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25 - God's Law Immutable - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty five, God's Law immutable. The Temple of God
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Speaker 1: was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his
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Speaker 1: temple the Ark of His Testament. The Ark of God's
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Speaker 1: Testament is in the Holy of Holies, the second apartment
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Speaker 1: of the Sanctuary, in the ministration of the earthly Tabernacle,
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Speaker 1: which served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.
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Speaker 1: This apartment was opened only upon the Great Day of
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Speaker 1: Atonement for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Therefore, the announcement
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Speaker 1: that the Temple of God was opened in Heaven and
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Speaker 1: the Ark of His Testament was seen points to the
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Speaker 1: opening of the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary
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Speaker 1: in eighteen forty four, as Christ entered there to perform
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Speaker 1: the closing work of the Atonement. Those who by faith
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Speaker 1: followed their great High Priest, as he entered upon his
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Speaker 1: ministry in the most Holy Place, beheld the Ark of
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Speaker 1: His Testament. As they had studied the subject of the Sanctuary,
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Speaker 1: they had come to understand the saviors change of ministration,
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Speaker 1: and they saw that he was now officiating before the
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Speaker 1: Ark of God, pleading his blood in behalf of sinners.
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Speaker 1: The ark in the Tabernacle on earth contained the two
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Speaker 1: tables of Stone, upon which were inscribed the precepts of
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Speaker 1: the Law of God. The ark was merely a receptacle
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Speaker 1: for the tables of the Law, and the presence of
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Speaker 1: these divine precepts gave to it its value and sacredness.
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Speaker 1: When the Temple of God was opened in Heaven, the
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Speaker 1: ark of His Testament was seen within the Holy of Holies.
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Speaker 1: In the Sanctuary in Heaven, the Divine Law is sacredly enshrined,
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Speaker 1: the law that was spoken by God himself amid the
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Speaker 1: thunders of Sinai, and written with his own finger on
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Speaker 1: the tables of Stone. The Law of God in the
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Speaker 1: Sanctuary in Heaven is the great original of which the
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Speaker 1: precepts inscribed upon the tables of Stone and recorded by
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Speaker 1: Moses and the Pentitooc were an unerring transcript. Those who
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Speaker 1: arrived at an understanding of this important point were led
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Speaker 1: to see the sacred, unchanging character of the Divine Law.
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Speaker 1: They saw as never before the force of the Saviour's words.
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Speaker 1: Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle,
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Speaker 1: shall in no wise pass from the law, the Law
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Speaker 1: of God being a revelation of his will, a transcript
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Speaker 1: of his character must forever endure as a faithful witness
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Speaker 1: in heaven. Not one command has been annuled, not a
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Speaker 1: jot or tittle has been changed, says the Psalmist. Forever,
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Speaker 1: O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven, all his
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Speaker 1: commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever. In
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Speaker 1: the very bosom of the decalogue is the fourth commandment,
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Speaker 1: as it was first proclaimed, Remember the sabbath day, to
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Speaker 1: keep it wholly. Six days shalt thou labor and do
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Speaker 1: all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath
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Speaker 1: of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not
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Speaker 1: do any work thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
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Speaker 1: thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle,
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Speaker 1: nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in
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Speaker 1: six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea,
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Speaker 1: and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day.
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Speaker 1: Wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.
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Speaker 1: The spirit of God impressed the hearts of those students
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Speaker 1: of his word. The conviction was urged upon them that
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Speaker 1: they had ignorantly transgressed this precept by disregarding the Creator's
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Speaker 1: rest day. They began to examine the reasons for observing
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Speaker 1: the first day of the week instead of the day
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Speaker 1: which God had sanctified. They could find no evidence in
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Speaker 1: the scriptures that the Fourth Commandment had been abolished, or
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Speaker 1: that the Sabbath had been changed. The blessing which first
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Speaker 1: hallowed the seventh day had never been removed. They had
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Speaker 1: been honestly seeking to know and to do God's will. Now,
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Speaker 1: as they saw themselves transgressors of His law, sorrow filled
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Speaker 1: their hearts, and they manifested their loyalty to God by
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Speaker 1: keeping His Sabbath holy many and aareness for the efforts
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Speaker 1: made to overthrow their faith. None could fail to see
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Speaker 1: that if the earthly sanctuary was a figure or pattern
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Speaker 1: of the heavenly, the law deposited in the Ark on
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Speaker 1: Earth was an exact transcript of the law in the
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Speaker 1: Ark in heaven, and that an acceptance of the truth
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Speaker 1: concerning the heavenly Sanctuary involved an acknowledgment of the claims
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Speaker 1: of God's law and the obligation of the Sabbath of
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Speaker 1: the Fourth Commandment. Here was the secret of the bitter
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Speaker 1: and determined opposition to the harmonious exposition of the scriptures
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Speaker 1: that revealed the Ministration of Christ in the heavenly Sanctuary.
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Speaker 1: Men sought to close the door which God had opened,
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Speaker 1: and to open the door which He had closed. But
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Speaker 1: He that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and
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Speaker 1: no man openeth, had declared, Behold, I have set before
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Speaker 1: thee an open door, and no man can shut it.
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Speaker 1: Christ had opened the door or ministration of the most
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Speaker 1: Holy place. Light was shining from that open door of
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Speaker 1: the sanctuary in Heaven, and the fourth Commandment was shown
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Speaker 1: to be included in the law, which is there enshrined
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Speaker 1: what God had established. No man could overthrow. Those who
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Speaker 1: had accepted the light concerning the mediation of Christ and
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Speaker 1: the perpetuity of the Law of God found that these
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Speaker 1: were the truths presented in Revelation fourteen. The messages of
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Speaker 1: this chapter constitute a threefold warning, which is to prepare
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Speaker 1: the inhabitants of the earth for the Lord's second coming.
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Speaker 1: The announcement the hour of his judgment is come points
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Speaker 1: to the closing work of Christ's ministration for the salvation
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Speaker 1: of men. It heralds a truth which must be proclaimed
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Speaker 1: until the Saviour's intercession shall cease and he shall return
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Speaker 1: to the earth. To take his people to himself. The
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Speaker 1: work of judgment, which began in eighteen forty four, must
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Speaker 1: continue until the cases of all are decided, both of
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Speaker 1: the living and the dead. Hence it will extend to
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Speaker 1: the close of human probation, that men may be prepared
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Speaker 1: to stand in the judgment. The message commands them to
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Speaker 1: fear God and give glory to Him, and worship Him
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Speaker 1: that made heaven and earth, and the sea and the
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Speaker 1: fountains of waters. The result of an acceptance of these
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Speaker 1: messages is given in the words, Here are they that
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Speaker 1: keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
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Speaker 1: In order to be prepared for the judgment, it is
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Speaker 1: necessary that men should keep the Law of God. That
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Speaker 1: law will be the standard of character in the judgment.
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Speaker 1: The apostle Paul declares, as many as have sinned in
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Speaker 1: the law shall be judged by the law in the
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Speaker 1: day when God shall judge the secrets of men by
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. And he says that the doers of the
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Speaker 1: law shall be justified. Faith is essential in order to
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Speaker 1: the keeping of the law of God, for without faith
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Speaker 1: it is impossible to please Him. And whatsoever is not
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Speaker 1: of faith is sin. By the first Angel. Men are
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Speaker 1: called upon to fear God and give glory to Him,
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Speaker 1: and to worship Him as the creator of the heavens
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Speaker 1: and the earth. In order to do this, they must
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Speaker 1: obey his law, says the wise man. Fear God and
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Speaker 1: keep his commandments. For this is the whole duty of man.
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Speaker 1: Without obedience to his commandments, no worship can be pleasing
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Speaker 1: to God. This is the love of God that we
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Speaker 1: keep his commandments. He that turneth away his ear from
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Speaker 1: hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. The
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Speaker 1: duty to worship God is based upon the fact that
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Speaker 1: He is the creator, and that to him all other
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Speaker 1: beings owe their existence. And wherever in the Bible his
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Speaker 1: claim to reverence and worship above the gods of the
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Speaker 1: heathen is presented, there is cited the evidence of His
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Speaker 1: creative power. All the gods of the nations are idols.
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Speaker 1: But the Lord made the heavens to whom then will
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Speaker 1: ye liken me? Or shall I be equal? Saith the
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Speaker 1: Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold
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Speaker 1: who hath created these things. Thus saith the Lord that
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Speaker 1: created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and
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Speaker 1: made it. I am Jehovah, and there is none else,
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Speaker 1: says the Psalmist. Know ye that Jehovah he is God.
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Speaker 1: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. Oh, come,
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Speaker 1: let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before
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Speaker 1: the Lord, our maker, and the holy beings who worship
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Speaker 1: God in Heaven's state, as the reason why their homage
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Speaker 1: is due to him. Thou art worthy, o Lord, to
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Speaker 1: receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created
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Speaker 1: all things. In Revelation, fourteen men are called upon to
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Speaker 1: worship the Creator, and the prophecy brings to view a
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Speaker 1: class that, as the result of the threefold message, are
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Speaker 1: keeping the commandments of God. One of these commandments points
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Speaker 1: directly to God, is the Creator. The fourth precept declares
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Speaker 1: the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, thy God.
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Speaker 1: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
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Speaker 1: the sea, and all that in them is, and rested
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Speaker 1: the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day
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Speaker 1: and hallowed it. Concerning the Sabbath, the Lord says further
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Speaker 1: that it is a sign that ye may know that
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Speaker 1: I am the Lord your God, and the reason given
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Speaker 1: is for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth,
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Speaker 1: and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.
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Speaker 1: The importance of the Sabbath as a memorial of creation
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Speaker 1: is that it keeps ever present the true reason why
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Speaker 1: worship is due to God, because He is the Creator
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Speaker 1: and we are his creatures. The Sabbath therefore lies at
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Speaker 1: the very foundation of divine worship, for it teaches this
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Speaker 1: great truth in the most impressive manner, and no other
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Speaker 1: institution does this. The true ground of divine worship, not
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Speaker 1: of that on the seventh day merely, but of all worship,
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Speaker 1: is found in the distinction between the Creator and his creatures.
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Speaker 1: This great fact can never become obsolete and must never
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Speaker 1: be forgotten. It was to keep this truth ever before
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Speaker 1: the mind of men that God instituted the Sabbath in Eden,
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Speaker 1: and so long as the fact that He is our
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Speaker 1: creator continues to be a reason why we should worship him,
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Speaker 1: so long the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial.
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Speaker 1: Had the Sabbath been universally kept, man's thoughts and affections
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Speaker 1: would have been led to the Creator as the object
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Speaker 1: of reverence and worship, and there would never have been
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Speaker 1: an idolator, an atheist, or an infidel. The keeping of
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Speaker 1: the Sabbath is a sign of loyalty to the True God,
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Speaker 1: Him that made heaven and earth, and the sea and
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Speaker 1: the fountains of waters. It follows that the message which
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Speaker 1: commands men to worship God and keep his commandments, will
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Speaker 1: especially call upon them to keep the fourth Commandment. In
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Speaker 1: contrast to those who keep the commandments of God and
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Speaker 1: have the faith of Jesus. The third Angel points to
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Speaker 1: another class, against whose errors a solemn and fearful warning
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Speaker 1: is uttered. If any man worship the Beast and his image,
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Speaker 1: and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand,
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Speaker 1: the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath
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Speaker 1: of God. A correct interpretation of the symbols employed is
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Speaker 1: necessary to an understanding of this message. What is represented
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Speaker 1: by the beast, the image, the mark. The line of
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Speaker 1: prophecy in which these symbols are found begins with Revelation twelve,
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Speaker 1: with the dragon that sought to destroy Christ at his birth.
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Speaker 1: The dragon is said to be Satan. He it was
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Speaker 1: that moved upon Herod to put the Savior to death.
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Speaker 1: But the chief agent of Satan, in making war upon
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Speaker 1: Christ and his people. During the first centuries of the
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Speaker 1: Christian era was the Roman Empire, in which Paganism was
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Speaker 1: the prevailing religion. Thus, while the dragon primarily represents Satan,
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Speaker 1: it is in a secondary sense a symbol of pagan Rome.
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Speaker 1: In Chapter thirteen is described another beast like unto a leopard,
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Speaker 1: to which the dragon gave his power and his seat
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Speaker 1: and great authority. This symbol, as most Protestants have believed,
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Speaker 1: represents the papacy, which succeeded to the power and seat
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Speaker 1: and authority once held by the ancient Roman Empire. Of
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Speaker 1: the leopard like beast, it is declared, there was given
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Speaker 1: unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And
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Speaker 1: he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God, to blaspheming
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Speaker 1: his name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
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Speaker 1: And it was given unto him to make war with
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Speaker 1: the saints and to overcome them. And power was given
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Speaker 1: him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. This prophecy,
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Speaker 1: which is merely identical with the description of the little
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Speaker 1: horn of Daniel seven, unquestionably points to the papacy. Power
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Speaker 1: was given unto him to continue forty and two months,
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Speaker 1: and says the prophet, I saw one of his heads
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Speaker 1: as it were wounded to death. And again he that
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Speaker 1: leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that killeth
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Speaker 1: with the sword must be killed with the sword. The
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Speaker 1: forty two months are the same as the time and times,
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Speaker 1: and the dividing of time three years and a half
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Speaker 1: or twelve hundred sixty days of Daniel seven, the time
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Speaker 1: during which the papal power was to oppress God's people.
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Speaker 1: This period, as stated in preceding chapters, began with the
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Speaker 1: supremacy of the papacy a. D. Five thirty eight, and
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Speaker 1: terminated in seventeen ninety eight. At that time the Pope
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Speaker 1: was made captive by the French army. The papal power
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Speaker 1: received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled. He
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Speaker 1: that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. At this
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Speaker 1: point another symbol is introduced. Says the prophet, I beheld
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Speaker 1: another beast coming up out of the earth, and he
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Speaker 1: had two horns, like a lamb. Both the appearance of
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Speaker 1: this beast and the manner of its rise indicate that
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Speaker 1: the nation which it represents is unlike those presented under
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Speaker 1: the preceding symbols. The great kingdoms that have ruled the
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Speaker 1: world were presented to the prophet day annulous beasts of
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Speaker 1: prey rising when the four winds of the heavens strove
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Speaker 1: upon the Great Sea. In Revelation seventeen, an angel explained
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Speaker 1: that waters represent peoples and multitudes, and nations and towns.
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Speaker 1: Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds of
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Speaker 1: heavens striving upon the Great Sea represent the terrible scenes
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Speaker 1: of conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have attained to power.
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Speaker 1: But the beast with land like horns was seen coming
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Speaker 1: up out of the earth, instead of overthrowing other powers
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Speaker 1: to establish itself. The nation thus represented must arise in
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Speaker 1: territory previously unoccupied and grow up gradually and peacefully. It
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Speaker 1: could not then arise among the crowded and struggling nationalities
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Speaker 1: of the old world, that turbulent sea of peoples and multitudes,
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Speaker 1: and nations and tongues. It must be sought in the
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Speaker 1: Western continent. What nation of the New world was in
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Speaker 1: seventeen ninety eight rising into power, giving promise of strength
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Speaker 1: and greatness, and attracting the attention of the world. The
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Speaker 1: application of the symbol admits of no question. One nation,
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Speaker 1: and only one meets the specifications of this prophecy. It
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Speaker 1: points unmistakably to the United States of America. Again and again,
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Speaker 1: the thought, almost the exact words of the sacred writer
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Speaker 1: have been unconsciously employed by the orator and the historian
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Speaker 1: in describing the rise and growth of this nation. The
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Speaker 1: beast was seen coming up out of the earth, and
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Speaker 1: according to the translators, the word here rendered coming up
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Speaker 1: literally signifies to grow or spring up as a plant.
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Speaker 1: And as we have seen, the nation must arise in
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Speaker 1: territory previously unoccupied. A prominent writer describing the rise of
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Speaker 1: the United States speaks of the mystery of her coming
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Speaker 1: forth from vacancy, and says, like a silent seed, we
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Speaker 1: grew into empire. A European journal in eighteen fifty spoke
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Speaker 1: of the United States as a wonderful empire which was
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Speaker 1: emerging and amid the silence of the earth, daily adding
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Speaker 1: to its power and pride. Edward Everett, in an oration
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Speaker 1: on the pilgrim founders of this nation, said, did they
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Speaker 1: look for a retired spot, inoffensive for its obscurity and
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Speaker 1: safe in its remoteness, where the little Church of Leyden
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Speaker 1: might enjoy freedom of conscience. Behold the mighty regions over
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Speaker 1: which in peaceful conquest they have borne the banners of
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Speaker 1: the Cross. And he had two horns like a lamb.
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Speaker 1: The lamb like horns indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness. Thirdly
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Speaker 1: representing the character of the United States when presented to
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Speaker 1: the prophetess coming up in seventeen ninety eight. Among the
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Speaker 1: Christian exiles who first fled to America and sought an
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Speaker 1: asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance were many who
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Speaker 1: determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of
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Speaker 1: civil and religious liberty. Their view found and the Declaration
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Speaker 1: of Independence, which sets forth the great truth that all
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Speaker 1: men are created equal and endowed with the inalienable right
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Speaker 1: to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And the
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Speaker 1: Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self government,
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Speaker 1: providing that representatives elected by the popular vote shall enact
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Speaker 1: and administer the laws. Freedom of religious faith was also granted,
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Speaker 1: every man being permitted to worship God according to the
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Speaker 1: dictates of his conscience. Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental
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Speaker 1: principles of the nation. These principles are the secret of
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Speaker 1: its power and prosperity. The oppressed and downtrodden throughout Christendom
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Speaker 1: have turned to this land with interest and hope. Millions
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Speaker 1: have sought its shores, and the United States has risen
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Speaker 1: to a place among the most powerful nations of the earth.
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Speaker 1: But the beast with lamb like horns spake as a dragon,
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Speaker 1: and he exerciseth all the power of the first beast
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Speaker 1: before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell
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Speaker 1: therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed,
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Speaker 1: and saying to them that dwell on the earth, that
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Speaker 1: they should make an image to the beast which had
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Speaker 1: the wound by a sword and did live the land.
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Speaker 1: Like horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to
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Speaker 1: a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of
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Speaker 1: the nation. Thus represented, the speaking of the nation is
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Speaker 1: the action of its legislative and judicial authorities. By such action,
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Speaker 1: it will give the lie to those liberal and peaceful
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Speaker 1: principles which it has put forth as the foundation of
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Speaker 1: its policy. The prediction that it will speak as a
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Speaker 1: dragon and exercise all the power of the First Beast
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Speaker 1: plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance and
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Speaker 1: persecution that was manifested by the nations represented by the
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Speaker 1: dragon and the leopard like beast. And the statement that
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Speaker 1: the beast with two horns causeth the earth and them
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Speaker 1: which dwell therein to worship the first Beast indicates that
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Speaker 1: the authority of this nation is to be exercised in
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Speaker 1: enforcing some observance which shall be an act of homage
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Speaker 1: to the papacy. Such action would be directly contrary to
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Speaker 1: the principles of this government, to the genius of its
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Speaker 1: free institutions, to the direct and solemn avowals of the
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Speaker 1: Declaration of Independence, and to the Constitution. The founders of
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Speaker 1: the nation wisely sought to guard against the employment of
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Speaker 1: secular power on the part of the Church, with its
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Speaker 1: inevitable result intolerance and persecution. The Constitution provides that Congress
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Speaker 1: shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or
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Speaker 1: prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and that no religious tests
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Speaker 1: shall ever be required as a qualification to any office
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Speaker 1: of public trust under the United States. Only in flagrant
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Speaker 1: violation of these safeguards to the nation's liberty. Can any
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Speaker 1: religious observance be enforced by civil authority, But the inconsistency
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Speaker 1: of such action is no greater than the ans represented
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Speaker 1: in the symbol. It is the beast with lamb like horns,
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Speaker 1: in profession, pure, gentle and harmless, that speaks as a dragon,
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Speaker 1: saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they
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Speaker 1: should make an image to the beast. Here is clearly
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Speaker 1: presented a form of government in which the legislative power
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Speaker 1: rests with the people, a most striking evidence that the
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Speaker 1: United States is the nation denoted in the prophecy. But
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Speaker 1: what is the image to the beast and how is
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Speaker 1: it to be formed? The image is made by the
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Speaker 1: two horned beast, and is an image to the first beast.
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Speaker 1: It is also called an image of the beast. Then,
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Speaker 1: to learn what the image is like and how it
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Speaker 1: is to be formed, we must study the characteristics of
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Speaker 1: the beast itself. The papacy. When the early Church became
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Speaker 1: corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the Gospel and
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Speaker 1: accepting heathen rights and customs, she lost the spirit and
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Speaker 1: power of God, and in order to control the consciences
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Speaker 1: of the people, she sought the support of the secular power.
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Speaker 1: The result was the papacy, a church that controlled the
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Speaker 1: power of the state and employed it to further her
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Speaker 1: own ends, especially for the punishment of heresy. In order
21:13
Speaker 1: for the United States to form an image of the Beast,
21:16
Speaker 1: the religious power must so control the civil government that
21:19
Speaker 1: the authority of the state will also be employed by
21:22
Speaker 1: the Church to accomplish her own ends. Whenever the Church
21:26
Speaker 1: has obtained secular power, she has employed it to punish
21:29
Speaker 1: dissent from her doctrines. Protestant churches that have followed in
21:34
Speaker 1: the steps of Rome by forming alliance with worldly powers
21:37
Speaker 1: have manifested a similar desire to restrict liberty of conscience.
21:42
Speaker 1: An example of this is given in the long continued
21:45
Speaker 1: persecution of dissenters by the Church of England during the
21:49
Speaker 1: sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Thousands of nonconformist ministers were forced
21:54
Speaker 1: to leave their churches, and many both of pastors and
21:57
Speaker 1: people were subjected to find imprisonment, torture, and martyrdom. It
22:03
Speaker 1: was apostasy that led the early Church to seek the
22:05
Speaker 1: aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way
22:08
Speaker 1: for the development of the papacy. The beast, said Paul.
22:13
Speaker 1: There shall come a falling away, and that man of
22:15
Speaker 1: sin be revealed. So apostasy in the church will prepare
22:20
Speaker 1: the way for the image to the beast. The Bible
22:23
Speaker 1: declares that before the coming of the Lord, there will
22:26
Speaker 1: exist a state of religious declensions similar to that in
22:29
Speaker 1: the first centuries. In the last days, perilous times shall come,
22:35
Speaker 1: for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous boasters,
22:39
Speaker 1: proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy without natural affection,
22:46
Speaker 1: truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce despisers of those that
22:52
Speaker 1: are good, traitors, heady, high minded lovers of pleasures more
22:56
Speaker 1: than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but
23:00
Speaker 1: denying the power thereof. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that
23:05
Speaker 1: in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
23:08
Speaker 1: giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Satan
23:12
Speaker 1: will work with all power and signs and lying wonders,
23:16
Speaker 1: and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, And all that receive
23:20
Speaker 1: not the love of the truth that they might be
23:22
Speaker 1: saved will be left to accept strong delusion that they
23:25
Speaker 1: should believe a lie. When this state of ungodliness shall
23:30
Speaker 1: be reached, the same results will follow as in the
23:32
Speaker 1: first centuries. The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant
23:37
Speaker 1: churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no
23:41
Speaker 1: effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made.
23:45
Speaker 1: But there has been for years in churches of the
23:47
Speaker 1: Protestant faith a strong and growing sentiment in favor of
23:51
Speaker 1: a union based upon common points of doctrine. To secure
23:55
Speaker 1: such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all
23:58
Speaker 1: were not agreed, however are important they might be from
24:01
Speaker 1: a Bible standpoint, must necessarily be waived. Charles Beecher, in
24:06
Speaker 1: a sermon in the year eighteen forty six, declared that
24:09
Speaker 1: the ministry of the Evangelical Protestant denominations is not only
24:14
Speaker 1: formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of
24:16
Speaker 1: merely human fear, but they live and move and breathe
24:19
Speaker 1: in a state of things radically corrupt, and appealing every
24:23
Speaker 1: hour to every baser element of their nature to hush
24:26
Speaker 1: up the truth and bow the knee to the power
24:28
Speaker 1: of apostasy. Was not this the way things went with Rome?
24:33
Speaker 1: Are we not living her life over again. And what
24:36
Speaker 1: do we see just ahead Another General Council, a world's convention,
24:40
Speaker 1: evangelical alliance, and universal creed. When this shall be gained,
24:45
Speaker 1: then in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will
24:49
Speaker 1: be only a step to the resort to force. When
24:53
Speaker 1: the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such
24:56
Speaker 1: points of doctrine as are held by them in common,
24:58
Speaker 1: shall influence this state to enforce their decrees and to
25:01
Speaker 1: sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an
25:06
Speaker 1: image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil
25:09
Speaker 1: penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result. The Beast with two
25:14
Speaker 1: horns Causeth commands all both small and great, rich and poor,
25:19
Speaker 1: free and bond, to receive a mark in their right
25:21
Speaker 1: hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might
25:24
Speaker 1: buy or sell save he that had the mark or
25:27
Speaker 1: the name of the Beast, or the number of his name.
25:31
Speaker 1: The third angel's warning is if any man worship the
25:33
Speaker 1: Beast and his image and receive his mark in his
25:36
Speaker 1: forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of
25:39
Speaker 1: the wine of the wrath of God. The beast mentioned
25:43
Speaker 1: in this message, whose worship is enforced by the two
25:46
Speaker 1: horned beast is the first or leopard like beast of
25:49
Speaker 1: Revelation thirteen. The papacy. The image to the beast represents
25:54
Speaker 1: that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when
25:57
Speaker 1: the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil
26:00
Speaker 1: power for the enforcement of their dogmas. The mark of
26:04
Speaker 1: the beast still remains to be defined. After the warning
26:08
Speaker 1: against the worship of the beast and his image, the
26:11
Speaker 1: prophecy declares, here are they that keep the commandments of
26:14
Speaker 1: God and the faith of Jesus. Since those who keep
26:18
Speaker 1: God's commandments are thus placed in contrast with those that
26:21
Speaker 1: worship the beast and his image and receive his mark,
26:24
Speaker 1: it follows that the keeping of God's law on the
26:27
Speaker 1: one hand, and its violation on the other, will make
26:30
Speaker 1: the distinction between the worshippers of God and the worshippers
26:33
Speaker 1: of the beast. The special characteristic of the beast, and
26:37
Speaker 1: therefore of his image, is the breaking of God's commandments.
26:42
Speaker 1: Says Daniel of the Little Horn the papacy, he shall
26:45
Speaker 1: think to change the times and the law, and Paul
26:49
Speaker 1: styled the same power the man of sin who was
26:52
Speaker 1: to exalt himself above God. One prophecy is a compliment
26:57
Speaker 1: of the other. Only by changing God's law could the
27:00
Speaker 1: papacy exalt itself above God. Whoever should understandingly keep the
27:05
Speaker 1: law as thus changed, would be giving supreme honor to
27:08
Speaker 1: that power by which the change was made. Such an
27:12
Speaker 1: act of obedience to papal laws would be a mark
27:14
Speaker 1: of allegiance to the pope in place of God. The
27:18
Speaker 1: papacy has attempted to change the law of God. The
27:22
Speaker 1: second commandment forbidding image worship has been dropped from the law,
27:26
Speaker 1: and the fourth Commandment has been so changed as to
27:29
Speaker 1: authorize the observance of the first instead of the seventh
27:32
Speaker 1: day as the Sabbath. But papists search as a reason
27:36
Speaker 1: for omitting the second commandment, that it is unnecessary being
27:39
Speaker 1: included in the first, and that they are giving the
27:42
Speaker 1: law exactly as God designed it to be understood, this
27:46
Speaker 1: cannot be the change foretold by the prophet. An intentional,
27:50
Speaker 1: deliberate change is presented, he shall think to change the
27:54
Speaker 1: times and the law. The change in the fourth commandment
27:58
Speaker 1: exactly fulfills the prophecy for this. The only authority claimed
28:03
Speaker 1: is that of the Church. Here the papal power openly
28:06
Speaker 1: sets itself above God. While the worshippers of God will
28:11
Speaker 1: be especially distinguished by their regard for the Fourth Commandment,
28:14
Speaker 1: since this is the sign of His creative power and
28:17
Speaker 1: the witness to his claim upon man's reverence and homage.
28:21
Speaker 1: The worshippers of the beast will be distinguished by their
28:23
Speaker 1: efforts to tear down the Creator's memorial to exalt the
28:26
Speaker 1: institution of Rome. It was in behalf of the Sunday
28:30
Speaker 1: that popery first asserted its arrogant claims, and its first
28:34
Speaker 1: resort to the power of the state was to compel
28:36
Speaker 1: the observance of Sunday as the Lord's day. But the
28:40
Speaker 1: Bible points to the seventh day and not to the
28:42
Speaker 1: first as the Lord's day. Said Christ, the son of Man,
28:47
Speaker 1: is Lord also of the Sabbath. The Fourth Commandment declares
28:52
Speaker 1: the seventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord, and
28:55
Speaker 1: by the prophet Isaiah, the Lord designates it my holy day.
29:00
Speaker 1: The claim so often put forth that Christ changed the
29:03
Speaker 1: Sabbath is disproved by his own words. In his Sermon
29:07
Speaker 1: on the Mount, he said, think not that I am
29:09
Speaker 1: come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am
29:12
Speaker 1: not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I
29:16
Speaker 1: say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jought
29:19
Speaker 1: or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from the
29:22
Speaker 1: law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one
29:26
Speaker 1: of these least commandments and shall teach men, so he
29:30
Speaker 1: shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
29:33
Speaker 1: But whosoever shall do and teach them the same shall
29:36
Speaker 1: be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is
29:39
Speaker 1: a fact generally admitted by Protestants that the scriptures give
29:43
Speaker 1: no authority for the change of the Sabbath. This is
29:47
Speaker 1: plainly stated in publications issued by the American Tract Society
29:51
Speaker 1: and the American Sunday School Union. One of these works
29:55
Speaker 1: acknowledges the complete silence of the New Testament so far
29:58
Speaker 1: as any explicit command and for the Sabbath Sunday, the
30:01
Speaker 1: first day of the week, or definite rules for its
30:04
Speaker 1: observance are concerned. Another says, up to the time of
30:09
Speaker 1: Christ's death, no change had been made in the day,
30:12
Speaker 1: and so far as the record shows, they the apostles
30:16
Speaker 1: did not give any explicit command in joining the abandonment
30:19
Speaker 1: of the seventh day Sabbath and its observance on the
30:21
Speaker 1: first day of the week. Roman Catholics acknowledged that the
30:25
Speaker 1: change of the Sabbath was made by their church, and
30:28
Speaker 1: declare that Protestants, by observing the Sunday are recognizing her power.
30:34
Speaker 1: In the Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion, in answer to
30:37
Speaker 1: a question as to the day to be observed in
30:39
Speaker 1: obedience to the fourth Commandment. This statement is made during
30:44
Speaker 1: the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified. But the Church,
30:48
Speaker 1: instructed by Jesus Christ and directed by the Spirit of God,
30:52
Speaker 1: has substituted Sunday for Saturday. So now we sanctify the
30:56
Speaker 1: first not the seventh day. Sunday means and now is
31:00
Speaker 1: the day of the Lord. As the sign of the
31:03
Speaker 1: authority of the Catholic Church. Papist writers cite the very
31:07
Speaker 1: act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow
31:11
Speaker 1: of because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the Church's power
31:15
Speaker 1: to ordain feasts and to command them under sin. What then,
31:19
Speaker 1: is the change of the Sabbath but the sign or
31:22
Speaker 1: mark of the authority of the Roman Church, the mark
31:25
Speaker 1: of the Beast. The Roman Church has not relinquished her
31:28
Speaker 1: claim to supremacy, and when the world in the Protestant
31:32
Speaker 1: churches accept a sabbath of her creating, while they reject
31:35
Speaker 1: the Bible Sabbath, they virtually admit this assumption. They may
31:40
Speaker 1: claim the authority of tradition and of the Fathers for
31:42
Speaker 1: the change, but in so doing they ignore the very
31:45
Speaker 1: principle which separates them from Rome, that the Bible, and
31:48
Speaker 1: the Bible only is the religion of Protestants. The papist
31:53
Speaker 1: can see that they are deceiving themselves, willingly closing their
31:56
Speaker 1: eyes to the facts. In the case the movement for
32:00
Speaker 1: Sunday enforcement gains favor, he rejoices, feeling assured that it
32:04
Speaker 1: will eventually bring the whole Protestant world under the banner
32:07
Speaker 1: of Rome. Romanists declare that the observance of Sunday by
32:11
Speaker 1: the Protestants is an homage they pay in spite of themselves,
32:15
Speaker 1: to the authority of the Catholic Church. The enforcement of
32:19
Speaker 1: Sunday keeping on the part of Protestant churches is an
32:22
Speaker 1: enforcement of the worship of the papacy of the Beast.
32:26
Speaker 1: Those who understanding the claims of the Fourth commandment, choose
32:30
Speaker 1: to observe the false instead of the true Sabbath, are
32:33
Speaker 1: thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it
32:36
Speaker 1: is commanded. But in the very act of enforcing a
32:39
Speaker 1: religious duty by secular power, the churches would themselves form
32:43
Speaker 1: an image to the Beast. Hence, the enforcement of Sunday
32:47
Speaker 1: keeping in the United States would be an enforcement of
32:50
Speaker 1: the worship of the Beast and his image. But Christians
32:54
Speaker 1: of past generations observed the Sunday, supposing that in so
32:57
Speaker 1: doing they were keeping the Bible, Sabbath and theirs. There
33:00
Speaker 1: are now true Christians in every church, not accepting the
33:03
Speaker 1: Roman Catholic communion, who honestly believe that Sunday is the
33:06
Speaker 1: Sabbath of divine appointment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose
33:11
Speaker 1: and their integrity before Him. But when Sunday observance shall
33:15
Speaker 1: be enforced by law and the world shall be enlightened
33:18
Speaker 1: concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall
33:22
Speaker 1: transgress the command of God to obey a precept which
33:25
Speaker 1: has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby
33:28
Speaker 1: honor Popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome
33:33
Speaker 1: and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome.
33:38
Speaker 1: He is worshiping the Beast and his image. As men
33:42
Speaker 1: then reject the institution which God has declared to be
33:45
Speaker 1: the sign of his authority and honor in its stead
33:48
Speaker 1: that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy.
33:51
Speaker 1: They will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome,
33:54
Speaker 1: the mark of the Beast. And it is not until
33:58
Speaker 1: the issue is thus plainly set before or the people,
34:01
Speaker 1: and they are brought to choose between the commandments of
34:03
Speaker 1: God and the commandments of men, that those who continue
34:06
Speaker 1: in transgression will receive the mark of the Beast. The
34:10
Speaker 1: most fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is contained in
34:13
Speaker 1: the third Angel's message that must be a terrible sin
34:17
Speaker 1: which calls down the wrath of God unmingled with mercy.
34:21
Speaker 1: Men are not to be left in darkness concerning this
34:23
Speaker 1: important matter. The warning against this sin is to be
34:27
Speaker 1: given to the world before the visitation of God's judgments,
34:30
Speaker 1: that all may know why they are to be inflicted
34:33
Speaker 1: and have opportunity to escape them. Prophecy declares that the
34:37
Speaker 1: first Angel would make his announcement to every nation and
34:40
Speaker 1: kindred and tongue and people. The warning of the third Angel,
34:45
Speaker 1: which forms a part of the same threefold message, is
34:48
Speaker 1: to be no less widespread. It is represented in the
34:52
Speaker 1: prophecy as being proclaimed with a loud voice by an
34:55
Speaker 1: angel flying in the midst of heaven, and it will
34:58
Speaker 1: command the attention of the world. In the issue of
35:01
Speaker 1: the contest, all Christendom will be divided into two great classes,
35:06
Speaker 1: those who keep the commandments of God and the faith
35:08
Speaker 1: of Jesus, and those who worship the Beast and his
35:11
Speaker 1: image and receive his mark. Although Church and State will
35:15
Speaker 1: unite their power to compel all, both small and great,
35:18
Speaker 1: rich and poor, free and bond, to receive the mark
35:21
Speaker 1: of the Beast, yet the people of God will not
35:23
Speaker 1: receive it. The Prophet of Patmas beholds them that have
35:27
Speaker 1: gotten the victory over the Beast and over his image,
35:30
Speaker 1: and over his mark, and over the number of his name.
35:33
Speaker 1: Stand on the sea of Glass, having the harps of
35:36
Speaker 1: God and singing the song of Moses and the lamb
35:41
Speaker 1: end of Chapter twenty five