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I beg your pardon, if I said 1 Corinthians 11, its 2 Corinthians 11. So I’ll give you time to get over there to 2 Corinthians 11. Now let’s begin in verse 1. And sometimes we have to be a little sarcastic or cynical like the apostle Paul was here, because of what these false apostles were doing. Verse 1, “Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with [a] godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:1-2). Now this means this: anyone who is a true Christian, who has received the Holy Spirit of God, and is betrothed to Christ by that Spirit through baptism to become the bride of Christ, they are to remain virgins. But if they go out and dabble in false religions and get involved in lies and believe false apostles, then they lose their virginity. Now they may be able to repent and still be saved, but the question is open - will they still be part of the bride of Christ? Well, God will have to make that decision.

Now verse 3. And he’s talking to those who were supposed to be converted. “But I fear, lest by any means [or that is, any way possible], as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus,…” And there’s only one. Now if in your church you have pictures of a long-haired Jesus, you have another Jesus. First of all, you’re not to have any pictures, because that’s an idol. Second, long hair is a shame for a man to have, and Jesus never sinned, so He never had long hair. That’s another Jesus. “…Whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit,…” one of the elemental spirits of this world, which come through vain philosophy. “…Which ye have not received, or another gospel,…” There we go again - another gospel. They’re changing, and twisting, and perverting the gospel. And that’s what happens when they change from Sabbath to Sunday. They changed and perverted and twisted and turned it upside-down and did away with the holy days of God; did away with the Christian Passover. Look - if you’re just beginning to understand about the Sabbath and coming out of Sunday, let me tell you, you better hurry up and really start getting with it. Because there’s not much time for you to know and understand the truth. And you have been so deceived, that for me to say it with the urgency that I am, maybe you consider me a raving lunatic. Well I don’t know. That’s up to you.

Another Jesus, or another spirit, “…which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might will bear with him.” And that means, “Why, you just count it all wonderful. Oh, isn’t that lovely!” “For I suppose [Paul said] I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles” (vs. 4-5). Has no reference to Peter. This is these hot-shot false apostles, as we will see here in just a minute. Now let’s come down here to verse 13. “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers [because they are agents of Satan the devil], transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.” Meaning God never called them. God never intended them to be preaching and teaching or to be apostles. They took it presumptuously upon themselves at the behest of Satan the devil, and deceitfully said they are representatives of Christ.

And the greatest one on earth who has done that today is the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He is not of God, never has been of God, and he is doing the deceitful things that are all throughout the Bible. He leads people into idolatry; he leads people into sin; he absolutely denounces Sabbath-keeping, denounces holy day-keeping, denounces and said that we should never literally interpret the Bible. Now if that offends you and I sound like a raving lunatic, then you are in deep trouble with God. Because that is the truth.

Now let’s continue. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” And we just read that in Matthew 7, didn’t we? Yes we did. “I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. Seeing that many glory after the flesh,…” (vs. 14-15). Glorying after the flesh is all these great ceremonies, all of these great cathedrals, all of the money, all of the pomp, all of the ceremony; “Oh, how great this man is; how great that man is.” Glory after the flesh. If you go through the rosary, and you go to the Vatican and you are there when the Pope comes out and you bow down, you are going after the flesh. Those are all fleshly things.

“For ye suffer fools gladly,…” Allow fools gladly. Listen - the truth is, if you believe that Sunday-keeping and what those Sunday-keeping preachers teach you, you are accepting fools gladly. Think about it. If they are teaching you to sin they are teaching you foolishness. “…Seeing ye yourselves are wise. For ye suffer [or that is, you allow it], if a man bring you into bondage…” And that’s what happens if you go to Sunday-keeping. You are in the bondage of sin. “…If a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I” (vs. 19-22).

Now what does this tell us? This tells us that there were those going around saying, “Well, I’m from Jerusalem. Well, I’m from Judea. Well, I am from Galilee. I was there when Jesus healed all those people. And He was a wonderful, lovely man. But since then we have a new revelation. We have a new thing that we have added to the gospel.” He said, “…So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?…” (vs. 23). And the Greek here actually means in the next sentence, “I speak as insane.” Now they are not the ministers of Christ. So if I sound like a raving lunatic to you, you have the shoe on the wrong foot. All those false preachers who believe in Sunday and teach these things are the ones who are insane.

Now let’s come to 2 Thessalonians 2, and we will see that in the very first epistle that the apostle Paul ever wrote, that the mystery of iniquity was already working. And we see through 1 John, and 2 John, and 3 John - and we will go to 2 Peter right after this in just a minute - that all of these false teachers and prophets were coming in and twisting and turning the gospel upside down, and leading disciples astray, and getting them to believe in false doctrines. Now here, 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only He who now letteth [is holding back] will let [hold back], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked [one] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thes. 2:7-8).

We’re coming on a day when all the religions of the world are going to do just like they did in the days of Constantine. We’ll see that. They all were given all freedom of worship, including Christians, if they would keep Sunday. We’re coming back to a One World religion, and it’s going to happen in our time. And that is the one right here, verse 9, “…Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,…” Weeping Madonna’s; bleeding crucifixes; fire from heaven, as Revelation 13 shows. Great and undeniable miracles. And it will look like a lamb, but it will speak as a dragon, because it will speak against the way of God and bring in all of the satanic religions in it. “…And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness…” Do you think that you can stand against all the deceivableness of unrighteousness if you are not on God’s side, if you don’t have the Spirit of God, if you don’t know the Word of God, if you don’t understand the truth of God? Do you think that you can stand that day? No way. You are going to perish. It says, “…in them that perish;…” Now notice the reason: “…because they received not the love of the truth,…” (vs. 9-10).

We already discovered what the truth is, right? And if you don’t love the truth… and let’s back up to the subject of the Sabbath, now. If you don’t love the Sabbath, and if you don’t love the holy days of God - which are part of the Word of God - and if you don’t love the commandments of God, and the Word of God, and the law of God, you do not love the truth. And if you don’t believe what I have read to you from the Scriptures here, you do not believe the truth. So a penalty is going to come upon you which is going to come upon the whole world, because they don’t love the truth. They love to live in fantasyland; they love to believe in a lie. And everything about our modern life is built upon, religiously and economically, on lies and Satanism and demonism. And that is the truth. So what’s going to happen if you don’t believe the truth? Here it is right here. “…Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them [a] strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:…” (vs. 10-11).

Now when that happens, all of those who believe the lies will believe it with the same intensity and sincerity that they should believe the truth. But it’s a strong delusion. And it is coming. So let me ask you the question: do you want to be deceived? Do you want this strong delusion to come upon you because you won’t believe the truth? Or do you want to really come to God and repent and be baptized and receive the Spirit of God, and to know the love of God, and the truth of God, and to do the things that are pleasing in His sight? The choice is yours. God has set before you life and death, good and evil, but He commands you to choose life and to love Him.

Now let’s finish the question, how did all of this get started? Before we get there I want to read some things concerning: “Do they know?” Do the liars know they’re lying? Let’s just put it that way. Do the liars know that they are lying? And we will see the answer is “yes.” Because you see, when a liar comes to the point that he is so confident, he will brag on his lies. And let’s read it here. Here’s a Catholic admission concerning the Sabbath day. Now we already read the Scripture where the priests have “hid their eyes from My Sabbath.” And they’ve hidden them. “Incidentally, there is no proof in Scripture that God willed the Sabbath to be changed from Saturday to Sunday. So that those non-Catholics who do not accept the value of tradition as a source of faith…” Because, see, the Catholics say this: “We believe in the Bible, and the traditions of the fathers, and the words of the Pope.” God said no such thing. Jesus said you need to believe the Word of God. All the traditions that we have seen go against God’s way. “So those non-Catholics who do not accept the value of tradition as a source of faith should logically still observe Saturday as the Sabbath.” And this is from This Is The Faith: Catholic Theology For Laymen, by Francis J. Ripley, page 176.

Now here is from Faith Of Our Fathers, by Cardinal Gibbons, who wrote The Rise and Fall Of the Roman Empire. He says, “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation…” Now that’s the whole Bible. Does he know that that is true? Yes. Notice - they are admitting that they are enforcing a non-Biblical thing. So therefore they are enforcing a lie, and they are bragging about their lies, and bragging about their power and authority. “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, a day which we never sanctified.”

Now here’s another one concerning Sunday. And this is…let’s see…where is this from here? Ok. “Take for instance the day we...” This is from The Catholic Sunday: “What right have the Protestant churches to observe that day?…” And you see, the truth is, the Protestant Reformation started out really fine, and was going great guns. But it got stopped and it was never finished. And now all roads lead back to Rome. And it’s all over the Sabbath-Sunday issue. “Take for instance the day we celebrate: Sunday. What right do the Protestant churches have to observe that day? None whatsoever. You [that is, Protestants] say it is to obey the commandment, ‘Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.’ But Sunday is not the Sabbath according to the Bible and the record of time.” Now that includes all the places where it is the first day of the week. That includes all the excuses about “time has been lost.” They know better. Everyone knows that Sunday is the first day of the week, while Sabbath is the seventh-day.

“…And the Sabbath is the consecrated day of rest. It is so recognized in all civilized nations. It was the Holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week.” Now we’re going to see they did it secondarily. It was the pagan Roman emperor Constantine, whom the Roman Catholics look upon as being Christian, but he was never a Christian, as we will see. “It was the Holy Catholic Church…” And there’s nothing holy about the Catholic Church, by the way. God calls it an abomination and the mother of harlots. “…That change the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week. It is not only compelled to keep Sunday, but at the Council of Laodicea in A.D. 364 they anathemized those who kept the Sabbath and urged all people to labor on the Sabbath under penalty of anathema. Which church does the whole civilized world obey? Protestants call us every horrible name they can think of: Ant-Christ, the Scarlet Coloured Beast, Babylon, and etcetera; and at the same time profess great reverence for the Bible. And yet their solemn act of keeping Sunday, in that they acknowledge the power of the Catholic Church.” Quite an admission, isn’t it? “The Bible says, ‘Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.’ But the Catholic Church says, ‘No - keep the first day of the week,’ and the whole world bows in obedience.” Now that is arrogance at its height. And this is by Father T. Enright, Roman Catholic priest, Kansas City, Missouri.

Now let’s read some Protestant admissions. Do they know? Do the leaders of the religions of this world know? Yes. “The Lord’s Day is not sanctified by any specific command, or by any inevitable inference. In all the New Testament there is no hint or suggestion of a legal obligation binding upon any man, whether saint or sinner, to observe that day.” And that’s from The Bible Question, page 52.

 Dr. R. W. Dale, British Congregationalist says, “It is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath was founded on a specific command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday. There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday,” The Ten Commandments, page 127 and 129.

Alexander Campbell, founder of the Disciples of Christ said, “But say some, ‘It was changed from the seventh to the first day.’ Where? When? By whom? No man can tell.” Well, we’re going to see, yes, we can tell. “No, it was never changed, nor could it be, unless creation was gone through again. For the reasons assigned must be changed before the observance in respect to the reason can be changed. It is all old wives’ fables to talk of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week. The first day of the week which is now commonly called the Sabbath. This is a mistake. The first day of the week is never call the Sabbath anywhere in the entire Scriptures. It is also an error to talk about the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. There is not any place in the Bible, any intimation of such a change.” The First Day Observance, pages 17 and 19.

Now let me read you some quotes here. And this is taken from S.D.A. Outreach Organization, and its says, “Who changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? Was it the Roman Catholic Church? The Roman Catholic Church says yes, it was the Council of Laodicea in 364 A.D. But that was secondary. It was changed by Constantine.”

Now let’s go to Daniel 7 first, and let’s read a prophecy of how it was to be changed. And it was changed. And it was changed by the little horn; that is, the one that raised itself up. A lot of people think that’s the papacy, but it’s not. It was Constantine. Now it says here, verse 24, “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change the times and laws:…” It’s exactly what has happened with Sabbath-Sunday, and Christmas, and Easter, and all of that. “…And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time” (Dan. 7:24-25). And it comes right down to the second coming of Christ.

So let’s pick up here. This is very important. “It is claimed that Constantine’s edict of March 7, 321 A.D. changed the day. Constantine’s edict reads: ‘On the venerable day of the Sun let the magistrates and the people residing in cities rest. Let all workshops be closed…’” Now we need to understand: Sunday laws are coming again. They are being pushed in Europe right now, and they are being pushed from a supposedly non-religious sense through economics, by saying we have better, more stable economics if we all have one day of rest. “‘…Let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agricultural may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits.’”

Now there are many other things, and I’ll read some of these the next time. But what I want to read here is the story, or the history of Constantine, the man who changed the Christian church. Because Constantine was the most important figure to amalgamate those professing Christians and pagans, and bring them into a position where the Roman Catholic Church could be formed. Now this is going to be a little long, and it may be a little tedious. But I want you to listen at the profound message that this says, and the true history of it:

“As far is the history of Christianity is concerned, Constantine was one of the most influential men that ever lived. From the time that the Bible ended, about the year A.D. 96…” So it’s very important to understand that the Catholics did not have anything to do with the canonization of the text. It was the apostles of Christ. And it was finished by the time John died, which is pretty close here, “…A.D. 96. From that time until Martin Luther nailed his theses to the church door in 1517…” which was October 11, 1517. And by the way, the Catholics and Lutherans have signed a concordant that they are all back together again; and they signed it in the Wittenberg Cathedral where Martin Luther nailed the theses to the door. So Lutheranism is dead. Protestantism is dead. The last coffin that’s going to come into Protestantism is going to be when the monarchy of England allows a Catholic to sit on the throne. The Reformation will be dead in Europe. And the only singular place it will be left is in the United States of America, and Canada, and perhaps Australia and New Zealand.

“There was no single person that so changed the course of church history as did Constantine. Indeed, his influence was so vast that it continues to tower over Christendom to our own time, both in church customs and in church government. We owe a lot to Constantine’s intervention. It is for that reason that this biography has been prepared. Here is the man who changed history. If you are a Christian you will want to read this brief story, for it will explain many things to you. Without a clear understanding of what took place during the life of Constantine it is difficult to understand the simple pure life, doctrines, and church government that the people of God had before he came on the scene.

“After the crucifixion the followers of Christ carried the good news of salvation to lands near and far off. But that message was carried in spite of the rulers of Rome, who worshiped heathen deities and frowned on the new religion. In the two hundred and forty years between A.D. 64 and 304, there were several major persecutions of Christians by Roman emperors. Fortunately each period of persecution was short-lived, or the faithful followers of Christ would have been blotted from the earth. Yet, as it always does, persecution had a purifying effect on Christians, whether they were located in the wicked cities or out in the farmlands. In the province of God problems and trials were needed, for many of the Christians were gradually uniting with the world in the observance of heathen beliefs and practices. A surprisingly large number of pagan concepts that entered into the Christian church in the first three centuries of the Christian era originated in Alexandria, Egypt, or in the city of Rome.

“For some reason, those two local Christian churches where more modernizing than most other congregations. At that time Alexandria was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire. A worldly Christian seminary was located there and its faculty occupied itself with an ongoing new modeling of the Christian faith. Heathen ideas from pagan religions in Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and Asia Minor where explored, adopted, and taught to the ministerial students at the seminary. From there the ideas had a way of going to Rome, where the leaders of the local church there divided their time between copying worldly customs and trying to urge their adoption by all the other Christian organizations in the Roman Empire. In brief, Alexandria was surprisingly innovative in transforming Egyptian, Persian, Babylonian, and Greek paganism into Christianity, and Rome was amazingly bold in seeking to acquire acceptance of those new ideas in other Christian churches.

“It is interesting to note that the very same thing happened to Mithra. Just as soon as the essential aspects of Mithraism had been officially brought into the Catholic Church Mithraism disappeared within a century. Mithra was no longer needed, for his worship was now within the Christian church…” And we’ll rephrase that and say the false Christian Church, which became to be called Catholic. “Who was Mithra? In the Roman Empire he was the most important pagan god of the first three centuries after the time of Christ. In order to better understand Mithraism, we need to go back in history. The various days of the week in ancient times were called ‘the first day,’ ‘the second day,’ etcetera. Those were their Bible names. But just before the birth of Christ they were given new names - the day of the sun, the day of the moon, etcetera, which is Sunday and Monday, in honor of different heavenly bodies. This is known as the planetary week. Each day was ruled over by a different god, but the most important of them was the Sun-god that ruled over the first day of the week. It was his day, the day of the sun, and all the worship of the week had its focus on the worship of the sun on the first day.

“Now although these names of the week are relatively new, the worship of the sun-god was not. It was one of the most ancient forms of worship, and is represented by the solar disk worship found on nearly every continent in the world. Fawcett tells us that sun worship was the earliest idolatry.” Now then, he explains how that comes through ancient Israel too. “Now this is where Mithra comes in. Just as the planetary week - each day named for different planets in the sky - played a very important part in the worship of the sun, so Mithra became important as the leading sun-god after the time of Christ. By the beginning of the first century Mithraism had become the largest sun worship cult in the western world. Within the next two hundred years it became the largest pagan religion in the Roman Empire, surpassing all others. The Romans called him by the new name, Sol Invictus: ‘Invincible Sun’…” And we’ll see later, that’s what Constantine was told to conquer by.

“It is impossible to properly explain the dramatic changes that took place in Christianity without mentioning Mithraism. For during the first three centuries after the death of Christ it became the greatest pagan rival of Christianity. In Mithraism was an outstanding counterfeit. It had such features as a dying and raising god-savior; special religious suppers; special holy days, and the weekly cycle that was different than that of the Christians’, the Sun-day. An introductory baptism of its converts in the blood of a slain bull, as well as several other similarities. It counterfeited the religion of the true God more cleverly than any other religion up to that time in history. Mithra was especially worshiped by the Roman soldiers. And wherever they went throughout the Empire they spread the worship of Mithraism. When Augustus Caesar became emperor several decades before the birth of Christ, Mithraism was already spreading westward from Asia into Europe and throughout the Roman Empire. Since it was the Roman generals that frequently took command on the death of an emperor, this hastened the spread of Mithraism.

“As might be expected, within the passing of time the more worldly Christians of the Roman Empire began keeping the first day of the week, as well as the seventh day…” And that’s exactly what happened when they took down the largest Sabbath-keeping church in the world. They started keeping Saturday and Sunday, and they gave them the option as to what to do.

Now continuing, “By the middle of the second century, Mithra worship was very popular among influential Romans. Antonius Pious, emperor from A.D. 138 to 161, erected a temple to Mithra at one of the seaports just a few miles from the city of Rome. The emperor Alurian (A.D. 270 to 275), whose mother was a priestess of the Sun, made the solar cult the official religion of the Empire. His biographer, Flavius Volpiscus, tells us that the priest of the Sun temple were called ‘pontiffs’…” Same name that the Pope has today – pontiff. “…They were priests of their dying, rising savior, Mithra, and reigned as vice-regents of Mithra.” And that’s exactly what the Pope says he is today: he is vice-regent of Christ. So it’s another Christ. Not the true Christ, but the false Christ.

“Under Emperor Antonius Pious, Mithra was by official decree entitled, ‘Sol Dominus Imperial Romani’ – ‘The Son, the Lord of the Roman Empire.’ And his holy day was declared to be the Lord’s Day. This name and his other names – ‘Sol Invicto’ (Invincible Sun) appeared together on his coinage. Sun worship continued to be the official religion of the empire until the time of Constantine. Cumat, Olcott, and other scholars clearly show that December 25th was the yearly date of the annual birth of Mithra. On that date his followers held a special celebration of the fact that the sun was beginning to rise again higher in the sky. It was the lowest at the winter solstice, December 21^st, and not until the 25th could its rising be clearly seen. This birthday of the sun-god was made an official holiday in the Roman Empire by Alurian, about the year 273 A.D. And here is what Willesden Rocker, well known church historian, has to say about this: ‘December 25^th…’” And I think it’s kind of ironic, because the Seventh-Day Adventist, now many of them keep Christmas and yet they know the truth.

“…‘December 25th was a great pagan festival, that of Sol Invictus, which celebrated the victory of light over darkness and the lengthening of the sun’s rays at the winter solstice. This assimilation of Christ to the sun-god as “the sun of righteousness” was widespread in the fourth century and was furthered by Constantine’s legislation on Sunday, which is not related to the fact that the sun-god was a titular divinity of his [that is, Constantine’s] family.’ The Christians living in the larger cities of the empire were gradually leaning toward pagan practices while their rural brethren more carefully maintained the true faith. The people of God were gradually nearing a crises, and only the intermittent persecutions kept them relatively pure. But then Constantine entered the picture, and the Christian church has never been the same since. Here’s how it came about…”

Well I’m looking at my time and I only have my five minutes left. So I’m going to go ahead and end it here, and say, “to be continued the next time.” But I think it’s very important that we understand the profound history behind the deception that brought about a change from Sabbath to Sunday. And that I think it’s very profound that all of the religious leaders know better. They know it. They understand it; but now they have been dumbed down to the point that they say, “Well, it doesn’t make any difference. We just all need to love God and get along together.”

Listen - love does not exist in a vacuum. Love is just not a fuzzy warm feeling, that everybody gets along with each other, and everything’s fine, and you never say anything contrary. That’s how people get deceived. Love requires faith, obedience, commandments, loyalty, dedication, the Spirit of God. You want to talk about the love of the world? That’s what they have. The love of God is an entirely different thing. And the love of God will separate you from the world, because God is calling us out of the world, calling us out of Sunday-keeping, calling us out of Christmas-keeping, and Easter-keeping, and Lord’s Supper, and Eucharist, and all those pagan things that the world has accepted as Christian. And so I’ll finish where I began: that if what I have said makes you think I’m a raving lunatic, then you have been deceived.

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