The Master Counterfeiter
By George W. Reaser
Counterfeit Worship Introduced —
A Special Day Set Apart for It—Is
It to Be Accepted? : : : : : DOUBTLESS all Christians will concur in the statement that the arch-deceiver of the human family is also the master counterfeiter of the worship and service of Jehovah. THEY CHOSE THE BRIGHTEST OBJECT
Early in the history of the human family, as men became forgetful of the true God, though having had implanted in their natures the desire to worship, how natural it was that Satan should persuade them to worship the brightest object they could see, and regard it as the creative God! Thus sun-worship, as a rival of the worship of Jehovah, became almost universal. Egypt, the earliest of kingdoms that oppressed the people of God, was the center for this cult. THEN THEY SET APART A DAY
The next logical step, after the introduction of sun-worship, was to set apart a day for the worship of the sun. Such a day would not suit Satan's purpose unless it was a rival of the day set apart by Jehovah for His worship. Every historian knows that the day chosen for the worship of the sun was the first day of the week, which, because of the purpose to which it was devoted, was designated "Sun-day." Thus was bequeathed to the modern world the name applied to the first day of the week. After the introduction of sun-worship, and the dedication of a definite day in each recurring week for the worship of the luminary that gives light to the earth, the Sun-day became the rival of the day given by Jehovah to His people for divine worship. Thus one day was the symbol of true worship, and the other the symbol of false worship. Finally, after the coming of Christ into the world, and after "the falling away" foretold, the system which professed to be Christianity, became somewhat popular. In the course of time — in the early part of the fourth century — Constantine, the ruler of the world, professed conversion from paganism to Christianity; and apparently for the sake of making himself more popular, he proclaimed Sunday as the Christian sabbath, and gradually the service which pertained to the Sabbath was transferred to Sunday. Thus was Sunday, the rival to the Sabbath of Jehovah, adopted into the so-called Christian church. Question: When the change in the day of the Sabbath was attempted by Constantine, the ruler of the pagan world, and the rival to the Sabbath of Jehovah was thus recognized, did Jehovah abandon His own day, accept the rival institution, and transfer the blessings that He had pronounced upon the Sabbath to the rival? The settling of this question aright ought to establish every true Christian in keeping the Sabbath of Jehovah. Let every loyal heart say, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," we will keep the Sabbath of Jehovah rather than its unholy rival.