Holidays vs Holy Days: By Whose Authority? #5

Fred R. Coulter

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Let's continue on where we left off, which is this: Everyone in the world is under one of two authorities!

• you're under the authority of God the Father and Jesus Christ

—and of course, the angels are there to protect us as ministering spirits, and so forth through the Holy Spirit of God. OR:

• you're under the authority of Satan the devil and his demons who rule this world

There are some few people in between, that have a combination of some Truth and mixture of error. There's another way you can think of it.

What if you had a winning lotto ticket and you won the hardball, $200-million prize? You scrambled and you found the winning lotto ticket, but unfortunately you only had half of it! You ran up to claim your prize and said: 'I have the number! I have the number!' Okay, give me your ticket. Why, this is only half of it. 'But I had all the numbers.' We don't give the prize on the word of anyone. You either have to have all the numbers or you get nothing.

Likewise with the Truth of God. If you have a mixture of Truth and error, you will fall into the category of those false prophets who said:

• Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name?
• Didn't we cast out demons in Your name?
• Didn't we, through Your name, do many wonderful works?

And Jesus will say, 'I never knew you! Depart from me you who work iniquity,' because you only had half of it.'

Jesus did not say, 'Man shall live by half the Words of God.' No! He said, 'Man shall live by every Word of God.' If there are any changes to the Word of God, that's why we have in The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version Appendix H: How Did Jesus Fulfill the Law and the Prophets, , and Appendix I: A Comparison of the Old and New Covenants, everything that was fulfilled, such as:

• the sacrifices in the priestly ritual by Christ, and His sacrifice is a superior application of it
• circumcision of the flesh is superseded by circumcision of the heart, which is superior to circumcision of the flesh
• keeping the laws and commandments of God without adding anything to it as defined by God and Jesus Christ, and living by every Word of God that way is superior to living by half of it

The truth of it is that the 'mystery of lawlessness' in the Bible is satanic, and that lawlessness is called lawlessness, because they are against the laws of God in that they incorporate some of them, but again, it's less than half of what God requires. That's why it is the 'mystery of lawlessness.' Satan wants to deceive people into disobeying God, and what better way to deceive people into disobeying God but by having a false christ in the guise of a true Christ and then bring in all the pagan sun-worship doctrines and say it is Christian?

Remember the book that was published some years ago? Babylon Mystery Religion: Ancient and Modern by Ralph Woodrow[transcriber's correction]. The Jesuits got to him and he recanted everything in there. That's why we have The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop on the website: cbcg.org

God will not let the Truth be stopped. It doesn't matter what agency of Satan the devil, stops it. If they stop one man, God will raise up another and He has. Richard Rives' book Too Long in the Sun shows clearly how everything that came to be known as Orthodox Christendom—I think it should be spelled at the end instead of 'dom,' it should be 'dumb'; or as someone said 'doom'—was wrong, because if you follow that you're not a Christian. A lot of people consider themselves to be Christian.

This book by Richard Rives is Too Long in the Sun. Not only does he give a warning about Sunday, Easter, Christmas, Lent and all of these things, but he also promotes the Sabbath and the Holy Days. I believe that there is a way for people and organizations to work together without having to worry about stealing disciples, one from another, or stealing the Truth, one from another—after all, doesn't all Truth belong to God?—so that the Gospel can be preached.

That's why you've heard me say and I'll say it again, 'We're happy when anyone anywhere uses any of our publications to teach the people, whether they are in other Churches of God or Sunday-keeping Churches of God. If there are Sunday-keeping Churches of God, I hope and pray that they'll repent!' After all, that's the whole purpose!

Here's a wonderful thing that Jesus did. He said, 'Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.' That's a broad statement. Guess what? If we're faithful to the Truth, God will lead us in how to do it! We don't have to say, 'How Lord?' He gives you the choice! He gives us the choice! You can preach the Gospel by giving different books and things to people you know. You may be surprised what will happen. That's preaching the Gospel.

I think Rives done a good job. He's simplified it. It's meant for brand new people. The Two Babylons is meant for people who want to get in and really study the historical details.

Let's look and see under whose authority that Israel put itself. They were under the authority of God after they received the Ten Commandments and were given all the laws and commandments and wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of their sin. They came into the land and the first thing they did was they fell away, and in the third generation they were worshipping Baalim, which is the sun-god, whose days are:

• Sunday
• Easter
• Christmas
• New Years
• Halloween

All of that! Those are not from God! Those are not in the Bible! You cannot find them there and God has said that He will not give His name to another. God has also said of Israel, 'How long do you make Me to serve with your sins?'

Just like we saw with Aaron, the people and the golden calf while Moses was on the Mount. What did they do when they made the bull with the sun-disk between the horns? Remember, the Passover—and that's why the Passover is so important—is an absolute judgment and condemnation of all the religion of Egypt, which means all the religions of the world! They're under the authority of Satan! and God has made that null and void! However, if people want to go out and start blending things together that's their choice, but they will pay the price!

Let's look and see what happened; Judges 2 tells us an awful lot. Today we have the same battle with our children, only even more so, because everything in—

• school
• television
• kids games
• cartoons
• movies
• friends
• teachings in school

—is all slated to indoctrinate them into the world of Satan and the world of the occult, whether they're in it a little bit or in it a lot.

{Note book: Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days: Which?} When you read it, it's going to really blow your mind as to how Satan has really deceived this world.

The book The Da Vinci Code has sold over 7-million and the movie is based upon this lie, but it's put in such a way, 'Well, maybe this could be or maybe that could be'; just like every lie that Satan has. You think about all the Harry Potter stuff that is out there. The occult is paving the way for the open worship of Satan the devil, hence, it's paving the way for the coming antichrist. No doubt about it.

Just to give you a little example here: Several of the brethren told me that they live in Montana and they got a call from the local Sheriff's Department saying: 'We would like for you to contribute to our fund for children.' The answer probably is, by most people, 'Oh, yes. How about if I send you $100?' Thank you. Instead of doing that, they said, 'How are you going to use this?' We want to raise a fund so we can 'chip' all the children in Montana. Won't this be a wonderful thing? Go to cbcg.org and look up the sermons that I've done on the mark of the beast. I'm telling everyone that now's the time to change and repent; now's the time to turn to God because the day is going to come when it's going to be too late to turn to God and you're going to be stuck with no recourse. The people don't like to hear that. That's fear and hellfire and brimstone! Let me tell you something. When Jesus Christ returns and:

• the heavens roll back as a scroll
• the sign of the Son of Man appears in heaven
• He shakes the heaven, the earth, the sea and everything in it

It's going to make these words that I am saying, though you may be offended in them, look like purring. It is going to come! Christ is going to return! Satan is yet to have his final day and it's all buried in the authority of Satan the devil and his religions, his holidays, his feasts that he has foisted off on this world as Christian.

Judges 2:11: "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim." Baalim is plural for the singular of Baal—many Baals, because that's what it is. There are many names for the sun-god. You can look it up from our website cbcg.org or go to toolong.com and get the information from Too Long in the Sun by Richard Rives.

God is giving many, many, many warnings to many people from many different sources. Before Christ returns, not counting what the two witnesses are going to do, there is going to be a warning that God is going to have to give to this world. It's going to depend basically on how the Churches of God respond to God and accept the responsibility of preaching the Gospel the way that it should be preached as a warning witness to this dying world, that is under the authority of Satan the devil, so that as many as possible can repent. That's what God is interested in!

He does not care about hierarchy. He does not care about ministerial authority. He cares about the preaching of the Truth of God and the authority of His Word, and He will prosper it wherever it goes. May it prosper in your life and the lives of those that you're involved in. Only in that way are you going to receive the love of God.

If you combine the Bible with pagan worship, it is evil! That's what the Bible says, but people feel good don't they? 'Oh! It's a feast,' as Aaron said as he presented the 'sun-disk bowl' to the children of Israel. 'It's a feast unto the Lord.' Satan always like to disguise himself. Oh, we have a so-called 'holy' pontiff, who sits ex cathedra and whatever he says is the Word of God.

Not if it doesn't agree with what's in the Bible, it's not the Word of God. Christ has no compatibility with idols of any kind! All you have to do is watch the ceremonies that go on at the Vatican and you know it is filled with idolatry. Christ is not there! If you're a dedicated Catholic and you think that what you're doing is good, please ask yourself:

• Have you been deceived by the priests just like the priests and their pedophilia activity deceived the Church for years and now it comes out in the open?
• Have there been other things that they have told me which has deceived me?

They claim to represent God, yet anyone who claims to represent God and does not follow the Words of God is not from God! Remember how we saw in 1-Kings 13 that a false prophet came out and talked to the true prophet of God and said, 'I am a prophet of the Lord, too' and enticed the true prophet of God to go against the commands of God? God had to send a lion to eat him because he disobeyed God!

We all need to understand that this is not anti-Catholicism; this is not anti-Judaism: Anyone, any organization, any church, any religion anywhere in the world that does not follow the True Word of God—as inspired in the Masoretic Hebrew Text for the Old Testament or in The Byzantine Text for the New Testament, if it does not agree with that and the translations do not agree with it—they're not from God! It doesn't matter what they tell you. It doesn't matter the amount of miracles that they may show you. The test is: 'to the Law and to the Testimony, if they speak not according to this Word it's because there is no light in them.' If there's no light in them, God didn't send them.

God makes you responsible to check and prove the Truth. So, don't get in an emotional angry response at what you hear and think that I am personally attacking you. No! I'm like one standing on the street corner and you're ready to step out in front of a speeding car and I tell you, 'Don't go!' and you do go and you're wiped out by the car. I did my part. I told you, 'Don't go!' You didn't do your part because you didn't listen.

• God requires you to prove
• God requires you to check
• God requires that as your own personal responsibility

You cannot palm it off on another man and say:

• the minister made me do it
• the priest made me do it
• the bishop made me do it
• I was just following the pope
• I was just following the Dalai Lama
• I was just following the Mullah

'Yes, I cut off the heads of those people because the Mullah said that in good faith should.' That's not what God says in the Bible! It all gets down to Holidays vs Holy Days: By Whose Authority?

(go to the next track)

What happens when you combine pagan worship with the worship of God?

Judges 2:12: "And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they followed other gods, even the gods of the people who were around them, and bowed themselves to them, and provoked the LORD to anger."

• Do you want the blessing of God

or

• Do you want the anger of God?

You have to choose! If you want the blessing of God, you'll obey Him and follow the true Jesus. Any other way, you're provoking God!

Verse 13: "And they forsook the LORD and served Baal and Ashtaroth." Now we're introduced to Ashtaroth to the queen of heaven, which comes by many, many names. You can see that out of the book The Two Babylons.

Then what happened? God had to deliver them into the hands of their enemies! God sent a judge and rescued them from it. They said, 'Okay, we'll serve God.' So, they did for a while, then they went right back to it. Soon as the judge died, someone said, 'Hooray! We now have freedom and liberty,' and look what they did:

Verse 19: "And it came to pass when the judge was dead, they returned and made themselves more corrupt than their fathers in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way."

God gave them a choice. Just before they went into the 'promised land' God told them, 'See, I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore, choose life that you and your seed may live; that you may love the Lord, your God and cleave to Him. I give you warning, if you go after other gods and serve them, then you will not prolong your days on the land.' We're seeing the same thing here today. Stop and think! Because of sin, beginning with abortion, how many people's days have been cut short because of:

• sin
• death
• accidents
• murder
• suicide
• drugs
• illicit sex

and so forth, because they're under the authority of Satan and his demons and they're not under the authority of God.

We'll just do a quick survey of several verses in the book of Judges. What I want you to understand is that based upon the way that human nature is 'There is a way that seems right to a man and the ends thereof are the ways of death,' and 'all the ways of a man are just in his own eyes.' Therefore, when men come up with schemes to marry together the way of God and the way of Satan, God calls it evil.

Especially today, since we have the whole Word of God and we can study, know and prove, God holds us responsible for it. If you have a Bible in your house and you don't read it and you don't search for the Truth in it, that's not God's fault; that's your fault and God is going to hold you accountable. God is going to hold every man and every woman accountable for how they live their lives. All are going to come before the judgment seat of God. The best way to come before the judgment seat of God is now in repentance so that the judgment is mercy and not death, and that by grace you have forgiveness of your sins. You be baptized and walk in 'newness of life' in the way of God. That's a choice that God sets before you, for every human being.

We're living in a critical age and time especially in America and the time is coming when God's judgment is going to come upon the whole nation because of the very things that I'm talking about here concerning by whose authority? Satan's? or God's? Every time the children of Israel combined the worship of the sun with the worship of God, here's what God says:

Judges 3:7: "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and forgot the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the Asherim." This is a cycle over and over and over again.

Verse 12: "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD…." He's got to send correction. He's got to send the sword. He's got to send the famine, because those are God's judgments.

Judges 4:1: "And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD when Ehud was dead."

Judges 6:1: "And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD. And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years."

All the way through the book of Judges it is on again and off again, sinning against God, coming back to God, and when a judge would be raised up who was righteous and enforce it for the people. Judges 21:25 is exactly were we are in the world today. Especially with what is called 'post-modernist thinking': If you have an opinion, it is true because you believe it!

It's even reflected in the news. We give you the right and the left, and you decide. You can't apply that to God and His way. If you're going to be under the authority of God the Father and Jesus Christ, it is God's way because He's God. It is seeking the Truth, not opinions about what you read. It's quite different.

Judges 21:25: "In those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes."

Then you come to the time of Samuel. Here's a sad case. The Word of God had almost extinguished because of the corrupt priests under Eli, the high priest and his two sons: Phinehas and Hophni. Yes, there can be corrupt religious leaders. Today we have the option of choosing to get away from them.

Then Israel again rejected God and chose a kingship. Their first king was Saul. Saul did not obey God! Let's see what he did. God told them, because they had to fight against the enemy, 'Go against Amalek and slay everyone, spare not any; that's My judgment against them.'

Saul and the children of Israel were the army of judgment in God's hands. They didn't do it! They saw the animals, 'My, These are good animals, let's sacrifice it to the Lord.' They didn't kill all of them as they should have, and they took Agag, king of Amalek, alive. He's the one responsible for all the evil that they were doing. That was the one that God said to kill!

When Samuel found out about it and Saul and the Israelites came back to where Samuel was, Samuel said, 'What's this I hear, the lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep.' Saul said, 'The people wanted to take these to offer them to the Lord.' God doesn't need that. Even though he disobeyed God and claimed, 'Oh! I've obeyed the voice of God. I did almost all of it—didn't I? Look! The people did this, and I brought Agag alive.'

1-Samuel 15:22: "And Samuel said, 'Does the LORD have as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD?.…'" The simplicity in Christ is to obey the voice of the Lord.

"'…Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice! To  hearken… [unto God] …is better than the fat of rams, for rebellion… [against the Word of God] …is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king!'" (vs 22-23). We need to make a judgment in our own lives. We need to ask ourselves:

• Will I believe God and His Word

or

• Will I reject God?

if I reject God, God is going to reject me

• Is that what you want in your life?
• Whose authority are you under?

Now we come to the time of David. David was made king and 'a man after God's heart' even though he had all of his problems and difficulties that you can read of. His son Solomon was made king in great pomp and ceremony, and David gave charge to Solomon to serve the Lord God of his fathers and to do that which was right in His sight.

Solomon started out as a very young man as king. He sought the Lord so he could judge the people of God righteously and God appeared unto him twice. Because he wanted to make the right judgments concerning God and concerning the people of Israel, he didn't want wealth, riches, all of those things. God gave him wealth and riches. He was the richest man on the face of the earth that has ever been.

Solomon was blessed with the task of building the temple from the plans that God personally gave to his father David, and Solomon built the temple. God came and put His presence in it. The priests and the Levites were there. God gave the sign of His presence by a cloud coming right into the temple on the day that it was dedicated. Solomon started out in Truth and in righteousness with God's blessing, with everything to make the kingdom of Israel the greatest kingdom on earth, and so it was. Then Solomon forsook God!

Let's see how it happened. He had many choices before him. As king he didn't allow anyone to correct him. He did as he chose to do. Just like he wrote in the Proverbs, 'There is a way that seems right to a man but the ends thereof are the ways of death.' He was victim of his own proverb!

1-Kings 11:1: "And King Solomon loved many foreign women, even the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, Hittites" Amazing! He didn't learn a thing from all of the history through the time of the judges and the time of the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness—did he? Nope!

Verse 2: "Of the nations which the LORD had said to the children of Israel, 'You shall not go in to them, and they shall not go in to you; surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.' But Solomon clung to these in love."

With the sex mania that's in the world today, did you know that there are 32-million women who are addicted to online pornography in America? That's not to say the number of men. They teach in our schools sex education from kindergarten. All of that sexuality has turned this nation away from God! They become addicted to it. They are the slaves of Satan the devil. Just like Solomon was.

Notice what he did, v 3: "And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines…. [Solomon had a sex addition] …And his wives turned away his heart, for it came to pass when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods. And his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God as was the heart of David his father, for Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians…" (vs 3-5). That's the 'queen of heaven.'

Today we have that in 'Mary worship' the 'queen of heaven,' who is also called by men a 'co-redemptrix' with Christ and a 'co-mediator' with Christ. That's not so! The Bible says that 'there's one man Who is Mediator between God and men and that is Jesus Christ.'

• Have you believed lies?
• Do you practice lies?
• Do you do like Solomon and go after the 'queen of heaven'?

"…and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites; and Solomon did evil…" (vs 5-6). That's what God thinks of it. Look at:

• all these cathedrals
• all of the ceremonies
• all the processions
• all of the candles
• all the 'holy' water and incense
• all of the Eucharists

that go on in there under all of the idols that God describes as evil! Maybe you've never heard it said that way because you've been taught from a youth that that is right.

As I told one Catholic woman one time, 'You know, what a shame. There are millions of dedicated, devoted Catholics that don't even understand what they're devoted to. What a shame. What a waste of faith and dedication.' You need to be devoted to God:

• not to a man
• not to a church
• not to a minister
• not to a priest
• not to a cardinal
• not to a an archbishop
• not to a pope

They can't save you! They're all going to die. That's the reality of the world. That's the reality of life. That's what we need to understand.

Verse 6: "And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not go fully after the LORD like his father David." He combined the worship. Since he knew about temple building, his wives also wanted temples for their gods, ecumenical.

• You build a temple for you God, Solomon, am I not your wife?
• Do I not believe in my god or goddess just like you supposedly believe in yours?
• Are you going to discriminate against me and build a temple for your God but none for my god?

What did he do?

Verse 7: "Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill which is before Jerusalem…"

Now, if you look at it this way, on your right hand looking north is the mount of the temple, where it was. There was a valley to the west that went down. That was the Tyropoeon Valley. Across, west of the Temple Mount on the eastside of the Tyropoeon Valley, was the Hill of Abomination, as it was later called, where Solomon built all the pagan temples for his wives, the pagan temples and incense altars. Can you imagine that? The one that God had build His Holy temple in Jerusalem now turned his skill to building pagan temples. That's what he did!

This is instructive so that you will know that the holidays of this world, the worship of other gods and the combining of it with the Word of God, is evil and an abomination to God! It's just that way. We need to understand that the sin of Israel was sun-worship, and that that day of worship was on Sunday. The holidays were the different names concerning Christmas, Easter, and so forth; read it in The Two Babylons.

Verse 8: "And likewise he did for all his foreign wives, and burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; and he did not keep that which the LORD commanded" (vs 8-10).

• What did God do?
• What was the punishment?

Remove the ten tribes from Solomon after he died!

The northern ten tribes were given to Jeroboam. Let's see what Jeroboam did. God even sent a prophet to Jeroboam who said, 'Jeroboam. If you'll do that which is right in the sight of God and you'll keep the commandments of God, God will build you a dynasty like He promised to David.' Rather than Jeroboam saying, 'Oh, man, that's great! Yes, thank You, God! Thank You for Your mercy and kindness.' No! What did he do? He made matters even worse. He was afraid that if he didn't set up a counterfeit religion that the people of the ten tribes of Israel would go down to Jerusalem and they would join up with Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

1-Kings 12:25: "And Jeroboam built Shechem on Mount Ephraim and lived on it, and went from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, 'Now, the kingdom may well return to the house of David! If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me and return again to Rehoboam king of Judah.' Then the king took counsel…" (vs 25-28).

It is true, 'in a multitude of counsel is wisdom,' provided you get good counsel. In a multitude of counsel with evil counselors you get sin. He took counsel and here was the result:

"…and made two calves of gold…" (v 28). Recall what we covered in Exo. 32. What did the children of Israel do? They built a golden calf and Aaron himself did it! Yes!

"…and said to them… [we're going to make it convenient for you] …'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, O, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" (v 28). A blatant lie! Do people believe lies? Of course they do! That's why we are held responsible to ask ourselves in the light of God's Word:

• How many lies have I believed?
• How many false practices do I accept as normal, natural and Christian and are labeled in the Bible by God as evil?

Maybe you never thought of it that way.

Verse 29: "And he set the one in Bethel… [House of God] …and he put the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even to Dan. And he made houses of worship on the high places and made priests of the lowest of the people, who were not the sons of Levi" (vs 29-31). The sons of Levi went back and joined the temple where they should have been. Here, you have priests that were not called of God.

Let's understand something: No priest, no minister, no religious figure who teaches contrary to the Word of God, is serving God! All of this claims to the contrary, it's not so. They may be nice; they may be sincere; they may be well intentioned, but they believe lies and they teach lies. Many of them know the Truth.

Give your minister, pastor or priest a test, ask them: 'The Bible teaches the seventh day Sabbath, why do we meet on Sunday and not the Sabbath?' I'll guarantee you, everyone will say, 'We know that the Sabbath is the day that God made, the seventh day, called Saturday today, but the church changed the day, and therefore, we meet on Sunday.'

We have an article written by Catholic Cardinal Gibbon, which is Rome's Challenge to the Protestants (cbcg.org). They know and prove that nowhere in the Bible does it say anything about keeping the first day of the week holy—period! You have to decide what you want to do. The choices are:

• Are you going to love God and serve Him and be under His authority?

or:

• Are you going to love the way of man and Satan and be under his authority?

That's where we are.

Notice what Jeroboam did. You always have to have a feast; you always have to have something to celebrate.

Verse 32: "And Jeroboam ordered a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah…." This is very close to the day that we call Halloween. Halloween is the open worship of Satan! That is the highest 'sabbot' of the witches in the world!

"…And he offered upon the altar…" (v 32). Oh! He was righteous! 'I'm going to show no fear of God. I'm going to go up and offer on the altar myself so that all the people will have confidence that what is being done is accepted.' You have to read what happened to him.

"…So, he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places, which he had made. And he offered upon the altar, which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month, which he had devised out of his own heart…. [undoubtedly under the inspiration of Satan] …And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel. And he offered upon the altar and burned incense (vs 32-33). You can read in 1-Kings 13 what happened.

1-Kings 13:33: "After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but turned and again made priests of the high places from the lowest of the people; anyone who desired to be made a priest, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. And this thing became the sin of the house of Jeroboam, even to destroy it from the face of the earth (vs 33-34).

All the way through here you read all of 1st-2nd Kings, 1st-2nd Chronicles and it's like one graphic chart. They obey God for a while and then it's just like you see the economic charts of depression, it goes right down to the bottom and it stays at the bottom and they worship Satan, worship in the groves, serve the evil spirits and do all of these things. It got so bad that when it came to the time of Ahab, king of Israel, guess who his wife was? Jezebel! She was the daughter of the priest of Baal in Sidon! Nice corrupt political alliance.

At that time God needed a prophet so He raised up Elijah. You've heard of Elijah the prophet? Here's his famous confrontation between the priests of Baal and Elijah and the people of God. The children of Israel were out sinning and worshipping Baal and Ashtoreth and keeping all the holidays of the world. Trust me, they have not changed since the time of the Tower of Babel. Maybe the names have been changed, but the practice has not changed.

When Ahab saw Elijah, he was mad at Elijah because there was a drought for three and one half years, no rain.

1-Kings 18:17: "And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah… [rather than Ahab admitting what he did that was wrong, he looked at Elijah and]: …Ahab said to him, 'Are you he that troubles Israel?'" You're causing trouble in Israel! You're speaking the Truth against all these things that we're doing. We hold these to be righteous. You say they're not. You're causing all the trouble in Israel.

Verse 18: "And he [Elijah] answered, 'I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and you have followed Baalim…. [all the Baals] …Now, therefore, send and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred and fifty of the prophets of Baal… [Sunday-keepers, sun-worshippers, holiday-keepers] …and four hundred of the prophets of Asherah… [which practice witchcraft] ..who eat at Jezebel's table'" (vs 18-19). State sponsored religion! Amazing! You see so many parallels in this in history that it just 'blows your mind.'

Verse 20: "Then Ahab sent to all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together to Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people and said, 'How long will you vacillate between two different opinions?'" (vs 20-21).

Isn't that the way that most people are today? They have an opinion about religion. They have an opinion about God, but they don't know anything. Two opinions and you put the proposition to them:

"…If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, then follow him" (v 21). That's the proposition that God puts to everyone today.

• Are you going to follow Him and be under His authority?
• Are you going to follow Baalim, and the sun-god and sun-worship and all the holidays of this world and be under the authority of Satan the devil?
• What are you going to do?
• Are you going to prove the Truth from the Word of God?
• Are you going to continue in your opinion whatever it is and you think, 'Oh! My opinion is of great worth because I believe it, it must be true before God'?

God could care less about anyone's opinion unless it agrees with the Word of God. That's the truth of the matter. In today's free speech society, people don't like to hear that—do they? No, of course not!

"…And the people did not answer him a word. And Elijah said to the people… [he wasn't alone, as he found out later, but he said]: …'I, I alone, remain a prophet of the LORD. But Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men'" (vs 21-22).

He said, 'All right, we're going to have a contest. We're going to prove who is the prophet of God, me or the 450 prophets of Baal. You get a bullock. One for you and the 450 prophets of Baal, and one for me. Since there are more of you, I'm going to let you go first. You offer your bullock on the altar here, which they built of stone, and the first one that answers by fire, that one is God.'

Verse 26: "So, they took the bull, which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon…" If you have The Elijah by Mendelsshon, that's quite a catchy tune.

"…saying, 'O Baal, hear us.' But there was no voice, nor any who answered. Then they leaped upon the altar… [the jumpers and leapers] …which was made. Now, it came to pass at noon Elijah mocked them and said, 'Cry aloud with a great voice, for he is a god. Either he is meditating, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened!' And they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves with knives and lances until the blood gushed out upon them. So, it came to pass when midday was past, and when they prophesied until the offering of Elijah's oblation…" (vs 26-29).

This means the sacrifice of Elijah, not 'the time of the evening sacrifice,' because in the KJV you will see that those words are in italics and it completely misleads everyone.

"…there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor anyone who paid attention. And Elijah said to all the people, 'Come near to me.' And all the people came near him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the Word of the Lord came, saying, 'Israel shall be your name.' And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he made a trench around the altar big enough to contain two measures of seed. And he arranged the wood, and cut the bull in pieces, and placed it on the wood, and said, 'Fill four water jars with water and pour on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood'" (vs 29-33). In the middle of a drought, that was very precious water.

Verse 34: "And he said, 'Do it the second time.' And they did it the second time. And he said, 'Do it the third time.' And they did it the third time. And the water ran all around the altar. And he filled the trench also with water" (vs 34-35).

• Elijah did not have to use a chant
• he did not have to use a rosary
• he did not have to use an incense burner
• he did not do the sign of the cross

What did he do? A humble prayer to God! Listen to it:

Verse 36: "Now, it came to pass at the time of the offering of the oblation [sacrifice] Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your Word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their heart back again.' Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the burnt sacrifice and the wood, and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw, they fell on their faces. And they said, 'The LORD, He is the God! The LORD, He is the God!' And Elijah said to them, 'Take the prophets of Baal…and kill them…'" (vs 36-40)—and they did.

When Christ returns, He's going to do the same thing. All the prophets, ministers, priests and religious leaders of Babylon the Great are either going to repent or be destroyed. It's not going to be like Elijah. It's going to be the whole world! We're getting closer and closer to that time. I ask you:

• What is your opinion?
• How long are you not going to believe that the Lord is God?
• How long are you going to remain under the authority of Satan?

Instead of under the authority of God the Father and Jesus Christ?!

All Scripture from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Judges 2:11-13, 19
• Judges 3:7, 12
• Judges 4:1
• Judges 6:1
• Judges 21:25
• 1-Samuel 15:22-23
• 1-Kings 11:1-10
• 1-Kings 12:25-33
• 1-Kings 13:33-34
• 1-Kings 18:17-22, 26-40

Scripture referenced, not quoted: Exodus 32

Also referenced:

Books:

• Babylon Mystery Religion: Ancient and Modern by Ralph Woodrow
• The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop {cbcg.org}
• Too Long in the Sun by Richard Rives {toolong.com}
• Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days: Which? by Fred R. Coulter
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Sermon: The Mark of the Beast

From: The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:

• Appendix H: How Did Jesus Fulfill the Law and the Prophets?
• Appendix I: A Comparison Between the Old and New Covenants
• Appendix N: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants

FRC: nfs
Transcribed: 05-14-16
Proofed: bo—6/1/16