When Paganism and Christianity Shake Hands

Mark Finley: In a sense, the history of the human race is the sad saga of rebellion against God. Although there are bright spots on the pages of history, more often than not, its pages are stained with the scars of sin and disobedience.
Guest (Male): This is Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message, when paganism and Christianity shake hands. Enjoy. And remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with Hope Lives 365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com and stay with us for a free Bible study offer later in this program. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: God did not create sinners. He made human beings noble characters, people who were naturally inclined to be good and kind and think pure thoughts and put others first. But he gave them the power of choice. When our first parents chose the path of disobedience, everything changed. The Apostle Paul describes this change in graphic terms. Although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts. And their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. That's in Romans chapter 1 verse 21 to 23. Disobedience brought a change of heart and also a change of worship. When our first parents chose to disobey God, they placed their selfish desires ahead of God's commands. In essence, they were worshiping themselves rather than the creator. They were denying and rejecting his rightful place as creator. They tried to fill the empty space in their hearts by worshiping created things. They inventing deities that were more to be to their liking, gods like themselves who were selfish, sensual, and cruel and who would not trouble them with a lot of moral demands. As the Apostle Paul observed, there were gods many and lords many, but none was more popular or more fervently worshiped than the sun. From the earliest centuries, human beings turned to the largest luminary body in the heavens, the sun, as an object of veneration and worship. The ancient Egyptians called the sun god Ra Atum. They considered him the supreme deity. The other gods were represented with golden solar disks over their heads, implying that they received illumination and power from the sun. For the Egyptians, the sun god was the one who began the process of creation and who was the king of all gods. The kings of Babylon were high priests of the sun. Marduk, the chief Babylonian deity, was depicted as a double-headed sun god sitting in a golden temple on a golden throne before a golden altar. In Assyria, the sun god was called Shamash. To the Hittites, the sun god was a goddess Arinna. Helios was the sun god of Greece. The Persians worshiped the sun as Mithra. And when the Romans adopted Mithraism from Persia, they also adopted sun worship. Sarong was the Slavic name for the sun god. The cultures of Central and South America have similar traditions. Inti was the sun god of the Inca. The Aztecs too were fascinated by the sun. They called him Tonatiuh and worshiped him as the supreme deity. They had a solar calendar similar to that of the Maya Mayas. Sun worship was also common in Africa, India, and throughout Asia. So we have these two threads through the centuries. Sun worship was a common thread in the worship of created things. It was interwoven with myriads of forms of worship in many lands. And it persisted down through the centuries. God's people, the Israelites, were even influenced by the sun worship of the East. The prophet Ezekiel records in Ezekiel 8 verse 16 that during a time of apostasy, I quote, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the East. And they were worshiping, can you believe it, the sun toward the East. It's difficult to imagine that the people of God had so drifted from him that they joined with the pagans in worshiping the sun. And they did it in the court of the Lord's house. Sun worship became the sign of apostasy or rebellion against God. In a similar way, the Sabbath was a sign and a reminder of the creator God who gave it to humankind as a perpetual symbol of his love and care. A reminder that we have our roots and security in him. Ezekiel, the Old Testament prophet, states it clearly. Moreover, I also gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between them and me that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20 verse 12. The Sabbath is a sign that God created us and also he has the power to recreate or sanctify us. The same God that breathed life into Adam and Eve at the beginning can breathe spiritual life into each one of us. If we neglect the Sabbath, our tendency will be to forget the one who created us. You know, can change us into the people we long to be. As the centuries passed, the spiritual darkness increased, but a faithful remnant continued to worship God and acknowledge him as their creator God. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their extended family were his followers. Near the end of Jacob's life, he and his family moved to Egypt under the protection of his son Joseph. Joseph encouraged the move, but he was concerned. He knew all too well the corrupting power of the popular culture in Egypt, so he tried to isolate his family from it. But his effort was unsuccessful. As time went on, the barriers broke down. Not long after Joseph died, a new Pharaoh ascended to the throne who enslaved God's people. Under the lash of their task masters, they worked seven days a week and many lost sight of the true Bible Sabbath. The Sabbath commandment was given along with the rest of the law at Mount Sinai shortly after they left Egypt, written with his own finger on tables of stone, never to be erased or forgotten. God commanded, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor into all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. Exodus chapter 20 verse 8 to 11. It's significant that the command starts with the word remember. God knew how easily the Sabbath would be forgotten. This word is a warning. Don't forget. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. After they arrived in Canaan, the Lord again tried to shield his people from the popular culture. But before long, they fell under its spell once again. The historian records sadly that in 1 Kings chapter 14 verse 24, the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. The word detestable is accurate. These practices included male and female prostitution carried out in groves and high places all over the country and finally in the temple itself. Some of the people even took part in child sacrifices, burning their children alive on the altars of Moloch, the fire god of the Ammonites. You find that recorded, for example, in Jeremiah 32 verse 25. The there were golden times of revival when the people returned to God and were faith were faithful to his commandments. The Sabbath was a sign, a distinguishing mark of the faithful in those times. But these periods were brief. And year by year, the evil continued to multiply and grow, more entrenched until first Israel and then Judah were taken captive and carried away into exile. The remnant that returned from captivity was very very much aware that the disobedience and rebellion of their fathers had led to catastrophe. And they were fiercely determined to avoid making the same mistake. Unfortunately, they failed to find balance and soon went to the opposite extreme of adding numerous man-made requirements to God's law. They developed hundreds of human ordinances and commands defining every aspect of life. Under this plan, the Sabbath was no longer a delight, a sign of rest and peace we enjoy as God's children. It became a heavy burden and its observance was strictly enforced. When you come to the New Testament, Jesus entered into conflict with the religious leaders over this issue. The Sabbath, he reminded them, was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Mark 2 27 and 28. He did not hesitate to heal and work for people's salvation on the Sabbath. Yet there was never any hint that Jesus or his disciples, for that fact, abolished the Sabbath or failed to observe it as God intended. Paul was a great missionary evangelist with a special commission to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. But he also carried a burden for the salvation of his fellow Jews. Every time he came to a new place, he would first visit the synagogue and talk to his fellow Jews about Jesus. His work was opposed not only by fanatical Jews and also by Jewish Christians who wanted to keep the church as purely as a purely Jewish sect. But these groups of people observed Paul at every step. It's highly significant that no one, neither the observant Jews nor the Jewish Christians, ever accused Paul of breaking the Sabbath. If he had been indifferent to the Sabbath, they certainly would have trumpeted it far and wide. Paul wrote to the believers at Colossae that they no longer needed to keep the ceremonial Sabbaths that were part of the Jewish religion. You'll find that in Colossians 2 verse 16 and 17. He was talking about the festivals such as the Passover, the Pentecost, and Day of Atonement. These annual events were called Sabbaths because people rested or ceased from common labor in those days. But they were distinct. They were separate from the weekly Sabbath that's included in the Ten Commandments. Paul compared the annual celebrations with a shadow cast by someone who's about to arrive. Jesus, he said, was the person behind the shadow. Now that Jesus has come, there's no longer any need to observe the shadows. It's clear that Paul did not have in mind in any way, shape, or form the weekly seventh-day Sabbath because, as we have seen, he himself continued to observe it. But Paul did warn the church that a mysterious man of sin would appear, an enemy from within, who would presume to speak in God's name. He said that anyone who did not, quote, love the truth would be deceived. You'll find this record of deception in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 8 to 10.
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Mark Finley: It didn't happen all at once or on a specific date. But during the 2nd century, some Christians, especially those living in the major cities such as Rome and Alexandria, began to worship on Sunday, the first day of the week. Some Christians did this to disassociate from the Jews and to make Christianity more acceptable to the pagans. John Eddy, writing in the Bible Encyclopedia page 561, gives us this insight. Sunday was a name given by the heathens to the first day of the week. I'm quoting. Because it was the day on which they worshiped the sun. It was, of course, and it was, of course, a popular pagan holiday. Here is a quote from the Catholic world on the same subject we find it on page 809. The sun was a foremost god of hedonism. Hence, the church in these countries would seem to have said, keep that old pagan name. It shall remain consecrated, sanctified. And thus, the pagan Sunday dedicated to Balder became the Christian Sunday sacred to the Jews. They are talking about human beings changing the law that was engraved by God on tables of stone. And they say that a day dedicated to the sun god came to substitute the Sabbath as the day for worship, even keeping its old pagan name. Why? Sunday was a popular pagan holiday. In a compromising measure, church leaders united with civil leaders in an attempt to unite the empire. The pagans felt comfortable with Sunday because for thousands of years, their cultures had worshiped the sun god. Christians joined this compromise measure in honor of Jesus, the son of righteousness and his resurrection on the first day. Now Christianity became much more acceptable to a pagan population. And it was here that the two streams that flowed for centuries separately finally met and merged, creator worship and creature worship, obedience to God and obedience to human decrees, the Bible and tradition, truth and the deceptions of the enemy. Not everyone was deceived. No one knows their number, but many, perhaps Christians at that time did not agree. The change was promoted by the leaders in the large cities, especially in Roman Alexandria. But in many areas, Sabbath keeping continue, so much so that at the beginning of the 4th century, the emperor Constantine became worried, influenced probably by the church leaders at Rome. He published a decree he hoped would settle the matter and bring uniformity. Here, in part, is Constantine's edict published the 7th day of March 321 AD on the venerable day of the sun with the magistrates and people resting, residing in the city's rest and all the workshops be closed. But the effort failed. The decision of the church leaders in favor of Sunday worship had not convinced many sincere people to give up the Sabbath. And neither were they persuaded by an imperial decree. Why didn't these folk want to change their day of worship? Maybe they were like the Christians in old Beroea. The book of Acts records that when challenged in their faith, these noble folks searched the Scriptures daily, Acts 17 verse 11, to see whether those things were so. Anyone who did that could never be deceived. The Bible and the Bible only is our only rule of faith and practice. In his book The Faith of Our Fathers on page 72 and 73, the 1917 edition Catholic Cardinal James Gibbons wrote, you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and you'll not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day we never approve. The cardinal says that the Roman Catholic Church made the change on its own authority. And he recognizes that in doing that, the church was going against what the Bible clearly teaches. But the Bible did foretell that it would happen in a time of apostasy. This prophecy is in the book of Daniel and it bears careful study. Daniel says, I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea, Daniel 7 verse 2 and 3. In symbolic prophecy, winds represent destruction and the sea represents people. You'll find that in Jeremiah 49 verse 32 33 and Revelation 17 verse 15. The great sea was the Mediterranean. Here is a prediction that there would be turbulence, wars, and destruction among the people in the lands surrounding the Mediterranean. Daniel continues, four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. Daniel wanted to know the meaning of the four beasts, so he asked his angel guide who told him, the beasts you saw are four kings or kingdoms. So the beasts represent four kingdoms that would come to power in the lands in Southern Europe and the Middle East. Here in Daniel 7, we have not four metals, but four beasts. But it's clear they represent the same four kingdoms. Babylon this time is not ahead of gold, but a lion with eagle's wings. We find this lion with eagle's wings in the archaeological descriptions found here in uh and the archaeological discussions, let's put it this way. We find this description of the lion with the eagle's wings in the archaeology discoveries that have taken place in ancient Babylon. The bear with three ribs in its mouth represents Media-Persia. This dual empire ruled from 539 to 331 BC. A bear lifting itself up with three ribs really accurately portrays the record of historical events. Persia finally lifted up in its ascendancy over Media to finally dominate the world. Media-Persia empire attacked and overthrew Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt. Hence, the three ribs in the mouth of the bear, those three, Lydia, Egypt, Babylon. Greece is pictured as a leopard with four heads, four wings on its back here in Daniel 7. You know, it's amazing. Greece conquered the world rapidly, so a leopard represents rapid rapid conquest. Alexander dies. His four generals take over, hence the four heads. And of course, you have the dragon-like beast representing the Roman Empire that ruled from 168 to around 351 AD. You remember in the book of Daniel chapter 2, you have the legs of iron with the toes of the image of iron and clay. So you have the toes of the image and the ten toes. But here you don't have ten toes. In Daniel chapter 7 on the 4th beast, you have ten horns. Both of these represent the ten toes and the ten horns, the divisions of the Roman Empire. But Daniel then observes this 4th beast. He says it'll be different from all the beasts that will be before him. What does that mean? Every one of the previous beasts was overthrown by the one that followed. The Babylonian lion was overthrown by Persia, the bear. Persia was overthrown by Greece, and Greece was overthrown by Rome. But Rome, the 4th beast, would be different. It was not overthrown, but would suffer internal decay, be broken up, divided just as prophecy said. But then in Daniel's vision, there's something amazing. Daniel says, I was considering the horns. And behold, he said, I saw another little horn come up. Who was this little horn? We have seen how every part of this prophecy had a clear historical fulfillment. So we cannot doubt this part too represents something that really happened. This little horn comes up. He has Where does he come up? Among the ten horns. What are the ten horns? The divisions of the Roman Empire. So this little horn power must arise within the Roman Empire. When does he arise? Sometime after pagan Rome has fallen. And when the Roman Empire is break being broken up. What are his characteristics? It says he has eyes like the eyes of a man. Eyes in the Bible symbolize wisdom. But he doesn't have human wisdom. He doesn't have divine wisdom. Can we say that again? He says I In this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous words, Daniel 7 verse 8. This power does not have divine wisdom. He has human wisdom. It says too that he'll speak pompous words. And when you look at Daniel chapter 7 verse 24, it says it'll be different than the kingdoms that preceded it. So here is a kingdom, a power that rises after the breakup of the Roman Empire, that rises in Europe, that rises with human wisdom that is different. It's not a political power, but it's a religious political power. And then Daniel asks his angel to explain the meaning of this little horn prophecy. And it says the angel comes in Daniel chapter 7 verse 25 and it says he'll think to change the times and the laws. Here is a power that would rise in Europe out of Rome, a religious political power that would think to change the very times and laws. I'd like to take you back to the Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine by Peter Geiermann, page 50, 1957 edition. It says, which is the Sabbath day? Answer, Saturday is the Sabbath day. Question, why do we observe Sunday instead of Sabbath? Answer, because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday. The Church of Rome rose after the breakup of the Roman Empire in those early centuries, speaking with human wisdom, not divine wisdom. And the Bible says in Daniel 7 25 it would think to change the times and the laws. What is the only law that has to do with time? It's the Sabbath, the Sabbath commandment. When you look, for example, at the Catholic Encyclopedia, it's even more revealing. It says the Catholic Church, on the other hand, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath It's not the Jewish Sabbath. It's the Sabbath of the Lord, of course. Or the 7th day of the week to the 1st made the 3rd commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept holy. The Catholic Encyclopedia claims that the commandments of God could be changed by the church. The Catholic Encyclopedia acknowledges that the church changed the Sabbath. First, note two things. Nowhere in the Bible is the Sabbath called the Jewish Sabbath. It's the Sabbath of the Lord your God. Secondly, the Sabbath is the 4th commandment of the Ten Commandments. The reason the Sabbath is listed as the 3rd commandment is because the Catholic Church dropped the 2nd commandment on idols, divided the Ten on coveting into two commandments. So once again, here is the message of truth. Here is the message of truth. God himself has never changed the Sabbath. It was done by the church. Here's the Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942. The Roman Catholic Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of divine and thorough infallible authority given to her by her founder Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith has no warrant for observing Sunday. In this matter, the Seventh-day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant. God is calling us today, my friend. God is calling us back to faithfulness. Some people have asked me, are you concerned about a day? What we are talking about is much more than a question of one day or another. It has to do with worshiping the creator who gave us life. The question is, are we going to follow the Bible or human tradition? The question is, who is my master? Are we going to follow church leaders in honoring the venerable day of the sun? Will we choose the day that was instituted by human beings and promoted by Constantine? Or will we honor the creator worshiping on the day he has set aside? Will we choose the day Jesus and his disciples observed? Will we seek God on the day that will be the day of worship in the new earth after Jesus comes? In the last days of world history, the last book of the Bible, Revelation makes an urgent appeal to all men and women everywhere, worship the creator, Revelation 14 7. His end-time people are those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus, Revelation 14 verse 12. What is your decision today? The evidence is clear. Will you stand with Jesus and the faithful of all ages in obedience to his commands?
Guest (Male): You've been listening to Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you enjoyed today's message and that it increased your faith in God and his word. If you'd like to learn more, Pastor Mark invites you to visit globalbibleschool.org for an inspiring interactive Bible study experience. That's globalbibleschool.org. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.
Mark Finley: When it bow your head right now and pray this simple prayer with me. Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of life. Thank you for creating me and giving me the opportunity of living life to the fullest. I surrender my life to you just now and choose to follow Jesus in obedience to all of his commands. I accept your gift of the Sabbath as a day of rest. And I rest in your love and care and ask you to bless me on each Sabbath with Sabbath peace each week in Jesus' name. Amen.