January 23, 2018 Restoration Magazine 0 Comments

THE MOTHER OF WHORES

5 And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth. Revelation 17:5

The Bible says the whore of Revelation 17 is a city and gives remarkable clues to her identity. The more deeply one probes into the history of the Roman Catholic Church and its current practices, the more impressed one becomes with the amazing accuracy of the vision John received centuries before it would all be lamentable reality. John’s attention is drawn to the inscription boldly emblazoned upon the woman’s forehead: “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Revelation 17:5). While many would like to point as the United States as the modern day Babylon, many Biblical descriptions point elsewhere. While that debate is grounds for a great debate, the fact that this place is the “MOTHER” of Harlots suggest that it is the birthplace of abominations. In other words, the real separation from the covenant of promise began at this place. Although America is probably the most corrupt and sinful place on earth, the Mother of the separation points us back to Rome

The Council of Nicaea

The First Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council of the Church. Most significantly, it resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed. With the creation of the creed, a precedent was established for subsequent local and regional councils of Bishops (Synods) to create statements of belief and canons of doctrinal orthodoxy—the intent being to define unity of beliefs for the whole of Christendom. Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the divine nature of God the Son and his relationship to God the Father. (This principles goes against Matthew 11:27 which states that the revelation of the Father and Son MUST be revealed by the Father. No group of men/woman can come together and make a conclusion on such a principle). The construction of the first part of the Nicene Creed, establishing uniform observance of the date of Easter (Passover)-Leviticus 23:5, and promulgation of early canon law.

HISTORICAL FACTS

About 100 years before Christianity, Egyptian Mithraists introduced the festival of Sunday, dedicated to worshiping the sun, into the Roman Empire. Later, as Christianity grew, church leaders wished to increase the numbers of the church. In order to make the gospel more attractive to non-Christians, pagan customs were incorporated into the church’s ceremonies. The custom of Sunday worship was welcomed by Christians who desired to differentiate themselves from the Jews, whom they hated because of the Jews’ rejection of the Savior. The first day of the week began to be recognized as both a religious and civil holiday. By the end of the second century, Christians considered it sinful to work on Sunday.

The Roman emperor Constantine, a former sun-worshiper, professed conversion to Christianity, though his subsequent actions suggest the “conversion” was more of a political move than a genuine heart change. Constantine named himself Bishop of the Catholic Church and enacted the first civil law regarding Sunday observance in A.D. 321.

In A.D. 325, Pope Sylvester officially named Sunday “the Lord’s Day,” and in A.D. 338, Eusebius, the court bishop of Constantine, wrote, “All things whatsoever that it was the duty to do on the Sabbath (the seventh day of the week) we (Constantine, Eusebius, and other bishops) have transferred to the Lord’s Day (the first day of the week) as more appropriately belonging to it.”

Constantine Made Sunday a Civil Rest Day

When Emperor Constantine I—a pagan sun-worshipper—came to power in A.D. 313, he legalized Christianity and made the first Sunday-keeping law. His infamous Sunday enforcement law of March 7, A.D. 321, reads as follows: “On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed.” (Codex Justinianus 3.12.3, trans. Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 5th ed. (New York, 1902), 3:380, note 1.)

The Sunday law was officially confirmed by the Roman Papacy. The Council of Laodicea in A.D. 364 decreed, “Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s day they shall especially honour, 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” (Strand, op. cit., citing Charles J. Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church, 2 [Edinburgh, 1876] 316).

Cardinal Gibbons, in Faith of Our Fathers, 92nd ed., p. 89, freely admits, “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 [the Catholic Church] never sanctify.”

Again, “The Catholic Church, … by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday” (The Catholic Mirror, official publication of James Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893).

“Protestants do not realize that by observing Sunday, they accept the authority of the spokesperson of the Church, the Pope” (Our Sunday Visitor, February 5, 1950).

Others Followed

Nearly every denomination which came after the Roman Catholic Church, adopted their changes and not the original covenants that were Established by God. In conjunction, they added a number of new doctrinal principles to their denomination. Below are just an example of a few:

John Smyth- Founder of the Baptist denomination. After a few years of practicing medicine, Smyth joined a group of like-minded Separatists who wanted to create a church of believers unbound by parochial or diocesan boundaries. Together they would “walk in all his [Christ’s] ways, make known or to be made known among them … whatever it might cost them.” Smyth’s group of 50 or so fled to Amsterdam, which was known for its religious toleration and its already-sizable community of Separatist exiles. Still, Smyth did not see them as completely kindred spirits. He fought with them over the use of Scripture in worship (Smyth opposed using English translations), psalm singing, sermon reading, and the collection of offerings—all practices he condemned. Smyth, who wanted to create a church like the one described in the Book of Acts, also fought against any attempts to create a hierarchy. Each congregation, not the congregation’s officers, was the highest authority next to God, he wrote in his 1607 Principles and Inferences Concerning the Visible Church.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/denominationalfounders/john-smyth.html

John Wesley- Founder of the Methodist Church-With his organizational skills, Wesley quickly became the new leader of the movement. But Whitefield was a firm Calvinist, whereas Wesley couldn’t swallow the doctrine of predestination. Furthermore, Wesley argued (against Reformed doctrine) that Christians could enjoy entire sanctification in this life: loving God and their neighbors, meekness

and lowliness of heart, abstaining from all appearance of evil, and doing all for the glory of God. In the end, the two preachers parted ways. Wesley did not intend to found a new denomination, but historical circumstances and his organizational genius conspired against his desire to remain in the Church of England. An indication of his organizational genius, we know exactly how many followers Wesley had when he died: 294 preachers, 71,668 British members, 19 missionaries (5 in mission stations), and 43,265 American members with 198 preachers. Today Methodists number about 30 million worldwide.

Church of God in Christ-Bishop Charles Harrison Mason- Bishop Charles Harrison Mason was the founder and first senior bishop of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), presently the largest African-American Pentecostal church in the United States. In 1895, Mason met Charles Price Jones, a popular Baptist preacher from Mississippi. Mason and Jones soon began preaching the doctrine of holiness and sanctification in the local Baptist churches, which led to their expulsion from the Baptist Convention.

Mason and Jones decided to form a new fellowship of churches. Mason suggested the name Church of God in Christ, after what he described as a vision in Little Rock, Ark., to distinguish the church from a number of “Church of God” groups forming at that time.

Due to disagreements in the new Pentecostal teachings, the two men split their group in 1907. Mason won the legal rights to the Church of God in Christ name and charter, and established his work in Memphis. Today, it has an estimated 6.5 million members. The church can be found in every state in the United States and in more than 87 countries around the world.

Change Is Outside of the Will of God

I know that we often here the saying that Change is Good. Well not in the eyes of the Father. Because he is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works (Psalms 145:17), there is no need for adding in change or modification to his holy order. No place in the Bible do you find the Apostles voting to make change or additions to what was already given. At times, some of the leaders were unclear about certain principles, but final decision was always made by the one person, whom the Father set up to lead his people. Any person or groups that break away from both the original teachings and/or divine order is considered a heretic in the eyes of the Father.

15 And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.2 When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.3 And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.-Acts 15:1-15

Whether or not we can agree on who or what Babylon is, is not really what’s important. What is important is realizing and accepting the fact that the ways of God have been changed. We are commanded to turn back to the original way of worship, as he had given it to the world for salvation (Jeremiah 6:16)