THAT there would come a great apostasy from the principles of Christianity; that in, through, and of, this apostasy would develop "the man of sin;" that the beginnings of this apostasy were seen and felt in apostolic times; and that the system thus created would continue until the return of Christ to earth the second time, is one of the facts most clearly set forth in the Scriptures of truth.
"Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him; to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand; let no man beguile you in any wise; for it will not be, except the falling away [apostasy] come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. . . . And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work; only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of His mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation of His coming." 2 Thess. 2:1-8, A. R. V.
Since lawlessness comes as the result of an apostasy from the principles of Christianity, of course the opposite of this is true Christianity. Christ came to "save His people from their sins," and sin is the transgression of the law. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." And "he that is born of God doth not commit sin"—doth not transgress God's law. The "lawless one" therefore, is opposed to Christ and Christianity. "The mystery of lawlessness doth already work." This accounts for the fact that in apostolic times there were "false apostles" (2 Cor. 11:13), "false prophets" (1 John 4:1), and a perverted gospel. Gal. 1:6, 7.
Before the death of John, he said, "Ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists."
The last of the apostles being removed from the stage of action, through death, the second century witnessed the perversion of nearly every truth vital to Christianity. Justification by faith was supplanted by human works; the heathen mysteries took the place of the true mystery of godliness; ceremony for service; holy water for the washing of the Word; the sign of the cross for crucifixion with Christ; penance for repentance; Easter instead of Passover; and, finally, the day of the sun for the Sabbath of Jehovah,—God's holy day.
As I write there lies before me "The Apocryphal Books of the New Testament," "being all the gospels, epistles, and other pieces now extant, attributed in the first four centuries to Jesus Christ, His apostles, and their companions, not included in the Authorized New Testament." And not a single writer of them all but that perverts, in so far as he touches them, nearly every principle of the Gospel of Christ.
This perverted Christianity—Christian in form, but pagan in fact—having long since forgotten the power of God, succeeded at the beginning of the fourth century in engaging the power of the State. Its beginning was a Sunday law; its end, the Inquisition.
With little protest, except by the lives of God's faithful few, she "practised and prospered" until the era of the Reformation. Here God gave her a space in which to repent, but she neglected the opportunity; she spurned God's proffered grace.
THE SIGN OF APOSTASY
BY E. J. HIBBARD
Failing to reform her, a protest was made against her errors and abuses. Such were called Protestants—protest-ants. "The Bible, and the Bible only," said they; tradition is rejected. Accordingly controversies arose as to "whether bishops or pastors have power to institute ceremonies in the Church, and to make laws concerning meats and holidays, and degrees or orders of ministers. They that ascribe this power to the bishops, allege this testimony for it: . . . They allege the change of the Sabbath into the Lord's Day, contrary as it seemeth, to the Decalogue; and they have no example more in their mouths than the change of the Sabbath. They will needs have the Church's power to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue."—Augsburg Confession, Art. 28, Pars. 30-33.
Thus, the change of the Sabbath, the dispensing with a precept of the Decalogue, was used as a sign, an evidence, that the church had a right to institute all laws and ceremonies whatsoever. And they (the Catholics) had "no example more in their mouths" in Luther's time than the change of the Sabbath. "They will needs have the church's power to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue."—Augsburg Confession, Art. 28, Pars. 30-33.
Cardinal Gibbons says: "A rule of faith, or a competent guide to heaven, must be able to instruct in all the truths necessary for salvation. Now the Scriptures alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin all the duties which he is obliged to practise. Not to mention other examples, is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday, and to abstain on that day from unnecessary work? Is not the observance of this law among the most prominent of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify."—"Faith of our Fathers," pp. 111, 112.
Against this goes the declaration of the Bible: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.
Once more: In "Doctrinal Catechism," page 174, the following occurs:
Ques.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has the power to institute festivals of precept?
Ans.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of the Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.
Thus with one voice the Catholic church affirms and reaffirms that the sign, the mark, the signal, to all the world that she has the right to institute laws and ceremonies binding on the conscience of all, is contained in this one fact—the change of the Sabbath of Jehovah. "The lawless one" here stands revealed.
And of the Protestants they say: "Their pretense for leaving the bosom of the Catholic Church was for apostasy from the truth as taught in the written Word. They adopted the written Word as their sole teacher, which they had no sooner done than they abandoned it promptly, as these articles have abundantly proved; and by a perversity as wilful as erroneous. They accept the teaching of the Catholic Church in direct opposition to the plain, unvarying and constant teaching of their sole teacher [the Bible] in the most essential doctrine of their religion, thereby emphasizing the situation in what may be aptly designated 'a mockery, a delusion, and a snare.'"—"Rome's Challenge," page 27.
And so, finally, "If any man worship the beast [this apostasy] and his image, and receive his MARK in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." Rev. 14:9, 10. And the time is at hand.
[This article will be made even stronger by reading in No. 2 the articles entitled, "The Sign of What Christ Is;" "How the Sabbath Has Been Dishonored," and in No. 3, "An Appeal to Protestants."]
