, and, as being Christians, shall if possible, do no work on that day. If however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out...from Christ.”

Well, they didn’t have faxes or email or newspapers back then, so few people knew! So in spite of these changes, history confirms many, many Christians still observed the Sabbath even as late as the sixth century.

In France, Italy, and Germany, historians record that clear into the Middle Ages, the Waldenses, and Albigenses, observed the seventh-day Sabbath. Africa. The islands of the sea. They hadn’t gotten word the Sabbath was changed! In fact, did you know St. Patrick of Ireland kept Sabbath? News of the change hadn’t reached Ireland by the time he died, so he was a Sabbath-keeper! The Celtic church in England and Ireland kept the Sabbath.

Meanwhile, back in Rome, Pope Gregory denounced “as the prophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day.”

Keep in mind the Bible was not available to everyone back then as it is now. For centuries, no one had a Bible! Doctrines were passed along from the clergy by word of mouth until the laymen could scarcely distinguish between Scripture and tradition.

Very few people really knew the truth as taught by Jesus or His disciples. By the sixth century the Sabbath truth lay almost dormant, hidden under centuries of tradition. Nobody could examine what the Scriptures taught. So they accepted what had been passed along by the religious hierarchy for generations, never questioning whether it was fact or fiction.

Centuries passed, until in 1517 the Protestant Reformation came. Suddenly Luther and the reformers got a copy of the Bible and began questioning countless rites and traditions that had supplanted the teaching of God’s Word. The cry of Luther and the reformation was: “The Bible and the Bible only as our rule of faith.” Many reformers like Huss and Jerome, paid for their fidelity to the Bible by being burned at the stake!

But back to our question: How was the Sabbath finally changed? Listen to the following amazing statements by Roman Catholic authors, whose church led the way in the change from Sabbath to Sunday.

“The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant by virtue of her Divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.”

If you go to catechism class to become a Catholic, here’s what you will read from the Convert’s Catechism:

Q: Which is the Sabbath day?

A: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Q: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

A: “...the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”

Someone asks, “Lonnie! Does the Catholic Church openly admit this change?” Yes! Why? The answer lies in a major difference between our Catholic friends and Protestants; on one simple item. The Bible. You see, when it comes to authority, Catholics place greater confidence in tradition above Scripture. Here’s what our Catholic friends believe, from official “Catholic Belief”:

“Like two sacred rivers flowing from paradise, the Bible and divine Tradition contain the Word of God...Though these two divine streams are...of equal sacredness,...still, of the two, TRADITION is to us more clear and safe.”

The main point of difference between Protestants and Catholics is: the authority of tradition in the church. When Martin Luther declared, “We must follow the Bible and the Bible only,” he challenged many, many institutions of the Catholic Church based solely on tradition. (Indulgences. Penance. Purgatory. Prayers to Mary. Mass. The rosary.)

Luther’s challenge got so serious the Council of Trent was convened to decide exactly what position the Catholic Church should take on tradition and its relationship to the Bible. Listen to how the question was finally settled.

Quoting from Catholic dogma: “Finally, at the last opening on the eighteenth of January, 1562, all hesitation was set aside: the Archbishop of Reggio made a speech in which he openly declared that tradition stood above Scripture. The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the Church had changed...the Sabbath into Sunday, not by command of Christ, but by its own authority.”

Notice! What swung the pendulum to put tradition above Scripture when all seemed at a standstill? It was the fact that the church had changed one of God’s commandments on the authority of tradition! Protestants tonight – you may be more surprised than Catholics over this revelation. Roman Catholics have long taken pride in tradition – they believe the authority for their church is tradition, not Scripture.

The Bible doesn’t support tradition as the basis for Christian doctrine. So Jesus asks religious leaders today,

<Matthew 15:3>
“...Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”

And He adds,

<Matthew 15:9>
“But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

Do you see the issue? It’s not a question of days. The real question is: Will you follow our Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible? Or, human traditions? It’s not a matter of days and numbers. It’s a matter of masters! That’s the real issue! Is Jesus’ Word master – or the traditions of some organization?

It takes a great deal of courage to decide in favor of Jesus and against the traditions and rules of human beings. But all over the world, today, people are demonstrating that kind of courage. In Rwanda, for example. Let me tell you about Nyira and Irene. These two young lades were in their senior year at a public university in Butari. Together they enrolled in a class that was required for graduation. Rwanda follows the French system of education in which the final exam is the sole evaluation of the students' work. If one did not sit for that examination, the entire year’s work would be lost.

While the majority of the Rwandan professors were understanding of Sabbath problems, many times guest professors from Europe were not.

Nyira and Irene believed in keeping the Sabbath holy, according to the commandment of God. But they soon learned that the examination for this particular class would fall on a Sabbath. On Wednesday of examination week, they visited with the guest professor. “Sir, we are Sabbath keepers. Saturday is the Bible Sabbath. Can you arrange to have us sit for the examination on another day?” they asked.

The answer was abrupt and a bit harsh. “No, you must take the examination with the others.”

The two girls spent a lot of time in prayer. Friendly students sympathized with their problem. “Surely your God will understand. You ought to take the exam,” their friends suggested.

On Friday the girls visited with their professor again. This time he was even harsher in rejecting their request. “There will be no exceptions,” he told them. “You must appear for the exam. This is final.”

As they discussed their problem that evening, they made their decision. “Even if we lose this entire year, we will not take the exam. We will retake this year’s study next year.”

Early Sabbath morning, they took a hike into the nearby forest. They spent several hours in prayer. They prayed until it was time to go to the stadium for Sabbath School and church.

Their fellow students appeared for the examination at 8:00 A.M. The professor was not present. The minutes passed as the students waited. At 10:00 a teacher appeared and informed the students that the copies of the examination could not be located. The exam would be rescheduled.

As the girls left church, their classmates said, “Your God must love you very much. The examination has been rescheduled.”

What marvelous courage those young ladies showed. Don’t you admire them?

Now friends, let me share one more very important thing with you. These young ladies are not alone in facing tests of their loyalty to God and the Sabbath day that He has set aside as a rest day and a day to worship Him. In a few nights we will study the prophecy of Daniel 7 where God revealed to Daniel that the “little horn” of Dan. 7:25, would…

“...think to change God’s times and laws...”

This power thought to do this, but God’s still the same today. He hasn’t changed! And a time is coming when all of us will have to decide where our loyalty lies. With God, or with the powers of this world. I hope you’ll plan to be here when we study this prophecy and its implications for us more carefully.

We’ll also be looking at the book of Revelation, where the Apostle John prophesied a last-day back-to-the-Bible message of revival and reformation, just like you’re hearing tonight.

<Revelation 14:6, 7>
“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth – to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people – saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come;
and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’”

That’s quoting right out of the Sabbath Commandment! Don’t worship tradition! Worship the Creator, the One who made the Sabbath, He’s coming to judge mankind. So John says: “People, get ready to meet Jesus. How? Worship Him on His Sabbath day!”

<Revelation 14:12>
“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

In these closing hours of history, if you want to have the Faith of Jesus, keep His commandments. But see? Millions today have been fooled by a myth!

Jesus asked us to remember only one commandment – the Sabbath. And all the world forgot! REMEMBER Him as Creator by keeping His Holy Day. “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” (Jn. 14:15; 15:14). When we do what Jesus asks, we show loyalty. There’s no greater honor than to do something for someone else just because they asked you! If we keep a man-made Sabbath, we obey man’s traditions. A myth. But when we discover God’s will, it’s our joy and privilege to turn and follow it. By the way, Jesus had something to say about man’s traditions:

<Matthew 15:8, 9>
“These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

<Mark 7:9>
“You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!”

Do you see the issue? Jesus said, “...Their hearts are far from Me.” Friend, it is really a matter of the heart. A matter of love. The Bible says,

<1 John 5:3>
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

One day, as Jesus was teaching, He made a surprising statement. He said not everyone was going to go to heaven.

<Matthew 7:21>
“Not everyone who says Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

That’s very plain. The choice is up to you, just as the choice was up to Nyira and Irene:

On the one side we have truth...on the other, tradition.
On one side we have the Bible...on the other, human teachings.
On one side we have God’s command...on the other, doctrines of men.
On the one side we have God’s Sabbath...on the other, the day of the sun.

It’s not a matter of days. It’s a matter of “masters.” It’s a matter of following Jesus. It is not just those who SAY they belong to God but those who DO what He has told them to do. Those, Jesus says, will be welcomed into the kingdom of God.

Will you love Him? By letting Him write His Law on your heart? Will you let Jesus be the One who runs your life so that you can do His will?

I would like to invite you to make one of the most important decisions of your life! To follow God’s truth, not man-made tradition. Tonight, why not tell Jesus you’ll follow Him all the way.