THE MARK OF THE BEAST

CHAPTER 3

VALLEY OF DECISION  

REVELATION 14

  God's final message before the crisis and in the crisis—is forceful and decisive, and it is given to us in Revelation Fourteen, in the symbol of three mighty angels declaring it to the whole world just before the Second Coming of Christ.

The First Angel's Message: "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His Judgment is come. And worship Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea and the fountains of waters." Revelation 14:1.'

"Reverence God and glorify Him alone—for the Hour of His Judgment of mankind has come, In this solemn hour­ worship the Creator." In Bible times, the people of God Clearly showed that they were worshiping the Creator by worshiping Him on His day—the Memorial of Creation—the Seventh-day Sabbath. This is the call of the First Angel.

The Second Angel's Message: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication:' Revelation 14:8.

"Roman Babylon is fallen, that mystic city, having made all nations drink of her pagan errors." Babylon and her daughters are uniting men in the worship of man, and all together are fallen. Because of this, the mighty cry of the angel of Revelation 18 will repeat this message (Revelation 18:2-3), and will add to it the additional call: "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4). God is calling men to come out from error, into the marvelous light of Bible truth. —A faith based on a salvation through Christ that enables men to obey His Written Word.

In 1560, the creed of Pope Pius IV was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in the Council of Trent as the official creed of the Roman Catholic Church. Article Ten of this Creed states: "1 acknowledge the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church for the mother and mistress of all churches:' And all churches that bow down to her mandates would be included in this category. "And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth:' Revelation 17 :5.

The Third Angel's Message: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,—the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. . Here is the patience of the saints: Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:9-12.

This is the most terrible threatening to, be found in the Word of God. And this solemn warning against receiving the Mark of the Beast, given just two verses before the Second Advent of Christ, concludes with a description of those who alone will be found resisting the Beast at the end of time, those who keep the Commandments of God by the enabling faith of Jesus Christ. Only in Christ can they overcome and obey and resist the massive 'power of the Beast and his Image. But in the strength of Christ they DO resist and remain faithful—to the very end..

Thank God for His Word. The Revelation 12 description of the Dragon ended with a portrayal of God's last-day people (Revelation 12:11). And the Revelation 13 and 14 description of the Beast ends with a parallel description (Revelation " 14:12. No question here as to the Christian standard God  would have His people uphold in the final crisis. The Ten Commandments by faith in Christ—this is the Seal that will be upon His people in these last days.

"Erelong there will be a state religion in the United States, and that state religion is to be Roman Catholic. . The Roman Catholic is to wield his vote for the purpose of securing Catholic ascendancy in this country." —Priest Hecker in the Catholic World, July, 1870. 

"Protestantism in discarding the authority of the Church, has no good reasons for its Sunday theory, and ought logically to keep Saturday as the Sabbath." —Priest John G. Shea, 'The Observance of Sunday and Civil Law for its Enforcement, "in the American Catholic Quarterly Review, Jan, 1883, p. 152.

"All Catholics should exert their power to cause the constitution of states to be modeled after the principles of the Catholic Church." —Pope Leo XIII, Papal Encyclical. "The Catholic Church has decreed for many centuries that Christians observe this day of rest on Sunday."—Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magiltro ({the Church is Mother and Teacher), sect. 251, May 15,1961. "Sunday is a Catholic institution, and its claims to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. . From beginning to end of scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from  the last day of the week to the first." —The Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August, 1900.

"The Church of Rome is one monarchy overall the kingdoms of the earth, and is, among temporal bodies, as the mind or the soul of the body of man, or as God in the world. Therefore the Church of Rome must not only have the spiritual power, but also the supreme temporal power."—Encyclical of Pope Leo XXIII, 1879. "There is no crime that the doting warrior [General Miles] charges against us to which we must plead guilty. He says that we are trying to make the United States a Catholic country. We most certainly are doing all in our power to accomplish it." — The Catholic Register, Kansas City, April 16, 1914— "Protestants .. accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the change. . But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible, in observing the Sunday, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the Church, the Pope."—Our Sunday visitor, Feb. 5, 1950 [One of the largest Catholic. weekly magazines in America]. "It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church."—Priest Brody, in an address at Elizabeth, N.J. on March 17, 1903,reported in the Elizabeth, N.J. News of March 18, 1903.

This is the objective of Rome. But Bible prophecy tells us that the Papacy will not be able to do this directly, but rather through an 'Image-beast" to be set up by the Iamb-like beast when it begins speaking as a dragon. Rome is not able to directly take over America. This has been obvious for some time. Although she seeks to grow in power, yet Protestantism remains in the majority. The objective can be achieved in one way: (1) A change in our Constitution will have to be effected, setting aside the freedom of religion clause in the First Amendment, and (2) a passage of a National Sunday Law, under Protestant direction, will be necessary; Only on Sunday legislation and enforcement can all be agreed—for the various churches are at sword's points on all other of their teachings. And it is , the Sunday that is the basic proof underlying Roman Catholic claims to supremacy over the churches of Christendom. This she has taught for centuries. Our acceptance of the Roman day of rest—Sunday—is the underlying basis by which the Catholic Church proves her Traditions as being higher than Scripture.

"Question—Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Answer—We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea, 336 A.D., transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday:' ­Peter Geiermann, A Doctrinal Catechism, 1934 edition ,p. 50.

"About 590, pope Gregory, in a letter to the Roman people, denounced as the prophets of Antichrist those who maintained that work ought not to be done on the seventh day." —James T. Ringgold, The Low of Sunday, p. 267. 

"They [the Catholics] allege the change of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, as it seemeth, to the Decalogue; and they have no example more in their mouths than the change of the Sabbath. —They will needs have the [Catholic] Church's power to be very great, because it hath dispensed with a precept of the Decalogue [Ten Commandments]." — The Augsburg Confession, 1530 A.D., part 2, art. 7, in Philip Schaff, The Creed's of Christendom, vol. 3, p. 64 {This is the most important Lutheran statement ever penned. It was written by Melancthon, Martin Luther's closest friend}.

"The Scripture teaches: Remember that you sanctify the Sabbath day; you will, labor six days and do all your work, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God, etc., etc.;—nevertheless the [Catholic] Church has changed the  Sabbath to the Lord's day by its own authority, concerning which you have no scripture. John Eck, 1533 A,D. "Hand­book of commonplaces Agonist Lutherans" {Eck was the leading Catholic opponent of Luther. He contended that the Catholic Church and Catholic Tradition was proven greater than Scripture by the fact that it changed one of the Ten Commandments and that Protestants keep it. This change was made official in the Council of Trent, and has been repeated by Rome ever since then}.

On the 18th of January, 1563, the Council of Trent ruled that Tradition (Catholic sayings) are greater than Scripture, after a powerful speech by the Archbishop of Reggio, in which he said that the fact that the Church had changed the Fourth Commandment clearly proved that Tradition was greater than Scripture.—see H. J.  Holtzman, Kanon and Tradition, 1859 edition, p. 263.

"From a doctrinal and disciplinary point of view, it [the Council of Trent] was the most important council in the history of the Roman Church, fixing her distinctive faith and practice in relation to the Protestant Evangelical churches."­ The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, art. "Council of Trent."

"Protestants often deride the authority of Church tradition, and claim to be directed by the Bible only; yet they, too, have been guided by customs of the ancient [Catholic] Church, which find no warrant in the Bible, but rest on Church tradition only. A striking instance., of this is the following: The first positive command in the Decalogue is to 'Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy,' .. But the Sabbath Day, the observance of which God commanded, was our Saturday. Yet who among either Catholics or Protestants, except a sect or two, ever keep that commandment now? None. Why is this? The Bible which Protestants claim to obey exclusively, gives no authorization for the substitution of the first day of the week for the seventh. On what authority, therefore, have they done so? Plainly on the authority of that very Catholic Church which they abandoned, and whose traditions they condemn." —John L. Stoddard, Rebuilding a Lost Faith, p. 80 (Roman Catholic).

Several organizations in America today are lobbying for a National Sunday Law—and one with teeth in it. This would include groups such as the National Reform Association, the International Reform Federation, the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States, the New York Sabbath Committee, the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, among others. On a radio broadcast forum in 1956, a representative of one such group contended that those that would not obey such a law, once it were passed, should be stoned to death. It is generally recognized that the Constitution stands in the way of such a coercive religious law in America, but as one Catholic writer said, "constitutions can be changed." 

"To secure such an [Sunday law) amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will . . indicate that—this is a Christian —nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniably legal basis in the fundamental law of the land."—David McAllister, The National Reform Movement—A Manual of Christian Civil Government, "Article II of the Constitution. II pp. 15-16:

"We Cordially, gladly recognize the fact that in South American Republics, and in France and other European countries, the Roman. Catholics are the recognized advocates of national Christianity, and stand opposed to all the proposals of secularism. . Whenever they are willing to cooperate in resisting the progress of political atheism, we will gladly join hands with them in a World's Conference for the promotion of National Christianity,—which ought to be held at no distant day —many countries could be represented only by Roman Catholics." ­Christian Statesman, p. 2 {published by the National Reform Association].

"Protestants. . accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day for public worship after the Catholic Church made the changes. . But the Protestant mind does not seem to realize that in . . observing the Sunday, . . they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope."—Our Sunday Visitor, Feb. 5, 1950 {Roman Catholic weekly newspaper]. 

"Business can easily be put in its place, if you Christian people want to put it there. . If you would boycott them. not only on Sunday but also during the week, they would have to quit their desecration of the Lord's day, or go out of business .. It's up to you to put the stigma. of public censure on Sunday business." —Peter Eldersveld, radiobroadcast, Back to God Hour, March, 1955, and printed. in a pamphlet, "Save Our Sunday." ["stigma" means "mark" and is the Greek word used in Galatians 6:17 'I bear about in my body the marks of. ."]

"There is a class of people in this country who will not keep the Christian Sabbath [Sunday} unless they are forced  to do so; but this can easily be done... If we would say we will not sell anything to them, we will not buy anything from them, we will not work for them or hire them to work for us, the thing could be wiped out, and all the world would keep the Christian Sabbath:"—Dr. Bascom Robins, in a lecture "The Decalogue," Burlington, Kansas, January, 1904.

"Every man, conducting himself as a good citizen. and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of. his own conscience." — Writings of George Washington. vol. 30 p. 321..

"The time for reflection and planning is past" in religious and moral fields and the time for action has arrived. . The battle in religious and moral fields hinges, on five points: Religious culture, the sanctifying of Sunday, the saving of the Christian family, social justice, and loyalty and truthfulness in dealings. Pope Pius XII on September 7,1947, quoted in Evening Star News (Washington D.C.), Sept. 8, 1947.'

"This organization proposes in every possible way to aid in preserving Sunday as a civil institution. Our national security requires the active support of all good citizens in the maintenance of our 'American Sabbath'. Sunday laws must be enacted and enforced."—Quoted as "principles contained in the Constitution of the original organization," of The Lord's Day Alliance [Formerly called the American Sabbath Union], in its Twenty-fifth Report, p. 6.

"All encroachments upon the claims and the sanctities of the Lord's Day should be stoutly resisted through the press, the Lord's Day associations and alliances, and by such legisla­tion as may be secured to protect and preserve this bulwark of our American Christianity." —Resolution passed in the first, meeting of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, and published in its first Biennial Report, p. 103.

"During nearly all of our American history the churches have influenced the States to make and improve Sabbath laws." —W.F.' Crafts, in Christian Statesman, p. 5 [official publication of the National Reform Association].

"The first Sunday Law imposed on an American colony [Virginia, 1610] required church attendance, and prescribedc1he death penalty for' the third offense:'—Peter Force, Tracts Relating to the Colonies in North America, vol. 3, no. 2, p. 11.

"On the baseless assumption that the Seventh day [Sabbath] , set apart and established in the law [of God] , has been in some way superseded by the first day, . . a good deal of hurtful legislation has been enacted on the pretext of 'sanctifying' the Sabbath and honoring God: Men who really do know better are willing to wrest the Scriptures and appeal to popular ignorance in order to gain a point. Such conduct is unworthy of any good cause....

 "This error [of Sunday observance] had its origin in the Iniquitous union of church and state, and is a relic of that oppressive system. . In current usage the so-called 'Sabbath legislation' does not apply to the Bible Sabbath at all, but to the first day of the week. The practical effect of such legislation generally is to annul the divine commandment, and to put in its place a human statute. The vicious assumption underlying such legislation, is that divine law may be changed or amended by human, enactment. In thousands of minds today the law of God concerning the Sabbath day is rendered of none effect by the so-called Sabbath legislation enacted by civil governments. Such legislation belittles the authority of' God." —J.J.Taylor, The Sabbatic Question, 1914. pp. 51-52, 58. [Dr. Joseph J. Taylor was a Baptist minister and vice-president of the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

While Jesus was here on earth, He would not obey man­made laws of His time that were not in holy Scripture, and because of this the religious leaders were filled with madness and sought to destroy Him (Luke 6:7-11), Mark 3:2-6). And Daniel 7 :25 predicted that the same persecution  would come to God's people later in history. "He shall speak great Words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws." 

We have clearly identified this power as the Papacy which had supremacy over the. minds and bodies of men for over a thousand years. —And this power persecuted the people of God because they refuse to acknowledge its "greatwords" against God as true, and because they refused to obey its pretended ,changes in the law of God. For centuries men and women were hunted and slain because they would not worship on the papal Sunday-Sabbath. "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. . . choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season,  wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared them a city." Hebrews 11:35­36. 25, 16. 

When God's people lost the Sabbath in the Dark Ages, it really hurt—for, you see, they didn't "Iose" the Sabbath. It was taken away from them. It's bad enough to lose something you value.. But iris a cruel blow when a strong man walks up-­ and makes you throw it down--and step on it--and keep stepping on it-till even your children and their descendants no longer recognize it anymore for the beautiful thing it once was.

 The prophecy was that the Great Apostasy would 'wear out the saints." Daniel 7:25. It wore them out because they refused to accept its errors -for by accepting those errors they knew they would be worshiping the apostasy rather than God. The descendants today of those men and women of God in ages gone by, have forgotten the past.

You see, Bible prophecy not only tells what we lost, but also how we lost it. The men that did those inhuman things back then were souls that needed God, and didn't realize their own undone condition. Humility before God is what is needed now, lest we fall as they did. For daily we are being tested. Pray that God will help you, today, to be true to the precious Bible, which you now have, again, thanks to your spiritual ancestors who protected it at the cost of heir blood. Pray for strength to stand for the Bible truths you are learning. Pray for others-that God will help them make the right decisions in these serious times as you are trying to do.

And remember: If the Sabbath is important enough for your life, it's important enough for others also. Share the precious Sabbath truth with them. Let them read about it. Pray with and for them. And your own experience will grow strong, and with it your determination to stand for God, whatever the cost may be.'

There is not only a Mark. There is a Seal as well. It is apparent that the Mark of the Beast is a symbol of rebellion and disloyalty to the government of God, for it calls forth the most serious warning in the entire Word of God. The Beast has a Mark that He wishes to place on men,-but thank God, Heaven has a Seal for those faithful to the laws of the Creator.

"And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And, I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Revelation 7:1-3.

A seal is an official mark on legal papers to show that they are genuine. Where shall we look for such a seal? We can expect to find it in the Bible--the only authentic source of Christian doctrine and knowledge. Where in the Bible should we look? In the world around us we would look, for a seal attached to a law or decree. This is where we should find it in Scripture. It should be part of the Law of God. Reading through the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17), we find among them only one that has all three of the requirements.

A seal is a written mark on documents to give them authenticity. Every official seal contains three essential parts: (1) The name of the one in authority. (2) His official title. (3) The territory under his jurisdiction. Since, a seal is a legal instrument we should expect to find it in connection with a law. God's seal is found in His Moral Law-in the Fourth of the Ten Commandments. "Bind up the testimony, seal the Law among My disciples" (Isaiah 8:16). Only one command of the Ten reveals the name, authority, and dominion of the Author of the Moral Law of Ten Commandments. Carefully read Exodus 20: 8-11. "In six days, the Lord( name), made (office,  Creator), heaven and earth (dominion)." Every governmental seal contains these three identifying facts. The Fourth Commandment alone contains the Seal of the Living God. This commandment shows God's authority to enact all commandments and shows all other gods to be false gods. "Thou art worthy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honor and power ..for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. " Revelation 4:11. O come, let us worship and bow down,-Iet us kneel before the Lord our Maker. " Psalm 95:6, compare Jeremiah 10:11.

And the Sabbath itself, which is given us in this commandment, is inseparably connected with this seal. It identifies the Creator of the heavens and earth, and shows who His people are. The One who made the world, made the Sabbath as a memorial of that creative Act. Those who  keep, genuinely keep, His Sabbath holy, honor Him and by their observance, declare to all men that He is the Creator, and that they belong to Him,—not only by Creation, but by "their, own voluntary choice.

In the Bible the terms "sign" and "seal" are synonymous. This is shown in several passages of Scripture. "Now, 0 king" establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed" (Daniel 6:8). In ancient times a king signed documents by impressing his signet into the hot wax of the seal affixed to them. In addition, Paul shows the identity of the two: "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had" (Romans 4:11). The Sabbath is the sign or seal of the law. By observing it, His Law is sealed within our lives. "Seal the law among My disciples" (Isaiah 8:16).

"It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for­ever, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the Seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." Exodus 31 :17. "And hallow My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord." EzekieI 20:20. "Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Exodus 31:13.

The Sabbath is a sign not only of His Creative power but also of His Re-creative or Redemptive power. It requires the same divine power to redeem that it does to create. "Create in me a clean heart." Psalms 51:10. 'We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. " Ephesians 2:10.

"He that observes the Sabbath aright holds the history of that which it celebrates to be authentic. He, therefore, believes in the creation of the first man; in the creation of a fair abode for man in the space of six days; in the primeval and absolute creation of the heavens and the earth, and as a necessary antecedent to all this,—in the Creator, who at the close of His creative effort, rested on the Seventh day .The Sabbath thus becomes a sign by which the believers in a historical revelation are distinguished from those who have allowed these great facts to fade from their remembrance."—James G. Murphy, in the Moody Bible Institute Monthly, Nov. 1930.

  "And I looked, and Lo, a lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with Him an hundred and forty four thousand, having His Fathers name written in their foreheads" (Revelation 14:1). The Name of God is expressive of His character—what He is like. When Moses asked to see what God was like, the Lord passed before him and declared "His name," by describing His character (read Exodus 33:15,19, 34:6). God's Law is a transcript or written statement of His character—or is what— He is like written down. God's people will be like that law. They will be like God.

"And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne 01 God. "Revelation 14:5. The book of Revelation predicts that in the last days, God's people will be living clean .lives, in harmony with His moral Law. This is "the remnant. .Which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17. "Here is the patience of the saints: Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12. This is told us but two verses before the second coming of Christ (verse 14). Prophecy declares that in the last days there will be a return to obedience to God's moral code of Ten Commandments, kept by faith in the enabling strength of Jesus Christ His Son.

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God" Revelation 14:9.10.

The beast power of Revelation 13 and 14 represents the papal power of Daniel 7 :25 which thinks to change times and laws. They belong to God who, by faith in Christ, obey His laws. They will one day belong to the beast power who refuse God's laws by turning from them that they may bow down to man-made substitutes. The image to the beast is a church-state power that will be produced by the two-horned beast of Revelation 13. And over against the Seal of God stands the Mark of the Beast —the mark of rebellion and apostasy against the Word of the Living God. The Creator of heaven and earth is warning men in these last days against this false and idolatrous worship —and the terrible danger of receiving the Mark.

This drama of the ages now being climaxed in our time, has been conducted on a scale so vast —totaling nearly 1500 years or more —and involving a warfare of such mammoth proportions against God, His truth, and His people, that it is deserving of a special mention in Scripture: Daniel called it the little Horn (Daniel 7 and 8), and the King of Fierce Countenance (Daniel 8:23-25). Paul called it the Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4), and the Mystery of Iniquity (2 Thessalonians 2:7). John called it the Antichrist ( John 2:3-4,22,3:4). God in the Revelation titled it Babylon the Great (Revelation 14 and 16 through 18), the Beast (Revelation 13 through 17 and 19 and 20), the Flood of the Dragon (Revelation 12:13-16), the Scarlet Woman sitting drunken with the kings of the earth (Revelation 17) (Read also Matthew 24:24, Revelation 2:9, 3:9,2:14-15,20,6:8-11 ,11 :7-10). This is the sweeping topic of large sections of the book of Revelation, especially from chapters 12 through 20. It must be of the most vital importance to you and to me today. Carefully read the book of Daniel with the book of Revelation. They go together. And they focus on our time and the end of history.

And what is the Papacy's Mark?—the Sign or Symbol of its authority? We have seen it stated repeatedly in quotations already cited. Just as the Bible Sabbath Worship Day is the "sign" of God's power and ownership of His people (Exodus 31 :13,17, Ezekiel 20:12,20, Isaiah 8:16), so a man-made counterfeit Worship Day is the "mark" of the beast authority ­for worship is the heart of religion.

"The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church." —Monsignor Louis Segur, 'PIain Talk About the Protestantism of Today', 1868, p. 2l3.

A man-made imitation day of worship handed to the people of God, in place of the true day given them by their , Creator is the "mark" of the beast's religious authority—for worship is the basis of religion. A clear understanding of this fact will lead those who honestly but ignorantly have been observing Sunday as the Sabbath of Jesus and the Bible, to the earnest desire to. be right with their God. They will refuse any longer to pay' homage to apostasy, and they will return to the observance of that which is the sign of loyalty to the Creator —the only weekly day of rest which God in His Word ever commanded men to keep holy —the Seventh day.

The counterfeit day of rest—Sunday—is the supreme monument, by the Church's own statements, of Roman Catholic authority. Her power comes through. the very act of people worshiping on her day. For in doing it, they honor Catholicism above their Creator. Her substituted day is the basis of her power over the minds of men—and yet there are few today that recognize this.

You see, it's like this: I acknowledge and honor God's authority when I obey His commands and encourage others to do so. But I declare my independence of God when I set aside His Law and refuse to keep it, or—knowing the issues— keep another day in its place. But I set myself up as a rival god, when having set aside His law, I establish in its place a counter­feit and then require others to keep it in place of that which God has commanded.

"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and Jaws. " Daniel 7:25. Only God can change the law,—and so' the Bible predicted the rise of a man who would call himself God. "Let no man deceive you by any means for , that day shall not come [the second coming of Christ], except  there come a falling away first, . and that Man of Sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped,—so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thessalonians 2:34.

"The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man. but as it were God, and the vicar of God . . The Pope by reason of the excellence of his supreme dignity is called bishop of bishops .. He is likewise bishop of the universal church. . He is likewise the divine monarch and supreme emperor, and King of kings. Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as King of heaven and earth and of the lower regions.—Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, vol. 6, p. 29,' art. "papa" {pope}. "We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty." Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter dated June 20, 1894, The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII, p. 304.

God predicted the papal change of His Law. Does the Papacy deny the charge? She not only does not deny the charge, but she claims the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday as her "MARK."

First, the Church of Rome proves her power by this let: "The pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws. . The pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent [the one who has been given the authority of another] of God upon earth."—Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, 'Papa" {pope}, art. 2 {Roman Catholic}. 

"Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [of the Sabbath to Sunday] was her act. It could not have been otherwise, as none in those days would have dreamed of doing anything in matters spiritual and ecclesiastical and religious without her. AND THE ACT IS A MARK of ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters."—James Cardinal Gibbons, in a letter to J .F. Snyder of Bloomington, Illinois, dated November II, 1895, and signed by H.F. Thomas, Chancellor for the Cardinal

The Bible reveals only one way to escape receiving the Mark of the Beast—and that is to obey God's Commandments by faith in Jesus' enabling strength. In the Third Angel's Message of Revelation Fourteen, we are told about those who will receive the Mark,—and then about those who won't: 'If any man worship the Beast and his Image, and receive his Mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. . Here is the patience of the saints, here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:9-10, 12. Can I say, Will I by God's grace, through the faith of Jesus,. keep the true Sabbath so that I may stand among those that John saw on the sea of glass in heaven With the victory over the Mark of the Beast?" (Revelation 15:2-3). The issue of the Seal of God versus the Mark of the Beast reduces itself to this: Those who keep the Seventh-day Sabbath as Christ commands in that day will be distinguished as His followers; those who at that time keep the first day of the Papacy will be distinguished as its followers.

We live in an age when men will dare to stand in the pulpit and declare that men no longer need to obey God or His laws. This is a terrible error. Mankind will always be ac­countable to its God. The time will never come when men will not be expected to obey Him. Can you imagine what heaven would be like if those there did not think they needed to obey God? It would very soon be a miserable place to live.

Jesus died to forgive our past sins and to empower us by His grace to obey His Father's laws in the future. This is what the Redemption plan, is all about. "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. " 1 John 2:34. 'What shall we say. then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? . . even so we also should walk with Him in newness of life. . Our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. . . Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, that ye should obey it." Romans' 6:1-2, 4, 6, 12. Christ died to take away our sins, not His Moral Law. He died so that. through obedience by faith we need no longer be "under the law" ­under its condemnation as transgressors of it. Jesus died to enable us to live clean, honest lives and prepare for the holy living of heaven. Would you want to go to heaven if the people there didn't obey the laws of God? Would you want to go there with people who didn't obey them? "Do we then make void the Law [of God] through faith? God forbid,—yea, we establish the Law!" Romans 3:23. Jesus' plan is to take sin out of our lives—not to save us in sin. And without enabling us to obey the Ten Commandments, he cannot remove the sin from us, for "sin is the transgression of the Law. " 1 John 3:4. Sin is disobeying. It is disobeying God's rules for right living. Christ died to empower us to turn around—and stop following Satan's ways, and begin following God's ways. And in order to do that we must be enabled to give such obedience, for it is not in our fallen natures, apart from grace, to be able to do such a thing.

Apart from Christ we can do no good thing (John 15 :5). But in Christ we can do all things—through Him that strengthens us (Philippians 4: 13).

"Our King has not come to abrogate [abolish] the law, but to confirm and reassert it. His commands are eternal; and if any of the teachers of it should through error break His law, and teach that its least command is nullified, they will lose rank, and subside into the lowest place (Matthew 5:17-19). The peerage of His kingdom is ordered according to obedience .. The Lord Jesus does not set up a milder law, nor will He allow anyone of His servants to presume to do so. Our King fulfills the ancient law, and His Spirit works in us to will and to do of God's good pleasure as set forth in His immutable statutes of righteousness." —Charles H. Spurgeon, The Gospel of the Kingdom. 1893 edition, p. 48..

"Jesus did not give a new code, but He also did not say that the moral teachings of the Old Testament were suspended. The ceremonial and ritualistic laws of the Old Testament are abrogated for the Christian, but not the Ten Commandments." —J. Philip Hyatt, "God's Decrees for Moral Living," in The Teacher, October, 1943, vol. 57, no. 10, p. 5. {Baptist}. 

Question—"Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept? "Answer­ "Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modem religionists agree with her ,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority." —Priest Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism, chap. 2, P. 174 {Imprimatur by John Cardinal McCloskey, archbishop of New York. Roman Catholic}.

Question—"How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?" Answer—"Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to or­dain feasts, and to command them under [penalty of] sin." ­Priest Henry Tuberville, An. Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, p. 58..

"If Protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath Day. In keeping the Sunday they are following a law of the Catholic Church."—Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, replying for the Cardinal in a letter of Feb. 10, 1920.

"By what authority did the church change the obser­vance of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? The Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant, claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for. observing Sunday. In this matter the Seventh-day Adventist is the only consistent. Protestant." — The Catholic Universe Bulletin, Aug. 14, 1942, p. 4, [Catholic Weekly of the Cleveland Diocese}.

Second, the Church of Rome claims the act and its significance as a MARK of her power! "Prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy.— There is no such law in the Bible! It is a law of the holy Catholic Church alone, The Bible says, 'Re member the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' The Catholic Church says, No. By divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week.—And Lo! The entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the Holy Catholic Church." —Priest Thomas Enright, C.S.S.R., president of Redemptorist College, Kansas City; Mo., in a lecture at Hartford, Kansas, Feb. 18, 1884, and in The American Sentinel, a Roman Catholic journal of June, 1893, p. 173 {Roman Catholic}.

There are those in. our time who think that every man should select his own day. But only God's ,presence makes something holy (Exodus 3:1-5), and God by His own express act made this one day holy (Genesis 2 :1-3, Exodus 20:8.11). And there are those who think the Sabbath is "Jewish." To say this is to deny the Inspiration and authority of the Bible. God gave us the Sabbath, not the Hebrews. It is the "Sabbath of thy Lord thy God" (Exodus 20:10), and it "was made for man."­all men, not for a special race (Mark 2:27-28). And then there \ are those who say, "I don't believe in new ideas and teachings.." , The Seventh-day Sabbath is by no means new. It is older than everything around you except the earth itself. It dates back to Creation (Genesis2:1-3). To deny it is to deny Creation, and the Creator, and His Written Word. God says, "Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls" (Jeremiah 6:16). And more—God asks that you restore those old paths—the Sabbath paths—that others, too, may find that rest also.

"And they that' shall be of thee shall build up the old waste places. Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many gen­erations, and thou shalt be called, 'The Repairer of the Breach [broken out place in the law] " '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 wilt 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.  

The Bible pattern is simple, clear and right: "There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever enters God's rest also ceases from his labors as God did from His." (Hebrews 4:9-10 RSV, compare verse 4).'

Think about this: If a close friend wrote out directions for you to meet with him at the seventh house on the street, would you find him by going to the first house instead? Having read the directions on the paper—why would you even stop at the first house? You know that isn't where he told you to meet him. No, for this special visit, you would pass by the first six houses and approach the seventh, saying, "This is the place my friend asked me to come to. He promised that if I would come here, this is where I would find him."

The Sabbath forms the meeting place and the connecting' link between you and your God. For within it is to be found the very center of your worship experience with Him.

There is excellent thinking in the statement by the Pro­testant leader, Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Disci­ples of Christ Church: " 'But,' say some, 'it was changed from the seventh to the first day.' Where? When? and by whom? .. No, it never was changed, nor could it be, unless creation was to be gone through again,—for the reason assigned must be changed before the observance or respect to the reason, can be changed!" (Writing in The Christian Baptist, Feb. 2, 1824, vol. 1, no. 1). The reason given in Scripture Is the Creation of the world in six days. It would require a blotting out of this world and a second creation of it to change the Sabbath given us by our Creator to another day!

Can a person change his birthday from the day of the month on which he was born to another day? "Impossible," you say. And, indeed, it is. In the same manner, the Seventh day Sabbath —the birthday of our world —cannot be changed to any other day of the week. Folk may try to do it_ but it can't be done. Christ never changes. He established the Sabbath for man on the Seventh day, thus showing that He is the Lord, the Creator-God, and the only Saviour. Only God has the authority to select the day our Sabbath should be on. Any man that pretends to change it —is .merely pretending to be God. Man cannot change the Sabbath any more than Christ can be changed from being our Lord and our Creator.

The Issue of obedience determines on which ,side you and I stand in the conflict of the ages between Christ and Satan. Thus the Word. of God lays down this decisive principle, "Whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are." Romans 6: 16. When a Christian keeps the Seventh-.day as the divinely appointed sign that Christ is the Lord and Creator-Redeemer; whom does he obey in this? The 'Bible tells us, the Lord Jesus .Christ. Hence, he is Christ's servant. 

When a Christian keeps Sunday, whom is he obeying? Many honestly think they are obeying Christ, because He arose from the dead on this day (although it is baptism that is the memorial of His death and resurrection (Romans 8:1-3). But according to the Bible, Jesus never asked anyone to keep the first. day of the week—for any reason. When a Christian ,keeps Sunday he obeys the Catholic power, which first brought that day into the Christian worship and then proceeded, to, inflict heavy penalties and eventually death upon those Who refused to submit to the keeping holy of Sunday. The Christian who keeps Sunday, while knowing the truth of the matter, is a servant of this power, and Sunday-keeping stands as a mark of his obedience to it, for he has rejected Christ in this matter of the Sabbath. He has honored the Papacy as another god above the lord God of Heaven, the Creator of this earth. 

Obedience is the key —for it reveals whose side we are on. We are all obeying one or the other of the two great powers contending for the souls Of men. We are obeying God by doing as He asks. Or we are disobeying Him by not doing as He asks. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the [coming of the] Son of man" (Luke 17 :26). In his days a world-wide confederation was rapidly uniting to destroy the earth. At the end of time this will happen again. And the key will be a requiring by legislation of universal disobedience to the moral Law of God. "And He causeth all . .  to receive a Mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads­ that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the Mark" (Revelation 13:16-17). The Mark will be in their hand if men keep Sunday by worshiping upon that day. It will be in their, forehead if with their mind they accept this man—made substitute. Either way —understanding the issue and knowing the Word of God—they will receive the Mark.

It is before this crisis that we should make our decision, for in the crisis it will be a holocaust. And friend, it is just now that you should make your Own decision in this matter. For you see the issues clearly now...And every day that you delay may weaken this conviction. In the days of Noah, many people wanted to make the right decision, but they Waited until relatives, friends, and religious authorities convinced them that Noah's message was wrong. They perished because they waited for more evidence. I am not Noah, but the issue is as clear as it was in his day.

It is time to build another ark. An ark designed by the hand of God for our protection. The Word "of God is that ark, and the Sabbath is part of it. "By faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear; prepared an ark to the saving of his house. By the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the Righteousness that is by Faith. " Hebrews 11:7.

 In that day; all will obey this apostate power and receive the Mark of the Beast except Christ's "remnant" who keep the commandments of God by the faith of Jesus (Revelation 13:8; 14:6-12; 12: 17). Those loyal to Bible principles will be all that prevents Satan from imposing his false system upon the entire world, If he could but wipe them out —his triumph would be complete. So a decree will go forth that all who refuse to keep the false rest day should be killed (Revelation 13: 15). But God will deliver His remnant who cry unto Him (Daniel 12:1,JoeI 2:32 Revelation 3:10).

For the sake of Jesus, who died on Cavalry to empower you by His grace to obey His Word—make that decision now! There are tears in my eyes as I pen this, for I know that many that read these pages will turn down God's gracious call. The influence of relatives and friends will be too much for them.

But please don't do this. Whatever the cost maybe, it is no cost at all compared with what God can do for you—if you will obey Him. Satan may whisper that it is impossible to obey. But if you will step forward by faith, God will wonderfully open up a way —through all that which would entanglee you. For the honor of His promised Word and His deep love for you, He will do it.

God's way Is the Bible way. It Is His expressed will for your life. It has never changed and will continue through all eternity.  You and I may have a life that measures with the life of God. Let this coming weekend be the beginning of a new walk with your Creator. Let it be a return to a more complete Bible religion than you have ever before known. The Bible Sabbath Is God's special day, which He wants to share with you. Write us —the publisher of this book—and we will send you additional information on how to do this. May our kind heavenly Father bless and keep you close by His side.  

OUTLINE OF REVELATION FOURTEEN

That part of Revelation 14 which here concerns us is the Three Angels' Messages, since they tell us more about the Mark of the Beast and how to avoid receiving it.

1-7 — The First Angel's Message: A worldwide message is here referred to. It is the heart of the ageless gospel of salvation to mankind. And it must go to everyone living on the earth: Reverence God and glorify Him by your obedient life. For He is soon to return (verse 14) and the Hour of His Judgment has come. Return now to the worship of your Creator, remembering that in the beginning (Gen 2:1-3; Ex 20:8-11), the worship of the Creator was based On the proper keeping of His Sabbath. 

8—The Second Angel's Message: Babylon is fallen. Revelation 18:15 adds to this message: It is time to leave Babylon and the churches that obey and worship Babylon.

9-12 — The Third Angel's Message: Those that refuse to forsake Babylon and its errors and worship —will receive the Mark of the Beast, and suffer for so doing.

But here (verse 12) are those who will not receive it God's faithful ones who obey His commandments through faith and love in Jesus.   

CONTINUE PART 2