Satan's Warfare Against The Church

Satan's Warfare Against The ChurchIllustration.The Death Of Christ. "He [Satan] persecuted the woman [the church] that brought forth the man child." Rev. 12:13.1. Under what figure was the Christian church represented to the apostle John?“And there appeared a great wonder [margin, sign] in heaven;a womanclothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”Rev. 12:1.Notes.—Frequently in the Scriptures a woman is used to represent the church. See Jer. 6:2; 2 Cor. 11:2. The sun represents the light of the gospel with which the church was clothed at the first advent (1 John 2:8); the moon under her feet, the waning light of the former dispensation; and the twelve stars, the twelve apostles.“Woman in her innocence was attacked by‘that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.’... At the end of that first crafty assault and speedy victory the dragon met with his rebuff, in words like these:‘The seed of the woman shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.’... In the Revelation the scene is changed from Eden to the heavens, and before you stand again the woman and the serpent, in the same position of antagonism as before, the serpent still the assailant, only this time more openly so.... The woman is no longer a simple, childlike personage, buta wonder; she walks not among the trees and flowers, but amid the orbs of heaven. She is clothed with the sun, the moon is under her feet, and upon her head is a coronet of twelve stars. In her you see the great cause of truth and righteousness embodied—she is, in fact, the church of God in all ages, the woman whose Seed blesses all the nations of the earth.”—C. H. Spurgeon, in The Tabernacle Pulpit, March 15, 1896.[pg 265]2. How is the church at the first advent described?“And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”Verse 2.Note.—The church is in labor and pain while she brings forth Christ and her children, in the midst of afflictions and persecutions. See Rom. 8:19, 22; 1 John 3:1, 2; 2 Tim. 3:12.3. How are the birth, work, and ascension of Christ briefly described?“And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.”Verse 5.Note.—Specifically this must refer to Christ (see Ps. 2:7-9); but through Him is also prefigured the experience of the people of God, who finally in the judgment are to share with Christ in ruling the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:26, 27), and, like Him, when their work on earth is accomplished be“caught up,”at His appearing, to God and to His throne. 1 Thess. 4:15-17.4. What other sign, or wonder, appeared in heaven?“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and beholda great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as in was born.”Verses 3, 4.5. Who is this dragon said to be?“And the great dragon was cast out,that old serpent, called theDevil, andSatan, which deceiveth the whole world.”Verse 9.Note.—Primarily the dragon represents Satan, the great enemy and persecutor of the church in all ages. But Satan works through principalities and powers in his efforts to destroy the people of God. It was through a Roman king, King Herod, that he sought to destroy Christ as soon as He was born. Matt. 2:16. Rome must therefore be symbolized by the dragon. The seven heads of the dragon are interpreted by some to refer to the“seven hills”upon which the city of Rome is built; by others, to the seven forms of government through which Rome passed; and by still others, and more broadly, to the seven great monarchies which have oppressed the people of God; namely, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Persia, Greece, pagan Rome, and papal Rome, in either of which Rome is represented and included. See page269. The ten horns, as in the fourth beast of Daniel 7, evidently refer to the ten kingdoms into which Rome was finally divided, and thus again identify the dragon with the Roman power.6. How is the conflict between Christ and Satan described?“And there was war in heaven; Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in[pg 266]heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”Verses 7-9.Note.—This conflict, begun in heaven, continues on earth. Near the close of Christ's ministry, He said,“I beheld Satan as lightningfall from heaven.”Luke 10:18.“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world becast out.”John 12:31. From the councils of the representatives of the various worlds to which Satan, as the prince of this world, was formerly admitted (Job 1:6, 7; 2:1, 2), he was cast out when he crucified Christ, the Son of God.7. What shout of triumph was heard in heaven following the victory gained by Christ?“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren iscast down, which accused them before our God day and night.... Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.”Verses 10-12.8. Why was woe at this same time proclaimed to the world?“Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”Verse 12, last part.Note.—This not only shows that, since the crucifixion of Christ, Satan knows that his doom is sealed, and that he has but a limited time in which to work, but that his efforts are largely if not wholly now confined to this world, and concentrated upon its inhabitants. Better than many professed Christians, Satan knows that time is short.9. What did the dragon do when cast to the earth?“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth,he persecuted the womanwhich brought forth the man child.”Verse 13.Note.—The persecution of Christians began under pagan Rome, but was carried on far more extensively under papal Rome. Matt. 24:21, 22.10. What definite period of time was allotted to this great persecution of God's people under papal Rome?“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, unto her place, where she is nourished fora time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”Verse 14.Note.—This is the same period as that mentioned in Dan. 7:25, and, like the ten horns, identifies the dragon with the fourth beast of Daniel 7, and its later work with the work of the little horn of that same beast. In Rev. 13:5 this period is referred to as“forty-two months,”and in Rev. 12:6 as 1260 days, each representing 1260 literal years, the period allotted[pg 267]to the supremacy of papal Rome. Beginning in 538a.d., it ended in 1798, when the Pope was taken prisoner by the French. See notes on page223. The woman fleeing into the wilderness fittingly describes the condition of the church during those times of bitter persecution.11. What was Satan's design in thus persecuting the church?“And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman,that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.”Verse 15.12. How was the flood stayed, and Satan's design defeated?“And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”Verse 16.Note.—The mountain fastnesses, quiet retreats, and secluded valleys of southwestern Europe for centuries shielded many who refused allegiance to the Papacy. Here, too, may be seen the results of the work of the Reformation of the sixteenth century, when many of the governments of Europe came to the help of the cause of reform, by staying the hand of persecution and protecting the lives of those who dared to take their stand for the right. The discovery of America, and the opening up of this country as an asylum for the oppressed of Europe at this time, may also be included in the“help”here referred to.13. What did Christ say would be the result if the days of persecution were not shortened?“Except those days should be shortened,there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”Matt. 24: 22.14. Still bent on persecution, how does Satan manifest his enmity against the remnant church?“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, andwent to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”Rev. 12:17.Note.—To the very end, Satan will persecute and seek to destroy the people of God. Against the remnant, or last portion of the church, he is especially to make war. Their obedience to God's commandments, and their possession of the testimony of Jesus, or spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10), are especially offensive to him, and excite his intense ire.Soldiers of Christ, arise,And put your armor on;Fight, for the battle will be ours;We fight to win a crown.We fight not against flesh,We wrestle not with blood;But principalities and powers,And for the truth of God.Charles Wesley.[pg 268]A Great Persecuting Power (The Ten-Horned Beast of Revelation 13)Illustration.Early Christian Martyrs. "He shall ... wear out the saints of the Most High." Dan. 7:25.1. What is the first symbol of Revelation 13?“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and sawa beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”Rev. 13:1.Notes.—As already learned from studying the book of Daniel, a beast in prophecy represents some great earthly power or kingdom; a head, a governing power; horns, a number of kingdoms; crowned heads or crowned horns, political rulership; waters,“peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”Rev. 17:15.“The beasts of Daniel and John are empires. The ten-horned beast is the Roman power.... The head is the governing power of the body. The heads of this beast represent successive governments.”—“Romanism and the Reformation,”by H. Grattan Guinness, pages 144, 145.2. How is this beast further described?“And the beast which I saw waslike unto a leopard, and his feet were asthe feet of a bear, and his mouth asthe mouth of a lion.”Verse 2, first part.Notes.—These are the characteristics of the first three symbols of Daniel 7,—thelion,bear, andleopardthere representing the kingdoms ofBabylon,Medo-Persia, andGrecia,—and suggest this beast as representing or belonging to the kingdom symbolized by thefourth beastof Daniel 7, orRome. Both have ten horns. Like the dragon of Revelation 12, it[pg 269]also has seven heads; but as the dragon symbolized Rome in its entirety, particularly in its pagan phase, this, like the“little horn”coming up among the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, represents Rome in its later or papal form. Both it and the little horn have“a mouth”speaking great things; both make war upon the saints; both continue for the same length of time.Allowing a very broad meaning to the symbol, the Douay or Catholic Bible, in a note on Rev. 13:1, explains the seven heads of this beast as follows:“The seven heads are seven kings, that is, seven principal kingdoms or empires, which have exercised, or shall exercise, tyrannical power over the people of God: of these, five were then fallen, viz., the Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, and Grecian monarchies; one was present, viz., the empire of Rome; and the seventh and chiefest was to come, viz., the great Antichrist and his empire.”That the seventh head represents Antichrist there can be little doubt. See page265.3. What did the dragon give this beast?“And the dragon gave him hispower, and hisseat, andgreat authority.”Verse 2, latter part.Note.—It is an undisputed fact of history that under the later Roman emperors, beginning with Constantine, the religion of the Roman government was changed from pagan to papal; that when Constantine removed the seat of his empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330a.d., the city of Rome was given up to the bishop of Rome, who, from Constantine and succeeding emperors, received rich gifts and great authority; that after the fall of Rome, in 476a.d., the bishop of Rome became the ruling power in Western Rome, and by decree of Justinian, March 15, 533, was declared“head of all the holy churches,”and in a letter of the same year he was designated as“corrector of heretics.”See note on page223. Thus Rome pagan became Rome papal; the seat of pagan Rome became the seat of papal Rome; church and state were united; and the persecuting power of the dragon was conferred upon the professed head of the church of Christ, or papal Rome. As Dr. H. Grattan Guinness, in his“Romanism and the Reformation,”page 152, says,“The power of the Cæsars lived again in the universal dominion of the popes.”4. How are the character, work, period of supremacy, and great power of the beast described?“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”Verses 5-7.Note.—All these specifications have been fully and accurately met in the Papacy, and identify this beast as representing the same power as that represented by the little horn phase of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, and the little horn of Daniel 8, in its chief and essential features and work. See Dan. 7:25; 8:11, 12, 24, 25, and readings on pages218,224. For an explanation of the time period mentioned, see pages223,229.[pg 270]5. What was to be inflicted upon one of the heads of this beast?“And I sawone of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”Verse 3.Note.—This wound was inflicted upon the papal head of this beast when the French, in 1798, entered Rome, and took the Pope prisoner, and for a time, it seemed, abolished the Papacy. But in 1800 another Pope was placed upon the papal throne, and the deadly wound began to be healed. Temporal dominion was taken away from the Papacy in 1870, but nevertheless its power and influence among the nations have been increasing since then.“In that year,”says Mr. Guinness in his work“Romanism and the Reformation,”page 156,“the Papacy assumed the highest exaltation to which it could aspire, that of infallibility.”To such a position of influence over the nations is the Papacy finally to attain that just before her complete overthrow and destruction she will say,“I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”Rev. 18:7. See Isa. 47:7-15; Rev. 17:18.6. What is said concerning the captivity and downfall of the Papacy?“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.”Verse 10. See Ps. 18:25, 26; 109:17; Jer. 50:29; Rev. 16:4-6.7. What questions asked by its worshipers indicate the great station to which this beast-power was to attain?“And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying,Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”Rev. 13:4.8. How universal is the worship of this power to become?“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”Verse 8.9. What did John say was to be the end of this beast?“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him....These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”Rev. 19:20. See Isa. 47:7-15; 2 Thess. 2:3-8; Rev. 17:16, 17; 18:4-8.10. In what similar language is the fate of the fourth beast of Daniel 7 described?“I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast wasslain, and his bodydestroyed, andgiven to the burning flame.”Dan. 7:11.[pg 271]Making An Image To The Beast. The Prophecy Of Revelation 13Illustration.Landing Of The Pilgrim Fathers. The vanguard of Protestantism, who established "a Church without a pope, and a State without a king."1. When was the papal head of the first beast of Revelation 13 wounded?In 1793-98, by the French Revolution, and the temporary overthrow of the Papacy in the latter year.2. What did the prophet see coming up at this time?“And I beheldanother beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.”Rev. 13:11.Notes.—Mr. Wesley, in his notes on Revelation 13, written in 1754, says of the two-horned beast:“He is not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast.”The previous beast came up out of the“sea,”which indicates its rise among the peoples and nations of the world then in existence (Rev 17: 15); while this one comes up out of the“earth.”This would indicate that the latter beast would arise where there had not before been“peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”In 1798, when the papal power received its deadly wound, the government of the United States, located in the western continent, was the only great and independent nation then coming into prominence in territory not previously occupied by peoples, multitudes, and nations. Only nine years preceding this (1789), the United States adopted its national Constitution.It is within the territory of the United States, therefore, that we may look, according to the prophecy, for an ecclesiastical movement to arise, and exercise a dominating control, not only in the civil government of this country, but also in the other nations of the whole world as well.[pg 272]Illustration.Signing The Declaration Of Independence. "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Lev. 25:10.[pg 273]3. What is the character of this new power?“He hadtwo horns like a lamb.”Rev. 13:11.Note.—The Pilgrim Fathers were the vanguard of a great multitude of Protestants, who, when persecuted and outlawed in the lands of their birth, sought refuge in the New World, where they developed rapidly under the protection of a government founded on the great Christian principles of civil and religious freedom. The two horns may well symbolize these two fundamental principles.4. Notwithstanding the lamblike appearance of this power, what is it ultimately to do?“And hespake as a dragon.”Rev. 13:11.Note.—The voice of the dragon is the voice of intolerance and persecution. This indicates that the ecclesiastical development dealt with in this prophecy, obtaining a foothold for its initial power and influence in the government of the United States, will repudiate the mild and lamblike principles of civil and religious liberty, and become like the beast before it, a world-wide persecuting power. This is why in Rev. 19:20 it is called“the false prophet.”Born of the Reformation, it will repudiate Reformation principles.5. How much power will this beast exercise?“Andhe exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”Verse 12.Note.—The“first beast before him”(papal Rome) exercised the power of persecuting and putting to death all who differed from it in religious matters. The only way theearthcan be made to worship is by causing work to cease on it through voluntary or enforced rest, or sabbath-keeping.“For as long as she [the land] lay desolate shekept sabbath.”2 Chron. 36:21. Enforced Sunday observance is evidently implied here.6. What means will be employed to lead the people back into this false worship?“And deceiveth them that dwell on the earthby the means of those miracles which he had power to doin the sight of the beast.”Verse 14, first part.7. What will this power propose that the people shall do?“Saying to them that dwell on the earth,that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword; and did live.”Verse 14, latter part.Note.—The beast“which had the wound by a sword, and did live,”is the Papacy. That was a church dominating the civil power. In other words, it was a union of church and state, and enforced its religious dogmas by the civil power, under pain of confiscation of goods, imprisonment, and death. An image to this beast would be another ecclesiastical organization clothed with civil power—another union of church and state—to enforce religious dogmas by law.[pg 274]8. Is there any evidence that such an image will be made?Large and influential organizations, such as the National Reform Association, the International Reform Bureau, the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States, and the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, have been formed, by professed Protestants, and for years have been persistently working to that end. Many Roman Catholic societies recently formed in the United States, such as the Knights of Columbus and the American Federation of Catholic Societies, are looking to a like end—that of making America Catholic.9. What, according to its constitution, is the avowed object of the National Reform Association?“To secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as shall ... indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of the government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.”—Article II of Constitution.Notes.—Upon the question of making this a“Christian nation,”Bishop Earl Cranston, D. D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in an address delivered in Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C., March 13, 1910, made the following observation:—“Suppose this were to be declared a Christian nation by a Constitutional interpretation to that effect. What would that mean? Which of the two contending definitions of Christianity would the word Christian indicate?—The Protestant idea, of course, for under our system majorities rule, and the majority of Americans are Protestants. Very well. But suppose that by the addition of certain contiguous territory with twelve or more millions of Roman Catholics, the annexation of a few more islands with half as many more, and the same rate of immigration as now, the majority some years hence should be Roman Catholics,—who doubts for a moment that the reigning Pope would assume control of legislation and government? He would say, with all confidence and consistency,‘This is a Christian nation. It was so claimed from the beginning and so declared many years ago. A majority defined then what Christianity was, the majority will define now what Christianity now is and is to be.’That‘majority’would be the Pope.”—“The Church and the Government,”page 7.The National Reformers in their attempts to justify the legal establishment of Christianity as the national religion, have erroneously declared that the statement of Justice Brewer of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1892,“This is a Christian nation,”is a decision of the court, whereas it was only a statement in the argument leading up to the decision of the court.In a sermon at the centenary of the establishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the United States, in 1889, Archbishop Ireland said:“Our work is to make America Catholic.... Our cry shall be,‘God wills it,’and our hearts shall leap with crusader enthusiasm.”The theory of the National Reformers is thus expressed:“Every government by equitable laws, is a government of God; a republic thus governed is of Him, and is as truly and really atheocracyas the commonwealth of Israel.”—“Cincinnati National Reform Convention,”page 28.[pg 275]10. How does this association regard the Catholic Church on this point?“We cordially, gladly, recognize the fact that in South American republics, in France and other European countries the Roman Catholics are the recognized advocates of national Christianity, and stand opposed to all the proposals of secularism....Whenever they are willing to cooperate in resisting the progress of political atheism, we will gladly join hands with themin a world's conference for the promotion of national Christianity, which ought to be held at no distant day. Many countries could be represented only by Roman Catholics.”—Christian Statesman, Dec. 11, 1884, official organ of the National Reform Association.11. What has the Pope commanded all Catholics to do?“First and foremost, it is the duty of all Catholics worthy of the name and wishful to be known as most loving children of the church ... to endeavor to bring back all civil society to the pattern and form of Christianity which we have described.”—Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII,“Immortale Dei”Nov. 1, 1885,“The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII,”page 132.Note.—The prophecy says that this power will make an image to the Papacy. In the days of Constantine and his successors, the church made use of the civil power to carry out her aims: through this means the Papacy was developed. In our own day the same theory is advocated, and prominent men in the nation, in both church and state, are doing all they can to bring about the same result, which, when their work is completed, cannot fail to fulfil the specifications of the prophecy. The climax will be an image of the Papacy.12. What is the object of the International Reform Bureau?“The Reform Bureau is the first‘Christian lobby’established at our national capital to speak to government in behalf of all denominations.”—“History of the International Reform Bureau,”by its founder and superintendent, Rev. W. F. Crafts, page 2.Note.—The securing of compulsory Sunday legislation is one of the chief objects of this and other like organizations. See pages 61 and 65 of the above-named work.13. What are the objects of the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States?“(1) To preserve the Lord's day [Sunday] for America; (2) to secure an active Alliance in every State not yet organized; (3) to induce the general government as far as possible to set the example of Sabbath observance; (4) to press the rest-day feature of the fourth commandment, until every toiler in the land has guaranteed unto him fifty-two full rest days a year.”—From leaflet published by the Alliance.[pg 276]Note.—By all of which is meant the securing, as far as possible, of compulsory State and national Sunday legislation,—the very means by which the church gained control of the state and by which church and state were united in the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era.14. What is the purpose of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America?“That the great Christian bodies of our country should stand together”in dealing with“questions like those of marriage and divorce, Sabbath desecration, social evils.”etc.—“Report of Federal Council”(1908), pages 5, 6.15. How does it propose that the matter of“Sabbath desecration”shall be dealt with?“That all encroachments upon the claims and the sanctities of the Lord's day should bestoutly resistedthrough the press, the Lord's day associations and alliances,and by such legislation as may be secured to protect and preserve this bulwark of our American Christianity.”—Id., page 103.Note.—Thus it will be seen that the securing of laws for the enforcement of Sunday observance is a prominent feature in all these organizations in their efforts to“Christianize”the nation. In doing this many fail to see that they are repudiating the principles of Christianity, of Protestantism, and of the United States government, and playing directly into the hand of that power which originated the Sunday sabbath, and gained control of the civil power through Sunday legislation—the Papacy.16. What action of the American Federation of Catholic Societies indicates that Catholics will gladly“join hands”with Protestants in enforcing Sunday observance by law?“Our societies in the various parts of the United States have been urging the abolition of Sunday labor, and have indorsed and assisted the movement of closing the post-office on Sunday.”—Tenth Annual Convention of American Federation of Catholic Societies, Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 20-24, 1911.Notes.—With the active cooperation of the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States, a Protestant organization, a proviso was attached to the post-office appropriation bill, 1912, requiring that“hereafter post-offices of the first and second classes shall not be opened on Sundays for the purpose of delivering mail to the general public.”The following resolution was adopted by the Boston Archdiocesan Federation of Catholic Societies:—“We are unalterably opposed to any relaxation of the Sunday laws. Sunday is a day of rest to be devoted to the praise and service of God. We hold the safest public policy at present is to adhere to the rigid observance of the laws now safeguarding the sanctity of the Lord's day.”—Boston Pilot, official organ of Cardinal O'Connell, March 16, 1912.17. What complaint is made against Sunday trains and Sunday newspapers?[pg 277]“They get a great many passengers, and so break up a great many congregations.”“The laboring classes are apt to rise late on Sunday morning, read the Sunday papers, andallow the hour of worship to go by unheeded.”—Elgin(Ill.)Sunday-law Convention, November, 1887.Notes.—In the fourth century, Sunday games and Sunday theaters, it was complained,“hindered”the“devotion”of the“faithful,”because many of the members attended them in preference to the church services. The church, therefore, demanded that the state should interfere, and enforce Sunday observance by law.“In this way,”says Neander,“the church received help from the state for the furtherance of her ends.”In this way church and state were united, and the Papacy was placed in power. The same course pursued now will produce the same results.It is proper and right for the church to teach Sabbath observance, and to decry Sabbath desecration; but it should not attempt to secure Sabbath observance through compulsory legislation; nor should it seek to fasten upon the people by any means the observance of a day which God has never enjoined, and for which, as is admitted on all hands, there is no Scriptural command. See admissions on pages441,442,455,456,560.18. What does the prophet say the two-horned-beast power will attempt to enforce upon all the people?“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receivea markin their right hand, or in their foreheads.”Rev. 13:16.Notes.—This mark is the mark of the beast, or the false sabbath. See Rev. 14:9, 10, and reading on page446. God's seal, or mark, is set in the forehead (Rev. 7:3; 14:1), the seat of the mind, the Lord accepting only the worship of conviction and conscience. The mark of the beast, however, is said to be received in the hand or forehead. Some are deceived and give assent to the false teaching with their minds, receiving the mark in the forehead; others, coerced or indifferent, give formal, outward consent, and so receive the mark in the hand.Let the reader note this twofold aspect of the Sunday sabbath, as expressed by one of the most ardent and active Sunday-law advocates in the United States:“We, the Sabbath Union, W. C. T. U., all the churches, and the Y. M. C. A., are laboring with all our might to carry thereligioussabbath with our right arm, and thecivilsabbath with our left. Hundreds of thousands will receive it as a religious institution, and all the rest will receive it as a civil institution, and thus we will sweep in the whole nation.”—Rev. W. F. Crafts, in Sunday Union Convention, Wichita, Kans., Sept. 20, 1889.19. What means will be employed to compel all to receive this mark?“Andthat no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”Verse 17.Note.—That is, all who refuse to receive this mark will be boycotted, or denied the rights and privileges of business and trade, or the ordinary means of gaining a livelihood. Already this spirit has begun to manifest itself in the movement to enforce Sunday observance. In a sermon[pg 278]preached in Burlington, Kans., Sunday, Jan. 31, 1904, Rev. Bascom Robins said:—“In the Christian decalogue the first day was made the Sabbath by divine appointment. But there is a class of people who will not keep the Christian sabbath unless they are forced to do so. But that can be easily done. We have twenty million of men, besides women and children, in this country, who want this country to keep the Christian sabbath. If we would say we will not sell anything to them, we will not buy anything from them, we will not work for them, or hire them to work for us, the thing could be wiped out, and all the world would keep the Christian sabbath.”20. By what authority was Sunday sabbath-keeping instituted?By the authority of the Catholic Church. See page439.21. Why were the ancient Sunday laws demanded?“That the day might be devoted with less interruption to the purposes of devotion.”“That the devotion of the faithful might be free from all disturbance.”—Neander's“Church History,”Vol. II, pages 297, 301.Note.—In short, it was to secure the enforced observance of the day, and through this means church attendance, and control over the people in religious things.22. Why are they demanded now?“Give us good Sunday laws, well enforced by men in local authority, and our churches will be full of worshipers, and our young men and women will be attracted to the divine service. A mighty combination of the churches of the United States could win from Congress, the State legislatures, and municipal councils, all legislation essential to this splendid consummation.”—Rev. S. V. Leech, D. D., in Homiletic Review, November, 1892.23. Who is responsible for the present State Sunday laws of the United States?“During nearly all our American historythe churcheshave influenced the States to make and improve Sabbath laws.”—Rev. W. F. Crafts, in Christian Statesman, July 3, 1890.Notes.—“These Sunday laws are a survival of the complete union of church and state which existed at the founding of the colony.”—Boston Post, April 14, 1907.“Such laws [as the Maryland Sunday law of 1723] were the outgrowth of the system of religious intolerance that prevailed in many of the colonies.”—Decision of Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, Jan. 21, 1908.The first Sunday law in America, that of Virginia, in 1610, required church attendance, and prescribed the death penalty for the third offense. See“American State Papers,”edition 1911, page 33.24. Why is a national Sunday law demanded?“The national law is needed to make the State laws complete and effective.”—Christian Statesman, April 11, 1889.[pg 279]25. Since the Sunday sabbath originated with the Roman power (the beast), to whom will men yield homage when, knowing the facts, they choose to observe Sunday, instead of the Bible Sabbath, in deference to compulsory Sunday laws?“Know ye not, thatto whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?”Rom. 6:16.Notes.—“The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.”—“Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today,”page 213.The conscientious observance of Sunday as the Sabbath on the part of those who hitherto have supposed it to be the Sabbath, has, without doubt, been accepted of God as Sabbath-keeping. It is only when light comes that sin is imputed. John 9:41; 15:22; Acts 17:30. See page 700.26. What does Christ say about our duty to the state?“Render therefore untoCæsarthe things which areCæsar's; and untoGodthe things that areGod's.”Matt. 22:21.Note.—The Sabbath belongs to God. Its observance, therefore, should be rendered only to Him.27. What special miracle is finally to be performed to deceive men, and fasten them in deception?“And he doeth great wonders, so thathe maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.”Rev. 13:13.Note.—In the time of Elijah, in the controversy over Baal-worship, this was the test as to who was the true God,—the God that answered by fire. 1 Kings 18:24. Now, as a counterfeit test, fire will be made to come down from heaven to confirm men in an idolatrous and false worship.28. To what length will this effort to enforce the worship of the image of the beast be carried?“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause [decree] that as many as would not worship the image of the beastshould be killed.”Verse 15.29. What deliverance will God finally bring to His people in this controversy?“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: andthem 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.”Rev. 15:2.30. What song will they sing?“And they singthe song of Mosesthe servant of God, andthe song of the Lamb.”Verse 3.31. What was the song of Moses?A song of deliverance from oppression. See Exodus 15.[pg 280]

Illustration.The Death Of Christ. "He [Satan] persecuted the woman [the church] that brought forth the man child." Rev. 12:13.

The Death Of Christ. "He [Satan] persecuted the woman [the church] that brought forth the man child." Rev. 12:13.

1. Under what figure was the Christian church represented to the apostle John?

“And there appeared a great wonder [margin, sign] in heaven;a womanclothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”Rev. 12:1.

Notes.—Frequently in the Scriptures a woman is used to represent the church. See Jer. 6:2; 2 Cor. 11:2. The sun represents the light of the gospel with which the church was clothed at the first advent (1 John 2:8); the moon under her feet, the waning light of the former dispensation; and the twelve stars, the twelve apostles.“Woman in her innocence was attacked by‘that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.’... At the end of that first crafty assault and speedy victory the dragon met with his rebuff, in words like these:‘The seed of the woman shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.’... In the Revelation the scene is changed from Eden to the heavens, and before you stand again the woman and the serpent, in the same position of antagonism as before, the serpent still the assailant, only this time more openly so.... The woman is no longer a simple, childlike personage, buta wonder; she walks not among the trees and flowers, but amid the orbs of heaven. She is clothed with the sun, the moon is under her feet, and upon her head is a coronet of twelve stars. In her you see the great cause of truth and righteousness embodied—she is, in fact, the church of God in all ages, the woman whose Seed blesses all the nations of the earth.”—C. H. Spurgeon, in The Tabernacle Pulpit, March 15, 1896.

“Woman in her innocence was attacked by‘that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.’... At the end of that first crafty assault and speedy victory the dragon met with his rebuff, in words like these:‘The seed of the woman shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.’... In the Revelation the scene is changed from Eden to the heavens, and before you stand again the woman and the serpent, in the same position of antagonism as before, the serpent still the assailant, only this time more openly so.... The woman is no longer a simple, childlike personage, buta wonder; she walks not among the trees and flowers, but amid the orbs of heaven. She is clothed with the sun, the moon is under her feet, and upon her head is a coronet of twelve stars. In her you see the great cause of truth and righteousness embodied—she is, in fact, the church of God in all ages, the woman whose Seed blesses all the nations of the earth.”—C. H. Spurgeon, in The Tabernacle Pulpit, March 15, 1896.

2. How is the church at the first advent described?

“And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”Verse 2.

Note.—The church is in labor and pain while she brings forth Christ and her children, in the midst of afflictions and persecutions. See Rom. 8:19, 22; 1 John 3:1, 2; 2 Tim. 3:12.

3. How are the birth, work, and ascension of Christ briefly described?

“And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.”Verse 5.

Note.—Specifically this must refer to Christ (see Ps. 2:7-9); but through Him is also prefigured the experience of the people of God, who finally in the judgment are to share with Christ in ruling the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:26, 27), and, like Him, when their work on earth is accomplished be“caught up,”at His appearing, to God and to His throne. 1 Thess. 4:15-17.

4. What other sign, or wonder, appeared in heaven?

“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and beholda great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as in was born.”Verses 3, 4.

5. Who is this dragon said to be?

“And the great dragon was cast out,that old serpent, called theDevil, andSatan, which deceiveth the whole world.”Verse 9.

Note.—Primarily the dragon represents Satan, the great enemy and persecutor of the church in all ages. But Satan works through principalities and powers in his efforts to destroy the people of God. It was through a Roman king, King Herod, that he sought to destroy Christ as soon as He was born. Matt. 2:16. Rome must therefore be symbolized by the dragon. The seven heads of the dragon are interpreted by some to refer to the“seven hills”upon which the city of Rome is built; by others, to the seven forms of government through which Rome passed; and by still others, and more broadly, to the seven great monarchies which have oppressed the people of God; namely, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Persia, Greece, pagan Rome, and papal Rome, in either of which Rome is represented and included. See page269. The ten horns, as in the fourth beast of Daniel 7, evidently refer to the ten kingdoms into which Rome was finally divided, and thus again identify the dragon with the Roman power.

6. How is the conflict between Christ and Satan described?

“And there was war in heaven; Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in[pg 266]heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”Verses 7-9.

Note.—This conflict, begun in heaven, continues on earth. Near the close of Christ's ministry, He said,“I beheld Satan as lightningfall from heaven.”Luke 10:18.“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world becast out.”John 12:31. From the councils of the representatives of the various worlds to which Satan, as the prince of this world, was formerly admitted (Job 1:6, 7; 2:1, 2), he was cast out when he crucified Christ, the Son of God.

7. What shout of triumph was heard in heaven following the victory gained by Christ?

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren iscast down, which accused them before our God day and night.... Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.”Verses 10-12.

8. Why was woe at this same time proclaimed to the world?

“Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”Verse 12, last part.

Note.—This not only shows that, since the crucifixion of Christ, Satan knows that his doom is sealed, and that he has but a limited time in which to work, but that his efforts are largely if not wholly now confined to this world, and concentrated upon its inhabitants. Better than many professed Christians, Satan knows that time is short.

9. What did the dragon do when cast to the earth?

“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth,he persecuted the womanwhich brought forth the man child.”Verse 13.

Note.—The persecution of Christians began under pagan Rome, but was carried on far more extensively under papal Rome. Matt. 24:21, 22.

10. What definite period of time was allotted to this great persecution of God's people under papal Rome?

“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, unto her place, where she is nourished fora time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”Verse 14.

Note.—This is the same period as that mentioned in Dan. 7:25, and, like the ten horns, identifies the dragon with the fourth beast of Daniel 7, and its later work with the work of the little horn of that same beast. In Rev. 13:5 this period is referred to as“forty-two months,”and in Rev. 12:6 as 1260 days, each representing 1260 literal years, the period allotted[pg 267]to the supremacy of papal Rome. Beginning in 538a.d., it ended in 1798, when the Pope was taken prisoner by the French. See notes on page223. The woman fleeing into the wilderness fittingly describes the condition of the church during those times of bitter persecution.

11. What was Satan's design in thus persecuting the church?

“And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman,that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.”Verse 15.

12. How was the flood stayed, and Satan's design defeated?

“And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”Verse 16.

Note.—The mountain fastnesses, quiet retreats, and secluded valleys of southwestern Europe for centuries shielded many who refused allegiance to the Papacy. Here, too, may be seen the results of the work of the Reformation of the sixteenth century, when many of the governments of Europe came to the help of the cause of reform, by staying the hand of persecution and protecting the lives of those who dared to take their stand for the right. The discovery of America, and the opening up of this country as an asylum for the oppressed of Europe at this time, may also be included in the“help”here referred to.

13. What did Christ say would be the result if the days of persecution were not shortened?

“Except those days should be shortened,there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”Matt. 24: 22.

14. Still bent on persecution, how does Satan manifest his enmity against the remnant church?

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, andwent to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”Rev. 12:17.

Note.—To the very end, Satan will persecute and seek to destroy the people of God. Against the remnant, or last portion of the church, he is especially to make war. Their obedience to God's commandments, and their possession of the testimony of Jesus, or spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10), are especially offensive to him, and excite his intense ire.

Soldiers of Christ, arise,And put your armor on;Fight, for the battle will be ours;We fight to win a crown.We fight not against flesh,We wrestle not with blood;But principalities and powers,And for the truth of God.Charles Wesley.

Soldiers of Christ, arise,And put your armor on;Fight, for the battle will be ours;We fight to win a crown.

Soldiers of Christ, arise,

And put your armor on;

Fight, for the battle will be ours;

We fight to win a crown.

We fight not against flesh,We wrestle not with blood;But principalities and powers,And for the truth of God.

We fight not against flesh,

We wrestle not with blood;

But principalities and powers,

And for the truth of God.

Charles Wesley.

A Great Persecuting Power (The Ten-Horned Beast of Revelation 13)Illustration.Early Christian Martyrs. "He shall ... wear out the saints of the Most High." Dan. 7:25.1. What is the first symbol of Revelation 13?“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and sawa beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”Rev. 13:1.Notes.—As already learned from studying the book of Daniel, a beast in prophecy represents some great earthly power or kingdom; a head, a governing power; horns, a number of kingdoms; crowned heads or crowned horns, political rulership; waters,“peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”Rev. 17:15.“The beasts of Daniel and John are empires. The ten-horned beast is the Roman power.... The head is the governing power of the body. The heads of this beast represent successive governments.”—“Romanism and the Reformation,”by H. Grattan Guinness, pages 144, 145.2. How is this beast further described?“And the beast which I saw waslike unto a leopard, and his feet were asthe feet of a bear, and his mouth asthe mouth of a lion.”Verse 2, first part.Notes.—These are the characteristics of the first three symbols of Daniel 7,—thelion,bear, andleopardthere representing the kingdoms ofBabylon,Medo-Persia, andGrecia,—and suggest this beast as representing or belonging to the kingdom symbolized by thefourth beastof Daniel 7, orRome. Both have ten horns. Like the dragon of Revelation 12, it[pg 269]also has seven heads; but as the dragon symbolized Rome in its entirety, particularly in its pagan phase, this, like the“little horn”coming up among the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, represents Rome in its later or papal form. Both it and the little horn have“a mouth”speaking great things; both make war upon the saints; both continue for the same length of time.Allowing a very broad meaning to the symbol, the Douay or Catholic Bible, in a note on Rev. 13:1, explains the seven heads of this beast as follows:“The seven heads are seven kings, that is, seven principal kingdoms or empires, which have exercised, or shall exercise, tyrannical power over the people of God: of these, five were then fallen, viz., the Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, and Grecian monarchies; one was present, viz., the empire of Rome; and the seventh and chiefest was to come, viz., the great Antichrist and his empire.”That the seventh head represents Antichrist there can be little doubt. See page265.3. What did the dragon give this beast?“And the dragon gave him hispower, and hisseat, andgreat authority.”Verse 2, latter part.Note.—It is an undisputed fact of history that under the later Roman emperors, beginning with Constantine, the religion of the Roman government was changed from pagan to papal; that when Constantine removed the seat of his empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330a.d., the city of Rome was given up to the bishop of Rome, who, from Constantine and succeeding emperors, received rich gifts and great authority; that after the fall of Rome, in 476a.d., the bishop of Rome became the ruling power in Western Rome, and by decree of Justinian, March 15, 533, was declared“head of all the holy churches,”and in a letter of the same year he was designated as“corrector of heretics.”See note on page223. Thus Rome pagan became Rome papal; the seat of pagan Rome became the seat of papal Rome; church and state were united; and the persecuting power of the dragon was conferred upon the professed head of the church of Christ, or papal Rome. As Dr. H. Grattan Guinness, in his“Romanism and the Reformation,”page 152, says,“The power of the Cæsars lived again in the universal dominion of the popes.”4. How are the character, work, period of supremacy, and great power of the beast described?“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”Verses 5-7.Note.—All these specifications have been fully and accurately met in the Papacy, and identify this beast as representing the same power as that represented by the little horn phase of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, and the little horn of Daniel 8, in its chief and essential features and work. See Dan. 7:25; 8:11, 12, 24, 25, and readings on pages218,224. For an explanation of the time period mentioned, see pages223,229.[pg 270]5. What was to be inflicted upon one of the heads of this beast?“And I sawone of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”Verse 3.Note.—This wound was inflicted upon the papal head of this beast when the French, in 1798, entered Rome, and took the Pope prisoner, and for a time, it seemed, abolished the Papacy. But in 1800 another Pope was placed upon the papal throne, and the deadly wound began to be healed. Temporal dominion was taken away from the Papacy in 1870, but nevertheless its power and influence among the nations have been increasing since then.“In that year,”says Mr. Guinness in his work“Romanism and the Reformation,”page 156,“the Papacy assumed the highest exaltation to which it could aspire, that of infallibility.”To such a position of influence over the nations is the Papacy finally to attain that just before her complete overthrow and destruction she will say,“I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”Rev. 18:7. See Isa. 47:7-15; Rev. 17:18.6. What is said concerning the captivity and downfall of the Papacy?“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.”Verse 10. See Ps. 18:25, 26; 109:17; Jer. 50:29; Rev. 16:4-6.7. What questions asked by its worshipers indicate the great station to which this beast-power was to attain?“And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying,Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”Rev. 13:4.8. How universal is the worship of this power to become?“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”Verse 8.9. What did John say was to be the end of this beast?“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him....These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”Rev. 19:20. See Isa. 47:7-15; 2 Thess. 2:3-8; Rev. 17:16, 17; 18:4-8.10. In what similar language is the fate of the fourth beast of Daniel 7 described?“I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast wasslain, and his bodydestroyed, andgiven to the burning flame.”Dan. 7:11.

Illustration.Early Christian Martyrs. "He shall ... wear out the saints of the Most High." Dan. 7:25.

Early Christian Martyrs. "He shall ... wear out the saints of the Most High." Dan. 7:25.

1. What is the first symbol of Revelation 13?

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and sawa beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”Rev. 13:1.

Notes.—As already learned from studying the book of Daniel, a beast in prophecy represents some great earthly power or kingdom; a head, a governing power; horns, a number of kingdoms; crowned heads or crowned horns, political rulership; waters,“peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”Rev. 17:15.“The beasts of Daniel and John are empires. The ten-horned beast is the Roman power.... The head is the governing power of the body. The heads of this beast represent successive governments.”—“Romanism and the Reformation,”by H. Grattan Guinness, pages 144, 145.

“The beasts of Daniel and John are empires. The ten-horned beast is the Roman power.... The head is the governing power of the body. The heads of this beast represent successive governments.”—“Romanism and the Reformation,”by H. Grattan Guinness, pages 144, 145.

2. How is this beast further described?

“And the beast which I saw waslike unto a leopard, and his feet were asthe feet of a bear, and his mouth asthe mouth of a lion.”Verse 2, first part.

Notes.—These are the characteristics of the first three symbols of Daniel 7,—thelion,bear, andleopardthere representing the kingdoms ofBabylon,Medo-Persia, andGrecia,—and suggest this beast as representing or belonging to the kingdom symbolized by thefourth beastof Daniel 7, orRome. Both have ten horns. Like the dragon of Revelation 12, it[pg 269]also has seven heads; but as the dragon symbolized Rome in its entirety, particularly in its pagan phase, this, like the“little horn”coming up among the ten horns of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, represents Rome in its later or papal form. Both it and the little horn have“a mouth”speaking great things; both make war upon the saints; both continue for the same length of time.Allowing a very broad meaning to the symbol, the Douay or Catholic Bible, in a note on Rev. 13:1, explains the seven heads of this beast as follows:“The seven heads are seven kings, that is, seven principal kingdoms or empires, which have exercised, or shall exercise, tyrannical power over the people of God: of these, five were then fallen, viz., the Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, and Grecian monarchies; one was present, viz., the empire of Rome; and the seventh and chiefest was to come, viz., the great Antichrist and his empire.”That the seventh head represents Antichrist there can be little doubt. See page265.

Allowing a very broad meaning to the symbol, the Douay or Catholic Bible, in a note on Rev. 13:1, explains the seven heads of this beast as follows:“The seven heads are seven kings, that is, seven principal kingdoms or empires, which have exercised, or shall exercise, tyrannical power over the people of God: of these, five were then fallen, viz., the Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, and Grecian monarchies; one was present, viz., the empire of Rome; and the seventh and chiefest was to come, viz., the great Antichrist and his empire.”That the seventh head represents Antichrist there can be little doubt. See page265.

3. What did the dragon give this beast?

“And the dragon gave him hispower, and hisseat, andgreat authority.”Verse 2, latter part.

Note.—It is an undisputed fact of history that under the later Roman emperors, beginning with Constantine, the religion of the Roman government was changed from pagan to papal; that when Constantine removed the seat of his empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330a.d., the city of Rome was given up to the bishop of Rome, who, from Constantine and succeeding emperors, received rich gifts and great authority; that after the fall of Rome, in 476a.d., the bishop of Rome became the ruling power in Western Rome, and by decree of Justinian, March 15, 533, was declared“head of all the holy churches,”and in a letter of the same year he was designated as“corrector of heretics.”See note on page223. Thus Rome pagan became Rome papal; the seat of pagan Rome became the seat of papal Rome; church and state were united; and the persecuting power of the dragon was conferred upon the professed head of the church of Christ, or papal Rome. As Dr. H. Grattan Guinness, in his“Romanism and the Reformation,”page 152, says,“The power of the Cæsars lived again in the universal dominion of the popes.”

4. How are the character, work, period of supremacy, and great power of the beast described?

“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”Verses 5-7.

Note.—All these specifications have been fully and accurately met in the Papacy, and identify this beast as representing the same power as that represented by the little horn phase of the fourth beast of Daniel 7, and the little horn of Daniel 8, in its chief and essential features and work. See Dan. 7:25; 8:11, 12, 24, 25, and readings on pages218,224. For an explanation of the time period mentioned, see pages223,229.

5. What was to be inflicted upon one of the heads of this beast?

“And I sawone of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”Verse 3.

Note.—This wound was inflicted upon the papal head of this beast when the French, in 1798, entered Rome, and took the Pope prisoner, and for a time, it seemed, abolished the Papacy. But in 1800 another Pope was placed upon the papal throne, and the deadly wound began to be healed. Temporal dominion was taken away from the Papacy in 1870, but nevertheless its power and influence among the nations have been increasing since then.“In that year,”says Mr. Guinness in his work“Romanism and the Reformation,”page 156,“the Papacy assumed the highest exaltation to which it could aspire, that of infallibility.”To such a position of influence over the nations is the Papacy finally to attain that just before her complete overthrow and destruction she will say,“I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”Rev. 18:7. See Isa. 47:7-15; Rev. 17:18.

6. What is said concerning the captivity and downfall of the Papacy?

“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword.”Verse 10. See Ps. 18:25, 26; 109:17; Jer. 50:29; Rev. 16:4-6.

7. What questions asked by its worshipers indicate the great station to which this beast-power was to attain?

“And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying,Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”Rev. 13:4.

8. How universal is the worship of this power to become?

“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”Verse 8.

9. What did John say was to be the end of this beast?

“And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him....These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”Rev. 19:20. See Isa. 47:7-15; 2 Thess. 2:3-8; Rev. 17:16, 17; 18:4-8.

10. In what similar language is the fate of the fourth beast of Daniel 7 described?

“I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast wasslain, and his bodydestroyed, andgiven to the burning flame.”Dan. 7:11.

Making An Image To The Beast. The Prophecy Of Revelation 13Illustration.Landing Of The Pilgrim Fathers. The vanguard of Protestantism, who established "a Church without a pope, and a State without a king."1. When was the papal head of the first beast of Revelation 13 wounded?In 1793-98, by the French Revolution, and the temporary overthrow of the Papacy in the latter year.2. What did the prophet see coming up at this time?“And I beheldanother beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.”Rev. 13:11.Notes.—Mr. Wesley, in his notes on Revelation 13, written in 1754, says of the two-horned beast:“He is not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast.”The previous beast came up out of the“sea,”which indicates its rise among the peoples and nations of the world then in existence (Rev 17: 15); while this one comes up out of the“earth.”This would indicate that the latter beast would arise where there had not before been“peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”In 1798, when the papal power received its deadly wound, the government of the United States, located in the western continent, was the only great and independent nation then coming into prominence in territory not previously occupied by peoples, multitudes, and nations. Only nine years preceding this (1789), the United States adopted its national Constitution.It is within the territory of the United States, therefore, that we may look, according to the prophecy, for an ecclesiastical movement to arise, and exercise a dominating control, not only in the civil government of this country, but also in the other nations of the whole world as well.[pg 272]Illustration.Signing The Declaration Of Independence. "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Lev. 25:10.[pg 273]3. What is the character of this new power?“He hadtwo horns like a lamb.”Rev. 13:11.Note.—The Pilgrim Fathers were the vanguard of a great multitude of Protestants, who, when persecuted and outlawed in the lands of their birth, sought refuge in the New World, where they developed rapidly under the protection of a government founded on the great Christian principles of civil and religious freedom. The two horns may well symbolize these two fundamental principles.4. Notwithstanding the lamblike appearance of this power, what is it ultimately to do?“And hespake as a dragon.”Rev. 13:11.Note.—The voice of the dragon is the voice of intolerance and persecution. This indicates that the ecclesiastical development dealt with in this prophecy, obtaining a foothold for its initial power and influence in the government of the United States, will repudiate the mild and lamblike principles of civil and religious liberty, and become like the beast before it, a world-wide persecuting power. This is why in Rev. 19:20 it is called“the false prophet.”Born of the Reformation, it will repudiate Reformation principles.5. How much power will this beast exercise?“Andhe exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”Verse 12.Note.—The“first beast before him”(papal Rome) exercised the power of persecuting and putting to death all who differed from it in religious matters. The only way theearthcan be made to worship is by causing work to cease on it through voluntary or enforced rest, or sabbath-keeping.“For as long as she [the land] lay desolate shekept sabbath.”2 Chron. 36:21. Enforced Sunday observance is evidently implied here.6. What means will be employed to lead the people back into this false worship?“And deceiveth them that dwell on the earthby the means of those miracles which he had power to doin the sight of the beast.”Verse 14, first part.7. What will this power propose that the people shall do?“Saying to them that dwell on the earth,that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword; and did live.”Verse 14, latter part.Note.—The beast“which had the wound by a sword, and did live,”is the Papacy. That was a church dominating the civil power. In other words, it was a union of church and state, and enforced its religious dogmas by the civil power, under pain of confiscation of goods, imprisonment, and death. An image to this beast would be another ecclesiastical organization clothed with civil power—another union of church and state—to enforce religious dogmas by law.[pg 274]8. Is there any evidence that such an image will be made?Large and influential organizations, such as the National Reform Association, the International Reform Bureau, the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States, and the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, have been formed, by professed Protestants, and for years have been persistently working to that end. Many Roman Catholic societies recently formed in the United States, such as the Knights of Columbus and the American Federation of Catholic Societies, are looking to a like end—that of making America Catholic.9. What, according to its constitution, is the avowed object of the National Reform Association?“To secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as shall ... indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of the government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.”—Article II of Constitution.Notes.—Upon the question of making this a“Christian nation,”Bishop Earl Cranston, D. D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in an address delivered in Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C., March 13, 1910, made the following observation:—“Suppose this were to be declared a Christian nation by a Constitutional interpretation to that effect. What would that mean? Which of the two contending definitions of Christianity would the word Christian indicate?—The Protestant idea, of course, for under our system majorities rule, and the majority of Americans are Protestants. Very well. But suppose that by the addition of certain contiguous territory with twelve or more millions of Roman Catholics, the annexation of a few more islands with half as many more, and the same rate of immigration as now, the majority some years hence should be Roman Catholics,—who doubts for a moment that the reigning Pope would assume control of legislation and government? He would say, with all confidence and consistency,‘This is a Christian nation. It was so claimed from the beginning and so declared many years ago. A majority defined then what Christianity was, the majority will define now what Christianity now is and is to be.’That‘majority’would be the Pope.”—“The Church and the Government,”page 7.The National Reformers in their attempts to justify the legal establishment of Christianity as the national religion, have erroneously declared that the statement of Justice Brewer of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1892,“This is a Christian nation,”is a decision of the court, whereas it was only a statement in the argument leading up to the decision of the court.In a sermon at the centenary of the establishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the United States, in 1889, Archbishop Ireland said:“Our work is to make America Catholic.... Our cry shall be,‘God wills it,’and our hearts shall leap with crusader enthusiasm.”The theory of the National Reformers is thus expressed:“Every government by equitable laws, is a government of God; a republic thus governed is of Him, and is as truly and really atheocracyas the commonwealth of Israel.”—“Cincinnati National Reform Convention,”page 28.[pg 275]10. How does this association regard the Catholic Church on this point?“We cordially, gladly, recognize the fact that in South American republics, in France and other European countries the Roman Catholics are the recognized advocates of national Christianity, and stand opposed to all the proposals of secularism....Whenever they are willing to cooperate in resisting the progress of political atheism, we will gladly join hands with themin a world's conference for the promotion of national Christianity, which ought to be held at no distant day. Many countries could be represented only by Roman Catholics.”—Christian Statesman, Dec. 11, 1884, official organ of the National Reform Association.11. What has the Pope commanded all Catholics to do?“First and foremost, it is the duty of all Catholics worthy of the name and wishful to be known as most loving children of the church ... to endeavor to bring back all civil society to the pattern and form of Christianity which we have described.”—Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII,“Immortale Dei”Nov. 1, 1885,“The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII,”page 132.Note.—The prophecy says that this power will make an image to the Papacy. In the days of Constantine and his successors, the church made use of the civil power to carry out her aims: through this means the Papacy was developed. In our own day the same theory is advocated, and prominent men in the nation, in both church and state, are doing all they can to bring about the same result, which, when their work is completed, cannot fail to fulfil the specifications of the prophecy. The climax will be an image of the Papacy.12. What is the object of the International Reform Bureau?“The Reform Bureau is the first‘Christian lobby’established at our national capital to speak to government in behalf of all denominations.”—“History of the International Reform Bureau,”by its founder and superintendent, Rev. W. F. Crafts, page 2.Note.—The securing of compulsory Sunday legislation is one of the chief objects of this and other like organizations. See pages 61 and 65 of the above-named work.13. What are the objects of the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States?“(1) To preserve the Lord's day [Sunday] for America; (2) to secure an active Alliance in every State not yet organized; (3) to induce the general government as far as possible to set the example of Sabbath observance; (4) to press the rest-day feature of the fourth commandment, until every toiler in the land has guaranteed unto him fifty-two full rest days a year.”—From leaflet published by the Alliance.[pg 276]Note.—By all of which is meant the securing, as far as possible, of compulsory State and national Sunday legislation,—the very means by which the church gained control of the state and by which church and state were united in the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era.14. What is the purpose of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America?“That the great Christian bodies of our country should stand together”in dealing with“questions like those of marriage and divorce, Sabbath desecration, social evils.”etc.—“Report of Federal Council”(1908), pages 5, 6.15. How does it propose that the matter of“Sabbath desecration”shall be dealt with?“That all encroachments upon the claims and the sanctities of the Lord's day should bestoutly resistedthrough the press, the Lord's day associations and alliances,and by such legislation as may be secured to protect and preserve this bulwark of our American Christianity.”—Id., page 103.Note.—Thus it will be seen that the securing of laws for the enforcement of Sunday observance is a prominent feature in all these organizations in their efforts to“Christianize”the nation. In doing this many fail to see that they are repudiating the principles of Christianity, of Protestantism, and of the United States government, and playing directly into the hand of that power which originated the Sunday sabbath, and gained control of the civil power through Sunday legislation—the Papacy.16. What action of the American Federation of Catholic Societies indicates that Catholics will gladly“join hands”with Protestants in enforcing Sunday observance by law?“Our societies in the various parts of the United States have been urging the abolition of Sunday labor, and have indorsed and assisted the movement of closing the post-office on Sunday.”—Tenth Annual Convention of American Federation of Catholic Societies, Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 20-24, 1911.Notes.—With the active cooperation of the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States, a Protestant organization, a proviso was attached to the post-office appropriation bill, 1912, requiring that“hereafter post-offices of the first and second classes shall not be opened on Sundays for the purpose of delivering mail to the general public.”The following resolution was adopted by the Boston Archdiocesan Federation of Catholic Societies:—“We are unalterably opposed to any relaxation of the Sunday laws. Sunday is a day of rest to be devoted to the praise and service of God. We hold the safest public policy at present is to adhere to the rigid observance of the laws now safeguarding the sanctity of the Lord's day.”—Boston Pilot, official organ of Cardinal O'Connell, March 16, 1912.17. What complaint is made against Sunday trains and Sunday newspapers?[pg 277]“They get a great many passengers, and so break up a great many congregations.”“The laboring classes are apt to rise late on Sunday morning, read the Sunday papers, andallow the hour of worship to go by unheeded.”—Elgin(Ill.)Sunday-law Convention, November, 1887.Notes.—In the fourth century, Sunday games and Sunday theaters, it was complained,“hindered”the“devotion”of the“faithful,”because many of the members attended them in preference to the church services. The church, therefore, demanded that the state should interfere, and enforce Sunday observance by law.“In this way,”says Neander,“the church received help from the state for the furtherance of her ends.”In this way church and state were united, and the Papacy was placed in power. The same course pursued now will produce the same results.It is proper and right for the church to teach Sabbath observance, and to decry Sabbath desecration; but it should not attempt to secure Sabbath observance through compulsory legislation; nor should it seek to fasten upon the people by any means the observance of a day which God has never enjoined, and for which, as is admitted on all hands, there is no Scriptural command. See admissions on pages441,442,455,456,560.18. What does the prophet say the two-horned-beast power will attempt to enforce upon all the people?“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receivea markin their right hand, or in their foreheads.”Rev. 13:16.Notes.—This mark is the mark of the beast, or the false sabbath. See Rev. 14:9, 10, and reading on page446. God's seal, or mark, is set in the forehead (Rev. 7:3; 14:1), the seat of the mind, the Lord accepting only the worship of conviction and conscience. The mark of the beast, however, is said to be received in the hand or forehead. Some are deceived and give assent to the false teaching with their minds, receiving the mark in the forehead; others, coerced or indifferent, give formal, outward consent, and so receive the mark in the hand.Let the reader note this twofold aspect of the Sunday sabbath, as expressed by one of the most ardent and active Sunday-law advocates in the United States:“We, the Sabbath Union, W. C. T. U., all the churches, and the Y. M. C. A., are laboring with all our might to carry thereligioussabbath with our right arm, and thecivilsabbath with our left. Hundreds of thousands will receive it as a religious institution, and all the rest will receive it as a civil institution, and thus we will sweep in the whole nation.”—Rev. W. F. Crafts, in Sunday Union Convention, Wichita, Kans., Sept. 20, 1889.19. What means will be employed to compel all to receive this mark?“Andthat no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”Verse 17.Note.—That is, all who refuse to receive this mark will be boycotted, or denied the rights and privileges of business and trade, or the ordinary means of gaining a livelihood. Already this spirit has begun to manifest itself in the movement to enforce Sunday observance. In a sermon[pg 278]preached in Burlington, Kans., Sunday, Jan. 31, 1904, Rev. Bascom Robins said:—“In the Christian decalogue the first day was made the Sabbath by divine appointment. But there is a class of people who will not keep the Christian sabbath unless they are forced to do so. But that can be easily done. We have twenty million of men, besides women and children, in this country, who want this country to keep the Christian sabbath. If we would say we will not sell anything to them, we will not buy anything from them, we will not work for them, or hire them to work for us, the thing could be wiped out, and all the world would keep the Christian sabbath.”20. By what authority was Sunday sabbath-keeping instituted?By the authority of the Catholic Church. See page439.21. Why were the ancient Sunday laws demanded?“That the day might be devoted with less interruption to the purposes of devotion.”“That the devotion of the faithful might be free from all disturbance.”—Neander's“Church History,”Vol. II, pages 297, 301.Note.—In short, it was to secure the enforced observance of the day, and through this means church attendance, and control over the people in religious things.22. Why are they demanded now?“Give us good Sunday laws, well enforced by men in local authority, and our churches will be full of worshipers, and our young men and women will be attracted to the divine service. A mighty combination of the churches of the United States could win from Congress, the State legislatures, and municipal councils, all legislation essential to this splendid consummation.”—Rev. S. V. Leech, D. D., in Homiletic Review, November, 1892.23. Who is responsible for the present State Sunday laws of the United States?“During nearly all our American historythe churcheshave influenced the States to make and improve Sabbath laws.”—Rev. W. F. Crafts, in Christian Statesman, July 3, 1890.Notes.—“These Sunday laws are a survival of the complete union of church and state which existed at the founding of the colony.”—Boston Post, April 14, 1907.“Such laws [as the Maryland Sunday law of 1723] were the outgrowth of the system of religious intolerance that prevailed in many of the colonies.”—Decision of Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, Jan. 21, 1908.The first Sunday law in America, that of Virginia, in 1610, required church attendance, and prescribed the death penalty for the third offense. See“American State Papers,”edition 1911, page 33.24. Why is a national Sunday law demanded?“The national law is needed to make the State laws complete and effective.”—Christian Statesman, April 11, 1889.[pg 279]25. Since the Sunday sabbath originated with the Roman power (the beast), to whom will men yield homage when, knowing the facts, they choose to observe Sunday, instead of the Bible Sabbath, in deference to compulsory Sunday laws?“Know ye not, thatto whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?”Rom. 6:16.Notes.—“The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.”—“Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today,”page 213.The conscientious observance of Sunday as the Sabbath on the part of those who hitherto have supposed it to be the Sabbath, has, without doubt, been accepted of God as Sabbath-keeping. It is only when light comes that sin is imputed. John 9:41; 15:22; Acts 17:30. See page 700.26. What does Christ say about our duty to the state?“Render therefore untoCæsarthe things which areCæsar's; and untoGodthe things that areGod's.”Matt. 22:21.Note.—The Sabbath belongs to God. Its observance, therefore, should be rendered only to Him.27. What special miracle is finally to be performed to deceive men, and fasten them in deception?“And he doeth great wonders, so thathe maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.”Rev. 13:13.Note.—In the time of Elijah, in the controversy over Baal-worship, this was the test as to who was the true God,—the God that answered by fire. 1 Kings 18:24. Now, as a counterfeit test, fire will be made to come down from heaven to confirm men in an idolatrous and false worship.28. To what length will this effort to enforce the worship of the image of the beast be carried?“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause [decree] that as many as would not worship the image of the beastshould be killed.”Verse 15.29. What deliverance will God finally bring to His people in this controversy?“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: andthem 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.”Rev. 15:2.30. What song will they sing?“And they singthe song of Mosesthe servant of God, andthe song of the Lamb.”Verse 3.31. What was the song of Moses?A song of deliverance from oppression. See Exodus 15.

Illustration.Landing Of The Pilgrim Fathers. The vanguard of Protestantism, who established "a Church without a pope, and a State without a king."

Landing Of The Pilgrim Fathers. The vanguard of Protestantism, who established "a Church without a pope, and a State without a king."

1. When was the papal head of the first beast of Revelation 13 wounded?

In 1793-98, by the French Revolution, and the temporary overthrow of the Papacy in the latter year.

2. What did the prophet see coming up at this time?

“And I beheldanother beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.”Rev. 13:11.

Notes.—Mr. Wesley, in his notes on Revelation 13, written in 1754, says of the two-horned beast:“He is not yet come, though he cannot be far off; for he is to appear at the end of the forty-two months of the first beast.”The previous beast came up out of the“sea,”which indicates its rise among the peoples and nations of the world then in existence (Rev 17: 15); while this one comes up out of the“earth.”This would indicate that the latter beast would arise where there had not before been“peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”In 1798, when the papal power received its deadly wound, the government of the United States, located in the western continent, was the only great and independent nation then coming into prominence in territory not previously occupied by peoples, multitudes, and nations. Only nine years preceding this (1789), the United States adopted its national Constitution.It is within the territory of the United States, therefore, that we may look, according to the prophecy, for an ecclesiastical movement to arise, and exercise a dominating control, not only in the civil government of this country, but also in the other nations of the whole world as well.

The previous beast came up out of the“sea,”which indicates its rise among the peoples and nations of the world then in existence (Rev 17: 15); while this one comes up out of the“earth.”This would indicate that the latter beast would arise where there had not before been“peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”In 1798, when the papal power received its deadly wound, the government of the United States, located in the western continent, was the only great and independent nation then coming into prominence in territory not previously occupied by peoples, multitudes, and nations. Only nine years preceding this (1789), the United States adopted its national Constitution.

It is within the territory of the United States, therefore, that we may look, according to the prophecy, for an ecclesiastical movement to arise, and exercise a dominating control, not only in the civil government of this country, but also in the other nations of the whole world as well.

Illustration.Signing The Declaration Of Independence. "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Lev. 25:10.

Signing The Declaration Of Independence. "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Lev. 25:10.

3. What is the character of this new power?

“He hadtwo horns like a lamb.”Rev. 13:11.

Note.—The Pilgrim Fathers were the vanguard of a great multitude of Protestants, who, when persecuted and outlawed in the lands of their birth, sought refuge in the New World, where they developed rapidly under the protection of a government founded on the great Christian principles of civil and religious freedom. The two horns may well symbolize these two fundamental principles.

4. Notwithstanding the lamblike appearance of this power, what is it ultimately to do?

“And hespake as a dragon.”Rev. 13:11.

Note.—The voice of the dragon is the voice of intolerance and persecution. This indicates that the ecclesiastical development dealt with in this prophecy, obtaining a foothold for its initial power and influence in the government of the United States, will repudiate the mild and lamblike principles of civil and religious liberty, and become like the beast before it, a world-wide persecuting power. This is why in Rev. 19:20 it is called“the false prophet.”Born of the Reformation, it will repudiate Reformation principles.

5. How much power will this beast exercise?

“Andhe exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”Verse 12.

Note.—The“first beast before him”(papal Rome) exercised the power of persecuting and putting to death all who differed from it in religious matters. The only way theearthcan be made to worship is by causing work to cease on it through voluntary or enforced rest, or sabbath-keeping.“For as long as she [the land] lay desolate shekept sabbath.”2 Chron. 36:21. Enforced Sunday observance is evidently implied here.

6. What means will be employed to lead the people back into this false worship?

“And deceiveth them that dwell on the earthby the means of those miracles which he had power to doin the sight of the beast.”Verse 14, first part.

7. What will this power propose that the people shall do?

“Saying to them that dwell on the earth,that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword; and did live.”Verse 14, latter part.

Note.—The beast“which had the wound by a sword, and did live,”is the Papacy. That was a church dominating the civil power. In other words, it was a union of church and state, and enforced its religious dogmas by the civil power, under pain of confiscation of goods, imprisonment, and death. An image to this beast would be another ecclesiastical organization clothed with civil power—another union of church and state—to enforce religious dogmas by law.

8. Is there any evidence that such an image will be made?

Large and influential organizations, such as the National Reform Association, the International Reform Bureau, the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States, and the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, have been formed, by professed Protestants, and for years have been persistently working to that end. Many Roman Catholic societies recently formed in the United States, such as the Knights of Columbus and the American Federation of Catholic Societies, are looking to a like end—that of making America Catholic.

9. What, according to its constitution, is the avowed object of the National Reform Association?

“To secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as shall ... indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of the government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.”—Article II of Constitution.

Notes.—Upon the question of making this a“Christian nation,”Bishop Earl Cranston, D. D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in an address delivered in Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C., March 13, 1910, made the following observation:—“Suppose this were to be declared a Christian nation by a Constitutional interpretation to that effect. What would that mean? Which of the two contending definitions of Christianity would the word Christian indicate?—The Protestant idea, of course, for under our system majorities rule, and the majority of Americans are Protestants. Very well. But suppose that by the addition of certain contiguous territory with twelve or more millions of Roman Catholics, the annexation of a few more islands with half as many more, and the same rate of immigration as now, the majority some years hence should be Roman Catholics,—who doubts for a moment that the reigning Pope would assume control of legislation and government? He would say, with all confidence and consistency,‘This is a Christian nation. It was so claimed from the beginning and so declared many years ago. A majority defined then what Christianity was, the majority will define now what Christianity now is and is to be.’That‘majority’would be the Pope.”—“The Church and the Government,”page 7.The National Reformers in their attempts to justify the legal establishment of Christianity as the national religion, have erroneously declared that the statement of Justice Brewer of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1892,“This is a Christian nation,”is a decision of the court, whereas it was only a statement in the argument leading up to the decision of the court.In a sermon at the centenary of the establishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the United States, in 1889, Archbishop Ireland said:“Our work is to make America Catholic.... Our cry shall be,‘God wills it,’and our hearts shall leap with crusader enthusiasm.”The theory of the National Reformers is thus expressed:“Every government by equitable laws, is a government of God; a republic thus governed is of Him, and is as truly and really atheocracyas the commonwealth of Israel.”—“Cincinnati National Reform Convention,”page 28.

“Suppose this were to be declared a Christian nation by a Constitutional interpretation to that effect. What would that mean? Which of the two contending definitions of Christianity would the word Christian indicate?—The Protestant idea, of course, for under our system majorities rule, and the majority of Americans are Protestants. Very well. But suppose that by the addition of certain contiguous territory with twelve or more millions of Roman Catholics, the annexation of a few more islands with half as many more, and the same rate of immigration as now, the majority some years hence should be Roman Catholics,—who doubts for a moment that the reigning Pope would assume control of legislation and government? He would say, with all confidence and consistency,‘This is a Christian nation. It was so claimed from the beginning and so declared many years ago. A majority defined then what Christianity was, the majority will define now what Christianity now is and is to be.’That‘majority’would be the Pope.”—“The Church and the Government,”page 7.

The National Reformers in their attempts to justify the legal establishment of Christianity as the national religion, have erroneously declared that the statement of Justice Brewer of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1892,“This is a Christian nation,”is a decision of the court, whereas it was only a statement in the argument leading up to the decision of the court.

In a sermon at the centenary of the establishment of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the United States, in 1889, Archbishop Ireland said:“Our work is to make America Catholic.... Our cry shall be,‘God wills it,’and our hearts shall leap with crusader enthusiasm.”

The theory of the National Reformers is thus expressed:“Every government by equitable laws, is a government of God; a republic thus governed is of Him, and is as truly and really atheocracyas the commonwealth of Israel.”—“Cincinnati National Reform Convention,”page 28.

10. How does this association regard the Catholic Church on this point?

“We cordially, gladly, recognize the fact that in South American republics, in France and other European countries the Roman Catholics are the recognized advocates of national Christianity, and stand opposed to all the proposals of secularism....Whenever they are willing to cooperate in resisting the progress of political atheism, we will gladly join hands with themin a world's conference for the promotion of national Christianity, which ought to be held at no distant day. Many countries could be represented only by Roman Catholics.”—Christian Statesman, Dec. 11, 1884, official organ of the National Reform Association.

11. What has the Pope commanded all Catholics to do?

“First and foremost, it is the duty of all Catholics worthy of the name and wishful to be known as most loving children of the church ... to endeavor to bring back all civil society to the pattern and form of Christianity which we have described.”—Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII,“Immortale Dei”Nov. 1, 1885,“The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII,”page 132.

Note.—The prophecy says that this power will make an image to the Papacy. In the days of Constantine and his successors, the church made use of the civil power to carry out her aims: through this means the Papacy was developed. In our own day the same theory is advocated, and prominent men in the nation, in both church and state, are doing all they can to bring about the same result, which, when their work is completed, cannot fail to fulfil the specifications of the prophecy. The climax will be an image of the Papacy.

12. What is the object of the International Reform Bureau?

“The Reform Bureau is the first‘Christian lobby’established at our national capital to speak to government in behalf of all denominations.”—“History of the International Reform Bureau,”by its founder and superintendent, Rev. W. F. Crafts, page 2.

Note.—The securing of compulsory Sunday legislation is one of the chief objects of this and other like organizations. See pages 61 and 65 of the above-named work.

13. What are the objects of the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States?

“(1) To preserve the Lord's day [Sunday] for America; (2) to secure an active Alliance in every State not yet organized; (3) to induce the general government as far as possible to set the example of Sabbath observance; (4) to press the rest-day feature of the fourth commandment, until every toiler in the land has guaranteed unto him fifty-two full rest days a year.”—From leaflet published by the Alliance.

Note.—By all of which is meant the securing, as far as possible, of compulsory State and national Sunday legislation,—the very means by which the church gained control of the state and by which church and state were united in the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era.

14. What is the purpose of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America?

“That the great Christian bodies of our country should stand together”in dealing with“questions like those of marriage and divorce, Sabbath desecration, social evils.”etc.—“Report of Federal Council”(1908), pages 5, 6.

15. How does it propose that the matter of“Sabbath desecration”shall be dealt with?

“That all encroachments upon the claims and the sanctities of the Lord's day should bestoutly resistedthrough the press, the Lord's day associations and alliances,and by such legislation as may be secured to protect and preserve this bulwark of our American Christianity.”—Id., page 103.

Note.—Thus it will be seen that the securing of laws for the enforcement of Sunday observance is a prominent feature in all these organizations in their efforts to“Christianize”the nation. In doing this many fail to see that they are repudiating the principles of Christianity, of Protestantism, and of the United States government, and playing directly into the hand of that power which originated the Sunday sabbath, and gained control of the civil power through Sunday legislation—the Papacy.

16. What action of the American Federation of Catholic Societies indicates that Catholics will gladly“join hands”with Protestants in enforcing Sunday observance by law?

“Our societies in the various parts of the United States have been urging the abolition of Sunday labor, and have indorsed and assisted the movement of closing the post-office on Sunday.”—Tenth Annual Convention of American Federation of Catholic Societies, Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 20-24, 1911.

Notes.—With the active cooperation of the Lord's Day Alliance of the United States, a Protestant organization, a proviso was attached to the post-office appropriation bill, 1912, requiring that“hereafter post-offices of the first and second classes shall not be opened on Sundays for the purpose of delivering mail to the general public.”The following resolution was adopted by the Boston Archdiocesan Federation of Catholic Societies:—“We are unalterably opposed to any relaxation of the Sunday laws. Sunday is a day of rest to be devoted to the praise and service of God. We hold the safest public policy at present is to adhere to the rigid observance of the laws now safeguarding the sanctity of the Lord's day.”—Boston Pilot, official organ of Cardinal O'Connell, March 16, 1912.

The following resolution was adopted by the Boston Archdiocesan Federation of Catholic Societies:—

“We are unalterably opposed to any relaxation of the Sunday laws. Sunday is a day of rest to be devoted to the praise and service of God. We hold the safest public policy at present is to adhere to the rigid observance of the laws now safeguarding the sanctity of the Lord's day.”—Boston Pilot, official organ of Cardinal O'Connell, March 16, 1912.

17. What complaint is made against Sunday trains and Sunday newspapers?

“They get a great many passengers, and so break up a great many congregations.”“The laboring classes are apt to rise late on Sunday morning, read the Sunday papers, andallow the hour of worship to go by unheeded.”—Elgin(Ill.)Sunday-law Convention, November, 1887.

Notes.—In the fourth century, Sunday games and Sunday theaters, it was complained,“hindered”the“devotion”of the“faithful,”because many of the members attended them in preference to the church services. The church, therefore, demanded that the state should interfere, and enforce Sunday observance by law.“In this way,”says Neander,“the church received help from the state for the furtherance of her ends.”In this way church and state were united, and the Papacy was placed in power. The same course pursued now will produce the same results.It is proper and right for the church to teach Sabbath observance, and to decry Sabbath desecration; but it should not attempt to secure Sabbath observance through compulsory legislation; nor should it seek to fasten upon the people by any means the observance of a day which God has never enjoined, and for which, as is admitted on all hands, there is no Scriptural command. See admissions on pages441,442,455,456,560.

It is proper and right for the church to teach Sabbath observance, and to decry Sabbath desecration; but it should not attempt to secure Sabbath observance through compulsory legislation; nor should it seek to fasten upon the people by any means the observance of a day which God has never enjoined, and for which, as is admitted on all hands, there is no Scriptural command. See admissions on pages441,442,455,456,560.

18. What does the prophet say the two-horned-beast power will attempt to enforce upon all the people?

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receivea markin their right hand, or in their foreheads.”Rev. 13:16.

Notes.—This mark is the mark of the beast, or the false sabbath. See Rev. 14:9, 10, and reading on page446. God's seal, or mark, is set in the forehead (Rev. 7:3; 14:1), the seat of the mind, the Lord accepting only the worship of conviction and conscience. The mark of the beast, however, is said to be received in the hand or forehead. Some are deceived and give assent to the false teaching with their minds, receiving the mark in the forehead; others, coerced or indifferent, give formal, outward consent, and so receive the mark in the hand.Let the reader note this twofold aspect of the Sunday sabbath, as expressed by one of the most ardent and active Sunday-law advocates in the United States:“We, the Sabbath Union, W. C. T. U., all the churches, and the Y. M. C. A., are laboring with all our might to carry thereligioussabbath with our right arm, and thecivilsabbath with our left. Hundreds of thousands will receive it as a religious institution, and all the rest will receive it as a civil institution, and thus we will sweep in the whole nation.”—Rev. W. F. Crafts, in Sunday Union Convention, Wichita, Kans., Sept. 20, 1889.

Let the reader note this twofold aspect of the Sunday sabbath, as expressed by one of the most ardent and active Sunday-law advocates in the United States:“We, the Sabbath Union, W. C. T. U., all the churches, and the Y. M. C. A., are laboring with all our might to carry thereligioussabbath with our right arm, and thecivilsabbath with our left. Hundreds of thousands will receive it as a religious institution, and all the rest will receive it as a civil institution, and thus we will sweep in the whole nation.”—Rev. W. F. Crafts, in Sunday Union Convention, Wichita, Kans., Sept. 20, 1889.

19. What means will be employed to compel all to receive this mark?

“Andthat no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”Verse 17.

Note.—That is, all who refuse to receive this mark will be boycotted, or denied the rights and privileges of business and trade, or the ordinary means of gaining a livelihood. Already this spirit has begun to manifest itself in the movement to enforce Sunday observance. In a sermon[pg 278]preached in Burlington, Kans., Sunday, Jan. 31, 1904, Rev. Bascom Robins said:—“In the Christian decalogue the first day was made the Sabbath by divine appointment. But there is a class of people who will not keep the Christian sabbath unless they are forced to do so. But that can be easily done. We have twenty million of men, besides women and children, in this country, who want this country to keep the Christian sabbath. If we would say we will not sell anything to them, we will not buy anything from them, we will not work for them, or hire them to work for us, the thing could be wiped out, and all the world would keep the Christian sabbath.”

“In the Christian decalogue the first day was made the Sabbath by divine appointment. But there is a class of people who will not keep the Christian sabbath unless they are forced to do so. But that can be easily done. We have twenty million of men, besides women and children, in this country, who want this country to keep the Christian sabbath. If we would say we will not sell anything to them, we will not buy anything from them, we will not work for them, or hire them to work for us, the thing could be wiped out, and all the world would keep the Christian sabbath.”

20. By what authority was Sunday sabbath-keeping instituted?

By the authority of the Catholic Church. See page439.

21. Why were the ancient Sunday laws demanded?

“That the day might be devoted with less interruption to the purposes of devotion.”“That the devotion of the faithful might be free from all disturbance.”—Neander's“Church History,”Vol. II, pages 297, 301.

Note.—In short, it was to secure the enforced observance of the day, and through this means church attendance, and control over the people in religious things.

22. Why are they demanded now?

“Give us good Sunday laws, well enforced by men in local authority, and our churches will be full of worshipers, and our young men and women will be attracted to the divine service. A mighty combination of the churches of the United States could win from Congress, the State legislatures, and municipal councils, all legislation essential to this splendid consummation.”—Rev. S. V. Leech, D. D., in Homiletic Review, November, 1892.

23. Who is responsible for the present State Sunday laws of the United States?

“During nearly all our American historythe churcheshave influenced the States to make and improve Sabbath laws.”—Rev. W. F. Crafts, in Christian Statesman, July 3, 1890.

Notes.—“These Sunday laws are a survival of the complete union of church and state which existed at the founding of the colony.”—Boston Post, April 14, 1907.“Such laws [as the Maryland Sunday law of 1723] were the outgrowth of the system of religious intolerance that prevailed in many of the colonies.”—Decision of Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, Jan. 21, 1908.The first Sunday law in America, that of Virginia, in 1610, required church attendance, and prescribed the death penalty for the third offense. See“American State Papers,”edition 1911, page 33.

Notes.—“These Sunday laws are a survival of the complete union of church and state which existed at the founding of the colony.”—Boston Post, April 14, 1907.

“Such laws [as the Maryland Sunday law of 1723] were the outgrowth of the system of religious intolerance that prevailed in many of the colonies.”—Decision of Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, Jan. 21, 1908.

The first Sunday law in America, that of Virginia, in 1610, required church attendance, and prescribed the death penalty for the third offense. See“American State Papers,”edition 1911, page 33.

24. Why is a national Sunday law demanded?

“The national law is needed to make the State laws complete and effective.”—Christian Statesman, April 11, 1889.

25. Since the Sunday sabbath originated with the Roman power (the beast), to whom will men yield homage when, knowing the facts, they choose to observe Sunday, instead of the Bible Sabbath, in deference to compulsory Sunday laws?

“Know ye not, thatto whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey?”Rom. 6:16.

Notes.—“The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church.”—“Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today,”page 213.The conscientious observance of Sunday as the Sabbath on the part of those who hitherto have supposed it to be the Sabbath, has, without doubt, been accepted of God as Sabbath-keeping. It is only when light comes that sin is imputed. John 9:41; 15:22; Acts 17:30. See page 700.

The conscientious observance of Sunday as the Sabbath on the part of those who hitherto have supposed it to be the Sabbath, has, without doubt, been accepted of God as Sabbath-keeping. It is only when light comes that sin is imputed. John 9:41; 15:22; Acts 17:30. See page 700.

26. What does Christ say about our duty to the state?

“Render therefore untoCæsarthe things which areCæsar's; and untoGodthe things that areGod's.”Matt. 22:21.

Note.—The Sabbath belongs to God. Its observance, therefore, should be rendered only to Him.

27. What special miracle is finally to be performed to deceive men, and fasten them in deception?

“And he doeth great wonders, so thathe maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.”Rev. 13:13.

Note.—In the time of Elijah, in the controversy over Baal-worship, this was the test as to who was the true God,—the God that answered by fire. 1 Kings 18:24. Now, as a counterfeit test, fire will be made to come down from heaven to confirm men in an idolatrous and false worship.

28. To what length will this effort to enforce the worship of the image of the beast be carried?

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

29. What deliverance will God finally bring to His people in this controversy?

“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: andthem 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.”Rev. 15:2.

30. What song will they sing?

“And they singthe song of Mosesthe servant of God, andthe song of the Lamb.”Verse 3.

31. What was the song of Moses?

A song of deliverance from oppression. See Exodus 15.

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