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Spiritual Darkness in the Early Church
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Romanists bring against Protestants the charge of willful separation
from the true church. But they are the ones who departed from “the
faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Jude 3
.
Satan well knew that it was by the Holy Scriptures that the
Saviour resisted his attacks. At every assault, Christ presented the
shield of eternal truth, saying, “It is written.” In order for Satan to
maintain his sway over men and establish the authority of the papal
usurper, he must keep them in ignorance of the Scriptures. Its sacred
truths must be concealed and suppressed. For hundreds of years the
circulation of the Bible was prohibited by the Roman Church. The
people were forbidden to read it. Priests and prelates interpreted
its teachings to sustain their pretensions. Thus the pope came to be
almost universally acknowledged as the vicegerent of God on earth.
How the Sabbath was “Changed”
Prophecy declared that the papacy was to “think to change times
and laws.”
Daniel 7:25
. To afford a substitute for the worship of
idols, the adoration of images and relics was gradually introduced
into Christian worship. The decree of a general council
finally established this idolatry. Rome presumed to expunge
from the law of God the second commandment, forbidding image
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worship, and to divide the tenth commandment in order to preserve
the number.
Unconsecrated leaders of the church tampered with the fourth
commandment also, to set aside the ancient Sabbath, the day which
God had blessed and sanctified (
Genesis 2:2, 3
) and in its stead
exalted the festival observed by the heathen as “the venerable day
of the sun.” In the first centuries the true Sabbath had been kept by
all Christians, but Satan worked to bring about his object. Sunday
was made a festival in honor of the resurrection of Christ. Religious
services were held upon it, yet it was regarded as a day of recreation,
the Sabbath being still sacredly observed.
Satan had led the Jews, before the advent of Christ, to load down
the Sabbath with rigorous exactions, making it a burden. Now, taking
advantage of the false light in which he had caused it to be regarded,
he cast contempt upon it as a “Jewish” institution. While Christians
generally continued to observe Sunday as a joyous festival, he led