Consider the following scripture relative, in part, to the Protestant Reformation during the early 16th century and their eventual migration to the United States to flee from Papal persecution. “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” Revelation 12:14
And now consider the architecture of the Pope’s Audience Hall at Vatican City
And now consider the architecture of the Pope’s Audience Hall at Vatican City
A picture paints a thousand words.
The identity and nature of the “beast” is clearly seen in both Scripture and the world around us, but let’s further consider some pictures and their testimony to the “beast”, the “great things and blasphemies” (Rev 13:5) spoken by this power and allow the “beast” themselves to proclaim what their “mark” is.
“And 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.” Revelation 13:3
The identity and nature of the “beast” is clearly seen in both Scripture and the world around us, but let’s further consider some pictures and their testimony to the “beast”, the “great things and blasphemies” (Rev 13:5) spoken by this power and allow the “beast” themselves to proclaim what their “mark” is.
“And 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.” Revelation 13:3
Pope Francis reverenced before addressing the General Assembly at the United Nations
Wondering leaders, both political and religious...
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“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet…”
Revelation 17:4
“…decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand
full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication”
Revelation 17:4
“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies” Revelation 13:5
“The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God” Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. VI, p.48 “And he shall speak great words against the most High” Daniel 7:25
“To pardon a single sin requires all the omnipotence of God… but what only God can do by His omnipotence, the priest can do also... God himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of his priests” Dignity and Duties of the Priest, Vol. 12.p34, p. 27, 28.
“And he shall... think to change times and laws” Daniel 7:25
“The Pope has power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ. The Pope has authority and has often exercised it, to dispense with the command of Christ”Decretal, de Tranlatic Episcop
Unbeknown to some, within the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “an official, authoritative, and authentic reference text for teaching and transmitting Catholic doctrine” (uscatholic.org), God’s Ten Commandments, that were written by the very “finger of God” Himself (Exod 31:18), have been changed.
The second commandment, to abstain from idol worship, has been removed completely, while the tenth commandment (covetousness), has been split into two separate commandments.
As such, in an attempt by the “beast” to “change times and laws”, the Traditional Catechetical Formula for the Ten Commandments within the Catechism of the Catholic Church reads...
“The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God” Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. VI, p.48 “And he shall speak great words against the most High” Daniel 7:25
“To pardon a single sin requires all the omnipotence of God… but what only God can do by His omnipotence, the priest can do also... God himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of his priests” Dignity and Duties of the Priest, Vol. 12.p34, p. 27, 28.
“And he shall... think to change times and laws” Daniel 7:25
“The Pope has power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ. The Pope has authority and has often exercised it, to dispense with the command of Christ”Decretal, de Tranlatic Episcop
Unbeknown to some, within the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “an official, authoritative, and authentic reference text for teaching and transmitting Catholic doctrine” (uscatholic.org), God’s Ten Commandments, that were written by the very “finger of God” Himself (Exod 31:18), have been changed.
The second commandment, to abstain from idol worship, has been removed completely, while the tenth commandment (covetousness), has been split into two separate commandments.
As such, in an attempt by the “beast” to “change times and laws”, the Traditional Catechetical Formula for the Ten Commandments within the Catechism of the Catholic Church reads...
When Daniel 7:25 expresses that the “little horn” shall “think to change times and laws”, it’s reasonable to conclude that it is God’s “time” within His “laws”, the Ten Commandments, that the Papacy thinks to change - leading us directly to the biblical fourth commandment, which speaks of a certain “time” and of a certain “day” we know as the Sabbath.
This weekly sabbath, a day of joy as we rest fully in Christ, has sadly become the place of much controversy, and not surprisingly so, as this commandment plays a pivotal role in these last days and, as we’ll discuss, will be the measure by which each individual receives either the “mark of the beast” (Rev 13:16) or the seal of God (Rev 7:3).
Jesus taught...
“The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” Mark 2:27
This should be a comfort to every Christian, knowing that the Creator of all the Universe has dedicated a weekly day of rest with Him - a day of rest that was “made” for all mankind, as this day, the seventh day, the day we’ve come to know as Saturday, was established and “blessed” at creation. “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3
“There is neither Jew nor Greek,... for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
As spiritual Israel and partakers in the second covenant, whereby the Lord has placed His Law in our “minds” and written it on our “hearts” (Jer 31:33), the sabbath, that was “made for man”...
“...is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” Exodus 31:13
The sabbath, established at creation (Gen 2:1-3) and a “sign” between us and God, so that we “may know” that it is the “LORD who sanctifies” us (Exod 31:13), will continue to be a “sanctified” day into the “new earth”, as...
“...it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 66:23
For the “Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matt 12:8), as this is...
“the LORD’s holy day”Isaiah 58:13
Sadly, the “beast”, in an attempt to “change times and laws” (Dan 7:25), has highjacked “the Lord’s holy day”, the day which the apostle John referred to as “the Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10), and has applied this term to the first day of the week, Sunday - the day instituted into law by Roman Emperor Constantine in 321 A.D as "the venerable day of the sun" (ministrymagazine.org).
It is through this institution of Sunday sacredness, a man-made institution, that the Papacy has entrapped Christians for over 1700 years within the tradition of Sunday observance, even to the degree that the protestant reformers, though holding to sola scriptura (by scripture alone), continued within this tradition of error.
As such, many Christians today seek to justify their observance of Sunday by citing that it was the day Jesus was resurrected, or that the apostles “came together to break bread” on the “first day of the week” (Act 20:7), although they broke bread daily “...from house to house” (Acts 2:46).
Though many Christians seek biblical confirmation that the seventh-day sabbath, “the LORD’s holy day” (Isa 58:13), had been changed to the first day of the week... they look in vain.
Protestant and Catholic theologians alike have been quite candid in admitting there is no Biblical authority for observing Sunday as a sabbath. In doing so, they acknowledge that it is only by the authority of the Papacy that Sunday is observed. Please take the time to seriously consider these statements from various denominational church leaders and biblical scholars...
“And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day .... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it." Isaac Williams, Plain Sermons on the Catechism, vol. 1, pp.334, 336.
"It is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday .... There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday.”Dr. R. W. Dale, The Ten Commandments (New York: Eaton & Mains), p. 127-129.
"They [Roman Catholics] refer to the Sabbath Day, as having been changed into the Lord's Day, contrary to the Decalogue, as it seems. Great, say they, is the power of the Church, since it has dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments!” Augsburg Confession of Faith art. 28, p. 63.
"But they err in teaching that Sunday has taken the place of the Old Testament Sabbath and therefore must be kept as the seventh day had to be kept by the children of Israel .... These churches err in their teaching, for Scripture has in no way ordained the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath. There is simply no law in the New Testament to that effect.” John Theodore Mueller, Sabbath or Sunday, pp. 15, 16.
“We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy Catholic Church." Bishop Seymour, Why We Keep Sunday.
"There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week .... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament, absolutely not. Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history... But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!” Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, New York ministers' conference.
Sadly, the only Commandment within God’s Moral Law that begins with the word “Remember” (Exod 20:8) is the very Commandment that many of God’s people have forgotten.
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God” Exodus 20:8-10
This seventh day, “the LORD’s holy day” (Isa 58:13), that was established at creation (Gen 2:1-3), has been given to God’s children, “children of the promise” (Rom 9:8), as both a blessed weekly rest and as “a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever” (Exod 31:17), says the Lord. And it is within this very commandment, the fourth commandment, that God declares his “royal seal” of authority as Lord, the Creator of “heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exod 20:8)
In Revelation chapter fourteen, we are given three end-time messages by three of God’s angels, with the first angel declaring...
“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come...” v7
And as God’s hour of “judgement is come”, we are called to “worship” Him and are reminded, as declared in the fourth commandment, that God is the Creator.
“...worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” v7
As such, and by the authority of God as the Creator of “heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exod 20:8), through the “...blood of the lamb” (Rev 12:11), we are sealed.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12
In contrast and clear defiance of God’s fourth commandment, thinking to “change times and laws” (Dan 7:25), the “beast” power of the Papacy has placed Sunday, the “venerable day of the sun”, above “the LORD’s holy day” (Isa 58:13), ...
“...teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Mark 7:7
So, what does the “first beast” of Revelation thirteen say about this “change” and the power that they have self-ordained?
“Had she [Church of Rome] 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.” S. Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed., p. 174.
It is by the authority of the Papacy alone, ...
“...changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow” Daniel Ferres, ed., Manual of Christian Doctrine, p.67
...in somewhat mocking tones, ...
“It is always somewhat laughable to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible”Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society
...that the “first beast” of Revelation thirteen declares its’ “mark”.
“Sunday is our mark of authority .... The church is above the Bible, and this transference of sabbath observance is proof of that fact” The Catholic Record of London, Ontario, Sept. 1, 1923
With its’ “but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations” progression of Ezekiel eight, we are shown sun-worship as being the greatest “abomination” prior to Christ’s return.
“Behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.” Ezekiel 8:16
These people, though they are “at the door of the temple of the Lord”, have turned their backs on God’s Sabbath, the seventh day, “the LORD’s holy day” (Isa 58:13), and have embraced Sunday as the “venerable day of the sun”.
At this point in time, just prior to the second trumpet, most devout Christians are Sunday observers, to which it’s important for me to make clear that no one currently has the “mark of the beast” upon them. But there is coming a time, as revealed in God’s Word, after the devastation of the first trumpet (Rev 8:7), a real pandemic mingled with war, when Satan will announce in the guise of God “speaking out of the midst of fire” that Sunday is the Lord’s day, and that we are called to worship him on that day through “Great Babylon”, the “Church Universal”.
Instead, God’s faithful children are called to “come out of her my people” (Rev 18:4), and weep “between the porch and the altar”, pleading “spare Your people, O LORD, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them” (Joel 2:17).
These are God’s children that “weep” for such “abominations”, the remnant of God’s True Church which “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 12:17). These are God’s children who shall receive His blessed “mark” ...
“And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.” Ezekiel 9:4
For this is the Seal of God (Rev 7:3) and the patience of the saints (Rev 14:12), for God keeps “His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments” (Daniel 9:4).
as Jesus taught...
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:10✞------------------------------------
This weekly sabbath, a day of joy as we rest fully in Christ, has sadly become the place of much controversy, and not surprisingly so, as this commandment plays a pivotal role in these last days and, as we’ll discuss, will be the measure by which each individual receives either the “mark of the beast” (Rev 13:16) or the seal of God (Rev 7:3).
Jesus taught...
“The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” Mark 2:27
This should be a comfort to every Christian, knowing that the Creator of all the Universe has dedicated a weekly day of rest with Him - a day of rest that was “made” for all mankind, as this day, the seventh day, the day we’ve come to know as Saturday, was established and “blessed” at creation. “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:1-3
“There is neither Jew nor Greek,... for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
As spiritual Israel and partakers in the second covenant, whereby the Lord has placed His Law in our “minds” and written it on our “hearts” (Jer 31:33), the sabbath, that was “made for man”...
“...is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.” Exodus 31:13
The sabbath, established at creation (Gen 2:1-3) and a “sign” between us and God, so that we “may know” that it is the “LORD who sanctifies” us (Exod 31:13), will continue to be a “sanctified” day into the “new earth”, as...
“...it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 66:23
For the “Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (Matt 12:8), as this is...
“the LORD’s holy day”Isaiah 58:13
Sadly, the “beast”, in an attempt to “change times and laws” (Dan 7:25), has highjacked “the Lord’s holy day”, the day which the apostle John referred to as “the Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10), and has applied this term to the first day of the week, Sunday - the day instituted into law by Roman Emperor Constantine in 321 A.D as "the venerable day of the sun" (ministrymagazine.org).
It is through this institution of Sunday sacredness, a man-made institution, that the Papacy has entrapped Christians for over 1700 years within the tradition of Sunday observance, even to the degree that the protestant reformers, though holding to sola scriptura (by scripture alone), continued within this tradition of error.
As such, many Christians today seek to justify their observance of Sunday by citing that it was the day Jesus was resurrected, or that the apostles “came together to break bread” on the “first day of the week” (Act 20:7), although they broke bread daily “...from house to house” (Acts 2:46).
Though many Christians seek biblical confirmation that the seventh-day sabbath, “the LORD’s holy day” (Isa 58:13), had been changed to the first day of the week... they look in vain.
Protestant and Catholic theologians alike have been quite candid in admitting there is no Biblical authority for observing Sunday as a sabbath. In doing so, they acknowledge that it is only by the authority of the Papacy that Sunday is observed. Please take the time to seriously consider these statements from various denominational church leaders and biblical scholars...
“And where are we told in the Scriptures that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day .... The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church has enjoined it." Isaac Williams, Plain Sermons on the Catechism, vol. 1, pp.334, 336.
"It is quite clear that however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath was founded on a specific Divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday .... There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday.”Dr. R. W. Dale, The Ten Commandments (New York: Eaton & Mains), p. 127-129.
"They [Roman Catholics] refer to the Sabbath Day, as having been changed into the Lord's Day, contrary to the Decalogue, as it seems. Great, say they, is the power of the Church, since it has dispensed with one of the Ten Commandments!” Augsburg Confession of Faith art. 28, p. 63.
"But they err in teaching that Sunday has taken the place of the Old Testament Sabbath and therefore must be kept as the seventh day had to be kept by the children of Israel .... These churches err in their teaching, for Scripture has in no way ordained the first day of the week in place of the Sabbath. There is simply no law in the New Testament to that effect.” John Theodore Mueller, Sabbath or Sunday, pp. 15, 16.
“We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy Catholic Church." Bishop Seymour, Why We Keep Sunday.
"There was and is a commandment to keep holy the Sabbath day, but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. It will be said, however, and with some show of triumph, that the Sabbath was transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week .... Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament, absolutely not. Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history... But what a pity it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!” Dr. Edward T. Hiscox, New York ministers' conference.
Sadly, the only Commandment within God’s Moral Law that begins with the word “Remember” (Exod 20:8) is the very Commandment that many of God’s people have forgotten.
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God” Exodus 20:8-10
This seventh day, “the LORD’s holy day” (Isa 58:13), that was established at creation (Gen 2:1-3), has been given to God’s children, “children of the promise” (Rom 9:8), as both a blessed weekly rest and as “a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever” (Exod 31:17), says the Lord. And it is within this very commandment, the fourth commandment, that God declares his “royal seal” of authority as Lord, the Creator of “heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exod 20:8)
In Revelation chapter fourteen, we are given three end-time messages by three of God’s angels, with the first angel declaring...
“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come...” v7
And as God’s hour of “judgement is come”, we are called to “worship” Him and are reminded, as declared in the fourth commandment, that God is the Creator.
“...worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” v7
As such, and by the authority of God as the Creator of “heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is” (Exod 20:8), through the “...blood of the lamb” (Rev 12:11), we are sealed.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12
In contrast and clear defiance of God’s fourth commandment, thinking to “change times and laws” (Dan 7:25), the “beast” power of the Papacy has placed Sunday, the “venerable day of the sun”, above “the LORD’s holy day” (Isa 58:13), ...
“...teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Mark 7:7
So, what does the “first beast” of Revelation thirteen say about this “change” and the power that they have self-ordained?
“Had she [Church of Rome] 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.” S. Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism 3rd ed., p. 174.
It is by the authority of the Papacy alone, ...
“...changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow” Daniel Ferres, ed., Manual of Christian Doctrine, p.67
...in somewhat mocking tones, ...
“It is always somewhat laughable to see the Protestant churches, in pulpit and legislation, demand the observance of Sunday, of which there is nothing in their Bible”Peter R. Kraemer, Catholic Church Extension Society
...that the “first beast” of Revelation thirteen declares its’ “mark”.
“Sunday is our mark of authority .... The church is above the Bible, and this transference of sabbath observance is proof of that fact” The Catholic Record of London, Ontario, Sept. 1, 1923
With its’ “but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations” progression of Ezekiel eight, we are shown sun-worship as being the greatest “abomination” prior to Christ’s return.
“Behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.” Ezekiel 8:16
These people, though they are “at the door of the temple of the Lord”, have turned their backs on God’s Sabbath, the seventh day, “the LORD’s holy day” (Isa 58:13), and have embraced Sunday as the “venerable day of the sun”.
At this point in time, just prior to the second trumpet, most devout Christians are Sunday observers, to which it’s important for me to make clear that no one currently has the “mark of the beast” upon them. But there is coming a time, as revealed in God’s Word, after the devastation of the first trumpet (Rev 8:7), a real pandemic mingled with war, when Satan will announce in the guise of God “speaking out of the midst of fire” that Sunday is the Lord’s day, and that we are called to worship him on that day through “Great Babylon”, the “Church Universal”.
Instead, God’s faithful children are called to “come out of her my people” (Rev 18:4), and weep “between the porch and the altar”, pleading “spare Your people, O LORD, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them” (Joel 2:17).
These are God’s children that “weep” for such “abominations”, the remnant of God’s True Church which “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 12:17). These are God’s children who shall receive His blessed “mark” ...
“And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.” Ezekiel 9:4
For this is the Seal of God (Rev 7:3) and the patience of the saints (Rev 14:12), for God keeps “His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments” (Daniel 9:4).
as Jesus taught...
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” John 15:10✞------------------------------------