The youth, as well as the apparent mildness of this power, seem to be indicated by its lamb-like horns. What do these horns mean? The symbol of horns like those of a lamb is not elsewhere used in the prophetic Scriptures, with the exception of those texts which represent Christ as a Lamb having seven horns, &c., Rev. v, 6. The idea appears to be generally prevalent that a horn is used only to designate civil power. This is certainly a mistake. We think that the following Scriptures show that a horn is used simply as the emblem of power. "My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies: because I rejoice in thy salvation." 1 Sam. ii, 1. "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer: the God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my Saviour; thou savest me from violence." 2 Sam. xxii, 1–3. "Ye which rejoice in a thing of naught, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our strength?" Amos vi, 13. "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass." Micah iv, 13. "And his brightness was as the light: he had horns coming out of his hand; and there was the hiding of his power." Hab. iii, 4. "And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." Rev. v, 6. "The horn as an emblem of power was originally taken from beasts, such as the urus, wild ox, buffalo, or perhaps the rhinoceros, who were perceived to have so much power in their horns. Hence a horn was frequently worn on crowns and helmets, as is evident on ancient coins; and to this day it is an appendage to the diadems of the kings and chiefs of Abyssinia." We may also learn from these symbols, which are explained in connection with other powers, some facts that will throw light on this. The two horns of the ram in Dan. viii, denoted the union of the two powers of Media and Persia in one empire. The great horn of the Grecian goat was the symbol of the first form of that power. The ten horns of the fourth beast denoted the ten distinct powers into which the fourth empire was divided. Dan. vii, 23–25. And the little horn which came up after the ten represented the Papacy, a purely ecclesiastical power. It was a horn before the three were plucked up. See Dan. vii, 8, 24. This was accomplished in 538. But the Papacy did not become possessed of civil power until 755. Says Goodrich in his History of the Church: "As a reward to the Roman Pontiff, Pepin in the year 755, conferred on Stephen, the successor of Zachary, several rich provinces in Italy, by which gift he was established as a temporal monarch," p. 98. See also Bower's History of the Popes, vol. 2, p. 108. Hence it is certain that ecclesiastical, as well as civil power, is represented by the symbol of a horn. And it is evident that the horns of these beasts symbolize the entire power of the beasts. From these facts we may learn that the horns of Daniel's fourth beast (the first beast of Rev. xiii) denoted civil and religious power. Hence we regard the horns of the last beast of Rev. xiii as symbolizing the civil and religious power of the nation represented by that beast. The horns of the first beast have each a crown upon them, (verse 1,) and are the horns of a dreadful and terrible beast, (Dan. vii, 7,) while those of the two-horned beast are represented as horns like those of a lamb, and they have no crowns upon them; hence the two-horned beast is emphatically a government of the people; and whatever is done by the people may be said to be done by the beast. And 'a plurality of horns is not always the symbol of a power divided; for the two horns of the ram in Dan. viii symbolized the union of Media and Persia in one government. In appearance, if we may judge from the symbols used, this beast represents the mildest power that ever rose; for in the prophetic history of the governments that have preceded this, no one has been represented by symbols so mild. We understand these horns to denote the civil and religious power of this nation—its Republican civil power, and its Protestant ecclesiastical. If it be objected that its civil power ought to be represented by the beast, rather than by a horn of the beast, we refer to one or two facts that will meet this point. The civil power of Grecia was represented by the great horn of the goat; and when that civil power was broken, the beast still continued to exist; and in the place of that one civil government, arose four. And we may add, that when the dominion of the different beasts of Dan. vii, was taken away, their lives were prolonged for a season and time. That is, the nation still lived, though the dominion of the nation was destroyed. Hence we understand that the beasts denote the nations which constitute the different kingdoms, and the horns of the beast denote the civil and religious power of the nations. No civil power could ever compare with Republicanism in its lamb-like character. The grand principle recognized by this form of power, is thus expressed: "All men are born free and equal, and endowed with certain inalienable rights, as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Hence, all have a right to participate in making the laws, and in designating who shall execute them. Was there ever a development of civil power so lamb-like before? And what, in religious matters, can be compared with Protestantism? Its leading sentiment is the distinct recognition of the right of private judgment in matters of conscience. "The Bible is the only religion of Protestants." Was there ever in the religious world any thing to equal this in its lamb-like professions? Such we consider the meaning of the "two horns like a lamb." "And he spake like a dragon." With all these lamb-like appearances the real spirit by which he is actuated is that of the dragon—the Devil. "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Matt. xii, 34. What he is to speak, we may notice hereafter. Verse 14. "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, [or in his sight as Whiting translates,] and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed." Here is conclusive proof that the two-horned beast is distinct from the ten-horned beast, and contemporary with it, from the time that its deadly wound was healed, about the commencement of the present century. This exercise of power is the very scene of trouble and danger before us, respecting which the third angel utters his voice of warning. "If any man worship the beast" &c. The anguish of that period when all the powers of the first beast shall be exercised, may be learned from reading the history of the first beast. Rev. xiii, 5–7; Dan. vii, 23–26. It is certain that since the 1260 years of triumph of the first beast, no power has exercised such oppression as that which is here predicted. Hence this has not been accomplished in the past; and the prophecy clearly shows us that this dragonic work is to proceed from a government the mildest in appearance that the world ever saw; its power being represented by "horns like a lamb." So that from a power that has presented to the world the most extraordinary spectacle of civil and religious liberty, bitter and unrelenting persecution is yet to be experienced by the church. This important fact should be carefully considered. The lamb-like character is to be first exhibited. This is to deceive the nations. Then the dragonic character—the real character of the beast, is to appear. For as the dragon gave power to the first beast, which prepared the Papacy for its 1260 years of persecution, so the two-horned beast gives power to the image of the first beast, to act a part like that beast in warring upon the saints. The only civil government that has ever existed, exhibiting the lamb-like appearance of this symbol is the United States; one of the articles of its constitution containing these words, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." As the lamb-like power of this beast, as represented by its horns, is not in accordance with its dragonic character, as exhibited in its exercising all the power of the first beast, we think the conclusion a reasonable one that its period of mildness and deception precedes that of its tyranny and oppression. We shall notice hereafter what this power does in causing the world to worship the first beast. That we are living in an age of wonders is an admitted fact. The expression is oftentimes repeated, "There is nothing too wonderful to happen." The increase of knowledge in every department of the arts and sciences, has indeed been without precedent in our world's history. Our own country takes the lead in all this: we see the chariots, with the speed of lightning, coursing their way through the land, and with similar speed men traverse the mighty deep. The prophecy of Nahum is now literally fulfilled: "The chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir-trees shall be terribly shaken. The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broadways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings." Chap. ii, 3, 4. "The fire of God" [the lightning, Job i, 16; Ex. ix, 23, 24] has been here brought down from heaven. Such is the wonderful power that man has obtained over the elements. And the lightning thus brought down from heaven is now made obedient to the will of man202and sent as a messenger from one end of our land to the other. God said to Job, "Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?" Job xxxviii, 35. To send the lightning seems almost an attribute of Omnipotence, if we may judge from the manner in which Jehovah speaks to his ancient servant; yet men are now able to employ this executor of the wrath of God as their own obedient servant. It has been observed by a recent speaker: "If Franklin tamed the lightning, Prof. Morse taught it the English language." And all this bids fair to be eclipsed by other and more astonishing wonders. We do not indeed regard this as the fulfillment of the prophecy, "He doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven upon the earth in the sight of men;" but these facts are worthy of notice as marking the age in which we live. When men in ancient times had reached that pass that there was nothing restrained from them that they imagined to do, we read that God came down and confounded them. Gen. ix, 6–9. If the men of the present generation do not occupy a similar position they certainly bid fair to before long. The world may indeed be deceived by the things that we have named, and many others of a like character, and caused to believe that better days are coming, and that the earth is being prepared for the happy residence of men, and that men are becoming more virtuous and enlightened, and that thus the way is preparing for the temporal Millennium. But there is a class of wonders now in process of development that bids fair to present to the world the perfect fulfillment of this prophecy. We refer to that which is now called "Spiritualism," the work of the unclean spirits in our land. In almost every part of our land, multitudes of men of every class are now holding communion, as they suppose, with the spirits of the dead. And that they are holding communion with spirits of some kind is undeniable, for the fact of their presence is attested by astounding miracles. We think that no one can deny the facts that are brought to substantiate the work of the spirits, however they may judge of the spirits themselves. Says Hon. J. W. Edmonds, Judge of the Supreme Court:— "Scarcely more than four years have elapsed since the 'Rochester knockings' were first known among us. Then mediums could be counted by units, but now by thousands—then believers could be numbered by hundreds, now by tens of thousands. It is believed by the best informed that the whole number in the United States must be several hundred thousands, and that in this city [New York] and its vicinity there must be from twenty to twenty-five thousand. There are ten or twelve newspapers and periodicals devoted to the cause, and the Spiritual library embraces more than one hundred different publications, some of which have already attained a circulation of more than ten thousand copies. Besides the undistinguished multitude there are many men of high standing and talent ranked among them—doctors, lawyers and clergymen in great numbers, a Protestant bishop, the learned and reverend president of a college, judges of our higher courts, members of Congress, foreign ambassadors, and ex-members of the United States' Senate." This statement of Judge Edmonds, was written two or three years ago. Since that time this work of the spirits has been steadily progressing. And they have now extended themselves over Great Britain, France, Germany and many other countries. The Emperor and Empress of France, the Queen of Spain, and the Roman Pontiff have all sought to these spirits for knowledge. It may be proper that we enumerate some of the many remarkable acts performed by them. Among them are the following: Many well attested cases of healing; writing performed by them without the aid of any one; the transportation of things from a distance by the spirits alone; persons carried by the spirits through the air in the presence of many others; tables have been suspended in the air with several persons on them; beautiful music has been performed by the spirits, with, and without the aid of instruments; extraordinary communications respecting distant persons and places have been many times made with complete accuracy; and the spirits have represented themselves to the natural vision of some and talked with them in an audible voice, the persons not knowing them to be spirits until after they disappeared. The astonishing progress of these wonders should awaken serious reflection on the part of every one. If these things continue to progress as hitherto, what a scene is there before us! It is evident that these things are but the beginning of the miracles with which the world is to be deceived. That all this is the work of demons, and not of the spirits of the dead, appears from several decisive facts. 1. As to the dead, the Bible plainly testifies, that they "know not any thing;" [Eccl. ix, 5;] that they are in the grave where there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom; [verse 10;] that they have laid down, and that they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep, until the heavens be no more; [Job xiv, 24;] that they praise not the Lord; [Isa. xxxviii, 18, 19; Ps. cxv, 17; vi, 5;] and that in the day of death, the thoughts perish; [Ps. cxlvi, 2–4;] and that without a resurrection they which have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 1 Cor. xv, 18. To this we may add, that God has most solemnly forbidden necromancy, which is the pretended science of dealing with the dead. Deut. xviii, 11; Isa. viii, 19. We may all see for a certainty that the dead cannot impart knowledge to us when they have none for themselves; and hence may understand that God warns us against seeking knowledge from that source, as we shall only expose ourselves to the delusion of the devil. 2. The Bible clearly predicts that in the last days Satan is to work with all power, and signs, and lying wonders. And that the spirits of devils are to work miracles; and they will come in the guise of the spirits of the dead. We beg the reader to carefully compare, 2 Thess. ii, 9, 10; Rev. xvi, 13–15; Isa. viii, 19–22. That the two-horned beast, that performs the miracles spoken of in Chap. xiii, is the same as the false prophet from whose mouth one of the unclean spirits issues, [Chap. xvi, 13,] we shall hereafter prove. 3. The third reason for regarding these as the spirits of devils is found in the fact that they most openly contradict the authority of the Holy Scriptures. They deny the resurrection of the dead; the second advent of Christ; the judgment, and, indeed, all leading doctrines of the Christian religion; they place the most profligate and wicked men, like the infidel Paine, in the highest heaven, and represent him as engaged in the same work that he so faithfully adhered to while he lived, viz., the overthrow of the authority of the Bible; and, finally, they openly deny the inspiration of the Word of God, and seek to substitute in its place their own worthless fables. The foregoing facts are, in short, the most important reasons that prove these the spirits of devils. And they can be appreciated by every person who fears God, and trembles at his word. We have referred to the unclean spirits as the agency by which the miracles of the two-horned beast are to be performed. As proof that we are correct in this, we refer to Rev. xvi, 13, where one of the three unclean spirits is represented as going out of the mouth of the false prophet to perform miracles. A comparison of Chap. xiii, 11–17; xix, 20, as we shall notice hereafter, proves that the two-horned beast and false prophet are the same. Hence it is certain that the unclean spirits are the agency by which the two-horned beast performs his miracles. But these miracles are to be carried so far that fire is to be brought down from heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. In the days of Elijah the test between Jehovah and Baal was this very thing: the God that could cause fire to come down from heaven in the sight of the assembled multitude, was the true God. Satan was not then able to perform this most astonishing miracle. 1 Kings xviii. But this very act, by which the true God was distinguished from the false, is now to be performed by Satan himself. This shows, as we think, that this act of the two-horned beast relates to the hour of temptation that shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Rev. iii, 10, 11. Who would be prepared to resist such miracles as this? None but those who are specially kept by God. The multitude must be swept away by them. The truth of God, that shows all this as the work of the Devil, will be the only shield then. Those only who have kept the word of Christ's patience will then be kept. This fearful hour of temptation, when Satan shall work with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, is before us, and who will stand when it shall come upon all the world? "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke xxi, 36. No form of power ever arose in any past age combining the remarkable features which appear in our own government. It is of itself a wonder, a system of government that has not its like elsewhere. What is needed throughout the world to relieve its inhabitants of their oppression, but that Republicanism should remodel all their civil governments? The leaven of its principles has deeply diffused itself throughout the nations of earth. In proof of this, witness the revolutions of 1848 which shook nearly all the thrones of Europe. And what is so well calculated to develop and to maintain religious freedom, as Protestantism? With the diffusion of these principles, how many are now confidently expecting a long period of prosperity and triumph for the church—a period of emancipation to the poor enslaved nations of the earth! the ushering in of the period when the nations shall learn war no more, and a universal spiritual kingdom shall be set up and fill the whole earth; (Micah iv, 1–5;) and those wonders which we have briefly noted promise to mankind a better revelation than the Scriptures of truth afford us. The people of God indeed are looking forward to the time when the Lamb, who is King of kings and Lord of lords shall reign in person over the whole earth. But with the mass this view has given place to the more congenial idea of a spiritual reign, and of temporal prosperity and triumph. This view holds out to men the prospect of peace and safety, (1 Thess. v,) notwithstanding the evidence has been spread out before them that the hour of God's judgment has come, and that no better state of things can ever exist till the curse shall be removed from the earth. The warning respecting the coming storm of wrath has been most faithfully given; but by the multitude it has been rejected, thus leaving them to the deceptions that are already coming upon the earth. They dream that the earth, with all its progress, and with all its improvements, is far too lovely and excellent for God to destroy. Peace and safety is the delusive dream in which men indulge while the wrath of God hangs over them. We regard the two-horned beast, then, as the symbol of a civil and religious power, differing in many respects from those which have preceded it. It is in appearance the mildest form of power that ever existed; but it is, after having deceived the world with its wonders, to exhibit all the tyranny of the first beast. Are the pretensions of this power well founded? Let us examine. If "all men are born free and equal," why then does this power hold three millions of human beings in the bondage of slavery? Why is it that the Negro race is reduced to the rank of chattels personal, and bought and sold like brute beasts? If the right of private judgment be allowed by the Protestant church, why does she expel men from her communion for no greater crime than that of attempting to obey God in something wherein his Word may not be in accordance with her creed? Read Charles Beecher's work "The Bible a Sufficient Creed." Why are men for no other crime than looking for Jesus Christ, expelled from the churches of those who profess to love his appearing? To these, and many other questions of a similar character, we can only answer, that the lamb is such only in pretension. He is dragon in character. His ostensible appearance is that of a lamb; but the power by which he speaks is that of the dragon. The true kingdom of the Lamb—the King of kings is not set up on the earth until the destruction of all the wicked powers that now bear rule. Then the Jubilee will end the bondage of the saints: God speed the right. A further view of the two-horned beast may be obtained by comparing his history with that of the false prophet. The two-horned beast is represented as working miracles in the sight of the first beast. Rev. xiii, 14. The same is affirmed respecting the false prophet. Chap. xix, 20. The203nations of the earth are deceived by these miracles, and caused to worship the image of the first beast, and to receive his mark. The same work is ascribed to the false prophet. Still further, we may say that the Bible gives us the origin of the two-horned beast, but does not under that name give us his final destiny. The origin of the false prophet is not given under that name, but his destiny is clearly revealed. Rev. xix, 20; xx, 10. Inasmuch as their work is identical, and they act on the stage at the same time, we cannot doubt their identity. This is positive proof that the two-horned beast is, from the time of its rise, a power cotemporary with the first beast, and not the first beast in another form. What power has ever arisen in the past history of the world, that could answer the description of this lamb-dragon, or false prophet? If Satan has been permitted to make use of Paganism as an instrument of oppression and deception, and also of Papacy, which is Christianity in a corrupt form, why may he not make use of Protestantism also when it becomes corrupt, as, if possible, a more efficient means of deception than either of the former? Has not the protestant church acted the part of the false prophet most effectually in promising to the world a thousand years of peace and prosperity before the day of wrath? She has prophesied this out of her own heart, for God has ever spoken the reverse of this. 2 Tim. iii; Dan. vii; Matt. xiii; 2 Thess. ii. The protestant church as a body now proclaim this doctrine as expressing the great object for which they labor—temporal prosperity and triumph in a world that has ever rejected Christ. Mahommedanism is not this false prophet; for it is introduced in the prophecy under the symbol of locusts, and its power departed with the hour, day, month and year of the second woe. Rev. ix. But the two-horned beast, or false prophet, acts as an accomplice of Papacy in Satan's great work of final deception, and unites in the great conflict against the King of kings. Rev. xix. The work of deception prepares the way for the dragon voice of the beast. He says "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." And thus it would seem that the history of this symbol is in part at least, twice presented, each time ending with its oppressive acts. First, with its power represented by horns like a lamb; but it was subsequently to exercise all the dragonic power of the first beast. And, second, it is represented as working miracles to deceive the dwellers upon the earth, and when this deception is accomplished it is to cause them to unite in making an image that should have power to put every one to death that should not worship it. In noticing the prophetic history of the first beast, we called attention to the fact that the prediction respecting the time when all that dwell upon the earth shall worship the beast whose names are not written in the book of life, has never yet met its fulfillment. And we would here express the conviction that this prophecy relates to the time when the two-horned beast is to speak as a dragon, and to exercise all the power of the first beast. In that hour of strong temptation, we may expect to see all the dwellers upon the earth united in the worship of the beast. The beast was the Papacy clothed with power, to put to death the saints of God. Rev. xiii, 5–8; Dan. vii, 23–26. An image to the beast then, must be another ecclesiastical body, clothed with power and authority to put the saints to death. This can refer to nothing else but the corrupt and fallen Protestant church. (We would simply call attention to the present Know Nothing movement as one of the signs of the times. The cause of truth and of humanity has little to hope from it. But it may have a most important bearing upon the destiny of this nation.) If it be asked from whence the beast receives this power, we can only answer that, by permission of God, the dragon that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, is without doubt the very being who communicates this power to the beast. The kingdoms of this world are claimed by him, and the right to give them to whom he will. Luke iv, 5, 6. Should it be objected that the world is too much enlightened to submit to such deception, or to unite in such a work of persecution, we answer that the word of God gives us this prophecy in clear language; and it is with reference to this scene of danger that the third angel unites his solemn warning. Look at the Jewish church, and mark how soon after it had rejected the Messiah at his first coming, they put him to a cruel death, and slew also many of his apostles and saints. They said indeed (Matt. xxiii) that had they lived in the days of their fathers, they would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. But when their "hour and the power of darkness" came upon them, how completely did it show them under the power of Satan! Luke xxii, 53; John vii, 50. The downward course of our own nation on the subject of African slavery, is a fearful warning of the abyss into which it is about to plunge. The most infamous law of the nineteenth century is the "fugitive slave law." And not satisfied with this act of infamy, the last congress of the United States opened the vast field of all the territories of the nation to slavery though hitherto sacredly guarded from that withering curse. What next God only knows. The rejection of the truth of God, leaves men the captives of Satan, and the subjects of his deception. 2 Thess. ii, 9–12. The greater the light which men reject, the greater the power of deception and of darkness which will come upon them. The Advent message has been given in our own land, and by the mass rejected, and no greater, and indeed no other light can ever be given to those who have turned away from that. The third angel gives us warning of the danger which is now before us. The warning precedes the danger that we by seasonable admonition may make our escape. Another religious power enforces the claims of the first beast, and his image, and causeth the world to receive his mark. What is this mark of the beast? It is the mark of that beast to whom the image was made—the first beast. Rev. xix, 20; xvi, 2. But it is enforced by the two-horned beast. Hence, we understand it as an institution of Papacy, enforced by Protestantism. The beast and his image unite in this thing, denoting the union of the great system of false Christianity, in opposition to the saints, who are engaged in keeping the commandments of God. Have we such an institution, really the child of Papacy, which the civil power supports, and to which the religious world pays homage? We have. It is found in a weekly Sabbath which the "Man of Sin" has placed in the stead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. If we turn to the law of God, we shall find that the fourth commandment alone points out Jehovah. The first three forbid the worship of false gods, and blasphemy. The last six pertain wholly to our duty to our fellow men. Not one of these nine commandments points out the true God. But the Sabbath commandment points out the true God as that being who in six days created heaven and earth, and rested upon the seventh. By the observance of the sanctified rest day of the Creator, he is acknowledged as the true God, in distinction from every object upon which the eye can rest, in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath. The being that created all these things is God. Such is the teaching of the fourth commandment. But the Scriptures plainly predict that the man of sin should exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, and should "THINK TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS." 2 Thess. ii; Dan. vii, 25. It is not said that he should be able to change them; but he should think to do it; or as the Catholic version reads, "he shall think himself ABLE to change times and laws." They are not the times and laws of men which he thinks to change, for these he might be able to change as other powers have done; but it is an act of arrogance in which he does not succeed. The times and laws of God are doubtless intended. This apostasy began in the apostolic age. 2 Thess. ii, 7. It has resulted in the perfect development of the man of sin; and of his blasphemous acts, among which we may name the change of the fourth commandment. No one can produce any other authority for changing the Sabbath than Romish traditions. Hear the testimony of a Roman Catholic: "The first precept in the Bible is that of sanctifying the seventh day; God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Gen. ii, 3. This precept was enforced by God in the Ten Commandments: Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Ex. xx. On the other hand, Christ declares that he did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Matt. v, 17. He himself observed the Sabbath; and as his custom was, he went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day. Luke iv, 16. His disciples likewise observed it after his death: they rested on the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Luke xxiii, 56. Yet with all this weight of Scripture authority for keeping the Sabbath or seventh day holy, Protestants, of every denomination, make this a profane day, and transfer the obligation of it to the first day of the week, the Sunday. Now what authority have they for doing this? None at all, but the unwritten Word or tradition of the Catholic church, which declares that the apostles made the change in honor of Christ's resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Ghost on that day of the week."—Milner's End of Controversy, page 89. For a more full view of the testimony on this point we refer to the tracts entitled, "Why don't you keep the Sabbath day?" and the "History of the Sabbath." Notwithstanding the fourth commandment in the plainest terms enjoins the observance of the sanctified Rest day of the Lord, almost all the world now wonder after the beast, and observe the Pagan festival of Sunday, which the great apostasy has substituted for the holy Sabbath. By the observance of the Sabbath, men acknowledge the great Creator as their God. But when they understandingly choose in its stead the Sabbath of the man of sin, they acknowledge him as above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, and as able to change the times and laws of God. There is no evading this point. If we observe the Sabbath of the Lord, and that of the apostasy also, we only make the man of sin equal with God. But when we produce the Lord's Sabbath, and observe in its stead the Romish festival of Sunday, we acknowledge the Papacy above God, and able to change his times and laws. We speak of those who have the light of truth, and act contrary to it. Those who have never yet understood that the observance of Sunday is a tradition of the fathers which makes void the fourth commandment, are not referred to. It is the bringing of this Sabbath of the apostasy to the test that will constitute it the mark of that power that should think to change times and laws. There is no other Papal institution that directly sets aside one of the ten commandments, that the whole Protestant world observes. This mark is very conspicuous in the forehead or hand, and signifies not a literal mark, but a public profession, or act, that all may see or know. The manner in which the Protestant church would enforce the Sabbath of the man of sin, had it the power, is well expressed by a distinguished clergyman: Says Dr. Durbin: "I infer therefore that the civil magistrate may not be called upon to enforce the observance of the Sabbath, as required in the spiritual kingdom of Christ; but when Christianity becomes the moral and spiritual life of the State—the State is bound, through her magistrates to prevent the open violation of the holy Sabbath, as a measure of self-preservation. She cannot without injuring her own vitality, and incurring the Divine displeasure, be recreant to her duty in this matter."—Christian Advocate and Journal. It is proper that we should speak with carefulness of that which relates to the events of the future. That the scene described in the conclusion of Rev. xiii, pertains to the time of trouble before us, such as never was, we have no doubt. It is also evident that in the providence of God the line of separation between the worshipers of the beast and his image on the one hand, and those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus on the other, will be most distinct and visible. The third angel's proclamation will prepare the people of God for the coming crisis; and the formation of the image and the reception of the mark will prepare all the various classes of adherents to the beast, to receive the vials of the204wrath of God, the seven last plagues. The image of the beast, as we have seen, is made up of apostate religious bodies. The name of the beast, as given in verse 1, is blasphemy. The image it appears is made up by legalizing the various classes that will acknowledge the blasphemous claims of the beast, by taking his mark. Every class that will therefore acknowledge the authority of the beast may be legalized and form a part of this image; but when this is accomplished, woe to all dissenters! It is thus that we understand the number of the beast as six hundred three-score and six. The mark will determine to which class each individual belongs. We have seen the cause of danger fully laid open before us in Rev. xiii. We now return to the voice of warning as presented in Chap. xiv, 9–11. The warning of danger is a warning which refers directly to the scene of trouble described in Rev. xiii, 11–18. This warning shows that that trouble is yet to come. Its fearful character may be learned from the thrilling and dreadful import of the angel's message. The Bible nowhere else depicts such dreadful wrath. On one side stands the decree of the beast who is to exercise all the power of the first beast before him, that all who will not worship the image and receive his mark shall be put to death; on the other hand stands the solemn warning of the third angel. Here then is the strait before us. We can worship the beast and his image, and as the penalty, drink the wine of the wrath of God, or we can refuse, and peril our lives that we may obey God. This message will draw a line between the worshippers of God and the worshippers of the beast and his image, for on either hand it reveals a dreadful penalty and leaves no chance for half way work. Those who disregard this warning will be found with the worshippers of the beast and his image, and will drink of the wine of the wrath of God. Those who heed this warning will obey God at the risk of their lives. The one class is designated by the mark of the beast, the other class is seen in the patience of the saints keeping the commandments of God. That the law of God should thus be made a great testing truth to draw a line between the subjects of the fourth and fifth kingdoms, is an idea not unworthy of the God of the Bible. That the commandments of God are the great subject of controversy between the dragon and the remnant of the seed of the woman, is plain from Rev. xii, 17. The issue of this struggle cannot be a matter of doubt, for as in all past ages those who have had the ark of God, and have kept his commandments have triumphed, even so will it be now. What then is it to worship the beast? for this is a prominent part of the act against which the wrath of God without mixture of mercy is denounced, and, as we have seen, all the world are yet to unite in this act. It is worthy of notice that at the conclusion of this dreadful warning, the saints are introduced as keeping the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. Thus we may understand that the worship of the beast and his image, and the reception of his mark is the opposite of keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And we have seen that one of the commandments of God has been superseded by an institution of the Romish apostasy. A remark by a recent writer, bearing on this point is worthy of lasting remembrance: "Whenever any civil or ecclesiastical enactment conflicts with the requisitions of Jehovah, that power is worshiped, which is obeyed in preference to the other. 'Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey his servants are ye to whom ye obey!' Rom vi, 16." Bliss on the Apocalypse, p. 333. We have already seen that the conflict is between the commandments of God, and the requirements of the beast. And that a Papal institution, which has usurped the place of one of the commandments of God, is yet to be made a test by the two-horned beast. It is not difficult therefore to see how men will be made to worship the beast; for whenever they obey the requirements of the beast in the place of the commandments of God they worship the beast; for they acknowledge him as above the Most High. It is a remarkable fact that the Pagan festival of Sunday, which the great apostasy has substituted for the Sabbath of the Bible, is now enforced by law in most of the States of the Union. A Papal institution which directly contradicts the fourth commandment enforced by a Protestant government! A most striking instance of the union of church and state in this country the boast of the nation to the contrary notwithstanding! "Congress," says the constitution, "shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." But most of the state governments, which have no right to infringe upon the constitution, have already decided that the Sabbath of the Bible shall be kept on Sunday, and the judges have decided such laws to be constitutional! If the government has a right to nullify the fourth commandment there is an end to the principle of religious liberty; for it has an equal right to nullify any or all of the others.