"How is God going to prepare you for the seven times hotter furnace? Allow the fiery trials to be two, then three, then four, then five, then six, then SEVEN times hotter, to prepare us for the furnace made seven times hotter." - Pastor Andrew Henriques/Prophesy AgainTV
Revisiting The Establishment Clause Reversed Part I, On May 21st, 1888, the first Sunday Law was presented to the US Senate in the United States. In other words, Senator Henry W. Blair introduced "A bill to secure to the people the enjoyment of the first day of the week, commonly known as the Lord's day, as a day of rest, and to promote its observance as a day of religious worship."(diggingfortruth.org)
Senator Blair's perspective was that by safeguarding Sunday as the designated day of rest, individuals of all faiths could have a consistent day for rest and worship, without specifying the worship of a particular deity. Today, many Christians and Atheists alike would understand that to be Ecumenism, which biblically is the formation of Apostate Protestantism. A lot of confusing words? Lets break this down:
Ecumenism To Seventh Day Adventists : "...the ecumenical movement is an attempt to make visible the already existent, invisible, universal church of Christ. This is indeed a profound theological and institutional project, but one that Adventists would have difficulty fully joining in the manner that the modern ecumenical seems to pursue it. The main reason for this difficulty, I think, is our belief about the Seventh-day Sabbath. The Sabbath provides practical, historic/prophetic, and theological barriers to our fully joining the modern ecumenical movement." (Adventists and Ecumenism: The Good and the Bad; Nicholas Miller)
Miller's writing helps us to understand that Ecumenism is a joining of all churches to form one world church. However, where it differs for Seventh Day Adventists, is the day those churches would come together to worship. Let us take a look at what day I am speaking about:
1. Amish: Typically worship on Sundays.
2. Church of Scotland: Sunday is the primary day of worship.
3. Presbyterian: Main day of worship is Sunday.
4. Anabaptists: Usually gather for worship on Sundays.
5. Evangelical Free: Sunday is the main day for worship services.
6. Reformed: Sunday is the day of worship in most congregations.
7. Lutheran: Most Lutheran churches hold services on Sunday.
8. Evangelical Lutheran: Sunday is the main day for worship.
9. Quakerism: Some Quaker meetings gather on Sundays, but it varies.
10. Anglican: Sunday is the principal day for worship.
11. Baptist: Most Baptist churches hold services on Sundays.
12. Methodist: Sunday is traditionally the day for worship services.
13. Congregational: Worship services are typically held on Sundays.
14. Episcopal: Sunday is the principal day for worship.
15. Pentecostal: Sunday is the primary day for worship.
16. Charismatic: Worship services are often held on Sundays.
17. Denominational Churches: Varied, but many hold services on Sundays.
18. Holiness Church: Worship services are typically held on Sundays.
19. Salvation Army: Sunday is the main day for worship and meetings.
20. United Methodist: Sunday is the primary day for worship.
21. Catholics: Sunday is the primary day for worship.
While there is room for many to say, Alana, it says "most" or "some" or "it varies" attached to some denominations listed above, it still does not hide the fact that those churches could easily commune together under a universal church. They all worship on Sunday!
However, when it comes to Seventh Day Adventists (as I will not speak on behalf of other religions who do so differently), we ONLY worship on a Saturday, which means that as a church, most of us (and I say most due to there being a falling away in the church (2 Thessalonians 2:3)) will not join in ecumenicism. The sabbath which is on Saturday is the holy sabbath day. NOT Sunday.
But why do these religions worship on Sunday? When you do your research, you find that it is to honor the resurrection of Jesus Christ when he rose on Sunday. But the question for those denominations is if Jesus intended for them to worship his resurrection. Where in the Bible can we find this? We can only find in the Bible that Jesus intended for us to honor his death through communion of course. The bread (unleavened) symbolized his body and the wine (unfermented) symbolized His blood that he shed for our sins on the cross (1 Corinthians 11:24, 26). If anything, resurrection is closely linked to baptism (Romans 6:1-6). We are a new creation spiritually once we are put into the watery grave, where the old person"symbolically dies and is buried, and a new life is resurrected with Christ" (Studying Together p.34; Mark Finley).
This then leads me to ask those denominations if they would call themselves a Catholic. They may respond by saying: "No, I don't believe in the Pope" or "We are in no way like the Catholics. We allow for our people to read and understand the word of God without any barriers". But when you go back to the whole basis of WHY they are who they are, they are indirectly cosigning to Catholicism. Let us listen to the Catholic Church itself:
" ...And Monsignor Louis Segur wrote "It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church."- Monsignor Louis Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, p.225
"In response to the question "Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?" Stephen Keenan wrote, "Had she, not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her--- she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority."- Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism, p.174
"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 sanctify."- Cardinal James Gibbons, Faith of Our Fathers, pp. 111, 112.
It is made plain friends! The Catholic Church is the mother/originator of Sunday worship as stated by Keenan and Segur. "by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord". Jesus Christ could not have given them that authority, as again, Gibbons states there is no where in the Bible to prove so. Catholics will respond and say, Alana, was not all 10 commandments done away with at the cross, therefore we should still worship on that day?
Again, what was the reason for his death? To give biblical context so it is not just opinions coming out of my mouth, let's turn to John 3:17 and Matthew 1:21. Saving people from sin is the end goal of Jesus Christ's ministry and death on this earth. Never in the Bible was saving people meant to save them from the very law he gave back in Exodus. The only thing that was done away with was the ceremonial sacrifices to God that the Jews would do to repent of their sins. That is why after Jesus gave up his spirit, Inside the temple, the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was cut from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). The sacrifices that would be made on the days of atonement and on other days would no longer be needed because Christ gave the ultimate sacrifice. We could only be atoned from our sins through Him alone. He came down to earth in human like form to give us his life so that we could be, through him, partakers in the eternal life he will give to those who keep his LAWS and his TESTIMONY (Revelation 14:12) when he comes back.
You might wonder, what defines Apostate Protestantism? Strongs' Hebrew Dictionary describes apostate as "deflection from the truth". Protestantism is defined as "the religious tradition of Western Christianity that rejects the authority of the pope of Rome". However, As I stated before, those churches (listed # 1-20) protest in name, but not in action. They still worship on Sunday, a day that has been created, traditionally kept, and is the crowning ideology of the Catholic Church! Overtime, as the bandage is unwrapped, we see the eerie, deep bruise of error and false doctrine, that with Ecumenism, is contrary to God and his word (the Bible). Biblically, these churches are viewed as daughters of the mother church (Catholicism), as foretold in Revelation 17:5.:
"And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
To emphasize: if a church bears a different name but follows the worship practices dictated by another church's authority, it is essentially a descendant of that church. Catholicism, for instance, has proclaimed (by its own authority, not God's) Sunday as the true day of worship.
Thus, whether Baptist, Evangelical, Episcopalian, or any denomination not explicitly mentioned but observing Sunday worship, you may not bear the Catholic name, but your day of worship aligns with it, therefore making you a daughter church. For those who are in these churches, I am pleading that you please come out of them (Revelation 18:1-4). Additionally, as Seventh Day Adventists, we must stand firm on the principle of sola scriptura rather than succumbing to the pressures of Ecumenism. However, if there was Ecumenism for denominations that worshipped on the true Sabbath (Saturday), I would not join, nor would I encourage my brethren to join, of which I will explain why in Part II. Convincing SDA members to participate will pose a significant challenge, as we cannot compromise our observance of the Sabbath on Saturday, which stands in contrast to the Sunday worship practiced by other churches. This distinction not only forms the crux of Project 2025 but also represents the precursor to the emergence of the mark of the beast—a topic we'll explore in greater detail in Part II of our discussion.
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