FACTS OF FAITH By Christian Edwardson
Chapter 29
The Image to the Beast
EARLY
EFFORTS TO UNITE CHURCH AND STATE
(302) In Holy
Scripture Christ Jesus is repeatedly spoken of as the Lamb of God. Bible
prophecy represents America by a similar symbol, which "had two horns like
a lamb." The word of God informs us, however, that this peace-loving
power, despite its lamb-like principles, eventually say "to them that
dwell on the earth, that they should make and image to the beast [the Papacy], which had the wound by a
sword, and did live." Rev. 13:14. The Papacy was formed by a union of
church and state, which resulted in the persecution of dissenters. An
"image," or "likeness," to the Papacy in America would be a
union of church and state, or a co-operation between, as in the days of papal
Rome. And, seeing it is to be "an image to the beast," it cannot be
the beast itself, but must be an effort started among Protestants, who desire
the aid of the state to enforce some of their dogmas. For nearly three quarters
of a century Protestant churches and civic organizations have been at work to
create just such a relation between church and state in the United States.
In 1863, representatives of eleven Protestant denominations
convened at Xenia, Ohio, and organized a federation, with the avowed purpose of
placing the name of God in the Federal Constitution. This National Reform
Association declared in Article II of its constitution:
"The object of this society shall be to....secure such
an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will declare the
nations allegiance to Jesus Christ and its acceptance of the moral laws of the
Christian religion, and so 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." - "American State Papers," William A.
Blakely, p. 343. Washington, D.C.: 1911.
(303) Their
official organ: The Christian
Statesman, (1888) points out their reason for such an amendment to
the Federal Constitution in the following words:
"We need it to correct our most unfortunate attitude
under the First Amendment, which restrains Congress from prohibiting the free
exercise of any false religion." - "Facts
for the Times," p. 165.
That is, the First Amendment to the Federal Constitution,
which safeguards religious liberty, must be made null and void by their
proposed amendment, just as the eighteenth amendment was nullified by the
twenty-first.
Rev. M. A. Gault, a district secretary of the organization,
said:
"Our remedy for all these malefic influences is to have
the government simply set up the moral law, and recognize God's authority
behind it, and lay its hand on any
religion that does not conform to it." - "The Christian Statesman," Jan. 13, 1887;
quoted in "Facts for the Times,"
page 166.
Jonathan Edwards, another of their speakers, said:
"We want state and religion, and we are going to have
it....So far as the affairs of the state require religion, it shall be
religion, the religion of Jesus Christ....We use the word religion in its
proper sense, as meaning a man's personal relation of faith and obedience to
God. Now we are warned that to engraft this doctrine upon the Constitution will
be oppressive; that it will infringe the right of conscience; and we are told
that there are atheists, deists, Jews, and Seventh Day Baptists who would
suffer from it. These all are, for the occasion and so far as our amendment is
concerned, one class....What are the rights of the atheist?....I would tolerate
him as I would a conspirator." - "Religious
Liberty in America," C. M. Snow, pp. 266, 267.
The Lord's Day Alliance is another organization working for
the same ends. In their "Lord's Day Papers"
(Milwaukee, Wis.), No. 117, p. 4, they say of those who do not sanction their
propaganda for Sunday laws: "That anarchistic spirit that tramples on any
law that one does not like needs to be completely crushed."
JOINING
HANDS WITH CATHOLICISM
(304) The Federal
Council of Churches of Christ in America has also interested itself along the
same lines, and has co-operated more or less with the other two organizations.
November 21, 1905, twenty denominations met in New York, and invited the co-operation
of the Roman Catholic Church to help solve these civic questions. Another
meeting was held in Chicago, December 4-9, 1912, where representatives of
thirty-two denominations, having a constituency of nearly 18,000,000 people,
met in council. The Inter-Ocean of December 7, 1912, reported:
"FEDERAL COUNCIL OPENS ITS DOOR TO THE CATHOLICS
"WORD PROTESTANT IS STRICKEN FROM COMMITTEE CREPORT ON
OBJECT OF ASSOCIATION OF CHURCHES.
"The Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America
took one of the most important forward steps in its history when it adopted a
resolution presented by the executive committee, and virtually threw down the
bars and invited the Roman Catholic Church of America to join the council, and
lend its titanic strength toward solving the common problems of the
church." - Quoted in "Review and
Herald," Jan. 9, 1913.
A strong resolution for the enforcement of Sunday laws by
civil government was then adopted.
In forming the Papacy during the fourth and fifth centuries
the Catholic bishops, in conjunction with the state, enforced the pagan Sunday
as one of the first steps in uniting church and state, thus producing what
prophecy terms "the beast." And now in forming "an image to the
beast" the Protestant and Catholic clergy will again make Sunday laws the
entering wedge in their attempt to enforce religion by law, because Sunday
legislation constitutes the neutral ground for co-operation between Catholics
and Protestants, and in this work they seek each other's assistance. Rev. S. V.
Leech, a Protestant Sunday advocate, said in an address at Denver, Colorado:
(305) "Give
us good Sunday laws, well enforced by men in local authority, and our churches
will be full of worshipers....A mighty combination of the churches of the
United States could win from Congress, the state legislatures, and municipal
councils, all legislation essential to this splendid result." - "Homiletic Review," November, 1892; quoted
in "American State Papers,"
William A. Blakely, p. 732. Washington, D.C.: 1911.
Rev. Sylvester F. Scovel, a leading National Reformer, says:
"This common interest [in Sunday] ought to strengthen
both our determination to work, and our readiness to co-operate with our Roman
Catholic fellow citizens....It is one of the necessities of the
situation." - "Views of National
Reform, Series One," Bible Students' Library, No. 3, pp. 85, 86.
Oakland Calif." Jan. 15, 1889.
"Whenever they [the Roman Catholics] are willing to
co-operate in resisting the progress of political atheism, we will gladly join
hands with them." - "Christian
Statesman," Dec. 11, 1884.
The Catholic Lay Congress, held in Baltimore, November 12,
1889, said:
"We should seek an alliance with non-Catholics for the
purpose of proper Sunday observance." - Quoted in "Religious Liberty in America," C. M.
Snow, pp. 283, 284.
When the great Federation of Catholic Societies was organized
in 1906, they said:
"The Federation is a magnificent organization that is
bound to root out prevailing and ruling national evils; a patriotic undertaking
in which Catholic and non-Catholic may join hands." - "The Catholic Union and Times," Aug. 2,
1906; quoted in "Signs of the Times,"
July 8, 1908.
The following resolution was adopted by the Boston
Archdiocesan Federation of Catholic Societies:
(306) "We are
unalterably opposed to any relaxation of the Sunday laws. Sunday is a day of
rest to be devoted to the praise and service of God. We hold the safest public
policy at present is to adhere to the rigid observance of the laws now safeguarding
the sanctity of the Lord's day." - "Boston
Pilot," official organ of Cardinal O'Connell, March 16, 1912.
In 1910 forty-six Protestant denominations co-operated in an
effort to reunite all the Christian churches in the world, and fifty-five
commissions were appointed to attend a world's conference. They were to have
been sent in September, 1914, to different countries to explain the plan, but
the World War delayed it. Another effort was made in 1917, when delegates from
"many denominations, including Protestant Episcopal, Baptist, Lutheran,
and Presbyterian," met at Garden City, N. Y., where they received a letter
from Cardinal Gasparri, Papal Secretary of State; and in 1919 three Episcopal
bishops were sent to Rome to interview the pope on this question of church
union, for Pope Benedict XV had already (1917) started a "move for
reunited Christianity."
The daily papers reported in January, 1930, that a plan for a
world federation of Lutheran churches was being worked on by a sub-committee of
the National Lutheran Council at New York. Reports at that time stated the
federated church would be headed by a world executive comparable in
administrative respects to the Roman Catholic pope. Decorah Posten (Norwegian)
for January 21, 1930, gives a similar report. So "federation" and
"consolidation" are in the air.
EARNEST
MEN SEE THE DANGER
God-fearing men in different denominations, who see the trend
of the times, fear the consequences. Dr. A. C. Dixon says:
"The purpose of this 'Inter-church' movement seems to be
to make a great ecclesiastical machine which will dominate all smaller bodies.
It is an attempt to form a papacy without a pope; and, if evangelical truth is
to be sacrificed or compromised, such a papacy without a pope will be no
improvement upon the present ecclesiastical machine which has its center in
Rome." - A front-page article in the "Baptist
Messenger," June 23, 1920. Oklahoma City, Okla.
(307) Dr. George
A. Gordon, Pastor of Old South Church, Boston, says:
"The church was united once, the holy Catholic Church
throughout the world, and what was it? - An ineffable tyrant, denying freedom
over its whole broad domain, and crushing the intellect and the spirit into a
dead uniformity....Your one holy Catholic Protestant American Church would give
me much uneasiness if it should come into existence tomorrow." - "Review and Herald," May 11, 1913.
How clearly these God-fearing men, and many others we could
have quoted, see the trend of the Protestant church in forming "an image
to the beast" and even seeking the aid of the Papacy in their efforts to
form a "holy Catholic Protestant American Church," that could control
the state as the papal church did during the Middle Ages!
As long as a church has a living connection with Christ, its
true Head, and is loyal to His written word, she is supplied with divine power
to do His bidding (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; 5:32; Romans 1:16; John 1:12), and
feels no craving for the power of the state to enforce its teachings. But when
apostasy has robbed it of its divine power, and the power of love (2 Cor. 5:14) has been
exchanged for the power of force, it
usually seeks the aid of the civil arm. All attempts to secure the enforcement
of religion by civil laws is therefore a confession of apostasy from apostolic
purity.
A
MIRACLE-WORKING POWER
Whenever God has sent a message of reform to prepare His
people for some great crisis, the archenemy has always tried to counterfeit it.
When Moses was sent to deliver Israel from Egypt, Jannes and Jambres withstood
his message by counterfeiting his miracles. (Exodus 7:10-13, 22; 8:6, 7; 2 Tim.
3:8, 9.) And so it was when the message of Christ's first coming was given. In
these last days God has promised to send a message in the power and spirit of
Elijah to prepare His people for "the coming of the great and dreadful day
of the Lord." Mal. 4:5.) The devil knows this, and so he will counterfeit
this message. The prophet, in speaking of the United States, says: "He
doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth
in the sight of men [as Elijah did]. And he deceiveth them that dwell on the
earth that they should make an image to the beast,...and he causeth all...to
receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads." Rev. 13:13-16.
Thus we see that this country was to become a miracle-working power.
(308) It was here
in the United States that modern Spiritism originated in 1848. And it is
working miracles. But what is the source of this miraculous power? We will let
the leaders of Spiritism answer this question. In Spiritten [a Norwegian Spiritist periodical], for December
15, 1889, page 2, we read:
"Spiritism is the serpent in Paradise offering man to
eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil."
To understand this statement we must remember that God told
man not to eat of this tree or he would "surely die," but Satan
assured Eve: "Ye shall not surely die." Gen. 2:17; 3:4. And
Spiritists have based their belief on the devil's words, claiming that people
at death do not actually die, but simply pass into the spirit world. Moses
Hull, a leading teacher and lecturer among them, makes this point clear. He
says:
"A Truthful Snake....In answer to the question, 'Who,
then, are we to believe - God or Satan?' I answer, The facts, in every case in
the Bible, justify us in believing Satan, he has ever been truthful; that is
more than can be said of the other one.....It was not the devil, but God who
made the mistake in the Garden of Eden....It was God, and not the devil who was
a murderer from the beginning." - "The
Devil and the Adventists," pp. 15, 16. Chicago: 1899.
(309) I must ask
pardon of the readers for quoting such blasphemous words, but the only fair way
of revealing the true nature of Spiritism is to allow its followers to speak
for themselves. In later years, however, Spiritism has changed its face, but not its heart, by professing Christianity; and in
that garb has succeeded in getting into the churches. Some startling
revelations have been unearthed of late years regarding the work of Spiritism
in the different churches all over the world. Many in these churches have felt
the emptiness of formalism, and have craved spiritual power, but have been
unwilling to get it by the way of the cross. Humble confession, heartfelt
repentance, and straightening up of wrongs done to neighbors is a road too
narrow for many to walk; unpopular truths, which cut across their selfish path
of ease, are unwelcome to them; but Spiritism in its Christian form offers the
desired power without such sacrifices, and the easy road is accepted with
eagerness by many. (Compare Mark 8:34, 38; Acts 5:32; Matt. 4:3-10; 2 Thess.
2:9-11; Matt. 24:24.) They mistakenly accept spiritual power and miracles as
evidence of their being right with God (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:55), but God's
children cannot thus prove whether a movement is true or false, for the enemy
can work miracles. Judge I. W. Edmonds, a noted Spiritist, says of his
daughter:
"She knows no other language than her own native tongue,
the English, except a little French she learned in the girls' school; and yet
she has talked in nine or ten different languages, often a whole hour at a
time, with the same ease as a native. Quite often strangers in their native
tongue hold conversation with their spirit friends through her." - "Spiritualism Before the Judgment Seat of Science,"
p. 42.
In the near future Spiritism will influence people in America
to form a union of church and state. When this is accomplished, the Papacy will
step in and take charge of it. Thus every effort to form this union is helping
the Papacy to power....
"THAT
NO MAN MIGHT BUY OR SELL"
(312) "And
that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark." Rev. 13:17. We
have seen that the Papacy has adopted Sunday as "a mark of her
ecclesiastical power and authority," and the Protestant organizations have
also adopted this mark, as the following quotations show:
"This day [Sunday] is set apart for divine worship and
preparation for another life. It is the test of
all religion." - Dr. W. W; Everts, in Elgin (Ill.) "Sunday Convention," November, 1887.
"When the people, through their representative, legalize
the first day of the week as a
day of rest and of worship for those who choose so to observe it, it is a sign of the Christian nation." -
From a sermon reported in "Christian
Oracle," January 12, 1893.
The Puritans in the United States made Sunday "a sign
between them and the heathen world around, and, to a large extent, it has
continued to be a mark of American
religion to the present day." - Rev. J. G. Lorimer, in "Christian Treasury"; all quoted in "Signs of the Times," April 1, 1908.
When these large religious organizations, that are so vitally
interested in Sunday enforcement, combine in their efforts, it is not
remarkable that they should attempt to deprive dissenters of their natural
rights of attaining their livelihood, for we have seen that this combination is
making "an image to the beast" (Rev. 13:14-17); and the beast, or
Papacy, did this very thing. At the Synod of Tholouse, A.D. 1163, it made the
following decrees against Sabbath-keepers:
"The bishops and priests [were] 'to take care, and to
forbid, under the pain of excommunication, every person from presuming to give
reception, or the least assistance to the followers of this heresy, which first began in the country of Tholouse, whenever
they shall be discovered. Neither were they to have any dealings with them in
buying or selling; that by being thus deprived of the common assistance of
life, they might be compelled to repent of the evil of their way. Whosoever
shall dare to contravene this order, let them be excommunicated, as a partner
with them in their guilt. as many of them as can be found, let them be
imprisoned by the Catholic princes, and punished with the forfeiture of all
their substance.'"
(313) Stirred by
this decree, King Ildefonsus of Arragon banished all Waldenses in 1194.
"He adds: 'If any, from this day forwards, shall presume to receive into
their houses, the aforesaid Waldenses and Inzabatati, or other heretics, of
whatsoever profession they be, or to hear, in any place, their abominable
preachings, or give them food, or do them any kind office whatsoever; let him
know, that he shall incur the indignation of Almighty God and ours; that he
shall forfeit all his goods, without the benefit of appeal, and be punished as
though guilty of high treason." - "History
of the Inquisition," Philip Limborch," pp. 88, 89. London.
1816.
That the "image to the beast" will actually
duplicate the work of the Papacy also in this respect is seen from the
following utterances, among many others we could quote: Dr. Bascom Robins, in a
sermon on the "Decalogue," preached in Burlington, Kansas, Sunday,
January 31, 1904, said:
"In the Christian decalogue the first day was made the
Sabbath by divine appointment. But there is a class of people who will not keep
the Christian Sabbath unless they are forced to do so. But that can be easily
done. We have twenty million of men, besides women and children, in this
country, who want this country to keep the Christian Sabbath. If we would say
we will not sell anything to them, we will not buy anything from them, we will
not work for them, or hire them to work for us, the thing could be wiped out,
and all the world would keep the Christian Sabbath."
God, who knows the end from the beginning, has foretold that
they would do this very thing, so "that no man might buy or sell, save he
that had the mark." Rev. 13:17. But will God forsake His faithful children
in this trying hour? Oh, no! "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of
His eye." Zech. 2:8. As a loving Father He will step forward to the
protection of His children. (Psalm 103:13.) And His enemies will find that
"it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
Hebrews 10:31.
(314) When the
world refuses to permit God's people to "buy or sell," He will send
drought and famine, so that the wicked will have little or nothing to sell, and
will be unable to buy because their money will be worthless. the seven last
plagues will be God's answer to man's challenge, as the ten plagues of Egypt
were His answer to man's challenge, as the ten plagues of Egypt were His answer
to the haughty challenge of a Pharaoh against His message in ancient time.
(Exodus 4:22, 23; 5:2.) With men suffering from sores and fever, and no water
to drink, while the sun is scorching them with great heat (Rev. 16:1-9),
causing the most terrible drought the world has ever witnessed (Joel 1:10-20),
the earth will be in a deplorable condition (Isaiah 24:1-6), and people
"shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to
pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse
their king, and their God" (Isaiah 8:21,22). And they will turn against
the rich (James 5:1-5), who will "cast their silver in the streets"
to appease the angry mob, but "their gold shall be removed" (Eze.
7:19). They hoarded millions, and cornered markets, while working people were
suffering, till at last the storm has gathered around their well-filled
palaces, and too late they make an attempt to save themselves from the
long-pent-up wrath.
The laws that deprive God's people of their rights, and thus
force them out of the cities, seem to them a calamity, and many surrender the
truth to support their families. But what appears to be such a calamity is a
blessing in disguise, for it drives them out of the cities in time to escape
this terrible labor-revolution. Some day we shall find that no hardship comes
to God's loyal children but what is absolutely necessary to their salvation.
Those who make it their undeviating practice to put God's will first in all
their plans and habits of living, can safely trust Him for the rest. (Matthew
6:33; Phil. 4:19; Isa. 43:2.) Driven from the cities, they flee to mountain
fastnesses and solitary places, where angels supply their needs, as Elijah was
fed. "Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." Isaiah
33:16. Oh, we have a wonderful God. "Blessed are all they that put their
trust in Him." Psalm 2:12.
(315) God's loyal
children will be fed by angels, while the world is starving. The fondest hopes
of God's people will be realized: "Thine eyes shall see the king in His
beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off." Isaiah 33:17,
18. No pen can describe that thrill of joy when we shall meet our dear Saviour
and our loved ones, and be taken home to that beautiful land that knows no
heartaches, no farewell scenes, no funeral trains. (John 14:1-3.)
The great question for each one of us to settle is whether we
will have our citizenship papers in order when King Jesus shall come to claim
His own. The reader might ask what papers are required for citizenship in that
kingdom. To answer that question satisfactorily, we must remember that sin has caused all the anguish, sorrow,
and trouble in this world, and that God's heart of infinite love has been wrung
with pain for suffering humanity. He has therefore decided that sin, with all
its trail of woe, shall not be permitted to enter His eternal kingdom, and that
all who enter that blissful home must part company with sin.
But sin is inbred in man, and forms a part of his very
character, so that he cannot, by his own efforts, extricate himself from its
toils. (Jeremiah 13:23; Romans 7:15, 18-24.) Christ, however, stands ready to
free us from our sins. He will deliver us if we will let Him do it. (Matthew
1:21; John 1:12.) But He will not use force, even in things that are for our
own good, for He has created man a free moral agent, and respects his choice.
(Isaiah 1:18; Rev. 22:17; 1 John 1:7, 9.) A complete surrender to Christ is
therefore necessary, that He may change our desires, affections, and characters
so we can enjoy the society of the pure and unselfish inhabitants of that happy
land.
This is
the end of Facts of Faith. May God bless us all. Christ hasn't arrived and it's
77 years after this book was published. History has added more and more proof
of God's word, God's prophecies unfolding. May we be found in Christ's love,
under His righteousness, forgiven by Him, cleansed by Him, when He
returns. May we never discount history's
unfolding of prophecy. All that has been predicted has come to pass in its time
and the few things that haven't occurred---WILL OCCUR.
May we
belong to Christ now and forever!!!!!!!
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