The Mark of the Beast

Notes

1. Jehovah has a sign, or seal. This sign, or seal, is found in His law, and is the seventh-day Sabbath which He blessed and gave to man in Eden. The observance of this day marks those who keep it as servants of God.

That power which sits "in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God," also has a seal, or mark, the observance of which will designate those who keep it as servants of an apostate spiritual kingdom.

2. The power foreshadowed in this scripture is the beast power of Revelation 13, known in history as the Roman, or papal, church. The evil principles which lie at the foundation of this great ecclesiastical hierarchy are but an outgrowth of that spirit of self-exaltation which originated in the heart of Lucifer, and through sin has been planted in the human heart.

The highest form of worship is obedience. To direct worship from the true God to itself, the papacy has dared to tamper with the law of God. In the church catechisms the second commandment has been omitted, and the tenth divided to make good the number ten. Concerning the change of the Sabbath, eminent writers speak as follows:

"In the interval between the days of the apostles and the conversion of Constantine, the Christian commonwealth changed its aspect. The bishop of Rome—a personage unknown to the writers of the New Testament—meanwhile rose into prominence, and at length took precedence of all other churchmen. Rites and ceremonies of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank of divine institutions."—Preface to Killen's "Ancient Church."

"We hear less than we used to about the apostolic origin of the present Sunday observance, and for the reason that while the Sabbath and Sunday rest are woven into the warp and woof of Scripture, it is now seen, as it is admitted, that we must go to later than apostolic times for the establishment of Sunday observance."—Christian at Work, 1844.

"The change from the seventh to the first appears to have been gradually and silently introduced, by example rather than by express precept."—Scott, Comment on Acts 20:7.

"Unquestionably the first law, either ecclesiastical or civil, by which the sabbatical observance of that day [Sunday] is known to have been ordained, is the edict of Constantine, A. D. 321."—"Chambers' Encyclopedia."

"The council of Laodicea first settled the observance of the Lord's day [meaning Sunday], and prohibited the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath under an anathema."—"Dissertation on the Lord's Day," pages 33, 34.

This change is admitted by reliable Catholic writers themselves, and is set forth as a mark of the church's power. Note the following:

"In reply to a letter of Oct. 28, 1895, to Cardinal Gibbons asking if the church claimed the change of the Sabbath as her mark, the following was received: 'Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. . . . And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters. [Signed] H. F. Thomas, Chancellor for the Cardinal.'"

"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 modern 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."—"Doctrinal Catechism," page 174.

The Sunday institution, therefore, stands forth as a mark of the beast.

3. "The 'time of trouble such as never was,' is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess, and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation can not reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God. Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, 'as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.'"—"Great Controversy," page 622.

4. "As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought before courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them."—Id., page 608.