ATTENTION! Part 2 of this series is missing due to technical issues. The speaker recommends this message he presented elsewhere that is similar in content as the missing part: The Counterfeit Image. We apologize for the inconvenience.

GYC Conference 2024: Wherever He Goes

<p>ATTENTION! Part 2 of this series is missing due to technical issues. The speaker recommends this message he presented elsewhere that is similar in content as the missing part: <a href="https://www.audioverse.org/en/teachings/41325/02-the-counterfeit-image" target="_blank">The Counterfeit Image</a>. We apologize for the inconvenience.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

Unveiling the End Times: Religious Liberty and the Quest for Truth

Jonathon Cherne

03 The Supreme Court and the Mark of the Beast

01 The Image of the Lamb is Forming

04 A Counterfeit Religious Revival is Coming: Are You Ready?

05 Vaccines and Religious Liberty: Are they Connected?

Father in heaven, Lord, as we open up your word and as we look at the things that are taking place around us, Lord, I just ask for your spirit to lead us and guide us, Father.

And Lord, we ask for your blessing on this seminar, Lord.

We ask for your blessing on this seminar, Lord.

We ask for your blessing on all the seminars, Father, as people are going to hear your word and your messages, Father.

Lord, may our hearts be drawn closer to you, and Lord, may we come away with a closer relationship and a deeper trust and love for you.

Hold on 1 second, I have a backup clicker here.

Alright, so what is the Mark of the Beast?

Hopefully you all already have studied this, and so we're just kind of gonna give a few statements here.

This is, first 1, the observance of Sunday is the mark of the beast.

Sunday's in quotations because it actually talks about Sunday in the prior sentence and then talks about the observance of that day as the mark of the beast.

So we know from inspiration that the observance of Sunday is the mark of the beast, but it doesn't mean that people are receiving the mark of the beast now if they observe Sunday.

And that's the next quote, which says, Sunday keeping is not yet the mark of the beast, and will not be until the decree goes forth causing men to worship this idle Sabbath.

The time will come when this day will be the test, but that time has not yet come." And so the Mark of the Beast crisis is when Sunday worship is enforced.

And so what we're going to look at today is, could Sunday worship be enforced here in the United States of America?

How could that be possible with our current Constitution and its structure?

And so I also just want you to turn to 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 8.

It's talking here about God's final judgment, and it says, "...in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God, " the mark of the beast on the forehead, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so here Paul is talking about the mark of the beast is 1 in where, you know, We know that we can receive it on our hand and on our forehead.

And 1 is not knowing God, and the other is not obeying God.

So you might know God, but you don't obey, right?

You might know the Sabbath is the right day, but because of convenience, because you want to be able or you need to be able to by yourself, you do something different than that which you know is right.

And so there will be those who are deceived in thinking Sunday is the right day to worship, and there will also be those who know it's wrong, but out of convenience or fear, persecution, do it anyways.

So let's look at the history of the Sunday Law and how it came about because I think that gives us some insight of how the Sunday Law will come about in the future.

And so Sunday worship came about because of pagan influence.

You know, there was the worship of the Sun God on Sunday, and it also mixed in with that was anti-Semitism.

The Christians did not want to be in the same basket as the Jews.

The Jews were being persecuted by Rome, by pagan Rome, and the Christians were being lumped in with them because they also kept and worshipped on the Sabbath.

And we see this fall, when you read about the 7 churches in Revelation, you see the slow progression from the church that was faithful, you know, Ephesus at the beginning, to how it starts to compromise and then it becomes corrupt, and then, you know, it's a dead church.

And so, this is why we have to make sure that we don't compromise in our faith.

And so, it was because of pagan influence and because of anti-Semitism that Christians started to worship on Sunday.

And I actually wrote a paper on this in law school.

I went abroad and studied in Tel Aviv and studied Christian, Islamic, and Jewish religions and comparative perspectives.

And at the end of the class you had to write this paper, and so I wrote it on the Sabbath and how the different religions worship on different days and how that came about.

It was a very interesting research and I encourage you all to study into that as well.

Now the shift from Sabbath worship to Sunday worship and the laws that were passed really started with Constantine.

Constantine was the first government that embraced Christianity.

And that is the first time that we saw church and state from a Christian perspective merge together.

In fact, in 2025, I thought we were there, we're not there yet, 2025 is the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

And the Council of Nicaea was the very first conference where all the Christian churches got together.

And at that conference, Constantine set as the emperor, the pontifist, maximus, the head of the church and the head of the state, and he decided what was the true doctrine of the church.

Next year is the 17th hundredth anniversary of that, and the Catholic Church is throwing a big anniversary party and the World Council of Churches is joining in to commemorate this great event that took place 1, 700 years ago, what they think is great.

And so Constantine made a law that, you know, mixing Sunday worship with, or sun worship, with Christian worship, and had his empire, in order to unite the empire, merge the 2, and in 8321 he said, on the venerable day of the sun, let magistrates and people residing in cities rest and let all workshops be closed." And so this was the first legislation of a Christian Sunday law was by Constantine.

It's interesting if you read about the life of Constantine, it's hard to tell whether he was Christian or not.

And if you read different biographies about him, I don't know, I see a lot of resemblance in Donald Trump, the current incoming president, and working on a sermon, Trump, the modern day Constantine, just drawing a comparison, because it was really him that united Christianity, and you're seeing Trump uniting Christianity, at least they're uniting around him, and it's very, very interesting, But that's a sermon for another time.

I have to look for that 1 on the American Christian Ministries app.

So first it was, you know, the stop working in the cities, right?

The shops need to close down on Sunday in the cities.

So if anyone here is not living in the country yet, this is a good reason maybe why we should move to the country, right?

You know, if this is the pattern, then we're better off, and we know that from inspiration, we're better off living in the country anyways.

In fact, I think there's a quote that, those who live in the country and have gardens will be eating like kings and queens, right?

So, full disclosure, my family and I, we moved out of LA during COVID and now live in Tennessee, which is where my family is, where I was born and raised.

Thought we'd do it the Ellen White method and thought, man, 3 foot hole, that's not that big, right?

Well, 3 foot hole is very big, I realize.

And My daughter, she's like 3 feet tall, and I'm thinking that's pretty short, but it's a big hole you have to dig.

But country living's great, and encourage you all to do that.

So the next, you know, there was the Council of Laodicea in 8365 where they decreed that Christians must not Judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day.

And so here they were specifically, the Catholic Church was targeting, you know, it wasn't just honoring Sunday, but now it was you can't worship on the Sabbath.

And so then in 83-86, then they got more strict.

It was all civil transactions of every kind on Sunday were strictly forbidden.

And so things were shutting down on Sunday, all things were.

What's interesting is that this first law came about because the Bishop of Rome went to Constantine and argued to him that it was discrimination.

He says it's discrimination to have the public offices, the courts, and the public, you know, accommodations open on Sunday because our church members can't use it because they need to be in church, right?

And not only that, then they can't serve as judicial officers because they're not available on Sundays, And so you need to shut down because it's discriminatory to Christians to have the government open on Sundays.

And so they use this idea of discrimination in order to bring about the Sunday law.

And we'll see some Supreme Court decisions that are turning the Constitution on its head and using discrimination in order to provide, in order to get funding for religious institutions.

And so everything, all the work had to shut down.

People couldn't go to work anymore on Sundays in 386.

Well, we might as well go to church, you know?

Hey, we have off, let's go to the Coliseum.

And so, you know, you can't, you know, the state can't legislate and make someone Christian, right?

That's something that's in their heart, that by passing a law is not going to give them the desire to be Christian.

And so the the church was a little dismayed And they said, wait a second, you know, our coffers aren't full and our pews are empty.

You know, we thought shutting things down would help.

And so they went back to the Emperor, 8425, got a law passed that all circuses and theaters must be closed on Sunday.

And so now we have all the entertainment shut down on Sunday.

Because you can't make people be religious, right?

Series

Unveiling the End Times: Religious Liberty and the Quest for Truth

03 The Supreme Court and the Mark of the Beast

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Learning How to Learn Faith

03 Laying the Glory in the Dust

41m

Ron duPreez ~ No Matter What: How morality impacts your mortality

Mutiny Over Music

1h

GYC 2011 Seminar: Revival & Reformation

Revival & Reformation: God’s Perspective, Part 2

1h 5m

Plenary

The Flip Side of Service

1h 30m

Morning Devotionals

Into the Wilderness

1h

GYC 2008 Plenary Sessions

The Fear of No Fear

55m

GYC 2013 Seminar: Lessons from Job for the Great Controversy

03-Part 3: Wisdom’s Recluse?

57m

GYC 2013 Seminar: The Law, the Sabbath and Worship in the End-time Crisis

05-Danger Signals, Part 1

1h

Music in Your Sphere: Max the Potential of Music in Ministry

3. Singing of a Better Land

1h 1m

The 4th Angel: Literature Evangelism Made Relevant In A Postmodern World

4. How to Reach the Five Major Religions Using Literature – Part 1

49m

Living Dangerously: God’s Call to Mission Service and How to Get Involved!

2. Short Term Mission Trips 101

1h 6m

Doug Batchelor: The Victorious Life

The Purpose of Worship, Part II

57m

Sound Doctrine