[This tract - reprinted
in May, 1962 - may be of
interest for some who may want to compare how conditions - (within the Church
and the World) - have deteriorated over the past 50 years. Sunday after Sunday, millions of regenerate
believers hear NO Divine
warnings against wilful sin and disobedience; NO promise of a Millennial Reign of Messiah upon this earth (See
Footnote 2); NO future salvation for the nation of Israel; NO heart-felt prayers offered to God for the peace of
Jerusalem, the holy city; and, as is evident amongst prophetical
students throughout Christendom, NO prayers offered for the grace,
sanctification and obedience necessary to be able us escape the coming wrath of
God upon the sons of
disobedience! (See Footnote 1.) It is tragic that
a truth can be abandoned when it is far more urgently needed. ]
To say that we are living in
serious times would be to express a mere platitude. The present time is, of course, always serious,
for in it God is working out His counsel and realizing His purpose with regard to the salvation of His Church
and the coming of His Kingdom. But
there are periods in which the significance of the times is more obvious than
at other periods of history, because they are so crowded with tremendous events
that their importance is impressed upon the minds and hearts of men, and
because they remind the people of God more than at other times that this is the
last hour and that their redemption draweth nigh. It is in such times that we are deemed worthy
to live today. The red horse is running
over the earth in every direction, obviously beyond the control of any man or
power in the world, and the world is in the throes of a war as has never been
witnessed before. The economic problem cries for a solution with ever greater emphasis,
and its solution appears to be more remote than ever. We are told even now that we may expect a new
world-order, in which freedom of worship and of speech, freedom from fear and
from want shall be maintained, a world of peace and prosperity for all. But in
the meantime the struggle between capital and labour, between the haves and have-nots
becomes more bitter and intense as the days go by. And it
becomes increasingly difficult for the faithful believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ to maintain himself in society and to earn his daily bread, unless he
will make common cause with the world and put on an unequal yoke with the
unbeliever. In the religious sphere our times are characterized by apostasy. Modernism
is rampant. By far the majority of
churches in our land have long abandoned the truth as it is in Christ. They have become like the salt that has lost
its savour, and which is good for nothing but to be cast on the dunghill and to
be trodden under feet by men. The masses
have become alienated from the Church, and those that still belong to her and
attend divine worship on the sabbath understand sound doctrine no longer. There
is a mad pursuit of the things of the present world, rather than the things
that are above, and a hankering after the treasures and pleasures, of this
world that leaves room for little else in the hearts of men. Everything
reminds us of the warning of Scripture in 2 Tim. 3: 1-5: This know also that
in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that do
good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God;
having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.
Always, but especially in times
such as the present, the Scriptures convey a twofold message to the believer
that turns to them for instruction and consolation. First of all, the Bible comes with a message
of comfort to all that love the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. For all these things have been foretold, in
order that we might believe when they should come to pass, and believing might
have peace. In the light of the more sure word of
prophecy we feel assured that God holds the reins, that He is working
out His good counsel and realizing His purpose, and that this purpose is the
salvation of His eternal, heavenly covenant.
And we are not amazed or perplexed, for we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according
to His purpose: Rom. 8: 28. And through all the turmoil and distress of
the times we may lift up our head, assured
that day of the Lord is near and that our redemption draweth nigh. Without committing ourselves to a prediction
of the day and the hour, we may
safely say that our times impress upon our minds and hearts the nearness and
fast approach of the clouds and every eye shall see Him. But, secondly, the Word of God also sounds a note of warning that before the final
coming of the Lord the Church* must expect dark
and difficult days, a period of great tribulation for the people of God; and it
exhorts us to be faithful even unto the end, that no one take our crown. For the man of sin must still be revealed, and the
antichristian empire must be established for a time, and during that period
there will be no room in the world for those that love the appearance of our
Lord Jesus Christ. There are,
indeed, those who teach that the faithful Church will escape this great
tribulation. Just before the reign of
Antichrist and the last days of distress and persecution they shall be taken up
in the rapture to be with the Lord in the
air. But this is quite contrary to
Scripture, and is a dangerous doctrine because it fills the believers with a
vain hope, which must needs end in utter disappointment and leave them wholly
unprepared in the evil day. Everywhere
the Word of God warns the Church that the believers must expect tribulation
even until the end.** When nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in
divers places, we may see in them the beginning of sorrows. But
the time will come, too, that they shall deliver up the true believers and kill
them, and that the Church shall be hated of all nations for Christs sake; the
time when many shall be offended, and shall betray one another, and hate one
another, many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many, and the love
of many shall wax cold because iniquity abounds. And it
is only they that shall endure unto the end that shall be saved. And they shall be of great tribulation, such
as was not since the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be. And if it were not that the days were
shortened for the elects sake, no flesh should then be saved. Matt. 24: 7-13;
21, 22. Cf. Mark 13: 7ff.; Luke 21: 8ff. And not only does Scripture teach us that the faithful in Christ must expect
tribulation, and exhort us to be faithful even unto death, but it would
consider such persecution for Christs sake an honour and a blessing. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and
persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven: for
so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. Mt. 5: 11, 12.
The apostles rejoiced that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ. Acts 5: 41, And unto you it is
given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer
for his sake Phil. 1: 29. Not to secure tribulation, but to suffer it
gladly, for Christs sake, to glorify Gods grace through it, and to enter into the great reward of the
faithful, - that is unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1
Pet. 1: 7.
[* There was a time in the editors life when he believed most of
what is written in this tract; but he was blinded to responsibility truths
and conditional promises. However,
those unwatchful servants of God; who think it foolishness to pray to be able to escape all that is about to happen
and able to stand before
the Son of Man (Luke 21: 36. cf.
Rev. 3: 10), will be left
to endure persecution and death at the hands of the Antichrist and his deceived
followers.
If prophecy fails to have its right effect on us, it is not
the fault of prophecy, or of the God who alone gives prophecy; it is solely the
fruit either of our ignorance or of our denial of what is foretold. All the vital impetus imparted by the
tremendous rewards and punishments foretold for [regenerate]
believers is lost by a complete
ignorance of what is coming.
Even Christian statesmen are no more ignoring prophecy than they
are ignoring (grossly) contemporary facts.
President Truman said in his
Christmas message (Times, Dec. 27,
1945):- We must strive without ceasing to make real the prophecy of
Isaiah:- They shall
beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. In that day,
whether it be far or near, the kingdom of this world
shall become indeed the
** But,
when the rapture of Gods saints does occur, it will be a wake-up-call for all who will be left: and an opportunity for some of them to secure the crown of life in
the age which will follow! (See Footnote
1 at end of tract.)]
The
Church, therefore, must expect the great tribulation of the
last days. And even now she must watch and pray and put on the
whole armour of God, and prepare herself, lest she defile her garments and be
swallowed up of the world. For
always the world hates the children of light, and always the latter must suffer
persecution. The great tribulation will
not come upon the Church as a thing all by itself, without any connection with
the preceding times. It will rather be
the culmination of all the suffering the faithful have endured through the
ages, a period in which the dragon will make a last and most furious attempt to
destroy the seed of the woman, and in which the hostile world will cast off the
mask of outward friendship and tolerance toward the people of God. It will then become fully manifest that they
still furiously hate the Christ and those that are His. It will, of course, be a time in which the
line of distinction between the true Church and the world will be clearly and
distinctly drawn. There will be no room
then for hypocrites and outward Christians.
One shall be able to discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him
that serveth God and him that serveth
him not. Mal. 3: 18. And one of the chief means to bring that
distinction to open manifestation in those days will be the Mark of the
Beast.
Every Christian that is at all
acquainted with Scripture is able to find immediately the reference to the mark
of the Beast in the Bible. It is found
in the thirteenth chapter of the book of Revelation. In that chapter we have a rather elaborate
apocalyptic description of the Antichrist and his reign and fury. It is not now our purpose to enter into a
detailed exposition of this description, but only to recall the general
features of it in as far as it is necessary for a correct understanding of the
mark of the beast. The chapter presents
the vision of two monster beasts, the one rising out of the sea, the other out
of the earth. The former represents the
Antichrist and his final empire from its political aspect. It is presented as a world-power that has
universal sway. It is a kingdom or
empire that embraces all the nations of the earth. This anti-Christian beast, that blasphemes
against God, His name and tabernacle and against them that dwell in heaven, is
the embodiment of the dragon, that old serpent, the devil, from whom it
receives its power. And it is admired
and worshipped by all that dwell on the earth, except by those whose names are
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. A
universal, wicked, anti-Christian State, therefore, is represented by the beast
out of the sea. In its service stands
the second beast, the one that rises out of the earth. It is this second beast
that is interested‑in persuading all men to admire and to worship the
anti-Christian political world-power.
This second beast is the false prophet. It is the spiritual power of false science
and false philosophy and false theology, using every means in its power, the spoken
word, the press, the printed page, the radio, and all the wonders of science
and invention, to mould public opinion in favour of the first beast. It is very persistent in its efforts. It cannot rest until the Antichrist is openly
and publicly worshipped and admired, and it cannot tolerate those that refuse
to bow their knees before this Baal of the latter days. And, therefore it persuades men to make an
image of the beast, some visible representation of the anti-Christian almighty
state, that all may make their obeisance to it openly. And for the same reason this false prophet
takes care that no ones attitude over against the beast and its image can
remain a matter of doubt. The
distinction between those that worship the beast and those that refuse to
worship him must become manifest to all.
There must be no half-heartedness.
Those that are opposed to the anti-Christian beast and insist on being
faithful of Christ must be exposed in order that they may be extinguished. For in the anti‑Christian empire there
will be room only for those that worship the beast!
To accomplish this purpose the
false prophet invents two means: the spirit of life he gives to the image of
the beast, causing it to speak; and the mark of the beast. It is well that we distinguish these. We read in Rev. 13:15: And he had power to
give life unto the image of the beast (or, according to the RV, And it was given unto him to give breath unto it, even unto
the image of the beast), that 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!
The general idea of this is plain.
Images, representations of the antichristian state are installed all
through the empire. To these images is
now given breath, a spirit. This does
not mean, of course, that the false prophet will have power to create living
beings, but rather that somehow these images will assume the character of and
function as living persons, that have eyes and ears. It is especially in this particular respect
that the image of the beast will function as a being that has the breath of
life: it will both hear and speak.
Emphatically we are told that it is the purpose of the spirit of life
given to the image to enable it to speak.
And again, the purpose of its speech is that as many as would not
worship the image of the beast should be killed. It is evident, then, that this speaking image
serves the purpose of a spy. The device
is a means to expose those that are opposed to the worship of the beast. The image of the beast both hears and
speaks. It records the speech and
conversation of those that refuse to worship the beast in order then to report
to the false prophet what it has thus recorded.
Just how this is to be realized in the day of Antichrist is a matter of
minor importance. That we need not
spiritualize or allegorize the text, but adhere to a literal realization of the
speaking image, ought to be evident to anyone that contemplates the wonders of
modern invention and science. It is not
at all difficult to conceive of the installation of mechanical ears and mouths
that will record and make public even that which is spoken in secret. Such devices will be installed everywhere in
the antichristian empire and under the supervision of the false prophet, in
churches and lecture halls, in homes and offices and public places in order
that the faithful may be exposed and killed by the power of the sword.
The second means whereby the
worshippers of the Lamb may be distinguished from the followers of the beast,
the godly from the ungodly, is the mark of the beast. It is quite distinct from the first, not only
in its character but also in its effect.
The first means of distinction is the speech of the image of the beast,
the second is a mark which everyone must receive and exhibit on his forehead or
right hand; the former leads to the exposure and death of those that refuse to
worship the beast, the latter to their expulsion from society: they cannot buy
or sell. The latter, the mark of the
beast, is, evidently, designed to supplement the former, the speech of the image. For the false prophet is, evidently,
determined that absolutely every one without exception shall worship the
antichristian beast, and that in all the dominion of Antichrist no follower of
the Lamb shall be left. To accomplish
this purpose the speech of the image is not sufficient. It is conceivable that
some, that many may elude its detection.
It will accomplish chiefly that the leaders of the Church, those that
are called to preach the Gospel, to teach and to admonish the people of God,
those who by virtue of their very position as leaders are called to confess the
name of Christ and to denounce the name of Antichrist, are exposed and
persecuted to the death. But this does
not satisfy the false prophet. All must
be exposed. And so he devises the mark
of the beast, and causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and
bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads. From this cunning device no man can
escape. For the false prophet so
arranges matters that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or
the name of the beast, or the number of his name. The mark of the beast is very effective. It will, indeed, divide men into two clearly
distinct groups and opposing camps: the followers of the Lamb and the
worshippers of the beast. In those days one will be able to discern
clearly between him that serveth the Lord and him
that serveth him not.
Let us notice, first of all,
that this mark of the beast, although instituted by the State, must,
nevertheless, be adopted voluntarily by every citizen, rich or poor, great or
small. It is, indeed, an invention of
the false prophet. In this cunning and
wicked mind it had its origin. But let
us not forget, that the false prophet functions in the name of and in behalf of
the first beast, the political power of the Antichrist. By his influence, therefore it becomes a
state-law, that all shall receive and openly exhibit (this is the meaning of in their right
hand, or in their foreheads) the mark of the beast. On the other hand, the state-law is of such a
nature, that each man must make his own choice with regard to that mark of the
beast. He must adopt it
voluntarily. He must go after it. It is not even improbable that he will have
to apply for it and pay for it. Just as
it is a state-law that your car must exhibit a license when you drive it, and
just as you have to apply and purchase that license; so in the days of the
antichristian empire it will be by decree of the almighty state that you must
receive and exhibit the mark of the beast, but you will have to make your
application in order to receive it.
Only, the matter that will then be presented to the choice of your will
is extremely serious, much more so than your application for an automobile
license. For if you fail to make your application for the mark of the beast,
you will not be able to buy or sell; while, if you do apply for this ensign you
will have to swear that you call Christ accursed and that you are and always
intend to be a faithful worshipper of the beast. By the cunning device of the false prophet,
and the sword-power of the anti-Christian State you will be placed before the
alternative: deny Christ and worship the beast or die! But however great the strain of trial and
temptation upon your will may be, it will be you that chooses for or against
the mark of the beast! The thoughts of
many hearts shall be revealed. And only the gold of Gods own grace will come
through the trial unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ.
It is always thus.
Persecution for Christs sake
always involves a choice between the things that are seen and the things that
are not seen, between the present world [age] and the world [age] to come, between keeping or loosing your life. And it is always grace only that is able to
choose for Christ and suffering rather than for Antichrist and the world and
its treasures. In the days of the early
Church it was the law of the empire that worship was to be rendered to
Caesar. And Christians would sometimes
be placed before the choice of making obeisance to Caesars image or of being
thrown into a caldron of boiling oil: it was grace that invariably chose the
latter. At the time of the Reformation
and the Spanish Inquisition men were stretched upon the rack, slowly torn
apart, and caused the most excruciating pain and anguish. And on that rack they confronted the choice
of Christ and continued agony to the end, or denial of Christ and immediate
deliverance. It was grace alone that
enabled the faithful to endure unto the end.
Today the situation is not different, even though the lines are, not so
severely drawn as in some past periods and as they will be drawn once more in
the latter days. Many a time we are
placed before the alternative of assuming an unequal yoke with the unbeliever,
of subscribing to anti-Christian principles and denying the truth, or remaining
faithful and losing a job or a dollar.
And again, even now, it is only the marvellous power of the grace of God
that will choose the latter. It is given
us of grace to believe in Christ and to suffer with Him. And in such times of stress and tribulation the love of many
will wax cold. It may be that they
will attempt to cover up their apostasy by many excuses but the fact is that
whenever and wherever we choose the world rather than Christ, it is the sinful
flesh that determines the choice, never the grace of God! That is the seriousness of the matter. In our
choice we reveal the thoughts of the heart!
Let us
consider, too, the mark of the beast as such and it meaning. From vs. 17 it is
evident that the mark is the same as the name
of the beast, and that the name is also the number of the name. This is especially clear if we adopt the
rendering of the Revised Version: save he that had the mark, even the name of the
beast or the number of his name. It is clear, then, that the mark men are
required to exhibit in their right hand or in their forehead consists of the
name of the first beast, before whom and in whose name the second beast
functions and exercises his authority; and it is equally evident that this name
is represented by the number of the beast.
An important question in determining the significance of this mark of
the beast is: how are we to understand the term name in this
connection? A very common group of
interpretations explains the term as referring to the proper name of the
Antichrist. They interpret this chapter and a large part of the book of
Revelation as having had its historical fulfilment in the Roman Empire of
Johns day. It is the beast that rises
up out of the sea in the vision. The name of the beast, according to this
interpretation, is some proper noun, either of one of the emperors such as Nero
or Domitian, or of the empire itself. And the number of the name, according to this
view, is the sum of the numerical value of the several letters of that
name. A very commonly adopted
interpretation belonging to this class is that which considers the name of the
beast to refer to the name of the
Against this interpretation we
have various objections. First of all,
even though the beast as it
historically appeared at the time of John might be the Roman world-power, this
empire certainly cannot have been the Anti‑Christian State in its final
manifestation that is undoubted ly pictured in the chapter. To the antichristian
world-power in its consummation and ultimate development the name Lateinos could not possibly be applied. Even then, if the name of the beast might be explained as referring
in the first instance to the proper name of an emperor of those days, or to the
name of the empire in general, it must still have another, a symbolical
significance. Secondly, the term name in Scripture in connections such as the one
in which it occurs here usually has a different meaning. It does not denote a proper noun, but is
expressive of that which denotes the essence, the nature, the real character of
something or of someone. This applies
also to the use of name in the
book of Revelation. Thus we read in chapter 3: 1: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and
art dead. Still more clearly the
term refers to personal identity and character rather than to a proper noun in vs. 5 of the same chapter: I will not blot out
his name out of the book of life. And without any doubt the term has this
meaning in vs. 12: Him that overcometh will I make a pillar
in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him
the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new
name. It is in this same
Scriptural sense of the word that we prefer to interpret the term in the phrase
name of the beast. It does not refer to any proper noun, but
expresses the nature, the real, spiritual character of the beast. In the third place, the interpretation that
finds the name of the beast to be Lateinos, and then
proceeds to discover the number six hundred and sixty six in the sum of its
letters, is both too mechanical and too arbitrary and besides, it smacks of the
allegorism of, the old Cabbalistic school of interpreters. If the number of the name of the beast is to
be considered a sum in arithmetic, one can never be sure of having discovered
the true meaning of the name: more than one name that deserves consideration
here will yield the same result. It is
true that the interpretation is ingenious, but the text informs us that wisdom
and understanding rather than ingenuity are required to discover the
significance of the number of the beast.
Vs. 18. And wisdom and understanding in the
Scriptural sense are spiritual insight in the things concerning the
On the very face of it the
number 666 with its emphatic repetition of the number six suggests that it is a
schematic number, and that its meaning must be found in its symbolism. And this is quite in accord with the use of numbers
in other parts of the book of Revelation.
The numbers three, four, six, seven, ten in their various combinations
and relations abound in this book, and constantly they have symbolic
significance. They are symbols of some
spiritual meaning. It would be very
strange, indeed, if a number like 666 would be an exception to this general
rule. And it is also evident that the
symbolic meaning of this number expresses the name or character of the
anti-Christian world-power. Now, the
number six is the number of creation: in six days God created the heavens and
the earth. It is the number of mans
week of labour, for even as God created all things in six days, so man must
labour six days and do all his work. Six
days, once on each day, the children of
Consider, now, the horrible
meaning of the mark of the beast. For
the mark is the name of the beast, and the symbolism of the number 666. The false prophet of the antichristian empire
will, therefore, so exert his power, that by decree of the State all within the
dominion of the Antichrist, that is, in the whole world, must adopt and
publically exhibit the name of the beast!
In this he reveals himself as anti-Christ, as the one that is opposed to
the Christ of God and that intends to usurp the place of the latter. For Christ, too, gives a name to them that
are His, the name of his God, and the name of the city of
But although in those days each
one will be called upon to make a choice, and although whatever choice he makes
is certainly voluntary and for that reason the expression of what lives in his
inmost heart, refusal to receive and to display the mark of the beast can be
made only at the price of suffering for Christs sake. For it is the purpose of the mark of the
beast to determine who shall have the privilege of buying and selling in the
dominion of Antichrist. For so we read
in verse 17 of Revelation 13: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark,
even the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Consider what this means. You are conducting a certain business, and
some day a State official steps into your store, takes one look at your
forehead and at your right hand, and orders your store closed immediately until
such a time as you shall have secured for yourself the mark of the beast. You try to make the purchase of your daily
necessities, your food and clothing, and the man behind the counter looks at
you, asks you to show your right hand and cooly
informs you: I cannot sell you anything! You are employed in a certain factory, and
are making a fair wage to provide for yourself and yours, and unexpectedly you
are called to the office and are told that, unless you secure the mark of the
beast, you need not return for work tomorrow.
You are renting a home, and as you pay your monthly rent, the proprietor
orders you to evacuate the house unless you immediately apply for the mark of
the beast. If you refuse to deny Christ
and to confess Antichrist, you will be a social outcast, worse than a pariah:
there will be no place left for you in the world! Voluntarily, indeed, you
make your choice, but your choice for Christ and against Antichrist will be put
to a severe test, more severe, in fact, than if the choice were between
Antichrist and immediate death!
Already we may read the approach
of those awful days in the signs of the times.
The place of the faithful Christian
in the world becomes narrower fast. Labour and industry and business and even
agriculture are becoming more and more organized and even today one cannot
always secure a job or conduct a certain business unless he subscribes
to principles and condones practices which are contrary to the Word of God and
to his Christian conscience. Yet,
today the matter is not compelling. It
may sometimes be a question of a better position, of a higher wage, of a little
more profit, but the faithful Christian may still have a place in the
world. But in the days of Antichrist
there will be no room left for him that refuses to receive the mark of the
beast. And it is not difficult to conceive
how in those days many will fall away that now appear to be of Christ. And it will not be difficult for them to find
excuses that will apparently justify their unfaithfulness, and even cause the
stand of the faithful to appear foolish.
Must they not live? And how shall
they live, if they can neither buy or sell?
Besides, it is not a State law that no one must receive the mark of the
beast, and must we not be in submission to authorities? Such arguments will, no doubt, appear very
plausible in the days of Antichrist. In
the meantime, let us remember that they are quite contrary to the Word, which
plainly teaches us that whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever
will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Matt. 16: 25.
And he that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his
life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 12: 25.
And let us not forget that only they whose names are not written in the book of life
of the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world shall
worship the beast, and receive the mark of the beast.
Dreadful days they will be, indeed, but only according to the
flesh. But also glorious days they must
be, days of much grace. For to His own,
God will surely give grace according to the way, in order that they may be
faithful even to the end. Significant is
the picture that is held before us in the beginning of chapter fourteen of the
book of Revelation. No matter how
Antichrist may rage, the Lamb is still standing on Mount Sion,
and the one hundred and forty and four thousand, all his elect, are still with Him, and no one shall be able to pluck them out
of his hand! Be patient, therefore even
unto the coming of the day of the
Lord! He that endureth unto the end
shall be saved! The victory is ours!
* *
*
FOOTNOTES
1
The post-tribulationists, who consign all
[regenerate] believers
whether watchful or unwatchful to the Great Tribulation, but contend that
the tribulation is not the wrath of God, a wrath which is expressed only, in the great and terrible day of the Lord which follows it, are
silenced by a single fact. That the
Great Tribulation is in the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord no prelude to
it, but part of it is proved by our Lords words describing it. Then shall be great
tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world
until now, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE
(Matt. 24: 21). Since no such horror will occur again, the [Great] Tribulation
must include, not forestall, the Day of the Lord.
RAPTURE
So the pre-tribulationists, who are sure that all [regenerate]
believers even the grossest backsliders [and
apostates] will be rapt en masse into sudden
glory before the [Great]
Tribulation starts, overlook the warning of our Lord [to His disciples]. Watch ye at every
season, making supplication, that YE
may prevail to escape all these things He has just described the Great
Tribulation, days of vengeance (verse
22) that shall come to pass (Luke 21: 36). The Old
Testament type, which our Lord stresses as a warning to His disciples concerning
His return, is extraordinarily illuminating:- Remember
[* That is, judged unworthy by the Lord, to
escape the coming tribulation warth of a holy and righteous God against wilful
sin and unbelief in His redeemed children: Heb. 10:
26-30. cf. Rev. 2: 23; 2 Pet. 2: 20, 21.]
WRATH
Both groups base their teaching on 1 Thess.
1: 10 the
pre-tribulationists asserting that all [regenerate] believers will escape the [Great] Tribulation wrath, the post-tribulationists that
the Tribulation is not wrath. But while we are
fundamentally and eternally delivered from the wrath to come, Paul equally
states that we believers can incur the wrath of God, even in the day of grace. After speaking of fornication and
uncleanness, he says -[to the saints in
[* That is, when the Day
of which Peter says: Is like a thousany years
(2 Pet. 3: 8, N.I.V.): that day which we ought never to forget about, is
the day when all unrepantant backsliders
and apostates will experience the salvation of the spirit:
the time when they realize (in the underworld) of not being considered worthy of
taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead
(Luke 20: 35) - the loss of the millennial
inheritance of which the land of Canaan is a type of the rest out ahead.
Num. 14: 24; 1 Cor. 10: 6, 11; Psa. 95: 11;
Heb. 11: 4: 1, 11; Rev. 20: 4-6.]
2
An open denial of the Second Advent and the prophetical
events assciated with it in the Holy Scriptures, are now being denied by all
A-Millennialists. Their false interpretations are evident throughout
the whole
The denial of the
Second Advent by almost the total Church of God is proved afresh by a congress
in Cleveland, Ohio, consisting of 481 of
the leading and most influential members of the Church in the United States and
Canada, and representing 45 denominations, which in its circular embodies
the dream that the Church is to
co-operate with the world in establishing the Kingdom of God. The document they have issued (Religious Digest, March, 1945) says:- It is the Christian faith that the Church, the body of
Christ and the fellowship of Christs followers, is the creation of His spirit,
and the steward of His purpose; that His Kingdom on earth is an unconquerable
Kingdom of justice and mercy and truth in which it is our responsibility
to bring human laws and human institutions into increasing accord with His holy
will. It is a complete denial of a kingdom solely
established by a returning Lord and by unprecedented judgments. The earliest exponents of the Apocalypse, such as
Justin Nartyr, Tertullian, Iranaeus, Hippolytus, and Victorinus, take in a
literal sense AN ACTUAL REIGN OF CHRIST ON THE EARTH.
3
The truth stated by Scripture that the
translation of Enoch was a reward is obvious to commentators, and is
undeniable.
John Angel
James,
a leading Nonconformist of the nineteenth century says:- Enochs translation
was a testimony to the whole world of
Gods approval of his conduct.
Dr. Gouge says:- To be translated
from the earth to heaven is a great
reward. Enoch did that which moved God to translate him: work must be done
before reward can be expected.
Gilfillan says:- One reason why this honour was conferred on him was to show his transcendent excellence. Calvin
says:- The Scripture shows that this translation was
a proof of the Divine love towards Enoch by
connecting it immediately with his pious and upright life. John
Gill, Spurgeons predecessor by a hundred years, says:- He was a walker with God, and the course of his conversation was holy and upright;
which was the reason of his translation, a high honour which was bestowed
upon him. God translated him; FOR before
his translation he hath had witness borne to him that he had been well-pleasing unto God (Heb. 11: 5).
* *
*
2
It is of
immense importance to warn our young folk of the tremendous events at our
doors; and none is more stupendous than the Mark of the Beast. Satans profound wisdom is proved by his
studied imitation of God; and he knows perfectly well, from the Apocalypse, that
the 144,000 body-guard of the Lamb have
his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads (Rev. 14: 1); and of
all the redeemed at last it is written, - They shall
see his face, and his name shall be written on their foreheads (Rev. 22 : 4). The names of God confessed on earth are now
the glory of the saints on high: their ownership by God, and the character of
God, are stamped for ever on the redeemed. Exactly so, the Antichrist, equally with the
Christ, will have his name stamped on his worshippers, and they will be the
whole world.
A Flesh Mark
It was very
startling, some years ago, to confront - for the first time in modern
A Mark
Now the False Prophet yet to
come is to enforce the worship of the Antichrist with a cutting in the flesh.
He causeth all, the small and
the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond - wealth
cannot buy itself out of the obligation, nor is anyone too obscure to escape
notice that there be given them A MARK tatoo, a brand; a puncturing of the skin so as to produce
an indelible impression on their right hand - this
selection of the right hand at once proves it is a literal mark or upon their forehead (Rev.
13: 16)* Under the Law one sex of Gods people had to
receive a mark in the flesh - circumcision: all other flesh-cuttings were
strictly forbidden. Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, NOR PRINT ANY MARKS upon you (Lev.
19 : 28).
Upon only one Gentile in the Old Testament was a mark ever set with the
approval of God, and one full of an awful significance. The Lord appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him - it
must therefore have been a visible mark, probably in the forehead should smite him (Gen. 4:
15). The first murderer, the first apostate, God branded as a forecast and
prototype of the murderers and apostates who will form the Church of the
Antichrist, and meet an identical doom.
* The forehead, as the most conspicuous, would be used by the
enthusiastic the hand by females, as less detrimental to beauty. - GOVETT.
Its
Significance
What the significance of a
tattoo is, history has already abundantly proved. Slaves were branded by the Romans as we brand
cattle, to show their ownership by their masters mark burnt into the flesh,
and so to reveal that they were his inalienable property. You know slaves,
says a Roman writer (Petronius),
by their foreheads. So Roman soldiers also, as devoted body and
soul to the Emperor had branded as stigmata on their hands the name of the
Emperor. This tattooing was done in
various ways: by puncturing with needles or burning with hot irons, or marking
with indelible ink: the operation, we are
told, in the East today, performed with a hammer and
a serrated chisel, causes great swelling and excruciating pain, and is
sometimes the work of years.
Early in the Russian Revolution a private letter from
A Sacrament
But the history of Paganism
reveals a significance still deeper and more
sinister. Stigmata have always been
associated with Idolatory. No Hindu can enter his temple without a mark
on his forehead, painted on it by a Brahmin, called the Tiluk;
a scarlet mark and perpendicular, if of Krisha; or a
saffron and horizontal, if of Liva. So, in ancient
Coupons
But the main reason of the Mark
is a masterpiece of economic diabolism.
It is imposed in order that no man should
be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark. The
transactions of commerce are made illegal without it: it is the voucher for all
business transactions: no one is prevented from entering the shops or markets,
but before any deal across the counter can be accomplished, the hat must be
removed, or the palm opened. All food
will be rationed, and will be reserved for worshippers of the Antichrist,
publicly and indelibly self-confessed as such, alone: it makes all secret
worship, or secret refusal to worship, impossible: as God demands public
confession, so does Antichrist. The two
World Wars, by their universal registration and strict food-rationing, brought us
an enormous stride nearer the goal; but the economy of the final system is
obvious - no enrolment, no registration cards, no coupons, no costly
organization; simply a cutting in the flesh, self-inflicted, and therefore the
cost of the victim alone.
Hell
Now the awful consequence of
accepting the Mark of the Beast is revealed in the most terrible revelation of
Hell given in the whole Bible. If any man worshippeth the beast and his image and receiveth
a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of
the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger; and he
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels,
and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment goeth up for
ever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, they that worship the beast
and his image, and whoso receiveth the mark of his name. (Rev. 14 : 9). *
* The enforcing the Mark on entire humanity by making it a
compulsory food-coupon, without which is certain starvation, seems to make sure
that the Mark will not be stamped on the flesh of those who refuse it. If it were, it manifestly would not
incriminate the victim, nor involve him in eternal punishment.
Heaven
Could anything make more vitally
important the love of God still wooing all mankind, just before the awful
revelation of Fire and Brimstone? Less
than a century ago the South Sea Islanders were ignorant, idolatrous, immoral,
and inhuman. Neighbouring islands were
raided and captives were roasted and eaten.
For fourteen Years, missionaries laboured at the risk of their lives and
without any visible results. Mr. Hunt, a missionary, translated the
Gospel of John, and, before printing it, read it to the natives in their own
language. After he had read verse 16, God so loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life, a Chief stepped out and said, - Would you
read that again, Mr. Hunt? After
the Missionary had read it again, the Chief said, - Ah,
that may be true of you white folks, but it is not true in these islands; the
gods have no love for us. Mr.
Hunt fixed on the word whosoever and
that poor Chief it meant him. The old Chief was convinced and said, - Well, then, if that is the case, your book shall be my book,
and your people shall be my people, and your heaven shall be my heaven. We, down on the
* *
*
ENTHRONED ON THE BEAST
After
Constantine took his place openly as the head of
the church, but at the same time retained the office of Pontifex Maximus, the
high priest of the heathen: this he never gave up: he died the head of the
church, and high priest of the heathen.
It was the custom of the polytheistic
Christians were scupulous at that time in
keeping holy the first day of the week, in memory of their risen Lord. Perceving that this was enough in itself to
distinguish them from their fellow-citizens, Constantine issued an edict that
the pagans should observe the same day in honour of their sun god, Apollo, and
call it Deis Solis, of the Day of the Sun.
Very soon Christ and Apollo came to be identified, and from this
unseemly origen comes our modern term, Sunday.
About this time the custom of turning to the
East was introduced into the church.
For, however this ceremony may be explained, it is pagan in its origin,
and connected with the worship of the sun god.
It was practised in the remotest antiquity. God called it an abomination
when the Israelites did it. Ezek. 8:
15, 16.
The sign of the cross was another pagan symbol
brought into the church about this time.
The cross was the mystic Tau, the
famous, but obscene sign of life, known from
earliest antiquity throughout the whole circle of heathendom, and marked in
baptism upon the forehead of those being initiated into the mysteries. It was the great Phallic emblem. For this the Christian meant the cross of
Christ; for the pagans it retained its previous meaning.
- Christian Life.
-------
LET US PRESS ON TOWARDS
THE GOAL TO WIN THE PRIZE
LET US LIVE UP TO
WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY ATTAINED:
(Phil. 3: 14, 16).