THE MAKING OF THE
REMNANT
Page 2 of 2
Counterfeit 2
Knowing that Jesus,
our High Priest, is concluding a very
special service in heaven is crucial
to understanding what is going on in
heaven at this time. This wonderful
truth has almost been totally
obscured by Satan. He has led most
Christians to ignore the Old
Testament sanctuary services by
causing them to believe the
ceremonies were only for the Jews.
For this reason, most Christians
never investigate this subject. Since
the rituals and ceremonies attached
to the earthy sanctuary are not part
of Catholic/Protestant heritage, most
Christians are unsure why Paul
directs us to the heavenly sanctuary
in the book of Hebrews. Paul clearly
says, “The point of what we are
saying is this: We do have such a
high priest, who sat down at the
right hand of the throne of the
Majesty in heaven, and who serves in
the sanctuary, the true tabernacle
set up by the Lord, not by man.”
(Hebrews 8:1,2) Since the sanctuary
in the wilderness was a model of the
real one in heaven, shouldn’t we
understand what the services meant?
Since Jesus is our High Priest,
shouldn’t we understand why we
need one in the heavenly sanctuary?
Satan doesn’t
want us to know about the sanctuary
in heaven, for if we don’t know
about the true tabernacle in heaven,
we don’t need to understand the
importance of 1844, we won’t
know when the “appointed time of
the end” began. If we do not
know the appointed time of the end
began, we will not suspect the coming
wrath that occurs when Jesus opens
the fourth seal. Neither will we
suspect the rapid and climactic
culmination of earth’s events
that occurs during the trumpets. If
we do not understand the Old
Testament trumpets that warned of the
approaching Day of Atonement, we
cannot understand the purpose of
Revelation’s trumpets. Even
worse, Revelation’s story makes
no sense apart from the work of Jesus
in the heavenly sanctuary! Satan has
led Protestantism to believe that the
law of God and the law of Moses were
nailed to the cross. By doing away
with both, the purpose of both has
been forgotten.
Counterfeit 3
The third truth that
Satan has counterfeited is the truth
about death. Satan has lead most of
Christendom to believe that when a
person dies, he really does not die!
On the surface, this counterfeit may
not seem too bad. If you have ever
lost a loved one or close friend,
there may be some consolation in the
idea that they are better off in
heaven. On the other hand, if you
have lost an enemy, there also may be
some consolation in the idea that he
is worse off than before!
However, the issue of
consolation is not the essence of the
matter. Two elements stand at the
heart of this matter. First, Satan
has caused many people to distrust
God, even to the point of hatred, by
leading them to believe in the
doctrine of eternal torment. By
misrepresenting the character of God
before the human race, Satan has
blinded many to the loving character
of God. (Remember, he deceived one
third of the angels too!) Secondly,
the idea that people go to heaven (or
hell) immediately after death gives
credence to spiritualism, psychic
powers and so-called
“metaphysics.” Through
mysterious supernatural
manifestations, Satan is already
deceiving a large number of people.
However, his best demonstrations are
yet to come! He will cause
apparitions of deceased people to
appear on earth! These apparitions
will be nothing less than demons in
the form of human beings sent
throughout the earth to deceive
people into believing that Satan is
God. John saw these apparitions and
said, “They are spirits of
demons performing miraculous signs,
and they go out to the kings of the
whole world, to gather them for the
battle on the great day of God
Almighty.” (Revelation 16:14)
Again, the point must
be made. Satan has strategically set
the stage for his final deceptions.
Since most people would rather depend
upon their senses than trust their
knowledge of the Word of God, they
will be easy prey. When these demons
appear, they will be an overpowering
deception. If possible, the remnant
could be deceived, too! When they
come, these counterfeits will appear
to be just as real as your Mom or
Dad. How can you argue that the dead
know nothing when the form of a dead
person stands “in the
flesh” before you? The Bible is
clear that the dead are dead.
“For the living know that they
will die, but the dead know
nothing…” (Ecclesiastes
9:5) Jesus said that when He comes,
“Those in the graves will hear
his voice.” (See John 5:28 and 1
Thessalonians 4:15-17.) You can
anticipate that the devil will use
the lying testimony of many
apparitions to disprove the Word of
God.
Counterfeit 4
The fourth deception
of the gospel that Satan has given
the Christian world is the truth
about the second coming of Jesus. He
has many other Christians either
believing that there is a
“secret rapture” or that
the second coming is in the distant
future. Most Christians are either
unaware of the coming tribulation or
they believe they will be spared the
awful agony of the testing time that
is coming upon the whole world.
The secret rapture
counterfeit holds two fatal flaws.
First, this doctrine eliminates the
urgent need to understand Revelation
and the timely preparation for the
things coming upon the earth. Since
many Christians believe the rapture
occurs before the second coming, they
are lulled into false security by
thinking they have nothing to prepare
for. Secondly, and even worse, is
that when Satan comes, this group
will likely receive him as “the
Christ” because the second
coming has not taken place! The net
effect of this deception is that when
the trumpets begin, these people will
be immediately overwhelmed, and in
great panic they will go along with
the idea of appeasing God through
legislative action.
In the other camp,
many Christians scoff at the
suggestion that the Lord is about to
return. They see no reason for all
the excitement. They say, “All
things continue as usual – why
all the fuss?” These people are
content in their spiritual poverty.
They have no idea of the things
coming upon the earth, and even
worse, they do not want to hear about
it! They like spiritual programs that
feature talented singers and gifted
speakers with clever ideas. They do
not want to hear about the coming
wrath of Jesus.
Therefore, Satan has
the Christians world convinced that
they are either safe from the
tribulation, due to the rapture, or
that life continues as usual-no
worry. Unfortunately, his deceptions
are widely accepted.
Those receiving the
everlasting gospel are not focused on
gloom or doom. These people are
focused on the greatest and most
awesome event in earth’s
history: the revelation of Jesus at
the second coming. These know the
testing time precedes the second
coming, they know about the future
rise of Babylon and the appearing of
Satan claiming to be God. They know
that their faith will be fully
tested-yet they are positive about
their relationship with Jesus and
they have peace in their hearts, for
they claim the promises of God. They
are committed to being “over
comers” because they “have
ears” to hear what the Spirit is
saying to them.” They walk by
faith and they are prepared for a
mighty work when the trumpets sound.
Counterfeit 5
Satan has led most of
the world to deny the importance of
the seventh-day Sabbath. Friday is
the day of worship for more than one
billion Moslems. About fifteen
million Jews recognize Saturday as
God’s holy day, and one and a
half billion Christians (all
Christians faiths combined-Catholic,
Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Anglican,
etc.) believe in the sacredness of
Sunday. Nearly three billion have no
regard for the sacredness of any day
of the week.
It should be very
clear that worshiping on Saturday
does not now, nor can it bring
salvation to a person. If an illegal
alien sneaks into America and keeps
all the laws, he does not become an
American by obeying the laws. Rather,
an alien becomes an American by
submitting to the immigration process
of becoming an American. Part of the
process involves an oath stating that
he or she will be loyal and obedient
to the laws of America! Salvation, in
a similar way, comes when we submit
our lives to Jesus. This means we are
willing to go, to be and to do as He
directs. The doing part of the
process involves obedience to all the
Ten Commandments. Thus, the remnant
is identified as “keeping the
commandments of God and having faith
in Jesus.”
The change
The history of the
change from Sabbath to Sunday worship
by early Christians is important
reading for anyone wanting to
understand the everlasting gospel.
Each person should look into this
matter and understand from a
historical perspective how it came to
be. A few paragraphs follow to
briefly explain how it happened.
Since Christianity was
born in the cradle of Judaism, Roman
rulers did not see much difference
between Christians and Jews.
Consequently, Romans persecuted
Christians just as they did the hated
Jews. Even more, early Christians
were soon forced to disassociate
themselves from the Jews because the
Jews persecuted them too!
When Rome destroyed
Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the Christian
Church was dispersed. Christian
theology was in its formative stages
at this time and as Christians
scattered all over the world, they
took with them “partial
knowledge” about the gospel. The
Apostles wrote a number of letters
over a period of 50 years to
establish the Christian faith.
However, it was inevitable that
Christian leaders would arrive at
different theological conclusions.
Without the benefit of communication,
Christians in Alexandria, Egypt
arrived at doctrines that were
different from the Christians in
Rome. As a result of time and
distance, arguments broke out between
Christians over various doctrines.
When Paul was
imprisoned at Rome, he established
the Christian faith there. Since Rome
was the capital of the world, it was
only natural that the new Christian
Church in Rome should gain more power
and influence with Roman leaders than
other Christian churches that were
geographically far away from the hub
of civilization. It is also a
well-known historical fact that
Christians in Rome soon compromised
their beliefs to avoid the fierce
anger of Caesar. Christians in remote
areas however, remained less
affected.
After 300 years, the
undisputed center of Christianity was
Rome. Constantine became the first
Christian emperor (he saw that
Christianity offered an expedient way
to unite the disintegrating Roman
empire), and he is distinguished
historically for implementing the
first Sunday laws in March, A.D. 321.
An early church
writer, Socrates, tells us that
Christians in Rome were
“feasting” on Sunday (the
weekly holiday of the Romans honoring
the Sun-god) by the fourth century
while the rest of the Christian world
still worshiped on Saturday.
Socrates, Ecclesiastical History,
Book V, Chapter 22, Ante-Nicean
Christian Library, Vol II, (Boston,
1887), p.132.
As time passed, the
primacy of the head officer of the
Church (the pope) became even
greater. Eventually he engineered the
destruction of the Heruli, Ostrogoths
and Vandals. These three tribes,
followers of Arius of Alexander,
believed that Christ was not eternal
God but a created being. When they
were finally destroyed, the authority
of the pope became universal.
(Remember the three horns that were
plucked up by their roots in Daniel
7?)
Sunday observance
Early Christians in
Rome did not understand the
importance of God’s law. To gain
wider acceptance and increase the
number of converts among the Romans,
they adapted a philosophical approach
to worship that reflected Roman
practices. Thus, Sunday, the
“holiday,” became Sunday,
the “holy-day.”
Historically, Sunday was transmitted
throughout the Christian world
without any biblical support!
It is important to
note that neither history nor Roman
Catholicism offers any scriptural
support for Sunday worship or
sacredness. The following statement
given at the Council of Trent,
appropriately places the authority
for the change in the day of worship
with the “Roman Church,”
not with the Scriptures. (The Council
of Trent, Italy, was held from 1545
to 1563 to deal with outrageous
charges by Protestants that the
Church was disobeying the plain
teachings of Scripture.) On January
18, 1562, 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 Scripture
because the Church had changed
Sabbath into Sunday, not by the
command of Christ, but by its own
authority.” (Canon and
Tradition, Dr. J.H. Holtzman, p.263.)
In the late 19th
century, Dr.Edward T. Hiscox, author
of the Baptist Manual said:
“There was and is a command to
keep holy the Sabbath Day, but that
Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will
be said however, and with some show
of triumph, that the Sabbath was
transferred from the seventh to the
first day of the week, with all its
duties, privileges, and sanctions.
Earnestly desiring
information on the subject, which I
have studied for many years, I ask,
where can the record of such a
transaction be found? Not in the New
Testament, absolutely not. There is
no scriptural evidence of the change
on the Sabbath institution from the
seventh to the first day of the week.
I wish to say that this Sabbath
question, in this aspect of it, is
the gravest and most perplexing
question connected with Christian
institutions which at the present
claims attention from Christian
people; and the only reason that it
is not a more disturbing element in
Christian thought and in religious
discussions, is because the Christian
world has settled down content on the
conviction that somehow a
transference has taken place at the
beginning of Christian history.”
(A paper read before a New York
Ministers Conference, Nov. 13, 1893).
By denying the
requirements of God’s Ten
Commandments, Americans have reaped a
harvest of lawlessness. Yes, most
people will casually agree with the
validity and importance of nine of
the commandments. However, question
the validity of the fourth
commandment and the response will
likely be that all Ten Commandments
were nailed to the cross.
It is clear that the
ceremonial laws were nailed to the
cross when Jesus, the Passover Lamb,
died. It is also true that civil laws
that related to Israel’s legal
economy in ancient times are not
applicable today. (However, many of
the principles found in our civil
laws today are taken from the Jewish
civil laws of the Old Testament.)
But, Israel received
several types of laws from God:
- Moral (Ten
Commandments)
- Ceremonial
(pertaining to divine
services)
- Civil
(pertaining to the theocratic
government)
- Health /
Lifestyle
Satan has led
Christians to erroneously combine
these four groups of laws into one
group and then nail them to the
cross! The cunning and sophistry of
Satan is unbelievable! By leading the
human race to abandon the health and
lifestyle laws, we see unrestricted
use of injurious foods, alcohol,
tobacco, marijuana, crack, heroin and
drugs. Some say that the drug problem
is America’s greatest problem.
But is it? Could our greatest problem
be lawlessness?
We see homosexuality
and other gross sexual practices
overtaking our society. America has
become polluted with every vile and
imaginable sin because we have
received counterfeit teachings from
Satan. We have put our faith in the
doctrines of the devil!
The road to
self-destruction does not end with
the abandonment of health and
lifestyle laws. By leading America to
abandon the great code of moral
behavior, Satan has gained control of
this country. Our great printing
presses roll out billions of evil
magazines offering the bodies of
young men and women to those having
an appetite for sexual immorality.
Those having an insatiable thirst for
money and possessions have plenty to
feed their appetite on in this form
of idolatry. People interested in
gossip and slander find food for
their depraved souls in the
supermarket checkout line-food
suitable to their warped senses. Some
interested in these awful pleasures
have a hard time deciding what to
read, for there is more available
than any perverted mind can possibly
absorb. The printing industry of
America has been taken over by Satan
and he feeds Americans with
soul-destroying garbage!
How ironic! The
printing press was invented for the
express purpose of printing the
Bible! Radio and TV development in
America exceeds any other nation on
earth and Satan has gained control.
These great and extensive powers
promote evil on every channel by the
minute. We may talk about
environmental pollution, but it is
far behind the pollution of our
hearts and minds. The very airwaves
have become polluted!
Satan has almost
succeeded
The devil has
counterfeited every truth in the
gospel! This is why the trumpets must
sound and the 144,000 appear. Jesus
will gather His remnant through a
proclamation of the gospel. Do you
want to be part of the gospel
movement?
The gospel is called
“eternal” or in the King
James Version,
“everlasting,” because it
has always existed! It has not
changed, for God has not changed.
What is changing is our
understanding. We now see and
understand more of God’s holy
word-the Bible!
Your turn
Just as surely as
knowledge has dramatically increased
during the past century, our
knowledge of the gospel has also
increased. If you believe this study
has treated the Scriptures fairly and
if you see the reasonableness of the
gospel message presented here, you
need to do three things:
First, completely
dedicate (or rededicate) yourself to
Jesus. This simple means that you are
willing to be what He wants you to
be, willing to do what He wants you
to do and lastly, willing to go
wherever He sends you. This is what
the life of faith is all about.
Secondly, you need to
study these lessons again. You will
pick up many things that you missed
the first time through.
Lastly, find a friend
who is open to this material and
share this message with them. Your
active support, influence and
dedication to the gospel will cause
heaven’s choir of billions of
angels to rejoice. The angels are
anxious to come and retrieve us from
this planet. Jesus is anxious to
deliver us. Since the only thing we
can take with us to heaven is our
friend’s, let us win as many as
we can! Come, be a part of the
remnant while there is still mercy!
“…The hour
has come for you to wake up from your
slumber, because our salvation is
nearer now than when we first
believed. The night is nearly over;
the day is almost here…”
(Romans 13:11,12)
Notes
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