Future Persecution
As we have observed in Revelation 12 and in history, Satan vents his wrath in particular against Christians who keep the original Ten Commandments, from the very day Jesus established his church. In Revelation 13, we see Satan’s final attempt to eradicate this body, just before the return of Christ in chapter 14. “And except that the Lord had shortened those days,” Jesus foretold, “no flesh should be saved.”{†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} That is to say, the Lord must return for his church at this time, or there would be nothing left of it.
The enemy of God’s people has had nearly six thousand years to refine his tactics. In the end, the devil has a foothold in all earthly governments.{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} With globalism and the aid of technology,{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} Satan’s human agencies are able to profile, track and apprehend anyone who does not cooperate. Sadly, most of the population will comply.{**************************************}
Comply with what? Here’s where so many people, including professed{††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} followers of Jesus, are truly left behind.{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} They are, as it were, “a day late, and a dollar short.” For the conflict is the same as it always was—demanding the observance of Sunday instead of the Sabbath of the Commandment—only on a world-wide scale. Preposterous, you say.
Why should you be surprised? Or, “Why are you astonished?”—says the angel—“I will explain to you the mystery{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} of the woman and of the beast she rides.”{***************************************} There’s no need to be mystified. A little study will show what Protestant Reformers{†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} have known for centuries: this woman represents the apostate Christian church, carried along by Papal Rome—the Beast. George W. Bush was rudely awakened to this fact when his first presidential campaign was criticized for his appearance at Bob Jones University—an institution having long taught the doctrine. Before his political fall{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} from grace, Catholic Senator Robert Torricelli reacted by proposing a bill{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} that would make it a “hate crime” to identify the Roman Church as the Beast of Revelation.
No one wants to wear this label, and the guilty party will naturally deny its validity. But it is the title that God gives, and who would dare attempt to silence Him? “With a loud voice,” we hear the most solemn warning in Scripture, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”{****************************************} Again, this conflict is manifest at the second advent of Christ.{††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} Why the angry arrival? It is because the Beast seeks to destroy Sabbath-keeping Christians that the same condemnation returns upon its own head.{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡}
Proportionate to the urgency of God’s warning is the dense demonic fog surrounding it. Spurious interpretations of The Mark of the Beast are as vast as the Vatican is wealthy. Cutting to the chase, let us examine the heart of the matter, by the Church’s own admission: "Sunday is our mark of authority! …The Church is above the Bible, and this transference of sabbath observance is proof of that fact.”{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} "Of course the Catholic church claims that the change was her act. And the act is the mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters."{*****************************************} "It's the mark of our authority to over-rule God's law."{†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††}
God’s condemnation of Sunday-keepers does not come until this false Sabbath is forcibly imposed upon all inhabitants of the earth, and those who worship on the seventh-day are threatened with extinction. It then becomes a crime of complicity when these erring believers consent to the condemnation of the innocent. This is the future persecution, and it will be on a grand scale.
As was noted in the first chapter, the initial assault is upon the material assets of the true worshipper. When this does not seem to suffice, the threat of death follows. Both are referred to in the following Scripture:
The image{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell,{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} save he that had the mark. (Rev 13:15-17.)
Though it is mentioned first,{******************************************} the death decree shall logically follow economic sanctions. (Otherwise, there would be none alive to prevent from buying and selling.) One should note that receiving its Mark is equivalent to worshipping the Beast, as Monsignor Louis Segur clarifies: “The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church”{††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††}
This persecution is at the door. The Catholic Church of late has been very public{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} about its intention to enforce the Mark worldwide, and to punish dissenters. A 1998 headline read: “Pope launches crusade to save Sunday.”{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} (The word “crusade” references Rome’s historic{*******************************************} use of deadly force to advance her religion.) Another article{†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} states, “Pope John Paul II is issuing a stern warning to Catholics that that they should set aside Sunday for worship; not errands or their free time.” The threat follows: “In his letter, the pope goes on to say that a violator should be ‘punished as a heretic’.” Finally, it is revealed that the punishment is not limited to Catholics alone. “Though the pope’s letter is directed at Catholics, his concerns reach beyond the Vatican and into other religions.”{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡}
Other religions, and even the irreligious, are in the Vatican’s sights. “Pope John Paul II is preparing{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} the church and mankind to make a decisive choice for the third millennium.”{********************************************} The choice? “Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.”{††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††}
At that time, some will think to compromise by observing Sunday outwardly, in order to avoid punishment, while having no inward conviction of its importance. Such receive the Mark in their hand.{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} That is, their actions prove their loyalties,{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} though they convince themselves otherwise. Those who have the Mark in their forehead{*********************************************} sincerely believe that it is God’s will to enforce Sunday observance.
By contrast, the Sabbath-keepers have “the seal of God in their foreheads.”{†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} “These are they which keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} Christ’s disciples at this time will uphold God’s Law—the original{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} Ten Commandments. As it is written, “seal the Law among my disciples.”{**********************************************} Unlike the Mark of the Beast, however, the Seal of God cannot be received in the hand, because mere outward compliance is meaningless{††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} with Him.
The Mark of the Beast in its biblical context is clearly connected to the issue of worship. (The deceiver would lead us off track with dummy decoys; ideas such as a tattoo or computer chip.{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡}) Consider the Mark of Cain.{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} He persecuted Abel (to death) because his brother worshipped more strictly in accordance with the command of God. It is doubtful that there was any physical mark on his forehead, but perhaps a furrowed brow corresponding to his hardened heart, which said to others “Don’t mess with me!” It was a vengeful spirit which accompanied Cain. As it was with this one man in the beginning of earth’s history, so will it be with the majority in the end.
“These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”{***********************************************} “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.”{†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} Sabbath-keepers will be seen as a pesky minority holding back the rest of society. Moreover,
It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the Sunday sabbath; that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity.{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡}
A great critic of Seventh-day Adventists, Evangelical preacher D. James Kennedy is laying the groundwork for that conclusion with statements such as this:
On Sunday, Kennedy talked about “the moral obligation to fight for freedom.” He called for trust in God and for the protection of troops abroad and the nation at home. He referred to George Washington, who urged citizens to obey God's laws{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} if they wanted God's protection. “If we are offending God and robbing our nation of the blessings of heaven upon our (battles),” Kennedy said, “it is the soldiers who will bear the brunt of our lack of blessings.”{************************************************}
The temporal prosperity{††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} of the world’s superpower took a painful hit on September 11, 2001, and was probably as much a source of outrage as any. Now, as the lives of Westerners are lost in the “war on terror,” enormous pressures are being brought to bear within the world community to subdue Islam. Perhaps next religion to be humbled will be that of the Jews, for agitating Palestine. The design is to make “Christianity” come out smelling like a rose,{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} with the Pope pleading for peace.
The majority of people are coming to the point where they are ready to do anything to end religious rivalry. Bill Lambert,{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} New England Director of the Theosophical Society, foresees the Holy Land as literal grounds for compromise. "At the proper moment in history, the Pope will visit the combined Jewish/Christian/Moslem sector of Jerusalem to announce that all religions should be combined into one. This action will then finally break the Middle East logjam.” Such a scenario seems plausible, as Lambert observes, “Any purely political settlement in the Middle East would not, by itself, bring peace. In other words, a purely political settlement would leave the religious nature of the problem unsolved.” Next, Lambert fingers the mainspring: “The impetus toward this type of settlement is made possible only because of a general fear of war. This fear of war must be maintained until the desired political and religious changes have been instituted.” Finally, Apocalyptic images are interwoven, begging the interest of the Christian. “Belief in Armageddon is intertwined around Israel and the Middle East, and is causing nations toward this region, possibly setting the stage for massive, even nuclear, war.”
In the light of such a threat, it is easy to see how one could justify dramatic action against those who will not accept the religious compromise. “Yea, the time cometh,” says Jesus, “that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”{*************************************************} Like Joseph Stalin in his ethnic cleansing of Russia, they reason: “You must break a few eggs to make an omelet.”{†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} Such is anticipated, in the formation of a New World Order.{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡}
Yet Christ does not call for unity “at any cost.” In the seventeenth chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus indeed prays that His people “might be one.”{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} It is crucial to observe, however, that this unity pertains only to God’s elect; not the population as a whole. Verse 9: “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” And how do we know who are His? In verse 17, we see it is the sacred truths of Scripture that set God’s people apart:{**************************************************} “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” In contrast, Satan would unite the whole world by an adulteration of God’s Word.
It is the minority who follow Jesus—a small persecuted “remnant;{††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} not a popular movement. “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,” says Jesus, “which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” {‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} In fact, so scarce are genuine believers in that last hour, Christ asks, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} The question is designed to alert us to our need; not leave us hopeless. In the preceding verse, Jesus says He will come for a persecuted people in that day: “And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.” Help is on the way; when Jesus comes with all His angels, we shall no longer be a minority.
Just as the world enacts its cruel “peace plan,”{***************************************************} Jesus suddenly returns for His saints. “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”{†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††} “For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”{‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡} Instead of “Peace and Safety,” the elect will cry, “Jesus, save me!” It is not with the world we must make peace, but with God. Wrestling in prayer with Divinity as did Jacob{§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§} in that midnight hour, the Sabbath-keeper prevails with God who bids him, “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.”{****************************************************} That is the only peace plan which shall prevail.