Lección 16 La Marca de la Bestia

The Beast's MarkPasos hacia la Vida 16

La Marca de la Bestia

Introducción: La Biblia menciona una marca, o señal que identificará a la Bestia y a sus seguidores. Al recibir esta marca, la gente se declara leal a la Bestia, ¡y reconoce su autoridad como mayor que la de Dios! En esta lección identificaremos esa marca.

1. ¿Qué señal, o marca, revela lealtad a Dios? Deut. 11:1,8,18 [Nota: La observencia práctica de los mandamientos de Dios es una “señal en tu mano”, y creer en ellos es como “frontales entre tus ojos”. Esta es la marca simbólica de DIOS en la frente y en la mano. Los versículos para estudios adicionales son >>Deut. 6:6,8; Exo.13:9]

2. La gente mira las marcas exteriores, pero ¿dónde mira Dios? 1 Sam. 16:7 [>>Psalm 37:37; Eze. 9:4]

3. Todos algún día recibirán una marca. ¿Qué señal recibirá el pueblo de Dios? Apoc. 14:1 [>>Apoc. 7:2-4]

4. Antiguamente los nombres procuraban describir el carácter de una persona. Dios quiere grabar su nombre -su carácter- en nosotros. El carácter de Dios se describe en su ley. ¿Dónde estará escrito el carácter o ley de Dios? ¿Será esta escritura visible para la humanidad? Heb. 10:16 [Nota: En la profecía la frente simboliza los pensamientos y la mano representa las acciones. >>Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10]

5. ¿Cuál de los mandamientos de Dios identifica especialmente a su pueblo, como aquellos que aceptan su autoridad? Eze. 20:12,20 [Nota: El cuarto mandamiento es el “sello” de Dios. Contiene su NOMBRE, TITULO, y el TERRITORIO que abarca su autoridad, es decir, los elementos de un sello oficial. >>Ex. 20:8-11]

6. ¿Reconocerá la “Bestia” alguna vez la autoridad de Dios? 2 Thess. 2:4 [>>Isa. 14:12-14]

7. ¿De qué se jactará la Bestia que puede hacer con la ley de Dios? Dan. 7:25 [Nota: El papa se considera superior a Dios, porque dice que puede cambiar sus leyes (Véase la Lección 15). Unicamente alguien de mayor autoridad puede cambiar las leyes de otro. La Iglesia Católica repetidamente señala el cambio del sábado como prueba de su autoridad. “El día mencionado en la Biblia no es el domingo… sino el sábado… Fue la Iglesia Apostólica la que … cambió la observancia al domingo”. “¿No es curioso que los no católicos…observen el domingo…(el cual) descansa sobre la autoridad de la Iglesia Católica y no sobre un texto explícito de la Biblia? Esa observancia queda como un recordatorio de la Madre Iglesia” (Juan O’Brien de Notre Dame en The Faith of Millions, 1974, págs. 136-137, 400-401. >>Rom. 6:16]

8. ¿Qué es lo que identifica a la Bestia y revela su carácter? 2 Thess. 2:3,7-9 [Respuesta: “el pecado” y la “iniquidad”. Nota: “El pecado es iniquidad” (I John 3:4.]

9. Cuando Jesús venga, todos habrán aceptado el sello de Dios o la marca de la Bestia. ¿Cómo se describe a los que han recibido la marca de la Bestia? Mat. 7:21-23 [Respuesta: Ellos llaman a Jesús “Señor” pero “practican la iniquidad” (NKJV).>>2 Cor. 11:13-15; Mat. 7:13-14; 1 John 2:3-4]

10. ¿Cómo se describe a los que reciben el sello de Dios (Apoc. 14:1)? Apoc. 14:12 [Respuesta: Ellos también llaman a Jesús Señor, pero “GUARDAN” los mandamientos de Dios. >>James 2:10]

11. ¿Qué hará Satanás con los que rehúsan recibir la marca de la autoridad de la “Bestia” mediante la observancia del domingo? Apoc. 12:17 [>>Apoc. 22:14]

12. ¿Cómo hará Satanás guerra conta ellos? Apoc. 13:16-17 [>>2 Tim. 3:12]

13. Mientras los seguidores de Dios reciben simbólicamente el nombre de Dios en sus frentes, los seguidores de la Bestia reciben el nombre de la Bestia (su carácter de iniquidad), significado por un número. ¿Cuál es el número de la “Bestia”? Apoc. 13:18 [Nota: Este es el número de un “hombre”. La versión Douay hace notar que “los caracteres numerales de su nombre sumarán … este número”. En la antigua Roma, los números eran letras del alfabeto, llamados números romanos. De este modo, cada nombre tenía un valor numérico. El título oficial del papa es: VICARIUS FILII DEI, “Vicario del Hijo de Dios” (Our Sunday Visitor, 18 de abril de 1915). El valor númerico de su nombre es 666. Esta es una explicación que cuadra con la profecía, y cuando se compara con todas las demás profecías, ayuda a identificar al poder que en la Biblia se representa como “la Bestia”. La gente recibirá el nombre de la Bestia en su mano derecha cuando el cumplimiento de las leyes dominicales sea obligatorio, y ellos les rindan observancia; y lo recibirán en sus frentes cuando el carácter inicuo de este poder esté escrito en sus mentes. >>Apoc. 15:2]

14. ¿Qué advertencia ha dado Dios en cuanto a recibir la marca de la Bestia? Apoc. 14:9-11 [Psalm 37:12-20, 32-40]

Diagrama – Lección 16

Título Tradicional del Papa: VICARIUS FILII DEI

Traducción del latín que quiere decir: Vicario del Hijo de Dios

Equivalente en números romanos
Originalmente U y V eran la misma letra

Decisión: Dios dice que el sábado marca a su pueblo como suyo, y que la Bestia hará guerra contra ellos. La Bestia es ese “inicuo” que tratará de “cambiar” la ley de Dios, específicamente el mandamiento que envuelve los “tiempos” -o sea el sábado. De modo que, cuando la observancia de la ley dominical sea obligatoria, constituirá la marca de la Bestia. “Si os sometéis a alguien como esclavos para obedecer, sois esclavos de aquel a quien obedecéis” (Rom. 6:16). Dios nos está llamando hoy para que recibamos su marca (o sello). Al mirar al Salvador crucificado, ¿reconocerá usted su autoridad obedeciéndole y guardando su sábado?

Mi respuesta al llamado de Cristo es _________________________________________

Notas:

PASO 2 (Lecciones 11-20)
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El Indice Estudios bíblicos Pasos hacia la vida

The Birth of an Image, Part I

The thirty-fourth session of the General Conference convened at Battle Creek, Michigan, April 2 through April 23, 1901. This was an important General Conference session because it involved not only a major reorganization of the Church, but it was the first General Conference Ellen White had attended in 10 years.

“A feeling of exhilaration and excitement filled the air on Tuesday morning, April 2, as workers and church members began to assemble in the Battle Creek Tabernacle a little before nine o’clock,” Arthur White wrote. “This would be the largest General Conference session ever held.” Arthur L. White, The Early Elmshaven Years, vol. 5, 70.

There were 267 delegates at the 1901 General Conference session. The Church at that time had a membership of about 75,000: four-fifths of which were in the United States. The organization of the Church in 1901 consisted of only local Conferences and a General Conference. The “General Conference had remained unchanged from 1863 to 1901.” Ibid. It was time for a change, for a reorganization of the Church structure. Shortly after the “most precious message” was given to the Church by Waggoner and Jones in 1888, Ellen White stated that there was a wrong principle of power at the head of the Church and that this principle needed to be changed.

“For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered,” Ellen White wrote. “Therefore God gave to His servants [Waggoner and Jones] a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the Third Angel’s Message in clear, distinct lines.” Letter to O. A. Olsen, dated at Hobart, Tasmania, May 1, 1895; 1888 Materials, 1338.

“The result of this has been in various ways. The sacred character of the cause of God is no longer realized at the center of the work. The voice from Battle Creek, which has been regarded as authority in counseling how the work should be done, is no longer the voice of God; but it is the voice of—whom? From whence does it come, and where is its vital power? This state of things is maintained by men who should have been disconnected from the work long ago. These men do not scruple to quote the word of God as their authority, but the god who is leading them is a false god.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 17, 185, 186. [Emphasis supplied.]

“As the institutional interests in Battle Creek grew, businessmen were drawn in to head them, and a strong center developed,” Arthur White wrote. “A General Conference Executive Committee, beginning with three members in 1863, some twenty years later was increased to five.” Arthur L. White, The Early Elmshaven Years, vol. 5, 71.

There were seven members on the General Conference Committee in 1887. Two more members were added in 1889, and two more in 1893. By the opening of the 1901 General Conference session the Executive Committee numbered thirteen. The last two had been added at the 1899 General Conference session. (See Ibid.)

Although the Church had grown in size, the number of leading men at headquarters had not kept pace with the growth. A small group of men controlled the Church at Battle Creek. The 1901 delegation was to move forward with the establishment of Union Conferences between the local State Conferences and the General Conference.

Guard Against Consolidating and Centralizing the Work

“Beginning with 1889 certain measures were strongly promoted to consolidate and centralize various features of the denominational work,” Arthur White wrote. “This would begin with the publishing interests and then reach out to the educational and medical lines.” Ibid., 72.

Although some wished to consolidate and centralize the work of the denomination, the counsel from Ellen White was against centralization. Testimony after testimony was given against centralization.

“It is not the purpose of God to centralize in this way, bringing all the interests of one branch of the work under the management of a comparatively few men,” Ellen White wrote. “In His great purpose of advancing the cause of truth in the earth, He designs that every part of His work shall blend with every other part.” Spalding and Magan Collection, 404.

“The workers are to draw together in the Spirit of Christ,” Ellen White concluded. “In their diversity, they are to preserve unity. . . . The work of direction is to be left with the great Manager, while obedience to the work of the Lord is to be the aim of His workers.” Ibid., 404.

Notice that their unity was to be in their “diversity.” No one was to rule over the other. Their unity was in Christ and the truth. Christ, not man, is the Head, “the great Manager,” of the work and the Church.

Not only were Adventists counseled not to centralize the work, it was also not God’s plan that the Advent people should centralize their homes in one place. The plan was to spread out, to take the Advent truth to all the world.

“It is not the Lord’s plan to centralize largely in any one place,” Ellen White counseled. “The time has passed when there should be any binding about of the work and confining it to a few places.” The Publishing Ministry, 146.

In 1901, the Review and Herald publishing house at Battle Creek was in dire need of a complete overhaul. The Press was involved in commercial printing and because of this policy the publishing and sale of message-filled books suffered during this period. The policy was that any material would be published that would bring a profit to the Review and Herald Publishing house.

“This included fiction, Wild West stories, Roman Catholic books, and works on sex and hypnosis,” Arthur White wrote. “When cautioned, men in positions of management at the Review office declared that they were printers and not censors.” The Early Elmshaven Years, vol. 5, 72.

The Adventist structure is in the very same situation today. The new Seventh-day Adventist publishing house in Russia is required by the State to publish the religious books of other denominations. Like the Review and Herald Publishing house in the 1890s, this includes, Roman Catholic books, Pentecostal, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and even works of spiritualism! Not only that, but this new publishing house in Russia had to have the endorsement of Billy Graham before the Soviet government would permit the General Conference to build the publishing house. The Soviet government would also retain 51 percent of the publishing house; thus the Soviet government would have final control in any dispute.

The Cleansing Fire

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked,” the apostle Paul warned, “for whatsoever a man [or church] soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7. Is it any wonder that on December 30, 1902, the Lord sent His angels to torch the main building of the Review and Herald publishing plant.

“Before the fire came which swept away the Review and Herald factory, I was in distress for many days. I was in distress while the council was in session, laboring to get the right matter before the meeting, hoping, if it were a possible thing, to call our brethren to repentance, and avert calamity. It seemed to me that it was almost a life and death question. It was then that I saw the representation of danger,—a sword of fire turning this way and that way. I was in an agony of distress. The next news was that the Review and Herald building had been burned by fire, but that not one life had been lost. In this the Lord spoke mercy with judgment. The mercy of God was mingled with judgment to spare the lives of the workers, that they might do the work which they had neglected to do, and which it seemed impossible to make them see and understand.” General Conference Bulletin, April 6, 1903.

Have times changed? Will the Lord still visit His people again in judgement?

“And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem [the Church] with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil.” Zephaniah 1:12.

“He who presides over His church and the destinies of nations is carrying forward the last work to be accomplished for this world. To His angels He gives the commission to execute His judgments.” Testimonies to Ministers, 431.

“Let the ministers awake, let them take in the situation,” Ellen White warned. “The work of judgment begins at the sanctuary.” Ibid.

“Notwithstanding the condition of things at the publishing house, a suggestion had been made to bring still more of our work to the Review Office, still more power into Battle Creek,” Ellen White continued. “This greatly alarmed me, and when the fire came, I breathed easier than I had for a long time.” General Conference Bulletin, April 6, 1903.

“We were thankful that no lives were lost,” Ellen White stated. “There was a large loss of property. Again and again the Lord had shown me that for every dollar that was accumulated by unjust means, there would be ten times as much lost.” Ibid.

Ellen White’s Concern About the 1901 General Conference

The delegates gathered at the 1901 General Conference session with apprehension. They sensed that something important would happen at this session. Ellen White would be present at this General Conference for the first time in ten years .

“All were profoundly thankful that Ellen White was to be there, and she carried a heavy burden for the meeting,” Arthur White wrote. “It was this conference with its challenges and its opportunities that had in a large part led Ellen White to close up her work in Australia and hasten back to the United States.” Early Elmshaven Years, vol. 5, 73.

A New Constitution

At the 1901 General Conference session, a new constitution was voted by the delegates. The two most important changes in this constitution from the previous constitution was as follows:

No General Conference President

The first action established a twenty-five man General Conference Committee instead of a thirteen man committee. The constitution abolished the office of a General Conference President, and established in its place the office of a General Conference “chairman.”

Another important aspect was that no officer of the General Conference committee was to serve more than two years. This would do away with one man at the head of the Church. This was a major move away from the form of government retained by the Papacy for over six hundred years when in 533 a.d., Justinian, the Roman emperor, decreed that the Bishop of Rome was supreme over all other Bishops of the Church.

Union Conferences

The second important change established Union Conferences. The Church prior to 1901 had only local State Conferences and a General Conference. This was still not perfect, but would decentralize ecclesiastical authority to a great degree. Under Article #2 it was stated that, “The object of this Conference shall be to unify and to extend to all parts of the world, the work of promulgating the everlasting gospel.” General Conference Bulletin, vol. IV, First Quarter, April 22, 1901. Extra No. 17, 378.

The New General Conference Executive Committee

Article #4, titled, “Executive Committee,” Section 1, stated in part: The Executive Committee of this Conference shall be twenty-five in number, and shall have power to organize itself by choosing a chairman, secretary, treasurer, and auditor, whose duties shall be such as usually pertain to their respective offices. It shall also have the power to appoint all necessary agents and committees for the conduct of its work.” Ibid.

The election of officers and the time they would serve was stated under Section #2: “The Executive Committee shall be elected at the regular sessions of the Conference, and shall hold office for the term of two years, or until their successors are elected, and appear to enter upon their duties.” Ibid.

Current Objection To the 1901 Constitution

Term-limits have never been popular by those holding office. This is true, not only in church offices, but also in the political debates of the day. In his history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Arthur White objected to this form of church government. He believed that the 1901 Constitution was “weak” on the point of a General Conference chairman versus a General Conference President, and the idea of term limits for those holding office. He wrote: “But there was one weakness in the new constitution that did not show up clearly when it was adopted,” Arthur White wrote. “It was to cause considerable concern in the months that followed. This related to the election of the officers of the General Conference.” The Early Elmshaven Years, vol. 5, 95.

This “weakness” however, was the opinion of Arthur White. Obviously, it was not the opinion of the duly authorized delegates of the 1901 General Conference session who voted the constitution into law. Neither was it the opinion of Ellen White who was present at that General Conference session.

“I was never more astonished in my life than at the turn things have taken at this meeting. This is not our work. God has brought it about. Instruction regarding this was presented to me, but until the sum was worked out at this meeting, I could not comprehend this instruction. God’s angels have been walking up and down in this congregation. I want every one of you to remember this, and I want you to remember also that God has said that He will heal the wounds of His people.” General Conference Bulletin, April 25, 1901.

“According to the new constitution, the delegates attending a General Conference session were empowered to elect the General Conference Committee; this committee in turn was to organize itself, electing its own officers,” Arthur White wrote. “It was recognized at the time that this could mean that a man might be chairman for only one year.” Early Elmshaven Years, vol. 5, 95.

Notice that Arthur White’s real objection to the 1901 Constitution centered on the part that “a man might be chairman for only one year,” and that a new chairman would be elected each year thereafter. This is still the objection of leadership today.

“Undoubtedly this provision came about as an overreaction to the desire to get away from any ‘kingly power’ (Letter 49, 1903),” Arthur White observed, “a point that was pushed hard by Elder A. T. Jones, a member of the committee on organization.” Ibid.

Arthur White suggested that the idea of a new General Conference chairman elected each year, “Undoubtedly…came about as an overreaction to the desire to get away from any ‘kingly power.’” Then he gives reference to a testimony from Ellen White, Letter 49, dated 1903, which was not written until two years later. If indeed there was overreaction to the “kingly power” stated in Ellen White’s testimony, then how could the delegates of 1901 overreact to a testimony that had not been given, indeed, that would not be written for two more years?

Notice also that once again Seventh-day Adventist historians, in their desire to alter history, try to attribute the responsibility or blame for an action they see as false on the shoulders of one man. Arthur White used this method when he stated that it was A. T. Jones who “pushed hard” for the idea of a new General Conference chairman elected each year, rather than a continual office of chairman that would keep one man in the office for years. Indeed, if it was A. T. Jones’ urging that caused the 267 delegates to see the wisdom that no one man should be the head of the church, and if his urging helped the delegates to vote it into the new Constitution of 1901, then A. T. Jones should be commended, not condemned. Did not Ellen White state that, “This is not our work. God has brought it about.” Are we not true Protestants? Do we still believe in a country without a king, and a church without a Pope? Are we like Israel of old, continually demanding a visible king over the Church?

“While this arrangement would clearly reduce the possibility of anyone exercising kingly power, it also greatly undercut responsible leadership,” Arthur White lamented. “It went too far, for it took out of the hands of the delegates attending the General Conference session the vital responsibility of electing the leaders of the church and instead placed this responsibility in the hands of the General Conference Executive Committee of twenty-five.” White added further that the new Constitution was “too unwieldy,” and, “There was no church leader with a mandate from the church as represented by its delegates.” Ibid.

The new Constitution did not take “out of the hands of the delegates attending the General Conference session the vital responsibility of electing the leaders of the church,” as Arthur White stated. The delegates elected the twenty-five members of the General Conference Committee. The twenty-five man Committee then chose their own “chairman,” this person to be replaced each year. Arthur White lamented the fact that the General Conference delegates could not choose who was to be the chairman of the General Conference Committee, and that this “chairman” could not serve for long periods of time. Of course, this thinking would only reestablish the old Constitution which provided for a permanent President of the General Conference.

Arthur White admitted that “this arrangement would clearly reduce the possibility of anyone exercising kingly power,” but he believed that the new Constitution “was too unwieldy.” Unfortunately, White then argued for a one-man ruler of the Church. He stated that with this new Constitution, “There was no church leader with a mandate.” That was the idea of the new Constitution, was it not? There was to be no one man at the head of the Church with a mandate from God or man. This would be establishing a Pope, an image of the Papacy!

“That some of the delegates attending the session of 1901 were not clear on this point is evidenced in the insistence that the Committee elect the chairman and announce their decision before that session closed,” White wrote. “A. G. Daniells was chosen as chairman of the General Conference Committee.” Ibid. White added further that, “He was the leader of the church and nearly all the delegates were pleased, but they did not discern at this point how he would be crippled in his work, having no tenure and no mandate.” Ibid.

Arthur White was correct in stating that Daniells was to have no “tenure or mandate.” It was the twenty-five man Executive Committee that was to have a “tenure” and a “mandate” to oversee the work. The chairman was merely to preside over the conference session. Daniells was never to be the leader of the Church; Jesus Christ is the leader of the Church. He was merely the chairman of the General Conference Committee, not the Pope of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

As stated before, the chairman was to hold this office for one year, after which a new chairman would be elected the following year. However, history reveals that Daniells assumed himself President of the General Conference and wrote a new constitution that was voted into law two years later at the 1903 General Conference session. This “new” 1903 Constitution officially established Daniells in the office of President of the General Conference, which office he held for over twenty years!

“He [Daniells] assumed the presidency of the General Conference in 1901 at a difficult period in the history of the church,” the SDA Encyclopedia states. “In 1922 he relinquished the presidency of the General Conference and held the post of secretary for four years.” Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, Second Revised Edition, 1995.

“To take the position that Ellen White’s urging that there be no kings meant, as interpreted by A. T. Jones, that the church should have no General Conference president was unjustified,” Arthur White wrote. “At no time had the messages from her called for the abolition of the office of president of the General Conference; rather her messages recognized such an office in the organization of the church.” Early Elmshaven Years, vol. 5, 95. To substantiate this claim, Arthur White directed the reader to Testimonies to Ministers, 95, 96. Again, this testimony rebuking “kingly power” was written two years after the 1901 Constitution was voted!

“An earlier statement indicated that she understood that the work devolving upon the president of the General Conference was too large for one man to carry and that others should stand by his side to assist (Testimonies to Ministers, 342, 343),” Arthur White wrote. “She did condemn the exercise of kingly power.” Early Elmshaven Years, vol. 5, 95, 96.

Arthur White tried to establish that A. T. Jones was the only one of the 267 delegates who believed that there should be “no kings,” no General Conference president. The 1901 General Conference Bulletin states that the Constitution was “voted unanimously” by the 267 delegates. A. T. Jones did not vote the new Constitution in by himself!

White stated that the idea that “the church should have no General Conference president was unjustified,” and that at no time had Ellen White “called for the abolition of the office of president of the General Conference.” Arthur White tried to establish that Ellen White endorsed the idea of a General Conference president by quoting an “earlier” statement. (Testimonies to Ministers, 342, 343). He stated that in this earlier statement Ellen White “recognized such an office in the organization of the church.”

Just because Ellen White recognized that there was a General Conference president at an earlier time, does not prove that she endorsed the idea. Indeed, she did state that “the president of the General Conference was too large for one man to carry and that others should stand by his side to assist.” This would have been true also of a General Conference chairman. Ellen White did acknowledge the office of president while it existed, but when the office was abolished at the 1901 General Conference session she stated, “This is not our work. God has brought it about.”

“The weakness, which soon became very apparent, was corrected at the next session of the General Conference,” Arthur White concluded, “the session of 1903.” Ibid.

We must now examine the 1903 General Conference Bulletin for ourselves to find out what was “corrected” at the next session of the General Conference.

To be concluded next month

Satan’s Last Attempt to Thwart God’s People, Part II

Spiritualism Coming In Among our People

When Christians are deceived by Satan, they think that something wonderful has happened. That is why it is so deceptive. In 1903, Ellen White said that in her days a strain of spiritualism was coming in among the people. (See Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 173.) That was the time of the Kellogg crisis, the pantheism crisis, the alpha of deadly heresies, which, Ellen White said, would go on and later the omega would be manifested.

She said there is a strain of spiritualism coming in among our people. This is the first part, the first phase of the attack. Ellen White said that this spiritualism would “undermine the faith of those who give place to it, leading them to give heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (Ibid.)

Now, I wonder, these people who are giving heed to these seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, what are they thinking or doing? What is going on in their minds?

I am so thankful that the Spirit of Prophecy opens up the secrets of the arch deceiver, so we can understand what is happening. Do you know what it means to be under the seducing spirits and doctrines of devils? Do you know what happens when you are under that influence?

Where Are Your Affections?

I was very interested in the way Ellen White described it. She said it produces a change in the state of your affections. People who have a change in the state of their affections have changed leadership.

If you told them that they were under the influence of seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, they would say, “Why, no! No! I am an Historic Adventist. I believe everything that you believe.”

What has happened to your affections? Have they changed? Are your affections pure and holy in the sight of God, so you would not have a guilty conscience, if Jesus should come today?

Let us see what the prophet wrote: “I have seen the arch-deceiver tempting several of our ministers, teachers, and medical workers, presenting fanciful theories to them in a most subtle and charming manner, to wean their affections from those whom they should love and cherish.” Ibid.

Now who are the people that you should love and cherish? If you are married, have you taken vows to love and cherish anybody? Yes, you have. You have made a solemn covenant in the presence of witnesses and in the presence of God. It is the devil’s business to wean your affections, to get you to place your affections on somebody else.

Do you know how deceptive this gets? Here is what happens. “He [that is the devil] shows them charming pictures of women whom they have found congenial, suggesting that in the future life they will be united to the one who is so congenial and whom they will ever love throughout the ages of eternity.” Ibid.

The people to whom this counsel was written did not leave their wives or their husbands, but there had been some change in their affections. It is still a violation of the marriage vow, and the person that has a change in his affections like that is on a direct road to hell. They are not converted. They do not belong to Jesus Christ at all. She says, “My message to our teachers is, if you hold such views you need to be taught the first principles of truth. You need to stand where you know that you are not departing from the faith and giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. When you break the spell that is upon you, and become teachable, you will escape Satan’s snare.…To all who are thus tempted I would say, I want to see you standing free before God. I want to see you sound in the faith, holding the beginning of your confidence firm unto the end. Leave every false issue alone.” Ibid.

Oh, friends, the devil wants to wean your affections away from those you should love and cherish and get them on somebody else. If he can do that, he already has you. He does not need to wait for a Sunday law for you. He already has you, right now.

Uniting with Babylon

Then there is another design; another way he attacks to deceive God’s people. People do not want to have to stand for something that is unpopular, and they do not want to be alone. They want to be united with others so much that they want to fraternize with Babylon. People do not like to call it Babylon anymore. Adventists have forgotten who Babylon is, and so they go and associate with Babylon.

Oh, friend, it is under cover now, so I cannot say very much about it, but there is plenty of evidence that God’s professed people, secretly, are in the process of uniting with the Papacy. I can tell you that it is going to happen. I am not saying that it has been completed now, but I know that it is going to happen, because prophecy predicts that it will happen. We know that it will happen.

“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.’” Luke 19:41, 42.

People do not really know what is best for their peace. If you want to be at peace with God, you see to it that you are standing in favor of, and taking a bold and uncompromising stand for, the Three Angels’ Messages.

In commenting on this text in Luke 19:41, 42, Ellen White said, “When the Saviour saw in the Jewish people a nation divorced from God, He saw also a professed Christian Church united to the world and the Papacy.” Review and Herald, October 8, 1901.

Who was that professed Christian Church united to the world and the Papacy? If you continue reading that Review and Herald article, you will see very clearly that she is talking about Seventh-day Adventists. Uniting with the Papacy is the first part of the attack.

The Final Attack

Let us look at the second and final part of the attack, which will seem very long but actually will be very short.

We know the devil has deceived the great majority already, for we have people today who want to sue others for openly and publicly proclaiming the Three Angels’ Messages. There are people who no longer know who Babylon is. And when Seventh-day Adventist Churches start having Sunday worship services, they have been deceived.

After the majority are deceived, then the final attack will be on the remnant, the ones who are not deceived, to force them into submission. That will be the Sunday law crisis. The Sunday law crisis will result from the great apostasy we see occurring in Christendom today. It is predicted in Revelation 13 that the leading churches in the United States are going to unite on those doctrines that are held by them in common. Do we see that happening? Yes, we do.

When they unite, they are going to have power to influence the government and get it to do what they want. The government will be forced to submit to the wishes of the church, because the church will have enough of a majority that they will be able to elect whomever they want. They will influence the government to enforce their decrees.

When they do that, Ellen White says, “Then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” The Great Controversy, 445.

There are three ways in which the churches will influence the government to enforce their decrees:

The Judicial Process

1 The churches will, through the judicial process, force the courts to make happen what they want to happen. That is the first step. Of course, that is forbidden in Scripture. (See Paul’s instructions to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 6.)

Mrs. White tells us that those who ignore this Bible counsel will be written in the courts of heaven as unbelievers. God is very clear on that point. Are you really part of the church if you are written in the books of heaven as an unbeliever? She also says God will take away from them His Holy Spirit. Will the Latter Rain be poured out on people who are doing something like that? Absolutely not. (See Selected Messages, vol. 2, 299.)

When you try to force, you cannot always get what you want to happen, therefore, since the first step quite often does not work, you have to go to step two.

The Legislature

2 The second step is to go to the legislature and get different laws passed. That will result in a national Sunday law.

The Executive Branch

3 Use the executive branch of the government to enforce what you have legislated. That means using the police, jails, fines and so forth. “The ‘image to the beast’ represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their dogmas.” Ibid.

Receiving the Wrath of God

If you read history, there is one thing about the Third Angel’s Message, in Revelation 14:9–12, that stands out crystal clear. In the Third Angel’s Message, two groups are described. One group is going to receive the mark of the beast and, as a result, the wrath of God. But there is another group described who are called the saints of God. (See verse 12.) The saints of God keep the commandments.

What about those who receive the mark of the beast; what is their problem? They do not keep the commandments, and they receive the wrath of God. The Bible says that nobody who obeys the truth receives the wrath of God. But the people who receive the wrath of God are those who obey unrighteousness. (See Romans 2:8.)

“All unrighteousness is sin.” 1 John 5:17. And “sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. So nobody receives the wrath of God unless they obey unrighteousness or unless they sin, unless they break God’s law. Since the people who receive the mark of the beast will receive the wrath of God, it is evident that the mark of the beast involves the breaking of God’s law. And the mark of the beast involves a deliberate, intentional change in God’s law.

What is the area of God’s law that prophecy predicts the antichrist power would deliberately attempt to change and that the whole world would follow after? It is the area of God’s law that deals with time, according to Daniel 7:25. That is the very area that the antichrist power claims they have changed.

The Papacy Speaks

Here is a statement from them in answer to the question as to what day is to be observed in obedience to the fourth commandment: “During the old law Saturday was the day sanctified, but the church, instructed by Jesus Christ and directed by the Spirit of God, had substituted Sunday for Saturday so now we sanctify the first not the seventh day. Sunday means and now is the day of the Lord.” Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion.

So in their own words, the change of the Sabbath is the sign, or the mark, of authority of the Roman Church. It is the sign, or the mark of the beast power. It is the sign, or the mark, of the antichrist power. Protestants acknowledge the same. Here is what one Protestant paper says about that: “To me it seems unaccountable that Jesus, during three years’ discussion with His disciples, often conversing with them upon the Sabbath question, discussing it in some of its various aspects, freeing it from its false (Jewish Traditional) glosses, never alluded to any transference of the day; also, that during the forty days of His resurrection life, no such thing was intimated. Nor, so far as we know, did the Spirit, which was given to bring to their remembrance all things whatsoever that He had said unto them, deal with this question. Nor yet did the inspired apostles, in preaching the gospel, founding churches, counseling and instructing those founded, discuss or approach the subject. Dr. E. T. Hiscox, report of his sermon at the Baptist Minister’s Convention, in “New York Examiner,” November 16, 1893.

So there is no biblical evidence. There is no evidence from the apostles. There is no evidence from Jesus. It is the sign, the mark, of the authority of the papal power. When people reject the Bible Sabbath and accept Sunday worship knowing this, and as Sunday observance and the movement for the enforcement of Sunday observance grows stronger, as it is doing right now, those who understand the claims of the fourth commandment and choose to observe the false instead of the true Sabbath, thereby pay homage to that power by which alone Sunday worship is commanded—the Papacy.

Forming an Image to the Beast

In the very act of enforcing a religious duty by secular power, the churches would themselves form an image to the beast. So the enforcement of Sunday keeping in the United States would be an enforcement of the worship of the beast and his image.

Force, of course, is the last resort of every false religion. We have the promise that as we draw near this final attack, God’s grace will be given in every way proportionate to the trials suffered to come upon us. Is that not wonderful encouragement?

“My grace,” the Lord said to Paul, “is sufficient for you.” (See 2 Corin-thians 12:9.) Ellen White wrote, “Angels will be sent to our rescue.…If we do not deliberately go into temptation, God will sustain us when the temptation comes.” Signs of the Times, September 2, 1897. If we have enough faith for the times in which we are living, we will be sustained. The most exciting times in world history are right before us, because the signs are all there that Bible prophecy is about to be fulfilled in rapid succession, and Jesus is coming soon.

But we have a work to do to see to it that we are not deceived, that the devil does not change the state of our affections so that we are not ready for Jesus to come. The devil is working. In Patriarchs and Prophets, in the chapter, “Apostasy at the Jordan,” (453–461 onward.) Mrs. White talks about this and gives approximately 20 ways in which the devil tempts people to break the seventh commandment. She says that just as he did with Israel right before they entered the Promised Land, he is going to do with us just before we enter the Promised Land. I want to tell you, friend, it is happening all over the world.

Breaking the Seventh Commandment

The devil is seeking to bring about a change in the state of our affections, because if he can do that, he has got us. Do not accept all of the devil’s lies. The devil tells people, “You can do it, and then later on people will forgive you, and you can be rebaptized and join the church again.” Watch out! The devil is talking to you! There are going to be plenty of people who come to the marriage supper but are not allowed in.

There are many, many people who make their final separation from God’s people, but they go to church every week. They get divorced, and then they remarry, when they had no biblical grounds. Friends, God has not changed, but the devil has come in to deceive the people. This is one of the main areas where he is deceiving the conservative Adventists.

“Satan often finds a powerful agency for evil in the power which one human mind is capable of exerting on another human mind. This influence is so seductive that the person who is being molded by it is often unconscious of its power. God has bidden me speak warning against this evil, that His servants may not come under the deceptive power of Satan. The enemy is a master worker, and if God’s people are not constantly led by the Spirit of God, they will be ensnared and taken. For thousands of years Satan has been experimenting upon the properties of the human mind, and he has learned to know it well. By his subtle workings in these last days, he is linking the human mind with his own, and imbuing it with his thoughts; and he is doing this work in so deceptive a manner that those who accept his guidance know not that they are being led by him at his will.” Our High Calling, 110.

They still go to church. They still think that they are Seventh-day Adventists. “The great deceiver hopes so to confuse the minds of men and women, that none but his voice will be heard.” Ibid.

Spiritualism Prepares the Way

Oh, friends, we are looking forward to the final phase of the attack. Do not be deceived and get taken over by the devil in the preliminary phase before the final attack even happens. “Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism.” The Great Controversy, 561.

Where spiritualism is involved, it involves changing the state of a person’s affections. That is how the devil uses spiritualism in the Adventist Church; he changes the state of a person’s affections. “He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will be reached in the last remnant of time.” Ibid.

Oh, friend, I believe that we are living in that last remnant of time, where we see the devil reaching the full accomplishment of his designs. He is bringing spiritualism right in among Seventh-day Adventists and deceiving them in such a skillful way that they do not even know anything is happening.

Be ready for the attack. It is Satan’s last attempt to thwart God’s purpose. God has something wonderful for you, friend. The Lord wants to deliver you from all attachment to sin. He wants to restore the state of your affection so that you love God with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself.

Oh, friend, the devil is after you. Do you want to keep this from happening? Do you want to seek divine strength and help for the attack? See if the state of your affections has been changed. If it has, when the attack comes, you will not make it. To make it, you are going to have to be ready.

The devil is trying to destroy us all before it even happens. Do you want the Holy Spirit to work in your heart and in your mind so that you will be ready to survive the devil’s attack on your soul? Are you praying? Are you studying? You must be praying, “Lord, work in my heart by Your Holy Spirit so that my heart will be pure and holy, so the state of my affections will be acceptable in Your sight.”

Bible Study Guides – The Papacy and Its Work

October 9, 2004 – October 15, 2004

Memory Verse

“And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:25.

Suggested Reading: The Great Controversy, 51–54, 446; The Story of Redemption, 328–331.

Introduction

“To the very close of time he [little horn of the fourth beast] will carry forward the 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.’ Revelation 13:8. In both the Old and the New World, the papacy will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Roman Church.” The Great Controversy, 579.

1 What was to arise after the ten horns on the fourth beast of Daniel 7? Daniel 7:24, first part.

note: “Judgment came to Rome when these [Germanic] barbarians overran the empire with fire and sword, and the kingdom was divided into ten parts.

“But Roman history did not end with the division. . . . A new power, a power outside the empire is here represented by the little horn.” Stephen N. Haskell, Story of Daniel the Prophet (1904), TEACH Services, Inc., Brushton, New York, 1995, 94.

2 What was this little horn first to subdue? Daniel 7:24, last part.

note: “The three divisions which were plucked up were the Heruli in 493, the Vandals in 534, and the Ostrogoths in 538 a.d. . . . The reason for their overthrow was their adherence to Arianism in opposition to the orthodox Catholic faith.” Haskell, 94, 95.

3 What attitude was this power to assume toward the Most High? Daniel 7:25. What New Testament description do we have of this same power? 11 Thessalonians 2:4.

note: “The papacy has indeed spoken great words against the Most High, by assuming titles and prerogatives which belong only to God. The following are samples of many quotations that might be given:

“ ‘The most holy and most happy, who is the arbiter of heaven and the Lord of the earth, the successor of St. Peter, the anointed of the Lord, the master of the universe, the father of kings, the light of the world.’—Titles assumed by Pope Martin V, in dispatches to his ambassador to Constantinople.

“ ‘The pope is all in all, and above all, so that God Himself and the pope, the vicar of God, are but one consistory.’—Hostiensis Cap., etc.

“ ‘Given in Rome from our palace, the 10th of February, 1817, the xiv jurisdiction of the most holy pontiff and father in Christ, and Lord our God the pope, Leo xii,’ etc.—Conclusion of Dr. Giustianni’s ordination letter.” International Sabbath School Quarterly, Pacific Press Publishing Company, Oakland, California, January 1, 1904, 10.

4 How were the saints of the Most High to be treated by this power? Daniel 7:25.

note “In the sixth century the papacy had become firmly established. . . . 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 headsman’s ax. . . . 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.” The Great Controversy, 54, 55.

5 What blasphemous attempt was to be made by this power against the Law of God? Daniel 7:25.

note: “Q. What is the Third Commandment? [The Douay Version of the Bible has reordered the Ten Commandments, deleting the second and dividing the tenth.]

“A. The Third Commandment is: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day.

“Q. Which is the Sabbath Day?

“A. Saturday is the Sabbath Day.

“Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

“A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.

“Q. Why did the Catholic Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?

“A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday, because Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday.

“Q. By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?

“A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her.

“Q. What does the Third Commandment command?

“A. The Third Commandment commands us to sanctify Sunday as the Lord’s Day. . . .

“Q. What is the Fourth Commandment?

“A. The Fourth Commandment is: Honor thy father and thy mother.” Rev. Peter Geiermann, C. SS. R., The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, B. Herder Book Co., St. Louis, Missouri, 1946, 50, 51.

“The pope has changed the day of rest from the seventh to the first day. He has thought to change the very commandment that was given to cause man to remember his Creator. He has thought to change the greatest commandment in the decalogue and thus make himself equal with God, or even exalt himself above God. The Lord is unchangeable, therefore His law is immutable; but the pope has exalted himself above God, in seeking to change His immutable precepts of holiness, justice, and goodness. He has trampled underfoot God’s sanctified day, and, on his own authority, put in its place one of the six laboring days. The whole nation has followed after the beast, and every week they rob God of His holy time.” Early Writings, 65.

6 How many of the Christian world acknowledge the apparent change in the Law of God? Revelation 13:3.

note: “Protestants now urge that the resurrection of Christ on Sunday made it the Christian Sabbath. But Scripture evidence is lacking. No such honor was given to the day by Christ or His apostles. The observance of Sunday as a Christian institution has its origin in that ‘mystery of lawlessness’ 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 concerning which the Scriptures are silent?” The Story of Redemption, 330.

“The Lord has clearly defined the road to the city of God; but the great apostate has changed the signpost, setting up a false one—a spurious sabbath. . . . ‘I will exalt myself. The first day shall be extolled, and the Protestant world shall receive this spurious sabbath as genuine. Through the non-observance of the Sabbath God instituted, I will bring His law into contempt. The words, “A sign between me and you throughout your generations,” I will make to serve on the side of my sabbath. Thus the world will become mine. I will be ruler of the earth, prince of the world. I will so control the minds under my power that God’s Sabbath shall be an object of contempt. A sign? I will make the observance of the seventh day a sign of disloyalty to the authorities of earth. Human laws shall be made so stringent that men and women will not dare to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. For fear of wanting food and clothing, they will join with the world in transgressing God’s law; and the earth will be wholly under my dominion.’

“The man of sin has instituted a false sabbath, and the professed Christian world has adopted this child of the papacy, refusing to obey God. Thus Satan leads men and women in a direction opposite to the city of refuge; and by the multitudes who follow him, it is demonstrated that Adam and Eve are not the only ones who have accepted the words of the wily foe.

“The enemy of all good has turned the signpost round, so that it points to the path of disobedience as the path of happiness. He has insulted Jehovah by refusing to obey a ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ He has thought to change times and laws.” Review and Herald, April 17, 1900.

7 For what time would the little horn power have dominion over the saints, times, and laws of the Most High? Daniel 7:25, last part.

note: “The periods . . . ‘forty and two months,’ and ‘a thousand two hundred and threescore days’—are the same, alike representing the time in which the church of Christ was to suffer oppression from Rome. The 1260 years of papal supremacy began in a.d. 538, and would therefore terminate in 1798. At that time a French army entered Rome and made the pope a prisoner, and he died in exile. Though a new pope was soon afterward elected, the papal hierarchy has never since been able to wield the power which it before possessed.” The Great Controversy, 266.

8 How long will it be before this power will be consumed? Daniel 7:26. Compare 11 Thessalonians 2:8.

note: “Babylon fell because she imputed her power unto the gods. Of the fourth beast Daniel says, ‘I beheld till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.’ [Daniel 7:11.] Thus at the end, instead of being conquered by some other power arising on earth, this one goes into the lake of fire. [Revelation 19:20.]” Haskell, 102.

9 How will the fate of this fourth beast differ from that of the three that preceded it? Daniel 7:11, 12.

note: “The other beasts which represent kingdoms, had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a time and a season; that is, they were merged into the succeeding kingdom. But not so with the fourth kingdom; its destruction is complete.” Haskell, 102.

10 Who will then appear upon the scene as the rightful ruler of the kingdom that for a time had been usurped by Satan? Daniel 7:27.

note: “My brother, my sister, I urge you to prepare for the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven. Day by day cast the love of the world out of your hearts. Understand by experience what it means to have fellowship with Christ. Prepare for the judgment, that when Christ shall come, to be admired in all them that believe, you may be among those who will meet him in peace. In that day the redeemed will shine forth in the glory of the Father and the Son. The angels, touching their golden harps, will welcome the King and his trophies of victory—those who have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. A song of triumph will peal forth, filling all heaven. Christ has conquered. He enters the heavenly courts, accompanied by his redeemed ones, the witnesses that his mission of suffering and sacrifice has not been in vain.” Review and Herald, November 23, 1905.

These lessons are adapted from International Sabbath School Quarterly, Pacific Press Publishing Company, Oakland, California, January 1, 1904.

Bible Study Guides – The Third Angel’s Message

March 25, 2007 – March 31, 2007

Key Text

“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 . . . .” Revelation 14:9, 10.

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 440–450, 578–581.

Introduction

“As the ministration of Jesus closed in the holy place, and He passed into the holiest, and stood before the ark containing the law of God, He sent another mighty angel with a third message to the world.” Early Writings, 254.

1 What is the essence of the third angel’s message? Revelation 14:9, 10.

note: “In contrast to those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus, the third angel points to another class, against whose errors a solemn and fearful warning is uttered: [Revelation 14:9, 10 quoted].” The Great Controversy, 438.

2 When human legislation shall conflict with the law of God by demanding false worship, how will the world be divided? Revelation 13:1–4, 8.

note: “In the issue of the contest all Christendom will be divided into two great classes—those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark.” The Great Controversy, 450.

“In comparison with the millions of the world, God’s people will be, as they have ever been, a little flock; but if they stand for the truth as revealed in His word, God will be their refuge.” The Acts of the Apostles, 590.

3 How will a religio-political power, symbolized by the second beast, flatter and imitate the first beast? Revelation 13:11, 12, 14.

note: “The lamblike horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of the nation thus represented. The ‘speaking’ of the nation is the action of its legislative and judicial authorities. By such action it will give the lie to those liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation of its policy. The prediction that it will speak ‘as a dragon’ and exercise ‘all the power of the first beast’ [Revelation 13:11, 12] plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance and persecution that was manifested by the nations represented by the dragon and the leopardlike beast. And the statement that the beast with two horns ‘causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast’ [verse 12] indicates that the authority of this nation is to be exercised in enforcing some observance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy.” The Great Controversy, 442.

4 What will Satan use to deceive the inhabitants of the earth? Revelation 13:13. What specific truth must we understand in order to escape many of these delusions? Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6.

note: “The saints must get a thorough understanding of present truth, which they will be obliged to maintain from the Scriptures. They must understand the state of the dead; for the spirits of devils will yet appear to them, professing to be beloved friends and relatives, who will declare to them that the Sabbath has been changed, also other unscriptural doctrines. They will do all in their power to excite sympathy and will work miracles before them to confirm what they declare.” Early Writings, 87.

“Satan will come in to deceive if possible the very elect. He claims to be Christ, and he is coming in, pretending to be the great medical missionary. He will cause fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men to prove that he is God. We must stand barricaded by the truths of the Bible.” Medical Ministry, 87, 88.

5 What is the object of the second beast, in direct opposition to the law of God? Revelation 13:16. What is the mark of the beast?

note: “The sign, or seal, of God is revealed in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, the Lord’s memorial of creation. [Exodus 31:12, 13 quoted.] Here the Sabbath is clearly designated as a sign between God and His people.

“The mark of the beast is the opposite of this—the observance of the first day of the week. This mark distinguishes those who acknowledge the supremacy of the papal authority from those who acknowledge the authority of God.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 117.

6 What sanctions will be imposed by the authorities on those who refuse to receive the mark of the beast? Revelation 13:17, 15.

note: “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’ (Revelation 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.” The Great Controversy, 604.

7 What punishment will Heaven send upon those who receive the mark of apostasy and accept the false worship imposed by the powers symbolized by the two beasts? Revelation 14:10, 11.

note: “The most fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is contained in the third angel’s message. That must be a terrible sin which calls down the wrath of God unmingled with mercy. Men are not to be left in darkness concerning this important matter; the warning against this sin is to be given to the world before the visitation of God’s judgments, that all may know why they are to be inflicted, and have opportunity to escape them.” The Great Controversy, 449, 450.

8 While the servants of God will be protected from the seven last plagues (Malachi 3:17), what will happen to the adherents of the false system of worship? Revelation 16:1, 2.

note: “Many of the wicked were greatly enraged as they suffered the effects of the plagues. It was a scene of fearful agony. Parents were bitterly reproaching their children, and children their parents, brothers their sisters, and sisters their brothers. Loud, wailing cries were heard in every direction, ‘It was you who kept me from receiving the truth which would have saved me from this awful hour.’ The people turned upon their ministers with bitter hate and reproached them, saying, ‘You have not warned us. You told us that all the world was to be converted, and cried, Peace, peace, to quiet every fear that was aroused. You have not told us of this hour; and those who warned us of it you declared to be fanatics and evil men, who would ruin us.’ ” Early Writings, 282.

9 Ever since the third angel’s message began to be proclaimed in 1844, what has God required of all who receive it? Revelation 14:12; 15:2.

note: “Those who are distrustful of self, who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth—these are receiving the heavenly mold and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 216.

“All who follow the Lamb in heaven must first have followed Him on earth, not fretfully or capriciously, but in trustful, loving, willing obedience, as the flock follows the shepherd.” The Acts of the Apostles, 591.

10 What is the number of those living saints who will be sealed and taken to heaven without seeing death? Revelation 14:1; 7:4. Why is the seal of God necessary in order to be saved under this message?

note: “Soon we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus’ coming. The living saints, 144,000 in number, knew and understood the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder and an earthquake.” Early Writings, 15.

“Our own course of action will determine whether we shall receive the seal of the living God or be cut down by the destroying weapons.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 212.

“What is the seal of the living God, which is placed in the foreheads of His people? It is a mark which angels, but not human eyes, can read; for the destroying angel must see this mark of redemption.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 968.

“Only those who receive the seal of the living God will have the passport through the gates of the Holy City.” Ibid., 970.

Liberty of Conscience Threatened

“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 Roman Catholics and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday.

“The prophecy of Revelation 13 declares that the power represented by the beast with lamblike horns shall cause ‘the earth and them which dwell therein’ to worship the papacy—there symbolized by the beast ‘like unto a leopard.’ [Revelation 13:12, 2.] 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. Revelation 13:11–16. It has been shown that the United States is the power represented by the beast with lamblike 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 the 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. [Verse 3 quoted.] The infliction of the deadly wound points to the downfall 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. 11 Thessalonians 2:3–8. To the very close of time he will carry forward the 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.’ Revelation 13:8. In both the Old and the New World, the papacy will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Roman Church.

“Since the middle of the nineteenth century, 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 Sundaykeeping, and the same lack of Scriptural evidence, as with the papal 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 Roman 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 bygone 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 Catholic 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.

“History testifies 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. . . .

“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. . . . 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 Great Controversy, 578–581.

Reprinted with permission, Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke Virginia, 2003.

If the Foundations be Destroyed, Part II

The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy give us important information to let us know how near we really are to the close of human probation. As we continue this study, I encourage you to continually ask yourself, Am I ready for Jesus to come?

Coming Storm

This portion of the study will begin with Revelation 13. This chapter should be extremely familiar to each one of us, so this should just be a review of what the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy tell us about this chapter and what is happening right now. We are told that a storm is coming that is relentless in its fury, and that it is going to burst upon both Seventh-day Adventists and those in the world alike, as an overwhelming surprise.

To make sure that we are all on the same page, before we begin this study, look first at verses 1 and 2: “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like [the feet of] a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.” About whom is this speaking? It is the papacy. The leopard-like beast is the papacy. It is the first beast of Revelation 13.

Eight Identifiers

Now, read verse 11, in which eight identifying marks of a second power are given: “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.” Take a closer look at the identifying marks: (1) “Then,” meaning another power, or another nation, was arising at that time when the papacy received a deadly wound in 1798. (2) It is “another beast.” Remember that a beast in Bible prophecy is a nation or a power. (3) Not so readily identified is the mark of “coming up.” This is translated from the Greek word anabaino, which means, “to spring up like a plant.” Here is a nation that is growing into power. Unlike the other nations that conquered through war, it is coming up out of the earth. (4) The “earth” represents a sparsely populated area. The first beast (verses 1, 2) came up out of the sea, which represents people, multitudes, tongues, and nations. (See Revelation 17:15.) This “lamb” represents the United States of America. (See The Great Controversy, 440.) (5) And then the text says that this beast had “two horns.” These represent Republicanism and Protestantism. (See The Great Controversy, 441.) (6) This beast is “like a lamb.” The word lamb is used 27 times in the Book of Revelation, and 26 of those times it is used as a symbol for Jesus. In this text, it represents a Christ-like nation. (7) And, it says, “he spake.” How does a nation speak? It speaks through its legislation. (8) Then it is described as being “like a dragon.” From Revelation 12:9 and 20:2, we know that a dragon represents Satan! The two horns of this beast are going to speak like a dragon!

Exercise All Power

Laws are going to be framed in the United States to restrict liberty of conscience. We are told, in verse 12, that he, the lamb-like beast with two horns—Republicanism and Protestantism—shall exercise all the power of the first beast—the papacy, the leopard-like beast. And, this passage continues, “[he] causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.” Verses 12–14.

“An image” could be stated as “a likeness to.” It would be correct terminology to state that this beast, this image, is a likeness to the papacy. In other words, we are going to see the two horns, Republicanism and Protestantism, unite as they did in the Dark Ages, when the state gained control of the church and restricted religious freedom.

“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak” through its laws, “and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” Verse 15.

In 1780, Benjamin Franklin said, “When a religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its professors are obliged to call for the help of the civil power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.” “Benjamin Franklin on Religion,” http://www.worldpolicy.org/.

Apostasy

Let us look at this image to the beast for a moment. Ellen White wrote: “It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way for the development of the papacy—the beast. Said Paul: ‘There’ shall ‘come a falling away, . . . and that man of sin be revealed.’ 11 Thessalonians 2:3.” The Great Controversy, 443, 444. What is apostasy? It is when you turn your back on the truth. What do you accept when you turn your back on the truth? Error! This is what led the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and it prepared the way for the development of the papacy, the beast.

When the church turns its back upon the truth, that means it is going to prepare the way for the image to the beast, and the image is going to speak “and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”

Continuing from The Great Controversy, 443, we read: “But what is the ‘image to the beast’? and how is it to be formed? The image is made by the two-horned beast, and is an image to the beast. It is also called an image of the beast. Then to learn what the image is like and how it is to be formed we must study the characteristics of the beast itself—the papacy.

“When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people, she sought the support of the secular power.”

Did you take notice of what happens as a church departs from truth? It apostatizes, and it turns its back on truth and accepts error and fables in its stead. It loses the Spirit and power of God.

Lawlessness

If the early church would have remained faithful to God, the whole world could have been converted. But as a result of the church backing away from the truth, she lost the Spirit and power of God and the power to convert souls. The church lost the power to go out and preach, as did Peter on the day of Pentecost, when 3,000 souls were added to the number of believers. (Acts 2:38–41.) She lost that power, and any church that follows in that same path today will lose the power and Spirit of God. What, then, shall prevail in society? Lawlessness!

Just as Jesus said, iniquity, or lawlessness, shall abound. (See Matthew 24:11, 12.) We have been hearing from pulpits all around the land that the law has been done away. What do we expect to happen to society when the law has been done away? Lawlessness! That is the inevitable result of such preaching.

“The result was the papacy, a church that controlled the power of the state and employed it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of ‘heresy.’ ” Ibid. That is a doctrine not sanctioned by the church.

“The ‘image to the beast’ represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their dogmas.” Ibid., 445. Is this becoming increasingly clear? We see those two horns coming together; church and state shall unite.

Common Points

Over a hundred years ago, Ellen White penned: “The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made. But there has been for years, in churches of the Protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine. To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed—however important they might be from a Bible standpoint—must necessarily be waived.” Ibid., 444.

What is going to happen in the United States? Churches are going to unite on common points of doctrine and on those things that are not important; those doctrines that are not essential, they say, have to be waived.

Notice this: “When this shall be gained, then, in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort to force.” Ibid., 445. Do you know how close we are to this right now? I believe that God is holding this wind back for just a little while longer, and He is allowing it to happen in little, tiny increments, because He sees that we are not ready.

We are not ready! We are not prepared for what is going to come upon this earth, especially in the United States.

“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” Ibid., 445.

Is this happening today? Are churches uniting today? Friend, what are we still doing? If we know this, what are we doing right now to prepare for this crisis? Ellen White wrote about it over a hundred years ago, and we are still here today! This unification has been happening, increments at a time. It has been happening, and Seventh-day Adventists have not been aware of it.

Catholic Ascendancy

In 1963, the July 25 issue of Catholic News quoted from a former Catholic priest: “There is, ere long, to be a state religion in this country, and that state religion is to be the Roman Catholic. . . . The Roman Catholic is to wield his vote for the purpose of securing Catholic ascendancy in this country.” Frank Hecker, Catholic World, July 1870.

What do you suppose it is today? In 1964, Cardinal Richard Cushing, the renowned archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts, shook up the Catholic Church by praising Billy Graham! He encouraged Catholics to hear the evangelist. Cushing remarked that he would stop worrying about the Catholic Church’s future in America if they had half a dozen men like Graham. (Billy Graham, “We Are Brothers,” “A Christianity Today editorial,” Christianity Today, June 2005, http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2005/june/17.28.html, posted May 24, 2005.)

Catholic and evangelical efforts towards fellowship have largely followed the Cushing-Graham model in unofficial individual and sporadic meetings. For this reason, Pope John Paul’s encyclical letter, in which he stated, “ . . . that they may be one,” is so important. Released in 1995, this teaching fueled the ecumenical movement and started at the second Vatican Council by inviting debate about Catholic doctrine. The document acknowledges for the first time in papal history that the Vatican authority hinders cooperation between such church traditions. (Graham, Christianity Today, June 2005.)

Do you realize that as far back as the 1960s Billy Graham never had a crusade without Catholic priests and nuns present in his audience? And whenever he made his famous altar calls, he would have every single card completed by those individuals who came forward given to the priests and the nuns. (Dr. Cathy Burns, Billy Graham and His Friends: A Hidden Agenda? Sharing, November 2001, 35.)

Billy Graham had never met a pope until John Paul II invited him to Rome in 1981. Ushered into the papal apartments by the Vatican’s swift guards, Graham marveled at the pomp. He and the Pope chatted like long lost friends for 30 minutes, swapping photos, gifts, and travel stories. Before Graham left, John Paul II reached over and clutched Graham’s thumb, and told him, “We are brothers.” Graham revealed nothing of the Pope’s message in 1981. At the time of their meeting, John Paul II had been pope for less than three years. An assertion of spiritual kinship would have been ill received by the bulk of their constituencies, both Catholic and Protestant, but by 1990, when Graham related this story to Time magazine journalist David Akman, the climate had changed considerably. Key to the thaw was John Paul II’s effort to beat back Communism worldwide. He became the hero of freedom. (Graham, Christianity Today, June 2005.)

From what we have read, as given in the Spirit of Prophecy, and from what has been given in the previous paragraphs, does the papacy ever change? No, she shall never change! She is the same despotic, cruel, persecuting power that she was during the Dark Ages. She is only waiting to spring into power.

Moral Relativism

The late Pope John Paul II has been lionized in evangelical eulogies and lauded by the United States President, George W. Bush, as a humble, wise, and fearless priest who became one of history’s greatest moral leaders and a hero for the ages. Why the sudden change? John Paul II offered a winsome face of Christianity to the world and leaves behind a Roman Catholic Church firmly opposed to moral relativism.

You may read more about this at the following web sites:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/02/bn.04.html.

Allow me to interject a thought here from the Spirit of Prophecy: “It is a part of her policy to assume the character which will best accomplish her purpose; but beneath the variable appearance of the chameleon she conceals the invariable venom of the serpent.” The Great Controversy, 571.

Graham, in his June 2005 Christianity Today editorial, stated, “He [Pope John Paul II] reinforced the Second Vatican Council’s commitment to seek renewal in the sources of classic Christianity, Scripture, and the church fathers. And while significant differences remain, examples include ecclesiastical authority, the means of grace, and the relationship of justification through sanctification. Evangelicals can confidently engage a Catholic Church committed to fundamental truths.” Are they committed to the truths of God’s Word? This is not what I read!

The ECT

Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) is a group comprised equally of Evangelicals and Catholics—40 altogether. If I named the members, you would recognize every single one. In one of its documents, “The Christian Mission In The Third Millennium,” it is shown what these Catholics and Evangelicals agreed upon when they met together. You may read the complete 25-page document on the Internet.

Upon what did the Spirit of Prophecy say Protestants and Catholics are going to unite? “Common points of doctrine,” and when this uniformity is secure, what is going to happen? “When this shall be gained, then, in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort to force.”

Following are some of the points upon which the ECT agreed:

Number One: Jesus Christ is Lord. Do you suppose that Catholics and Protestants can agree upon that? Can they agree upon it when Catholics call the pope, “the Lord God” upon earth?

Number Two: Salvation is only in Christ. Can Catholics and Protestants agree upon those two things? From what I read, the Catholic gains his grace through the Mass, not through Christ.

Number Three: All who accept Jesus are brothers. “Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Ellen White wrote: “The Christian world has sanctioned his [the papacy] efforts by adopting this child of the papacy,—the Sunday institution. They have nourished it, and will continue to nourish it, until Protestantism shall give the hand of fellowship to the Roman power. Then there will be a law against the Sabbath of God’s creation, and then it is that God ‘will do a strange work in the earth.’ ” Review and Herald, March 9, 1886.

Protestantism is giving that right hand of fellowship to the Roman power.

To be continued . . .

Pastor Mike Bauler serves as pastor of the Historic Message Church in Portland, Oregon. He may be contacted by e-mail at: mbauler@earthlink.net.

If the Foundations be Destroyed, Part IV

Our heavenly Father has told us that the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. The Bible further tells us that spiritual things are spiritually discerned and that the Holy Spirit teaches us. (See 1 Corinthians 2:14.) We should daily plead and ask that the Holy Spirit will be our divine teacher and watcher to guide our minds that we may have an answer for every man who asks of us for the reason of the hope we have. We should, as well, pray that God will help us to be on firm footing, so the devil will not be able to sweep our feet away by the winds of doctrine that are blowing around us.

Identifying Marks

One of the texts that is under attack today, and that is being denied, is Revelation 13:18. It is one of two texts in Revelation that calls for wisdom, the other being Revelation 17:9. Revelation 13:18 says, “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.” We know that this number is an identifying mark of the papacy and especially of the pope himself, but it is only one of many.

Through a study of three Bible chapters (Revelation 13, 11 Thessalonians 2, and Daniel 7) I found 44 identifying marks of the papacy. There could be well over 100 identifying marks of the papacy given in the Bible, as my study did not include Daniel 8 and 11 or Revelation 17 and 18, but this text gives only one.

I do not think we should make a big issue about having numerous identifying marks, but I am always concerned when we start to compromise on what the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have discovered. They laid a foundation, and we know from Psalm 11:3 that, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” What should we do? What do we need to do? We need to stick with the original foundation. So, in this article, we will study Revelation 13:18 and this number of the beast.

A Parallel

Daniel 3 is a parallel to Revelation 13; an image is described in both chapters. Daniel 3 is a real, live illustration of what is going to happen to God’s people at the very end of time when the image to the beast is established. They are going to go through the same experience as did the three Hebrews.

You may wish to read Daniel 3 again to refresh your memory of how King Nebuchadnezzar set up an image, and all the world was commanded to worship the image. Your study of this chapter should reveal that the people were not just giving their homage to a statue; they were giving their allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar – the one who had set himself in the place of God and who wanted to be worshiped. It was not enough for Nebuchadnezzar to see everybody bow down; he wanted them to give him their allegiance. It is going to be the same way at the end of time.

Take notice of the first verse. It says, “Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height [was] threescore cubits, [and] the breadth thereof six cubits.” What is “threescore cubits”? It is sixty cubits. And then there is “six cubits.” Are you starting to see a pattern of sixes here? How many instruments were used in verse 5? There were six of them. Indeed we have a parallel between Daniel 3 and Revelation 13!

In Babylon, the number six was one of the favorites of the sun god. You will notice, in the figure on this page, that these amulets contain the triple sixes. Whichever way you add them, horizontally or vertically, they add up to 666.

Donation of Constantine

Let us trace the history of this number and how it entered into papal Rome. We know that the Catholic Church adopted all its practices out of paganism. Constantine, in the fourth century, gave the Pope a statute which bears an inscription that reads, in Latin, Vicarius Filii Dei. Today, it is still in the Vatican in Rome. The English translation of those words is, “The Vicar [or Representative] of the Son of God”; the actual full Latin of the inscription is “Vicarius Filii Dei on Earth.” The Donation of Constantine in the fourth century to the papacy of this title, which, by the way, was a forged document, was retained by the papacy for six centuries.

We will now follow the history of this throughout the Catholic Church’s own writings. The Donation of Constantine is the most famous forgery in European history. Its “original” was discovered in the Pseudo-Isadorian Decretals, which are now also recognized to be forgeries – a complete fabrication of Church history in the ninth century. Parts of the Donation of Constantine were later incorporated into most of the medieval collections of Catholic canon law. Did you take note of that? They were instituted into Catholic canon law.

For centuries, this forged document, the Donation of Constantine, was held to be genuine. The Catholic Church continued to use it for hundreds of years. As one example of Constantine’s Donation being incorporated into Catholic canon law, it was incorporated into Anselm’s Cardinal Deusdedsit’s in a.d. 1087 and into Johannes Gratian’s Decretum in a.d. 1148, also known as Concordia Discordantium Canonum. The Decretum was intended as a collection of everything that Gratian could find which could give historical precedent to the teaching of papal primacy, and therefore the authority of tradition, which could then carry the force of law in the Church. It had such success that it became the standard work of the law of the Roman Church and, thus, the basis of all canon law and Scholastic theology.

Gratian’s Decretum

“In this work [Gratian’s Decretum] the Isidorian forgeries were combined with those of the other Gregorian (Gregory VII) writers . . . and with Gratian’s own additions. His work displaced all the older collections of canon law, and became the manual and repertory, not for canonists only, but for the scholastic theologians, who, for the most part, derived all their knowledge of Fathers and Councils from it. No book has ever come near it in its influence in the Church, although there is scarcely another so chokeful of gross errors, both intentional and unintentional (Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger, The Pope and the Council (Boston: Roberts, 1870), pp. 76−77, 79, 115−116).” William Webster, “Papal Forgeries,” <http://po67.ezboard.com/fthetruth11187frm2.showMessage?topicID=1028.topic> (May 18, 2007).

In his writings, Gratian stated that the blessed Peter in the earth is the Vicar of the Son of God, so the Church retained this. In the Catholic Encyclopedia, it states that Gratian is the true founder of the science of canon law. Popes who have claimed infallibility made some of the statements presented here. They would read through this man’s work (Gratian, founder of Catholic canon law) and would say that it was without flaw, and continued to use the forgery for centuries. Again Pope Pius V, appointed in a.d. 1566, commissioned to prepare a new edition of the Corpus Jurus, which is the Catholic canon law, and its gloss (comments of canonists). (See The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. VI, 392.)

It must be admitted that the work of Gratian was as near perfection as was then possible. For that reason, it was adopted at Bologna and soon elsewhere, as the textbook for the study of canon law. Today the Church will deny that this work was ever valid. They tell us that they are infallible, but Gratian’s words are still found in their encyclopedias, in their canon law, and in the Corpus Jurus.

Religion of Human Nature

Ellen White, the prophet of the Lord, sanctioned the book Daniel and Revelation (Uriah Smith, Pacific Publishing Association, 1897). She said that the book should be circulated throughout the world: “Daniel and Revelation, Great Controversy, Patriarchs and Prophets, and Desire of Ages should now go to the world. The grand instruction contained in Daniel and Revelation has been eagerly perused by many in Australia. This book has been the means of bringing many precious souls to a knowledge of the truth. Everything that can be done should be done to circulate Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation. I know of no other book that can take the place of this one. It is God’s helping hand.” The Publishing Ministry, 356. Uriah Smith’s book, Daniel and Revelation, was the first to be published containing the words Vicarius Felii Dei adding up to the number 666.

Before we look at some Seventh-day Adventist sources, I would like to show you a few things from other writings.

Lucius Ferraris, in about 1755, revised this canon law of the Catholic Church in his book, Prompta Bibliotheca. (Vol. VI, 43, col. 2, Rome, 1890.) He quotes from the Donation of Constantine, including the phrase Vicarius Felii Dei. On the fifth line of the original article, it says, “blessed Peter in the earth is the vicar of the Son of God – Vicarius Felii Dei.” This was later revised, and each one of the revisions also contains that same title within it as an official title of the pope. The revision in 1890 still contained the title, Vicarius Felii Dei.

In the February 19, 1894, issue of The Signs of the Times, an article written by Ellen White, entitled “Romanism the Religion of Human Nature,” was published. In part, it says, “Popery is a religion of human nature, and the mass of humanity love a doctrine that permits them to commit sin, and yet frees them from its consequences.” Popery is the religion of human nature!

The Bible says, in Revelation 13:18, “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man.” It is a number of a man. That is why you read, in Daniel 7:8, that the fourth beast had eyes like the eyes of a man. In 11 Thessalonians 2:3, he is called the “man of sin.” So, I am convinced that the number 666, since it can be traced in many ways, does represent humanity, and I believe that is only a part of it.

The following quote is from a 1911 newspaper. I found it in newspaper achives.com, which contains 39 million copies of newspapers dating back to 1756. Wondering whether or not anyone else was talking about Vicarius Filii Dei, I did a search on this website. In the Sandusky Register (Sandusky, Ohio) of March 13, 1911, a Pastor Russell, a non-Adventist, was asked what the words on the pope’s triple mitre – Vicarius Filii Dei – mean. He answered from the Bible that those words are the pope’s official title and that they add up to the number 666, meaning he is the antichrist.

The Challenge

The story begins at Loma Linda University Hospital, Loma Linda, California, in 1941, where a night nurse was taking care of the General Conference Treasurer, J. L. Shaw. The nurse could tell one night that his patient was troubled, and when asked why he was so restless, he replied: “I am very worried. For many years we have been preaching that the Pope has the title Vicarius Filii Dei, which adds up to 666, and now we have been challenged officially by the Catholic Church to prove this allegation by producing not some Protestant testimony, but reliable Catholic sources.”

Then Elder Shaw told how it all started with Elder [Francis D.] Nichol, who had written an article in The Signs of the Times that stated that someone in Rome saw the title Vicarius Filii Dei on the Pope’s tiara. No sooner was this published, than Elder Nichol was challenged by an editor of a Jesuit paper (by letter and by editorial) who wrote that Adventists for years had maintained that the Pope had this undocumented title, and now the Catholic Church demanded proof be presented or we desist from preaching such preposterous assumptions. Elder Nichol, who was known as a great defender of the faith, did not take this challenge lightly. He immediately wrote to scholars around the world to share with him any information they might have on this subject. He received no response.

Eventually, it was put into the hands of a special General Conference committee. Francis Nichol was a member of a committee of many scholars who wrote the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. The committee had been working on this for a long time, but could not find any official paper from the Catholic Church stating that the pope’s official title was Vicarius Filii Dei. This night nurse decided that he was going to go to the General Conference and ask if he could help in this search. Upon receiving permission to join in the search, he commenced an exhaustive research in the religious deck of the Library of Congress.

Joined in the search by a fellow student from Washington Missionary College (now Columbia Union College), who spoke Italian, it was learned that some years previous to this time a minister in Huntington, Indiana, was able to get a photocopy of an article that appeared in the April 18, 1915, issue of Our Sunday Visitor (the largest Catholic weekly in America), which stated that the Pope’s tiara had the title Vicarius Filii Dei. When this information was presented to the General Conference Committee, they were informed that one of their influential members insisted that this source was unreliable, because in the very next issue of Our Sunday Visitor, the editor published a denial indicating that he was mistaken about what was mentioned in the previous issue regarding the Pope’s title. In order to check on this alleged denial, it was necessary to review the back copies of Our Sunday Visitor which were available only at the publishing house in Indiana.

So the night nurse, along with his college buddy, dressed in black suits and traveled to Huntington, Indiana. Arriving at the publishing house of the paper, their entrance was denied, as it was just closing for the weekend. However, they pleaded with the doorman and told him they were seminarians doing a research paper, and they needed some help. The doorman ushered them to the secretary to the editor, where they once again explained their situation. The secretary, noting that they were both Latino seminarians in black suits, took them to the vault where they were able to look through bound volumes of back issues of the publication only to discover that the particular volume for which they were searching was missing.

When asked about the missing volume, the secretary responded that there had been a lot of problems with that volume, so it was kept in a secret vault. They asked if she would allow them to look at that year’s volume, and she complied with their request. The secretary retrieved from the vault a stack of papers with this particular issue of interest being at the very top. By coincidence, the young man’s birth date was April 18, 1915, the date of the publication, and when he told the secretary, she said she would love to make his day by giving him the original copy of the publication.

The two young men returned to the General Conference with the original copy of Our Sunday Visitor that states, “The letters inscribed in the pope’s mitre are these: Vicarius Filii Dei which is the Latin Vicar of the Son of God.” (See http://biblelight.net/vicarious-filii-dei-documentation.htm.)

In the November 15, 1914, issue of Our Sunday Visitor, the following was printed in response to a reader’s question: “The title of the Pope of Rome is Vicarius Filii Dei. This is inscribed on his mitre; and if you take the letters of his title which represent Latin numerals and add them together, they come to 666.” The author, who repeated the claim later in 1915, withdrew it. Among the errors he said he made was to mix up tiaras.

Denials

Notice what was happening. The Catholic Church began to deny the fact that the statement was ever written. Though the magazine itself discussed the topic again in September 1917 and August 1941, it never denied the claim published in the 1915 article that the title appeared on the mitre. Critics of the Seventh-day Adventist’s interpretation of the comment have argued that if there was some secret Catholic title that it was denying, it would have been unlikely to publish the secret in a magazine widely read by peoples of all faiths.

So, first of all they said that there was a mix-up on the tiaras. Then they argued that if the question asked about papal tiaras was such a secret, why then would the present author have proceeded to answer a question he was not asked about supposedly secret mitres? When questioned, the magazine wrote to the Seventh-day Adventist Church to inform them that the contributing priest had gotten his facts wrong.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church no longer regards the magazine article as anything other than an error and no longer promotes belief in the claim that Vicarius Filii Dei is a papal title. The Seventh-day Adventist Church abandoned its quest for the evidence after years of searching; however, some minority groups within the church still hold onto the belief that such a tiara with a title existed. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicarius_Filii_Dei.) Well, I believe such a tiara did exist.

Search Continued

Now, the two men who went to Our Sunday Visitor also went to the Jesuit University in Washington, D.C. Again, both dressed in black, as if they were from the seminary, and they said, “We need some help.” They were told that help would be given with whatever they needed. They then shared that they were doing a research paper and wanted to know if Vicarius Filii Dei was an official title of the pope. They were told that there was someone who could talk to them about it, and they were ushered into a man’s office who was an expert on canon law. The gentleman, a Monsignor, referred them to a man named Dr. Johannes Quasten, whom they could not see that day, but they were assured they would be called when he was available. A few days later they received the anticipated call and rushed to Dr. Quasten’s office, where they repeated the purpose of their visit their quest to learn whether or not the pope’s official title was Vicarius Filii Dei. Dr. Quasten responded verbally, but also, upon request, in writing. “Dr. Quasten pulled out his pen and in his own handwriting wrote on official Catholic University stationary the following: ‘The title Vicarius Christi, as well as the title Vicarius Filii Dei is very common as the title of the Pope’ and signed his name.” <http://biblelight.net/vicarius-filii-dei-documentation.htm> May 20, 2007.

Bible Commentary

These two young men went directly back to the General Conference Committee, got two notaries to sign it, seal it, and date it. These two men risked their lives to get that information in 1941. Because of the two strong evidences of support they secured, the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary came out very strongly with the fact that Vicarius Filii Dei is the official title of the pope.

“This interpretation [that 666 stood for Vicarius Filii Dei, meaning ‘vicar of the Son of God,’ one of the titles for the pope of Rome] was based on the identification of the pope as the Antichrist, the historic Reformation concept. The principal exponent of this interpretation was Andreas Helwig (c. 1572-1643; See L. E. Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2, pp. 605-608). Many since his day have adopted this interpretation. Inasmuch as this commentary identifies the beast as the papacy, it also accepts this view as being the best thus far presented, though recognizing that there may be more implied in the cryptogram than this interpretation provides.

“Regarding the title Vicarius Filii Dei, the Catholic journal Our Sunday Visitor, of April 18, 1915, reported in answer to a query, ‘What are the letters supposed to be in the Pope’s crown, and what do they signify, if anything?’ ‘The letters inscribed in the Pope’s mitre are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is the Latin for Vicar of the Son of God.’ . . . The issue of November 15, 1914, admitted that the Latin numerals added together total 666. . . . The Catholic Encyclopedia distinguishes between the mitre and the tiara by describing the tiara as a non-liturgical ornament and the mitre as one worn for liturgical functions. Whether the inscription Vicarius Filii Dei appears on the tiara or the mitre is really beside the point. The title is admittedly applied to the pope, and that is sufficient for the purposes of prophecy.” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 823, 824.

2002 Bible Study Guide

In the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide for April, May, June 2002, Great Apocalyptic Prophecies, 85, 86, the following note is presented: “Vicarius Filii Dei (Vicar of the Son of God). Since the Reformation, this papal title has been used to calculate the number 666. But there are several questions that should make us cautious. First, it is not clear that this title is an official one.” As shown previously, this information was received from doctors of canon law. We have seen the evidence. “Second, there is no clear indication in Revelation 13 that the number is based on the numerical value of the letters of a name.” The Catholic Church supports that view, but we cannot! “The phrase ‘it is the number of a man’ (vs. 18, NIV) could be translated ‘it is the number of [humanity]’; that is, of humans separated from God. Third, those who insist in counting the numerical value of letters confront the problem of deciding which language will be used. Because the text does not identify any language, the selection of a particular one will be somewhat arbitrary. At the present time, the symbolism of intensified rebellion, six used three times, and total independence from God seem to be the best option. Time will reveal the full meaning of the symbol.” <www.ssnet.org/qrtrly/eng/02b/> May 20, 2007.

It should concern us that there is a compromise on these issues. What is next? Is a complete denial going to come out in one of the church’s publications? It is going to lead to an effect upon Protestants today; they are going to forget about history; they are going to forget what it means to be a real Protestant.

The Catholic Church, over the past few years, has made numerous pronouncements in defense of religious liberty. Does this truth affect in any way what Revelation 13 says? Does it impact how we witness regarding Rome? Does the Catholic Church love religious freedom? That is not what Revelation 13 tells us, nor is that what the Spirit of Prophecy tells us. The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy tell us that the papacy never changes. It is the same cruel, despotic power that it was during the Dark Ages.

“Protestants are losing the mark of distinction that distinguished them from the world, and they are lessening the distance between themselves and the Roman power. They have turned away their ears from hearing the truth; they have been unwilling to accept light which God shed upon their pathway, and are therefore going into darkness. They speak with contempt of the idea that there will be a revival of the past cruel persecution on the part of Romanists and those who affiliate with them. They do not recognize the fact that the word of God fully predicts such a revival, and will not concede that the people of God in the last days shall suffer persecution . . . .” The Signs of the Times, February 19, 1894.

The Future

From Revelation 13:16, 17, we read: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” We will not be able to buy or sell if we do not have those qualifications. In Nebuchadnazzer’s day, he not only wanted people to bow down, he wanted people to reverence him, to pay him homage. In the Dark Ages, when people were asked, “Do you accept the pope as the vicar of the Son of God on earth?” what would happen if they said, “No”? It was a death decree. I believe it is going to be the same today, because it says that we cannot buy or sell unless we have the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. “Vicar of the Son of God” means that the pope has absolute control over everything – governments and churches.

Ellen White tells us that, “Under one head – the papal power – the people will unite to oppose God in the person of His witnesses.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 182. A time will come when we will be required to give our allegiance to the pope. But, “I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, [and] over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Revelation 15:2. These are the people who will not accept that the pope is the ruler of the world.

Pope Benedict XVI has made an appeal to all churches to recognize him as the head of all churches, including Protestantism. (See http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_060612pope.shtml.) An appeal by the Pope to non-Catholic Christians to recognize papal primacy risks reinforcing divisions between churches, according to an Italian Protestant theologian. “Pope Benedict asserted that Jesus himself had entrusted the leadership of the Church to his apostle Peter.

“ ‘Peter’s responsibility thus consists of guaranteeing the communion with Christ,’ said Pope Benedict. ‘Let us pray so that the primacy of Peter, entrusted to poor human beings, may always be exercised in this original sense desired by the Lord, so that it will be increasingly recognised [sic] in its true meaning by brothers who are still not in communion with us.’ ” This is what the pope is calling for.

Do you want to recognize that the pope is the vicar, the one who takes the place of Christ on earth? The Bible tells us that there is only one head of the church, and that is Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 5:23.) If we are going to make it to the end, Jesus must be all in all in us.

Pastor Mike Bauler serves as pastor of the Historic Message Church in Portland, Oregon. He may be contacted by e-mail at: mbauler@earthlink.net.

Bible Study Guides – God’s Omniscience Of Earthly Affairs

November 7, 2009 – November 13, 2009

Key Text

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.” Daniel 7:9.

Study Help: The Great Controversy, 479–491; Testimonies, vol. 4, 384–387.

Introduction

“Above the distractions of the earth He [God] sits enthroned; all things are open to His divine survey; and from His great and calm eternity He orders that which His providence sees best.” The Ministry of Healing, 417.

1 How does God reveal His secrets? Amos 3:7; Numbers 12:6.

Note: “The multitude of dreams arise from the common things of life, with which the Spirit of God has nothing to do. There are also false dreams, as well as false visions, which are inspired by the spirit of Satan. But dreams from the Lord are classed in the word of God with visions and are as truly the fruits of the spirit of prophecy as visions.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 569.

2 What is our duty regarding dreams and visions? Deuteronomy 13:1–5; 18:20–22; I John 4:1. How was Daniel’s moral credibility as a prophet established?

Note: “Except the one perfect Pattern, there is not described in the Sacred Pages a single character more worthy of emulation than that of the prophet Daniel. Exposed in youth to all the allurements of a royal court, he became a man of unbending integrity and fervent devotion to God. He was subjected to the fierce temptations of Satan, yet his character was not vacillating, nor his course changeable. He was firm where many would be yielding; he was true where they would be false; he was strong where they would be weak. Daniel was a lofty cedar of Lebanon.” Our High Calling, 249.

3 What was Daniel shown, and why is his prophetic vision important for us? Daniel 7:1, 2.

Note: “Shortly before the fall of Babylon, when Daniel was meditating on these prophecies and seeking God for an understanding of the times, a series of visions was given him concerning the rise and fall of kingdoms. With the first vision, as recorded in the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel, an interpretation was given; yet not all was made clear to the prophet.” Prophets and Kings, 553.

“As we near the close of this world’s history, the prophecies recorded by Daniel demand our special attention, as they relate to the very time in which we are living. With them should be linked the teachings of the last book of the New Testament Scriptures.” Ibid., 547.

4 What do the “winds” and “waters” or “sea” represent? Jeremiah 51:1, 2; 4:13; Revelation 17:15. Explain the significance of what Daniel saw coming up from the sea. Daniel 7:3, 16, 17.

Note: “[Daniel 7:2 quoted.] In Revelation 17 an angel explained that waters represent ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.’ Revelation 17:15. Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds of heaven striving upon the great sea represent the terrible scenes of conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have attained to power.” The Great Controversy, 440.

“The great kingdoms that have ruled the world were presented to the prophet Daniel as beasts of prey.” Ibid., 439, 440.

5 What does the first beast represent? Daniel 7:4, first part; Jeremiah 4:6, 7; Habakkuk 1:6–8.

Note: “Under King Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon was the richest and most powerful kingdom on the earth. Its riches and splendor have been faintly portrayed by Inspiration.” The Youth Instructor, September 29, 1903.

6 Under what symbol is the weakening of Babylon described? Daniel 7:4, last part.

Note: “In God’s appointed time, that kingdom of pride and power [Babylon], ruled by men of the highest intellect, was broken, shattered, helpless. Christ has declared, ‘Without Me, ye can do nothing’ [John 15:5]. Illustrious statesmen did not regard themselves as being dependent upon God. They thought that they themselves had created all their grandeur and exaltation. But when God speaks, they are as the grass that groweth up, and as the flower of the grass that fadeth away. The word and will of God alone liveth and endureth forever.” Bible Training School, December 1, 1912.

“The kingdom of Babylon passed away because, in their prosperity, her rulers forgot God, and ascribed her honor and glory to human achievement. So today, when men forget God and refuse to obey His law, they are humiliated. God tests them, and if they do not humble their hearts and confess their sins, they receive the penalty of transgression.” The Review and Herald, February 6, 1900.

7 Describe the beasts that followed. Daniel 7:5–7, 23. Why was each of these empires prevented from enduring forever?

Note: “The crown removed from Israel passed successively to the kingdoms of Babylon [the lion], Medo-Persia [the bear], Greece [the leopard], and Rome [the fourth beast, dreadful and terrible].” Education, 179.

“They [the kingdoms] deteriorated because they cast off God. Forgetting Him, they sank lower and lower in the scale. The vast empire of Rome crumbled into pieces.” The Review and Herald, February 6, 1900.

8 Describe the “little horn” which arose among the ten horns. Daniel 7:8, 24. What should be our attitude regarding the controversial nature of this subject?

Note: “The vast empire of Rome crumbled to pieces, and from its ruins rose that mighty power, the Roman Catholic Church. This church boasts of her infallibility and her hereditary religion. But this religion is a horror to all who are acquainted with the secrets of the mystery of iniquity. The priests of this church maintain their ascendency by keeping the people in ignorance of God’s will, as revealed in the Scriptures.” The Youth’s Instructor, September 22, 1903.

“We may have less to say in some lines, in regard to the Roman power and the Papacy, but we should call attention to what the prophets and apostles have written under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit has so shaped matters, both in the giving of the prophecy, and in the events portrayed, as to teach that the human agent is to be kept out of sight, hid in Christ, and the Lord God of heaven and His law are to be exalted.” Evangelism, 577.

9 Describe the awesome scene which followed in Daniel’s vision. Daniel 7:9, 10. How was the same event shown to John the Revelator? Revelation 11:19.

Note: “The Ancient of Days is God the Father. Says the psalmist: ‘Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.’ Psalm 90:2. It is He, the source of all being, and the fountain of all law, that is to preside in the judgment.” The Great Controversy, 479.

“The announcement that the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of His testament was seen points to the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 as Christ entered there to perform the closing work of the atonement.” Ibid., 433.

“As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected. When any have sins remaining upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book of life, and the record of their good deeds will be erased from the book of God’s remembrance.” Ibid., 483.

10 How is the investigative judgment represented in one of Christ’s parables? Matthew 22:11, 12.

Note: “In the parable of Matthew 22 the same figure of the marriage is introduced, and the investigative judgment is clearly represented as taking place before the marriage. Previous to the wedding the king comes in to see the guests, to see if all are attired in the wedding garment, the spotless robe of character washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Matthew 22:11; Revelation 7:14. He who is found wanting is cast out, but all who upon examination are seen to have the wedding garment on are accepted of God and accounted worthy of a share in His kingdom and a seat upon His throne. This work of examination of character, of determining who are prepared for the kingdom of God, is that of the investigative judgment, the closing work in the sanctuary above.

“When the work of investigation shall be ended, when the cases of those who in all ages have professed to be followers of Christ have been examined and decided, then, and not till then, probation will close, and the door of mercy will be shut.” The Great Controversy, 428.

Additional Reading

“In the power of the Spirit the delegated servants of Christ are to bear witness for their Leader. The yearning desire of the Saviour for the salvation of sinners is to mark all their efforts. The gracious invitation, first given by Christ, is to be taken up by human voices and sounded throughout the world: ‘Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.’ Revelation 22:17. The church is to say: ‘Come.’ Every power in the church is to be actively engaged on the side of Christ. The followers of Christ are to combine in a strong effort to call the attention of the world to the fast-fulfilling prophecies of the word of God. Infidelity and spiritualism are gaining a strong hold in the world. Shall those to whom great light has been given be cold and faithless now?

“We are on the very verge of the time of trouble, and perplexities that are scarcely dreamed of are before us. A power from beneath is leading men to war against Heaven. Human beings have confederated with satanic agencies to make void the law of God. The inhabitants of the world are fast becoming as the inhabitants of the world in Noah’s day, who were swept away by the Flood, and as the inhabitants of Sodom, who were consumed by fire from heaven. The powers of Satan are at work to keep minds diverted from eternal realities. The enemy has arranged matters to suit his own purposes. Worldly business, sports, the fashions of the day—these things occupy the minds of men and women. Amusements and unprofitable reading spoil the judgment. In the broad road that leads to eternal ruin there walks a long procession. The world, filled with violence, reveling, and drunkenness, is converting the church. The law of God, the divine standard of righteousness, is declared to be of no effect.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 43, 44.

“The solemn, sacred truth—the testing message given us of God to communicate to the world—lays every one of us under the strongest obligation to so transform our daily life and character that the power of the truth may be well represented. We should have a continual sense of the shortness of time and of the fearful events which prophecy has declared must speedily take place. It is because these truths are not made a reality that the life is so inconsistent with the truth which we profess. Many hide in the earth talents which should be invested where they will be accumulating to be returned to God when He shall say: ‘Give an account of thy stewardship’[Luke 16:2]. Moses became great because he used his talents to do the work of God, and an increase of talents was then given him. He became eloquent, patient, self-reliant, and competent to do the greatest work ever entrusted to mortal man. This is the effect upon character whenever men give themselves to God with the whole soul, and listen for His commands that they may obey them.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 612, 613.

©2005 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted with permission.

Babylon the Great City, part 2

In our last article, we looked at the inspired evidence in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy that defines who the dragon, the beast power and the false prophet represent. These three powers will form one worldwide confederacy in the last days. This confederacy will be accompanied by great signs and wonders and many miracles, and will persuade the world in general that the greatest revival and reformation of all time is taking place. The people will believe that they are receiving the latter rain of the Holy Spirit. Miraculous healings will take place, and people will be prophesying and casting out spirits. The greatest excitement will prevail. It will appear that war and international distress will be abolished and that worldwide peace will develop.

Ellen White describes this period in this way: “I saw our people in great distress, weeping, and praying, pleading the sure promises of God, while the wicked were all around us, mocking us, and threatening to destroy us. They ridiculed our feebleness, they mocked at the smallness of our numbers, and taunted us with words calculated to cut deep. They charged us with taking an independent position from all the rest of the world. They had cut off our resources so that we could not buy nor sell, and referred to our abject poverty and stricken condition. They could not see how we could live without the world; we were dependent upon the world, and we must concede to the customs, practices, and laws of the world, or go out of it. If we were the only people in the world whom the Lord favored the appearances were awfully against us. They declared that they had the truth, that miracles were among them, that angels from heaven talked with them, and walked with them, that great power, and signs and wonders were performed among them, and this was the Temporal Millennium, which they had been expecting so long. The whole world was converted and in harmony with the Sunday law, and this little feeble people stood out in defiance of the laws of the land, and the laws of God, and claimed to be the only ones right on the earth.” Maranatha, 209.

This three-fold union of the dragon, the beastpower and the false prophet will unite together to accomplish the following objectives:

  1. Bring unity and harmony into Christendom. It will be thought that this movement will answer Jesus’ prayer in John 17, and end the disharmony that has existed in Christendom since at least the second century. Eventually, in order to bring this about, all religious groups will come under severe pressures of many kinds, both from the State and the church, to conform to at least a minimum of common beliefs held by all. The absolute minimum will be that all conform to the day of worship accepted by the majority—Sunday.
  2. Usher in the day of the Lord—the return of Christ. Most Christian groups today believe that the day of the Lord, the end of the age, is not far away. It will be thought that this united movement will bring about the consummation of the church’s hopes.
  3. Bring unity not only within Christendom but with the entire world—with all non-Christian groups as well.

The above objectives will be obvious to human observers but there are other powers, spiritual powers, in the universe, that also have objectives to accomplish through these developments. First of all, the devil and his fallen angels. The following are their revealed objectives:

“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.” The Great Controversy, 588.

“Zechariah’s vision of Joshua and the Angel applies with peculiar force to the experience of God’s people in the closing scenes of the great day of atonement. The remnant church will then be brought into great trial and distress. Those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will feel the ire of the dragon and his hosts. Satan numbers the world as his subjects; he has gained control even of many professing Christians. But here is a little company who are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them from the earth, his triumph would be complete. As he influenced the heathen nations to destroy Israel, so in the near future he will stir up the wicked powers of earth to destroy the people of God. Men will be required to render obedience to human edicts in violation of the divine law.” Prophets and Kings, 587.

The preceding paragraph explains the reason for Sunday laws that most people know nothing about—they are inspired by supernatural powers as a way to bring all the people of the world into violation of God’s law and thereby under condemnation in the day of judgement. It is a master plan, bolstered with the highest sounding benefits to mankind, that in actuality brings man into direct violation of the Law of God and thereby in direct controversy and rebellion against his Creator. The fourth commandment, right in the heart of the Ten Commandments says,”Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work, you nor your son nor your daughter, nor your man-servant, nor your maid-servant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger that is within your gates, for in six days, the Lord created the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh-day, wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8–11.

The entire world knows when the seventh-day is because the whole world refers to a certain day of the week at Easter as “good Friday.” The whole world also knows on which day of the week Jesus arose from the dead. From this it is not hard to know when the seventh-day Sabbath is. According to the commandment of God, it is the day of the week that comes between “good Friday” and resurrection Sunday. (See Luke 23:54; 24:1.)

The devil’s objective has always been to take the place of God and to force others, if necessary, to worship him. “The great apostate has changed the signpost, setting up a false one—a spurious sabbath. He says: ‘I will work at cross purposes with God. I will empower my delegate, the man of sin, to take down God’s memorial, the seventh-day Sabbath. Thus will I show the world that the day sanctified and blessed by God has been changed. That day shall not live in the minds of the people. I will obliterate the memory of it. I will place in its stead a day bearing not the credentials of heaven, a day that can not be a sign between God and His people. I will lead the people who accept this day, to place upon it the sanctity that God placed upon the seventh day. Through my vicegerent I will exalt myself. The first day shall be extolled, and the Protestant world shall receive this spurious sabbath as genuine. Through the non-observance of the Sabbath God instituted, I will bring His law into contempt. The words, ‘A sign between me and you throughout your generations,’ I will make to serve on the side of my sabbath. Thus the world will become mine. I will be ruler of the earth, prince of the world. I will so control the minds under my power that God’s Sabbath shall be an object of contempt. I will make the observance of the seventh day a sign of disloyalty to the authorities of earth. Human laws shall be made so stringent that men and women will not dare to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. For fear of wanting food and clothing, they will join with the world in transgressing God’s law; and the earth will be wholly under my dominion.’ ” Review and Herald, April 17, 1900.

“The warfare against God’s law commenced in heaven. Satan was determined to bring God to his ideas, his way, to force Him to change the law of His government. This was the cause of the war in heaven. Satan worked upon the sympathies of the angelic host by his deceptive attitude, but he was expelled from heaven, and now he is determined to carry out on this earth the plans he instituted in heaven. If he can persuade man to be disloyal to the laws of God, he will feel that he is revenged upon God. He strives to instill into the minds of men his masterly deceptions, thus perverting judgment and justice, and trampling down the law of God. This work—the conflict between truth and error—-lies at the foundation of the trials and tribulations that the children of God will experience. This is the ‘trial of their faith.’ By pressing upon the soul the idea that God is displeased with us, Satan tries to torture us into unbelief.” Letter 24, 1895, 4–6.

“If Satan can induce a union of the church and the world, man-made commandments will supplant the Sabbath. Men do not seem to understand that they are taken in Satan’s snare when they attempt to tamper with the law of God. Satan has them in just the position he wants them when they manufacture laws to control the world and place those laws where God’s laws should be. The enemy knows that, if the church can be controlled by political enactments, she will lose her garments of light as did Adam and Eve. If he can lead the church to unite with the world and accept worldly enactments, they virtually acknowledge him as their head. Then the authority of manmade commandments will work to oppose the rule of the government of heaven. Under the leadership of Satan the knowledge of good and evil will work to dispense with the righteous, holy enactments of God concerning the Sabbath, the observance of which is to be a sign between God and His people forever.” Adventist Apocalypse (Ms. 77, 1899).

The devil is not the only supernatural power who has objectives in the Sunday law movement that will be promoted by the three-fold union mentioned in Revelation 16. God is against this movement designed to force the entire world to transgress His law, but nevertheless, God has specific objectives in allowing it to develop:

“I saw that the enemy would either contend for the usefulness or the life of the godly, and will try to mar their peace as long as they live in this world. But his power is limited. He may cause the furnace to be heated, but Jesus and angels will watch the trusting Christian, that nothing may be consumed but the dross. The fire kindled by Satan, can have no power to destroy or hurt the true metal. It is important to close every door possible, against the entrance of Satan. It is the privilege of every family to so live that Satan cannot take advantage of anything they may say or do, to tear each other down. Every member of the family should bear in mind that all have just as much as they can do to resist our wily foe, and with earnest prayers and unyielding faith, they must rely upon the merits of the blood of Christ, and claim His saving strength. The powers of darkness gather about the soul and shut Jesus from our sight, and at times we can only wait in sorrow and amazement until the cloud passes over. These seasons are sometimes terrible. Hope seems to fail, and despair seizes upon us. In these dreadful hours we must learn to trust, to depend on the sole merits of the atonement, and in all our helpless unworthiness cast ourselves upon the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour. We shall never perish while we do this— never! When light shines on our pathway, it is no great thing to be strong in the strength of grace. But to wait patiently in hope, when all is dark, when clouds envelope us, requires faith and submission which causes our will to be swallowed up in the will of God. We are too quickly discouraged, and earnestly cry for the trial to be removed from us, when we should plead for patience to endure, and grace to overcome.” Review and Herald, April 22, 1862.

“God means that testing truth shall be brought to the front and become a subject of examination and discussion, even if it is through the contempt placed upon it.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 463.

“God has called His church in this day, as He called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth. By the mighty cleaver of truth, the messages of the first, second, and third angels, He has separated them from the churches and from the world to bring them into a sacred nearness to Himself. He has made them the depositaries of His law and has committed to them the great truths of prophecy for this time. Like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, these are a sacred trust to be communicated to the world. The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God’s messages and go forth as His agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth. Christ declares to His followers: ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ To every soul that accepts Jesus the cross of Calvary speaks: ‘Behold the worth of the soul: ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’ Nothing is to be permitted to hinder this work. It is the all-important work for time; it is to be far-reaching as eternity. The love that Jesus manifested for the souls of men in the sacrifice which He made for their redemption, will actuate all His followers.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 455.

Let’s look at a brief historical review from the first article:

When those religious bodies and groups, who claimed to derive their religion and reason for existence from the Bible (inspired writings alone), rejected the First Angel’s Message, God rejected them. Jesus turned from them with a frown and they fell from their former position of acceptance with God. They became part of what Revelation calls mystical Babylon. The rejection of the First Angel’s Message involved also the rejection of the Sabbath, because the Sabbath is clearly a part of the First Angel’s Message, the fourth commandment actually being quoted from in that message. But that was not the end of the fall into Babylon by these churches: “The Second Angel’s Message of Revelation 14, was first preached in the summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where the warning of the Judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in 1844. The churches then experienced a moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the Advent message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject the special truths for this time, they have fallen lower and lower.” The Great Controversy, 389.

The question then must of necessity be asked, what should our relationship be to those who, according to the Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy, belong to associations and groups (churches), described by Scripture as Babylon? It is evident in Scripture that these groups cannot be reformed, because God does not call for His people to attempt to improve or reform them, but rather to come out of them. This is what the Three Angels’ Messages accomplish, as the reference quoted above clearly states.

If God is calling His people to come out of these groups, is it possible for a person who has accepted the Three Angels’ Messages and come out of those groups, to simply associate with them, and never call the people to come out of them and still have a clear conscience? Is it possible to simply say, “Well, we will work with these people as best we can on those points which we hold in common”? Is it not clearly evident that it is impossible to in any way be a part of the ecumenical movement and stay true and faithful to the Three Angels’ Messages? If we associate with these people and never call them to come out of Babylon, what do we intend to say to them when they receive the seven last plagues and reproach us for not calling them out of danger into the safety of the remnant? The following is what they will say to us: “In the visions of the night a very impressive scene passed before me. I saw an immense ball of fire fall among some beautiful mansions, causing their instant destruction. I heard someone say: ‘We knew that the judgments of God were coming upon the earth, but we did not know that they would come so soon.’ Others, with agonized voices, said: ‘You knew! Why then did you not tell us? We did not know.’ On every side I heard similar words of reproach spoken.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 28.

While we are ever to be kind and courteous to those who are in error, never by precept or example should we give the wrong impression that they are not in danger of receiving the seven last plagues. If we act like they are our brothers in Christ when, in truth, the organizations with whom they have been affiliated are rejected by the Lord, we are doing them harm. God is calling them to come out from the unclean and be separate so that they can be received of God as His children. (2 Corinthians 6:14–18.) If we want to be a part of that number who will give the final warning, the loud cry to come out of Babylon (the churches fallen because of their errors and sins), how can we now be going directly contrary to the spirit of that message by fraternizing with those that we should be calling out of their religions affiliations?

“The warnings that worldly conformity and cowardice has silenced will have to be given under the fiercest opposition from our enemies.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 463. Where will you be found? Will you be among those who give the warning or will you be one of the large class who have professed faith in the Third Angel’s Message, but not being sanctified through obedience to the truth,abandon your position, join with the ecumenical movement which is enforcing Sunday observance and fight those who are giving the last warning of God to this world? (See Great Controversy, 608.)

“Servants of God, endowed with power from on high, with their faces lighted up, and shining with holy consecration, went forth to proclaim the message from heaven. Souls that were scattered all through the religious bodies answered to the call, and the precious were hurried out of the doomed churches, as Lot was hurried out of Sodom before her destruction. God’s people were strengthened by the excellent glory which rested upon them in rich abundance and prepared them to endure the hour of temptation. I heard everywhere a multitude of voices saying, ‘Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ “Early Writings, 278.

 

The Significance of 666

The number of the beast power in Revelation 13:1–10 is 666, and it is also the number of a man. (Revelation 13:18.) As explained in the Catholic Bible in the note under Revelation 13:18: “The numeral letters of his name shall make up this number.”

  1. The beast power was to be a superpower over all the nations and tribes and languages of the earth. (Revelation 13:7.)
  2. It was to receive its seat of government or throne from the dragon power, (Revelation 13:2) which represented in its celestial sense the devil, (Revelation 12:9) but in its human or terrestrial form the pagan Roman Empire. (Revelation 12:4.)
  3. It was to be a religious power because all would worship it. (Revelation 13:8.)
  4. It was to persecute God’s saints (Revelation 13:7) and to overcome them.
  5. It was to make great claims against the God of heaven (Revelation 13:5) that is blasphemy. Blasphemy in the Bible was understood to refer to a man claiming to be God (John 10:33) and a man claiming the authority to forgive sins. (Matthew 9:2,3.)
  6. It was to have persecuting power, or authority, to continue for forty-two months or 1260 days or 1260 literal years. In the Douay Bible Father Reaves says: “The prophet’s weeks are, by all interpreters of the Holy Scriptures, understood to include years for days.” Bible History, 345.
  7. This power was to have a number. His number is 666. (Revelation 13:18.)

Is there a power whose official title has a numerical value equal to 666, and who also fulfills all the identifying marks of the beast described in Revelation 13:1–10?

In an early collection of canon law first published in 1148 (the “Decretum of Gratian” we read (latin) “Beatus Petrus in terris Vicarius Filii Dei videtur esse constitutus.” Translated into English this is, “Blessed Peter is seen to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God on the earth.” Gratian is considered the founder of the science of canon law.

In the Corpus of Canon revised and published by order of Gregor XIII it was stated by Pope Gregory XIII to be corrected by “the plenitude of apostolic power,” so that it is “entirely freed from faults,” we find the same statement: “Beatus Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei esse videtur constitutus.”

  1. Lucii Ferraris, another Catholic writer states, “Ut secut Beatus Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei fuit constituts, ita et Pontifices eius successores in terris principatus potestatem amplius, quam terrenoe imperialis nostroe serenitatis mansuetudo habere videtur.” Translated: “As the blessed Peter was constituted Vicar of the Son of God on earth, so it is seen that the Pontiffs, his successors, hold from us and our empire the power of a supremacy on the earth greater than the clemency of our earthly imperial serenity.”

Philippe Labbe, a Jesuit writer, in his historical work Sacrosancta Concilia and Regiam Editionem Exacta, vol. 1, 1534 (Paris 1671), used “Vicarius Filii Dei” as the official title of the pope.

“What are the letters supposed to be in the Pope’s crown, and what do they signify, if anything?

“The letters inscribed in the Pope’s miter are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is the Latin for Vicar of the Son of God. Catholics hold that the Church which is a visible society must have a visible head. Christ, before His ascension into heaven, appointed St. Peter to act as His representative. Upon the death of Peter the man who succeeded to the office of Peter as Bishop of Rome, was recognized as the head of the Church. Hence to the Bishop of Rome, as head of the Church, was given the title of ‘Vicar of Christ.’

“Enemies of the Papacy denounce this title as a malicious assumption. But the Bible informs us that Christ did not only give His Church authority to teach, but also to rule. Laying claim to the authority to rule in Christ’s spiritual kingdom, in Christ’s stead, is not a whit more malicious than laying claim to the authority to teach in Christ’s name. And this every Christian minister does.” Our Sunday Visitor, April 18, 1915, thirteenth question under “Bureau of Information,” on page 3.

In addition to these Catholic sources there are a number of Protestant eye-witnesses to this official title being inscribed on tiaras (crowns) which were worn by the Pope.


Count the number of: Vicarius Filii Dei

I=1; V or U=5; L=50; C=100; D=500

” Vicarius Filii Dei “

V=5 I=1 C=100 A=0 R=0  I=1 U=5 S=0    F=0 I=1 L=50 I=1 I=1    D=500 E=0 I=1

      5 + 1  +  100   +  0  +   0 +  1  +  5 +  0           0 + 1   +  50 + 1  + 1          500 +   0  +  1
        
             = 112                                                                   = 53                                   = 501

              112 + 53 +  501 = 666

Who is Antichrist?

 

The Bible teaches that there are many antichrists 1 John 2:18. Although there are many antichrists, the Bible speaks of “the antichrist.” 1 John 2:18. The Greek word ‘anti” is equivalent to the latin word “vicar.” It means primarily, one who stands in the place of another. The antichrist, then, is a person who stands in the place of Christ. If a person claims to be the vicar of Christ, he is claiming to be the antichrist. Since God says that He will not give His glory to another, (Isaiah 42:8) if a human being claims to stand in the place of Christ he places himself against Christ. This is the common understanding of antichrist. (See Matthew 23:8–12.)

The antichrist, in its celestial form is the devil—he is the ultimate antichrist or false Christ. (See 2 Corinthians 11:13–15) However, the antichrist has a human or terrestrial form also and is identified in several places in the scriptures. (See Daniel 7; 2 Thessalonians 2; Revelation 13.)

The identifying marks given are:

  1. He “will oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple [church] of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4.
  2. It is described three times in this chapter in association with breaking God’s law and teaching men to break God’s law.
  3. This power had it’s roots, or beginnings, in the time of the apostles. (2 Thessalonians 2:7.)
  4. It will continue until the second coming of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:8.)
  5. It will work miracles and deceptive wonders.
  6. It will deceive everybody in the world who did not receive the love of the truth.
  7. It ill arise among the ten nations which divided up the Western Roman Empire. (Daniel 7:8.)
  8. It will persecute the saints. (Daniel 7:25.)
  9. It will arise to political authority after 476 A.D. (Daniel 7:8, 24.)
  10. In the process of arising to power it will destroy three of the original ten nations that divided up the Roman empire.
  11. It will persecute the saints of God for 1260 prophetic days, or 1260 literal years.
  12. It will speak great words against the Most High.
  13. It will intend to changed times and laws.
  14. It will have eyes like the eyes of a man.
  15. This power does not confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (2 John 7; 1 John 4:1–3. Compare with Galatians 5 and Romans 8 and 1 John 2:15–17 for the technical meaning of the world “flesh” in Scripture.)
  16. Would receive a deadly wound at the end of the 1260 year period.
  17. This deadly wound would be healed
  18. It will be worshipped by all the world in the end of time except those who are saved.
  19. It would have worldwide influence and authority during the 1260 year period and again at the end of time.
  20. It would have a number, and this number would be the number of a man.

The number would be 666.

 

What is the Mark of the Beast?

 

  1. It must be something that is a characteristic of the beast power for which the identifying marks have already been listed. (One of the main identifying characteristics of the beast power or the antichrist power is its intention to change God’s law thereby setting itself up above God. (Daniel 7:25; 2 Thessalonians 2:4–8.)
  2. If you receive it you will receive the wrath of God. (Revelation 14:9–11.)
  3. The only people who receive the wrath of God are those who obey unrighteousness. (Romans 2:8.)
  4. All unrighteousness is sin. (1 John 5:17.)
  5. Sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4.) Therefore the mark of the beast must involve breaking the law of God.
  6. This breaking of the law of God is deliberate—“shall think to change times and laws.” Daniel 7:25.
  7. It will be enforced by human law, and all who do not receive it will not be able to buy or sell. (Revelation 13:15–17.)

The Bible uses the symbol of a beast to represent a nation or a kingdom in Bible prophecy. We use this symbolism in our everyday speech. Just think of the bald eagle, the bear, the elephant and the donkey.

The only power that meets all the identifying marks found in Revelation 13:1–10, is the papacy. What part of God’s law has been deliberately changed by the papacy? And what change is spoken of as a mark of her power and authority?

Lucius Ferraris, in his Prompta Bibliotheca, an official Catholic book, declares: “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 . . . Moreover the superiority and the power of the Roman Pontiff . . . are even over angels, than whom he is greater . . . The pope is as it were God on earth . . . (and) is of so great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even divine laws.”

In the 18th General (or Ecumenical) Council of the Catholic Church, the Council of Trent, held from 1545 to 1563, the church officially stated: “It pleased the church of God, that the religious celebration of the Sabbath day should be transferred to ‘the Lord’s day’ [meaning Sunday].” Catechism of the Council of Trent, 4.

The Catholic Church admits that she changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Reverend John A. O’Brien of Notre Dame University, wrote: “Let me address myself to my dear non–Catholic reader: You believe that the Bible alone is a safe guide in religious matters. You also believe that one of the fundamental duties enjoined upon you by your Christian faith is that of Sunday observance. But where does the Bible speak of such an obligation? I have read the Bible from the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Revelation, and have found no reference to the duty of sanctifying the Sunday. The day mentioned in the Bible is not the Sunday, the first day of the week, but the Saturday, the last day of the week.” The Faith of Millions, 136, 137, published by Our Sunday Visitor, Copyright 1974.

The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, a catechism that received the “apostolic blessing” of Pope Pius X, also speaks of this change in a question–answer form:

“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?

“Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day?

“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

“Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A.D. 364), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”

History shows that the Catholic Church is the one that changed the day. The Catholic Church herself admits to it. In fact, this is what she claims as the proof of her power. God’s authority is based upon His ability to make laws. The pope claims to be equal with God, and claims to be in effect above God, when he claims that he can change God’s law.

The mark of the beast is enforced Sunday observance which will become a worldwide oppressive law just before the end of the world. (See Revelation 13:15–17.)

What is the Seal of God?

The terms “seal” or “sign” or “mark” are synonymous (though not identical) terms. A seal is something that gives a law, reality, force and legality. It shows (1) who gave the law, (2) their jurisdiction or territory governed and (3) their title or office or authority.

God does have a seal, (Revelation 7:1–3) and it will be received by the 144,000 before the end of the world. (Revelation 7.) Although this is a special seal or mark is placed on a special group of people, God has always had a seal or mark that He placed on His children. (See 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13.)

God’s seal or mark has always been the Sabbath. (See Exodus 31:12–17; Ezekiel 20:12, 20.) The Sabbath commandment is the seal of God’s law (Isaiah 8:16). God’s seal shows who gave His law, His jurisdiction or territory governed and His title and authority. (See Exodus 20:8–11.)

The special sign of God’s people in the last days is that they keep the commandments of God (Revelation 12:17; 14:12; 22:14) and this could not be said of them if they were not Sabbath-keepers. Because, if you keep the whole law, and yet break one you are not a commandment-keeper. (James 2:8–12.)

The Sabbath commandment above all other commandments, points out a person as a worshipper of (1) the God who created the heavens and the earth in six days (2) that this person is under the authority of this creator as His subject,. (3) that this person will keep all other commandments of God’s law since he cannot keep the Sabbath “holy” unless he is holy (Romans 7:12.) To be holy one must be in harmony with all of God’s law which is holy.

The Sabbath is the seal or mark that a person is a subject of God’s government and not under the authority of any antichrist power.

 

What does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit?

 

  1. When a person receives the Holy Spirit He will overcome sin in his life. (Romans 8:1–14.)
  2. When a person receives the Holy Spirit He will witness for his faith. (Acts 1:8.)
  3. Only those who choose to obey can receive the Holy Spirit. (John 14:15–18; Acts 5:32.)
  4. The Holy Spirit is given only to those who desire and request Him in their life. (Luke 11.)
  5. The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with the bedlam and noise and gibberish which has come into many Christian churches today. (See 1 Corinthians 14:40.) No church can receive any gifts of the Holy Spirit if it is in open and deliberate violation of God’s law.

“The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing. The senses of rational beings will become so confused that they cannot be trusted to make right decisions. And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 36.

“Some of these persons have exercises which they call gifts and say that the Lord has placed them in the church. They have an unmeaning gibberish which they call the unknown tongue, which is unknown not only by man but by the Lord and all heaven. Such gifts are manufactured by men and women, aided by the great deceiver. Fanaticism, false excitement, false talking in tongues, and noisy exercises have been considered gifts which God has placed in the church. Some have been deceived here. The fruits of all this have not been good. ‘Ye shall know them by their fruits.’ Fanaticism and noise have been considered special evidences of faith. Some are not satisfied with a meeting unless they have a powerful and happy time. They work for this and get up an excitement of feeling. But the influence of such meetings is not beneficial. When the happy flight of feeling is gone, they sink lower than before the meeting because their happiness did not come from the right source. The most profitable meetings for spiritual advancement are those which are characterized with solemnity and deep searching of heart; each seeking to know himself, and earnestly, and in deep humility, seeking to learn of Christ.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 412.