Righteousness by Faith Not Works.

 Continued from previous post:

The pagans also worshipped on Sunday, but their worship included feasting and partying.  The church reasoned that there was little chance of converting the pagans if all stayed the way it was, so it slowly began to change in order to get more people to convert.  The big thing they changed was Sabbath observance.  By changing the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday, they knew the pagans would be more inclined to convert and, since the church already considered Sunday a holy day in honor of the resurrection, it was a simple thing to slowly shift emphasis from Saturday to Sunday. 

…testimony of Jesus.

 Before Jesus came to this world, the Old Testament prophets prophesized about him and the work that he would do.  In the meantime, the sacrificial system was in place where someone who sinned would sacrifice an animal and his or her relationship with God would be restored.  Revelation 19:10 says, For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.  It is the plan of redemption prophesized by the Old Testament prophets that Jesus fulfilled when he came to this earth, died, and went to heaven as our advocate.  Once Jesus came, we no longer had to make a sacrifice or do any work in order to be accepted by God; Jesus did and is doing all the work for us.  This is called Righteousness by Faith; our relationship with God is put right through belief and trust in Jesus.  And we do not have to go to the temple or to a priest to seek restoration of a right relationship with God, we go straight to Jesus and he does it for us as our High Priest in the temple in heaven.  He is our High Priest who argues our case, who gives “testimony” on our behalf, who offers his life and his death in our place, granting us forgiveness and eventually eternal life.  The writer of the book of Hebrews says, …we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle…  But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  …how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living god?  (Heb. 8:1, 2; 9:11, 12, 14)

Why did the Catholic Church hate the testimony of Jesus?  Because it usurped their power and control of the people and it took money out of their pockets.  As we have seen, the Bible teaches that Jesus is our High Priest and he shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins.  The Catholic Church, in the spirit of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, saw an opportunity to control individuals, obtain absolute power, and make a lot of money.  So it began to teach that you had to confess your sins to a priest in order to gain forgiveness.  

Then you had to prove that you had truly repented of your sin by paying some sort of retribution.  This would be in the form of penances, such as saying so many Hail Mary’s, performing some physical hardship, or doing charity work.  Those who could afford it could bypass the acts of penance and pay for what was called an Indulgence.  (See Appendix 1)  The Church made money and they had complete control over the actions of their subjects.   Thus the Church had substituted themselves and their own rules in place of Jesus and his sacrifice.  The horn had …magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host (Jesus); and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him…  (Dan. 8:11)

Thyatira gave “testimony” to the truth by refusing to go to a Catholic priest and say confessions, by refusing to do any kind of penance, and by refusing to buy any indulgences. Martin Luther discovered the truth about Jesus being our priest and our substitute while he was still a Catholic Monk. He saw that confession to a priest, the performance of penances, and the selling of indulgences were wrong, and this led him to rebel against the false church he had loved and the false beliefs he had held all his life, starting the Protestant Reformation that took place during the Sardis church era. 

…this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts. (Dan. 7:8)  The Catholic Church was not blind, it knew what it was doing and even bragged that it had the power to do what it did. (See Appendix 4)  In Daniel 8:12 it says the horn, …will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.  The Catholic Church did as it wished, flinging truth to the ground if it got in the way, and it prospered mightily.  Anyone else who wanted to prosper fell into line because the horn only gives, …great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many… (Dan. 11:39)  But those who opposed him paid the price.  Daniel said, …He will destroy mighty men and the holy people. (Dan. 8:24)  Just like the three kingdoms that opposed the Bishop of Rome when he was given power by Justinian, the church waged war against those who ...keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

 As we have seen, the horn held absolute power for 1260 years, from 538 CE to 1798 CE.  During this time the two lamp stands, the two churches Thyatira and Sardis, held on to the truth.  They kept God’s commandments and gave testimony of the truth of Jesus.  But why do Daniel and Revelation spend so much time on this?  Because not only was it a big deal in the past; it is going to happen again in the future.  The more we understand the experiences of Thyatira and Sardis, the better prepared we will be when history repeats itself and Laodicea, the seventh and final church era, faces the same things. 

The effect of the changes made by the Catholic Church can still be seen today.  Sunday is when most Christians keep the Sabbath; priests still hear confessions; penances are still assigned to the repentant.  Now that you know the truth, what will you do with it?  Jesus said, From everyone who has been given much, much will be required…(Luke 12:48)  You have been trusted with the truth, God is now watching to see if you measure up to his trust.

The Blasphemous Horn in the Book of Revelation.

 

Do you remember the mouthy, blasphemous horn we saw in chapter two of this book? 

It is mentioned in Daniel 7:8 and Daniel 8:9-14, 23-26 as arising after Greece.  But we had questions about this because we knew Rome followed Greece.  Well, here our questions are answered.  This mouthy, blasphemous horn does arise after Greece, but we can see here that it comes out of Rome and after the Western Roman Empire had been carved up into ten kingdoms.  And this horn does uproot and subdue three of the ten kings.  When the Emperor Justinian declared the Bishop of Rome as head of the Christian churches and gave him civil powers to go with his new religious powers, three of the ten kingdoms opposed this.  The Heruli, the Vandals and the Ostrogoths fought against this new arrangement but by 538 CE the last of them had been crushed.

The Bishop of Rome, the Pope of the Catholic Church, the blasphemous horn, was now unopposed and was able to wield its unlimited powers as it saw fit for 1260 years.

 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names…And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.  There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.  And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.  It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them….  Rev. 13:1, 2, 5-7

This beast came out of the sea, meaning it arose out of people (see Appendix 2) and the dragon, Satan, backed this beast with all his power.  Here again we see the 42 months, the1260 years, of authority, so this beast must be the same entity as the horn.  Revelation 17:9 says, The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.  The woman referred to is Jezebel, the false church, …Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots… Rev. 17:5.  The seven mountains give us her location:  the seven hills of Rome, the city where the Pope lives and from which the Catholic Church rules.  We know that a beast represents nations, kingdoms, or political powers (see Appendix 2), so the Catholic Church’s depiction here as a beast shows the political authority it wielded as well as its religious authority. 

 One thing you must remember: the Catholic Church referred to in prophecy describes the leaders of the church, those who operate with the spirit of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.  There have been millions, and there are still millions, of innocent and sincere members of the Catholic Church who do not know the truth and are led astray by the leaders of the church. 

We have not explored why the false church persecutes those who refuse to follow her lead.  Revelation 12:17 tells us that the persecuted depicted in Revelation are those who …keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.  What does this mean and why does it threaten the false church? 

 The commandments of God…

Even if we do not know exactly what the commandments are, most of us have at least heard of the Ten Commandments.  You can find them listed in Exodus 20:3-17. 

But even the Catholic Church knows that the Ten Commandments are still in effect, right?  Yes they do, as do almost all Christians of all denominations, but there is one commandment that the Catholic Church changed and that the followers of truth refused to honor.  One of the things Daniel said about the horn was that, He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in laws. (Dan. 7:25)  In the Commandments of God, which one of his laws has to do with times?  It is this one: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  (Exodus 20:8)  

Did one of your parents ever tell you “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it!”, reminding you where you came from and who is the boss? 

That is the basic purpose behind the Sabbath commandment, although God uses much kinder words.  God set up the Sabbath after creation as a reminder to us that he made the world (Gen. 2:1) and, when we honor the Sabbath, we are recognizing God’s power and authority over us.  Often, when God is talking about himself or when others refer him to, the fact that God is the creator is included in his title.  (See Rev. 4:11; 10:6; 14:7.)  He is not called the God who said not to covet, or the God who does not like adultery (even though he did say not to covet or commit adultery).  No.  He is referred to as our creator, and in recognition of that he asks us to honor him by devoting one day per week to him.

The Jews kept what we know as Saturday, the seventh day at the end of the week, as the Sabbath day.  Jesus, when he was on earth, would go to the synagogue on Sabbath (Luke 13:10) and he called himself the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28).  If he is our example and if he called himself Lord of the Sabbath, why would he give us an example and call himself Lord of something that was going to be changed? 

 Luke, who was writing about Paul at Corinth in the book of Acts, said that Paul went to the synagogue every Sabbath to reason with the Jews (Acts 18:4)  If the Sabbath had changed, why did Luke call the day the Jews gathered at the synagogue Sabbath?  Why not say, “Paul went every Saturday”?  The author of Hebrews says, …there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (Heb. 4:9)  The Sabbath remains, it is not a new or a different one, it is the one that has always been.

The Emperor Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to be converted from paganism to Christianity but most of his subjects remained pagan.  At this time the church was still keeping Saturday as Sabbath but it was also observing Sunday as a holy day in remembrance of Jesus’ resurrection.  

 These days were ones of fasting and prayer. 

   The church knew that the more people it could get under its influence, the more power it would have and the more money it could make. The Catholic Church makes no apologies for its actions.  You see, the church admits openly that it changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.  (See Appendix 4)  Truly the horn made … alterations in times and in laws. (Dan.7:25) 

The true churches of God, Thyatira and Sardis, refused to obey the Catholic Church and continued to …keep the commandments of God…  They were hunted, persecuted, and suffered the Inquisitions of the Catholic Church, but they held fast.

 

Revelation: Jesus Our High Priest.

These posts are copies of my sister's book, "The End is Near. 

Continued from previous post...

“…testimony of Jesus.”

Before Jesus came to this world, the Old Testament prophets prophesized about him and the work that he would do.  In the meantime, the sacrificial system was in place where someone who sinned would sacrifice an animal and his or her relationship with God would be restored.  Revelation 19:10 says, “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  It is the plan of redemption prophesized by the Old Testament prophets that Jesus fulfilled when he came to this earth, died, and went to heaven as our advocate.  

Once Jesus came, we no longer had to make a sacrifice or do any work in order to be accepted by God; Jesus did and is doing all the work for us.  This is called Righteousness by Faith, our relationship with God is put right through belief and trust in Jesus.  And we do not have to go to the temple or to a priest to seek restoration of a right relationship with God, we go straight to Jesus and he does it for us as our High Priest in the temple in heaven.  He is our High Priest who argues our case, who gives “testimony” in our behalf, who offers his life and his death in our place, granting us forgiveness and eventually eternal life.  

The writer of the book of Hebrews says, “…we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle…”  “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”  “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living god?”   Heb. 8:1, 2; 9:11, 12, 14

                   Why did the Catholic Church hate the testimony of Jesus?  Because it usurped their power and control of the people and it took money out of their pockets.  As we have seen, the Bible teaches that Jesus is our High Priest and he shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins.  The Catholic Church, in the spirit of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, saw an opportunity to control individuals, obtain absolute power, and make a lot of money.  So it began to teach that you had to confess your sins to a priest in order to gain forgiveness. 

Then you had to prove that you had truly repented of your sin by paying some sort of retribution.  This would be in the form of penances, such as saying so many Hail Mary’s, performing some physical hardship, or doing charity work.  Those who could afford it could bypass the acts of penance and pay for what was called an Indulgence.  (see Appendix 1)  The Church made money and they had complete control over the actions of their subjects.   Thus the Church had substituted themselves and their own rules in place of Jesus and his sacrifice.  The horn had “…magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host (Jesus); and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him…”  Dan. 8:11   

Thyatira gave “testimony” to the truth by refusing to go to a Catholic priest and say confessions, by refusing to do any kind of penance, and by refusing to buy any indulgences. Martin Luther discovered the truth about Jesus being our priest and our substitute while he was still a Catholic Monk. He saw that confession to a priest, the performance of penances, and the selling of indulgences were wrong, and this led him to rebel against the false church he had loved and the false beliefs he had held all his life, starting the Protestant Reformation that took place during the Sardis church era. 

“…this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.” (Dan. 7:8)  The Catholic Church was not blind, it knew what it was doing and even bragged that it had the power to do what it did. (see Appendix 4)  In Daniel 8:12 it says the horn, “…will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.”  The Catholic Church did as it wished, flinging truth to the ground if it got in the way, and it prospered mightily.  Anyone else who wanted to prosper fell into line because the horn only gives, “…great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many…” (Dan. 11:39)  But those who opposed him paid the price.  Daniel said, “…He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.” (Dan. 8:24)  Just like the three kingdoms that opposed the Bishop of Rome when he was given power by Justinian, the church waged war against those who “...keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

           

As we have seen, the horn held absolute power for 1260 years, from 538 CE to 1798 CE.  During this time the two lamp stands, the two churches Thyatira and Sardis, held on to the truth.  They kept God’s commandments and gave testimony of the truth of Jesus.  But why do Daniel and Revelation spend so much time on this?  Because not only was it a big deal in the past; it is going to happen again in the future.  The more we understand the experiences of Thyatira and Sardis, the better prepared we will be when history repeats itself and Laodicea faces the same things. 

The affect of the changes made by the Catholic Church can still be seen today.  Sunday is when most Christians keep the Sabbath; priests still hear confessions; penances are still assigned to the repentant.  Now that you know the truth, what will you do with it?  Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required…” Luke 12:48  

Here are the Catholic Ten Commandments:

1. I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

http://www.beginningcatholic.com/catholic-ten-commandments

Here are the 10 Commandments from God's Word:

And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

http://www.godstenlaws.com/ten-commandments/#.WLzoqvnyu00