Why Sunday-Law Advocates

Are Worse Than

The Pharisees and Sadducees

by

Robert Sterbenc

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WHY SUNDAY LAW ADVOCATES ARE WORSE THAN THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES

 

In the days of Jesus, there were two notable sects. These sects were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Bible sheds some light on the Pharisees' characteristics. The Pharisees taught man-made commandments, they taught false doctrines, and were hypocrites according to words of Jesus Himself in Matt 15:9, 16:11, 12 and Matt. 23. The Sadducees, however, were in a different camp.  They did not believe in the resurrection as the Pharisees did (Acts 23:6-9) and were materialistic in their world views, much like the atheists today.
 
The Pharisees, though outwardly religious, did not believe in Jesus as the Son of God but charged him with blasphemy (Matt 26:64-66). The Sadducees, materialists, basically did not stand out as hypocritical or outwardly religious but were non-believers. In spite of their unbelief, they did not appear to play as large a role in the condemnation and final crucifixion of our Saviour as did the Jewish religious leaders of the day, notably the Pharisees.   


In our day we have a similar scenario. At the same time as the majority of Protestant leaders claim that the ten commandments were nailed to the cross, many of them want to encourage Christians to reclaim the Sabbath - the Lord's day - as a day of spiritual and personal renewal. Those who strive to meet this goal make up a large movement known as the Lord's Day Alliance (LDA).  Of course, this is not the seventh-day Sabbath, but Sunday!

 

This is definitely a not-so-subtle way of teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men (Matt 15:9, Mark 7:7). Thus, although they profess to love and serve our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they deny Him by their teachings. See Matthew 5:17-20 and 1 John 2:4. These Protestant leaders definitely fulfill the counterpart to the Old Testament false prophets that Ezekiel unsparingly condemned through the Spirit: 

 

     There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
     Her priests have violated my law, ahd have profaned mine holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and the profane, neither have they showed difference between the the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
     Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
     And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the LORD GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. -Ezekiel 22:25-28 
 
More aggressive Sunday law advocates claim to be Christian but they want to legislate with penalties the false sabbath (Dan 7:25, Matt 7:21-23, Matt 15:9, 1 John 1:6, 1 John 2:4,Isa 8:20, Matt 24:4-5, 2 Cor 11:13-15, John 16:2, Rev 13:15-18). This group will be enforcing the MARK OF THE BEAST, or the National Sunday Law. Thus, THIS MAKES THEM FAR WORSE THAN THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES OF JESUS' TIME, because they claim to know Jesus Christ, and believe in Him, but they manifest the same INTOLERANT spirit as the Pharisees did in the days of Christ.

 

One such advocate is John Lanaro, a contributor to the Catholic Twin Circle.
In the August 25, 1985 edition, he wrote:

 

    ''ALL AMERICANS would do well TO PETITION the President and the Congress to make a FEDERAL LAW - an amendment to the Constitution if need be – to re-establish the Sabbath (Sunday) as a NATIONAL DAY OF REST so that religious and non-religious Americans can rest in peace.''

 

My question to Mr. Lanaro would be this: What about those who think this legislation would be a gross violation of freedom of conscience? 

 

The Lord's Day Alliance (LDA) vehemently denies that it would support a National Sunday Law. It basically states that they would not support one under any circumstances. Not under ANY circumstances? Do they have ANY idea what circumstances are about to transpire? They have no idea what the future will bring and what forces will shape their course.  That does not mean that all of them will support the mark of the beast when the sunday law does come, however. It simply means that at this point as a corporate body they strenuously deny their possible support for a national sunday law.

 

What circumstances are expected to finally bring in a national Sunday law?

 

You can get thousands of similar denials from prominent religious leaders among the protestant churches of the world, but that does not mean that they will all be free from yielding to the  tremendous forces that will influence their course in the future! MANY WILL ASSIST IN ENFORCING THE MARK OF THE BEAST, when circumstances are most favorable. 

 

We would do well to read again the following excerpts from The Great Controversy, 1911 hardcover edition, by Ellen G. White:

 

Great Controversy page 588:

 

     “As spiritualism (immortality of the soul, communications with the dead, and related doctrines) more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted after the modern order of things. He will appear in character as an angel of light. 

     Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.

     The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism...and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long expected millennium.”

 

Note: This grand movement may be more familiarly known as the ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT.

 

Ibid, p. 589-590:

 

     “While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations (fires), in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress
follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and beast. "The earth mourneth and fadeth away", "the haughty people do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." Isaiah
24: 4,5
    And then the great deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God are causing these evils...As the wrath of the people shall be excited by false charges, they will pursue a course toward God's ambassadors very similar to that which apostate Israel pursued toward Elijah.”  

 

Ibid, p. 591:

 

   “The miracle working power of spiritualism will exert its influence against those who choose to obey God rather than men. Communications from the spirits will declare that God has sent them to convince the rejecters of Sunday of their error, affirming that the laws of the land should be obeyed as the law of God. They will lament the great wickedness in the world and second the testimony of religious teachers that the degraded state of morals is caused
by the desecration of Sunday. Great will be the indignation excited against all who refuse to accept their testimony...

 

And finally, ibid page 592:

 

    “Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the government...The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected. In the soon coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophet's words: "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ." -Revelation 12:17. 

 

Is the Lords Day Alliance aware of the Jesuit influence in government?  Is the LDA aware of the veiled yet palpable threat posed by the papacy today in pushing sunday legislation, eventually with imprisonment and even death?  Have they read Pope Benedict XVI's threats in the encyclicals
titled Dies Domini and Caritas in Veritate?  Obviously the Catholic members of the LDA have kept silent or are in ignorance about the true intentions of the papacy.

 

The papacy is pushing for Sunday laws as indicated below:   


Dies Domini, an encyclical written for Pope John Paul II by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, paragraph 36, states that attendance of Sunday mass is ''obligatory''.

 

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2188 states that ''Christians should seek recognition of Sundays and the Church's holy days as LEGAL holidays!

 

LEGAL: established by law; esp. statutory (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1977, p. 636, definition 2c.)

 

Please do not forget that the same Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, addressed the United Nations in New York not long ago!

 

And this is just the very tip of the enormous iceberg that this world faces when the beast power, Rome, gets its power back, according to Revelation 13! 

 

The pope knows how close many protestant leaders are clasping hands with Rome, and it has the whole Protestant world in its sights.

 

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_05071998_dies-domini_en.html


http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html


Pay attention to paragraph 67!  Please read Psalm 55:21 and you can see the connection. 


Croatia and now Germany have passed a national law banning Sunday shopping. It will not be long before the entire EU goes with continent-wide ban on Sunday shopping and the USA will follow.

 

Michael Pearce, a blogger for the Obama campaign, wrote the article Energy Conservation and Globalized America. In the following link Pearce states that we should enact Sunday laws under the pretext of saving energy and giving the worker the right to spend time with family. 

 

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/Tritium/gG5ngR

 

It just goes to show, that under the right conditions, under the right pretext, when push comes to shove, a national sunday law will be supported and enacted. And this will happen in spite of the most vehement and absolute denials by the parties that may or may not be involved!

 

The word of God has much to say in response to these damnable individuals: 

 

Ezekiel 13:6-15  They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, the LORD saith it, albeit I have not spoken?

     Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and
seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
     And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity and divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
    Because, even because they seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there

was no peace; and one built up a wall, and lo, others have daubed it
with untempered morter:
    Say unto them that daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall:
there shall be an overflowing shower: and ye, O great hailstones, shall
fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
    Lo, when the wall has fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is
the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
    Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, I will even rend it with a stormy
wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger,
and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
    So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter,

and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
    Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have
daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that have daubed it;... 

 

Matt 5:17-21  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and
earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
     For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.            

 

Matt 10:15  Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city (today this city is Babylon the Great: see Revelation 16:19-21)

 

Rev 16:8,9   And the fourth angel poured his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

 

Psalm 55:21  The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.

 

Indeed the pope has enchanted millions with his smooth words and soft speeches but war against the saints is in the heart of the papacy!

 

Rev 13:6     And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle (Heb 8:2; 9:11; Rev 11:19), and them that dwell in heaven. 


Dan 7:25     And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the dividing
of time.


Isa 5:20-23  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
     Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!

     Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to drink strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from them!

 

     A great deal more can be said about our modern day Pharisees - and don't forget those Adventist pastors saying we should keep Sunday!!  They are in the worst camp of all!

 

   Thank you Lord for your great mercy and wisdom - RS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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