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25 - God's Law Immutable - The Great Controversy · Sacred Texts Archive

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Chapter twenty five, God's Law immutable. The Temple of God was opened in
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Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the Ark of His Testament.
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The Ark of God's Testament is in the Holy of Holies, the second apartment
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of the Sanctuary, in the ministration of the earthly Tabernacle, which served unto
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the example and shadow of heavenly things. This apartment was opened only upon the
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Great Day of Atonement for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Therefore, the announcement
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that the Temple of God was opened in Heaven and the Ark of His Testament
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was seen points to the opening of the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary
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in eighteen forty four, as Christ entered there to perform the closing work of
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the Atonement. Those who by faith followed their great High Priest, as he
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entered upon his ministry in the most Holy Place, beheld the Ark of His
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Testament. As they had studied the subject of the Sanctuary, they had come
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to understand the saviors change of ministration, and they saw that he was now
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officiating before the Ark of God, pleading his blood in behalf of sinners.
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The ark in the Tabernacle on earth contained the two tables of Stone, upon
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which were inscribed the precepts of the Law of God. The ark was merely
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a receptacle for the tables of the Law, and the presence of these divine
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precepts gave to it its value and sacredness. When the Temple of God was
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opened in Heaven, the ark of His Testament was seen within the Holy of
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Holies. In the Sanctuary in Heaven, the Divine Law is sacredly enshrined,
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the law that was spoken by God himself amid the thunders of Sinai, and
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written with his own finger on the tables of Stone. The Law of God
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in the Sanctuary in Heaven is the great original of which the precepts inscribed upon
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the tables of Stone and recorded by Moses and the Pentitooc were an unerring transcript.
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Those who arrived at an understanding of this important point were led to see
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the sacred, unchanging character of the Divine Law. They saw as never before
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the force of the Saviour's words. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot
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or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from the law, the Law
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of God being a revelation of his will, a transcript of his character must
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forever endure as a faithful witness in heaven. Not one command has been annuled,
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not a jot or tittle has been changed, says the Psalmist. Forever,
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O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven, all his commandments are
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sure. They stand fast forever and ever. In the very bosom of the
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decalogue is the fourth commandment, as it was first proclaimed, Remember the sabbath
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day, to keep it wholly. Six days shalt thou labor and do all
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thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.
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In it thou shalt not do any work thou, nor thy son,
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nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy
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cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days
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the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them
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is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day
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and hallowed it. The spirit of God impressed the hearts of those students of
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his word. The conviction was urged upon them that they had ignorantly transgressed this
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precept by disregarding the Creator's rest day. They began to examine the reasons for
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observing the first day of the week instead of the day which God had sanctified.
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They could find no evidence in the scriptures that the Fourth Commandment had been
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abolished, or that the Sabbath had been changed. The blessing which first hallowed
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the seventh day had never been removed. They had been honestly seeking to know
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and to do God's will. Now, as they saw themselves transgressors of His
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law, sorrow filled their hearts, and they manifested their loyalty to God by
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keeping His Sabbath holy many and aareness for the efforts made to overthrow their faith.
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None could fail to see that if the earthly sanctuary was a figure or
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pattern of the heavenly, the law deposited in the Ark on Earth was an
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exact transcript of the law in the Ark in heaven, and that an acceptance
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of the truth concerning the heavenly Sanctuary involved an acknowledgment of the claims of God's
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law and the obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment. Here was the
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secret of the bitter and determined opposition to the harmonious exposition of the scriptures that
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revealed the Ministration of Christ in the heavenly Sanctuary. Men sought to close the
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door which God had opened, and to open the door which He had closed.
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But He that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and
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no man openeth, had declared, Behold, I have set before thee an
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open door, and no man can shut it. Christ had opened the door
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or ministration of the most Holy place. Light was shining from that open door
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of the sanctuary in Heaven, and the fourth Commandment was shown to be included
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in the law, which is there enshrined what God had established. No man
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could overthrow. Those who had accepted the light concerning the mediation of Christ and
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the perpetuity of the Law of God found that these were the truths presented in
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Revelation fourteen. The messages of this chapter constitute a threefold warning, which is
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to prepare the inhabitants of the earth for the Lord's second coming. The announcement
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the hour of his judgment is come points to the closing work of Christ's ministration
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for the salvation of men. It heralds a truth which must be proclaimed until
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the Saviour's intercession shall cease and he shall return to the earth. To take
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his people to himself. The work of judgment, which began in eighteen forty
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four, must continue until the cases of all are decided, both of the
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living and the dead. Hence it will extend to the close of human probation,
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that men may be prepared to stand in the judgment. The message commands
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them to fear God and give glory to Him, and worship Him that made
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heaven and earth, and the sea and the fountains of waters. The result
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of an acceptance of these messages is given in the words, Here are they
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that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. In order to
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be prepared for the judgment, it is necessary that men should keep the Law
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of God. That law will be the standard of character in the judgment.
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The apostle Paul declares, as many as have sinned in the law shall be
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judged by the law in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men
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by Jesus Christ. And he says that the doers of the law shall be
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justified. Faith is essential in order to the keeping of the law of God,
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for without faith it is impossible to please Him. And whatsoever is not
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of faith is sin. By the first Angel. Men are called upon to
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fear God and give glory to Him, and to worship Him as the creator
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of the heavens and the earth. In order to do this, they must
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obey his law, says the wise man. Fear God and keep his commandments.
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For this is the whole duty of man. Without obedience to his commandments,
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no worship can be pleasing to God. This is the love of God
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that we keep his commandments. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the
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law, even his prayer shall be abomination. The duty to worship God is
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based upon the fact that He is the creator, and that to him all
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other beings owe their existence. And wherever in the Bible his claim to reverence
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and worship above the gods of the heathen is presented, there is cited the
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evidence of His creative power. All the gods of the nations are idols.
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But the Lord made the heavens to whom then will ye liken me? Or
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shall I be equal? Saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on
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high, and behold who hath created these things. Thus saith the Lord that
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created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made it. I
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am Jehovah, and there is none else, says the Psalmist. Know ye
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that Jehovah he is God. It is he that hath made us, and
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not we ourselves. Oh, come, let us worship and bow down.
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Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, and the holy beings who
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worship God in Heaven's state, as the reason why their homage is due to
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him. Thou art worthy, o Lord, to receive glory and honor and
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power, for thou hast created all things. In Revelation, fourteen men are
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called upon to worship the Creator, and the prophecy brings to view a class
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that, as the result of the threefold message, are keeping the commandments of
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God. One of these commandments points directly to God, is the Creator.
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The fourth precept declares the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, thy
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God. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,
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and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore
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the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Concerning the Sabbath, the
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Lord says further that it is a sign that ye may know that I am
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the Lord your God, and the reason given is for in six days the
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Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was
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refreshed. The importance of the Sabbath as a memorial of creation is that it
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keeps ever present the true reason why worship is due to God, because He
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is the Creator and we are his creatures. The Sabbath therefore lies at the
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very foundation of divine worship, for it teaches this great truth in the most
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impressive manner, and no other institution does this. The true ground of divine
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worship, not of that on the seventh day merely, but of all worship,
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is found in the distinction between the Creator and his creatures. This great
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fact can never become obsolete and must never be forgotten. It was to keep
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this truth ever before the mind of men that God instituted the Sabbath in Eden,
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and so long as the fact that He is our creator continues to be
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a reason why we should worship him, so long the Sabbath will continue as
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its sign and memorial. Had the Sabbath been universally kept, man's thoughts and
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affections would have been led to the Creator as the object of reverence and worship,
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and there would never have been an idolator, an atheist, or an
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infidel. The keeping of the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the True
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God, Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea and the fountains
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of waters. It follows that the message which commands men to worship God and
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keep his commandments, will especially call upon them to keep the fourth Commandment.
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In contrast to those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of
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Jesus. The third Angel points to another class, against whose errors a solemn
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and fearful warning is uttered. If any man worship the Beast and his image,
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and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same
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shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. A correct interpretation of
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the symbols employed is necessary to an understanding of this message. What is represented
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by the beast, the image, the mark. The line of prophecy in
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which these symbols are found begins with Revelation twelve, with the dragon that sought
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to destroy Christ at his birth. The dragon is said to be Satan.
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He it was that moved upon Herod to put the Savior to death. But
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the chief agent of Satan, in making war upon Christ and his people.
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During the first centuries of the Christian era was the Roman Empire, in which
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Paganism was the prevailing religion. Thus, while the dragon primarily represents Satan,
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it is in a secondary sense a symbol of pagan Rome. In Chapter thirteen
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is described another beast like unto a leopard, to which the dragon gave his
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power and his seat and great authority. This symbol, as most Protestants have
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believed, represents the papacy, which succeeded to the power and seat and authority
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once held by the ancient Roman Empire. Of the leopard like beast, it
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is declared, there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies.
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And he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God, to blaspheming his name
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and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given
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unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power
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was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. This prophecy, which
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is merely identical with the description of the little horn of Daniel seven, unquestionably
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points to the papacy. Power was given unto him to continue forty and two
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months, and says the prophet, I saw one of his heads as it
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were wounded to death. And again he that leadeth into captivity shall go into
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captivity. He that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.
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The forty two months are the same as the time and times, and the
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dividing of time three years and a half or twelve hundred sixty days of Daniel
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seven, the time during which the papal power was to oppress God's people.
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This period, as stated in preceding chapters, began with the supremacy of the
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papacy a. D. Five thirty eight, and terminated in seventeen ninety eight.
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At that time the Pope was made captive by the French army. The
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papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled. He that
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leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. At this point another symbol is introduced.
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Says the prophet, I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth,
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and he had two horns, like a lamb. Both the appearance of
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this beast and the manner of its rise indicate that the nation which it represents
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is unlike those presented under the preceding symbols. The great kingdoms that have ruled
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the world were presented to the prophet day annulous beasts of prey rising when the
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four winds of the heavens strove upon the Great Sea. In Revelation seventeen,
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an angel explained that waters represent peoples and multitudes, and nations and towns.
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Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds of heavens striving upon the
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Great Sea represent the terrible scenes of conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have attained
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to power. But the beast with land like horns was seen coming up out
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of the earth, instead of overthrowing other powers to establish itself. The nation
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thus represented must arise in territory previously unoccupied and grow up gradually and peacefully.
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It could not then arise among the crowded and struggling nationalities of the old world,
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that turbulent sea of peoples and multitudes, and nations and tongues. It
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must be sought in the Western continent. What nation of the New world was
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in seventeen ninety eight rising into power, giving promise of strength and greatness,
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and attracting the attention of the world. The application of the symbol admits of
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no question. One nation, and only one meets the specifications of this prophecy.
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It points unmistakably to the United States of America. Again and again,
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the thought, almost the exact words of the sacred writer have been unconsciously employed
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by the orator and the historian in describing the rise and growth of this nation.
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The beast was seen coming up out of the earth, and according to
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the translators, the word here rendered coming up literally signifies to grow or spring
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up as a plant. And as we have seen, the nation must arise
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in territory previously unoccupied. A prominent writer describing the rise of the United States
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speaks of the mystery of her coming forth from vacancy, and says, like
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a silent seed, we grew into empire. A European journal in eighteen fifty
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spoke of the United States as a wonderful empire which was emerging and amid the
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silence of the earth, daily adding to its power and pride. Edward Everett,
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in an oration on the pilgrim founders of this nation, said, did
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they look for a retired spot, inoffensive for its obscurity and safe in its
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remoteness, where the little Church of Leyden might enjoy freedom of conscience. Behold
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the mighty regions over which in peaceful conquest they have borne the banners of the
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Cross. And he had two horns like a lamb. The lamb like horns
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indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness. Thirdly representing the character of the United
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States when presented to the prophetess coming up in seventeen ninety eight. Among the
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Christian exiles who first fled to America and sought an asylum from royal oppression and
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priestly intolerance were many who determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of
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civil and religious liberty. Their view found and the Declaration of Independence, which
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sets forth the great truth that all men are created equal and endowed with the
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inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And the
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Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self government, providing that representatives elected
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by the popular vote shall enact and administer the laws. Freedom of religious faith
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was also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the dictates
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of his conscience. Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation.
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These principles are the secret of its power and prosperity. The oppressed and downtrodden
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throughout Christendom have turned to this land with interest and hope. Millions have sought
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its shores, and the United States has risen to a place among the most
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powerful nations of the earth. But the beast with lamb like horns spake as
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a dragon, and he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him,
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and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,
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whose deadly wound was healed, and saying to them that dwell on the
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earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound
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by a sword and did live the land. Like horns and dragon voice of
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the symbol point to a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of the
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nation. Thus represented, the speaking of the nation is the action of its
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legislative and judicial authorities. By such action, it will give the lie to
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those liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation of its
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policy. The prediction that it will speak as a dragon and exercise all the
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power of the First Beast plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance and
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persecution that was manifested by the nations represented by the dragon and the leopard like
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beast. And the statement that the beast with two horns causeth the earth and
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them which dwell therein to worship the first Beast indicates that the authority of this
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nation is to be exercised in enforcing some observance which shall be an act of
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homage to the papacy. Such action would be directly contrary to the principles of
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this government, to the genius of its free institutions, to the direct and
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solemn avowals of the Declaration of Independence, and to the Constitution. The founders
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of the nation wisely sought to guard against the employment of secular power on the
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part of the Church, with its inevitable result intolerance and persecution. The Constitution
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provides that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the
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free exercise thereof, and that no religious tests shall ever be required as a
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qualification to any office of public trust under the United States. Only in flagrant
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violation of these safeguards to the nation's liberty. Can any religious observance be enforced
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by civil authority, But the inconsistency of such action is no greater than the
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ans represented in the symbol. It is the beast with lamb like horns,
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in profession, pure, gentle and harmless, that speaks as a dragon,
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saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image
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to the beast. Here is clearly presented a form of government in which the
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legislative power rests with the people, a most striking evidence that the United States
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is the nation denoted in the prophecy. But what is the image to the
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beast and how is it to be formed? The image is made by the
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two horned beast, and is an image to the first beast. It is
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also called an image of the beast. Then, to learn what the image
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is like and how it is to be formed, we must study the characteristics
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of the beast itself. The papacy. When the early Church became corrupted by
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departing from the simplicity of the Gospel and accepting heathen rights and customs, she
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lost the spirit and power of God, and in order to control the consciences
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of the people, she sought the support of the secular power. The result
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was the papacy, a church that controlled the power of the state and employed
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it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of heresy. In
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order for the United States to form an image of the Beast, the religious
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power must so control the civil government that the authority of the state will also
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be employed by the Church to accomplish her own ends. Whenever the Church has
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obtained secular power, she has employed it to punish dissent from her doctrines.
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Protestant churches that have followed in the steps of Rome by forming alliance with worldly
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powers have manifested a similar desire to restrict liberty of conscience. An example of
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this is given in the long continued persecution of dissenters by the Church of England
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during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Thousands of nonconformist ministers were forced to leave
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their churches, and many both of pastors and people were subjected to find imprisonment,
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torture, and martyrdom. It was apostasy that led the early Church to
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seek the aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way for the
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development of the papacy. The beast, said Paul. There shall come a
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falling away, and that man of sin be revealed. So apostasy in the
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church will prepare the way for the image to the beast. The Bible declares
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that before the coming of the Lord, there will exist a state of religious
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declensions similar to that in the first centuries. In the last days, perilous
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times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous
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boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy without natural affection,
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truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce despisers of those that are
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good, traitors, heady, high minded lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
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God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Now
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the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
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giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Satan will work with
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all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness,
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And all that receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved
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will be left to accept strong delusion that they should believe a lie. When
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this state of ungodliness shall be reached, the same results will follow as in
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the first centuries. The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded
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by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever
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be made. But there has been for years in churches of the Protestant faith
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a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of
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doctrine. To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all
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were not agreed, however are important they might be from a Bible standpoint,
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must necessarily be waived. Charles Beecher, in a sermon in the year eighteen
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forty six, declared that the ministry of the Evangelical Protestant denominations is not only
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formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of merely human fear, but
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they live and move and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and
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appealing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush up the truth
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and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was not this the way
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things went with Rome? Are we not living her life over again. And
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what do we see just ahead Another General Council, a world's convention, evangelical
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alliance, and universal creed. When this shall be gained, then in the
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effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort
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to force. When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such
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points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence this state
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to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have
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formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon
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dissenters will inevitably result. The Beast with two horns Causeth commands all both small
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and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark
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in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy
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or sell save he that had the mark or the name of the Beast,
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or the number of his name. The third angel's warning is if any man
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worship the Beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in
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his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.
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The beast mentioned in this message, whose worship is enforced by the two
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horned beast is the first or leopard like beast of Revelation thirteen. The papacy.
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The image to the beast represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be
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developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the
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enforcement of their dogmas. The mark of the beast still remains to be defined.
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After the warning against the worship of the beast and his image, the
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prophecy declares, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith
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of Jesus. Since those who keep God's commandments are thus placed in contrast with
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those that worship the beast and his image and receive his mark, it follows
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that the keeping of God's law on the one hand, and its violation on
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the other, will make the distinction between the worshippers of God and the worshippers
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of the beast. The special characteristic of the beast, and therefore of his
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image, is the breaking of God's commandments. Says Daniel of the Little Horn
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the papacy, he shall think to change the times and the law, and
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Paul styled the same power the man of sin who was to exalt himself above
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God. One prophecy is a compliment of the other. Only by changing God's
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law could the papacy exalt itself above God. Whoever should understandingly keep the law
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as thus changed, would be giving supreme honor to that power by which the
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change was made. Such an act of obedience to papal laws would be a
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mark of allegiance to the pope in place of God. The papacy has attempted
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to change the law of God. The second commandment forbidding image worship has been
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dropped from the law, and the fourth Commandment has been so changed as to
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authorize the observance of the first instead of the seventh day as the Sabbath.
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But papists search as a reason for omitting the second commandment, that it is
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unnecessary being included in the first, and that they are giving the law exactly
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as God designed it to be understood, this cannot be the change foretold by
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the prophet. An intentional, deliberate change is presented, he shall think to
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change the times and the law. The change in the fourth commandment exactly fulfills
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the prophecy for this. The only authority claimed is that of the Church.
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Here the papal power openly sets itself above God. While the worshippers of God
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will be especially distinguished by their regard for the Fourth Commandment, since this is
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the sign of His creative power and the witness to his claim upon man's reverence
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and homage. The worshippers of the beast will be distinguished by their efforts to
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tear down the Creator's memorial to exalt the institution of Rome. It was in
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behalf of the Sunday that popery first asserted its arrogant claims, and its first
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resort to the power of the state was to compel the observance of Sunday as
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the Lord's day. But the Bible points to the seventh day and not to
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the first as the Lord's day. Said Christ, the son of Man,
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is Lord also of the Sabbath. The Fourth Commandment declares the seventh Day is
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the Sabbath of the Lord, and by the prophet Isaiah, the Lord designates
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it my holy day. The claim so often put forth that Christ changed the
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Sabbath is disproved by his own words. In his Sermon on the Mount,
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he said, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the
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prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily
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I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jought or one
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tittle, shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.
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Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men, so
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he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whosoever shall
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do and teach them the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
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It is a fact generally admitted by Protestants that the scriptures give no authority
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for the change of the Sabbath. This is plainly stated in publications issued by
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the American Tract Society and the American Sunday School Union. One of these works
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acknowledges the complete silence of the New Testament so far as any explicit command and
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for the Sabbath Sunday, the first day of the week, or definite rules
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for its observance are concerned. Another says, up to the time of Christ's
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death, no change had been made in the day, and so far as
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the record shows, they the apostles did not give any explicit command in joining
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the abandonment of the seventh day Sabbath and its observance on the first day of
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the week. Roman Catholics acknowledged that the change of the Sabbath was made by
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their church, and declare that Protestants, by observing the Sunday are recognizing her
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power. In the Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion, in answer to a question
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as to the day to be observed in obedience to the fourth Commandment. This
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statement is made during the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified. But
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the Church, instructed by Jesus Christ and directed by the Spirit of God,
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has substituted Sunday for Saturday. So now we sanctify the first not the seventh
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day. Sunday means and now is the day of the Lord. As the
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sign of the authority of the Catholic Church. Papist writers cite the very act
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of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of because by keeping Sunday
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they acknowledge the Church's power to ordain feasts and to command them under sin.
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What then, is the change of the Sabbath but the sign or mark of
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the authority of the Roman Church, the mark of the Beast. The Roman
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Church has not relinquished her claim to supremacy, and when the world in the
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Protestant churches accept a sabbath of her creating, while they reject the Bible Sabbath,
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they virtually admit this assumption. They may claim the authority of tradition and
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of the Fathers for the change, but in so doing they ignore the very
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principle which separates them from Rome, that the Bible, and the Bible only
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is the religion of Protestants. The papist can see that they are deceiving themselves,
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willingly closing their eyes to the facts. In the case the movement for
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Sunday enforcement gains favor, he rejoices, feeling assured that it will eventually bring
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the whole Protestant world under the banner of Rome. Romanists declare that the observance
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of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay in spite of themselves,
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to the authority of the Catholic Church. The enforcement of Sunday keeping on the
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part of Protestant churches is an enforcement of the worship of the papacy of the
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Beast. Those who understanding the claims of the Fourth commandment, choose to observe
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the false instead of the true Sabbath, are thereby paying homage to that power
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by which alone it is commanded. But in the very act of enforcing a
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religious duty by secular power, the churches would themselves form an image to the
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Beast. Hence, the enforcement of Sunday keeping in the United States would be
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an enforcement of the worship of the Beast and his image. But Christians of
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past generations observed the Sunday, supposing that in so doing they were keeping the
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Bible, Sabbath and theirs. There are now true Christians in every church,
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not accepting the Roman Catholic communion, who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath
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of divine appointment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before Him.
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But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law and the world shall be
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enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command
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of God to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome,
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will thereby honor Popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome and
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to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshiping the
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Beast and his image. As men then reject the institution which God has declared
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to be the sign of his authority and honor in its stead that which Rome
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has chosen as the token of her supremacy. They will thereby accept the sign
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of allegiance to Rome, the mark of the Beast. And it is not
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until the issue is thus plainly set before or the people, and they are
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brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, that
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those who continue in transgression will receive the mark of the Beast. The most
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fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is contained in the third Angel's message that must
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be a terrible sin which calls down the wrath of God unmingled with mercy.
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Men are not to be left in darkness concerning this important matter. The warning
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against this sin is to be given to the world before the visitation of God's
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judgments, that all may know why they are to be inflicted and have opportunity
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to escape them. Prophecy declares that the first Angel would make his announcement to
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every nation and kindred and tongue and people. The warning of the third Angel,
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which forms a part of the same threefold message, is to be no
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less widespread. It is represented in the prophecy as being proclaimed with a loud
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voice by an angel flying in the midst of heaven, and it will command
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the attention of the world. In the issue of the contest, all Christendom
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will be divided into two great classes, those who keep the commandments of God
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and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the Beast and his image
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and receive his mark. Although Church and State will unite their power to compel
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all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,
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to receive the mark of the Beast, yet the people of God will not
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receive it. The Prophet of Patmas beholds them that have gotten the victory over
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the Beast and over his image, and over his mark, and over the
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number of his name. Stand on the sea of Glass, having the harps
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of God and singing the song of Moses and the lamb end of Chapter twenty five