Facts of Faith

“The Mark Of His Name”

We have now seen that the pope claims to be the “Vicar of the Son of God ” on earth; to have authority to act in His name. And as proof for this claim he points to the fact that he has changed the Sabbath into Sunday. How conclusive! He must be authorized as Christ’s “Vicar” in order to validly make such a vital change in God’s moral law. That is imperative! The Sunday-Sabbath is therefore the proof or mark of his “vicarship ”; it is “the mark of his name.” Revelation 14:11. When once a person has become aware of the wording of this text (Revelation 14:11), it becomes impossible for him to exchange this explanation of either the “mark” or the “name” for some other. For the creation of the Sunday-Sabbath by the Papacy constitutes the mark, or proof, of the pope’s being invested with authority to act as “Vicar of the Son of God.” This “mark” and this “name” fit together as prepared by the divine hand of prophecy, and no others do. Catholics can therefore appeal to Protestants in the following way: FAFA 297.6

Sunday-keeping “not only has no foundation in the Bible, but it is in flagrant contradiction with its letter, which commands rest on the Sabbath, which is Saturday. It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday.... Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Church.” — “Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today,” from the French by Segur, p. 213. Boston: 1868. FAFA 298.1

While God did not attribute this sin to His people in former ages, when they had not been enlightened on the subject, we are now approaching the final struggle between Christ and the restored Papacy, and it behooves us to show under which flag we have decided to stand. For example: In times of peace, no serious results would come to an alien in this country, if, on his holiday, he should hoist his native flag. But if our country was at war with his homeland, and he then should tear down the “Stars and Stripes,” and trample on it, while he hoisted his own flag, it would be an entirely different matter. And so now, while Christ and Antichrist face each other in the last deadly struggle, it becomes a serious matter to hoist the enemy’s flag, while trampling on the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel! FAFA 298.2

The papal power was “to continue forty and two months” (Revelation 13:5), and, as the Bible reckons thirty days to a month, this period would be 1260 prophetic days (). And a day in prophecy stands for a year. (Ezekiel 4:6.) Thus we see that the papal supremacy would continue for 1260 years. We have already seen that this period began in 538 and ended in 1798 A. D. (See pp. 52-60.) At that time the pope, who had for centuries driven God’s people “into captivity,” was himself to “go into captivity,” the prophet declared. (Revelation 13:10.) And when the hour struck, to which God’s prophetic clock had pointed for 1700 years, the pope had to “go into captivity.” Rome was taken by the French on February 10, 1798, the Roman Republic proclaimed on the fifteenth, and on the night of the twentieth, Pope Pius VI was hurried off “into captivity,” where he finally died at Valence, France, in 1799. Napoleon had previously given orders that no new pope was to be elected in his place. “No wonder that half Europe thought Napoleon’s veto would be obeyed, and that with the Pope the Papacy was dead.” — “Modern Papacy,” Joseph Rickaby, S. J., p. 1. FAFA 299.1

But this prophecy also foretells its restitution. The prophet declares: “His deadly wound was healed; and all the world wondered after the beast.” Revelation 13:3. (Compare 17:8.) A new pope (Pius VII) was elected March 14, 1800, and, as J. Rickaby further states: FAFA 299.2

“Yet since then, the Papacy has been lifted to a pinnacle of spiritual power unreached, it may be, since earliest Christian history.” — Id., p. 1. FAFA 299.3

Especially since the days of Pope Leo XIII the healing of the deadly wound” has been steadily progressing. On February 11, 1929, the pope once more became a civil ruler (a king) Some day he will attempt to assume his ancient authority over the nations of earth, and then the world will realize that the Papacy is unchanged in spirit, that it will do today just what it did in the Dark Ages. FAFA 299.4

We shall now see what God will do for those who have been faithful to Him in this time of apostasy, and have not deviated from His word, while the whole Christian world has gone astray. But let all remember that we cannot follow what is easy and popular, and expect to stand under God’s protection. It was the ark of Noah - the object of so much scorn and derision from the world-that finally became the means of rescue to all who stood faithfully by it under taunt and ridicule. And so now. (Luke 17:26) God always uses unpopular truths with which to test His people and gather out the honest in heart, and He will protect His own in the time of trouble. FAFA 300.1

They “shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,” safe “from the noisome pestilence.” As a hen protects her brood in a storm, so “He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night [night raids by aeroplanes]; nor for the arrow that flies by day; nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee, ... neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” Psalm 91:1-10. FAFA 300.2

God will reveal that He still lives and reigns, and the world shall yet see that He puts a difference “between him that serves God and him that serves Him not” (Malachi 3:18), just as He did during the plagues of Egypt (Exodus 8:22, 23; 9:4; 10:23; Isaiah 4:5, 6). “His truth shall be thy shield and buckler” Psalm 91:4. (Compare John 17:17; Colossians 1:5; Psalm 119:142, 151) FAFA 300.3

According to the new covenant promise, the Holy Spirit is to write the law of God in the heart of God’s children. (Hebrews 8:8-10; 2 Corinthians 3:3) But it must be put “into their mind” before it can be written “in their hearts” (Hebrews 8:10); and as they have been looking at a mutilated law, the missing part must be restored before the Holy Spirit can write it in their hearts. And so the message comes to “bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples.” Isaiah 8:16. While the nations are moving toward Armageddon, while angels are about to release the winds of war but have been admonished to hold a little longer, another angel comes with the “seal of the living God,” saying: “Hurt not the earth, ... till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads,” so they shall be able to stand during the terrible time of trouble just ahead. (Revelation 6:17; 7:1-3). The Lord revealed the same scene to Ezekiel. He saw the destroyers coming, but a man clothed in linen (a symbol of purity, Revelation 19:8) went before them to “set a mark upon the foreheads of” God’s people, after which the destroyers were told to “slay utterly old and young.... but come not near any man upon whom is the mark.” Ezekiel 9:1-6. This mark, or sign, is the Sabbath. “I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them.” Ezekiel 20:12, 20. FAFA 300.4

As Christ viewed His people on the earth, and found them without “the seal of the living God,” He commanded the winds of war to be held in cheek “till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” Revelation 7:1-3. They were God’s servants, but lacked the seal. In Ezekiel 9:4-6 and 20:12, 20 it is called God’s “mark,” or “sign,” while in Revelation 7:1-4 it is called His “seal.” God’s “name” will be written in the foreheads of His people. (Revelation 14:1) In God’s law His name is found only in the fourth commandment. The fourth commandment, which enjoins the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath, is the seal of God which the Holy Spirit places in the minds and hearts of His people. FAFA 301.1

The day of wrath is fast approaching. God’s people will need a shelter during Armageddon. But God will not do miracles to protect the willfully disobedient. The Lord is greatly grieved over the situation, and complains that His watchmen are not preparing the people “to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord” Ezekiel 13:5. Compare Ezekiel 22:26, 30; Isaiah 58:1, 2, 12, 13; 56:1-5, 10, 11; Hebrews 10:26, 29. “But the Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” Joel 3:16. FAFA 301.2