"_Ques._ What warrant have you for keeping the Sunday, preferable
to the ancient Sabbath, which was the Saturday?
"_Ans._ We have for it the authority of the Catholic church and
apostolic tradition.
"_Q._ Does the Scripture anywhere command the Sunday to be kept for
the Sabbath?
"_A._ The Scripture commands us to hear the church (Matt. 18:17;
Luke 10:16), and to hold fast the traditions of the apostles. 2
Thess. 2:15. But the Scriptures do not in particular mention this
change of the Sabbath."
In the "Doctrinal Catechism," we find further
testimony to the same point:--
"_Ques._ Have you any other way of proving that the church has
power to institute festivals of precept?
"_Ans._ Had she not such power, she could not have done that in
which all modern religionists agree with her--she could not have
substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week,
for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which
there is no scriptural authority."
And finally, W. Lockhart, late B.A. of Oxford, in the Toronto (Cath.)
_Mirror,_ offered the following "challenge" to all the Protestants of
Ireland; a challenge as well calculated for this latitude as that. He
says:--
"I do, therefore, solemnly challenge the Protestants of Ireland to
prove, by plain texts of Scripture, the questions concerning the
obligation of the Christian Sabbath. 1. That Christians may work on
Saturday, the old seventh day. 2. That they are bound to keep holy
the first day, namely, Sunday. 3. That they are not bound to keep
holy the seventh day also."
This is what the papal power claims to have done respecting the fourth
commandment. Catholics plainly acknowledge that there is no scriptural
authority for the change they have made, but that it rests wholly upon
the authority of the church; and they claim it has a token or mark of
the authority of that church; the "_very act of changing the Sabbath
into Sunday_" being set forth as proof of its power in this respect. For
further testimony on this point, the reader is referred to a tract
published at the _Review_ Office, Battle Creek, Mich., entitled, "Who
Changed the Sabbath?" in which are also extracts from Catholic writers,
refuting the arguments usually relied upon to prove the Sunday Sabbath,
and showing that its only authority is the Catholic church.
"But," says one, "I supposed that Christ changed the Sabbath." A great
many suppose so; and it is natural that they should; for they have been
so taught. And while we have no words of denunciation to utter against
any such for so believing, we would have them at once understand that it
is, in reality, one of the most enormous of all errors. We would
therefore remind such persons that, according to the prophecy, the only
change ever to be made in the law of God, was to be made by the little
horn of Dan. 7, and the man of sin of 2 Thess. 2; and the only change
that has been made in it, is the change of the Sabbath. Now, if Christ
made this change, he filled the office of the blasphemous power spoken
of by both Daniel and Paul--a conclusion sufficiently hideous to drive
any Christian from the view which leads thereto.
But why should any one labor to prove that Christ changed the Sabbath?
Whoever does this is performing a thankless task. The pope will not
thank him; for if it is proved that Christ wrought this change, then the
pope is robbed of his badge of authority and power. And no truly
enlightened Protestant will thank him; for if he succeeds, he only shows
that the papacy has not done the work which it was predicted that it
should do, and so that the prophecy has failed, and the Scriptures are
unreliable. The matter had better stand as the propheqy has placed it,
and the claim which the pope unwittingly puts forth, had better be
granted. When a person is charged with any work, and that person steps
forth and confesses that he has done the work, that is usually
considered sufficient to settle the matter. So, when the prophecy
affirms that a certain power shall change the law of God, and that very
power in due time arises, does the work foretold, and then openly claims
that he has done it, what need have we of further evidence? The world
should not forget that the great apostasy foretold by Paul has taken
place; that the man of sin for long ages held almost a monopoly of
Christian teaching in the world; that the mystery of iniquity has cast
the darkness of its shadow and the errors of its doctrines over almost
all Christendom; and out of this era of error and darkness and
corruption, the theology of our day has come. Would it then be anything
strange if there were yet some relics of popery to be discarded ere the
reformation will be complete? A. Campbell (Baptism, p. 15), speaking of
the different Prostestant sects, says:--
"All of them retain in their bosom, in their ecclesiastic
organizations, worship, doctrines, and observances, various relics
of popery. They are at best a reformation of popery, and only
reformations in part. The doctrines and traditions of men yet
impair the power and progress of the gospel in their hands."
The nature of the change which the little horn has attempted to effect
in the law of God is worthy of notice. With true Satanic instinct, he
undertakes to change that commandment which, of all others, is the
fundamental commandment of the law, the one which makes known who the
Law-giver is, and contains his signature of royalty. The fourth
commandment does this; no other one does. Four others, it is true,
contain the word God, and three of them the word Lord, also. But who is
this Lord God of whom they speak? Without the fourth commandment it is
impossible to tell; for idolaters of every grade apply these terms to
the multitudinous objects of their adoration. With the fourth
commandment to point out the Author of the decalogue, the claims of
every false god are annulled at one stroke; for the God who here demands
our worship is not any created being, but the One who created them all.
The maker of the earth and sea, the sun and moon, and all the starry
host, the upholder and governor of the universe, is the One who claims,
and who, from his position, has a right to claim, our supreme regard in
preference to every other object. The commandment which makes known
these facts is therefore the very one we might suppose that power would
undertake to change, which designed to exalt itself above God. God gave
the Sabbath as a memorial of himself, a weekly reminder to the sons of
men, of his work in creating the heavens and the earth, a great barrier
against atheism and idolatry. It is the signature and seal of the law.
This the papacy has torn from its place, and erected in its stead, on
its own authority, an institution designed to serve another purpose.
This change of the fourth commandment must therefore be the change to
which the prophecy points; and Sunday-keeping must be the mark of the
beast! Some who have long been taught to regard this institution with
reverence will perhaps start back with little less than feelings of
horror at this conclusion. We have not space, nor is this perhaps the
place, to enter into an extended argument on the Sabbath question, and
an exposition of the origin and nature of the observance of the first
day of the week. Let us submit this one proposition: If the seventh day
is still the Sabbath enjoined in the fourth commandment; if the
observance of the first day of the week has no foundation whatever in
the Scriptures; if this observance has been brought in as a Christian
institution and designedly put in place of the Sabbath of the decalogue,
by that power which is symbolized by the beast, and placed there as a
badge and token of its power to legislate for the church, is it not
inevitably the mark of the beast? The answer must be in the affirmative.
But all these hypotheses can easily be shown to be certainties, See
History of the Sabbath, and other works on the subject, published at
the _Review_ Office. To these we can only refer the reader, in passing.
It will be said again, then all Sunday-keepers have the mark of the
beast; then all the good of past ages who kept this day had the mark of
the beast; then Luther, Whitefield, the Wesleys, and all who have done a
good and noble work of reformation, had the mark of the beast; then all
the blessings that have been poured upon the reformed churches have been
poured upon those who had the mark of the beast. We answer, _No_! And we
are sorry to say that some professedly religious teachers, though many
times corrected, persist in misrepresenting us on this point. We have
never so held; we have never so taught. Our premises lead to no such
conclusions. Give ear: The mark and worship of the beast are enforced by
the two-horned beast. The receiving of the mark of the beast is a
specific act which the two-horned beast is to cause to be done. The
third message of Rev. 14, is a warning mercifully sent out in advance to
prepare the people for the coming danger. There can therefore be no
worship of the beast, nor reception of his mark, such as is contemplated
in the prophecy, till it is enforced by the two-horned beast. We have
seen that _intention_ was essential to the change which the papacy has
made in the law of God, to constitute it the mark of that power. So
_intention_ is necessary in the adoption of that change to make it on
the part of any individual the reception of that mark. In other words, a
person must adopt the change, knowing it to be the work of the beast,
and receive it on the authority of that power, in opposition to the
requirement of God.
But how with those referred to above who have kept Sunday in the past,
and the majority of those who are keeping it to-day? Do they keep it as
an institution of the papacy? No. Have they decided between this and the
Sabbath of the Lord, understanding the claims of each? No. On what
ground have they kept it, and do they keep it? They suppose they are
keeping a commandment of God. Have such the mark of the beast? By no
means. Their course is attributable to an error unwittingly received
from the church of Rome, not to an act of worship rendered to it.
But how is it to be? The church which is to be prepared for the second
coming of Christ must be entirely free from papal errors and
corruptions. A reform must hence be made on the Sabbath question. The
third angel proclaims the commandments of God, leading men to the true
in the place of the counterfeit. The dragon is stirred, and so controls
the wicked governments of the earth that all authority of human power
shall be exerted to enforce the claims of the man of sin. Then the issue
is fairly before the people. On one hand, they are required to keep the
true Sabbath; on the other, a counterfeit. For refusing to keep the
true, the message denounces the unmingled wrath of God; for refusing the
false, earthly governments threaten them with persecution and death.
With this issue before the people, what does he do who yields to the
human requirement? He virtually says to God, I know your claims, but I
will not yield to them. I know that the power I am required to worship
is anti-Christian; but I yield to save my life. I renounce your
allegiance, and bow to the usurper. The beast is henceforth the object
of my adoration; under his banner, in opposition to your authority, I
henceforth array myself; to him, in defiance of your claims, I
henceforth yield the obedience of my heart and life. Such is the spirit
which will actuate the hearts of the beast-worshipers; a spirit which
insults the God of the universe to his face, and is prevented only by
lack of power from overthrowing his government and annihilating his
throne. Is it any wonder that Jehovah denounces against so Heaven-daring
a course the most terrible threatening that his word contains?
Chapter Eleven.
The Beginning Of The End.
We have now found what, according to the prophecy, is to constitute the
image which the two-horned beast is to cause to be made, and the mark
which it will attempt to enforce. The movement which is to fulfill this
portion of the prophecy, is to be looked for in the popular churches of
our land. First, a union must be effected between these churches, with
some degree of coalition also between these bodies and the beast power,
or Roman Catholicism; and, secondly, steps must be taken to bring the
law of the land to the support of the Sunday Sabbath. These movements
the prophecy calls for. And the line of argument leading to these
conclusions is so direct and well-defined that there is no avoiding
them. They are a clear and logical sequence from the premises given us.
When first the application of Rev. 13:11-17 to the United States was
made, over twenty years ago, these positions respecting a union of the
churches and a grand Sunday movement were taken. But at that time, no
sign appeared above or beneath, at home or abroad, no token was seen, no
indication existed, that such an issue would ever be made. But there
was the prophecy, and that must stand. The United States government had
given abundant evidence, by its location, the time of its rise, the
manner of its rise, and its apparent character, that it was the power
symbolized by the two-horned beast. There could be no mistake in the
conclusion that it was the very nation intended by that symbol. This
being so, it must take the course, and perform the acts, foretold. But
here were predictions which could be fulfilled by nothing less than the
movement above named respecting Church and State, and the enforcement of
the papal Sabbath as the mark of the beast.
To take the position at that time that this government was to pursue
such a policy and engage in such a work, without any apparent
probability in its favor, was no small act of faith. On the other hand,
to deny or ignore it, while admitting the application of the symbol to
this government, would be in accordance with neither Scripture nor
logic. The only course for the humble, confiding student of prophecy to
pursue in such cases, is to take the light as it is given, and believe
the prophecy in all its parts. So the stand was boldly taken; and open
proclamation has been made from that day to this, that such a work would
be seen in these United States. With every review of the argument, new
features of strength have been discovered in the application; and amid a
storm of scornful incredulity, we have watched the progress of events,
and waited the hour, of fulfillment.
Meanwhile, spiritualism has astonished the world with its terrible
progress, and shown itself to be the wonder-working element which was to
exist in connection with this power. This has mightily strengthened the
force of the application. And now, within a few years past, what have we
further seen? No less than the commencement of that very movement
respecting the formation of the image and the enactment of Sunday laws,
which we have so long expected, and which is to complete the prophecy,
and close the scene.
Reference was made in chapter nine to the movement now on foot for a
grand union of all the churches; not a union which arises from the
putting away of error and uniting upon the harmonious principles of
truth, but simply a combination of sects, each retaining its own
particular creed, but confederated for the purpose of carrying out more
extensively the common points of our faith. This movement finds a strong
undercurrent of favor in all the churches. And men are engaged to carry
it through who are not easily turned from their purpose.
And there has suddenly arisen a class of men whose souls are absorbed
with the cognate idea of Sunday reform, and who have dedicated every
energy of their being to the carrying forward of this kindred movement.
The "New York Sabbath Committee" have labored zealously by means of
books, tracts, speeches, and sermons, to create a strong public
sentiment in behalf of Sunday. Making slow progress through moral
suasion, they seek a shorter path to the accomplishment of their
purposes through political power. And why not? Christianity has become
popular, and her professed adherents are numerous. Why not avail
themselves of the power of the ballot to secure their ends? Rev. J.S.
Smart (Methodist), in a published sermon on the "Political Duties of
Christian Men and Ministers," expresses a largely-prevailing sentiment
on this question, when he says:--
"I claim that we have, and ought to have, just as much concern in
the government of this couniry as any other men.... We are the mass
of the people. Virtue in this country is not weak; her ranks are
strong in numbers, and invincible from the righteousness of her
cause--invincible if united. Let not her ranks be broken by party
names."
A "National Association" has been in existence for a number of years,
which has for its object the securing of such amendments to the National
Constitution as shall express the religious views of the majority of the
people, and make it an instrument under which the keeping of Sunday can
be enforced as the Christian Sabbath. This Association already embraces
within its organization a long array of eminent and honorable names:
Governors of our States, Presidents of our colleges, Bishops, Doctors of
Divinity, Doctors of Law, and men who occupy high positions in all the
walks of life.