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receive the mark of the beast.
The most fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is con-
tained in the third angel’s message. That must be a terrible sin which
calls down the wrath of God unmingled with mercy. Men are not
to be left in darkness concerning this important matter; the warning
against this sin is to be given to the world before the visitation of
God’s judgments, that all may know why they are to be inflicted,
and have opportunity to escape them.
In the issue of the great contest, two distinct, opposite classes are
developed. One class “worship the beast and his image, and receive
his mark,” and thus bring upon themselves the awful judgments
threatened by the third angel. The other class, in marked contrast to
the world, “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
[Revelation 14:9, 12.] Though the powers of earth summon their forces to compel “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and
bond,” to receive the mark of the beast, yet the people of God do
not receive it. The prophet of Patmos beholds “them that had gotten
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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,” [Revelation 15:2.] and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.
Such were the momentous truths that opened before those who
received the third angel’s message. As they reviewed their experi-
ence from the first proclamation of the second advent to the passing
of the time in 1844, they saw their disappointment explained, and
hope and joy again animated their hearts. Light from the sanctu-
ary illuminated the past, the present, and the future, and they knew
that God had led them by his unerring providence. Now with new
courage and firmer faith, they joined in giving the warning of the
third angel.
The work of Sabbath reform to be accomplished in the last days
is clearly brought to view in the prophecy of Isaiah: “Thus saith the
Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice; for my salvation is near to
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come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that
doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth
the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any
evil.” “The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord,
to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants,
every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold
of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and
make them joyful in my house of prayer.” [Isaiah 56:1, 2, 6, 7.]
These words apply in the Christian age, as is shown by the con-
text: “The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet
will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.” [284]
[Isaiah 56:8.] Here is foreshadowed the gathering in of the Gentiles by the gospel. And upon those who then honor the Sabbath, a blessing is pronounced. Thus the obligation of the fourth commandment
extends past the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, to
the time when his servants should preach to all nations the message
of glad tidings.
The Lord commands by the same prophet, “Bind up the testi-
mony, seal the law among my disciples.” [Isaiah 8:16.] The seal of God’s law is found in the fourth commandment. This only, of all the
ten, brings to view both the name and the title of the Lawgiver. It
declares him to be the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus
shows his claim to reverence and worship above all others. Aside
from this precept, there is nothing in the decalogue to show by whose
authority the law is given. When the Sabbath was changed by the
papal power, the seal was taken from the law. The disciples of Jesus
are called upon to restore it, by exalting the Sabbath of the fourth
commandment to its rightful position as the Creator’s memorial and
the sign of his authority.
“To the law and to the testimony.” While conflicting doctrines
and theories abound, the law of God is the one unerring standard to
which all opinions, doctrines, and theories are to be brought. Says
the prophet, “If they speak not according to this word, it is because
there is no light in them.” [Isaiah 8:20.]
Again, the command is given, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy
voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and
the house of Jacob their sins.” It is not the wicked world, but those
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whom the Lord designates as “my people,” that are to be reproved
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for their transgressions. He declares further, “Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness,
and forsook not the ordinance of their God.” [Isaiah 58:1, 2.] Here is brought to view a class who think themselves righteous, and appear
to manifest great interest in the service of God; but the stern and
solemn rebuke of the Searcher of hearts proves them to be trampling
upon the divine precepts.
The prophet thus points out the ordinance which has been for-
saken: “Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations;
and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, the restorer of
paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from
doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight,
the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine
own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own
words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” [Isaiah 58:12,
13.] This prophecy also applies in our time. The breach was made in the law of God when the Sabbath was changed by the Romish power.
But the time has come for that divine institution to be restored. The
breach is to be repaired, and the foundation of many generations to
be raised up.
With peculiar fitness may the Sabbath be called the foundation
of many generations. Hallowed by the Creator’s rest and blessing, it
was kept by Adam in his i
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yet repentant, when he was driven from his happy estate. It was kept
by all the patriarchs, from Abel to righteous Noah, to Abraham, to
Jacob. When the chosen people were in bondage in Egypt, many, in
the midst of prevailing idolatry, lost their knowledge of God’s law;
but when the Lord delivered Israel, he proclaimed his law in awful
grandeur to the assembled multitude, that they might know his will,
and fear and obey him forever.
From that day to the present, the knowledge of God’s law has
been preserved in the earth, and the Sabbath of the fourth command-
ment has been kept. Though the man of sin succeeded in trampling
the Sabbath under foot, yet even in the period of his supremacy