"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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." Rev. 14:9, 10.

"And he [the two-horned beast] causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." Rev. 13:16.

"Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12.

NOTE. - It is evident from the foregoing scriptures that the mark of the beast is something directly opposed to the commandments of God. In the preceding chapter it is shown that as the first beast itself had enforced the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, by the secular power, so the two-horned beast will, in making an image to that beast, enforce the same observance by the same means.

"But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10.

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day." Isa. 58:13.

"Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Mark 2:28.

Lyman Abbott, editor of the Christian Union, says in that paper of June 20, 1890: "The current notion that Christ and His apostles authoritatively substituted the first day for the seventh, is absolutely without any authority in the New Testament."

The Watchman (Baptist), in reply to a correspondent, says: "The Scriptures nowhere call the first day of the week the Sabbath... There is no scriptural authority for so doing, nor, of course, any scriptural obligation."

The Protestant Episcopal Church says: "The day is now changed from the seventh to the first day;... but as we meet with no scriptural direction for the change, we may conclude it was done by the authority of the church." Explanation of Catechism.

The M.E. Theological Compendium, page 103, edition of 1865, says: "It is true, there is no positive command for infant baptism, . . . nor is there any for keeping holy the first day of the week.

A prize essay of the American Sunday-School Union says: "Up to the time of Christ's death, no change had been made in the day." And "so far as the record shows, they [the apostles] did not give any explicit command enjoining the abandonment of the seventh-day Sabbath, and its observance on the first day of the week." - Lord's Day, pages 185-186.

"By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of... Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin." Abridgement of Christian Doctrine, page 58.

NOTE: When it is generally admitted by Protestants that there is not Bible evidence for a change of Sabbath observance from the seventh to the first day of the week; and when the papacy boldly admits that it alone is responsible for that change ("Catholic Christian Instructed," page 203, Baltimore ed.), and that this change is a distinguishing mark of its authority to command men under sin ("Doctrinal Catechism," pages 174, 351-355), it follows as a legitimate conclusion that this attempted change in the law of God (Dan. 7:25) is nothing less than the MARK of the BEAST.

To enforce Sunday as a religious institution that all of the people, without exception, will have to observe.

As being worshipers of the beast and his image.

"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. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark." Rev. 13:15-17.

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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." Rev. 14:9, 10.

"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God." Rev. 15:1.

"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life." Rev. 13:8.

NOTE. - "But in this homage to the papacy the United States will not be alone. The Influence of Rome in the countries that once acknowledged her dominion is still far from being destroyed. And prophecy foretells a restoration of her power. 'I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast.' The infliction of the deadly wound points to the abolition of the papacy in 1798. After this, says the prophet, 'His deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast.' Paul states plainly that the man of sin will continue until the second advent. To the very close of time he will carry forward his work of deception... 'All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life.' ...In both the Old and the New World, the papacy will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday institution, that rests solely upon the authority of the Roman Church." Great Controversy, page 579.

"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God." Rev. 15:2.

"And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle." Rev. 14:14.

"And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped." Rev. 14:16.

"The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels." Matt. 13:39.

NOTE. - When the mark of the beast is enforced, it will be one of the most critical times the church of God has ever passed through. As is shown from the last few Scripture quotations, the Lord's coming and the end of the world follow close after the enforcement of the mark. The third angel's message, which warns men against the work of the beast and his image, becomes to the present generation one of the most important concerns of this life.

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