The Sabbath Through the Ages
By Charles L. Taylor
"After these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Rev. 7: 1-3. This scripture brings to view a most important time in earth's history. Great troubles are impending. The "four winds" of commotion, strife, and bloodshed are about to be let loose; and the day spoken of in the prophecies — the day of angry nations, the day of wrath, the day of judgment — is soon to dawn. But ere that day comes, whose coming pronounces the end of time and the close of probation's hour, messengers are hastened from the throne of the Infinite with the burning command to hold everything in abeyance until the seal of God has been placed upon the foreheads of His children. A Finishing Work of Character
The work of sealing is therefore equally important as the time. It is one which puts upon the people of God the finishing touches of character preparatory to their being ushered into the presence of the Almighty, to receive the glorious gift of immortality. Evidently it is the last part of Heaven's great Gospel work for man, which immediately precedes the second coming of Christ and the end of the world. Without going into many interesting and easily furnished details of Scripture proof, let it be said here that the sealing of God's servants, which takes place in the closing hours of time, is identical with the great message of Sabbath reformation brought to view in the previous article. The Sabbath of Jehovah is His "seal;" and faithful observance of the Sabbath in the times of stress and trial and persecution and death which come just before our Lord's return, will place upon men the stamp of perfection and holiness — "the Father's name" — which will fit them to enter into glory. It may not have occurred to you, dear reader, that coincident with this sealing of God's people, there is to be carried forward on earth a tremendous world-wide work of opposition. At the very time that Heaven is placing its seal upon the hearts of men, another power is forcing upon them its mark. Says the Scripture, "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. And God specially warns men, under pain of suffering His unmixed wrath, not to receive this mark. Rev. 14: 9-11. Before turning to a further study of God's "seal," note that "the beast" is the power which enforces the "mark." That "beast" is the Papacy. In the last days, therefore, the papal power is to be restored; and when it shall have succeeded in regaining its lost prestige, it will, according to the prophecy, take its final stand against God's law of truth. Did it not in earlier days, through apostasy and wanton attack, set itself against God and above God in changing His law and substituting the Sunday for the Sabbath? Does it not now boastfully claim that it alone made that change? Is it not true that it points to the change which was made, as evidence of its supremacy over the Word of God and His commands? Just as apostasy once brought the Sunday to the front in opposition to the authority of the fourth commandment, so it will do again. Even now we are upon the eve of that accomplishment. Papal influence and teaching are leading men backward; and everywhere, the world over, the Sunday rest day is crowded to the front, and both Protestant and Romanist are joining in the cry for laws to enforce its observance. To-day, as never before, the papal sun-day is pitted against the Sabbath of the Lord. And when an international federation of Protestant churches in league with a like federation of Catholic societies sets about the task of securing from earthly governments a universal recognition of sun-day sacredness, it requires no stretch of imagination or hair-spun theological reasoning to see that success will one day crown the effort. But when the world does enforce the claims of Rome in respect of the sun-day, it will be doing exactly what the prophecy states; namely, compelling men by law to homage to the power which first gave the day its usurped place, — requiring men to worship the beast, the Papacy. The Sunday-sabbath is the mark of papal authority. She points to it as evidence of her right to "command men under sin." And when, in the soon-to-come final conflict, Sunday is placed before the world as a compulsory rest day, in opposition to God's claim for the Sabbath of His law, its keeping will mark one as being opposed to the commandments of God, and as standing for the authority of the beast. To keep Sunday, as enforced by law at that time, will be to receive the "mark" of the Papacy, against which God has warned. Now all through the Scriptures God's Sabbath has been set forth as His sign, His mark of authority. "It is a sign," said He, "between Me and the children of Israel forever." Ex. 31: 17. Again, "I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." Eze. 20: 12, 20. And as we have seen in former articles, God made that Sabbath-sign the one all-important test of loyalty to His law. See Ex. 16: 4, 27, 28. The history of Israel was a demonstration of the fact, that to disregard the sign, the memorial, of God's creative power invariably meant to lapse into idolatry. The words "seal" and "sign" are used interchangeably in the Bible. Of Abraham it is said, "He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had." Rom. 4: 11. The Sabbath is God's "sign," or "seal." It is the sign of His creative power, and the seal of the law of which it is a part. As brought to view in the Bible, the seal was always used in connection with law and exercise of authority. When Joseph was given the king's signet (sign) ring, he became ruler. Gen. 41: 42. When the king's seal (the impress of his signet ring) was placed upon Haman's decree for the destruction of God's people, it then became law which no man could reverse. Esther 8: 8. See also Esther 3: 10, 12; 1 Kings 21: 8; and other scriptures. The seal, or sign, of the earthly ruler, placed the stamp of authority upon the legal documents of which it was made a part. In the same sense does the seal of God give authority to His law. Direct reference to this truth is found in a message of the prophet Isaiah. Speaking to His servants living in the last days, when they are looking for the Lord's return, God says, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples." Isa. 8: 16. God's law is to be sealed, or, in other words, have its seal restored. And this restoring of the seal is to be "among My disciples." If the Sabbath be the seal, as has been stated, then this is a direct command to restore the5Sabbath in the experience of God's people, and thus put the seal of God upon their foreheads. The Sabbath, torn from the law by the high-handed blasphemy of papal assumption, is again to be seen in the law of God and in the life of the people. Any complete seal showed "the name, the authority, and the realm of the law-giver, thus: 'Edward, king of Great Britain and Ireland.' The name is Edward; the authority, king; the realm, Great Britain and Ireland. God's law, the only document He has ever spoken or written to men, is found in Ex. 20: 1-17, in ten different precepts. In six of these precepts, the first, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, not one of the necessary features of the seal is given. In the second, third, and fifth, only the name and authority are given,—'Jehovah thy God.' But in the fourth commandment we have every characteristic of the seal,—the name, Jehovah; the authority, 'thy God;' the extent of authority and right to command, 'the Creator of the heavens and the earth.'" "Seal the law among My disciples," is God's command. Why?—Because even the law of Jehovah, without its seal, is void. Take the Sabbath commandment from the Decalogue, and it ceases to be a heavenly statute. It is through the fourth commandment alone that the heathen, who know not the true God, the Creator, can be introduced to Him. But when the Papacy changed the day of the Sabbath, and put its false substitute into the place of the true, it did exactly what Inspiration says,—it took away the seal of Jehovah's statutes. It robbed God's people of their greatest bulwark against the ever-increasing flood of idolatry and worldliness. Hence, when the great conflict is about to close, and the church faces the period of her greatest need and sorest danger, the Lord thunders forth to the world the command to restore the seal, and give the true Sabbath its place among His waiting people. The issue is on. God's Sabbath-seal is right now being heralded to the world. Into all lands the message has gone. Persecution has come and will come to some, calumny and reproach to others; but nothing can prove a bar to the great onward work. Sunday is being shown up in its true light, and men and women are turning from its falsity to the Sabbath truth. On the other hand, men are showing greater determination to force the claims of the papal Sunday-mark. Laws are sought to make it obligatory upon all the people of earth. Those laws will finally materialize, and those who refuse to bow down to the decree will be ostracized and disfranchised. Earth will afford no place of refuge for those who do not, at least in form, submit to earthly papal dictation. The day of supreme test in this matter is not far away. Now is the time to lay strong and deep our foundations for life. The mighty question of whether we shall receive the seal of God or the mark of the Papacy, is being determined by present decisions. By right relation to truth, we may now settle all in favor of God's complete law, and thus have it said of us, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God." Rev. 14:12. And when the final victory is won, and character for heaven has become fixed and unalterable, we, having our Father's name written in our foreheads (Rev. 14:1), shall, with those who have gotten the victory over the beast and his mark, stand upon the sea of glass before the throne of God. Rev. 15:2.