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Everlasting Gospel - Third Angel's Message
"And
the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship
the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out
without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented
with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence
of the Lamb:
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have
no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever
receiveth the mark of his name.
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments
of God, and the faith of Jesus."
(Revelation 14: 9-12).
The Beast, His Image & The Mark Of The Beast
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Table
Of Contents:-
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Christ's Mission in The Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary
When Christ entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary
to perform the closing work of the atonement, He committed to His servants
the last message of mercy to be given to the world. Such is the warning of
the third angel of Revelation 14:-
"And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, If
any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead,
or in his hand,
The same shall drink of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture
into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have
no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever
receiveth the mark of his name.
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments
of God, and the faith of Jesus."
(Revelation 14:9-12).
Immediately following the above proclamation, the Son of man is seen by the
prophet John, coming in glory to reap the harvest of the earth. (Revelation
14:14). As foretold in the Scriptures, the ministration of Christ in the most
holy place began at the termination of the "2,300 day-for-a-year"
prophecy in 1844. To this time apply the words of the revelator, "The
temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark
of His testament. (Revelation 11:19). The ark of God's testament is in the
second apartment of the sanctuary.
Within that sacred ark is the father's law, the same that was spoken by God
Himself amid the thunders of Sinai, and written with His own finger on the
tables of stone. Not one command has been annulled; not a jot or a tittle
has been changed. While God gave to Moses a copy of His law, He preserved
the great original in the sanctuary above. Tracing down its holy precepts,
the seekers for truth found, in the very bosom of the decalogue, the fourth
commandment, as it was first proclaimed:-
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour,
and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger within
thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and hallowed it." (Exodus 20:8-11).
The Spirit of God impressed the hearts of these students of His word to examine
the reasons for observing the first day of the week (Sunday) instead of the
day which God had sanctified. They could find no evidence in the Scriptures
that the fourth commandment had been abolished, or that the Sabbath had been
changed; the blessing which first hallowed the seventh day had never been
removed.
None could fail to see that if the earthly sanctuary was a figure or pattern
of the heavenly, the law deposited in the ark on earth was an exact transcript
of the law in the ark of Heaven, and that an acceptance of the truth concerning
the heavenly sanctuary involved an acknowledgement of the claims of God's
law, and the obligation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
Those who had accepted the light concerning the mediation Of Christ and the
perpetuity of the law of God, found that there were the truths brought to
view in the third message. The Angel declares, "Here are they that keep
the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." This statement is preceded
by a solemn and fearful warning in Revelation 14: 9, 10. (See above). An interpretation
of the symbols employed is necessary to understand this message. What is represented
by the beast, the image, and the mark of the beast ?
The same beast which is described in the third angel's message
(Rev. 14:9-12), is also mentioned at the beginning of Revelation chapter 13:-
"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns,
and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the
feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave
him his power, and his seat, and great authority" (Revelation 13:1,2).
A beast in biblical terms represents a king or a kingdom. (See Daniel 7:17).
The symbols used in the book of Revelation are also used in the book of Daniel.
We may by comparing the prophecies and symbols in each book, come to a clear
understanding as to what constitutes the beast in the third angel's message.
King Nebuchadnezzar's Prophetic Dream Of The Latter Days
Soon after Daniel and his companions entered the service of
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, an event occurred that revealed to an idolatrous
nation the power and faithfulness of the God of Israel. The King had a remarkable
dream, by which "his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him."
But although the king's mind was deeply impressed, he found it impossible,
when he awoke, to recall the particulars. (Daniel 2:1-3).
Amongst the lords, rulers, magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans,
there was only one man, under the wisdom of God, able to make known and interpret
the king's dream.
"Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which
the king had demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians,
the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the
king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days..." (Daniel 2: 27
& 28).
Daniel Chapter 2 Vision
Daniel described the king's dream in detail. The "great image" which the king had dreamed of, consisted of five distinctive bodily parts. (See diagram). Each bodily part, made of various materials, represented a succeeding kingdom. For example;-
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Head
|
Gold
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Babylonian
Empire
|
|
Breast
& Arms
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Silver
|
Medo-Persian
Kingdom
|
|
Belly
& Thighs
|
Brass
|
Kingdom
of Greece
|
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Legs
|
Iron
|
Roman
Empire
|
|
Feet
|
Iron
& Clay
|
Divided
Europe
|
|
Stone
|
(Stone)
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Christ's
Kingdom
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Now, which of the above kingdoms represents the blasphemous beast power described in Revelation 13:1,2 and the third angel's message (Revelation 14:9-12) ? To come to a clear answer, let us use the biblical rule by comparing scripture with scripture, "precept upon precept; line upon line" (Isaiah 28: 10). Similar prophecies to that of Daniel chapter 2, may also be found in chapters 7 & 8 of the same book. Please observe the comparisons of each power using the table below, as we look at each of these kingdoms in succession.
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HISTORICAL
EVENTS IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL
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CHAPTER
2
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CHAPTER
7
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CHAPTER
8
|
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Babylonian
Empire
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"This
image's head was of fine gold...Thou art this head of gold." (Verses
32 & 38).
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"The
first (beast) was like a lion, and had eagle's wings" (Verse 4).
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------------------
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Medo-Persia
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"And
after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee..." (Verse
39).
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"...Another
beast a second, like to a bear..." (Verse 5).
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"The
rams which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media &
Persia." (Verses 3, 5, 7 & 20).
|
|
Greek
Kingdom
|
"...And
another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth."
(Verse 39).
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"...Lo
another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings...also
four heads." (Verse 6).
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"And
the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between
his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken whereas four
stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand " (Verses 20 & 21)
|
|
Roman
Empire
(Pagan Rome) |
"And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron...shall it break in pieces
and bruise." (Verse 40).
|
"..A
fourth beast dreadful and terrible...it had great iron teeth: it devoured
and brake in pieces. (Verse 7).
|
"(The
little horn)...shall also stand up against the Prince of princes"(Verses
9-13 & 23-25).
|
|
Divided
Europe
|
"..Thou
sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the
kingdom shall be divided...partly strong, and partly broken...they shall
not cleave one to another..." (Verses 41-43).
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"...It
had (the fourth beast) ten horns. I considered the horns..." (Verse
8).
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------------------
|
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Papal
Rome
|
----------------------
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"...It
had (the fourth beast) ten horns. I considered the horns..." (Verse
8).
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"...There came up among them (the ten horns) another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things...he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." (Verses 8, 24, 25) "And
it waxed great (the little horn), even to the host of heaven; and
it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and
stamped upon them...it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised,
and prospered." |
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Christ's
Kingdom
|
"...a
stone was cut without hands, which smote the image upon the feet that
were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces."(Verse 34) "And
in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom,
which shall never be destroyed...it shall break in pieces and consume
all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." (Verse 44).
|
"I
beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake:
I beheld even till the beast (little horn power) was slain, and his
body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest
of the beasts (kingdoms), they had their dominion taken away...there
was given him (the Son of man) dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that
all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is
an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom
which shall not be destroyed." (Verses 11,12,14).
|
"...a
king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall
stand up...and shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise,
and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people...he shall magnify
himself in his heart...he shall also stand up against the Prince of
princes; but he shall be broken without hand."
(Verses 23-25) |
The character of the Babylonian Empire is indicated by the
head of gold. It was the golden kingdom of a golden age. Babylon, its metropolis,
towered to a height never reached by any of its successors. It is said to
have been surrounded by walls estimated two hundred to three hundred feet
high and eighty-seven feet thick, with a moat or ditch around this. Within
the walls were luxuriant pleasure grounds, hanging gardens rising terrace
above terrace till they equalled in height to the walls themselves, and the
subterranean tunnel which ran under the River Euphrates.
Several monarchs sat on the Babylonian throne before Belshazzar, the grandson
of Nebuchadnezzar, was next to rule. It appeared that it was virtually impossible
to overthrow such a kingdom. However, God had already pronounced that it was
due to fall.
Learning of the approach of an annual festival in which the whole city would
be given up to mirth and revelry, Cyrus of the Persian line planned with his
uncle, Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:31), to fix upon that day the time to carry
his purpose into execution.
There was no entrance for him into that city unless he could find it where
the River Euphrates entered and emerged, as it passed under the walls. He
resolved to make the channel of the river his highway into the stronghold
of the enemy. To do this, the water must be turned aside from its channel
through the city. Hence, on the evening of the Babylonian feast day, one body
of soldiers turned the river into a large artificial lake a short distance
from the city. The river soon became shallow enough to ford, and the soldiers
followed its channel into the heart of the city of Babylon.
In the drunken revelry of that fatal night, these river gates were left open
as had been foretold by the prophet Isaiah;
"Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have
holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of the king,
to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut."
(Isaiah 45:1). The entrance of the Persian soldiers were not perceived.
Belshazzar soon became aware of the cause of disturbance, and died fighting
for his life. This feast of Belshazzar is described in the fifth chapter of
Daniel, and the scenes close with the simple record;
"In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius
the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old."
(Daniel 5:31).
The Chaldeans whose horses were described as being "swifter than the
leopards" and the horsemen as flying "as an eagle that hasteth to
eat", the "lions" who broke the bones of Israel by taking the
Jewish nation into captivity, had its global rule come to a sudden end. (Habakkuk
1:8; Jeremiah 50:17).
The succeeding kingdom, Medo-Persia, answered to the breast
and arms of silver of the great image in Daniel chapter 2. It was to be inferior
to the preceding kingdom. (Daniel 2:39). In what respect inferior ? Not in
power, for it conquered Babylon. Not in extent, for Cyrus subdued all the
East from the Aegean Sea to the River Indus, and thus erected a more extensive
empire. But it was inferior in wealth, luxury, and magnificence.
At the taking of Babylon, Cyrus, as an act of courtesy, assigned the first
place in the kingdom to his uncle, Darius, in 538 BC. But two years afterward
Darius died, leaving Cyrus sole monarch of the empire. It was Cyrus who issued
his famous decree for the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of their temple.
This was the first part of the threefold decree for the restoration and rebuilding
again of Jerusalem (Ezra 6:14. See also table in the first angel's message),
which was completed in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, 457 BC,
a date of much importance, which was found to be the starting point of the
2,300 day-for-a-year prophecy. (Daniel 8:14 & 9:24-27).
The scriptures describe this power as "like to a bear, and it raised
up itself on one side." (Daniel 7:5). The bear raised itself up on one
side. The Medo-Persian kingdom was composed of two nationalities, the Medes
and Persians. The same fact is represented by the two horns of the ram in
Daniel chapter 8;
"...The two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the
higher came up last." (verse 3).
This was fulfilled by the Persian division of the kingdom, for although it
came up last, it attained the higher eminence, becoming the dominant influence
in the nation. The "three ribs in the mouth" of the bear-like beast,
may refer to the three provinces of Babylon, Lydia and Egypt, which were especially
overcome by Medo-Persia.
However, on the field of Arbela in 331 BC, the Grecians won a decisive victory
over the Medo-Persians, and Alexander became lord of the Persian Empire.
The third kingdom, Grecia, is represented by the symbol of
a leopard. The leopard is a swift-footed beast, but this was sufficient to
represent the career of the nation here symbolised. It had four wings in addition.
This would denote unprecedented speed of movement, which we find to be a historical
fact in the Grecian kingdom. (Daniel 7:6).
The "kingdom of brass" maintained its unity but only a little longer
than the lifetime of Alexander, who is referred to as "the great horn"
or "first king" of the Grecian kingdom. (Daniel 8: 8, 21). The Bible
predicted his career ending abruptly with the words, "the great horn
was broken". (Daniel 8:8). Alexander's career ended in a fever induced
by a drunken orgy. It is said that he drank the full Herculean cup twice (that
is 24 pints). The empire was then divided among his four leading generals,
thus symbolised by the "four heads" of the leopard-like beast, and
the four kingdoms which "shall stand up out of the nation." (Daniel
7:6 & 8:22). The generals and the areas they ruled were;
|
General
|
Designated
Area
|
|
Cassander
|
Macedonia
and Greece in the west.
|
|
Lysimachus
|
Thrace
and the parts of Asia on the Hellespont and the Bosphorus in the north.
|
|
Ptolemy
|
Egypt,
Lydia, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria in the south.
|
|
Seleucus
|
Syria
and all the rest of Alexander's dominion in the east.
|
Thus accurately were the words of the prophet fulfilled. As Alexander left no available successor, why did not the huge empire break up into countless petty fragments ? Why into just four parts, and no more ? - For reasons that the prophecy foresaw and foretold. The leopard had four heads (Daniel 7:6), the rough goat four horns (Daniel 8:8), the kingdom was to have four divisions (Daniel 8:22); and thus it was.
Inspiration finds no beast in nature to symbolise the power
illustrated. This power is diverse from all the other beasts described in
Daniel chapter 7, and the symbol is wholly different from anything found in
the animal kingdom. (Daniel 7:7).
This fourth beast, representing Rome, corresponds to the fourth division of
the great image - the legs of iron. (Daniel 2:40). Notice the characteristics
of this power. In the dread and terror which Rome inspired, and in its great
strength, the world has never seen its equal. With its "great iron teeth",
Rome "devoured and brake in pieces" all that stood in its way. It
"stamped the residue" of nations into the dust with its feet. This
beast had ten horns, which are explained in verse 24 as being ten kings, or
kingdoms, which should arise out of this empire. It is a fact that Rome was
divided into ten kingdoms. These divisions have ever since been spoken of
as the ten kingdoms of the Roman Empire.
Of all the powers named in these visions none but pagan Rome could "stand
up against the Prince of Princes", as this only prevailed during the
life of Christ.
"...The angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise,
and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou
there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy
him...
Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding
wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and
in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the
time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men." (Matthew 2: 13,
16).
Thus pagan Rome stood up against Christ the Prince of Princes and at last
crucified Him.
The image of Daniel chapter 2 is exactly parallel with the
four beasts in the vision of Daniel 7. The fourth beast represents the same
kingdom as do the iron legs of the image - Rome. Therefore, the ten horns
of the beast correspond naturally to the ten toes of the image. These horns
are plainly declared to be ten kings which should arise. (Daniel 7:24). Hence,
the ten toes and the ten horns must represent the ten kingdoms into which
Rome was divided. This division was accomplished between AD 351 and 476.
The ten nations which were most instrumental in breaking up the Roman Empire
were as follows:
|
Huns
/ Alamanni (Germans)
|
|
Franks
(France)
|
|
Visigoths
(Spain)
|
|
Suevi
(Portugal)
|
|
Lombards
(Italy)
|
|
Burgundians
(Switzerland)
|
|
Anglo-Saxons
(Britain)
|
|
Heruli
|
|
Ostrogoths
|
|
Vandals
|
When Rome fell, the possibilities of consolidating the ten divisions into one vast empire, was forever passed away. The Bible affirms that no man or combination of men can again unify the fragments. This point is so well set forth by another that we quote his words:
"...Time and again men have dreamed of rearing on these dominions one
mighty kingdom. Charlemagne tried it. Charles V tried it. Louis XIV tried
it. Napoleon tried it. But neither succeeded. A single verse of prophesy was
stronger than all their hosts...'partly strong, and partly broken' (Daniel
2:42), was the prophetic description...
"But then men may say, 'Another plan remains. If force cannot avail,
diplomacy and reasons of state may - we will try them.' And so the prophesy
foreshadows this when it says, 'They shall mingle themselves with the seed
of men' (Daniel 2:43) - i.e. marriages shall be formed, in the hope thus to
consolidate their power, and, in the end, to unite these divided kingdoms
into one...And shall this device succeed ? - No...The iron would not mingle
with the clay." (William Newton, Lectures on the First Two Visions of
the Book of Daniel, pp. 34 -36).
Daniel considered the ten horns. (Daniel 7:8). A strange movement
appeared among them. Another horn, at first little, but afterward more stout
than its fellows, thrust itself up. (Daniel 7:20). It was not content quietly
to find a place of its own, and fill it; it must thrust aside some of the
others, and usurp their places. Three kingdoms were thus plucked up. (Daniel
7:8).
This little horn, as we shall have occasion to notice more fully hereafter,
was the papacy. The three horns plucked up by the roots represented the Heruli,
the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals. (See section: Divided Europe). The reason
for their removal was their opposition to the teachings and claims of the
papal hierarchy.
"In this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great
things." (Daniel 7:8). These are fit emblems of the shrewdness, penetration,
and arrogant claims of an apostate religious organisation.
Let us look at a few of these claims.
Little Horn to "Speak Great Words Against the Most High" (Daniel 7:25)
Lucius Ferraris, in his Prompta Bibliotheca, art. "Papa,"
II, Vol. VI, pp. 26 - 29, declares in his article on the pope, that,
"...the pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere
man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God..."
"The pope alone is deservedly called by the name 'most holy', because
he alone is the vicar of Christ, who is the fountain and source and fullness
of all holiness...'He is likewise the divine monarch and supreme emperor,
and king of kings'...Hence the pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king
of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions...Moreover the superiority
and the power of the Roman Pontiff by no means pertain only to heavenly things,
to earthly things, and to things under the earth, but are even over angels,
than whom he is greater...So that if it were possible that the angels might
err in the faith, or might think contrary to the faith, they could be judged
and excommunicated by the pope...For he is of so great dignity and power that
he forms one and the same tribunal with Christ...The pope is as it were God
on earth...The pope is of so great authority and power that he can modify,
explain, or interpret even divine laws."
Little Horn to "Wear Out the Saints of the Most High" (Daniel 7:25)
It requires but little historical investigation to prove that
Rome, especially during the Dark Ages, carried forward a work of destruction
against the church of God. Abundant evidences can be given showing that prior
to and following the great work of the Reformation, wars, crusades, massacres,
inquisitions, and persecutions of all kinds were the methods adopted to compel
all to submit to the Roman yoke.
The story of the medieval persecution is a frightful one, and we dread to
dwell upon its detail. Yet for a proper understanding of this passage it is
necessary that we recall some of the happenings of these unhappy times. Albert
Barnes, in his comment on this passage, remarks:
"Can anyone doubt that this is true of the papacy? The Inquisition, the
'persecutions of the Waldenses'; the ravages of the Duke of Alva; the fires
at Smithfield; the tortures of Goa - indeed, the whole history of the papacy
may be appealed to in proof that this is applicable to that power. If anything
could have 'worn out the saints of the Most High' - could have cut them off
from the earth so that evangelical religion would have become extinct, it
would have been the persecutions of the papal power. In the year 1208, a crusade
was proclaimed by Pope Innocent III against the Waldenses and Albigenses,
in which a million men perished. From the beginning of the order of the Jesuits,
in the year 1540, to 1580, nine hundred thousand were destroyed. One hundred
and fifty thousand perished by the Inquisition in thirty years. In the Low
Countries fifty thousand persons were hanged, beheaded, burned, and buried
alive, for the crime of heresy, within the space of thirty-eight years from
the edict of Charles V against the Protestants, to the peace of Chateau Cambreses
in 1559...Indeed the slightest history of the papacy will convince any one
that what is here said of 'making war with the saints' (Daniel 7:21), and
'wearing out the saints of the Most High' (Daniel 7:25), is strictly applicable
to that power, and will accurately describe its history." (Albert Barnes,
Notes on Daniel, p.328, comment on Daniel 7:25.)
It was the papal church that made the decision upon the question of heresy,
and it then passed the offenders over to the secular court. But in those days
the secular power was but the tool in the hands of the church. It was under
its control and did its bidding.
Pagan Rome persecuted the Christian church relentlessly. It is estimated that
three million Christians perished in the first three centuries of the Christian
Era. Yet it is said that the primitive Christians prayed for the continuance
of imperial Rome, for they knew that when this form of government should cease,
another far worse persecuting power would arise, which would literally "wear
out the saints of the Most High", as this prophesy declares. Pagan Rome
could slay the infants, but spare the mothers; but papal Rome slew both the
mothers and the infants together. No age, no sex, no condition in life, was
exempt from her relentless rage.
Little Horn to "Think to Change Times and Laws" (Daniel 7:25)
What laws and whose? Not the laws of other earthly governments;
for it was nothing marvellous or strange for one power to change the laws
of another, whenever it could bring such power under its dominion. Not human
laws of any kind; for the little horn had power to change these so far as
its jurisdiction extended; but the times and laws in question were such as
this power should only think to change, but not be able to change. They are
the laws of the same Being to whom the saints belong who are worn out by this
power, namely, the laws of the Most High. And has the papacy attempted this?
- Yes, even this. (See the diagrams comparing God's Law in Exodus 20:3-17
and the Vernacular Catholic Catechisms).
The papacy has added the second commandment of the Decalogue to the first,
making them one, and divided the tenth into two, making the ninth forbid the
coveting of a neighbor's wife, and the tenth that of a neighbor's property
- thus making up the full number ten. Also, the little horn power has changed
the fourth commandment, from the Seventh-day Sabbath to worship on the first
day of the week, which is nowhere in Scripture commanded.
The Ten Commandments: Exodus 20:3-17.
Attempted Change Of God's Ten Commandments By Papal Rome
The papacy has attempted to change the law of God.
The second commandment, forbidding image worship, has been dropped from the
law. The worship of images was one of those corruptions of Christianity which
crept into the church stealthily and almost without notice or observation.
Images and pictures were first introduced into churches, not to be worshipped,
but either in the place of books to give instruction to those who could not
read, or excite devotion in the minds of others. It later was found that the
pictures and images brought into the churches darkened rather than enlightened
the minds of the ignorant - degraded rather than exalted the devotion of the
worshipper. So that, however they might have been intended to direct men's
minds to God, they ended in turning them from Him to the worship of created
things.
|
Papal
Doctrine (Image worship & veneration)
|
Time
|
|
The
use of images & veneration of angels and dead saints.
|
375
AD
|
|
The
Second Council of Nicaea establishes the worship of the cross, images
and relics.
|
787
AD
|
|
Worship
of St Joseph.
|
890
AD
|
The apostle Paul wrote concerning man's wrong idea of God:-
"For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power
and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were
thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened...
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things...
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever, Amen." ( Romans 1:20,
21, 23 & 25).
The "Day Of The Sun" - The Origin Of The Sunday Sabbath
Sunday sacredness is never found in the Old or New Testament,
nor is it anywhere commanded there. In the time of Christ and the Apostles,
the Roman government did not have an official sacred day, but gradually many
of the heathen in the Empire began keeping Sunday holy to Mithra, the Sun
God.
Mithra (also called Mithras) was originally an ancient god of Persia. He had
been worshipped as the god of strength and war for centuries. In the first
and second century, A.D.,he became the most important pagan god of the common
people of the Roman Empire. His holy day was the sun day, the first day of
the week (now called Sunday). By the middle of the second century, Mithric
Sun worship was the greatest rival to Christianity, and the most worldly of
the Christians began favouring adopting some of its principles in order to
attract Mithric followers into the Christian church.
The spirit of concession to paganism opened the way for unconsecrated leaders
of the early church to tamper with the fourth commandment, setting aside the
ancient Sabbath, the day which God had blessed and sanctified (Genesis 2:2,
3), to exalt the festival observed by the heathen as "the venerable day
of the sun". This change was not at first attempted openly. In the first
centuries the true Sabbath had been kept by all Christians. They were jealous
for the honor of God, and, believing that His law is immutable, they zealously
guarded the sacredness of its precepts. But with great subtlety Satan worked
through his agents to bring about his object. That the attention of the people
might be called to the Sunday, it was made a festival in honour of the resurrection
of Christ. Religious services were held upon it; yet it was regarded as a
day of recreation, the Sabbath being still sacredly observed.
To prepare the way for the work which he designed to accomplish, Satan had
led the Jews, before the advent of Christ, to load down the Sabbath with the
most rigorous exactions, making its observance a burden. Now, taking advantage
of the false light in which he had thus caused it to be regarded, he cast
contempt upon it as a Jewish institution. While Christians generally continued
to observe the Sunday as a joyous festival, he led them, in order to show
their hatred of Judaism, to make a Sabbath a fast, a day of sadness and gloom.
In the early part of the fourth century the emperor Constantine issued a decree
making Sunday a public festival throughout the Roman Empire:-
Sunday Law Of Constantine
The day of the sun was reverenced by his pagan subjects and was honoured by Christians; it was the emperor's policy to unite conflicting interests of heathenism and Christianity. He was urged to do this by the bishops of the church, who, inspired by ambition and thirst for power, perceived that if the same day was observed by both Christians and heathen, it would promote the nominal acceptance of Christianity by pagans and thus advance the power and glory of the church. But while many God-fearing Christians were led to regard Sunday as possessing a degree of sacredness, they still held the true Sabbath as the holy of the Lord and observed it in obedience to the fourth commandment.
The archdeceiver had not completed his work. He was resolved to gather the
Christian world under his banner and to exercise his power through the vicegerent,
the proud pontiff who claimed to be the representative of Christ. Through
half-converted pagans, ambitious prelates, and world-loving churchmen he accomplished
his purpose. Vast councils were held from time to time, in which the dignitaries
of the church were convened from all the world. In nearly every council the
Sabbath which God had instituted was pressed down a little lower, while the
Sunday was correspondingly exalted. Thus the pagan festival came finally to
be honoured as a divine institution, while the Bible Sabbath was pronounced
a relic of Judaism, and its observers were declared to be accursed.
The great apostate had succeeded in exalting himself "above all that
is called God, or that is worshipped." (2 Thessalonians 2:4). He had
dared to change the only precept of the divine law that unmistakably points
all mankind to the true and living God. In the fourth commandment, God is
revealed as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and is thereby distinguished
from all false gods. It was a memorial of the work of creation that the seventh
day was sanctified as a rest day for man. It was designed to keep the living
God ever before the minds of men as the source of being and the object of
reverence and worship. Satan strives to turn men from their allegiance to
God, and from rendering obedience to His law; therefore he directs his efforts
especially against that commandment which points to God as the Creator.
Many Protestants now urge that the resurrection of Christ on Sunday made it
the Christian Sabbath. But Scripture evidence is lacking. No such honour was
given to the day by Christ or His apostles. The observance of Sunday as a
Christian institution had its origin in that "mystery of lawlessness"
(2 Thessalonians 2:7, Revised Version) which, even in Paul's day, had begun
its work. Where and when did the Lord adopt this child of the papacy? What
valid reason can be given for a change which the Scriptures do not sanction?
The attempt to change the Biblical Seventh-Day Sabbath to Sunday
" 'Babylon, the mother of harlots' (Roman Catholic Church),
derived much of her teachings from pagan Rome and thence from Babylon. Sun-worship
- that led to her to Sundaykeeping, - was one of those choice bits of paganism
that sprang originally from the heathen lore of ancient Babylon: 'The solar
theology of the "Chaldeans" had a decisive effect upon the final
development of Semitic paganism...[It led to their] seeing the sun the directing
power of the cosmic system. All the Baals were thence forward turned into
suns; the sun itself being the mover of the other stars - like it eternal
and 'unconquerable'...
...Such was the final form reached by the religion of the pagan Semites, and,
following them, by that of the Romans...when they raised 'Sol Invictus' [the
Invisible Sun] to the rank of supreme divinity in the Empire." Franz
V.M. Cumont, "The Frontier Provinces of the East," in "The
Cambridge Ancient History,"
Vol. 11, pp.643, 646-647.
"As we have already noted, except for the Roman and Alexandrian Christians,
the majority of Christians were observing the seventh-day Sabbath at least
as late as the middle of the fifth century [A.D. 450]. The Roman and Alexandrian
Christians were among the converted from heathenism. They began observing
Sunday as a merry religious festival in honour of the Lord's resurrection,
about the later half of the second century A.D. However, they did not teach
that the Lord or His Apostles commanded it. In fact, no ecclesiastical writer
before Eusebius of Caesarea in the fourth century even suggested that either
Christ or His apostles instituted the observance of the first day of the week.
"These Gentile Christians of Rome and Alexandria began calling the first
day of the week 'the Lord's day'. This was not difficult for the pagans of
the Roman Empire who were steeped in sun worship to accept, because they [the
pagans] referred to their sun-god as their 'Lord'. " E. M. Chalmers,
"How Sunday Came Into the Christian Church", p.3.
"Here is the first Sunday Law decree of a Christian council. It was given
about 16 years after Constantine's first Sunday Law of A.D. 321: "Christians
shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [in the original: "sabbato"
- shall not be idle on the Sabbath], but shall work on that day; but the Lord's
day they shall especially honour, and as being Christians, shall, if possible,
do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall
be shut out ["anathema", - excommunicated] from Christ." Council
of Laodicea, c. A.D. 337, Canon 29, quoted in C.J. Hefele, "A History
of the Councils of the Church," Vol.2, p.316.
"It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all
other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance
of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those
who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church." Priest
Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, N.J. "News" of
March 18, 1903
"Protestants... accept Sunday rather than Saturday as the day foe public
worship after the Catholic Church made the change...But the Protestant mind
does not seem to realise that in accepting the Bible, in observing the Sunday,
they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope."
"Our Sunday Visitor", February 5, 1950.
"Prove to me from the Bible alone that I am bound to keep Sunday holy.
There is no such law in the Bible. It is the law of the holy Catholic Church
alone. The Bible says 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy'. The Catholic
Church says, No. By my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command
you to keep the first day of the week. And lo ! The entire civilised world
bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the Holy Catholic Church."
Thomas Enright, CSSR, President, Redemptorist College (Roman Catholic), Kansas
City, Mo., Feb. 18, 1884.
"The Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right
of the divine, infallible authority given to her by the founder, Jesus Christ.
The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant
for observing Sunday. In this matter the Seventh-Day Adventist is the only
consistent Protestant" "The Catholic Universe Bulletin," August
14, 1942, p.4.
"Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change [of the Sabbath
to Sunday] was her act...AND THE ACT IS A MARK of her ecclesiastical
power." from the office of Cardinal Gibbons, through Chancellor H.F.
Thomas, November 11, 1895.
The Bible is your only safe guide. Jesus can help you obey it.
"A Time and Times and the Dividing of Time"
In the sixth century the papacy had become firmly established.
Its seat of power was fixed in the imperial city, and the Bishop of Rome was
declared to be the head over the entire church. Paganism had given place to
the papacy. The dragon had given to the beast "his power, and his seat,
and great authority." (Revelation 13:2). Hence, the Papacy was given
both ecclesiastical and civil powers. And now began the 1260 years of papal
oppression foretold in the prophecies of Daniel and also in Revelation 13:5-7.
1260 Day/Year Prophecy in Daniel & Revelation
Christians were forced to choose either to yield their integrity and accept the papal ceremonies and worship, or to wear away their lives in dungeons or suffer death by the rack, the fagot, or the headman's axe. Now were fulfilled the words of Jesus: "Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake." (Luke 21:16, 17). Persecution opened upon the faithful with greater fury than ever before, and the world became a vast battlefield. For hundreds of years the church of Christ found refuge in seclusion and obscurity. Thus says the prophet: "The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." (Revelation 12:6).
An important principle in prophetic interpretation in connection
with time prophecies is the year-day principle, under which a day of prophetic
time is counted as a calendar year of historic time. For example, before the
Israelites entered the land of Canaan they sent twelve spies ahead to investigate.
The spies were gone forty days, and upon their return the Hebrews, frightened
at their report, refused to go up into the Promised Land. The result was a
sentence the Lord passed upon them: "After the number of days in which
ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear
your iniquities, even forty years." (Numbers 14:34. See also Ezekiel
4:6).
Hence, the prophecy of "a time and times and a dividing of time"
(Daniel 7:25), may be understood by using the Hebrew ancient reckoning of
360 days to a year;-
|
A
Time
|
=
|
360
days (a Jewish year)
|
|
And
Times
|
=
|
720
days (denotes at least two Jewish years)
|
|
A
Dividing of Time
|
=
|
180
days (half a year) = A Dividing of Time
|
|
Total
|
1260
prophetic days (= 1,260 Years)
|
Since a day is equivalent to a year in Bible prophecy, this little horn power would have ecclesiastical and civil power for 1260 years. The Scriptures reveal the same period of time as "forty and two months" (Rev. 13:5) and "a thousand two hundred and threescore days" (Rev. 12:6. See also Rev. 11:13 and 12:14.)
When did the little horn, symbolising the papacy, have this rule? The decree
of the emperor, Justinian, in AD 533, recognised the pope as "head of
all the churches" (Code of Justinian, Book 1, title 1, section 4). The
overwhelming defeat of the Ostrogoths in the siege of Rome, just five years
later AD 538 was a death blow to the third of the three horns that were uprooted
(see Daniel 7:8). From the year 538, then begins the 1260 years of this prophecy
of papal domination, which would extend to 1798. In that year as the Reign
of Terror continued in the French Revolution and the Roman Catholic religion
was set aside in France, the French army, under Berthier, entered Rome and
took the pope prisoner. The date: February 10, 1798. The imprisoned pope died
in exile the following year in Valence, France. A great cry was heard, "Catholicism
is dead". The papacy had received the "deadly wound" of Revelation
13:3. Only the civil arm of power was taken away from the papacy. But we are
told that the wound is to be healed, and that the time is coming when all
the world will "wonder after the beast". (Revelation 13:3).
The accession of the Roman Church to power marked the beginning of the Dark Ages. As her power increased, the darkness deepened. Faith was transferred from Christ, the true foundation, to the pope of Rome. Instead of trusting in the Son of God for forgiveness of sins and for eternal salvation, the people looked to the pope, and to the priests and prelates to whom he delegated authority. They were taught that the pope was their earthly mediator and that none could approach God except through him; and, further, that he stood in the place of God to them and was therefore to be implicitly obeyed.
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
"...Who can forgive sins, but God alone?...the Son of man
hath power upon earth to forgive sins." (Luke 5:21, 24).
A deviation from his requirements was sufficient cause for severest punishment
to be visited upon the bodies and souls of the offenders. Thus the minds of
the people were turned away from God to fallible, erring, and cruel men, nay,
more, to the prince of darkness himself, who exercised his power through them.
Sin was disguised in a garb of sanctity. When the scriptures are suppressed,
and man comes to regard himself as supreme, we need look only for fraud, deception,
and debasing iniquity. With the elevation of human laws and traditions was
manifest the corruption that ever results from setting aside the law of God.
"Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines
the commandments of men.
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the
tradition of men..." (Mark 7:7,8).
They were taught not only to look to the pope as their mediator, but to trust
to works of their own to atone for sin. Long pilgrimages, acts of penance,
the worship of relics, the erection of churches, shrines, and altars, the
payment of large sums to the church - these and many similar acts were enjoined
to appease the wrath of God or to secure his favour; as if God were like men,
to be angered at trifles, or pacified by gifts or acts of penance !
The advancing centuries witnessed a constant increase of error in the doctrines
put forth from Rome. Even before the establishment of the papacy the teachings
of heathen philosophers had received attention and exerted an influence in
the church. Many who professed conversion still clung to the tenets of their
pagan philosophy, and not only continued its study themselves, but urged it
upon others as a means of extending their influence among the heathen.
"For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know
not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for
the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their
hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they
any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under
the sun...for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge,
nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest...in that very
day his thoughts perish." (Ecclesiastes 9:5-10 & Psalms 146:4).
Serious errors were thus introduced into the Christian faith. Prominent among
these were the belief in man's natural immortality and his consciousness in
death. This doctrine laid the foundation upon which Rome established the invocation
of saints and the adoration of the Virgin Mary. From this sprang also the
heresy of eternal torment for the finally impenitent, which was early incorporated
into the papal faith.
"...God is love...As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no
pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn
from his way and live...For evildoers shall be cut off: but those
that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a
little while, and the wicked shall not be...they shall be as
though they had not been." (1 John 4:8; Ezekiel 33:11; Psalms
37:9, 10; Obadiah 16).
Then the way was prepared for the introduction of still another invention
of paganism, which Rome named purgatory, and employed to terrify the credulous
and superstitious multitudes. By this heresy is affirmed the existence of
a place of torment, in which the souls of such as have not merited eternal
damnation are to suffer punishment for their sins, and from which, when freed
from impurity, they are admitted into heaven.
"...the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed
took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and
said, Take, eat: this is my body, which was broken for you:
this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also
he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is
the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink
it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread,
and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
(1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
Still another fabrication was needed to enable Rome to profit by the fears
and the vices of her adherents. This was supplied by the doctrine of indulgences.
Full remission of sins, past, present, and future, and release from all the
pains and penalties incurred were promised to all who would enlist in the
pontiff's wars to extend his temporal dominion, to punish his enemies, or
to exterminate those who dared deny his spiritual supremacy. The people were
also taught that by the payment of money to the church they might free themselves
from sin, and also release the souls of their deceased friends who were confined
in the tormenting flames. By such means did Rome fill her coffers and sustain
the magnificence, luxury, and vice of the pretended representatives of Him
who had no where to lay His head.
The Scriptural ordinance of the Lord's Supper had been supplanted by the idolatrous
sacrifice of the mass. Papal priests pretended, by their senseless mummery,
to convert the simple bread and wine into the actual "body and blood
of Christ."- Cardinal Wiseman, The Real Presence of the Body and Blood
of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist, Proved From Scripture,
lecture 8, sec.3, par.26.
With blasphemous presumption, they openly claimed the power of creating God,
the Creator of all things. Christians were required, on pain of death, to
avow their faith in this horrible, Heaven-insulting heresy. Multitudes who
refused were given to the flames.
Jesuits
- The Movement to counter Protestantism
In the thirteenth century was established that most terrible of all the engines of the papacy - the Inquisition.
Ignatius Layola was the founder of the organisation of the Jesuits, otherwise
known as the Society of Jesus. This group was founded in 1534 in Paris and
its duty is to defend the Roman Catholic church and its faith. In its strict
organisation, it is governed by a Jesuit General or " Black Pope",
of whom, is responsible to the visible Pope or "White Pope". Although
this system was suppressed in 1773, it was restored in 1814. Its members are
learned and vigorously trained. In an article edited by Rev. John Gerrard
of the Catholic Truth Society in 1902, it is said:-
"The mainspring of the whole organisation of the Society is a spirit
of entire obedience: 'Let each one' writes St. Ignatius, 'persuade himself
that those who live under obedience ought to be moved and directed by divine
Providence through their superiors, just as though they were a dead body,
which allows itself to be carried anywhere and to be treated in any manner
whatever, or as an old man's staff, which serves him who holds it in his hand
in whatsoever way he will.' " The Comtesse R. de Courson, in Concerning
Jesuits, Page 6.
'Thus saith the Lord; Cursed is the man that trusteth in man,
and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from
the Lord.' (Jeremiah 17:5). 'Cease ye from man, whose breath
is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of ?' (Isaiah 2:22).
Rome summoned the Jesuits to accomplish the destruction of Protestantism.
The Jesuits were the most cruel, unscrupulous and powerful of all the champions
of popery. Cut off from earthly ties and human interests, dead to the claims
of natural affection, reason and conscience wholly silenced, they knew no
rule, no tie, but that of their order, and no duty but to extend its power.
The gospel of Christ had enabled its adherents to meet danger and endure suffering,
undismayed by cold, hunger, toil, and poverty, to uphold the banner of truth
in face of the rack, the dungeon, and the stake. To combat these forces, Jesuitism
inspired its followers with a fanaticism that enabled them to endure like
dangers, and to oppose to the power of truth all the weaponry of deception.
There was no crime too great for them to commit, no deception too base for
them to practice, no disguise too difficult for them to assume. Let us take
a look at a quote from the Ceremony Of Induction and extreme oath of the Jesuits
(Library Of Congress Catalogue Card # 66 - 43354):-
"My son...you have been taught to act the dissembler; among the Roman Catholics to be a Roman Catholic, and to be a spy even among your own brethren; to believe no man, to trust no man. Among the Reformers, to be a Reformer; among the Huguenots to be a Huguenot, among the Calvinists to be a Calvinist, among the Protestants to generally be a Protestant. And obtaining their confidence to seek then to speak from their pulpits, and to denounce with all the vehemence in your nature our holy religion and the Pope; and even to descend so low as to become a Jew among the Jews, that you might be enabled to gather together all information, for the benefit of your order as a faithful soldier of the Pope."
"I promise and declare that I will, when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed to do...to extirpate and exterminate from the face of the whole earth and that I will spare neither age, sex, or condition, and that I will hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive, those infamous heretics, rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women and crush their infants heads against the wall in order to annihilate forever their excretable race...
...That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poisoned
cup, the strangulating cord, the steel of the poniard, or the leaden bullet,
regardless of the honour, rank, dignity, or authority of the person or persons
whatever may be their condition in life either public or private, as I at
any time maybe directed so to do by any agent of the Pope or superior of the
brotherhood of the Holy Faith, The Society of Jesus."
When appearing as members of their order, they wore a garb of sanctity, visiting prisons and hospitals, ministering to the sick and to the poor, professing to have renounced the world, vowed to perpetual poverty and humility, and bearing the sacred name of Jesus, who went about doing good. But under the blameless exterior was the most criminal and deadly purposes were often concealed.
It was a fundamental principle of the order that the end justifies the means.
By this code, lying, theft, perjury, assassination, were not only pardonable
but commendable, when they served the interests of the church. Under various
disguises the Jesuits worked their way into offices of state, climbing up
to be the counsellors of kings, and shaping the policy of the nations. They
became servants to act as spies upon their masters. They established colleges
for the sons of princes and nobles, and schools for the common people; and
the children of Protestant parents were drawn into an observance of popish
rites. All the outward pomp and display of the Romish worship were brought
to bear to confuse the mind and dazzle and captivate the imagination, and
thus the liberty for which the fathers had toiled and bled was betrayed by
the sons. The Jesuits rapidly spread themselves over Europe, and wherever
they went, there followed a revival of popery.
The prince of darkness wrought with the leaders of the papal hierarchy. In
their secret councils Satan and his angels controlled the minds of evil men,
while unseen in the midst stood an angel of God, taking the fearful record
of their iniquitous decrees and writing the history of deeds too horrible
to human eyes. "Babylon the great" was "drunken with the blood
of the saints." (Revelation 17:6). The mangled forms of millions of martyrs
cried to God for vengeance upon that apostate power; "...How long, O
Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that
dwell on the earth ?". (Revelation 3:10).
Character and Aims of the Papacy
Romanism is now regarded by Protestants with far greater favor
than in former years. In those countries where Catholicism is not in the ascendency,
and the papists are taking a conciliatory course in order to gain influence,
there is an increasing indifference concerning the doctrines that separate
the reformed churches from the papal hierarchy; the opinion is gaining ground,
that, after all, we do not differ so widely upon vital points as has been
supposed, and that a little concession on our part will bring us into a better
understanding with Rome. The time was when Protestants placed a high value
upon the liberty of conscience which has been so dearly purchased. They taught
their children to abhor popery, and held that to seek harmony with Rome would
be disloyalty to God. But how widely different are the sentiments now expressed.
The defenders of popery declare that the church has been maligned; and the
Protestant world are inclined to accept the statement. Many urge that it is
unjust to judge the church of to-day by the abominations and absurdities that
marked her reign during the centuries of ignorance and darkness. They excuse
her horrible cruelty as the result of the barbarism of the times, and plead
that the influence of modern civilization has changed her sentiments.
Have these persons forgotten the claim of infallibility put forth for eight
hundred years by this haughty power? So far from being relinquished, this
claim has been affirmed in the nineteenth century with greater positiveness
than ever before. As Rome asserts that she "never erred, and never can
err," how can she renounce the principles which governed her course in
past ages?
The papal church will never relinquish her claim to infallibility. All that
she has done in her persecution of those who reject her dogmas, she holds
to be right; and would she not repeat the same acts, should the opportunity
be presented? Let the restraints now imposed by secular governments be removed,
and Rome be re-instated in her former power, and there would speedily be a
revival of her tyranny and persecution.
A recent writer[JOSIAH STRONG, D.D., IN "OUR COUNTRY," PP. 46-48.]
speaks thus of the attitude of the papal hierarchy as regards freedom of conscience,
and of the perils which especially threaten the United States from the success
of her policy:--
"There are many who are disposed to attribute any fear of Roman Catholicism
in the United States to bigotry or childishness. Such see nothing in the character
and attitude of Romanism that is hostile to our free institutions, or find
nothing portentous in its growth. Let us, then, first compare some of the
fundamental principles of our government with those of the Catholic Church.
"The Constitution of the United States guarantees liberty of conscience
. Nothing is dearer or more fundamental. Pope Pius IX., in his Encyclical
Letter of August 15, 1854, said: 'The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings
in defense of liberty of conscience, are a most pestilential error--a pest,
of all others, most to be dreaded in a State.' The same pope, in his Encyclical
Letter of December 8, 1864, anathematized 'those who assert the liberty of
conscience and of religious worship,' also 'all such as maintain that the
church may not employ force.'
"Every cardinal, archbishop, and bishop in the Catholic Church takes
an oath of allegiance to the pope, in which occur the following words: 'Heretics,
schismatics, and rebels to our said lord the pope, or his aforesaid successors,
I will to my utmost persecute and oppose.'"
It is true that there are real Christians in the Roman Catholic communion.
Thousands in that church are serving God according to the best light they
have. They are not allowed access to his Word, and therefore they do not discern
the truth. They have never seen the contrast between a living heart-service
and a round of mere forms and ceremonies. God looks with pitying tenderness
upon these souls, educated as they are in a faith that is delusive and unsatisfying.
He will cause rays of light to penetrate the dense darkness that surrounds
them. He will reveal to them the truth, as it is in Jesus, and many will yet
take their position with his people.
But Romanism as a system is no more in harmony with the gospel of Christ now
than at any former period in her history. The Protestant churches are in great
darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church is
far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device
to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce
and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution,
and to undo all that Protestantism has done. Catholicism is gaining ground
upon every side. See the increasing number of her churches and chapels in
Protestant countries. Look at the popularity of her colleges and seminaries
in America, so widely patronized by Protestants Look at the growth of ritualism
in England, and the frequent defections to the ranks of the Catholics. These
things should awaken the anxiety of all who prize the pure principles of the
gospel.
The church's claim to the right to pardon, causes the Romanist to feel at
liberty to sin; and the ordinance of confession, without which her pardon
is not granted, tends also to give license to evil. He who kneels before fallen
man, and opens in confession the secret thoughts and imaginations of his heart,
is debasing his manhood, and degrading every noble instinct of his soul. In
unfolding the sins of his life to a priest,--an erring, sinful mortal, and
too often corrupted with wine and licentiousness,--his standard of character
is lowered, and he is defiled in consequence. His thought of God is degraded
to the likeness of fallen humanity; for the priest stands as a representative
of God. This degrading confession of man to man is the secret spring from
which has flowed much of the evil that is defiling the world, and fitting
it for the final destruction. Yet to him who loves self-indulgence, it is
more pleasing to confess to a fellow-mortal than to open the soul to God.
It is more palatable to human nature to do penance than to renounce sin; it
is easier to mortify the flesh by sackcloth and nettles and galling chains
than to crucify fleshly lusts. Heavy is the yoke which the carnal heart is
willing to bear rather than bow to the yoke of Christ.
Papists place crosses upon their churches, upon their altars, and upon their
garments. Everywhere is seen the insignia of the cross. Everywhere it is outwardly
honored and exalted. But the teachings of Christ are buried beneath a mass
of senseless traditions, false interpretations, and rigorous exactions. The
Saviour's words concerning the bigoted Jews, apply with still greater force
to the Romish leaders: "They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne,
and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with
one of their fingers."[MATT. 23:4.] Conscientious souls are kept in constant
terror, fearing the wrath of an offended God, while the dignitaries of the
church are living in luxury and sensual pleasure.
Christ gives no example in his life for men and women to shut themselves in
monasteries in order to become fitted for Heaven. He has never taught that
love and sympathy must be repressed. The Saviour's heart overflowed with love.
The nearer man approaches to moral perfection, the keener are his sensibilities,
the more acute is his perception of sin, and the deeper his sympathy for the
afflicted. The pope claims to be the vicar of Christ; but how does his character
bear comparison with that of our Saviour? Was Christ ever known to consign
men to the prison or the rack because they did not pay him homage as the King
of Heaven? Was his voice heard condemning to death those who did not accept
him? When he was slighted by the people of a Samaritan village, the apostle
John was filled with indignation, and inquired, "Lord, wilt thou that
we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias
did?" Jesus looked with pity upon his disciple, and rebuked his harsh
spirit, saying, "The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but
to save them."[LUKE 9:54, 56.] How different from the spirit manifested
by Christ is that of his professed vicar.
It is not without reason that the claim has been put forth in Protestant countries,
that Catholicism differs less widely from Protestantism than in former times.
There has been a change; but the change is not in the papacy. Catholicism
indeed resembles much of the Protestantism that now exists, because Protestantism
has so greatly degenerated since the days of the reformers.
A prayerful study of the Bible would show Protestants the real character of
the papacy, and would cause them to abhor and to shun it; but many are so
wise in their own conceit that they feel no need of humbly seeking God that
they may be led into the truth. Although priding themselves on their enlightenment,
they are ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of God. They must
have some means of quieting their consciences; and they seek that which is
least spiritual and humiliating. What they desire is a method of forgetting
God which shall pass as a method of remembering him. The papacy is well adapted
to meet the wants of all these. It is prepared for two classes of mankind,
embracing nearly the whole world,--those who would be saved by their merits,
and those who would be saved in their sins. Here is the secret of its power.
In the movements now in progress in the United States to secure for the institutions
and usages of the church the support of the State, Protestants are following
in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are opening the door for popery to
regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old World.
And that which gives greater significance to this movement is the fact that
the principal object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance,--a
custom which originated with Rome, and which she claims as the sign of her
authority. It is the spirit of the papacy,--the spirit of conformity to worldly
customs, the veneration for human traditions above the commandments of God,--that
is permeating the Protestant churches, and leading them on to do the same
work of Sunday exaltation which the papacy has done before them.
These records of the past clearly reveal the enmity of Rome toward the true
Sabbath and its defenders, and the means which she employs to honor the institution
of her creating. The Word of God teaches that these scenes are to be repeated
as papists and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday.
The prophecy of Revelation 13 declares that the power represented by the beast
with lamb-like horns shall cause "the earth and them which dwell therein"
to worship the papacy--there symbolized by the beast "like unto a leopard."
The beast with two horns is also to say "to them that dwell on the earth,
that they should make an image to the beast;" and, furthermore, it is
to command all, "both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,"
to receive "the mark of the beast."[REV. 13:11-16.] It has been
shown that the United States is the power represented by the beast with lamb-like
horns, and that this prophecy will be fulfilled when the United States shall
enforce Sunday observance, which Rome claims as the special acknowledgment
of her supremacy. But in this homage to papacy the United States will not
be alone. The influence of Rome in the countries that once acknowledged her
dominion, is still far from being destroyed. And prophecy foretells a restoration
of her power. "I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and
his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast."[REV.
13:3.] The infliction of the deadly wound points to the abolition of the papacy
in 1798. After this, says the prophet, "His deadly wound was healed;
and all the world wondered after the beast." Paul states plainly that
the man of sin will continue until the second advent. [2 THESS. 2:8.] To the
very close of time he will carry forward his work of deception. And the Revelator
declares, also referring to the papacy, "All that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life."[REV.
13:8.] In both the Old and the New World, papacy will receive homage in the
honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority
of the Romish Church.
For about forty years, students of prophecy in the United States have presented
this testimony to the world. In the events now taking place is seen a rapid
advance toward the fulfillment of the prediction. With Protestant teachers
there is the same claim of divine authority for Sunday-keeping, and the same
lack of scriptural evidence, as with the papist leaders who fabricated miracles
to supply the place of a command from God. The assertion that God's judgments
are visited upon men for their violation of the Sunday-sabbath, will be repeated;
already it is beginning to be urged. And a movement to enforce Sunday observance
is fast gaining ground.
Marvelous in her shrewdness and cunning is the Romish Church. She can read
what is to be. She bides her time, seeing that the Protestant churches are
paying her homage in their acceptance of the false Sabbath, and that they
are preparing to enforce it by the very means which she herself employed in
by-gone days. Those who reject the light of truth will yet seek the aid of
this self-styled infallible power to exalt an institution that originated
with her. How readily she will come to the help of Protestants in this work,
it is not difficult to conjecture. Who understands better than the papal leaders
how to deal with those who are disobedient to the church?
The Roman Church, with all its ramifications throughout the world, forms one
vast organization, under the control, and designed to serve the interests,
of the papal see. Its millions of communicants, in every country on the globe,
are instructed to hold themselves as bound in allegiance to the pope. Whatever
their nationality or their government, they are to regard the authority of
the church as above all other. Though they may take the oath pledging their
loyalty to the State, yet back of this lies the vow of obedience to Rome,
absolving them from every pledge inimical to her interests.
Protestants little know what they are doing when they propose to accept the
aid of Rome in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent upon the
accomplishment of their purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power,
to recover her lost supremacy. Let history testify of her artful and persistent
efforts to insinuate herself into the affairs of nations; and having gained
a foothold, to further her own aims, even at the ruin of princes and people.
Romanism openly puts forth the claim that the pope "can pronounce sentences
and judgments in contradiction to the right of nations, to the law of God
and man." [THE "DECRETALIA."]
And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome that she never changes.
The principles of Gregory VII. and Innocent III. are still the principles
of the Romish Church. And had she but the power, she would put them in practice
with as much vigor now as in past centuries. Let the principle once be established
in the United States, that the church may employ or control the power of the
State; that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in short,
that the authority of church and State is to dominate the conscience, and
the triumph of Rome in this country is assured.
God's Word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded,
and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are,
only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into
power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in
the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive
structures, in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be
repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to
further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that
she desires is vantage-ground, and this is already being given her. We shall
soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever
shall believe and obey the Word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.
The Impending Conflict--Its Causes
The iniquity and spiritual darkness that prevailed under the
supremacy of Rome were the inevitable result of her suppression of the Scriptures;
but where is to be found the cause of the widespread infidelity, the rejection
of the law of God, and the consequent corruption, under the full blaze of
gospel light in an age of religious freedom? Now that Satan can no longer
keep the world under his control by withholding the Scriptures, he resorts
to other means to accomplish the same object. To destroy faith in the Bible
serves his purpose as well as to destroy the Bible itself. By introducing
the belief that God's law is not binding, he as effectually leads men to transgress
as if they were wholly ignorant of its precepts. And now, as in former ages,
he has worked through the church to further his designs. The religious organizations
of the day have refused to listen to unpopular truths plainly brought to view
in the Scriptures, and in combating them they have adopted interpretations
and taken positions which have sown broadcast the seeds of skepticism. Clinging
to the papal error of natural immortality and man's consciousness in death,
they have rejected the only defense against the delusions of Spiritualism.
The doctrine of eternal torment has led many to disbelieve the Bible. And
as the claims of the fourth commandment are urged upon the people, it is found
that the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is enjoined; and as the only
way to free themselves from a duty which they are unwilling to perform, popular
teachers declare that the law of God is no longer binding. Thus they cast
away the law and the Sabbath together. As the work of Sabbath reform extends,
this rejection of the divine law to avoid the claims of the fourth commandment
will become well-nigh universal. The teachings of religious leaders have opened
the door to infidelity, to Spiritualism, and to contempt for God's holy law,
and upon these leaders rests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that
exists in the Christian world.
Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption
is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called "Christian
Sabbath," and that the enforcement of Sunday observance would greatly
improve the morals of society. This claim is especially urged in America,
where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been most widely preached. Here
the temperance work, one of the most prominent and important of moral reforms,
is often combined with the Sunday movement, and the advocates of the latter
represent themselves as laboring to promote the highest interest of society;
and those who refuse to unite with them are denounced as the enemies of temperance
and reform. But the fact that a movement to establish error is connected with
a work which is in itself good, is not an argument in favor of the error.
We may disguise poison by mingling it with wholesome food, but we do not change
its nature. On the contrary, it is rendered more dangerous, as it is more
likely to be taken unawares. It is one of Satan's devices to combine with
falsehood just enough truth to give it plausibility. The leaders of the Sunday
movement may advocate reforms which the people need, principles which are
in harmony with the Bible, yet while there is with these a requirement which
is contrary to God's law, his servants cannot unite with them. Nothing can
justify them in setting aside the commandments of God for the precepts of
men.
Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul, and Sunday sacredness,
Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the
foundation of Spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome.
The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their
hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism; they will reach over
the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of
this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling
on the rights of conscience.
As Spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day,
it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after
the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of
light. Through the agency of Spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick
will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the
spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions
of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.
The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now
hardly distinguishable. Church-members love what the world loves, and are
ready to join with them; and Satan determines to unite them in one body, and
thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of Spiritualism.
Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church, will
be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having
cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants,
and worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power,
and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the
world, and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.
And then the great deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God are
causing these evils. The class that have provoked the displeasure of Heaven
will charge all their troubles upon those whose obedience to God's commandments
is a perpetual reproof to transgressors. It will be declared that men are
offending God by the violation of the Sunday-sabbath, that this sin has brought
calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly
enforced, and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment,
thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing
their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity. Thus the accusation
urged of old against the servant of God will be repeated, and upon grounds
equally well established. "And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah,
that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered,
I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have
forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim."[1
KINGS 18:17, 18.] As the wrath of the people shall be excited by false charges,
they will pursue a course toward God's ambassadors very similar to that which
apostate Israel pursued toward Elijah.
The miracle-working power manifested through Spiritualism will exert its influence
against those who choose to obey God rather than men. Communications from
the spirits will declare that God has sent them to convince the rejecters
of Sunday of their error, affirming that the laws of the land should be obeyed
as the law of God. They will lament the great wickedness in the world, and
second the testimony of religious teachers, that the degraded state of morals
is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will be the indignation excited
against all who refuse to accept their testimony.
God never forces the will or the conscience; but Satan's constant resort--to
gain control of those whom he cannot otherwise seduce--is compulsion by cruelty.
Through fear or force he endeavors to rule the conscience, and to secure homage
to himself. To accomplish this, he works through both religious and secular
authorities, moving them to the enforcement of human laws in defiance of the
law of God.
Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and
order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and
corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious
scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority.
They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who
deny the obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty
of yielding obedience to the civil authorities as ordained of God. In legislative
halls and courts of justice, commandment-keepers will be misrepresented and
condemned. A false coloring will be given to their words; the worst construction
will be put upon their motives.
The dignitaries of church and State will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel
all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied
by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice
and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in
order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing
Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice,
will no longer be respected. In the soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified
the prophet's words: "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God,
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."[REV. 12:17.]
"I saw another angel come down from Heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." "And I heard another voice from Heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."[REV. 18:1, 2, 4.]
This scripture points forward to a time when the announcement of the fall
of Babylon, as made by the second angel [REV 14:8.] of Revelation 14, is to
be repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been
entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message
was first given, in the summer of 1844. A terrible condition of the religious
world is here described. With every rejection of truth, the minds of the people
will become darker, their hearts more stubborn, until they are entrenched
in an infidel hardihood. In defiance of the warnings which God has given,
they will continue to trample upon one of the precepts of the decalogue, until
they are led to persecute those who hold it sacred. Christ is set at naught
in the contempt placed upon his Word and his people. As the teachings of Spiritualism
are accepted by the churches, the restraint imposed upon the carnal heart
is removed, and the profession of religion will become a cloak to conceal
the basest iniquity. A belief in spiritual manifestations opens the door to
seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, and thus the influence of evil
angels will be felt in the churches.
Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared,
"Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."[REV.
18:5.] She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about
to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation
of his judgments, these faithful ones must be called out, that they "partake
not of her sins, and receive not of her plagues." Hence the movement
symbolized by the angel coming down from Heaven, lightening the earth with
his glory, and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of
Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard, "Come out
of her, my people." These announcements, uniting with the third angel's
message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the
earth.
Fearful is the issue to which the world is to be brought. The powers of earth,
uniting to war against the commandments of God, will decree that all, "both
small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,"[REV. 13:16.] shall conform
to the customs of the church by the observance of the false sabbath. All who
refuse compliance will be visited with civil penalties, and it will finally
be declared that they are deserving of death. On the other hand, the law of
God enjoining the Creator's rest-day demands obedience, and threatens wrath
against all who transgress its precepts.
With the issue thus clearly brought before him, whoever shall trample upon
God's law to obey a human enactment, receives the mark of the beast; he accepts
the sign of allegiance to the power which he chooses to obey instead of God.
The warning from Heaven is, "If any man worship the beast and his image,
and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink
of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into
the cup of his indignation."[REV. 14:9, 10.]
But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until the truth has been brought
home to his mind and conscience, and has been rejected. There are many who
have never had an opportunity to hear the special truths for this time. The
obligation of the fourth commandment has never been set before them in its
true light. He who reads every heart, and tries every motive, will leave none
who desire a knowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to the issues of the
controversy. The decree is not to be urged upon the people blindly. Every
one is to have sufficient light to make his decision intelligently.
The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty; for it is the point of truth
especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon
men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God
and those who serve him not. While the observance of the false sabbath in
compliance with the law of the State, contrary to the fourth commandment,
will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the
keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God's law, is an evidence of
loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign of submission
to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other, choosing the
token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God.
Heretofore those who presented the truths of the third angel's message have
often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that religious intolerance
would gain control in the United States, that church and State would unite
to persecute those who keep the commandments of God, have been pronounced
groundless and absurd. It has been confidently declared that this land could
never become other than what it has been, the defender of religious freedom.
But as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, the
event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third
message will produce an effect which it could not have had before.
In every generation God has sent his servants to rebuke sin, both in the world
and in the church. But the people desire smooth things spoken to them, and
the pure, unvarnished truth is not acceptable. Many reformers, in entering
upon their work, determined to exercise great prudence in attacking the sins
of the church and the nation. They hoped, by the example of a pure Christian
life, to lead the people back to the doctrines of the Bible. But the Spirit
of God came upon them as it came upon Elijah, moving him to rebuke the sins
of a wicked king and an apostate people; they could not refrain from preaching
the plain utterances of the Bible,--doctrines which they had been reluctant
to present. They were impelled to zealously declare the truth, and the danger
which threatened souls. The words which the Lord gave them they uttered, fearless
of consequences, and the people were compelled to hear the warning.
Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time comes
for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble
instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to his service.
The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of his Spirit than by
the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained
to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. The
sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances
of the church by civil authority, the inroads of Spiritualism, the stealthy
but rapid progress of the papal power,--all will be unmasked. By these solemn
warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen
who have never heard words like these. In amazement they hear the testimony
that Babylon is the church, fallen because of her errors and sins, because
of her rejection of the truth sent to her from Heaven. As the people go to
their former teachers with the eager inquiry, Are these things so? the ministers
present fables, prophesy smooth things, to soothe their fears, and quiet the
awakened conscience. But since many refuse to be satisfied with the mere authority
of men, and demand a plain "Thus saith the Lord," the popular ministry,
like the Pharisees of old, filled with anger as their authority is questioned,
will denounce the message as of Satan, and stir up the sin-loving multitudes
to revile and persecute those who proclaim it.
As the controversy extends into new fields, and the minds of the people are
called to God's down-trodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending the
message will only madden those who oppose it. The clergy will put forth almost
superhuman efforts to shut away the light, lest it should shine upon their
flocks. By every means at their command they will endeavor to suppress the
discussion of these vital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm
of civil power, and in this work, papists and Protestants unite. As the movement
for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided, the law will be invoked
against commandment-keepers. They will be threatened with fines and imprisonment,
and some will be offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages,
as inducements to renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is, "Show
us from the Word of God our error,"--the same plea that was made by Luther
under similar circumstances. Those who are arraigned before the courts make
a strong vindication of the truth, and some who hear them are led to take
their stand to keep all the commandments of God. Thus light will be brought
before thousands who otherwise would know nothing of these truths.
As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third
angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth,
abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with
the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly
the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose
the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced
in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become
the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are
brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the
most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false
reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.
But so long as Jesus remains man's intercessor in the sanctuary above, the
restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is felt by rulers and people. It
still controls, to some extent, the laws of the land. Were it not for these
laws, the condition of the world would be much worse than it now is. While
many of our rulers are active agents of Satan, God also has his agents among
the leading men of the nation. The enemy moves upon his servants to propose
measures that would greatly impede the work of God; but statesmen who fear
the Lord are influenced by holy angels to oppose such propositions with unanswerable
arguments. Thus a few men will hold in check a powerful current of evil. The
opposition of the enemies of truth will be restrained that the third angel's
message may do its work. When the final warning shall be given, it will arrest
the attention of these leading men through whom the Lord is now working, and
some of them will accept it, and will stand with the people of God through
the time of trouble.
The angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel's message is to
lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted
power is here foretold. The Advent movement of 1840-44 was a glorious manifestation
of the power of God; the first angel's message was carried to every missionary
station in the world, and in some countries there was the greatest religious
interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the
sixteenth century; but these are to be far exceeded by the mighty movement
under the last warning of the third angel.
The work will be similar to that of the day of Pentecost. As the "former
rain" was given, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the opening
of the gospel, to cause the upspringing of the precious seed, so the "latter
rain" will be given at its close, for the ripening of the harvest. "Then
shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord; his going forth is prepared
as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former
rain unto the earth." [HOSEA 6:3.] "Be glad then, ye children of
Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he hath given you the former rain
moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain,
and the latter rain."[JOEL 2:23.] "In the last days, saith God,
I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." "And it shall come
to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."[ACTS
2:17, 21.] The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation
of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled
in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel, are again
to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here are "the times
of refreshing" to which the apostle Peter looked forward when he said,
"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out [in the investigative Judgment], when the times of refreshing shall come
from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus."[ACTS 3:19, 20.]
Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration,
will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from Heaven. By thousands
of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be
wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers.
Satan also works with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in
the sight of men.[REV. 13:13.] Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought
to take their stand.
The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction
of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The seed has been
sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications distributed
by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet many whose minds were
impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding
obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in
its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held
them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now.
Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined
against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord's side.
"At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."[DAN. 12:1.]
When the third angel's message closes, mercy no longer pleads for the guilty
inhabitants of the earth. The people of God have accomplished their work.
They have received "the latter rain," "the refreshing from
the presence of the Lord," and they are prepared for the trying hour
before them. Angels are hastening to and fro in Heaven. An angel returning
from the earth announces that his work is done; the final test has been brought
upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to the divine precepts
have received "the seal of the living God. Then Jesus ceases his intercession
in the sanctuary above. He lifts his hands, and with a loud voice says, "It
is done;" and all the angelic host lay off their crowns as he makes the
solemn announcement: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and
he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let
him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still."[REV.
22:11.] Every case has been decided for life or death. Christ has made the
atonement for his people, and blotted out their sins. The number of his subjects
is made up; "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom
under the whole heaven," is about to be given to the heirs of salvation,
and Jesus is to reign as King of kings, and Lord of lords.
When he leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth.
In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without
an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and
Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God's long-suffering has
ended. The world has rejected his mercy, despised his love, and trampled upon
his law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit
of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by
divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then
plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the
angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all
the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved
in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old.
A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians, and filled the
land with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering the people,
one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished.
The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will
be exercised by evil angels when he permits. There are forces now ready, and
only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere.
When God's presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation, priests
and people knew it not. Though under the control of Satan, and swayed by the
most horrible and malignant passions, they still regarded themselves as the
chosen of God. The ministration in the temple continued; sacrifices were offered
upon its polluted altars, and daily the divine blessing was invoked upon a
people guilty of the blood of God's dear Son, and seeking to slay his ministers
and apostles. So when the irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pronounced,
and the destiny of the world has been forever fixed, the inhabitants of the
earth will know it not. The forms of religion will be continued by a people
from whom the Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn; and the Satanic zeal
with which the prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of
his malignant designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for God.
As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom,
and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance
of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the
popular demand, will make them objects of universal execration. It will be
urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church
and a law of the State, ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them
to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness.
The same argument eighteen hundred years ago was brought against Christ by
the "rulers of the people." "It is expedient for us,"
said the wily Caiaphas, "that one man should die for the people, and
that the whole nation perish not."[JOHN 11:50.] This argument will appear
conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the
Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest
punishment, and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them
to death. Romanism in the Old World, and apostate Protestantism in the New,
will pursue a similar course toward those who honor all the divine precepts.
The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and
distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob's trouble. "Thus
saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace."
"All faces are turned into paleness. Alas! for that day is great, so
that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall
be saved out of it."[JER. 30:5-7.]
Jacob's night of anguish, when he wrestled in prayer for deliverance from
the hand of Esau,[GEN. 32:24-30.] represents the experience of God's people
in the time of trouble. Because of the deception practiced to secure his father's
blessing, intended for Esau, Jacob had fled for his life, alarmed by his brother's
deadly threats. After remaining for many years an exile, he had set out, at
God's command, to return with his wives and children, his flocks and herds,
to his native country. On reaching the borders of the land, he was filled
with terror by the tidings of Esau's approach at the head of a band of warriors,
doubtless bent upon revenge. Jacob's company, unarmed and defenseless, seemed
about to fall helpless victims of violence and slaughter. And to the burden
of anxiety and fear was added the crushing weight of self-reproach; for it
was his own sin that had brought this danger. His only hope was in the mercy
of God; his only defense must be prayer. Yet he leaves nothing undone on his
own part to atone for the wrong to his brother, and to avert the threatened
danger. So should the followers of Christ, as they approach the time of trouble,
make every exertion to place themselves in a proper light before the people,
to disarm prejudice, and to avert the danger which threatens liberty of conscience.
As Satan influenced Esau to march against Jacob, so he will stir up the wicked
to destroy God's people in the time of trouble. And as he accused Jacob, he
will urge his accusations against the people of God. He numbers the world
as his subjects; but the little company who keep the commandments of God are
resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph
would be complete. He sees that holy angels are guarding them, and he infers
that their sins have been pardoned; but he does not know that their cases
have been decided in the sanctuary above. He has an accurate knowledge of
the sins which he has tempted them to commit, and he presents these before
God in the most exaggerated light, representing this people to be just as
deserving as himself of exclusion from the favor of God. He declares that
the Lord cannot in justice forgive their sins, and yet destroy him and his
angels. He claims them as his prey, and demands that they be given into his
hands to destroy.
Though God's people will be surrounded by enemies who are bent upon their
destruction, yet the anguish which they suffer is not a dread of persecution
for the truth's sake; they fear that every sin has not been repented of, and
that through some fault in themselves they shall fail to realize the fulfillment
of the Saviour's promise, "I will keep thee from the hour of temptation
which shall come upon all the world."[REV. 3:10.] If they could have
the assurance of pardon, they would not shrink from torture or death; but
should they prove unworthy, and lose their lives because of their own defects
of character, then God's holy name would be reproached.
They afflict their souls before God, pointing to their past repentance of
their many sins, and pleading the Saviour's promise, "Let him take hold
of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with
me."[ISA. 27:5.] Their faith does not fail because their prayers are
not immediately answered. Though suffering the keenest anxiety, terror, and
distress, they do not cease their intercessions. They lay hold of the strength
of God as Jacob laid hold of the Angel; and the language of their souls is,
"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."
Had not Jacob previously repented of his sin in obtaining the birthright by
fraud, God would not have heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his life.
So, in the time of trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed sins to appear
before them while tortured with fear and anguish, they would be overwhelmed;
despair would cut off their faith, and they could not have confidence to plead
with God for deliverance. But while they have a deep sense of their unworthiness,
they have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins have gone beforehand to
Judgment, and have been blotted out; and they cannot bring them to remembrance.
Jacob's history is also an assurance that God will not cast off those who
have been deceived, and tempted, and betrayed into sin, but who have returned
unto him with true repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this class, God
will send his angels to comfort and protect them in the time of peril. The
assaults of Satan are fierce and determined, his delusions are terrible; but
the Lord's eye is upon his people, and his ear listens to their cries. Their
affliction is great, the flames of the furnace seem about to consume them;
but the Refiner will bring them forth as gold tried in the fire. God's love
for his children during the period of their severest trial is as strong and
tender as in the days of their sunniest prosperity; but it is needful for
them to be placed in the furnace fire; their earthliness must be consumed
that the image of Christ may be perfectly reflected.
The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can
endure weariness, delay, and hunger,--a faith that will not faint, though
severely tried. The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that
time. Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory
is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of
God's promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will
succeed as he succeeded. Those who are unwilling to deny self, to agonize
before God, to pray long and earnestly for his blessing, will not obtain it.
Wrestling with God--how few know what it is! How few have ever had their souls
drawn out after God with intensity of desire until every power is on the stretch.
When waves of despair which no language can express sweep over the suppliant,
how few cling with unyielding faith to the promises of God.
The "time of trouble such as never was," is soon to open upon us;
and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess, and which many
are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in
anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us.
The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that
time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God. Though Noah,
Daniel, and Job were in the land, "as I live, saith the Lord God, they
shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls
by their righteousness."[EZE. 14:20.]
Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should
seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour
be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts
some point where he can gain a foot-hold; some sinful desire is cherished,
by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared
of himself, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."[JOHN
14:30.] Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to
gain the victory. He had kept his Father's commandments, and there was no
sin in him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in
which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.
Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens,
in token of the power of miracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will
go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them
in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against
the government of Heaven. By these agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike
deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be Christ himself, and claiming
the title and worship which belong to the world's Redeemer. They will perform
wonderful miracles of healing, and will profess to have revelations from Heaven
contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures.
As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate
Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour's advent as the
consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that
Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself
among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description
of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation.[REV. 1:13-15.]
"And
in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes
were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned
in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters."
The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air., "Christ has come! Christ has come!" The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands, and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed his disciples when he was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give heed to these sorceries, saying, This is "the great power of God."[ACTS. 8:10.]
But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false christ
are not in accordance with the Scriptures His blessing is pronounced upon
the worshipers of the beast and his image,--the very class upon whom the Bible
declares that God's unmingled wrath shall be poured out. And, furthermore,
Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ's advent. The Saviour
has warned his people against deception upon this point, and has clearly foretold
the manner of his second coming. "There shall arise false christs, and
false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if
it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. . . . Wherefore if they
shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he
is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out
of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the
Son of man be."[MATT. 24:24-27, 31, 25:31; REV. 1:7; 1 THESS. 4:16, 17.]
This coming, there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will be universally
known--witnessed by the whole world.
Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures, and who have
received the love of the truth, will be shielded from the powerful delusion
that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the
deceiver in his disguise. To all, the testing time will come. By the sifting
of temptation, the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God
now so firmly established upon his Word that they would not yield to the evidence
of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible, and the
Bible only? Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining a preparation
to stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs as to hedge up their way,
entangle them with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome
burden, that their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life,
and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief.
As the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom against commandment-keepers
shall withdraw the protection of government, and abandon them to those who
desire their destruction, the people of God will flee from the cities and
villages, and associate together in companies, dwelling in the most desolate
and solitary places. Many will find refuge in the strongholds of the mountains.
Like the Christians of the Piedmont valleys, they will make the high places
of the earth their sanctuaries, and will thank God for the "munitions
of rocks."[ISA. 33.16.] But many of all nations, and all classes, high
and low, rich and poor, black and white, will be cast into the most unjust
and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days, bound in chains, shut
in by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, some apparently left to die of starvation
in dark and loathsome dungeons. No human ear is open to hear their moans;
no human hand is ready to lend them help.
Will the Lord forget his people in this trying hour? Did he forget faithful
Noah when judgments were visited upon the antediluvian world? Did he forget
Lot when the fire came down from Heaven to consume the cities of the plain?
Did he forget Joseph surrounded by idolaters in Egypt? Did he forget Elijah
when the oath of Jezebel threatened him with the fate of the prophets of Baal?
Did he forget Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his prison-house? Did
he forget the three worthies in the fiery furnace? or Daniel in the den of
lions.?
"Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands."[ISA. 49:14-16.]
The Lord of hosts has said, "He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple
of his eye."[ZECH. 2:8.]
Though enemies may thrust them into prison, yet dungeon walls cannot cut off
the communication between their souls and Christ. One who sees their every
weakness, who is acquainted with every trial, is above all earthly powers;
and angels will come to them in lonely cells, bringing light and peace from
Heaven. The prison will be as a palace; for the rich in faith dwell there,
and the gloomy walls will be lighted up with heavenly light, as when Paul
and Silas prayed and sung praises at midnight in the Philippian dungeon.
When Christ ceases his intercession in the sanctuary, the unmingled wrath
threatened against those who worship the beast and his image and receive his
mark,[REV. 14:9, 10.] will be poured out. The plagues upon Egypt when God
was about to deliver Israel, were similar in character to those more terrible
and extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the final
deliverance of God's people. Says the Revelator, in describing these terrific
scourges, "There fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which
had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image."
The sea "became as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died
in the sea." And "the rivers and fountains of waters became blood."[REV.
16:2-6, 8, 9.] Terrible as these inflictions are, God's justice stands fully
vindicated. The angel of God declares, "Thou art righteous, O Lord, .
. . because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints
and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.[REV.
16:2-6, 8, 9.] By condemning the people of God to death they have as truly
incurred the guilt of their blood, as if it had been shed by their hands.
In like manner Christ declared the Jews of his time guilty of all the blood
of holy men which had been shed since the days of Abel; for they possessed
the same spirit, and were seeking to do the same work, with these murderers
of the prophets.
In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun "to scorch men
with fire. And men were scorched with great heat."[REV. 16:2-6, 8, 9.]
The prophets thus describe the condition of the earth at this fearful time:
"The land mourneth;. . . because the harvest of the field is perished."
"All the trees of the field are withered; because joy is withered away
from the sons of men." "The seed is rotten under their clods, the
garners are laid desolate." "How do the beasts groan! the herds
of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture. . . . The rivers of
waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness."
"The songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord
God; there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them
forth with silence."[JOEL 1:10-12, 17-20; AMOS 8:3.]
These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be
wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever been
known to mortals. All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of probation,
have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has shielded the
sinner from receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in the final Judgment,
wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy.
In that day, multitudes will desire the shelter of God's mercy which they
have so long despised. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that
I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for
water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea
to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to
seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."[AMOS 8:11, 12.]
The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while persecuted and
distressed, while they endure privation, and suffer for want of food, they
will not be left to perish. That God who cared for Elijah will not pass by
one of his self-sacrificing children. He who numbers the hairs of their head
will care for them, and in time of famine they shall be satisfied. While the
wicked are dying from hunger and pestilence, angels will shield the righteous,
and supply their wants. To him that "walketh righteously" is the
promise, "Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." "When
the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth
for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake
them."[ISA. 33:16; 41:17.]
"The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The
sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve
thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul." "He shall deliver
thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall
cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth
shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by
night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh
in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall
fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come
nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the
wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most
High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague
come nigh thy dwelling."[PS. 121:5-7; 91:3-10.]
Could men see with heavenly vision, they would behold companies of angels
that excel in strength stationed about those who have kept the word of Christ's
patience. With sympathizing tenderness, angels have witnessed their distress,
and have heard their prayers. They are waiting the word of their Commander
to snatch them from their peril. But they must wait yet a little longer. The
people of God must drink of the cup, and be baptized with the baptism. The
very delay, so painful to them, is the best answer to their petitions. As
they endeavor to wait trustingly for the Lord to work, they are led to exercise
faith, hope, and patience, which have been too little exercised during their
religious experience. Yet for the elect's sake, the time of trouble will be
shortened. "Shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night
unto him? . . . I tell you that he will avenge them speedily."[LUKE 18:7,
8.] The end will come more quickly than men expect. The wheat will be gathered
and bound in sheaves for the garner of God; the tares will be bound as fagots
for the fires of destruction.
With earnest longing, God's people await the tokens of their coming King.
As the watchmen are accosted, "What of the night?" the answer is
given unfalteringly, "'The morning cometh, and also the night.'[ISA.
21:11, 12.] Light is gleaming upon the clouds above the mountain tops. Soon
there will be a revealing of His glory. The Sun of Righteousness is about
to shine forth. The morning and the night are both at hand,--the opening of
endless day to the righteous, the settling down of eternal night to the wicked."
The eye of God, looking down the ages, was fixed upon the crisis which his
people are to meet, when earthly powers shall be arrayed against them. Like
the captive exile, they will be in fear of death by starvation or by violence.
But the Holy One who divided the Red Sea before Israel, will manifest his
mighty power and turn their captivity. "They shall be mine, saith the
Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them,
as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."[MAL. 3:17.] If the blood
of Christ's faithful witnesses were shed at this time, it would not, like
the blood of the martyrs, be as seed sown to yield a harvest for God. Their
fidelity would not be a testimony to convince others of the truth; for the
obdurate heart has beaten back the waves of mercy until they return no more
If the righteous were now left to fall a prey to their enemies it would be
a triumph for the prince of darkness. Says the psalmist, "In the time
of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me."[PS. 27:5.] Christ has spoken: "Come, my people,
enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself
as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold,
the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity."[ISA. 26:20, 21.] Glorious will be the deliverance of
those who have patiently waited for his coming, and whose names are written
in the book of life.
When the protection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those who honor the law of God, there will be, in different lands, a simultaneous movement for their destruction. As the time appointed in the decree draws near, the people will conspire to root out the hated sect. It will be determined to strike in one night a decisive blow, which shall utterly silence the voice of dissent and reproof.
The people of God--some in prison cells, some hidden in solitary retreats
in the forests and the mountains--still plead for divine protection, while
in every quarter companies of armed men, urged on by hosts of evil angels,
are preparing for the work of death. It is now, in the hour of utmost extremity,
that the God of Israel will interpose for the deliverance of his chosen. Saith
the Lord: "Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity
is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth . . . to come into the mountain
of Jehovah, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall cause his glorious
voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation
of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and
tempest, and hailstones."[ISA. 30:29, 30.]
With shouts of triumph, jeering, and imprecation, throngs of evil men are
about to rush upon their prey, when lo, a dense blackness, deeper than the
darkness of the night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shining with
the glory from the throne of God, spans the heavens, and seems to encircle
each praying company. The angry multitudes are suddenly arrested. Their mocking
cries die away. The objects of their murderous rage are forgotten. With fearful
forebodings they gaze upon the symbol of God's covenant, and long to be shielded
from its overpowering brightness.
It is at midnight that God manifests his power for the deliverance of his
people. The sun appears, shining in its strength. Signs and wonders follow
in quick succession. The wicked look with terror and amazement upon the scene,
while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance.
Everything in nature seems turned out of its course. The streams cease to
flow. Dark, heavy clouds come up, and clash against each other. In the midst
of the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, whence comes
the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying, "It is done."[REV.
16:17, 18.]
That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake,
"such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake
and so great."[REV. 16:17, 18.] The firmament appears to open and shut.
The glory from the throne of God seems flashing through. The mountains shake
like a reed in the wind, and ragged rocks are scattered on every side. There
is a roar as of a coming tempest. The sea is lashed into fury. There is heard
the shriek of the hurricane, like the voice of demons upon a mission of destruction.
The whole earth heaves and swells like the waves of the sea. Its surface is
breaking up. Its very foundations seem to be giving way. Mountain chains are
sinking. Inhabited islands disappear. The seaports that have become like Sodom
for wickedness, are swallowed up by the angry waters. Babylon the Great hath
come in remembrance before God, "to give unto her the cup of the wine
of the fierceness of his wrath."[REV. 16: 19, 21.] Great hailstones,
every one "about the weight of a talent," are doing their work of
destruction. The proudest cities of the earth are laid low. The lordly palaces,
upon which the world's great men have lavished their wealth in order to glorify
themselves, are crumbling to ruin before their eyes. Prison walls are rent
asunder, and God's people, who have been held in bondage for their faith,
are set free.
Graves are opened, and "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth"
"awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."[DAN.
12:2.] All who have died in the faith of the third angel's message come forth
from the tomb glorified, to hear God's covenant of peace with those who have
kept his law. "They also which pierced Him,"[REV. 1:7.] those that
mocked and derided Christ's dying agonies, and the most violent opposers of
his truth and his people, are raised to behold him in his glory, and to see
the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.
While these words of holy trust ascend to God, the clouds sweep back, and
the starry heavens are seen, unspeakably glorious in contrast with the black
and angry firmament on either side. The glory of the celestial city streams
from the gates ajar. Then there appears against the sky a hand holding two
tables of stone folded together. Says the prophet, "The heavens shall
declare His righteousness; for God is judge himself."[PS. 50:6.] That
holy law, God's righteousness, that amid thunder and flame was proclaimed
from Sinai as the guide of life, is now revealed to men as the rule of judgment.
The hand opens the tables, and there are seen the precepts of the decalogue,
traced as with a pen of fire. The words are so plain that all can read them.
Memory is aroused, the darkness of superstition and heresy is swept from every
mind, and God's ten words, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, are presented
to the view of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of
a man's hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour, and which seems
in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to
be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws
nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great
white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow
of the covenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a "man
of sorrows," to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, he comes, victor
in Heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead. "Faithful and
True," "in righteousness he doth judge and make war." And "the
armies in Heaven follow him."[REV. 19:11, 14.] With anthems of celestial
melody the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend him on his way.
The firmament seems filled with radiant forms,-- "ten thousand times
ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." No human pen can portray the
scene, nor mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. "His glory
covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness
was as the light."[HAB. 3:3, 4.] As the living cloud comes still nearer,
every eye beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred
head, but a diadem of glory rests on his holy brow. His countenance outshines
the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. "And he hath on his vesture
and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords."[REV.
19:16.]
The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. The heavens
are rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles before him, and every
mountain and island is moved out of its place. "Our God shall come, and
shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very
tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and
to the earth, that he may judge his people."[PS. 50:3, 4.]
"And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and
the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman,
hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to
the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of
his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"[REV. 6:15-17.]
There are those who mocked Christ in his humiliation. With thrilling power
come to their minds the Sufferer's words, when, adjured by the high priest,
he solemnly declared, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting
on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." [MATT.
26:64.] Now they behold him in his glory, and they are yet to see him sitting
on the right hand of power.
Amid the reeling of the earth, the flash of lightning, and the roar of thunder,
the voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints. He looks upon
the graves of the righteous, then raising his hands to heaven he cries, "Awake,
awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!" Throughout the length
and breadth of the earth, the dead shall hear that voice; and they that hear
shall live. And the whole earth shall ring with the tread of the exceeding
great army of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. From the prison-house
of death they come, clothed with immortal glory, crying, "O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is the victory?"[1 COR. 15:55.] And the
living righteous and the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout
of victory.
All come forth from their graves the same in stature as when they entered
the tomb. Adam, who stands among the risen throng, is of lofty height and
majestic form, in stature but little below the Son of God. He presents a marked
contrast to the people of later generations; in this one respect is shown
the great degeneracy of the race. But all arise with the freshness and vigor
of eternal youth. In the beginning, man was created in the likeness of God,
not only in character, but in form and feature. Sin defaced and almost obliterated
the divine image; but Christ came to restore that which had been lost. He
will change our vile bodies, and fashion them like unto his glorious body.
The mortal, corruptible form, devoid of comeliness, once polluted with sin,
becomes perfect, beautiful, and immortal. All blemishes and deformities are
left in the grave. Restored to the tree of life in the long-lost Eden, the
redeemed will "grow up"[MAL. 4:2.] to the full stature of the race
in its primeval glory. The last lingering traces of the curse of sin will
be removed, and Christ's faithful ones will appear "in the beauty of
the Lord our God;" in mind and soul and body reflecting the perfect image
of their Lord. Oh, wonderful redemption! long talked of, long hoped for, contemplated
with eager anticipation, but never fully understood.
The living righteous are changed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye." At the voice of God they were glorified; now they are made immortal,
and with the risen saints are caught up to meet their Lord in the air. Angels
"gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven
to the other." Little children are borne by holy angels to their mothers'
arms. Friends long separated by death are united, nevermore to part, and with
songs of gladness ascend together to the city of God.
On each side of the cloudy chariot are wings, and beneath it are living wheels;
and as the chariot rolls upward, the wheels cry, "Holy," and the
wings, as they move, cry, "Holy," and the retinue of angels cry,
"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty." And the redeemed shout "Alleluia!"
as the chariot moves onward toward the New Jerusalem.
Before entering the city of God, the Saviour bestows upon his followers the
emblems of victory, and invests them with the insignia of their royal state.
The glittering ranks are drawn up, in the form of a hollow square, about their
King, whose form rises in majesty high above saint and angel, whose countenance
beams upon them full of benignant love. Throughout the unnumbered host of
the redeemed, every glance is fixed upon him, every eye beholds His glory
whose "visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than
the sons of men." Upon the heads of the overcomers, Jesus with his own
right hand places the crown of glory. For each there is a crown, bearing his
own "new name,"[REV. 2:17.] and the inscription, "Holiness
to the Lord." In every hand are placed the victor's palm and the shining
harp. Then, as the commanding angels strike the note, every hand sweeps the
harp strings with skillful touch, awaking sweet music in rich, melodious strains.
Rapture unutterable thrills every heart, and each voice is raised in grateful
praise: "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own
blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him
be glory and dominion forever and ever."[REV. 1:5, 6.]
Before the ransomed throng is the holy city. Jesus opens wide the pearly gates,
and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There they behold the Paradise
of God, the home of Adam in his innocency. Then that voice, richer than any
music that ever fell on mortal ear, is heard, saying, "Your conflict
is ended." "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world."
Upon the crystal sea before the throne, that sea of glass as it were mingled
with fire,--so resplendent is it with the glory of God,--are gathered the
company that have "gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image,
and over his mark, and over the number of his name."[REV. 15:2.] With
the Lamb upon Mount Zion, "having the harps of God," they stand,
the hundred and forty and four thousand that were redeemed from among men;
and there is heard, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great
thunder, "the voice of harpers harping with their harps."[REV. 14:1-5;
15:3; 7:14-17] And they sing "a new song" before the throne, a song
which no man can learn save the hundred and forty and four thousand. It is
the song of Moses and the Lamb,--a song of deliverance. None but the hundred
and forty-four thousand can learn that song; for it is the song of their experience,--an
experience such as no other company have ever had. "These are they which
follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." These, having been translated
from the earth, from among the living, are counted as "the first-fruits
unto God and to the Lamb." "These are they which came out of great
tribulation;"[REV. 14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17.] they have passed through the
time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; they have endured
the anguish of the time of Jacob's trouble; they have stood without an intercessor
through the final outpouring of God's judgments. But they have been delivered,
for they have "washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of
the Lamb." "In their mouth was found no guile; for they are without
fault" before God. "Therefore are they before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them."[REV. 14:1-5; 15:3; 7:14-17.] They have seen
the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having power to scorch
men with great heat, and they themselves have endured suffering, hunger, and
thirst. But "they shall hunger no more; neither thirst any more; neither
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst
of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of
waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."[REV. 14:1-5;
15:3; 7:14-17.]
In all ages the Saviour's chosen have been educated and disciplined in the
school of trial. They walked in narrow paths on earth; they were purified
in the furnace of affliction. For Jesus' sake they endured opposition, hatred,
calumny. They followed him through conflicts sore; they endured self-denial
and experienced bitter disappointments. By their own painful experience they
learned the evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its woe; and they look upon
it with abhorrence. A sense of the infinite sacrifice made for its cure, humbles
them in their own sight, and fills their hearts with gratitude and praise
which those who have never fallen cannot appreciate. They love much, because
they have been forgiven much. Having been partakers of Christ's sufferings,
they are fitted to be partakers with him of his glory.
The heirs of God have come from garrets, from hovels, from dungeons, from
scaffolds, from mountains, from deserts, from the caves of the earth, from
the caverns of the sea. On earth they were "destitute, afflicted, tormented."
Millions went down to the grave loaded with infamy, because they steadfastly
refused to yield to the deceptive claims of Satan. By human tribunals they
were adjudged the vilest of criminals. But now "God is judge himself."[PS.
50:6.] Now the decisions of earth are reversed. "The rebuke of his people
shall he take away."[ISA. 25:8.] "They shall call them, The holy
people, The redeemed of the Lord." He hath appointed "to give unto
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness."[ISA. 62:12; 61:3.] They are no longer feeble,
afflicted, scattered, and oppressed. Henceforth they are to be ever with the
Lord. They stand before the throne clad in richer robes than the most honored
of the earth have ever worn. They are crowned with diadems more glorious than
were ever placed upon the brow of earthly monarchs. The days of pain and weeping
are forever ended. The King of glory has wiped the tears from all faces; every
cause of grief has been removed. Amid the waving of palm-branches they pour
forth a song of praise, clear, sweet, and harmonious; every voice takes up
the strain, until the anthem swells through the vaults of Heaven, "Salvation
to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb." And all
the inhabitants of Heaven respond in the ascription, "Amen: Blessing,
and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might,
be unto our God forever and ever."[REV. 7:10, 12.]
In this life we can only begin to understand the wonderful theme of redemption.
With our finite comprehension we may consider most earnestly the shame and
the glory, the life and the death, the justice and the mercy, that meet in
the cross; yet with the utmost stretch of our mental powers we fail to grasp
its full significance. The length and the breadth, the depth and the height
of redeeming love are but dimly comprehended. The plan of redemption will
not be fully understood, even when the ransomed see as they are seen and know
as they are known; but through the eternal ages, new truth will continually
unfold to the wondering and delighted mind. Though the griefs and pains and
temptations of earth are ended, and the cause removed, the people of God will
ever have a distinct, intelligent knowledge of what their salvation has cost.
The cross of Christ will be the science and the song of the redeemed through
all eternity. In Christ glorified they will behold Christ crucified. Never
will it be forgotten that He whose power created and upheld the unnumbered
worlds through the vast realms of space, the Beloved of God, the Majesty of
Heaven, He whom cherub and shining seraph delighted to adore,--humbled himself
to uplift fallen man; that he bore the guilt and shame of sin, and the hiding
of his Father's face, till the woes of a lost world broke his heart, and crushed
out his life on Calvary's cross. That the Maker of all worlds, the Arbiter
of all destinies, should lay aside his glory, and humiliate himself from love
to man, will ever excite the wonder and adoration of the universe. As the
nations of the saved look upon their Redeemer, and behold the eternal glory
of the Father shining in his countenance; as they behold his throne, which
is from everlasting to everlasting, and know that his kingdom is to have no
end, they break forth in rapturous song, "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb
that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by his own most precious blood!"
The mystery of the cross explains all other mysteries. In the light that streams
from Calvary, the attributes of God which had filled us with fear and awe
appear beautiful and attractive. Mercy, tenderness, and parental love are
seen to blend with holiness, justice, and power. While we behold the majesty
of his throne, high and lifted up, we see his character in its gracious manifestations,
and comprehend, as never before, the significance of that endearing title,
our Father.
It will be seen that He who is infinite in wisdom could devise no plan for
our salvation except the sacrifice of his Son. The compensation for this sacrifice
is the joy of peopling the earth with ransomed beings, holy, happy, and immortal.
The result of the Saviour's conflict with the powers of darkness is joy to
the redeemed, redounding to the glory of God, throughout eternity. And such
is the value of the soul that the Father is satisfied with the price paid;
and Christ himself, beholding the fruits of his great sacrifice, is satisfied.
Dear friend, accept His Ministry Of Healing in your life today.
[ALL BOLD EMPHASIS SUPPLIED]