Lesson 36

The True Religion The True Church After the Apostles

AMBASSADOR CHRISTIAN COLLEGE- Dr. Keith Slough

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INTRODUCTION

ONGRATULATIONS! You have now completed the last lesson of the Prove All Things

Bible Study Course. You have learned how to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, by

repenting of sin (which is the transgression of God's Law), and obeying His Word,

literally living by every Word of God (Luke 4:4) (which necessarily includes the Old Testament!).

Now I have laid the Truth of God before you. What you have learned in this Bible Study

Course is emphatically not my "opinion." It is decidedly NOT my "interpretation" -but is the

plain TRUTH of the Word of God! What you do with it is up to you. But let me caution you on

something. Knowledge is a dangerous thing! The Bible teaches "Therefore to him that knoweth

to do good, and doeth it not, to him IT IS SIN"! (James 4:17).

The wages of sin is DEATH! (Romans 6:23). Will you now continue to transgress God's Holy

Law, or will you repent?

Jesus said, "And that servant [a Believing Christian] which knew his Lord's will, and prepared

not himself, neither did according to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes [severe

punishment]. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten

with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required"! (Luke

12:47-48).

MUCH has been given to you! Now God requires more of you than He does your family -and

relatives and people that you believe to be "good Christians" who attend this world's churches

but are in darkness -not knowing the truths of God that you now know!

What will you do about the truth you have now learned? Will you bury it, like the one-talent

man did in the well known parable, and never use it?

Will you forget about the Truth of God? Or will you accept it, embrace it wholeheartedly

and begin truly obeying the Word of God and His Law?

If you accept the very truth of God, the true Religion of Jesus Christ, then I can promise you

happiness and joy everlastingly beyond your ability to comprehend! God wants to prosper His

people who accept His truth and obey His will. He wants to bless you!

God wanted to bless Israel, but first He had to call them out of Egypt. God is calling out

people today from the religions and deceptions of this world and into His Truth. If He is calling

you, then do not delay to repent and obey Him.

Let me also invite you to use these Bible lessons in an in-the-home Bible Study where you

can share these truths with your neighbors or those who are hungering and thirsting after

righteousness.

This one-on-one lay ministry is a vital part of fulfilling the Great Commission often

overlooked by most churches. Understand: Every Christian should have a personal ministry!

Every Christian should be reaching out to share Christ with others and His precious Truth not

known by the world which has been deceived by Satan (Revelation 12:9). However you yourself

must begin obeying the truth of God first.

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The Great Commission is not given to anyone man, apostle or evangelist as has been falsely

taught by some. Rather the "Great Commission" to go and "make disciples" among all nations is

given to every Christian. Fulfilling this Commission to the church starts in your own home and

neighborhood.

After reading this lesson, contact me right away for a ministerial visit or to meet you where

it is convenient, to discuss your being baptized into the true Religion of Jesus Christ and the End

Time Church of God.

Few human beings have been privileged to learn the truths that you now know. Many are

indeed called, said Jesus. But, since so few accept the truth then few are chosen. Will you be

one of the few? Will you now accept God's Truth and begin fully participating in this prophesied

End Time Work?

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The True Religion From the First Century until Today

Learn how the early New Testament Church and. the true Faith continued to survive through all the centuries down to the present day. God may be calling YOU to be a part of His End Time Church. It is not too late to become a member of THAT Church!

HAT HAPPENED TO the true Church of God from God's Holyday of Pentecost in the

first century through the last 1900 years? Believe it or not, Christ's true Religion

never died out but has continued to this day. It is a small, despised church. Yet

though slandered, persecuted, and HATED by the world, it has continued to survive. Christ has

seen to it that a continuous group of true believers in the first century apostolic Faith has

survived to the last days. In each century a remnant of the true Religion of the New Testament

survived and the Truth continued to be preached.

In this brief synopsis taken from the book, A True History of the True Religion, we will see

where God's own Religion continued to exist. But in order to properly identify the true church

we must know what its doctrines and practices were. The true church is that body of believers

over the last 1900 years who has continued to "earnestly contend for the Faith once delivered"

by Christ and the apostles! It's that simple. One of the identifying "signs" of the continuation of

the first century true Religion is that of Sabbatarianism! They continued to keep ALL TEN of the

Ten Commandments (which means they kept the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week) and

they continued to keep God's annual Sabbaths (Feast Days or Holydays).

The Record of History

According to reputable historians for the period, ''the festivals observed by the apostolic

church were at first THE SAME with those of the Jews; and the observance of these was contin-

ued, especially by Christians of Jewish birth, for a considerable time" (The Life and Epistles of

Paul, by Conybeare and Howson, page 346).

Did you notice that? The Christians in Judea were primarily Jewish and they continued to

observe the festivals of God (found in Leviticus 23).

There is now no question that the Jewish Christians continued observing Passover,

Pentecost, Tabernacles, etc., etc. But did the Gentile Christians follow their example in

observing the Old Testament Festivals or did they ignore these as "Jewish"?

The Bible reveals the answer! The apostle Paul was ''the apostle to the Gentiles," The

answer can be found in the writings of Paul's epistles, believe it or not!

Notice First Thessalonians 2:1-3. Here Paul said he had preached the Gospel and exhorted

them in the Word of God. In verse 13 he tells these Gentiles that they had received the Word

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he had preached. What was the result of having received the Word? Notice verse 14:

"Fat ye, brethren, became followers of THE CHURCHES OF GOD which in Judea are in Christ

Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen [the Gentiles], even as they

[the churches in Judea] have of the Jews"!

Did you catch that? It is obvious that the churches in Judea were Jewish Christians! For Paul

says their countrymen in Judea are ''the Jews" (last part). So we know that the churches in

Judea were obviously Jewish, and yet Paul said that the Gentile Greeks in Thessalonica were

following the Churches of God IN JUDEA –not Rome! They were following the "Jerusalem

model." And these scholars among Ante-Nicene historians tell us unequivocally that the Jewish

Christians continued to observe the Festivals of God (Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of

Tabernacles, etc.); they did not observe the Roman festivals of Easter, Saturnalia (occurring on

December 25th in worship of the sun god) and any other pagan Roman festival. Rather they

observed what the world called "Jewish" festivals.

However these festivals were not innately or intrinsically Jewish. That is, the Jews

themselves did not originate these observances, but rather GOD created these festivals. They

are His festivals He gave to His children who would enter into covenant with Him.

Now Jews have invented their own nationalistic "Jewish" days such as Hanukkah, Purim, etc.

etc. Just as Americans have invented the Independence Day celebration of July 4th, and the

Thanksgiving holidays, so the Jews are free to invent their own holidays as well. But Passover is

not actually "Jewish" but rather a Biblical festival given to mankind by the Creator God for his

good. It originated with God and was continually observed by the Jewish Christians for the first

five centuries until Constantine and the Roman church persecuted the eastern churches

severely to bring them into conformity with Rome! While the majority of the eastern churches

did eventually acquiesce or "cave in" to the pressure from Rome, a remnant of true believers

survived and continued celebrating Passover, Pentecost, and the autumn festivals. But they

were now forced to go "underground" and even live in the wilderness, apart from the main

population centers!

God never gave December 25th or Easter, Halloween and other supposedly "Christian"

(Roman Catholic) festivals to His people. Rather, He gave Passover and Pentecost, etc. to His

people. And the true Christians of the first century continued to observe these God-given

festivals which He originally gave to Israel in the Old Testament. Yet because God said He would

take the same laws and give them in the New Covenant, the true Church of God of the first few

centuries continued observing them under the New Covenant according to all historical

documents of the period.

And notice First Thessalonians 2:14 carefully. Paul said that these Gentiles were "followers"

of the Jewish Christians in true Church of God found in Judea. Now look in the margin of your

King James Bible beside the word "followers." The margin says that the literal Greek word is

better translated "imitators!” Now read the verse again with this understanding. Paul wrote,

“For you, brethren among the Gentiles in Greece, became IMITATORS of the Churches of God

IN JUDEA!”

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Paul taught his converts among the Gentiles to imitate the JEWISH Christians! This cannot

be denied! And historians Conybeare and Howson explicitly state that "the observance of these

[Old Testament festivals) was continued by Christians of Jewish birth [in Judea] for a

considerable time"!

And Paul taught the Gentiles to "imitate" the Jewish churches!

Amazing!

Why haven't the churches in modern times seen this? Why have nearly all churches

assumed that the Gentiles never kept Passover, Pentecost, or the autumn Holydays such as the

Feast of Tabernacles?

Why?

Strong Racism at Rome

It is true that the church at Rome due to immense anti-Semitism - abject racial hatred of the

Jews and anything perceived to be "Jewish" –had abandoned early on, the seventh day Sabbath

and the annual Sabbaths (Holydays or Festivals) in favor of the prevailing heathen Roman

festivals which they brought into the Roman church and "converted" into "Christian" customs.

Yet the churches of the east condemned the Roman church for doing this very thing and

refused to participate in such pagan practices which the Roman Christians had adopted from

the popular (pagan) customs of the day. But meanwhile those who followed the apostasy at

Rome abandoned the commanded festivals in the Bible for fear of appearing "Jewish" in a part

of the world where racism against the Jews was so strong that even in the first century, during

the lifetime of the original apostles, the Roman government had actually ordered all Jews to

leave Rome!!!

This amazing historical fact is recorded in the Bible in Acts 18:2. How could such a

supposedly civilized society resort to such abject racism, to force all Jews to leave Rome?

It is easy to understand therefore why the early Christians in Rome felt the necessity to hide

their religion and create a new religion IN ITS PLACE, yet calling it "Christian." They used human

reasoning and decided to abandon the original true Christian Faith for a more favored doctrine

which would be more palatable to the Roman citizens. If they were to grow or have influence

among these pagan Gentile Romans, they could not continue to practice doctrines that might

make them look "Jewish." Thus they quickly abandoned the Passover in favor of the Roman

festival of Easter (brought over from Babylon). They abandoned all the autumn Holydays such

as the Feast of Tabernacles, etc. They even gave up the Ten Commandments (especially the

fourth one) -in short, they abandoned anything that might suggest they could be "Jewish," and

invented a whole new Roman religion, yet retained the name "Christian" calling their own

religion by the name "Christian." However it did not in any way resemble the true original

Christian religion of Christ and the first century apostles. Rather it was a counterfeit

"Christianity." This was the apostate Christianity Jesus prophesied about in the Olivet Prophecy

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(recorded in Matthew 24), where He said the day would come when false prophets would

actually presume to come in His Name, saying He -Jesus -is the Christ, the Messiah, and yet still

deceive many! (Matthew 24:5).

The plan did work however and Gentiles now found "Christianity" more acceptable than it

had been in its original form as established by Jesus Christ and taught by the original apostles.

They could now continue with their Gentile customs and simply call them "Christian" and yet

still feel they were saved. Yet an increasing number of Gentiles were not truly converted. In

fact, after a time, most did not even know the true Religion of Jesus Christ and the first century

church, knowing only the apostate Roman model of organized "Christianity."

The church at Rome grew and grew and became more influential among other Gentile

churches, especially the church in Alexandria, Egypt which also soon abandoned the Sabbath

and the Holydays in favor of the more popular (among pagans) holidays of Rome.

The believers in Rome had forgotten that the Bible teaches that "There is a way that

seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 16:25). It

seemed the right thing to do -to abandon all objectionable Biblical laws that would be hard for

racist Gentiles to accept. Rather than convert the sinners to the truth of God, the Roman

Christians converted their religion to the popular heathen customs of the day, to be "more

acceptable" to the pagan Gentiles, to receive the approbation and approval of men.

The Bible commands us to come out ~e world. Instead of obeying this injunction, they

wanted rather to blend in with the world. They wanted to remain IN the world, rather than to

COME OUT from among them and be separate, as God COMMANDS in His Word (II Corinthians

6: 17). They had also forgotten the condemnation found in John 12:43 which states: "For they

loved the praise of men more than the praise of God"!

The True Religion through 19 Centuries

Once we understand what the true Faith of the first century consisted of and how the

apostasy developed in Rome, it is then easy to find God's true Religion down through the

centuries to the present day.

We know for example that the Passover (not Easter) continued to be observed.

Indeed historians reveal that the Passover was observed until at least the fifth century by

the Christians in the eastern part of the empire who continued to follow the "Jerusalem model"

(rather than the apostate “Roman model”) of Christianity.

Rome had never been the headquarters of the apostolic church. Nor was it considered the

headquarters of the true Church of God even in the second century. The apostle John assumed

leadership of God's true Church sometime after the apostle James (brother of Jesus) died. In

the late first century all eyes looked to Ephesus - where John lived - for guidance.

After John died, a man he had ordained, named Polycarp assumed the supervision of all the

churches. He lived in Smyrna, a town near Ephesus. Since Polycarp was now the Presiding

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Bishop over all the churches (though the apostates in Rome and Alexandria -ruled against God's

chosen leadership) then the Church of God at Smyrna now became the recognized Headquar-

ters Church of God.

Later after Polycarp was martyred, God chose Polycrates to be the Presiding Bishop, or Elder

(President) over the whole Church of God. He still lived around A.D. 200. Severe persecution

broke out from Imperial Rome on a11 who professed Christianity. After the 10 years of

Diocletian’s "Reign of Terror" (from A.D. 303 to 313) the church (true Christians and apostates

at Rome as well) had a respite for several years. (This persecution was actually foretold in

prophecy to the Smyrna Church age. See Revelation 2:10). But at the Roman Council of Nicaea

in A.D. 325, Constantine (who joined the apostate brand of "Christianity" in Rome) threatened

all Christians who kept God's weekly and annual Sabbaths with severe persecution. He also

required that all who professed to be Christian" keep the Roman festival of Easter. All true

Churches of God were forced to relinquish their church buildings to the Catholic Church! Thus

God's true Church was forced to go underground. With each succeeding generation the

increasingly powerful apostate Roman Catholic Church continued its violent and bloody

rampage against true Christians - those who keep the commandments of God and have the

(true) Faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12).

Tens of thousands of true Christians over the next 16 centuries were brutally slaughtered

for keeping the Passover rather than the pagan Roman Easter. These true Christians were

dubbed "Waldenses" by the world for they dwelt "in the wilderness," many times in hiding

from the Roman Church which hated them for their Faith -the true Faith of Christ. Halley's Bible

Handbook explains that the Inquisition was primarily instigated to kill all the Waldenses! It is an

established fact that the Waldenses were a Sabbath-keeping church scattered throughout

Europe. Remember this was long before the eventual Protestant Reformation.

Through all centuries Sabbath and Holyday keeping Christians survived, despite all that

Satan could do through his church at Rome, to destroy them!

Foxe's Book of Martyrs details the horrible atrocities that Rome (principally the Vatican)

carried out against these sincere, believing saints whose only crime was to keep the

commandments of God thus preventing them from ever joining the apostasy at Rome.

The Commandment-keeping CHURCH OF GOD Comes to America!

All through the Middle Ages, for over 1000 years, these saints continued to live and worship

Jesus Christ in hiding from the "whore of Babylon"! Finally in 1814, the Roman Empire was

essentially dissolved and with it, the cruel and heartless power of the papacy in Rome to

maliciously KILL God's people. At the end of this period, historians tell us that TENS OF

MILLIONS of Christians had been violently murdered by the Roman Catholic Church. Our public

schools have merely glazed over this history but have not taught it for fear of offending Roman

Catholics in their schools. Yet the history of this period abounds with documented facts of

horrible cruelty and massive murder of innocent men, women, and little children (in the name

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of the Pope) in Satan's attempt to use his church to exterminate true Christians down through

the ages! This church of the devil is referred to symbolically in the symbolic Book of Revelation

as a "synagogue" (the same word used by James in referring to a Christian "assembly"). And

John refers to it as "the synagogue of Satan" -a church of Satan! This was the Roman

Catholic Church which Satan used to nearly exterminate the true Religion from the face of the

Earth.

But in the 1600s when Europe was bathed in the blood of the martyrs (those who refused to

join Rome in its apostasy) a few set sail for the New World -America -in order to find religious

freedom from the satanic persecution from the Roman Catholic church -the spiritual "whore" of

Babylon. By the 1600s and early 1700s after some of the worst Catholic persecutions there

were precious few Sabbath-keeping Christians left in Europe. Most of the survivors lived in

England and Germany.

In 1664 the first missionary from the Church of God left England and carne to America,

landing at Newport, Rhode Island where he established the first Church of God in the new

world.

Away from the "seat (or throne) of Satan" (typified by the church in Pergamos; see

Revelation 2:13) and the violent slaughter they found in Europe, the true Church of God that

came to America with the original apostolic Faith flourished!

Here throughout the 1700s and 1800s the Church of God continued to keep God's Passover

on the 14th but still refused to keep Easter, Christmas, Halloween, Lent, and other pagan

holidays from Rome. They continued to be "commandment keepers" (Revelation 14:12) by

keeping ALL TEN of the Ten Commandments.

Most churches keep only about eight of the Ten. They traditionally break the fourth

commandment by ignoring God's choice for the Sabbath -the seventh day of the week,

preferring instead the day of the sun (Sun-day) inherited from their mother: Rome!

And they almost completely ignore the second commandment possessing supposed IMAGES

of Christ or God. There is apparently only one protestant church that obeys the second

commandment refusing to have images of Christ ("graven" images such as statues or

"likenesses" such as drawings or painted pictures of a long-haired "messiah" figure). But this

same denomination keeps pagan Roman holidays such as Easter and rejects God's Law to keep

the Passover. They do not have God's sign (of Sabbath keeping) but rather have the Roman sign

of sun worship by keeping not only Easter but also Christmas (the birthday of the "unconquered

sun" and the most popular day among sun worshippers in ancient Rome) and of course Sunday,

the principal day of Mother Rome. Rome is not only a harlot church, but she has given birth to

harlot daughter churches as well (Revelation 17:5) who keep the same pagan (heathen)

customs and pagan holidays that the mother church of so-called "Christendom" keeps.

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Satan's Major Attempt to Destroy the True Religion in America

During this time, the Church of God did not have strong leaders. Good sound Leadership

was sorely lacking leaving the church vulnerable. It had no school to train ministers to properly

guide God's people into the true Faith and to make them wary of false prophets. Thus the

church was spiritually weak and susceptible to deception.

A diversion from the Truth occurred during this same church era where some in the true

Religion who were seduced by a woman calling herself a "prophetess" led a great number away

from God's true Religion and into another sect of Protestantism (See where this was actually

prophesied to occur, in Revelation 2:20 to the next church era of God's true Religion, pictured

by the church of Thyatira). Thus the deceptions from this woman who calls herself a

''prophetess,'' caused many to leave the Sabbath-keeping Church of God to join a new

protestant sect called the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

When they did this, they gave up the Faith, by abandoning the Passover for a quarterly

protestant "communion;" the annual Holydays were completely abandoned and they began

once again keeping the pagan holidays of Rome, joining in completely with the protestant

doctrines inherited from mother Rome practiced by this newly founded protestant "Adventist

church, founded by a woman (who called herself a "prophetess").

While the Seventh Day Adventist church did not technically originate from members of the

Church of God who apostatized from the true Faith (for the Adventists acknowledged that they

were "protests" from the beginning) nevertheless, this wholesale departure from the true Faith

by many spiritually weak members of the Church of God during this period swelled the

numbers of the new protestant Adventist sect (which began with about 100 members) and was

partially responsible for their rapid increase in adherents to their denomination in 1800s. Today

the Adventists number into the millions!

But a remnant survived among the true Church of God in America to continue practicing the

true Faith until the 20th century. The true Faith did not die out. Jesus promised it would

continue and that the "gates of hell" -death itself -would never prevail against it. Thus despite

all that Satan can do, it has survived to the present day. Through the centuries Satan has

deceived many to leave, to apostatize from God's Word and the true Faith. But in each century

there has always been a faithful remnant that has held fast to the true doctrines -the same

Religion practiced by Christ and the apostles. That true Religion will never die!

Today they are scattered but continue to keep the Passover on the 14th, the annual

Holydays and the weekly Sabbath of the Ten Commandments. They do not observe the pagan

Roman holy days such as Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc. This is the true Religion that has

survived down to our day from the first century. Satan persecuted it with violence from the

whore of Rome and seduced them with deception through the woman "prophetess" in the New

World.

But the true Religion continued in America. It still exists. Jesus called His true church a "little

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flock" (Luke 12:32). It is not huge in numbers compared to the world, but continues the true

Faith of the first century church of the apostles. (It is important that the reader not confuse this

commandment keeping –that is to say, Sabbath keeping - Church of God, with any Sunday

observing Pentecostal group using the same Biblical name).

By the early 1900s the Church of God could be found scattered throughout the U.S.

Beginning in 1914 new leadership caused the Church of God to have explosive growth! By the

early 1920s; a real modern day apostle by the name of A.N. Dugger became the first Church of

God minister in history to have gotten on RADIO to preach Christ's Gospel and His Law -His

Truth –to millions in the United States. Under his leadership, missionaries were sent from

America back to Europe and new congregations were raised up. Missionaries were also sent to

Central and South America. By 1930, the church had grown worldwide in membership, though

it was still comparatively small compared to the majority of Sunday observing churches.

In the middle 20th century, another generation of new leadership used radio very

extensively and was the first ministry of the Church of God in history to ever preach God's truth

over television for a period of time!

Today, as we enter the first decades of the 21st Century a new Work is prophesied to arise.

Just prior to the End, Christ promised that His true Gospel would go to the entire world. While

Sunday churches are doing this also to an extent in some places, they are not preaching the

"full" Gospel. And they not teaching what repentance really is! Some protestant churches

currently baptize people without repentance! Some have even openly ordained practicing

homosexuals! Yet despite all the sin in the Sunday churches of this world, Christ still has a

faithful remnant who will preach His truth to the world, who will keep ALL His commandments

(including the second and fourth commandments)!

Today there are thousands of saints around the world that keep God's Passover and

Holydays as well as the Ten Commandments. This church was prophesied in Revelation 14:12

and Revelation 12:17. Remember, James teaches us that if we try to keep the whole law but

offend in one point (or commandment) then we are guilty of breaking all the commandments

(James 2:10). Any church openly breaking any one of the Ten Commandments therefore could

not be called a "commandment keeping church" as was prophesied in Revelation 12:17. It

sounds astonishing, but it is true! Only the Sabbath-observing Church of God keeps ALL TEN of

the Ten Commandments. In addition to keeping the eight commandments that most churches

practice, they also have no pictures or statues supposedly being IMAGES of Christ in their

church thus obeying the second commandment (which protestant churches following the

example of mother Rome, refuse to obey). They also rest on the seventh and last day of every

week which is the Sabbath day according to the fourth commandment.

This, here is a church that fulfills all of the prophesies found in the book of Revelation for

God’s true Religion in THE LAST DAYS. Referring to the End Times true Church of god we read,

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD,

and the *True+ Faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).

If you want to be worthy to “escape all these things that shall come to pass” (spoken of in

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this same chapter) they you should earnestly seek out this remnant church that keeps all the

Ten Commandments of the Bible. There has always been such a faithful remnant that has

obeyed God. At times their numbers have been few. They have suffered terribly at the hands of

persecutors for holding the true Faith of Jesus, but they have survived.

YOU need to become a part of this true remnant church for the End Time. It is still not too

late to repent of having kept the pagan days of Rome and their principal days of Rome and their

principal day of sun worship –Sunday. It is not too late to begin now to start keeping the

seventh day Sabbath as Jesus did and His apostles and the early true Church of God did in the

New Testament era. You should begin now –this year –to keep God’s annual Festivals that

come in the Spring and Autumn of each year. Remember the Bible promises that God will force

all people, all nations and all families of the Earth to keep His Festivals when Christ returns to

set up His Kingdom on this Earth (see Zechariah 14:1, 4, 9, 16-19)! All people –Israelite and

Gentile will be required to obey and keep God’s Festivals. Any family refusing at that time to

keep God’s annual Sabbaths (Holy Days or Festivals) will be severely punished! If you wish to

escape this punishment you will have to keep God’s Festivals.

Are you willing to repent and begin obeying God by observing these COMMANDED Festivals

today? For those who begin keeping God’s Law now in this time prior to Christ’s coming, will be

REWARDED then and will be used to help educate the World in God’s Law in that day as kings

and priests (Revelation 5:10).

Will you begin obeying God today by keeping His Festivals as He commanded? If so, then

you can become a part of the End Time true Church of God which has retained the true Faith of

Jesus since the first century!

You can be a part of this same New Testament church today! Will you repent and seek out

this church?

You can never understand the real Truth of God unless He calls you. He must “draw” you to

Christ and His Truth (John 6:44, 1 Corinthians 1:26). Is God the Father drawing you? Are you

being called to a deeper knowledge of His Truth? Is so, then God commands you to repent and

begin obeying His Law now. Those with whom God is not dealing, who are not being called at

this time will not understand His truth and will not repent. But it may be He is calling you to His

true Religion (1 Corinthians 1:26). If so, begin praying earnestly for God to reveal to you (if He is

calling you) and open up your heart to accept His Truth.

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An Excerpt from the book “A True History of the True Religion”

The True Church After The Apostles

Here is one of the most remarkable, documented accounts preserved of God's true people in the second century just after the original apostles! John was the last living original apostle. After he died, who took his place as the leader of the True Religion? Did the true Church continue to keep the Passover and the Holydays of God? Here is documented proof from secular history to answer these questions. Here is an excerpt from Keith Slough's extensively documented book, A True History of the True Religion. The gates of the grave never prevailed against God's True Religion (Matthew 16: 18). It never completely died out! A remnant has survived. There is a church today that still embraces it. And God wants YOU to be part of it.

HAT HAPPENED TO the early Church after the apostles died? Did the entire

Christian Church engage in apostasy giving up the true Faith as delivered by

Jesus Christ and His called and chosen apostles? Or did God's true church retain

the true Religion? Did Christ always maintain a Faithful Remnant who remained true to the first

century Faith as He and the early apostles taught? And how did ROME enter the picture?

Through the Apostle Paul's ministry, a true Church of God was raised up in the city of

Rome, the capitol of the Roman Empire and also the leading city of all FALSE religion! Nero in

A.D. 64 severely persecuted God's Church in Rome and charged the Christians with burning the

city.

Eventually the Apostle Paul was brought to Rome and martyred! One by one the apostles of

the first century were being put to death and thus the leadership of the true Church dwindled.

Before very long most of the leading ministers of the true Church of God in Rome were

gone, possibly through persecution and martyrdom and without proper leadership, apostasy

began to creep into the church there. After A.D. 70 the true Church was now being led by the

few remaining apostles at Pella and Antioch. Peter was soon crucified. James, the leading

apostle of the headquarters church, now in Pella, was martyred shortly thereafter. Only the

Apostle John was left. He traveled extensively preaching the Gospel of Christ, and was

eventually sentenced to be burned in boiling oil. According to record, God supernaturally

spared him and so the Roman authorities decided to let him live and banished him to the isle of

Patmos where he wrote the final book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation.

Sometime later, John was allowed to leave Patmos and spent his remaining days in Ephesus.

Now that all of the original apostles had been martyred, only John was left to lead the Church

of God where he now alone assumed the leadership of the true Church from Ephesus! However

before God had allowed John to die of old age (the only original apostle who was not

martyred!) he had trained and ordained a mail to replace him as leader of the church:

POLYCARP.

W

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The True Church AFTER the Apostles

When John died that was not the end however of the true Church of God on Earth. Jesus

said He would build His church and the "gates of hell [Greek: the grave]" -death itself would

never prevail against it! It would never die! But since John closed the New Testament with the

Book of Revelation around A.D. 96 we now must turn to secular history for the continuation of

the history of God's true church after the apostles!

There is a curious statement found in Acts 24:5 concerning the true Church shortly before

Paul's martyrdom. While the true people of God called themselves The Church of God, the

world called them by pejorative nicknames. Here is a historical record found in the Bible itself

as to the leading nickname the world had given the true Church. The unbelievers referred to

God's true Church as a religious "sect." They did not understand this was the only true Church

of God on Earth! Notice that they recognized Paul as a leader of the true Church. Notice also

the world's nickname for the true Church at this time:

"F or we have found this man a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews

throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the NAZARENES: who also hath gone

about to profane the temple..." (Acts 24:5). Of course their accusations were unfounded. Yet

notice this historical fact that God's true church was being called by the term ''NAZARENES'', a

decidedly dysphemistic term since Nazareth was not a well respected city. Its usage was

intended to be derogatory since Jesus had been called "the Nazarene" and these were His

followers. So as the New Testament History of God's true people closes with the Book of Reve-

lation, and we enter the second century, the true Church has the distinctive publicly ridiculed

name of being called Nazarenes!

Secular History Picks up the Record

The Encyclopedia Britannica contains an article about the TRUE Church of God at the close

of the first century and the beginning of the second, under the article ''Nazarenes'' - believe it

or not!

"NAZARENES, an obscure Jewish Christian sect [notice God's true Church at this time was

still considered to be a "sect" -the same word used by unbelievers in the Book of Acts!] existing

at the time of Epiphanius' (fl.A.D.370) in coele-Syria, Decapolis and Basanitis (Cocabe). [Notice

their main church congregation lived in Pella, the city where the Jerusalem headquarters

congregation of God's true Church fled for a time]. According to that authority (Panarion, xxix.

7), they dated their settlement in Pella from the time of the flight of the Jewish Christians from

Jerusalem [the Headquarters Church], immediately before the siege in A.D. 70; he characterizes

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them as neither more nor less than Jews pure and simple [because he saw them keeping God's

weekly and annual Sabbath days he considered them to be "Jewish"!], but adds that they

recognized the new covenant as well as the old, and believed in the resurrection, and in the one

God and His Son Jesus Christ"!

Notice the "sect of the Nazarenes" which continued pass the days of the apostles were

Christians and were NOT of the Jewish religion, even though they continued to keep the

commandments of God including God; s outward identifying sign of observing His Sabbaths. For

this ancient historian plainly tells us they believed and professed faith in the one God "and His

Son Jesus Christ"! Therefore this is a description not of Jewish people but of the true Church of

God after the apostles!!

The Encyclopedia Britannica continues: "He cannot say whether their Christological views

were identical with those of Cerinthus and his school, or whether they differed at all from his

own. But Jerome (Ep. 79, to Augustine) says that they believed in Christ the Son of God, born of

the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, and rose again, but adds that, 'desiring to

be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one or the other "'! (Emphasis mine).

Notice how Jerome observing the true Church in his day saw plainly that they obviously

were not of the novel and apostate Roman Catholic Religion (called the "WHORE" OF BABYLON

in Revelation 17) as he was! From the Roman Catholic view point, he could hardly consider

these ''Nazarenes'' to be Christians as they did not keep the days of pagan Rome as does the

Roman Church and its daughter churches continue to do to this day but instead they continued

keeping the same days JESUS CHRIST observed. Thus he considered them to be "Jewish," yet

knew they believed in Christ. Yet, the Nazarenes (as the world then called God's true Church)

were clearly NOT CATHOLIC!! -the only "Christianity" poor Jerome knew anything about!

Continue: Jerome continues his personal description of the Nazarenes by saying that, ''while

adhering as far as possible to the Mosaic economy as regarded circumcision, SABBATHS, foods

and the like they did not refuse to recognize the apostolicity of Paul or the rights of heathen

[Gentile] Christians (Jer., Comm. in Isa., ix.I). These facts, taken along with the name (cf. Acts

xxiv.5) and geographical position of the sect, lead to the conclusion that the Nazarenes of the

4th century are, in spite of Epiphanius' distinction to be identified with the Ebionites (q.v.)."

From the article, "Nazarenes," The Encyclopedia Britannica eleventh edition, Volume 19, page

319).

Did you catch that? The true Church continued in existence at least until "the 4th century" -

into the 300s - and continued their distinctive doctrines they had inherited from the original

Jerusalem Church before A.D. 69.

Because they continued to practice the same beliefs, the nickname "Nazarene" remained

also all the way until the fourth century! God's true Religion did not die out as a result of

Roman Catholic apostasy from the truth. There were still true Christians who held fast to the

same beliefs we find the early church believed in the New Testament! Toward the end of the

4th century we see a new nickname gradually coming into vogue for those who remained

steadfast to the true Religion: Ebionites! There were three different groups among those who

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were called "Ebionites." Only one of these three maintained the true doctrines inherited from

the true New Testament Church, yet the Catholic Church classified two heretical groups in with

the true church and called them all "Ebionites." Thus we see the true Church of God was now

grouped together with other groups that indeed were heretical and had perverted the true

Faith. From this point on God's true saints were grouped together with "'heretics" from the

Christian Faith, many of whom were indeed extremely unorthodox in their beliefs, even farther

astray than the increasingly powerful Roman Catholic Church!

Jerome was a Roman Catholic and therefore did not fully understand what God's true

Church had always believed. We learn from Acts 15 that the early church did not think

circumcision necessary. Why then did Jerome think they still did? It was because he saw plainly

their outward observance of SABBA1H-KEEPING! Notice he mentioned "Sabbaths" -in the plural

sense. Had they not been observing the annual Sabbaths as well he would have hardly

considered them to be "Jewish." And notice also he mentions "foods." The true church

continued to keep the commandments of God including the dietary laws regarding the Clean

and the Unclean found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. Nowhere does the New Testament

abolish the food laws which God gave us to protect our health. The unconverted heathen of

course brought their unscriptural dietary habits with them into the Roman church.

The early church understood these truths. Do you? Does your church?

Probably not! Yet the early church did! And here we have historical documentation that

they continued in these truths at least until the fourth century!

POL YCARP, the Next Leader of the Church After John

Let's go back now and get the transition from the last original apostle who had been

personally ordained by Jesus Christ to the next generation of God's true Church. History records

that Polycarp was "consecrated" (ORDAINED) by the Apostle John personally (See The Anti-

Nicene Fathers, Volume I, page 416). Polycarp was ordained the "Bishop" (a word meaning

"overseer" and is equivalent to "Pastor") of Smyrna, yet he was also looked upon as the leading

apostle of that day, after John had passed from the scene since he had known John personally,

was ordained by him, and had met others who had seen Christ personally! (ibid, page 416, in

"Irenaeus Against Heresies ").

Polycarp was known in that day as a Quartodecimani because he continued to teach the

original true Faith which was once delivered to the saints (Jude 3) -the true Religion -which the

early true Church held fast to which included the observance of the annual Holydays beginning

with the Passover on the 14th. This word "Quartodeciman" means "fourteenth."

The Church of God never observed the Roman Catholic "Easter" (the name of a pagan

Babylonian goddess of sex, hence the bunnies and eggs representing fecundity and procre-

ation). Rather they continued to observe the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first Biblical

month (called Abib) and therefore were given the additional nickname Quartodecimani.

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Eusebius, the famous and very early Roman Catholic historian admits: "But Polycarp also

was not only instructed by the apostles and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was

also, by apostles in Asia [Asia Minor], appointed bishop of the Church of Smyrna. He it was who,

coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus" -who was bishop (or pastor) of Rome around the

middle second century - "caused many to turn away from the aforesaid [previously mentioned]

heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the

apostles…"

This must have been extremely persuasive. Here was a minister who had been personally

ordained by the Apostle John and perhaps other true ministers of God in Asia Minor who taught

only the truth of God according to "the Faith once delivered to the saints." Notice Eusebius

admits Polycarp was successful at turning back many of the heretics or apostates to "THE

CHURCH OF GOD"!

Polycarp, the true leader of God's Church still attempted to bring the apostates at Rome

back into the Fold and back into the Truth of God. However he was not successful with the

leader of this apostasy, the bishop of Rome.

"For neither could Anicetus (the bishop of Rome) persuade Polycarp not to observe if' - the

Passover on the 14th - "because he [Polycarp] had always observed it with John the disciple of

our Lord, and the rest of the apostles, with whom he associated; and neither did Polycarp

persuade Anicetus to observe it [the Passover], who said that he [Anicetus] was bound to

follow the CUSTOMS of the presbyters before him" (in apostate Rome who had long since

abandoned the truth in the prophesied APOSTASY!).

This amazing quotation can be found in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History book V, chapter 24,

in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I!

Notice, that Anicetus did not submit to the Authority God had placed in His Church and

repent of his apostasy and submit to Polycarp the successor to John as the Presiding Elder or

Leader of God's TRUE Church. Instead he was committed to only following the "customs" of

men rather than the LAW of God! Jesus said if we put man's traditions ahead of the

commandments of God, we worship Him in vain! (See Mark 7:7-9 + 13). Thus the leader of the

apostasy at Rome was leading the whole Roman church and those associated with Rome, to

worship Christ IN VAIN! The "customs" Anicetus referred to was the universally celebrated

"Easter" eventually "Christianized" and transformed into a supposedly "Christian" (Catholic)

holiday, but never observed by the early true Church. Easter does NOT commemorate the

resurrection of Jesus Christ! Write for our free reprint article, "Did Jesus Die on Good Friday?'

which proves conclusively that Jesus rose at sunset on Saturday evening, bud NOT near sunrise

Sunday morning!

This proof is based on a correct understanding of Matthew 12:40. "Easter" (spelled Ishtar

anciently but pronounced the same way as we now say "Easter" today) was the heathen

fertility goddess of spring and had nothing to do, originally, with true Christianity. But apostate

Rome, willing to accommodate the large influx of pagans into the church, compromised, (and

compromised repeatedly) the Word of God in order to establish a "universal" (or catholic)

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"Christian" church throughout the world. Today the daughter churches who came out of the

whore in protest continue in these pagan customs utterly CONDEMNED by Scripture!

Later, after the martyrdom of Polycarp (in the middle second century) a new leader in God's

true church ascended to the leadership of God's true Religion: POL YCRATES.

He also earnestly contended for the true doctrines and the true Faith which was "once

delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).

From the article "Easter" in the Encyclopedia Britannica, we read about this leader's

faithfulness to the truth of God. In reference to the pagan Easter, we read: "The annual festival

observed throughout [apostate] Christendom.... The name Easter, like the names of the days of

the week, is a survival from the old Teutonic mythology… According to Bede, it is derived from

the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring [borrowed from the Babylonian goddess, Ishtar].

Continue: “There is no indication of the observation of the Easter festival in the New

Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic fathers [those who immediately followed the

original apostles of the New Testament].... The first Christians continued to observe the Jewish

[BIBLICAL] FESTIVALS, though in a new spirit, as commemorations of the events which those

festivals had foreshadowed. Thus the Passover, with a new conception added to it of Christ as

the true Pascal Lamb and the first fruits from the dead, continued to be observed"!! (Emphasis

mine throughout).

This is utterly fascinating!

This amazing admission can be found in The Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition,

Volume 8, pages 828-829! (Be sure to read the Biblical reference to this in First Corinthians 5:7-

8!).

Notice the true Church of God continued to observe the Biblical Festivals or Holydays of God

and the Passover beginning on the 14th but did not observe the pagan Easter!

What an admission!!

Headquarters Leadership Passes to Polycrates

Continuing this amazing account from the Encyclopedia Britannica, we read: "St. Polycarp,

the disciple of St. John the evangelist [i.e. the Apostle John] and bishop of Smyrna, visited Rome

in 159 [other ancient authorities say 154] to confer with Anicetus, the bishop of that see, on the

subject and urged the tradition, which he had received from the Apostle, [that is, the Apostle

John, who was taught by Jesus Christ Himself!] of observing the fourteenth day ."

Notice Polycarp, the new leader of the Church of God, had learned about keeping the

Passover on the 14th day from the Apostle John!

Can there be any doubt that God wants His true Church to observe the Passover today?

Polycarp was eventually martyred for his Faith. He was burned alive at the stake. But this

was not the end of God's Church -that "little flock" who continued to preach the true Faith of

Jesus Christ. The Encyclopedia Britannica continues:

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"About forty years later (197) the question was discussed in a very different spirit between

Victor, bishop of Rome, and Polycrates, metropolitan proconsular of Asia. That province was the

only portion of Christendom which still adhered to the Jewish [that is, Biblical] usage" - the Law

of God, and the keeping or the Passover Feast in other words! -"and Victor demanded that all

should adopt the usage prevailing at Rome [keeping the pagan Easter]. This Polycrates finally

refused to agree to, and urged many weighty reasons to the contrary, whereupon Victor

proceeded to excommunicate Polycrates and the Christians who continued the eastern usage

[what we now call the Middle East, where the true Church held fast to the Faith once de-

livered]. He was however, restrained from actually proceeding to enforce the decree of

excommunication, owing to the remonstrance of Irenaeus [who also had now surrendered to

the apostasy at Rome] and the bishops of Gaul. Peace was thus maintained, and the Asiatic

churches [those of the Middle East] retained their usage [of observing the Passover and

Holydays] unmolested"!

The bishop of Rome could not stop the true church from continuing to keep the Passover as

Christ commanded and as observed by the New Testament Church and commanded to the

Gentile converts by the Apostle Paul! (I Cor. 5:7-8).

Polycrates was now the leader of The Church of God and was referred to as the

"metropolitan proconsular" of Asia Minor. It appears from history that he occupied the same

office as the Apostle James and was more than a "bishop" or pastor over one congregation, but

actually presided over the whole Church of God as the chief apostle, obviously replacing

Polycarp as the leader of the Church.

Notice that the leader of God's only true Church on Earth, Polycrates, attempted to bring

the apostate churches to repentance. But rather than repent, the leader at Rome threatened

this true apostle of Jesus Christ with "excommunication"! But so strong were the Christians of

the Middle East in their keeping of God's Passover Feast that the apostate Victor was per-

suaded to leave them alone. At this time the Roman church was not yet powerful or influential

enough to enforce their decision. Yet the apostasy now in Rome was totally out of control, and

apparently God's true ministers from the area around Jerusalem, Pella, and Asia Minor (modern

Turkey, where Ephesus and Smyrna were), the only true Church of God on Earth, had given up

hope of ever seeing the apostasy in Europe turned back around to the true Faith.

Just as Polycarp was not merely the bishop of Smyrna but the ruling apostle over the entire

Church of God, so Polycrates appears to also have now taken this position in his generation as

the ruling apostle over the true Church.

From the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 773, we read the following commentary on

an actual epistle written by Polycrates and preserved all these years!

"He [Polycrates] had doubtless known Polycarp and Irenaeus also. He seems to have

presided [as president or chief apostle] over a synod of Asiatic [middle eastern] bishops (A.D.

196) which came together to consider this matter of the PASCHAL FEAST [the true Passover]. It

is surely noteworthy that nobody doubted that it [the "Paschal" or Passover Feast] was kept by

a Christian and APOSTOLIC ORDINANCE"!!

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That is to say, the Feast of the Passover was observed by the true Church by an apostolic

COMMAND!

What an amazing admission!

Here the editors of the Roman Catholic Ante-Nicene Fathers admit that the observance of

the Paschal feast (or Passover) on the 14th day of the first Hebrew month, was kept by a

Christian and apostolic "ordinance"! Notice the Catholics admit that nobody doubted that the

apostles had "ordained" the Passover as a Christian Feast!

Why then do they refuse today to obey the commandments given by the apostles of Jesus

Christ?

History Proves the Passover Feast was Continued in the Church After the Apostles!

Today the whole "Christian" world is DECEIVED into believing that these Biblical Festivals

which the apostles commanded us to observe have been replaced by the old pagan Roman holi-

days. Yes, the whole world has indeed been deceived just as the Bible said it would be!

(Revelation 12:9).

But, continuing with the very next sentence of this ancient work: "So St. Paul argues from its

[the Passover's] Christian observance in his rebuke of the Corinthians. They were keeping it

'unleavened' ceremonially [that is, LITERALLY by putting the leavening out of their homes!!]....

The Christian hallowing of Pentecost [another of God's annual Sabbaths or commanded Feast

Days] connects with the paschal argument. The Christian Sabbath hinges on these points"! (The

Anti-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 773, preface).

This is truly an astonishing admission! Next let's examine the actual epistle of Polycrates

written in the late second century!

Polycrates wrote: "As for us, then; we scrupulously observe the exact day, neither adding

nor taking away. For in Asia great luminaries have gone to their rest, who shall rise again in the

day of the coming of the Lord. I speak of Phillip, one of the twelve apostles... John, moreover,

who reclined on the Lord's bosom... Then there is Polycarp, both bishop and martyr at Smyrna

[he then continues to mention other great leaders in the true church of the second century

such as Sargaris, Papirius, and Melito].... THESE ALL KEPT THE PASSOVER ON THE FOURTEENTH

DAY OF THE MONTH, in accordance with the Gospel, without ever deviating from it, but keeping

to the rule of Faith”!

Notice. They continued to keep the "rule of Faith" - the true Religion of Christ and the first

century apostles!

This extraordinary letter can be found in Volume 8 of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, pages 773-

774.

Notice that the TRUE Church of God still kept the Passover throughout the second century,

as Christ and the Apostle Paul had commanded God's true church to do. They called themselves

"The Church of God" but the world referred to them as ''the sect of the Nazarenes" (See Acts

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24:5 where the Apostle Paul was known to be a leader of this so-called "sect"). It is obvious

then that this specific church of second century Christians is a continuation of the TRUE New

Testament Church of God of the Bible! They never did join the apostasy at Rome! -but

remained separate from it, keeping themselves PURE to the original true Faith.

Yes the true Church continued observing the annual Holydays of God right on through the

second century!

They knew these Festivals were not "done away" at the cross!!

Now notice something important. Polycrates, the late second century leader of the true

church stated that he and the others from the Jerusalem area churches observed the “exact

day.”

What did they DO on that day -the 14th? How did they observe it?

Since the destruction of the temple they obviously could not kill a real Passover lamb on

that day. How then, did these true Christians of the second century observe the "exact day" of

the 14th of Abib? In the next to the last paragraph of Polycrates' epistle he further admits:

"Moreover I also, Polycrates, who am the least of you all, in accordance with the traditions of

my relatives [what "Tradition" was he speaking of?] ... seven of my relatives were bishops, and I

am the eighth, and my relatives AL WAYS observed the day when the people PUT AWAY THE

LEAVEN"!!

Astonishing! How many churches do this today? Almost no one!

The day that Polycrates, the leader of God's true Church and Religion -continued to observe

was the 14th of the first month of spring called Abib on the Sacred Biblical Calendar! And notice

carefully, that the true church did not merely partake of the unleavened bread and wine on the

14th in a mere New Testament Passover Memorial (commonly called "Communion" or "the

Lord's Supper") but rather they did something else. For on the 14th, they "put away the leaven"

out of their houses in order to "keep the Feast" -the seven day Passover Festival -as Paul

instructed in First Corinthians 5:7-8.

Paul said, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us KEEP THE FEAST"! The

Passover Festival is also referred to as the Feast of Un leavened Bread (Luke 22:1). Ezekiel 45:21

describes the length of the Passover. It states: "Ye shall have the PASSOVER, a feast of seven

days; unleavened bread shall be eaten"!

This is what Polycrates was referring to when he said he and his relatives and seven other

bishops (Elders or ministers of God's true Church before him, perhaps all the way back to the

original apostles) "put away the leaven" on the 14th in order to ob. serve this week long

Passover Feast also known as The Feast of Unleavened Bread! (See Acts 12:3 and Acts 20:6).

The early true Church kept this week long Feast of Passover, by putting the leavening out of

their homes on the exact 14th day. Additional secular records down through the centuries

prove that the true church continued keeping God's annual Passover and other Festivals long

after the second century all the way into our day today without interruption! This body of

believers perpetuated the actual Religion of Jesus Christ and is the same church and same true

Religion that the apostles knew. . That true Religion still exists today! It has never disappeared!

22 | P a g e

Do you have the same true Religion that the early true Church of God had? Or have you

been deceived by Romanism? The Bible commands us to earnestly contend for the Faith (the

true Faith) which was ONCE delivered to the saints (Jude 3) in the New Testament Era, by Christ

and the apostles. You are now being shown what that ''true Faith" is.

What will you do with it?

23 | P a g e

The Work of

Christian Fellowship Ministries of The Church of God, Inc.

Now that you have completed the Prove All Things Bible Study Course, you are invited to participate in the End Time Work of God to preach God's Truth to the world. The world's churches have inherited religious customs and doctrines not to be found in the Holy Word of God. In the Last Days knowledge will be increased (Daniel 12:4). You have now learned truths hidden from the world but revealed to a select number as no one can come to Christ except they be "drawn" to Him or "called" (John 6:44 and I Corinthians 1 :26). Jesus promised that a Great Work would be done just prior to the beginning of the Great Tribulation and His return to this Earth to rule all nations! (Matthew 24:14). His Truth will be preached by the remnant of those who have His True Religion. You now know the Truth! Perhaps GOD IS CALLING YOU TO BE A PART OF THA T PROPHESIED END TIME WORK! Will you accept the Call?

OU HAVE NOW COMPLETED 36 lessons of the Prove All Things Bible Study Course.

With this lesson you have now completed your education in the basic doctrinal

course which provides the basis of all future sermons and Bible Studies.

What you have learned obviously is quite different than what you have learned from

"mainstream religion." But remember, you were asked to "prove all things" from the Bible. If

you have done what you were asked to do, you now KNOW that you have found the true

Religion of the first century apostolic and New Testament Church of God!

Jesus is firm in His commandment to His people who remain in the Babylonian harlot

system. He commands, "COME OUT of her My people"!!! (Revelation 18:4).

Will you "come out" of the false religious system inherited from mother Rome -called a

spiritual "WHORE" in the Bible and the mother of spiritual harlots?

Some have asked, "If I leave the familiar religion of my parents and grandparents, then

where do I go?" Jesus is not just calling us out of the religious "harlot" system; He is calling us

TO something very important!

The End Time Work of God

Not only are we to walk away from those who are teaching a false gospel and false doctrine,

but we are to find the End Time Ministry that God is working with and become a vital part of

this prophesied End Time Work. IF we are living in the Last Days, then we have an opportunity

to participate in the prophesied Last Work of the End Time Church of God on the Earth!

Y

24 | P a g e

You should obey Acts 2:38 by repenting of having followed false religious doctrines and

having put your tithes into these churches that teach God's Law has been "done away" and that

the Sabbath no longer needs to be observed. You should disassociate yourself from the

membership of those churches that keep Easter, Christmas, Halloween, Lent, and other pagan

Ro man festivals. If you have paid God's tithe to these churches stop participating in supporting

those who teach contrary to the Truth of the Bible! -and immediately begin supporting only

those who teach the Truth of God.

Next we read in Acts 2:38 that after we repent of sin (which is the breaking of God's LAW - I

John 3:4), that we should be baptized. Also you should have the "Laying on of hands" to receive

the baptism not just of water, but of the Holy Spirit (according to Acts 8:17). This does not mean

you will speak in "tongues" (in modern times not real tongues or languages, but sometimes

admittedly fabricated by the speaker) which is a protestant propensity practiced only among

Pentecostal people. No scripture says that all who receive God's Spirit will "speak in tongues,"

prophesy, or manifest any such gifts at all! Contrariwise, the Scripture teaches that it is the

Baptism of the Holy Spirit that puts you into the very Body of Christ -the true Church of God. If

you have not had hands laid on you to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then you are not a

member of the Body of Christ - God's Church – and therefore do not belong to Christ! -ARE NOT

SAVED! (See Romans 8:9, first part). Water baptism does not save.

You must receive the Holy Spirit of Christ or you "do not belong to Him," - are not one of His

disciples - and are therefore still unsaved.

Read these scriptures yourself!

Acts 2:38 commands us to 1) repent. We are to repent by being sorry for transgressing

God's Law (including the breaking of His Sabbath, the fourth commandment) and must turn

from that transgression by OBEYING His commandments from this day forward. 2) Next we are

to be baptized into the true Church of God in order to insure we receive God's Holy Spirit.

Perhaps you were baptized into a protestant body as a child or young adult. You may

wonder if your baptism was valid. Ask yourself, did you really repent? Did the minister explain

to you what sin is, that you must repent from transgressing God's Law, including the partaking

of His weekly and annual Sabbaths? Probably not!

Jesus said that many hear the Truth of God but then the truths they learn do not "take

root." Rather the cares of this life and the lusts of other things come in and choke the Word of

God that it takes no root in their lives and produces no "fruit"! (See Mark 4:18-19). Don't you

allow this to happen in your life! God may be calling you to a GREAT REWARD in His Kingdom!!!

Jesus tells us that if we will keep the Law -even the least of the commandments, and then

teach men so -teach others also to obey the Law of God, then we will be called GREAT in the

Kingdom of Heaven! (Matthew 5:19).

So to have a "great reward" in the Kingdom of God we must do two things: we ourselves

must keep ALL the commandments - even the least commandments of His Law; and secondly,

we must teach others to do the same!

When you share these Bible lessons (beginning with lesson one sharing them in numerical

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order so as not to confuse the person) you are helping to spread God's Truth. You are effec-

tively ''witnessing'' to that person! Or when you open your home for an in the-home Bible

Study so you can share the very true Religion of Jesus Christ with others, then you are teaching

others.

But what if you do not feel capable of personally teaching a Bible Study, or answering Bible

questions at this time? Then when you pay God His sacred tithe by supporting His true Work on

Earth of preaching His True Gospel and the TRUTH OF GOD as you have learned it in this Bible

Study Course, then you are helping others learn the Law - YOU are teaching the Law to others

through your support of this Work, and can insure yourself a great reward in God's Kingdom!

Repent and Obey the Truth

Remember God's Law is referred to in the Bible as God's "TRUTH"! (See Psalm 119:142). In

fact ALL God's commandments (and that would include the second and fourth commandments

of the Ten) are called THE "TRUTH" (verse 151).

Do the churches of this world teach the "Truth" according to the definition given in these

Scriptures you just read in your own Bible? According to the very Word of God found in these

scriptures, are they teaching you the "Truth"???

Of course not! No! They do not!

Will you continue therefore to pay God's tithes to them so they can continue preaching and

teaching false doctrine, perpetuating falsehoods such as saying that Sunday is the Sabbath (or

"Lord's Day") when we all KNOW it is not and never was? Will you continue to support those

who supposedly celebrate Christ's birthday on the old PAGAN Roman festival of Saturnalia, the

birthday of the sun-god Mithrais, which the heathen celebrated on December 25th each year?

Will you participate in and pay your tithes to a church that keeps Easter, the old pagan sex

goddess of Babylon?

Will you continue in the paganism of sunrise services practiced by the heathen (as shown in

Ezekiel 8)? If you continue supporting such false teachings then you are furthering the propa-

gation of FALSE RELIGION. Though you yourself may not be a "false prophet," if you support

those who are, then will you not get the same reward they get? For they cannot spread these

falsehoods successfully without your financial help!

Stop supporting those who teach doctrines that you KNOW to be false. The Bible teaches

that the tithe is holy to God (Leviticus 27:30). It should only go to God's true ministers where

HIS TRUTH IS BEING TAUGHT!

One of the reasons you may not have prospered from tithing is because you are not paying

your tithes to God! Perhaps you know you are NOT giving your tithes and additional offerings to

those who truly represent God and His true Religion. How can God prosper you as He wants to

when you do this?

It is time to repent and COME OUT of all churches that "keep Sunday"! It is time to COME

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OUT of all churches that observe the sun-worshipping religion of Easter, Christmas and other

Roman festivals which are condemned in Scripture (Jeremiah 10:1-3). It is a SIN to celebrate or

observe these heathen (now Roman Catholic) and pagan holidays! Repent now before you are

judged by the returning King of kings!

This does not mean you can no longer be friends with those who are still deceived by false

doctrines. But it does mean you should now throw your entire support behind God's true repre-

sentatives who are proclaiming and teaching God's truth -His Law, to the world. Do not

participate in their "communions" and other Catholic or Protestant rituals. Begin keeping God's

Holydays now - this year!

Call now and request a Holyday Calendar so you can begin keeping God's Holydays this year

without delay, right in your own home! This year plan to keep the Feast of the Passover, the

Day of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, just as the early New Testament Church of God

did!

Also call (or write) immediately and for a personal visit from a minister of God to answer all

your questions about God's commandments, specifically concerning His weekly Sabbath and

annual Holydays which God commands us to keep. We will be happy to baptize you into the

true Religion of Jesus Christ!

The full legal name of our Work is incorporated as "Christian Fellowship Ministries of The

Church of God."

Since many would mistakenly assume we are connected to a protestant Pentecostal church

which uses this Biblical name, publicly on radio and elsewhere we only use the name of the

Ministry itself -Christian Fellowship Ministries. However we are also a church and are a spiritual

part of an international body of believers who, though small in number, are continuing to keep

God's Ten Commandments and His Law just as Christ prophesied that such a church would

continue to exist down through the ages.

Perhaps you have thought you would like to attend the College to learn more about God's

Truth, or to eventually become a fun time instructor or even be ordained into Christ's End Time

Ministry, yet you have not had the funds to attend. As a member of Christian Fellowship

Ministries of the Church of God, you will be eligible for "member benefits," which may include a

giant scholarship on ALL tuition! God wants you to accept His Truth and come out of the

deception of the world (I Timothy 2:4). Most of the world's population has never had the

privilege of learning God's Holy Bible as you have had!!! Think of it! God may be calling YOU to

have a part in His End Time Work.

Will you accept the "Call"?

If you would like to request a membership application for Christian Fellowship Ministries,

call or write today. No one will visit you or call upon you unless you yourself request it. No one

will pressure you in any way. This is a personal decision you must make, to accept or reject the

true Religion of Jesus Christ. But while no one will pressure you, I sincerely hope you will make

this a matter of prayer and meditation. Think about the tremendous truths you have learned!

Few people have ever been privileged to know and understand these precious truths of God.

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The entire world will learn them when Jesus Christ returns. But now He is "calling out" a people

to Himself before He returns~ to train them as leaders - to become the new kings and leaders

of a new Government - the Kingdom of God, which will reign on this Earth for 1,000 years!

(Zechariah 14:9, 16-19, Revelation 20:4, Revelation 5:10). If God has opened up your mind to

understand His true Religion, then YOU may have a calling to be a part of the world-ruling

Kingdom of God in the millennium. It is not too late to repent! But know that an awesome

responsibility is now laid on your shoulders to obey the truth God has shown you. We pray that

you make the right decision today to repent and to delay no longer to become a part of God's

End Time Work and Church!