Protestants and Catholics are on the Inevitable Path to Elevate Sunday Rest in Society

Today, more than ever, our Seventh-day Adventist eschatology has proven to be accurate and relevant. In fact, the closer we get to the end of time, the more spiritually significant our final warning message becomes. Consider the bold predictions made over 130 years ago regarding the issues that will be at the forefront during the final crisis when Protestants and Catholics come together to fulfill their prophetic destiny:

“The Word of God teaches that these scenes are to be repeated as papists and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday. The prophecy of Revelation 13 declares that the power represented by the beast with lamb-like horns shall cause the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the papacy—there symbolized by the beast like unto a leopard” (Great Controversy, p. 578).

In the last days, loyalty will be the main issue, with the day of worship being the focal point. Shortly before the return of Jesus, the word of God tells us in Revelation 13 that Protestantism and Catholicism will cooperate in an attempt to impose Sunday worship. These lobbying efforts will be successful when a national Sunday law is passed in the United States, followed by an international Sunday law. Those who align themselves with the Catholic-Protestant union and pay homage to the spurious day of worship will receive the mark of the beast. Notice what Protestants and Catholics have published during this month alone.

On March 12, 2024, Catholic News Agency published an article called “A New Sabbath” and made the following bold and false claims:

• “Celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is the sign of the new and everlasting covenant for Christians” [1]

• “If the Sabbath was Saturday, why do we emphasize Sunday? The move from Saturday to Sunday, from Sabbath to the Lord’s Day, is intimately connected to the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.” [1]

• “Sunday is thus distinguished from the Sabbath in that it replaces it, fulfills the truths of it and announces man’s eternal rest in God.” [1]

• “So, it is primarily the resurrection that leads to worship and adoration of our Father on Sunday instead of Saturday.” [1]

On March 8, 2024, Hope 103.2 FM, an Evangelical Christian radio station in Sydney, Australia, published an article titled “The Sabbath Points Us to Jesus” and stated the following:

• “Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week, Sunday, which became our day of worship. This transformation from the seventh day to the first points to a new creation in Christ, fulfilling the Sabbath’s foreshadowing of renewal.” [2]

On March 13, 2024, Crossway, a Protestant global media ministry, published an article titled “Does the Law of Moses Matter for Christians Today?” in which they asserted the following:

• “We gather often on Sunday because that was the definitive day that Sabbath went public, that rest became realized. So Jesus transforms the Sabbath, not that we’re keeping the Sabbath one day a week, we gather for worship one day a week, but to remind ourselves what he has given us seven days a week. The law has transformed.” [3]

The argument for enforcing a Sunday law will be based on these appeals endorsing Sunday as the day of worship and rest. In fact, the efforts to make Sunday the day of rest are a sign that the end is near.

“God keeps a record with the nations: the figures are swelling against them in the books of heaven; and when it shall have become a law that the transgression of the first day of the week shall be met with punishment, then their cup will be full” (Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, p. 910).

There is a darker aspect to the push for Sunday, one that stems from animosity toward people who observe Saturday, the seventh day, God’s true day of worship. The faithful remnant people of God will be the target of the intense resentment that will accompany the Sunday law:

“The whole world is to be stirred with enmity against Seventh-day Adventists, because they will not yield homage to the papacy, by honoring Sunday, the institution of this antichristian power. It is the purpose of Satan to cause them to be blotted from the earth, in order that his supremacy of the world may not be disputed” (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 37).

However menacing, deceptive, and blasphemous the calls for Sunday rest may appear, political and religious systems are held in check. In times of peril, we are reminded:

“The designs of wicked men, the enemies of the church, are subject to His power and overruling providence … He will restrain the forces of darkness until the warning is given to the world and all who will heed it are prepared for the conflict” (Testimonies, Vol. 5, pp. 452-453).

As God restrains the forces of evil determined to impose Sunday rest laws on society, we must continue to work, presenting the standard of God’s true Sabbath and warning against the loss of liberty of conscience that will accompany the impending Sunday law crisis:

“We are not doing the will of God if we sit in quietude, doing nothing to preserve liberty of conscience” (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 714).

“It is our duty to do all in our power to avert the threatened danger. We should endeavor to disarm prejudice by placing ourselves in a proper light before the people. We should bring before them the real question at issue, thus interposing the most effectual protest against measures to restrict liberty of conscience” (Ibid., p. 452).

Sources

[1] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource/55703/a-new-sabbath

[2] https://hope1032.com.au/stories/faith/christian-living/2024/the-sabbath-points-to-jesus/

[3] https://www.crossway.org/articles/does-the-law-of-moses-matter-for-christians-today/