The Mark of Papal Authority
By A. R. Bell
Papal Claim to Have Changed the Sabbath—Many Protestants Acknowledge Her Authority—Will Unite to Enforce Her Mark Under Penalty of Death World-Wide Boycott Predicted This is the fourth of A. R. Bell’s series of articles on that interesting part of the book of Revelation which forecasts the persecuting power to arise just before the second coming of Christ. His first article presented the struggles of the church as disclosed in the twelfth chapter of Revelation. His last two articles, together with the one this week, have been studies in the thirteenth chapter of Revelation. These studies in the thirteenth of Revelation tell of the “deadly wound” that was inflicted upon the papacy. They show how that “deadly wound” was to be healed through the apostasy of Protestantism, and how Protestantism in this nation will lead the world in forming an “image” to the beast, and in enforcing the “mark” of the beast, as set forth in the article this week. His article next week will be the first of three on the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, and will give the view the prophet had of the mighty message of warning that God sends against the great apostasy which will, in this enlightened age, throw conscientious men and women into the cruel persecutions of the Dark Ages. The dark picture, however, is eclipsed by the glorious hope that the climax which brings an everlasting end to all tyranny comes through the personal appearance of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. EDITOR. “AND he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Rev. 13: 16, 17.
From a government founded upon the principle that a man’s relation to his God is a matter belonging alone to the man and to his God, and that his right of conscience is inalienable, this nation will identify herself, in both principle and practice, with the papacy; and like the papacy, she will trample liberty in the dust, and force men into bondage. Notice how this will be done. Men in every station and walk of life will be compelled to receive a mark (verse 16), which we are told, in verse 17, is the mark of the beast. The receiving of that mark will signify that the one receiving it acknowledges the authority of the beast and the image by his obedience to their claim or demand. Thus the claim becomes the mark, or token, of the papacy’s power and authority. What, then, is Rome’s claim? What is the mark of her authority and power? Rome claims to be the true church, all-powerful. She claims to have power over the consciences of men, and to command them under sin. Listen for a moment or two to some of her utterances: “We declare, say, define, pronounce it to be necessary to salvation, for every human creature to be subject to the Roman pontiff.” — Decretal of Boniface VIII. “We confess that whatever new thing the pope ordains, whether it be in Scripture or not in Scripture, and whatever he commands, is true, divine, and salvific, and therefore ought to be held by lay people in greater esteem than the precepts of the living God.” “We confess that the pope has power of changing the Scripture, and of adding to it, and taking from it, according to his will.”—Streitwolf’s “Collection of the Confessions of the Church of Rome.” Göttingen. “God punishes more severely the disobedience of the rules of the church, than He does for the transgression of His own commandments.”—Priest Mahoney, Spokane, Washington, sermon, April 18, 1914. Writing of the second coming of Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul said: “That day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thess. 2: 3, 4. Surely the foregoing utterances—and they could be multiplied greatly—make the papacy fit the prophetic mold, as that system is represented by its head, the pope. A prophecy in Daniel, speaking of this same power, says, “He shall think to change the times and the law.” Dan. 7: 25, R. V. And he claims to have done this very thing, and puts the change of God’s law by himself in evidence as proof that he has power to command men under sin. Note the following: “Q. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
“A. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday.” And the papal power declares that by keeping Sunday, Protestants “acknowledge the church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin.”—“An Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,” page 58. In another work, answering this very question concerning the power of the church “to institute festivals of precept,” which, in other words, are “authoritative commands,” she answers: “Had she not such power, . . . she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”—“A Doctrinal Catechism,” page 174. One of their priests, some years ago, lecturing on this matter, declared: “The Bible says, ‘Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.’ The Catholic Church says: No! By my divine power, I abolish the Sabbath day, and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And, lo, the entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church.” CLAIMS SUNDAY AS THE MARK OF HER POWER
Surely, then, does Rome set Sunday up as the mark of her power. It stands as evidence, on her part, that she has power to change God’s law, and to command men under sin. As the mark of the beast, this institution, Sunday, will be forced upon men by “the image of the beast.” See Rev. 13: 16. The image of the beast, we have seen, is the apostasy of Protestantism in our own land, that will lead this nation to repudiate her principles of civil and religious liberty—the secret of her greatness. In their proposed “religious amendment to the constitution,” the great Protestant church organizations, as shown last week, want to “set up God’s law,” and have the government “lay its hand on any religion that does not conform to it.” And they have threatened that dissenters “must abide the consequences.” They have interpreted the law of Jehovah. One of their spokesmen said, “In the Christian decalogue, the first day was made the Sabbath by divine appointment.” Of course, this self-appointed “God’s spokesman” has not given us any proof of his statement. Methinks that when he spoke, he expected the people to believe that God spoke, just as the late Priest Phelan, editor of the Western Watchman, speaking of the pope, has said, “What the pope says, is accepted as the word of God.” PROTESTANTS PROPOSE TO UNITE WITH THE STATE
And what do the men of this great combination propose to do when they get their “religious amendment”? Listen: “We propose to incorporate in our national constitution the moral and religious command, ‘In it (the Sabbath) [meaning Sunday, of course] thou shalt do no work.’ . . . And by external force of sheriffs we propose to arrest and punish all violators of this law.” Instead of winning men from their transgression to obedience to God, they become a spiritual despotism, to drag dissenters before the tribunal of another Inquisition. And concerning the enactment and enforcement of Sunday laws, they have said that “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 result.” CHURCH AND STATE UNITED THROUGH SUNDAY LEGISLATION
Through Sunday legislation, church and state will be united. Religious bigotry will again arise. Sunday will become the test as to whether or not a man is a Christian. Like the carping hypocrites in Christ’s day, these misguided religionists will cry, “This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath day;” and men will suffer persecution in spite of the fact that their daily walk and conversation are in perfect harmony with the law of God, which those same religionists will have professedly incorporated into the law of the land. True religion carries with it a love unfathomable; but a Sunday law carries with it “bonds and imprisonment.” “And he spake as a dragon,” Rev. 13: 11. “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him.” Verse 12. “The image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” Verse 15. “And he causeth all . . . to receive a mark; . . . that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark.” Verses 16, 17. Here is foretold a boycott, as well as the extreme penalty of the law. In their mad zeal, men will themselves resort to violation of the law in seeking to compel others to be obedient to the law.775 WILL INAUGURATE A BOYCOTT
As evidence that this is in their mind, and that, too, in the very mold in which the prophecy sets it, note the following, as expressed by one of their “God’s spokesmen”: “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. . . . If we 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.” Sunday practically is to be the test as to whether or not a man is fit to live. Sunday, the mark of the beast, the institution of “the man of sin,” the counterfeit Sabbath, will be forced upon men. The master hand of the enemy of all righteousness is at work. He inoculated the church with his virus, and the papacy arose. Out from the darkness and tyranny of papal rule came the Reformation, and the founding of this nation. But the end is drawing on. God is preparing a people for the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ. A last supreme effort is inaugurated to overthrow that work and destroy God’s remnant. (See Rev. 12: 17, and the study in the SIGNS of November 23.) Every force at the command of Satan is set in operation to lead the church astray. Worldliness comes in like a flood. Piety and principle seem to be flung to the four winds, and “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,” is the outcome. 2 Tim. 3: 1-5. The ways of the papacy are imitated. Forms and ceremonies are on the increase everywhere. Many of the customs and institutions of Rome are incorporated into the Protestant church. She is fallen. But out of that last apostasy, God calls a remnant. Led, through study of God’s word, to see God’s law as His measuring rod of character in the Judgment, preparation for which they are seeking, they see the binding claim of the fourth commandment as well as the other nine. They see the seventh-day Sabbath, and yield obedience. They see the Sunday sabbath as the institution of “the man of sin,” and turn away from it. SUPREME CONFLICT JUST AHEAD
Another supreme effort is inaugurated. Another campaign is on. Somehow upon the church dawns the idea that the reason for all the ungodliness that is sweeping her and the world off their feet, is disregard for Sunday. The thing is contagious. A great Sunday movement begins. It carries everything before it, except this remnant who are keeping God’s Sabbath. Their fidelity to God is interpreted as stubbornness. Their faithfulness to principle is called fanaticism. They are the difficulty in the way of the triumph of the church, and are blocking the way to complete Sunday sacredness. The machinery of the government is called into play. The remnant are charged with rebellion by the government, and as the enemy of God by the church. The realm of conscience is again invaded, and persecution follows. Dear reader, the struggle is on. The crisis is before us. The Sunday movement, so far as Satan is concerned, has but one object —the destruction of God’s remnant. MEN DECREE, BUT GOD OVERRULES
But men reckon without taking God into consideration. Men may decree, but a divine Providence overrules. The prophet’s attention is called to another scene. He sees a redeemed host with the Lamb upon Mount Zion. They sing a song that no one but them, either in heaven or in earth, can sing. It is the song of their own experience. God interferes in the plans and purposes of men. At the very moment of their expected triumph, the Deliverer comes, and God’s remnant are saved from the wrath of men. The remnant stand the test of the Judgment. There is no guile in their mouth, and “they are without fault before the throne of God.” Kept from the defilement of tradition and error, the unbiblical doctrines of a fallen church, God’s children are shown as virgins, not defiled, and are called “the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.” And as the special trophies of His grace, they “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.” See Rev. 14: 1-5.