Gods Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

bring the same fate on the Apostolic church. No amount of con secration, sacrifice, good motives, or hard work, could either compensate for, or nullify, the evil outworking of the wrong course of action. The only church that is safe, is the church over which Christ is truly the one and only Head. All others end up as Babylon.

A Reversion

Here is a clear description of how that reversion happened among the leading Christians at Jerusalem. “Afterward, when it became apparent that the converts among the Gentiles were increasing rapidly, there were a few of the leading brethren at Jerusalem who began to cherish anew their former prejudices against the methods of Paul and his as sociates. These prejudices strengthened with the passing of the years, until some of the leaders determined that the work of preaching the gospel must henceforth be conducted in accord ance with their own ideas. If Paul would conform his methods to certain policies which they advocated they would acknowl edge and sustain his work; otherwise they could no longer look upon it with favor or grant it their support.” The Acts of the Apostles , 401.2. The heavenly impressions received by those men in the great council at Jerusalem, which had led them to recognize God as the Plan Maker and Guide, who alone could give specific orders to His workers, diminished as time went by. The old Babylonian disposition to rule their fellows and dictate their personal respon sibilities, reasserted itself until they were determined that the work of the gospel be carried forward in accordance with their own ideas. They became possessed of a set purpose to manage and direct the workers in the church. They believed that they were personally responsible to God in this, and that otherwise the church would speedily come to ruin. They were blind to the seriousness of the stand they had taken, little realizing that they were directly usurping God’s place among His people. They were sowing those evil seeds which would bear a baleful harvest in the awful era of papal dominance during the Dark Ages to follow.