“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 7:25.

“The change of the Sabbath is the sign or mark of the authority of the Roman church. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false “sabbath” in the place of the true, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. The mark of the beast is the papal “sabbath”, which has been accepted by the world in the place of the day of God’s appointment.

No one has yet received the mark of the beast. The testing time has not yet come. There are true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion. None are condemned until they have had the light and have seen the obligation of the fourth commandment. But when the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit sabbath, and the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast.

With rapid steps, we are approaching this period. When Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution, then will the papal “sabbath” be enforced by the combined authority of church and state. There will be a national apostasy, which will end only in national ruin.” –Evangelism, pp. 234, 235.

Questions to think about:

What does “the mark of the beast” mean?

Does God have His own honest children among the fallen churches, and would He like to call them out of Babylon?

Are we soon approaching the final test of faithfulness as God’s servants by not receiving the mark of the beast? Are we ready?