A Collapse of the U.S. Economy,Moral Apostasy, and
Sunday as a National Day of Rest
A Collapse of the U.S. Economy,
Moral Apostasy, and
Sunday as a National Day of Rest
All the countries in the world have experienced an economic depression. It started in the USA. Financial experts worldwide with insights into the American economic situation, are now convinced that this crisis will continue, that it is global, and that it will be systematic. This economic crisis has already caused a domino effect, but we will see more of this in the near future. It will result in chaos, not only in the USA, but also throughout the world.
The situation is this: The U.S. has for a long time borrowed huge sums of money from private banking firm, the Federal Reserve System. This is owned by the Rothschild dynasty, one of the promoters of the New World Order. The USA has participated in many wars around the globe, and the more wars it plays a part in, the more money it is obliged to borrow, and the greater the debt burden. It has now been realised, that it cannot pay back all of this money. The situation is clear: The economic depression in the USA has created international shockwaves.
The American economic collapse is likely to affect the world’s stock markets, reducing the worth of shares greatly. Far too many have fallen for the temptation to acquire substantial bank loans at low interest rates. Now, however, interest rates will gradually climb to new heights. There may well be double or worse increases in the price of food and other commodities.
We shall soon see the advantages of counsel given before, namely not to believe the notion of ever-rising stock markets, not to borrow money, because the borrower is the slave of the lender, and that one should move out into the country, where one can cultivate one’s own food, while enjoying the splendours of God’s nature.
There was, of course, an economic crisis in 1929, but the crisis that now has started will be worse. We may be heading for a global systemic crisis, which will destroy the way of working, which the leaders of the world have introduced. Transports will partly be paralysed or come to a standstill because of further increases in the price of oil. In addition, people – especially those in cities – will not get the food they are used to have. And when there is a lack of food, there is social unrest, sparking off even more crises.
Now has come the time to sell your house in the city, where you live, and to make yourself free of debt. At the same time, you should look for a place in the countryside. If you have big loans and stay in your city, you will most likely lose your house, car, etc. If you sell now, you can rent a house cheaply in the country, or buy one there at a modest cost. Perhaps you will profit by first renting a house, before purchasing it, as prices go down? Everyone realising the advantages of moving out into the country, should consider their actions carefully, ensuring those actions are crowned with success and blessings. If someone think that this economic scenario not will be a reality, moving out into the country is always an advantage, letting you prepare for the dire that is ahead of us!
Many religious and political leaders, as well as the man in the street, now feel that we have transgressed the laws of nature. Meanwhile, the Devil is busy killing and destroying, as a result of which we are experiencing accidents and disasters at sea and on land, great conflagrations, tornadoes, cyclones. Moreover, sea levels will rise, causing great devastation, and huge loss of life. In many places, there will be flooding, earthquakes, tsunamis, drought, starvation, and even greater moral decay. Indeed, according to Scripture, things will be like they were in Sodom and Gomorrah. Then, immorality flourished in the area of sexuality. You could, then, have sexual intercourse with anyone you lusted after. The same is true of today, with individuals, powers and authorities hardly respecting the Word of God. The new same-sex marriage legislation in Norway and some other countries is clear evidence of this. However, the Bible leaves no room for doubt, saying that: “he… made them male and female”. Nature itself testifies, that man was created male and female. Only they can form couples and procreate in a natural way. In addition we read that: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination”. “For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also did the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.” “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:4; Genesis 2:24; Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26-27; I Corinthians 6:9-10.) It is written, if we keep the commandments of God and obey His laws, blessings will come. If we, however, transgress them, curses will come. Now that religious and political leaders refuse to respect the unambiguous words of Scripture, we will reap the grapes of wrath (Deuteronomy Chapter 28). As immorality increases, we will also experience the proclamation of the gospel as a witness to all the world, together with the introduction of “the mark of the beast” (Revelation 13:15-16 + 14:6-12). Then the end will come!
Some feel that we have deviated from the way of God, and that we have to return to His Ten Commandments, in order to receive His blessings. It is in this context that they want to legislate Sunday rest, to ensure the return of God’s blessings. We welcome their realisation of the advantages of the day of rest, but they are very much wrong in uplifting the unbiblical day of rest, Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, the first day of the week. The day of rest originated during Creation Week, not as a result of the worship of the Sun, or because of the resurrection of Christ (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11). The death and resurrection of Jesus we remember in the communion service and in baptism (Luke 22:19; Romans 6:3-6).
Today, the leaders of the USA are endeavouring to find something, around which to rally the nation and the world. Sunday as the day of rest is something that both Catholics and most Protestants can agree upon. Many members of the U.S. Congress know this. The individual most enthusiastically championing Sunday as the day of rest is Pope Benedict XVI. He travels the globe uplifting Sunday as the day of rest. He has stated, “Sunday worship is a necessity for all people” and that “without Sunday (worship) we cannot live!” (Taken from www.theTrumpet.com, September 17, 2007).
The pope has also called for Europe to look to its Christian roots and to return to trusting in God and defending traditional values. The Catholic Church wants Sunday observance enshrined in EU law. The European Parliament is debating changes to its Working Time Directive. The Vatican wants a clause in this law that would force every citizen in the European Union to rest on Sunday. (Taken from www.trumpet.com, November 18, 2008).
The Working Time Directive currently makes it illegal for those working, with some exceptions, in the EU to work for more than 48 hours a week. This bill is being revised, and they want to have a text like this in this directive: “The minimum rest period shall in principle include Sunday. Other members of the European Parliament will have this text: “The minimal weekly rest must include Sunday.” We see their intention: They want to have Sunday as a day of rest – by law. Then you are not free to choose. You have to follow the manmade law, if not you will be punished in one or another way. The Bible has foretold that this will happen in the last part of world history. (Rev. 13. 15-17).
The Ten Commandments Commission in the USA is also talking about traditional values. One of the traditional values for the Catholic Church is Sunday as the day of rest. Sunday as the day of rest is not a Biblical value, but a traditional one.
During his visit to the USA in April 2008, the Pope Benedict XVI talked to the major Christian groups, such as The Christian Coalition, The Christian Churches Together, and Catholic Campaign for America. All of these are working to stress Sunday as the day of rest in the USA. The greatest of these groups, The Christian Coalition, has a ten-point programme, point number 7 reading as follows: “Throughout all the land a National Day of Rest shall be honoured by governments and industrial manufacturers and public shopping facilities.”
Many have claimed, that something of this order never would be a burning issue, because the American Constitution says that Congress shall not make laws regulating religion. Now we see, though, that this issue once again is on the agenda. In 1888, certain members of Congress attempted to pass Sunday legislation in the USA, but their measure failed to gain the necessary votes. A.T. Jones and some other men then stood forward in the Congress and spoke against the Sunday Law some Congressmen wanted to introduce. In his speech to the Congress he said: “Every man who conducts himself as a good citizen is accountable alone to God for his religious faith, and is to be protected in worshipping God according to the dictates of his own conscience…there is no ground in justice nor in right for their claim that the majority should rule in matters of conscience.” He further said: “In all the powers thus delegated to Congress, there is no hint of any power to legislate upon any religious question, or in regard to the observance of any religious institution or rite. Therefore, this Sunday bill, being a religious bill, is unconstitutional; and any legislation with regard to it will be unconstitutional. Sunday being a religious institution, any legislation by Congress in regard to its observance, will be unconstitutional as long as the United States Constitution shall remain as it is now.
Nor is this all. The nation has been left in doubt as to whether the failure to delegate this power was or was not intentional. The first amendment to the Constitution, in declaring that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”, shows that the failure to delegate such power was intentional, and makes the intention emphatic by absolutely prohibiting Congress from exercising any power with regard to religion. It is impossible to frame a law on the subject of religion that will not prohibit the free exercise of religion. Therefore the first amendment to the Constitution absolutely prohibits Congress from even making any law with regard to any religious subject, or the observance of any religious rite or institution…God appointed the Sabbath for a purpose; and that purpose is that men should remember him in his works of creation, and worship him as Creator…those who are calling for this law is to have the State attempt to supply the religious sanctions which belong with the day of rest, and which only can keep it from being a day of idleness and a day of evil. But they know that the State has none of those religious sanctions; and they know that these will have to be supplied to the State by the church, and then the church will call upon the State, by its power, to force them upon the citizen…for the state to allow itself to be dictated to by the church as is here proposed by Mr. Small, is to render the church superior to the civil power, which can end in nothing but a religious despotism, which is the worst of all despotism. Thus by every line of reasoning that can spring from the subject, it is demonstrated that for the State to fix a day of compulsory rest can only end in evil. Therefore, my proposition is proved, that Sunday laws are not for the good of anybody…if you allow this legislation, you lead to the establishment of a new theocracy after the model of the papacy, and civil government has nothing to do with religious things. This bill is wholly religious; and if you begin this course of religious legislation, you will end only in a theocracy, - a man-made theocracy, - and that will be the papacy repeated.” (The National Sunday law, by Alonzo T. Jones, page 23, 46-47, 54-55, 78).
Now the catholic and fallen protestant members in the USA again try to introduce Sunday as a day of rest. Another major organisation, The Ten Commandments Commission, is also striving to have the unbiblical commandments of the Catechism accepted. These, of course, include Sunday as the day of rest. (You can compare the catechismal commandments with God’s Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:3-17.)
When Pope Benedict XVI visited the USA in April 2008, the Cardinal in Chicago, Ill., Francis George, turned to the Pope on behalf of the Catholic leaders in America, presenting a list of priorities shared with the Vatican for the next few years. One of the points was “handing on the faith in the context of sacramental practice and the observance of Sunday worship.”
More than a hundred years ago, Ellen G. White wrote the following about this topic: “The people of the United States have been a favoured people; but when they restrict religious liberty, surrender Protestantism, and give countenance to popery, the measure of their guilt will be full, and national apostasy will be registered in the books of heaven. The result of this apostasy will be national ruin” (Review and Herald, May 2, 1893). And: “As America, the land of religious liberty shall unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience and compelling men to honour the false Sabbath, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow her example. Foreign nations will follow the example of the United States. Though she leads out, yet the same crisis will come upon our people in all parts of the world” (E. G. White, Maranatha, page 214).
When the USA introduces Sunday as the day of rest through a decree or legislation, it will initiate what is called in the Bible “the mark of the beast”, as foretold in Scripture.
On the website www.endtime.net everyone can read and see, that all the characteristics of the “beast” in the 13th Chapter of Revelation, verses 1-10, point to the papacy. One of the identifying characteristics of this “beast” is that it has a mark = the mark of the beast. The Catholic Church, in its own publications, says, that Sunday is a mark of its power and authority. (Catholic Record, London/Ontario, Sept. 1, 1923). The papacy = the beast, and it has a mark = Sunday as the day of rest. Hence, the papal Sunday rest = the mark of the beast. “The mark of the beast” has to do with worship. Since God demands worship on the Bible’s seventh day of the week, the Sabbath, and the papacy and fallen Protestantism demand worship on the Bible’s first day of the week, Sunday, we must choose our authority. When Sunday is introduced as the day of rest with force, a decree or legislation, then “the mark of the beast” is a fact. The Bible says this will be the last test before Jesus Christ returns.
We can see, how the USA and the Vatican co-operate, and soon, the USA will help the papacy in establishing “the mark of the beast” (Revelation 13:11-17). This being the last great test before the return of Jesus Christ, we are very close to the end of this world’s history. The Devil has been allowed to play his cards, showing his true colours, and God has been merciful and condescending in letting both Satan and all people make their choices in life. Now God will soon act and free His people (I Thessalonians 4:15-17; Revelation 15:2; 20:4).
Both members of Congress, religious leaders and those working for Sunday as the national day of rest in the USA, will use every “trick” to put forward their arguments, and they will succeed. They know, that fear will lead people to make a decision. In their argumentation, they will employ fear of global climate change, fear of terrorism, fear of catastrophes, fear of the judgments of God (in consequence of not keeping Sunday as the day of rest).
We are living in the “last hour” of this world’s history. We are living in the hour of judgment, when God will close everyone’s account, deciding who is going to be saved, and who is going to be lost (Rev. 15: 8; Hebrews 9:27; II Corinthians 5:10). If we have humbled ourselves before God, having put all our sin on Jesus, thus obtaining the forgiveness of sins, and asked for power to walk daily with Jesus, we have nothing to fear of the future (I John 1:9 and 5:2).
When we know that persons are approaching a precipice, they must be warned. However, religious leaders are not warning us about the coming crisis. After all, we should expect religious leaders to be awake, but they are saying “Peace, peace” (Jeremiah 6:13-15; I Thessalonians 5:1-6). Their attitude sends people to sleep. What a strange situation! Here we are living in a period, when the end time prophecies of the Bible are coming true in front of our eyes, yet priests are proclaiming a soothing message. People, though, have to be alerted to the coming crisis, so that they can prepare both spiritually and physically. Now is the time to call to God for mercy. Now is the time to cleanse our hearts in subjection to Christ. Now is the time to pray for power to live righteously before God, so that the fruits of the Spirit may become evident in our lives. These characteristics are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance, and such like (Galatians 5:22). We all need the power of the Holy Spirit to live righteously before God, and to be His representatives in these end times! We are to be His witnesses, not in our own strength, but in the power of Him, Who works in us both to will and to do according to His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Our eternal destiny depends on fearlessly and decidedly taking a stand for Jesus Christ.
Dear friend! The mark of the beast will soon be upon us. The end of the world will occur sooner, than many think. The end is near. Confusion will fill the earth, and there will be great changes and crises throughout the world. These things should not surprise us, because the Bible has told us in a nutshell what will be.
The coming Sunday law is bad news, for this law will pressurise people into accepting the false Sabbath, Sunday. This will mean the end of the liberty of conscience, and persecution against the people of God, who will refuse to accept the false Sunday Sabbath, will be kindled again, like in the Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church hunted down other Christians. Now they will be assisted by apostate Protestants, international laws, “hate laws,” laws against “discrimination,” powers and authorities.
On the other hand, the introduction of “the mark of the beast” is good news, because it shows the nearness of the Second Coming. Should you feel unprepared, now is the time to put your life in order before the return of Jesus!
In the blessed hope,