THE MARK OF THE BEAST

  CHAPTER 2

SPANNING THE CENTURIES  

REVELATION 12

The prophecy of the crisis begins in Revelation 12. "There appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." Revelation 12:1.

A corrupt woman symbolized in Scripture a corrupt church (Ezekiel 23:2-4, Revelation 17:3-6, 15-16). A pure woman symbolizes the true church (2 Corinthians 11 :2, Jeremiah 6:2, Hosea 2:19, Isaiah 62:5). This woman of Revelation 12:1 clearly represents the true church. Around her is the sun —the glory of the New Testament church, the moon —the types and shadows of the Old Testament, and the twelve stars—the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles.

"She brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron." Revelation 12:6. The man child born to the woman was Christ. He it is who is destined to one day rule the world in the radiant strength of His divinity. Revelation 12:5 is quoted from the prophecy of Psalm 2 :7-9. Jesus, after His victory over sin and death, was caught up or ascended to the throne of God (Revelation 12:5, Ephesians 1 :20-21, Hebrews 8:1).

"There appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:—And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." Revelation 12:3-4.

A dragon is a large snake. This dragon is primarily a symbol of Satan (Revelation 12:9). Secondarily, it is a symbol of the power he worked through to destroy Christ—pagan Rome—the Roman Empire. This was the legally constituted power through which Satan tried to devour the man child. In Daniel 8:25 we read of pagan Rome: "He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes." The nations of earth are mentioned in Scripture when they have something to do with the people or work of God. The "third part of the stars" are the angels that were "cast to the earth" when Lucifer was thrust out of heaven (Revelation 12:1). The dragon had ten horns, as did the fourth beast of Daniel Seven. This represents the ten divisions of pagan Rome. It was Rome that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem to enroll for taxation, and there Jesus was born (Luke 2 :1-5, 11). Rome, through Herod tried to destroy Jesus while He was an infant (Matthew 2 :3-8). And Rome, under Pilate, put Christ to death, sealed His tomb with a Roman seal, and guarded it with a Roman guard.

"The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days" Revelation 12:6. "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness into a place, where she is nourished for a time, and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood, after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." Revelation 12:14-16.

Jesus and Satan had met in conflict before—in heaven when Lucifer was first cast, out. And now, in Revelation 12, we are shown a view of this massive warfare that first cast Satan out of heaven.

"There was war in heaven. Michael and His angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought .and his angels, and prevailed not. Neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil. and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven: Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." Revelation 12:7-10.

Satan is here called the "great dragon" and, "that old serpent." Michael is another name for Christ. At His second advent His voice will awake the dead (Jude 9, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, John 5:28). Christ is the Archangel—or leader of the angels. "Archangel," in the Greek, means the "creator of the angels." 

The work that Satan tried to do in heaven—to destroy God and His people,—this work he has carried on in our world.

 Earlier in this study, we clearly saw that a day stands for a year in Bible prophecy (Numbers 14:34, Ezekiel 4:6)..As we have seen, 'a time, times, and half a time" is the same as 1260 days, or years (Revelation 12:14 and 6). During the Dark Ages, Satan for 1260 years tried to destroy the people of God. The woman of Revelation 12 is the "saints" of Daniel —the true Church. Both periods of time are the same (the 1260 years — A.D. 538 to 1798), during which papal Rome persecuted the saints. It was Satan that led out in this evil work.

"From the birth of popery to the present time, it is estimated by careful and credible historians, that more than fifty millions of the human family, have been slaughtered for the crime of heresy by popish persecutors,—An average of more than 40,000 religious murders for every year of the existence of popery. Of course the average number of victims yearly, was vastly greater, during those gloomy ages when popery was in her glory and reigned despot of the world ; and it has been much less since the power of the popes has diminished to tyrannize over the nations, and to compel the princes of the earth, by the terror of excommunication, interdiction, and deposition, to butcher their heretical subjects."—John Dowling, The History of Romanism, PP. 541-542.

" 'The church,' says [Martin] Luther, has never burned a heretic.' . . I reply that this argument proves not the opinion, but the ignorance or impudence of Luther. Since almost infinite" numbers were either burned or otherwise killed,' Luther either did not know it, and was therefore ignorant, or if he was not ignorant, he is convicted of impudence and falsehood, —for that heretics were often burned by the [Catholic] Church may be proved from many examples."—Robert Bellarmine, Disputationes de Controversilis, Tom. ii, Lib. III, cap. XXII, 1682 edition [Bellarmine is one of the most respected Jesuit teachers in the history of the Gregorian University in Rome, the largest Jesuit training school in the world].

"There are many unquestionable cases of Protestants  punished as heretics in nearly all the lands where Roman Catholics have had power, right down to the French Revolution [right down to 1798] ."—G.G. Coulton, The Death-Penalty for Heresy, Medieval Studies, No. 18, 1924 edition, pp. 62 [The author was a well-known member of the French Academy and an enthusiastic champion of Catholicism].

[Here are nine of the 27 "Dictates [Commands] of Hildebrand," who under the name of Gregory VII, was Pope from 1073-1087:] "2.- That the Roman pontiff alone is justly styled universal. 6.-That no person may live under the same roof with one excommunicated by the Pope. 9.- That all princes should kiss his feet only. 1-That it is lawful for him to depose emperors. 18- That his sentence is not to be reviewed by any one; while he alone can review the decisions of all others. 19.- That he can be judged by no one. 22.- That the Roman Church never erred, nor will it, according to the Scriptures, ever err. 26.-That no one is to be accounted a Catholic who does not harmonize with the Roman Church. 27-That he [the pope] can absolve subjects from their allegiance to unrighteous rulers."—Quoted in Cesare Baronius, Annals, year 1076. sec. 31-33, vol. 17,1869 edition; pp. 405-406.

And at the same time, he tried through the Roman apostasy to take away the truths of Scripture from men's minds ­and in their place introduce during these centuries a multitude of errors, invented or received from heathenism. Consider the following: .

A.D. 300—Prayer for the dead, and the Sign of the cross. 

321—Sunday laws and enforced Sunday-keeping. 

375—Veneration of angels and dead saints, and the use of Images.

 394—Daily celebration of the heathen Mass.

400—Persecution of  Bible (Seventh-day) Sabbath-keepers begins.

 431—Exaltation 1 of Mary, as she is called "Mother of God." 

450—Death Sentence for Sabbath-keepers. 

5O0—Priests dress differently. 

526—Extreme Unction. 

593—Purgatory. 

600—Latin language alone in prayer and worship, and prayers directed to Mary, dead saints and angels.

 607— Title of Pope or universal Bishop first used. 

709—Kissing the pope's foot. 

750—Civil power of the pope.

 786—Worship of the cross, images, relics, and bones.

 850 —Holy water.

 927—College of cardinals.

 965—Baptism of bells. 

995—Canonization of dead saints. 

998—Fasting on Fridays and Lent. 

1079—Celibacy of the priests. 

1090— The Rosary and mechanical praying with beads. 

1184— The Inquisition. 

1190­Sale of Indulgences 

1215—Auricular Confession of sins to a priest instead of to God.

 1220—Adoration of the wafer [the "host"]. 

1229—Bible officially forbidden to laymen (placed on the "Index of Forbidden Books"). 

1251—The Scapular. 

1414—Cup forbidden to the people. 

1508— The Ave Maria to be said with the beads. 

1634—Jesuit order founded. 

1545—Tradition (the sayings of Catholic leaders) officially declared of equal authority with Scripture. 

1546—Apocryphal books officially added. 

1854—Immaculate Conception proclaimed. 

1864—Papal "Syllabus of Errors" condemns freedom of reli­gion, speech, conscience, press, and scientific discoveries. 

1870 —Infallibility of the pope. 

1930—Public, and all non-Catholic, schools condemned. 

1950—Assumption (translation and ascension) of Virgin Mary proclaimed. 

1965—Mary is made. the mother of the church. Add to these many others: monks, nuns, hermits, monasteries, convents, Lent, holy week, Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, All Saints day and Halloween, fish day, flagellation (beating oneself to increase holiness), incense, holy oil, medals, charms, novenas, and on and on.

Such errors took the place of God given truths such as baptism of believers by immersion, salvation by faith in Christ , alone, the Seventh-day Sabbath, Bible study directly by the people, and other truths.

These errors of the Dark Ages came directly from paganism. The Church of the Apostasy searched for them through-out the East and the West,—and adopted them as they were discovered: "Rites and ceremonies, of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank of divine institutions. Officers for whom the Primitive disciples could have found no place, and titles which to .them would have been altogether unintelligible, began to challenge attention, and to be named apostolic." — William D. Killen, The Ancient Church, p. xvi.

"'Remember, said [Pope] Gregory the Great, when  issuing his instructions to a missionary to the Saxon heathens, 'that you must not interfere with any traditional belief or religious of service that can be harmonized, with Christianity:"  —Gordon J. Laing, Survivals of Roman Religion, 1911, pp. 129-110.

'Nor did Christianity stop there, It took from its opponents their own weapons, and used them; the elements of paganism were transferred to the new religion." —Grant Showerman, Introduction, in Franz Cumont, Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, p. xi.

"The belief in miracle-working objects, talismans, amulets, and formulas was dear to . . Christianity, and they were received from pagan antiquity.. The vestments of the clergy and the papal title' of 'pontifex-maximus' were legacies from pagan Rome. The [Catholic] Church found that rural converts still revered certain springs, wells, trees, and stones; she thought it wiser to bless these to Christian use than to break too sharply the customs of sentiment. . Pagan festivals dear to the people, reappeared as Christian feasts, and pagan rites were transformed into Christian liturgy. . The Christian calendar of saints replaced the Roman 'festi' [gods}; ancient divinities dear to the people were, allowed to revive under the names of . 'Christian saints' . . Gradually the tenderest features of Astarte, Cybele, Artemis, Diana,' and Isis were gathered together in the worship of Mary."—Will Durant, The Age of Faith, 1950, pp. 745-746.

Langdon tells us that Mary worship came from ancient Babylon where the virgin mother-goddess was worshiped under the name "Ishtar." Elsewhere in the Near East, the mother goddess was called "Astarte, Ashtoreth, Persephone, Artemis [Diana] of Ephesus, Venus, and Isis." This goddess; considered to be greater than any god, was called by these heathen the "virgin mother, merciful mother, Queen of Heaven, and my lady" [which is what "Madonna" means in Italian] . Langdon says she was often sculptured in mother-and-infant images, or as a "mater dolorosa" [sorrowful mother] interceding for me" with a wrathful god. And thus ancient paganism was brought into the churches and lives of Christians.—see S H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, 1911 edition, pp. 12-14, 108-111. 141-144. Laing mentions several other corruptions by which the mother goddess was worshiped by heathens, that Rome adopted into Christianity: holy water, votive, offerings, elevation of sacred objects [lifting of the host], the priest's bells, the decking of images, processions, festivals, prayers for the dead, the worship of relics and the statues of saints—see Gordon L. Laing, Survivals of Roman Religion, 1911 edition, pp. 92-95, 121-111,218-241.

"Worldly-minded bishops, instead of caring for: the salvation of their flocks, were often but too much inclined to travel about, and entangle themselves in worldly concern. . In the time of Constantine. . .the bishops voluntarily made themselves dependent on him in their disputes, and by their determination to make use of the power of the state for the furtherance of their aims. . [a list of Sunday laws enacted in the fourth and fifth centuries is given] . In this way the church received help from the state for the furtherance of her ends. . . But had it not been for that confusion of spiritual and secular interests, had it not been for the vast number of mere outward conversions, thus brought about, she would have needed no such help."—August Neander, General History of the Christian Religion and Church, vol. 2, pp.16, 132, 300,301. 

Millions of martyrs suffered and died during those long centuries of papal power. But "the earth helped the woman." The people of God that were not immediately slain fled into the wilderness regions of Europe and into retired places—as far from Rome as they could flee. Men and women of God , were willing to go to the ends of the earth if thereby they might worship their Creator according to the Bible and train their children in Bible religion. We need more such men and women today.

"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17.

Satan's effort to destroy the people of God and to remove Bible principles from their lives continues even to the present time. First, he persecuted Christ through pagan Rome. Next he persecuted the church in the first centuries through  pagan Rome. Then he brought the world into the church and persecuted the faithful followers of God through papal-Rome for 1260 years. Finally, according to Bible prophecy, he will seek to destroy those at the end of time who by faith are obeying God. Revelation 12:17 tells us that he ultimately makes war "with the remnant of her seed." The "remnant", church is the "Last" church in these last days. Revelation 14:12 is a parallel verse. Two verses before the second coming of Christ we are told, "Here is the patience of the saints: Here are they that keep the commandments, of God, and the faith of Jesus. " God is calling out from the world a; people that will, by faith in the overcoming power of Christ to obey all of His commandments. The time has come to throw off the last vestiges of papal corruption and return to a pure Bible religion. For that is the only religion that God ever intended that we have.

[Two dominant elements brought into Christianity from paganism by Rome were Sun worship symbols and the religious practices of ancient Babylon]. "the solar theology of the Chaldeans [Babylonians], had a decisive effect. . [upon the] final form reached by the religion of the pagan Semites, and following them,  by that of the Romans when [the Roman emperor] Aurelian, the conqueror of Palmyra, had raised 'Sol Invictus' [the invincible sun-god] to the rank of supreme divinity in the Empire."—The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. 11, pp. 643, 646-647. From Palmyra he transferred to the new sanctuary the images of Helios [the sun-god] and Bel, the ancient patron god of Babylon—see Cumont, The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, 1911 edition, pp. 114-115. 124.

"They have assumed infallibility, which belongs only to God. They profess to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. They profess to open and shut heaven, which belongs only to God. They profess to be higher than alt the kings of the earth, which belongs only to God. And they go beyond God in pretending to loose whole nations from their oath of allegiance to .their kings, when such kings do not please them. And they go against God, when they give indulgences for sin. This is the worst of all blasphemies." Adam Clarke, Commentary, on Daniel 7:25.,

"The [Catholic] Church took the pagan philosophy and made it .the buckler of faith against the heathen. She took the pagan Roman Pantheon, temple of all the gods, and made it sacred to all the martyrs; so it stands to this day. She took the pagan Sunday and made the Christian Sunday. She took the pagan Easter and made it the feast we celebrate during this season. . The Sun was a foremost god with heathendom. .The sun has worshipers at this hour in Persia and other lands. . Hence the Church would seem to say, 'Keep that old pagan name [Sunday]. It shall remain, consecrated, sanctified: And thus the pagan Sunday, dedicated to Balder, became the Christian Sunday, sacred to Jesus."—William. L Gildea, "Paschale Gaudium," in The Catholic World, 58, March, 1894, p. 809 [A Roman Catholic weekly].

Over the centuries since Martin Luther began the Great reformation in the sixteenth century, many truths have been gradually rediscovered. Luther found only a few of them.

Many have been recovered since his day. And in our time the work has not yet ended.

The special truth for our day is a call to return to the Bible Sabbath —the Seventh-day Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment 'of the Decalogue (Exodus 20:8-11). Just as the papal apostasy that would seek to destroy this truth was prophesied in Scripture (Daniel 7:25), so also is the work of God's people in the last days to restore it.

"Some non-Catholics object to Purgatory because there Is no specific mention of It In Scripture. There Is no specific mention of the word Sunday In Scripture either. The Sabbath Is mentioned, but Sabbath is [a keeping of ] Saturday. Yet the Christians of almost all denominations worship on Sunday not on Saturday. The Jews observe Saturday. No­where In the Bible Is It stated that worship should be changed from Saturday to Sunday."—Martin J. Scott, Things Catholics are Asked About, 1927, p. 236 [Roman Catholic].

"Question.-—How prove you that the Church hath power to command feasts and holy days? Answer— By the very act of changing the Sabbath Into Sunday, which Protestants allow of [by observing It}, and therefore they. fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church."—Priest Henry Tubervr1le, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, p. 58 {Roman Catholic}.

"It is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath. . The Sabbath was founded on a specific divine command. We can plead no such command for the observance' of Sunday. .There is not a single line in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday."—Dr. R.W. Dale, The Ten Commandments, p. 106.107 [British Congregationalist].

"The Roman [Catholic] Church. . reversed the Fourth Commandment by doing away with the Sabbath of God's Word, and instituting Sunday as a holiday." ...Nicholas Summer bell, History of the Christian Church, 3rtJ edition, 1873, p. 415 {Christian Church (Christian Connection)}..

"There is no word, no hint in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday. The observance of Ash Wednesday, or Lent, stands exactly on the same footing as the observance of Sunday. Into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters. —Canon Eyton,' The ten Commandments {Presbyterian}.

  "And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day. The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead. of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church, has enjoined [commanded] it."—Isaac Williams. Plain Sermons on the Catechism, vol. 1, pp. 334,3361 Anglican}. 

"God says without distinction, 'Remember that you observe the seventh day' . . Concerning Sunday it is known that men have instituted it . . It Is clear however, that you should celebrate the seventh day."—Andres Kamtadt, Concerning the Sabbath and Commanded Holidays, 1524, chapter 4, pp. 23-24 [Karlstadt was a co-worker with Martin Luther at Wittenberg}. 

"And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations.—and thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.—If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My Holy Day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor Him,—not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words,—then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isaiah 58:12.14.

God is calling upon His people to restore the ancient foundation and rebuild the old waste places in His Moral Law. The Bible Sabbath must yet be restored in the lives of the followers of Christ in these last days. And those who would stand in loyalty to God and His Word will take hold of this work. And they are told that they will meet misunderstanding and opposition for doing it,—but that it must be done anyway. "The dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17. A .remnant is the tail-end of a bolt of cloth. Down at the end of time Satan will seek to destroy those who would stand faithful to the standards God gave His people to guide their lives the Ten Commandments"

"The moral law, contained in Ten Commandments, and enforced by the Prophets, he [God] did not take away. It was not the design of His coming to revoke any part of this;  Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in all ages; as not depending either on time of place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on. the nature of God, and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other:'—John Wesley, "Upon Our Lord's Sermon on the Mount," Discourse, 5, in Works, vol. 5, 1829 edition, pp.311-312.

"This rule [of Ten Commandments] is unchangeable because it is in harmony with the unchangeable nature of God . . This rule of God among men is an expression of His holiness. It must be eternally what it has ever been."—O.C.S. Wallace, What Baptists Believe. 81,1934.

"Unlike the ceremonial [sacrificial] and civil codes which were given to Israel as the chosen people and holy nation, the Moral Law [the Ten Commandments] is intended for all mankind, and it has never been abrogated nor repealed:' — William C. Procter, Moody Bible Institute Monthly, Dec. 1933,p. 160.

"God threatens to punish all who transgress these [Ten] Commandments. . But He promises grace and every blessing to all who would keep them. We should, therefore, love and trust in Him, and gladly obey His Commandments:'—Martin Luther, Small Catechism, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3, p. 77.

"Christ's teaching goes beyond the Ten Commandments, but does. not thereby make the Commandments of non-effect. Quite the contrary! Christianity strengthens the authority of the Commandments."—The Episcopal Church Sunday School Magazine, June-July, 1942, vol. 105, no. 6, pp.-183-184.

"The major creeds of Christendom accept the unchangeable nature of the Ten Commandments and our duty to keep them: Lutheran-Formula of Concord, article 6, p. 131. Reformed Church—Second Helvitic Confession, chapter 12, p. 855. Church of England— Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, article— 7, pp. 491-492. Protestant Episcopal—Thirty Nine Articles, revised, article 6, p. 808. Presbyterian-Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XIX, sections V, VII, XX, pp. 643-644. Congregational-Savoy Declaration, p. 718. Baptist­Philadelphia Confession, p. 738, and New Hampshire Confes­sion, article 12, p. 476.

But the explanation of all this is not yet ended Revelation Twelve leads directly into Revelation Thirteen —and here we are told more. The God of Heaven— is giving special counsel to our time in these chapters—warning us of a crisis—the final crisis before Christ returns.

We can be thankful that we have the Bible. Hold tightly to this precious treasure! Never let it go. And never submit to the errors of the Beast or his Image. Let us now learn about this terrible power in Revelation Thirteen.

OUTLINE OF REVELATION TWELVE 

1 —A woman clothed in light, with twelve stars upon her head (A symbol of the true church down through the ages of history.) 

2 — The promised child of Genesis 3:15 is about to be born (The Christ of Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2).

3, 9 — The great red dragon, covered with blood, has seven heads and ten horns. (Verse 9 identifies this dragon as Satan; the seven-headed, ten-horned beast of Revelation 13:1-7 is paralleled by the little horn power of DanieI7:8, 11,20-22, 24-25,—showing it also to represent the agent of Satan-Rome.

4 — The dragon tries to kill the Messiah when He was born (Herod the Great. attempted to kill Christ upon learning of His birth­ Matthew 2).

5 — The Man-child that would rule all nations (Psalm 2) was caught up to the throne of God (Matthew 28, Acts 2).

7-9 — The war in heaven, when Satan was cast out (A recall of this earlier event when the devil and his angels [one-third of the stars of heaven verse 4] were cast down to the earth).

6, 10-13 —The flight into the wilderness by the true church, and the promise that through faith in the blood of the Lamb and by their unfailing testimony to His power; God's people could be saved.

14 — This flight to the solitary places of the earth would continue for a time, times, end half a time (Rev 12:14; Dan 7:25),42 months (Rev 13: 5; 11:2), and 1260 days or years (Rev 12:6). (This period began in A.D. 538 and ended in 1798.)

15-16— Peoples and armies ("waters"—Rev 17:15) were sent by Rome after the faithful. people of God, who refused to lay down the simple truths of Scripture. But the "earth" their retired country homes—were a protection to them.

17 — Down at the and of time, there will be a final remnant, or remainder, of the people of the true faith. These will be easily identified, for they will keep the commandments of God by faith in Christ (Rev 12-17; 14:12) and will have the testimony of Jesus Christ which is the Spirit of prophecy (Rev :19:10)