Church History - Ephesus vs. Rome

Brethren, whether you know it or not, we're just two months away from Passover. So it's coming pretty soon. We already have a place since we can't use it here. We're gonna have the Anaheim SDA building. That's not the Garden Grove when we met. This one's by the 57 and Lincoln. But God tells us to prepare spiritually for that coming Passover. And I'd like to focus a couple of sermons on the important subject about knowing our roots. What it means are spiritual roots. Where did this church come from? Can we actually trace the church that we have today all the way back? Almost 20 centuries in the past? You bet we can! But how many people know that history? Notice what it tells us in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 35. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 35. It's talking about all the men and women of faith through the ages up to that time. And it says in verse 35, women received their dead, raised to life again. There were some people that asked God to do that, and he did. Granted. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. So some actually died in the faith, not accepting deliverance, not giving up their beliefs, that they might obtain a better resurrection. They know there's a coming first resurrection. They want to be part of that, and they weren't going to deny their faith. It continues, still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned. Some died again for the faith. They were sawn in two. That's the way a Jewish tradition says the prophet Isaiah was actually wrapped up in a type of cloth and cut in half. They were tempted, were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. So the world didn't accept them for what they truly were part of God's genuine people, of whom the world was not worthy. So the world doesn't know that, but they're putting the wrong people as their champions, because these are the true people of God. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth, and all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, they were faithful. They're going to be rewarded, but it says here, they did not receive the promise. They're still awaiting being resurrected. They have not received the promise. It has not been fulfilled about having eternal life, of entering the kingdom of God, but they had that faith. It was going to happen. God having provided something better for us. So here, the reason is, why didn't God just resurrect all these people? If they were worthy and faithful, he says, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect, apart from us. So you see, God is going to gather everybody for that first resurrection. From the first person we know that qualified for that resurrection, who was it?

Righteous Abel. He's the first one. And so here, it says that they're all going to be resurrected together. So because Abraham lived thousands of years ago, he is still asleep in Christ, and he's going to be resurrected with along with this generation. And then it goes on to say, chapter 12, verse 1, therefore, because we have these type of ancestors, spiritual ancestors, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So this is talking about church history. This is talking about the spiritual roots. And whether we know it or not, we are closer to Abraham, to Moses, to Jesus Christ, to the Apostles, than we are to our very physical family, because they don't possess that Holy Spirit in them, which changes a person's mind. And we're all preparing for that first resurrection that comes. So it's very important, as we come to the Passover, to understand our church history. And so I'm gonna give a series with maps, and we're gonna go from the first century, the time of Christ, all the way to our time, so that you will see all of these people, men and women of faith, what they believed in. And of course, I do title it Ephesus versus Rome. The church started in Jerusalem, but it ended up being at Ephesus. That was the city where the Apostle John settled. He was the last Apostle. And so the church, really, that organized things was with the Apostle John. And so we have two churches. Basically, one was founded in Jerusalem, moved to Ephesus with the Apostle John, and the other one was founded in Rome. So it's Ephesus versus Rome. And I'm gonna show you the two sides. What developed there, the God's small flock, the true church, and then the big church, powerful, worldly, that was founded in Rome. And so this is part of our roots, just like a family. If you know the background, where you came from, there's a certain connection from one generation passing it on to the next. So that's what we want to do in this series. I start with a startling question. Who is the first Sabbath keeper in the Bible? Who is the first person who kept the Sabbath in the Bible? Any takers?

Anybody else? It was God. Then afterwards, afterwards it was Adam and Eve. But the first Sabbath keeper was God. So we start out with very good roots. We're doing the same thing God did. See, this wasn't a religion of something made up by the Egyptians or Babylonians or in Rome or something else. Let's look in Genesis chapter 2 verses 2 and 3. So you see, that was kind of a little bit of a trick question, but at the same time it makes you... that's why it's startling. Did you know the first Sabbath keeper was God? Notice what it says in chapter 2 verses 2 and 3. It says, And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, made it holy, because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. I have two other translations. The Amplified Bible says, And by the seventh day God completed his work which he had done, and he rested, which means seized. He stopped creating things after six days. And so he rested. He stopped on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.

And then it goes on to say, As his own, that is, set it apart as holy from other days. So right from the beginning God set the seventh day apart from the rest. Because in it he rested from his work which he had created and done.

Another version, the Message Bibles, says, God blessed the seventh day. He made it a holy day because on that day he rested from his work all the creating God had done. So this is the first holy day that God sets up. He's the first one to keep it and he's the first one to sets it apart. And every Sabbath day from the beginning of that moment when God was there and then he gave these commandments to Adam and Eve to rest just like he would, the cycle is always continually. The seventh day is the day that God makes holy for us. Notice in Exodus chapter 20 verse 8. And what I'm doing here is I'm preparing. I'm setting the table to understand church history not from man's perspective but from God's perspective. He knows his own. And so in Exodus 20 in verse 8 it says, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy because some people forget. They get so busy in their lives and they trample it. They step on it. It's what the Bible calls profaning it. You're dirtying it up with your own feet when it should be take take your shoes off. This is holy ground you're in. This is a special day. He goes on to say, Six days you shall labor and do all your work. We got six days to do everything we need to. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord. It's not of man. It's not of the Jews. It's of the Lord. He's the one who started it with his own example.

In it you shall do no work you nor your son nor your daughter nor your male servant nor your female servant nor your cattle nor your stranger who is within your gate. So the Sabbath has to do with your home, with those that you are over. Once they leave they might go on to do it or not.

We can't control older adults and we understand that. But as long as it's under our roof the Sabbath is respected as much as it can be done because sometimes you have a mixed marriage. You have one believer and the other one isn't. And so there you have to accommodate because you can't tell the person, well you have to be keeping it as well. You have to kind of negotiate things. There are some places where I know as a young man when I started keeping the Sabbath day at 17 I lived with my parents.

They didn't believe it. They didn't want me to keep it. So I kept the Sabbath in my room. That's the only thing I could control. And sometimes it's reduced to that. But at least I kept it, although the rest of the house didn't. So it goes on to say, For in six days the Lord made the heavens and earth to see in all that's in them and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath and hallowed. See, two things. God says it's a blessing. I'm gonna give special blessings to those who keep it.

And it is holy. It is set apart. Not for playing golf, not for going out and doing everything you want. You got six days for that. That's why you have to reorder and organize your life.

And again, I was working on the Sabbath day when I was called. And so I worked in the hospital there as an orderly because my dad was a doctor there and I helped the nurses out. And I worked from 3 to 11 p.m. And so what did I do? Well, when I decided I was gonna put God first and I wasn't gonna continue breaking his laws, I went to them and I quit right there.

I lost income. And of course my parents, they didn't understand at all. But I couldn't do that in a good conscience. See, with knowledge comes accountability. You are now responsible. There are people that don't have any idea. You go out in the places, they have no idea. Because with the knowledge comes then judgment and responsibility for it. So God enshrined the Sabbath as the fourth commandment, written with his very finger.

No other part of the law was written in this way, showing how important these commandments were. These tablets once remade because Moses, in a fit of anger when he saw the Israelites breaking God's laws and having basically some big partying and all kinds of sins, he lost his temper.

And these beautiful tablets written by God on the inside and on the outside. He threw them down. Now he should not have done that. I mean, you can have a fit. Please lay those things down first. Then jump them down and do everything because we never got the same quality. God had Moses then write them because of the human nature that we have.

But anyways, that's another story. And these two tablets were placed inside the Ark of God. In Exodus 31, the story continues about the importance. Exodus 31, it adds a couple of other points that are very important in church history. Because if you want to trace down who are God's people, they're going to be keeping the fourth commandment. Exodus 31 verse 12, and the Lord spoke to Moses. This wasn't something that Moses did on his own. The very God, the Creator of the universe, spoke to him.

Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, Surely my Sabbath you shall keep. For it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. So here's another point that's so important. The Sabbath is the only one of the Ten Commandments that is called a sign. What is that word sign? The word study dictionary says this word is most often used to describe awe-inspiring events. And so here we have this because it recalls creation. Strong's Hebrew dictionary calls it a flag, beacon, or a monument. So a flag, you plant your flag, you know, okay, this is a place that belongs to certain people.

A beacon, it's like a lighthouse, a beacon of light. It shows where, again, the place, the right place is, and a monument. The Sabbath is a monument where we honor God's creation. After all, he created each one of us. We didn't create ourselves. Your parents didn't create you. Your mother and father were not the ones that had all the biological information. That came from God who gave it to Adam and Eve. And then it was just transferred over.

So the Sabbath is a spiritual beacon and gives identity to the people. So something that is a sign. For instance, in Genesis 4, it tells us about Cain, that after he killed his brother Abel, he was concerned that his younger siblings, his younger sons and daughters, well, of Adam and Eve, sisters and brothers, would exact justice for murdering Abel. And there you can read Genesis 5.4 where it talks about Adam and Eve. And after Adam died, it says, and they had males and females. According to Jewish tradition, Adam and Eve had 35 sons and 23 daughters, over 50 children. Of course, Eve was just with this fantastic body that had never worn out.

It hasn't gone through all of these iterations and changes and bad food and everything. So they basically had about 50 children. And of course, at this time, we don't know whether they were in their 20s, 30s, 40s, because they lived a long time. They could have been a hundred and they're still young. Remember, they lived up to 900 years or so. So the population had gotten big, and so Cain was worried that some of his brothers and sisters were going to go out and kill him. And so then, God had to put a sign on him.

And that's the same word. It's O-T-H in Hebrew, auth, which means a sign, a beacon. So anytime somebody would go and say, I'm gonna kill my brother who murdered Abel, and they'd go and he was given a sign. We don't know exactly what it was, whether it was a pendant he had, because it was something given to him. But whatever it is, it identified him. Don't kill him, God said. So Cain had his mark, and we have our sign. And notice what is said here. It says, for it is a sign between me and you. It's a personal relationship. It doesn't have to do with your parents. If you keep the Sabbath, you're doing it for God. The relationship where you have personally with God. Now, that's what affected me. When I was such a young person, it wasn't gonna do any problems with my parents if I kept it or not. But him, I didn't want to disappoint him. I didn't want to disobey. It's a sense of responsibility that God gives us. He says, for it's a sign between me and you throughout your generations. So it's gonna continue through time. It's not just one generation or he says that you may know that I am the Lord. So can you really know the Lord if you're not keeping the Sabbath? God says, no. You might think you do, but it says you're... this is a sign.

If you know... if you really want to know him and his truths, first start keeping the Sabbath day. That you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you, who sets you apart. So we truly know him because keeping the Sabbath is the first step where he reveals to us his truths. And if everybody knew God, you wouldn't need a sign. So keeping the Sabbath gives you a spiritual sign. You are special before God. Maybe not man. Nobody else recognizes it. God does.

God the Father and Jesus Christ do. It's interesting in Matthew 12, 39, you just can write it down, where Christ said that the only sign that he would give, that he is a Messiah, would be the sign of the prophet Jonah because of the three days and three nights that he would be in the grave. This term is the same equivalent in the Hebrew, auth. It's called semion, which means a sign. And again, God's people would know God and would have that sign of the prophet Jonah. They would teach that Christ was three days and three nights in the grave. How many in Christianity believe that? Hardly anybody. They believe Christ died on a Friday afternoon and that he rose on Sunday morning. That's one and a half days. What happened to the three days and three nights? That's not a legitimate way to do it. So you see, God begins to work with a person once you quit breaking the Sabbath day, the fourth commandment.

I don't care how nice, how convincing some of these pastors are and what they talk about and all of that. My question is, are you disturbed at your people that you're teaching?

Don't keep the fourth commandment. Do you have a problem with that or not?

If you have a problem, then you should do something about it. And if you don't have a problem, you don't know God truly. There's a problem there. Now that sign, that word, let's go to Genesis 1.14.

That word sign, auth, in Hebrew, is used first of all in Genesis 1.14.

It also has to do with the Sabbath day and the feast days. It says in Genesis 1.14, then God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs, that's a Hebrew word, auth, and seasons and for days and years.

It tells us in the Good News Bible version, then God commanded lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin. So these are the signs that he has.

Another translation, easy reading version. Then God said, let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals days and years. Of course, the first religious festival we have is the Sabbath day. And the other ones are the annual Sabbaths that we keep.

God's word translation. Then God said, let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin and to show the days and the years. So when are the special meetings that God has set up on the Sabbaths, on the feast days? And here we are, thousands of years later, and we're keeping the same Sabbaths, the same feasts that God talks about. They are signs of a true Christian.

Let's go to Ezekiel 20.

This is about a thousand years later than the time of Moses.

Ezekiel 20.

It says, Moreover, talking about the children of Israel, Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between them and me that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Again, it's dealing with identity. You can't know God this way unless you have the sign. It is the door to spiritual understanding.

In verse 20, it says, So again, God makes the rules up. I didn't make the Ten Commandments up.

But you can't just select which Commandments you want to keep. Either you keep them all, or if you break any of them, you make yourself responsible, just like the traffic laws.

I might not be speeding, but if I run a red light, I'm guilty and I'm going to get penalized just like I would have broken any of these laws. They all incur penalties.

Let's go to Isaiah 55 because some people bring up, well, that's more like the children of Israel.

That's if you go to a church and they say, well, the Sabbath was for more the children.

It's Isaiah 56. Here God says, look, if you're not part of an Israelite community, if you're from another nation and you start keeping the Sabbath, I will honor you. It says here in verse 2, it says, Blessed is the man who does this and the Son of man who lays hold on it, who keeps from defiling the Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

Do not let the Son of the forenerf, that's not an Israelite, who has joined himself to the Lord speak, saying, the Lord has utterly separated me from his people. Nor let the eunuch say, here I am a dried tree. For thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant, even to them I will give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. So this idea that's just for the Israelites, that's just because they were the only ones who were keeping these things. God revealed it to them, but he wanted the whole world to know these truths. So the Sabbath is not just a sign today, but it's also about Christ's coming kingdom. It will be a sign if you want to obey God when Christ comes back. So you see, church history, I'm showing you, you trace it first of all through the Sabbath, and you're going to see feasts as well, and others these are the signs of where God's true church is.

And then we look at the end of man's history. When Christ comes back, is it still going to be a sign for these nations that come up? Notice Isaiah 66 verse 15.

Here it's talking about the coming of Christ. Verse 15, it says, For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword, the Lord will judge all flesh. It's talking about human beings. He's coming back. And what are these things that God is going to be so angry about? And the slain of the Lord shall be many. Many at that time will lose their lives in the plagues and many other things going on. Verse 17, these are some of the sins that are being committed. Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves to go to the gardens. This is the idols, the worship after an idol in the midst, eating swine's flesh. That's talking about pork. And abomination, which is shellfish and mouse. And actually people ate mouse at that time.

And you know what? People eat rabbits. And what is a rabbit? It's the same family as the mouse.

They shall all be consumed together, says the Lord. So did God say, oh look, all these wonderful Christians and they're doing all these nice things. And that's the most important thing, that you love each other. Well, no, God starts out, look, you obey me first, my laws, and then go out and help and love your neighbor and your community, whatever it is. But you make sure you're not violating my laws. It's just like any type of legal system where if you're a citizen and you're violating the laws, but you're saying, yeah, but I'm very nice, I'm very charitable, and I'm doing all these things. If you're breaking the law, you're gonna get nails for that.

They don't care about the rest. So we have to begin obeying God's laws first. Then don't leave out the love, the concern. That comes afterwards, but it's not a substitute for it. See, that's where religions make the mistake. Oh yeah, we're nice, we do all these things. Yeah, you come up and you say, well, and how about the fourth commandment? Does it bother you that that's not being kept?

Oh, well, that's not necessary. Yes, it is. So you see, you're showing me you're not part of God's true church because you're violating the fourth commandment. So let's continue.

So we see, as we go, we're going to go through the series of church history, that there are two main characteristics of the church to look through. As we go through the ages, and these are found twice in Scripture. Let's go to Revelation chapter 12.

This is the description of God's church.

And two characteristics. Verse 17 of Revelation 12, it says, And the dragon was enraged with a woman. This is a symbol of the church that had to flee.

And he went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God. Well, of course, all of them. They're keeping the Sabbath day. They're keeping God's feasts.

And have the testimony of Jesus Christ. In other words, Christ witnesses, these are the ones that are obeying me. These are the ones that have given up their lives to serve God, to serve me. Yes, they have a humble attitude. They're willing to conform to my laws and principles. So when it says keep the commandments of God, let me just give you the five signs that will determine if we're in the true church or not.

The first I've already spoken to you about the Sabbath as a sign. That's the first one.

Because if you're breaking the fourth commandment, I don't care whether you keep the fifth and sixth and seventh. That does not nullify or annul. In other words, because you're doing the rest, you can't come up to the police and say, well, I wasn't speeding. I wasn't doing it. I ran the red light, but hey, look at all the other things I'm doing right. They don't go by that. You break one, as James says, you're guilty of all of them. And so the first is the Sabbath. Second, are they keeping God's feasts? Because those are signs as well. When God says, my Sabbath, he says these are all days of rest. We have every week, the seventh day that we keep holy, and we have seven feasts during the year that are also holy days. Then God says they are Sabbaths to him. The second are the feasts. And the third are the food laws. If you see people eating whatever it is, they're not obeying the food laws in the Bible. And God never abolished that. Christ never ate pork. Did you ever see any of the apostles eating pork? None of them ever did. They ate the food laws. And by the way, they are backed by medicine. They are backed by the studies.

Years ago, two doctors got the Nobel Prize for medicine because they said eating fat is not good for you. Eating all that cholesterol. People didn't know that. They were eating the big steaks with all that fat around it and all that fat here and there. And that was clogging their arteries.

And these men won Nobel Prize because they discovered. And by the way, my dad died of that.

Being a doctor, I remember a person was having heart problems. He'd say, oh, you've got to get off of this fatty food. And then he'd go home for lunch and he had spam, which is fat and ham mixed together. And it gave him a stroke because of all the fat that had accumulated in his system.

So this is what happens. So these are all scientifically backed principles about the food laws. Number four, baptism by immersion and laying on of hands by the ministry. So one of the signs we have has to do with baptism. That's the substitution of circumcision. We don't have to be circumcised physically, but we do need to be circumcised spiritually through baptism. Colossians 2 brings that up that we do that in the laying on of hands by the ministry because God honors that ceremony. And that's one of the fundamental six doctrines in Hebrews chapter six. Let's go to Hebrews chapter six. These are the fundamental teachings of the church.

It says in verse one, therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ. So these have to do with the Sabbaths and everything else that Paul had already mentioned in chapter four. He says, let us go to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. That's before you're baptized. You better have repented from works that had the death penalty upon you. That's what it means. Works that condemned you to death.

Repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. We have to build after repentance, walk by faith. And the doctrine of baptisms. So we have here the need to be baptized by a legitimate minister of God who is teaching the truths. Because he's not teaching the truths. He's not legitimate. And then he goes on to say, and of laying on of hands. So here the apostles are saying this is a doctrine of the church. This is a teaching. A doctrine means a spiritual teaching that comes from God's Word. Laying on of hands of the resurrection of the dead. We understand that.

And of eternal judgment. So the two main characteristics are obeying God's commandments and the second is having the testimony. And the other, Revelation 14, 12, it says about the church, those that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. So that's something that is working in us. Now there are people that aren't going to understand things right away. Notice what it tells us in John 16, 13. This is the characteristic of those that follow God. Christ said in John 16, verse 13. I'm going to read it without the he because it's actually an it. It says, however, when it, the Spirit of truth has come, it will guide you into all truth.

So it's not something you learn all the truths right away. It's step by step. God reveals more truth as you apply it, as you live it. And so I ask, well, if a person is really being used by God, wants to be the one who baptizes people, well, you better apply God's laws first in your life before you think you are qualified to do it for others. Because you have to give the example.

And so the fifth, I said the fourth is baptism by immersion and laying on of hands, by the ministry and the fifth sign is tithing. Because in the Bible, tithing is not a suggestion by God. It is a commandment. Leviticus 27, it has a whole section. It talks about the tithing principle. And sometimes people are uncomfortable and things. Look, that's still a law. Now, whether you apply it or not, that's between you and God. But we have to teach it because it's part of God's commandments. Notice what it tells us in Malachi chapter 3. As I begin here to conclude, Malachi chapter 3, in verse 8, it says, will a man rob God? Robbery is one of the commandments of God.

You cannot rob. Robbery is against the commandment. Yet you have robbed me, says God, but you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You're cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and try me now in this, says the Lord God. If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. God will bless if we're faithful to Him. And so it's a test commandment because it's not easy to do that and to rely. But I can tell you, God is going to multiply and bless you more than you ever imagined. I've seen it in our lives, in people's lives, when you take God seriously in this way. So, I'd just like to end mentioning as we get into the church history. Church history, of course, depends on who wrote it, right? And so the Catholic Church was the one that controlled all the writers virtually from the second century on. And so they didn't want to leave any evidence behind of how many people kept the Sabbath day. And so they erased and they rewrote epistles to erase and eliminate those. But they left two footprints in the sands of time. The Catholic Church itself left two footprints about how it was the Sabbath keeping truly was up to the 440 AD. There were two Catholic historians. How they got away with not having it eliminated, but it's there in their ecclesiastical histories. And this is part of the Catholic Church archives. By the way, Samuel Bakkioki, the famous seventh-day Adventist historian, who actually came to our church one time. And some people remember he was the one that in the Vatican archives, he was getting his doctorate degree. He discovered these two documents. I'm going to read them to you for a moment. The first one is called Saussomen. S-O-Z-O-M-E-N.

And this was in 439 AD. I mean, you're talking 400 years after Jesus Christ.

And he says, the people of Constantinople and almost everywhere assembled together on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the week. Such custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria. Rome, they didn't keep the Sabbath day. But throughout the whole empire, the Sabbath was still being kept. And Sunday was just kind of a celebration. It wasn't a holy day for them.

And then the other one, his name is Socrates Scholasticus. This was one year later.

These were two main Catholic historians. He says, for although almost all the churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every single week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this. So you see the change. See, the Catholic Church wants to say, oh no, this was changed back in the first century or shortly after. No, it wasn't. And so they left these two footprints with the evidence that condemned that idea. And so we will be discussing this as you're able to make it to services. We're going to go through the history of God's Church, through the ages, and see Ephesus being the center of activity for the true church and Rome being the center for the false church. You're going to see it with your own eyes. And I'm going to bring maps as we go through this series that I'm doing. So, brethren, remember our roots as we prepare for that coming Passover.