What YOU should know about the family day...
What YOU should know
about the family day...
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Philadelphia, USA 2015: Pope Benedict XVI invites all the religious leaders of the world to the eight successive World Family Days, which will be held in Philadelphia, USA, in 2015. How will this affect you?
The first 'World Meeting of Families' was arranged in 1994. The subsequent meetings took place in Rio de Janeiro (1997), Rome (2000), Manila (2003), Valencia (2006), Mexico (2009) and Milan (2012). The pope has appointed the next FAMILY DAY meeting to be held in Philadelphia, USA in 2015.
What is this day all about? The pope desires that all families have a work-free Sunday. Families should be free from work so that, on this day, children could be together with their parents and relatives and go to church as well. The pope suggests that we must maintain the natural weekly cycle so that we have a balance between work and rest. He also suggests that we should discover the true meaning of Sunday observance on this family day.'
It is interesting that the UN and the Vatican are working together for the family day, which will be each and every Sunday. Families would have rest upon this day, be together with the children and go to church. Do you see the strategy? The pope desires to promote Sunday as the day of rest for all families throughout the world! He doesn't openly say that he desires to have Sunday as the day of rest for all, but he calls Sunday the family day.
When the pope met religious leaders and government representatives in Milan, he reminded them of the importance of policies and laws that protect the family. 'By defending Sunday, one defends human freedom,' the pope said during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square , June 6, just after he had attended the family day gathering in Milan. He continued: 'Sunday must be a day of rest for everyone, so people can be free to be with their families and with God. The pope clearly stated that he wanted to come to the defence of free time, which is 'threatened by a kind of 'bullying' through the demands of work.' He continued: 'Sunday is the day of the Lord and of man, a day which everyone must be able to be free -- free for the family and free for God.' (Catholic News Service, June 2012).
European Sunday Alliance
The European Sunday Alliance is a network of national Sunday Alliances, trade unions, civil society organizations and religious communities committed to raise awareness of the unique value of synchronized free time for our European societies. They want to have Sunday as a day of rest, just as the pope. They are working together in order to strengthen Sunday as the day of rest in Europe... and also in the whole world.
On 20 June, 2011 some 65 civil society organizations, trade unions and Churches launched the European Sunday Alliance at an event held in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in Brussels. In their Founding Statement 'Together for decent working hours' the signatories commit to safeguard and promote work-free Sundays and decent working hours throughout Europe. The launch was part of an expert conference on the impact of Sunday work on the health, safety and social integration of workers.
The members of the Alliance demand that both European and national legislation needs to be more protective of workers' private lives, including the right to shared free time for family, social and civic engagement, and culture. The Alliance urges the EU and Member States to take all legislative and political measures to promote these aims, including working time regulations that respect the right to limited working hours, to weekends and holidays, and collective agreements. It invites other actors to join the Alliance and promote the aims at all political levels.
To protect Sunday as the weekly day of rest
In the EU, they also are trying to introduce a law that will 'protect Sunday as the weekly day of rest'. This law proposal was declined when voted upon in the EU Parliament. Bishops, priests and labour unions are now trying to gather one million signatures so that this law proposal can be taken up again in the EU Parliament. There is actually a paragraph in the Lisbon Treaty that stipulates if one million signatures are gathered for a law proposal, the EU Parliament will then vote on it. The number of signatures is increasing quite rapidly as Catholics and Protestants want Sunday as the day of rest. There is much that suggests that this law proposal will soon come up again and be voted upon in the EU Parliament. They want a law that will protect Sunday as the weekly day of rest in the EU.
Stress - we need a weekly day of rest
In the secularized and stressed society that we live in, many work almost the same number of hours every day of the week. One way that this is possible is through shift work schedules and therefore it would be good to have a day of rest. This has been the idea ever since the beginning. We read that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. He sanctified and blessed the seventh day for rest, (Gen. 2:1-3). The day of rest comes from the creation. The Bible tells us which day of the week is the seventh day. It is also mentioned in the four gospel books. The day Jesus died on the cross is called the preparation day, or the day before the Sabbath. The day after is called the Sabbath, the seventh day, the day Jesus rested in the grave. The next day, when Jesus resurrected from the dead, is called the first day of the week. It is our Sunday. So the Sabbath, the Bible's seventh day of the week, is our day of rest. It is the Creator's day of rest. It is Jesus' day of rest. The Bible says that Jesus created all things, (John 1:1-3, 14). The Bible also says that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and that the Sabbath was made for man, (Mark 2:27, 28). Many say that the Sabbath was made for the Jews, but Abraham, who is considered the father of the Jews, came into history about 1500 years after the creation. So the Sabbath was made for you and me and for all people.
The pope's unbiblical day of rest
When the pope now says that we should have Sunday as a day of rest for the family, he is promoting the counterfeit, unbiblical day of rest. Sunday means the sun's day and not the Son's day. The first Sunday law was in the year 321 AD. It was the emperor Constantine who joined together those who worshipped the sun on the first day of the week, Sunday, with those who began to celebrate Jesus' resurrection on the first day of the, Sunday. They called the day the sun's day or Sunday. On the other hand, there were people who continued to keep the Biblical day of rest, the Sabbath, the seventh day, which lasts from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, (Gen. 1:19; Neh. 13:15-21). It is from this point in time that we have a marked separation between the Bible's day of rest and the man-made day of rest, Sunday. The Bible says that this conflict will come into focus in the time of the end in connection with whether we will worship God as Creator or will worship the beast and receive its mark (Rev. 14:6-12).
The pope does not use a correct cycle when he suggests that we must maintain the natural weekly cycle. The Creator has chosen a day of rest and man has chosen a day of rest and now we must make a choice - which authority will we choose? Many say that there is no difference whether we choose Sunday or Saturday as a day of rest, but when God has set a day apart for holy use and blessed this day as the week's day of rest, there is then a blessing to use this day as a day of rest. The Church of Rome marked this change of the day of rest during a church council in 336 AD, when they transferred the meaning of Sabbath to the resurrection day.
Dies Domini
The previous pope, Pope John Paul II and the current pope, Benedict XVI, together wrote the apostolic letter 'Dies Domini', in which it states: 'Christians… felt that they had the authority to transfer the meaning of the Sabbath to the day of the Resurrection.' (point 63). This change of the day of rest, they say, is a sign, or mark, or proof of their divine power and authority. This authority they have conferred upon themselves. The pope and the Vatican, supported by the UN and other Catholic bishops and nearly all Protestants, are now in the process of introducing Sunday as a day of rest for all people around the globe. They want Sunday to be a family day throughout the world. They want the entire world to follow them as their authority. What will you do? Will you follow Jesus or the pope, paganism and apostate Protestantism?
Because the priest has said so
Many protestants believe that Sunday is the true Biblical day of rest, because the priest/pastor has said so. A true protestant will have the Bible and the Bible alone as their authority and when they are informed that Sunday is an unbiblical day of rest, they will then choose Jesus' day of rest. Many protestants will, when tested, go along with Catholics in this important question.
By force or by conscience
We clearly see that the Roman Catholic Church now count on the strengthening of their Sunday observance and want this also to be the case for all families around the world. If this were to go through now, religious freedom would then be in danger. All should have the right to worship God according to their conscience, but when people begin to legislate that one should have another day of rest than the Bible says, they are then pressing something upon someone who does not have the same conviction as they do. This is rule by force, just as they now have in the EU and through the international legislation, which overrides national law. It will also be like this with regard to religion. The big church councils manipulate the basic human individual's right to worship God according to their conscience. Legislated Sunday observance for all families in the world puts religious freedom in danger!
The day of rest
We have already seen that Sunday is not the original or true day of rest. We find the original and true day of rest described in God's Ten Commandments. It is the fourth commandment and reads like this: 'Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.' (Exodus 20:8-11).
The pope confuses people
The Roman Catholic Church has excluded from this text in their catechism and has inserted Sunday in place of the Sabbath. It is therefore the pope who is trying to get people to keep his day of rest. The Bible says that the whole world will wonder after the beast and follow this papal authority. (Rev. 13:3). We are talking about the Catholic system, but since the pope is the leader of this system, it is his activities and speeches that are quoted in this text.
The day of rest has its origins from the Creation and not from Jesus' resurrection or sun worship. Almost the whole world has believed the priests when they present Sunday as the weekly day of rest. Many have quite boldly begun to call Sunday the Sabbath. Since January 1, 1973, publishers in many countries have changed the calendar days around, placing Sunday as the seventh day of the week in their calendars. We have seen that it is really the Sabbath that is the seventh day of the week, which is Jesus' and the Bible's day of rest. The pope confuses people with his unbiblical and false day of rest and the majority of people believe these religious authorities without investigating the issue in the Word of God. Deception is widespread and will become even greater. It will come to a decisive climax as the papal power now stands in the forefront, exalting Sunday as a day of rest for all families. Presenting this day as a family day is a cunning and clever way to promote Sunday as the day of rest. This is just the first step toward legislated Sunday-sacredness. When this point has come through, new restrictions will then apply to keep Sunday as the day of the rest. This is how politics works. They make a law and then strengthen this law by making more laws.
The pope or Christ?
The pope claims that he is the Vicar of Christ here on earth, but he has given this title to himself. When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to take His place, (John 16:7). The pope also takes the place of Christ as the forgiver of sins. He places himself in Jesus' place, in Jesus' temple and makes himself to be as God, (2 Thess. 2:3-8). The pope believes he can forgive sin, but Jesus says: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.' (John 14:6). It is only through Jesus Christ that we can receive forgiveness for our sins, (1 John 1:9). The pope also believes that our prayers must go through the Virgin Mary before they come to Jesus and the Father. They place the pope and a deceased person in the place of Jesus. We have also seen how the papal power has changed the Ten Commandments as found in their catechism (compare the Catholic catechism with God's Ten Commandments found in Exodus, chapter 20 and verses 3-17), and they have also changed the day of rest. This is the greatest counterfeit in history.
Antichrist
The pope is a false representative of Jesus. Luther and the fathers of the Protestant reformation were right when they presented the pope and the papal system as Antichrist. The pope stands for something different than what Jesus stands for. Jesus was a friend of all and a servant. He didn't have a place to rest His head, but the pope travels around in all his pomp, operating as a ruler.
It is the pope who is behind the idea of a New World Order. They want to have global control and the Bible reveals that it is this power that has the silver and the gold. They rule over the kings of the earth and all people are deceived by her sorceries, (Rev. ch. 17 & 18).
When the pope makes an appeal for families to discover the true meaning of Sunday observance, he is not respecting God's Ten Commandments and the Jesus' day of rest. Jesus says, 'If you love me, keep my commandments.' (John 14:15). These are words for all of us facing the situation we are now in.
Go to Christ with your sin - not to the pope or the priests
Do you understand what Jesus has done for you? Do you realize the love He has for you? 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' (John 3:16). It was Jesus who first loved us. It is He that has offered His life so that we may inherit eternal life. Should we not receive this gift, the gift of salvation?
The Bible says that sin is transgression of the law. We commit sin when we transgress God's Ten Commandments. We are sinners. It is the Creator who has set up these rules for His creation. This law is for us. The Bible says that we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), but it also says that if we repent of our sins and ask Jesus for forgiveness, He will then grant us pardon. The Bible reads: 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' (1 John 1:9). When we take this step, we are no longer sinners anymore (although we can of course fall into sin once again if we do not keep close to Jesus), but we are righteous in Jesus. Jesus is always willing to forgive us when we come to Him confessing our sin and asking for forgiveness. This is possible for all: for the pope, for Obama, for you and for me.
When we love Christ
Have you ever heard the pope say that we must now stop keeping the unbiblical Sunday and should rather follow Jesus and keep His day of rest? No, they will now impress Sunday as the weekly day of rest by law. Catholics and Protestants preach from the pulpit that we must love God, but do they love God when they do not keep His commandments? The Bible gives us the answer: 'By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.' (1 John 5:2, 3). 'He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.' (1 John 2:4-6). Here we read that he who says he loves God and does not keep His commandments, he is a liar.
He sitteth in the temple of God
The Bible speaks about the great Antichrist power as 'that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.' (2 Thess. 2:3, 4). This power is also called the lawless one. It is God's Word that reveals who this great Antichrist power is and we should not place ourselves on his side.
It is only Jesus who can forgive sin. It is only Jesus who is the Savior. When we have said yes to Jesus, He has then promised to send the Holy Spirit to be a source of power in our life. Having His power in us, we receive power to not lie, to not steal and to keep the Sabbath holy.
The last great test
The test lies before us, whether we will worship Him who created heaven and earth and all that is in them or if we will worship 'the beast and receive his mark'. This is dealing with worship. Who will you worship and serve? Will you have God as your authority or will you have the pope as your authority? Will you be loyal to the Creator or will you be loyal to people when their laws go against God's law? This is the test that lies right before us! May God help you to have God as your authority and follow Him!
With friendly greetings,
Abel & Bente Struksnes