Exodus 20.11 for in six days the lord made heaven and earth, the sea and rested the seventh day
Genesis 2. 2-3 on the seventh day God ended his work he had made and he rested on the seventh day
Deuteronomy 5.13-14 the seventh day is the Sabbath of the lord thy God
Exodus 16.28-30 for the lord hath given you the Sabbath. So the people rested on the seventh day
Hebrews 4.4-9 he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise
Nehemiah 9.13-14 madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath ,and commandest them precepts
Isaiah 58.13-14 if thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day
Isaiah 56.2 blessed is the man that doeth this…that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it
Exodus 20.8-10 remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
Note: [The Story of Redemption pg. 379-383] – “The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament.” Rev. 11:19. The ark of God’s testament is in the second apartment of the sanctuary. As Christ entered there, to minister in the sinner’s behalf, the inner temple was opened, and the ark of God was brought to view. To those who by faith beheld the Saviour in His work of intercession, God’s majesty and power were revealed. As the train of His glory filled the temple, light from the holy of holies was shed upon His waiting people on the earth. They had by faith followed their High Priest from the holy to the most holy, and they saw Him pleading His blood before the ark of God. Within that sacred ark is the Father’s law, the same that was spoken by God Himself amid the thunders of Sinai, and written with His own finger on the tables of stone. Not one command has been annulled; not a jot or tittle has been changed. While God gave to Moses a copy of His law, He preserved the great original in the sanctuary above. Tracing down its holy precepts, the seekers for truth found, in the very bosom of the Decalogue, the fourth commandment, as it was first proclaimed: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:8-11.
The Spirit of God impressed the hearts of these students of His Word. The conviction was urged upon them that they had ignorantly transgressed the fourth commandment by disregarding the Creator’s rest day. They began to examine the reasons for observing the first day of the week instead of the day which God had sanctified. They could find no evidence in the Scriptures that the fourth commandment had been abolished, or that the Sabbath had been changed; the blessing which first hallowed the seventh day had never been removed. They had been honestly seeking to know and do God’s will, and now, as they saw themselves transgressors of His law, sorrow filled their hearts. They at once evinced their loyalty to God by keeping His Sabbath holy. Many and earnest were the efforts made to overthrow their faith. None could fail to see that if the earthly sanctuary was a figure or pattern of the heavenly, the law deposited in the ark on earth was an exact transcript of the law in the ark in heaven, and that an acceptance of the truth concerning the heavenly sanctuary involved an acknowledgment of the claims of God’s law, and the obligation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Those who had accepted the light concerning the mediation of Christ and the perpetuity of the law of God, found that these were the truths brought to view in the third message. The angel declares, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. This statement is preceded by a solemn and fearful warning: “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.” Rev. 14:9, 10. An interpretation of the symbols employed was necessary to an understanding of this message. What was represented by the beast, the image, and the mark? Again those who were seeking for the truth returned to the study of the prophecies.
To whom does the Sabbath belong?
Exodus 20.10 seventh day is the Sabbath of the lord thy God
Nehemiah 13.16.19 the men of tyre brought fish and all manner of ware, and sold on the Sabbath to the children of Judah
Jeremiah 17.21-25 take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day
Numbers 15.32-36 the children of Israel in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks…the Lord said…the man shall surely be put to death
Exodus 31.12-18 ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you
Exodus 35.2-3 six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day
Luke 13.10-17 Jesus healed on the Sabbath day, the ruler in the synagogue answered with indignation because Jesus healed on the sabbath
Luke 14.3,5,6 which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit on the Sabbath
Mark 3.2-5 the Scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse him
Leviticus 23.32 it shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest and ye shall afflict your souls
Note- [The Story of Redemption pg 381-383]-The Beast and its Image – By this first beast is represented the Roman Church, an ecclesiastical body clothed with civil power, having authority to punish all dissenters. The image to the beast represents another religious body clothed with similar powers. The formation of this image is the work of that beast whose peaceful rise and mild professions render it so striking a symbol of the United States. Here is to be found an image of the Papacy. When the churches of our land, uniting upon such points of faith as are held by them in common, shall influence the State to enforce their decrees and sustain their institutions, then will Protestant America have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy. Then the true church will be assailed by persecution, as were God’s ancient people.
The beast with lamblike horns commands “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. This is the mark concerning which the third angel utters his warning. It is the mark of the first beast, or the Papacy, and is therefore to be sought among the distinguishing characteristics of that power. The prophet Daniel declared that the Roman Church, symbolized by the little horn, was to think to change times and laws (Dan. 7:25), while Paul styled it the man of sin (2 Thess. 2:3, 4), who was to exalt himself above God. Only by changing God’s law could the Papacy exalt itself above God; whoever should understandingly keep the law as thus changed would be giving supreme honor to that power by which the change was made. The fourth commandment, which Rome has endeavored to set aside, is the only precept of the Decalogue that points to God as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus distinguishes the true God from all false gods. The Sabbath was instituted to commemorate the work of creation, and thus to direct the minds of men to the true and living God. The fact of His creative power is cited throughout the Scriptures as proof that the God of Israel is superior to heathen deities. Had the Sabbath always been kept, man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to his Maker as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel.
That institution which points to God as the Creator is a sign of His rightful authority over the beings He has made. The change of the Sabbath is the sign, or mark, of the authority of the Romish Church. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false in place of the true Sabbath, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded.
To whom, then, should its observance be rendered?
Mark 12.17 Render to Caesar’s the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s
Note-when men make the Sabbath law, therefore, they require Sabbath observance to be rendered to the government, or presumably to God through the government, which amounts the same thing.
In religious things, to whom alone are we accountable?
Matthews 12.36 every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment
1 Peter 4.5-6 who shall give account to him that is ready to Judge
Acts 10. 42 it is he (Jesus) which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead
2 Timothy 4. 1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
Note-[Desire of ages pg 549-551- The New Kingdom of God] –The one who stands nearest to Christ will be he who on earth has drunk most deeply of the spirit of His self-sacrificing love,–love that “vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, . . . seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil” (1 Cor. 13:4, 5),–love that moves the disciple, as it moved our Lord, to give all, to live and labor and sacrifice, even unto death, for the saving of humanity. This spirit was made manifest in the life of Paul. He said, “For to me to live is Christ;” for his life revealed Christ to men; “and to die is gain,”–gain to Christ; death itself would make manifest the power of His grace, and gather souls to Him. “Christ shall be magnified in my body,” he said, “whether it be by life or by death.” Phil. 1:21, 20.
When the ten heard of the request of James and John, they were much displeased. The highest place in the kingdom was just what every one of them was seeking for himself, and they were angry that the two disciples had gained a seeming advantage over them.
Again the strife as to which should be greatest seemed about to be renewed, when Jesus, calling them to Him, said to the indignant disciples, “Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you.”
In the kingdoms of the world, position meant self-aggrandizement. The people were supposed to exist for the benefit of the ruling classes. Influence, wealth, education, were so many means of gaining control of the masses for the use of the leaders. The higher classes were to think, decide, enjoy, and rule; the lower were to obey and serve. Religion, like all things else, was a matter of authority. The people were expected to believe and practice as their superiors directed. The right of man as man, to think and act for himself, was wholly unrecognized.
Christ was establishing a kingdom on different principles. He called men, not to authority, but to service, the strong to bear the infirmities of the weak. Power, position, talent, education, placed their possessor under the greater obligation to serve his fellows. To even the lowliest of Christ’s disciples it is said, “All things are for your sakes.” 2 Cor. 4:15.
“The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Among His disciples Christ was in every sense a caretaker, a burden bearer. He shared their poverty, He practiced self-denial on their account, He went before them to smooth the more difficult places, and soon He would consummate His work on earth by laying down His life. The principle on which Christ acted is to actuate the members of the church which is His body. The plan and ground of salvation is love. In the kingdom of Christ those are greatest who follow the example He has given, and act as shepherds of His flock.
The words of Paul reveal the true dignity and honor of the Christian life: “Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all,” “not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.” 1 Cor. 9:19; 10:33.
In matters of conscience the soul must be left untrammeled. No one is to control another’s mind, to judge for another, or to prescribe his duty. God gives to every soul freedom to think, and to follow his own convictions. “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” No one has a right to merge his own individuality in that of another. In all matters where principle is involved, “let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” Rom. 14:12, 5. In Christ’s kingdom there is no lordly oppression, no compulsion of manner. The angels of heaven do not come to the earth to rule, and to exact homage, but as messengers of mercy, to co-operate with men in uplifting humanity.
How does God show the holiness of the Sabbath day?
Exodus 20:8; Leviticus 23.3 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
Note-[Testimonies for the church vol. 6 pg 353-] Preparation for the Sabbath. – At the very beginning of the fourth commandment the Lord said: “Remember.” He knew that amid the multitude of cares and perplexities man would be tempted to excuse himself from meeting the full requirement of the law, or would forget its sacred importance. Therefore He said: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8.
All through the week we are to have the Sabbath in mind and be making preparation to keep it according to the commandment. We are not merely to observe the Sabbath as a legal matter. We are to understand its spiritual bearing upon all the transactions of life. All who regard the Sabbath as a sign between them and God, showing that He is the God who sanctifies them, will represent the principles of His government. They will bring into daily practice the laws of His kingdom. Daily it will be their prayer that the sanctification of the Sabbath may rest upon them. Every day they will have the companionship of Christ and will exemplify the perfection of His character. Every day their light will shine forth to others in good works.
In all that pertains to the success of God’s work, the very first victories are to be won in the home life. Here the preparation for the Sabbath must begin. Throughout the week let parents remember that their home is to be a school in which their children shall be prepared for the courts above. Let their words be right words. No words which their children should not hear are to escape their lips. Let the spirit be kept free from irritation. Parents, during the week live as in the sight of a holy God, who has given you children to train for Him. Train for Him the little church in your home, that on the Sabbath all may be prepared to worship in the Lord’s sanctuary. Each morning and evening present your children to God as His blood-bought heritage. Teach them that it is their highest duty and privilege to love and serve God.
Parents should be particular to make the worship of God an object lesson for their children. Passages of Scripture should be more often on their lips, especially those passages that prepare the heart for religious service. The precious words might well be often repeated: “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.” Psalm 62:5.
When the Sabbath is thus remembered, the temporal will not be allowed to encroach upon the spiritual. No duty pertaining to the six working days will be left for the Sabbath. During the week our energies will not be so exhausted in temporal labor that on the day when the Lord rested and was refreshed we shall be too weary to engage in His service.
While preparation for the Sabbath is to be made all through the week, Friday is to be the special preparation day. Through Moses the Lord said to the children of Israel: “Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” “And the people went about, and gathered it [the manna], and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it.” Exodus 16:23; Numbers 11:8. There was something to be done in preparing the heaven-sent bread for the children of Israel. The Lord told them that this work must be done on Friday, the preparation day. This was a test to them. God desired to see whether or not they would keep the Sabbath holy.
This direction from the lips of Jehovah is for our instruction. The Bible is a perfect guide, and if its pages are prayerfully studied by hearts willing to understand, none need err upon this question.
Many need instruction as to how they should appear in the assembly for worship on the Sabbath. They are not to enter the presence of God in the common clothing worn during the week. All should have a special Sabbath suit, to be worn when attending service in God’s house. While we should not conform to worldly fashions, we are not to be indifferent in regard to our outward appearance. We are to be neat and trim, though without adornment. The children of God should be pure within and without.
On Friday let the preparation for the Sabbath be completed. See that all the clothing is in readiness and that all the cooking is done. Let the boots be blacked and the baths be taken. It is possible to do this. If you make it a rule you can do it. The Sabbath is not to be given to the repairing of garments, to the cooking of food, to pleasure seeking, or to any other worldly employment. Before the setting of the sun let all secular work be laid aside and all secular papers be put out of sight. Parents, explain your work and its purpose to your children, and let them share in your preparation to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment.
We should jealously guard the edges of the Sabbath. Remember that every moment is consecrated, holy time. Whenever it is possible, employers should give their workers the hours from Friday noon until the beginning of the Sabbath. Give them time for preparation, that they may welcome the Lord’s day with quietness of mind. By such a course you will suffer no loss even in temporal things.
There is another work that should receive attention on the preparation day. On this day all differences between brethren, whether in the family or in the church, should be put away. Let all bitterness and wrath and malice be expelled from the soul. In a humble spirit, “confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” James 5:16.
Before the Sabbath begins, the mind as well as the body should be withdrawn from worldly business. God has set His Sabbath at the end of the six working days, that men may stop and consider what they have gained during the week in preparation for the pure kingdom which admits no transgressor. We should each Sabbath reckon with our souls to see whether the week that has ended has brought spiritual gain or loss. It means eternal salvation to keep the Sabbath holy unto the Lord. God says: “Them that honor Me I will honor.” 1 Samuel 2:30.
What, then, must be the nature of all Sabbath legislation ?
It is religious legislation.
Note: [Daniel and the Revelation Pg594] Threatened with Ecclesiastical Domination.–Let it be noted that in the panorama of coming events which passed before the prophet John, he witnessed this same amazing change in the nature of the two-horned beast. It eventually began to speak “as a dragon” and to control the worship of its people, “saying to them that dwell upon the earth, that they should make an image to the beast.”
The beast “which had the wound by a sword, and did live,” is the papacy. This 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.
Evidence that such an image will be formed is seen in the fact already large and influential organizations, such as the National Reform Association, the International Reform Bureau, the Lord’s Day Alliance of Christ in America, have been formed, by professed Protestants, and for years have been persistently working to the end of establishing and enforcing religious standards by law. Also Roman Catholic societies in the United States, in harmony with their tradition for centuries, are looking to a like end. Ultimately these two forces are destined to join hands in a common effort. The avowed object of the National Reform Association is “to secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will . . . indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniably legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.” [25]
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 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 addition of certain contiguous territory with twelve or more million 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.” [26]
This association, organized for so-called “National Reform,” has no compunctions about uniting with the papacy to bring about its design to establish a national religion. It declares: “We cordially, gladly, recognize the fact that in the South American Republics, and 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 co-operate in resisting the progress of political atheism, will gladly join hands with them. In 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.” [27]
Shall we notice the avowed objective of the other organizations?
In a History of the International Reform Bureau the society in a self-appraisal declares, “The Reform Bureau is the first ‘Christian lobby’ established at our National Capital to speak to government in behalf of all denominations.” [28]
On pages 61 and 65 of the foregoing work it is stated that the securing of compulsory Sunday legislation is one of the chief objects of this and other like organizations.
Speaking before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee against the Supreme Court bill, Professor Theodore Graebner, of Concordia College, St. Louis, made this interesting observation:
“Some 50 years ago the national Reform Association sought . . . to make all public education Christian and thereby make Jesus Christ the King of the nation. . . . The movement persists to the present day, and is issuing an enormous amount of literature all directed to the end of adopting a Christian amendment.” [29]
The actual objective of this organization is to force religion upon the people by legal enactment–to secure a Sunday blue law, and to standardize the Christianity of the people.
From a leaflet published by the Lord’s Day Alliance of the United States we learn that their objective is:
” (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.”
By all this 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.
The Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, which is by far the most powerful and representative combination of Protestant churches in the nation, claiming at its beginning to represent eighteen organizations and 50,000,000 communicants, in stating its reasons for existence declared:
“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. [30]
In defining how they purpose to deal with Sabbath desecration, the Federal Council declared:
“That all encroachments upon the claims and the sanctities of the Lord’s day should be stoutly resisted through 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.” [31]
Thus it will be seen that the securing of the 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, or 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.
This danger was clearly discerned by the lawmakers of the United States more than a century ago.
Note- [Daniel and the Revelations pages 61-65]- The King dreams of world Empires.
Men may say, ‘Another plan remains. If force cannot avail, diplomacy and reasons of state may–we will try them. And so the prophecy foreshadows this when it says, ‘They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men’–i.e., marriages shall be formed, in hope thus to consolidate their power, and, in the end, to unite these divided kingdoms into one.
“And shall this device succeed?–No. The prophet answers: ‘They shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.’ And the history of Europe, is but a running commentary on the exact fulfillment of these words. From the time of Canute until the present age, it has been the policy of the reigning monarchs, the beaten path which they have trodden, in order to reach a mightier scepter and a wider sway. . . . Napoleon . . . sought to reach by alliance, what he could not gain by force, i.e., to build up one mighty, consolidated empire. And did he succeed?–Nay. The very power with which he was allied, proved his destruction, in the troops of Blucher, on the field of Waterloo! The iron would not mingle with clay.”[10]
But Napoleon was not the last to try the experiment. Numerous European wars followed the efforts of the Little Corporal. To avert future conflicts, benevolent rulers resorted to the expedient of intermarriage to ensure peace, until by the opening of the twentieth century it was asserted that every ranking hereditary ruler of Europe was related to the British royal family. World War I showed the futility of these attempts.
Out of the horrors of that titanic struggle was born an ideal expressed by President Woodrow Wilson, who exclaimed, “The world has been made safe for democracy!” With the conviction that a war had been fought which would end war came the announced inherent rights of minorities, and the principles of self-determination, ensured by a world league of nations which would restrain dictators and punish aggressors.
Yet under the very shadow of the League of Nations’ palace arose leaders who would destroy world peace and shatter the ideal of world union, while preaching a new social revolution. They vainly promised the triumph of culture and a union born of racial superiority ensuring the “partly strong” and “partly broken” nations of Europe “a thousand years of tranquility.”
Out of the welter of confusion, the wreck of nations, the destruction of institutions, the sacrifice of treasure resultant from centuries of frugality, through eyes grief-dimmed by the loss of the flower of its young manhood, the ravishment of its womanhood, the slaughter of infancy and age, through clouds of smoking human blood a distraught world looks anxiously for its signs of surcease. Will the elusive mirage of world peace based upon a trust in European solidarity, the result of wishful thinking, again cause men to forget the counsel of the word of God, “They shall not cleave one to another”?
Alliances may come, and it may appear that the iron and miry clay of the feet and toes of the great image have finally fused, but God said, “They shall not cleave one to another.” It may seem that old animosities have disappeared and that the “ten kings” have gone the way of all the earth, but “the Scripture cannot be broken.” John 10: 35.
When the state enacts religious laws
What has generally been the result of religious legislation, or a union of church and state?
Religious intolerance and persecution
NOTE: Struggle Against Religious Tyranny.–These were not only godly men, but they were wise and farseeing men. When certain religious groups made appeal that “explicit acknowledgment of the true God and Jesus Christ” be made in the Constitution, their request was denied. In writing of this incident, Thomas Jefferson said: “The insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend within the mantle of its protection the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination.” [21]
The House Judiciary Committee, February 18, 1874, in reply to a similar petition, reported: “As this country, the foundation of whose government they were then laying, was to be the home of the oppressed of all nations of the earth, whether Christian or pagan, and in full realization of the dangers which the union between church and state had imposed upon so many nations of the Old World, with great unanimity [they agreed] that it was inexpedient to put anything into the Constitution or frame of government which might be construed to be a reference to any religious creed or doctrine.” [22]
History attests the fact that these great men who laid the foundation stones upon which the United States was erected looked forward with almost prophetic vision to the dangers to personal liberty which some day would confront the country. Their fears were well expressed by Thomas Jefferson: “The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless. A single zealot may commence persecution, and better men be his victims. It can never be too often repeated, that the time for fixing every essential right on a legal basis, is while our rulers are honest and ourselves united.
Note- [Daniel and revelation pg. 599—602] Seeking to Establish Righteousness by Law.–A thousand pities that the religious leaders in these days are not equally sensitive to the dangers which lurk beneath their program to make the people good by legal enactment of religious dogmas.
We are not unmindful of the noble service the Protestant churches have rendered to humanity and to the world by introducing and defending the great principles of Protestantism, by propagating the gospel, and by championing the cause of freedom.
Let no one think that we wish to reflect in any way upon the character of the men engaged in this enterprise. They are men of the highest moral standing, sincerely solicitous for the welfare of the nation, and honestly trying to check and remove the evils which are rampant in society. That their efforts will in many ways be productive of good, no one can doubt. We wish them all possible success in their work for the promotion of temperance, the elimination of war, the safeguarding of youth, and other like noble purposes. For these things all Christians are bound to work and pray. Why then are these good men misled into doing something against which the Bible utters a solemn warning? The reason is that they have turned aside from the counsel of God given them in His word, and are going about to establish righteousness and the kingdom of God in the earth in their own way. They have slighted the prophetic portions of the Bible, by which one may know what stage of the conflict between the kingdom of Christ and that of Satan has been reached in his day, and how he can co-operate with the providence of God for the times in which he is living. They have lost touch with their divine Leader and with the means He is using today to advance His kingdom in the earth. They have a mistaken conception of the kingdom which is to come, and are looking for a kingdom mixed with earthly elements, to be set up by earthly agencies, such as the ballot, legislation, and education.
Under such circumstances it is not surprising that they should be working at cross-purposes with the providence of God. The mistake of failing to heed and be guided by the instruction of God’s word, is a fatal one. The more zeal a church has when it is off the track and pursing a wrong course, the greater will be the damage which it will do.
The apostle Paul points to a time when men have “a form of godliness,” but would deny “the power thereof.” We greatly regret to see the Protestant church active in the fulfillment of this prophetic picture. While the power of God is lacking, the outward services of true Christian worship are maintained. With the loss of the power of God the churches are turning more and more to the state to supply what they lack. It is the testimony of all history that just in proportion as any popular and extensive ecclesiastical organization loses the spirit and power of God, it clamors for the support of the civil arm and finally religion becomes a part of the state. Thus it will be in the formation of the image of the beast, for the prophecy declares: “He had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that 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.” Revelation 13: 15.
Let now an ecclesiastical organization be formed, let the government legalize such an organization and give it power to enforce upon the people the dogmas which the different denominations can all adopt as the basis of union, and what do we have? Exactly what prophecy represents–an image to the papal beast endowed with life by the two-horned beast, to speak and act with power.
The Mark of the Beast.–The two-horned beast enforces upon its subjects the mark of the first beast. We have now in the prophecy three agents introduced, which we must carefully distinguish from one another to avoid confusion.
The papal beast is the power designated as “the beast,” “the first beast,” “the beast which had the wound by a sword, and did live,” and “the beast whose deadly wound was healed.” These expressions all refer to the same power, and wherever they occur in this prophecy, they have exclusive reference to the papacy.
The two-horned beast is the power introduced in Revelation 13: 11, and is represented through the remainder of the prophecy by the pronoun “he.” Wherever this pronoun occurs, down to the seventeenth verse (with possibly the exception of the sixteenth verse, which perhaps may refer to the image), it refers invariably to the two-horned beast.
The image of the beast is usually called in the following chapters of Revelation, “the image;” so there is no danger of confusing this with any other agent. The acts ascribed to the image are speaking as a dragon and enforcing the worship of itself under the penalty of death. This is the only enactment which the prophecy mentions as enforced under the death penalty.
What was the first Sunday law?
Constantine’s Sunday Law of March 7, 321
Note—“On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.
(Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time )”—Codex Justinianus , lib.3, tit.12, 3; translated by Philip Schaff, History of the Christian church,(Scribner’s seven volume edition, 1902), vol. 3 [1902],p 380, note.
Note- The mark of the beast is enforced by the two-horned beast, either directly or through the image. The penalty attached to a refusal to receive this mark is a forfeiture of all social privileges, a deprivation of the right to buy and sell. The mark is the mark of the papal beast. Against this worship of the beast and his image, and the receiving of his mark, the third angel’s message of Revelation 14: 9-12 is a most solemn and thrilling warning.
This, then, is the issue which according to this prophecy we are soon to be called upon to meet. Human organizations, controlled and inspired by the spirit of the dragon, are to command men to do those acts which are in reality the worshipping of an apostate religious power and the receiving of his mark. If they refuse to do this, they lose the rights of citizenship, and become outlaws in the land. They must do that which constitutes the worship of the image of the beast, or forfeit their lives. On the other hand, God sends forth a message a little before this fearful crisis comes upon the people, as we shall see in remarks on Revelation 14: 9-12, declaring that all who do any of these things “shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.” He who refuses to comply with these demands of earthly powers exposes himself to the severest penalties which human beings can inflict. He who does comply, exposes himself to the most terrible threatenings of divine wrath to be found in the word of God. The question whether they will obey God or man is to be decided by the people of the present age under the heaviest pressure, from both sides, that has ever been brought to bear upon any generation.
The worship of the beast and his image and the receiving of his mark must be something that involves the greatest offense that can be committed against God, to call down so severe a denunciation of wrath against it. This is a work, as has already been shown, which takes place in the last days. As God has given us in His word most abundant evidence to show when we are in the last days, that no one need be overtaken by the day of the Lord as by a thief, so likewise He has given us the evidence whereby we may determine what it means to receive the mark of the beast, that we may avoid the fearful penalty so sure to follow its reception. God does not so trifle with human hopes and human destinies as to pronounce a most fearful doom against a certain sin, and then place it out of our power to understand what that sin is, so that we have no means of guarding against it.
What Church Council required Sunday observance and forbade Sabbath observance?
Note- The Council of Laodicea decreed that Christians should keep the Sunday, and that if they persisted in resting on the Sabbath, “They shall be shut out from Christ.” [See Hefele, A history of the Councils of the Church, vol. 2, p.316]
Was there further imperial Sunday legislation?
“Constantine’s decrees marked the beginning of a long, though intermittent series of imperial decrees in support of Sunday rest.” Ibid, p 29, Note-by a law of the year 386[ in the reign of Theodosius I] ; those older changes effected by the emperor Constantine were more rigorously enforced, and, in general, civil transactions of every kind on Sunday were strictly forbidden— “In the year 425 [in the reign of Theodosius the younger], the exhibition of spectacles on Sunday, and on the principal feast-days of the Christians, was forbidden, in order that devotion of the faithful might be free from all disturbance…“ In this way, the church received help from the state for the furtherance of her ends… But had it not been for that confusion of spiritual and secular interests, had it not been for the vast number of mere outward conversions thus brought about, she would have needed no such help.” – Neander, General History of the Christian Religion and Church, vol. 2 [1852 ed. ], pp. 300, 301.
The decrees of later emperors between 364 and 467 added other prohibitions and exemptions from time to time. Justinian’s code collected the laws of the empire on the subject, and from the time when Charlemagne, kings of the Franks, was crowned emperor [800], this code was in effect all over what later become the “Holy Roman Empire,” the Medieval decrees and canons of popes and councils concerning Sunday observance were enforced by the civil power. [See the new Schaff- Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol. 11.p.147]. Later the church councils had an influence to some extent throughout the former Roman Empire, for the church maintained a large degree of unity. The council of Laodicea [fourth century] ordered men to work on the Sabbath and rest if possible on Sunday. “The Council of Orleans [538], while protesting against excessive Sabbatarianism, forbade all field work under pain of censure; and the Council of Macon [585] laid down that the lord’s day ‘is the day of perpetual rest, which is suggested to us by the type of the seventh day in the law and the prophets,’ and ordered a complete cessation of all kinds of business. How far the movement had gone by the end of the 6th century is shown by a letter of Gregory the Great (pope 590-604) protesting against prohibition of baths on Sunday.” – Hastings, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 12, pp. 105, 106, art. “Decrees of Church Councils.”
Law of Charlemagne 789: “And, we decree according to what the Lord commanded also in the law, that servile work shall not be done on the Lord’s days, and just as my father of blessed memory commanded in his synodal edicts, that is, that men shall not carry on rural work, neither in cultivating the vine, nor in plowing in the fields (etc)…. Likewise the women shall not do weaving (etc)… in order that every way the honor and rest of the Lord’s day may be kept. But let them come together from everywhere to the church to the celebration of the mass, and praise God in all the good things which He has done for us on that day.” – Translated from CHARLEMAGNE, Admonitio Generalis, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges, sect. 2, tom. 1, p. 61 par. 81
In England, according to the Lord Mansfield (Swann vs. Browne, 3 Burrow, 1599), William the conqueror and Henry II declared the codes of Justianian on Sunday observance to be the law of England. A succession of Parliamentary acts regulated Sunday observance in England. (See the new Schaff –Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol.11, pp. 147,148.)
The first Sunday law in force in America, Virginia 1610:“Every man and woman shall repair in the morning to the divine service, and sermons preached upon the Sabbath day, and in the afternoon to divine service, and catechizing, upon pain for the first fault to lose their provision and the allowance for the whole week following, for the second to lose the said allowance also be whipped, and for the third to suffer death.” – For the Colony in Virginea Britannia, Lavves, Morall and Martiall, & c, in Peter Force, Tracts Relating to the Colonies in North America (Washington, 1844), vol.3 no.2, p.10
Modeled somewhat after the Puritan laws of 1644 to 1658, but much shorter and milder, it further forbids travel, but does not mention sports and pastimes, and makes the same exception for food and milk.
The importance of this act is that it stood, with modifications, as the basic Sunday law of England for nearly two hundred years (see Encyclopedia Brittanica [1945 ed.], vol.21, p.565) , and was followed as a model for many of the subsequent Sunday laws in various American colonies, and thus somewhat set the patterns for our State laws.
Law of Charles II, 29th year, 1676-77; “Be it enacted…that all and every Person and Persons whatsoever, shall on every Lord’s day apply themselves to the Observation of the same, by exercising themselves thereon in the Duties of Piety and true Religion, publicly and privately; and that no…Person whatsoever, shall do or exercise any worldly Labour, Business, or work of their ordinary Callings, upon the Lord’s Day, or any Part thereof (Works of Necessity and Charity only excepted;) … and that no Person or Persons whatsoever, shall publickly cry, shew forth, or expose to Sale, any Wares, Merchandizes,” etc. – British Statutes at Large, 29th year of Charles II, chap. 7.
Ambassadors of Christ 