A Warning for Today's World

The heart of God is filled with love for this planet. A loving God sent His Son to redeem us. A loving, compassionate God reaches out to us in daily concern. A loving God is coming again for us. He will put an end to sickness, disease, sorrow, hunger, pain, and death. God’s love is revealed in gentle pleading to our heart. It is also revealed in solemn warnings.

The most solemn warning ever given to humanity is found in Revelation 13. A crucial test is coming. The conflict will revolve around true and false worship. The central issue is the law of God.

The book of Revelation reveals the plans of God and unmasks the delusions of the enemy. Every person has a choice. Our eternal destiny hinges upon the choice we make. Today’s lesson will focus upon the final issue in the great controversy between good and evil.

01. What message of urgent warning does the angel of Revelation give?
Revelation 14:9–10
09. Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10. he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

02. As the crisis approaches, what penalties will eventually be forced upon those who do not receive the mark of the beast?
Revelation 13:15–17
15. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
16. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,
17. and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Note
A great crisis is approaching in which everyone will be coerced, through an economic boycott or under threat of death, to receive the mark of the beast. Those who yield to these pressures, both religious and economic, will do so with the clear understanding that they are violating the commandments of God.

03. What will eventually happen to those who receive the mark of the beast?
Revelation 15:1
Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.
Revelation 16:1–2
01. Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.”
02. So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.

04. What is God’s sign called, that stands in opposition to Satan’s mark?
Revelation 7:1–3
01. After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.
02. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea,
03. saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
Note
The seal relates to God’s law (Isaiah 8:16, 20). As an ancient king’s seal contained his title and dominion, giving authority and making official his letters, so God’s seal contains His name, title, and area of authority. In the Bible a sign or a seal is often used interchangeably (Romans 4:11). According to Ezekiel 20:12 God’s sign is His Sabbath. It is His seal of loyalty revealing He is our Creator and Lord.​
We find God’s seal in the fourth commandment (Exodus 20:8-11). “For in six days the LORD [His name], MADE [Maker or Creator] the HEAVENS AND THE EARTH [His dominion]” (verse 11, NKJV).*
These signs represent two systems of religion—one initiated by God, one initiated by human beings. One the way of truth! One the way of error! To every soul will come the crucial test: shall I obey God, or shall I obey humanity?

WHO IS THE BEAST?

05. What three things did the dragon, or the devil, working through pagan Rome, bestow upon papal Rome, its eventual successor?
Revelation 13:1–2
01. Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.
02. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
Note
It was the dragon, or the devil, working through pagan Rome, who tried to destroy Christ. And it was that same power that gave the beast its seat, or capital city, power and authority. Nations don’t do that very often! To whom did pagan Rome give its seat of government? How did it take place? History is clear.
“By retiring to the East he [Constantine] left the field clear for the Bishops of Rome.” “The Papacy is but ‘the ghost’ of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the ‘grave thereof’” (Arthur P. Stanley, Lectures on the History of the Eastern Church [1884], p. 197).
The papal system of religion is the one mentioned in Revelation 13. We must remember here that we are talking about a system, not about individual members of that system.

06. How else is this Beast power identified?
Revelation 13:3, 5
03. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
05. And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.

07. According to the Bible, what is blasphemy?
John 10:33
The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”
Luke 5:21
And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Note
Here we find that if anyone “claims” to be God, that person commits an act of blasphemy. We also find that an earthly religious leader who claims the ability to forgive our sins also commits blasphemy. Such a leader usurps the authority that belongs to God alone!
The Papacy makes these claims:
Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) declared,

1. “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.”

2. “Priests are called Vicars of Jesus because they hold His place on earth"

3. “Let the priest approach the altar as another Christ.”

4. “The priest holds the place of the Savior Himself, when, by saying ‘Ego te absolvo,’ he absolves from sin,”

- Alphonsus de Liguori, Dignities and Duties of the Priest, p. 34

08. What will this beast power do to God's people?
Revelation 13:7
It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
Note
It is a well-known fact that millions of martyrs have paid with their blood the price for faithfulness to God. Church history is filled with examples of such persecution.

09. How long was this persecution power to continue?
Revelation 13:5
And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.
Note
These 42 months of 30 days in a month equal 1260 days. In Bible prophecy one prophetic day equals one literal year (Ezekiel 4:6; Numbers 14:34). The 1260 days are actually 1260 years. In A.D. 538 Justinian, the pagan Roman emperor, officially granted the Roman bishop the role of defender of the emperor’s empire, the definer of heretics, and defender of the faith. The Papacy exercised great influence from A.D. 538 to A.D. 1798. In 1798 the French general Berthier under orders from Napoleon, invaded Rome and took the pope captive. The pope died in captivity, thus inflicting a deadly wound on the Papacy.​

10. What does God say the number of the beast's name is?
Revelation 13:17–18
17. and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
Note
In the Bible the number 7 is used to communicate perfection or completeness. The number 6 is used to communicate the opposite - imperfection or incompleteness. One of the official titles of the pope is "Vicarius Filii Dei". These three words are Latin for “Vicar of the Son of God.” Webster defines “vicar” as a substitute, a person who acts in the place of another. Since this is a Roman power, it is only logical that the method of computation would be in Roman numerals. Taken numerically, this papal title is seen to be 666 as follows:

Putting all the evidence together, it becomes clear that the Roman system is the beast power of Revelation 13. In the Bible a beast does not represent a person; it represents a political or religious power.

11. What does Revelation 14:9-11 warn us against?
Revelation 14:9–11
09. Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10. he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

12. What does the Roman church say is the sign of it's authority?
On January 18, 1563, “the Archbishop of Reggio made a speech in which he openly declared that tradition stood above the Scriptures because the church had changed the Sabbath into Sunday—not by a command of Christ, but by its own authority” (Canon and Tradition, p. 263).
The basis of papal authority, he declared, was founded upon the right to change the Sabbath from Saturday, the seventh day, to Sunday, the first day. “The church,” says the Catholic Record, “is above the Bible and this transference of Sabbath to Sunday is proof of that fact” (Sept. 1, 1923).
In a letter written in November 1895, H. F. Thomas, chancellor to Cardinal James Gibbons, replying to an inquiry as to whether the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath, said: “Of course, the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act, . . . and the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority.”
Rome claims that the change of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday is a mark of its authority. In the future church and state will unite once again in an attempt to enforce this mark. It is only at this point in the future when the issues are clear that the mark of the beast will be enforced. No one has the mark of the beast now.

13. What call does God give His people now?
Revelation 18:4–5
04. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.
05. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

14. What is the basic issue involved in the crisis at the close of this earth’s history?
Romans 6:16
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
Note
The issue in earth’s final conflict is more than a matter of days of worship— it is a matter of allegiance. It has to do with whose side we are on. God invites us to decide to worship Him as Creator and Lord, today and forever.

​Concluding Question
Would you like to make the commitment today to choose to be loyal to Jesus and keep His commandments including reverencing His Holy Sabbath day?

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Read the Following Bible passages:

1. Exodus 32:26

2. Joshua 24:15

3. 1 Kings 18:21

4. Psalm 91

5. Psalm 46
   

6. Daniel 3:1-7

7. Daniel 3:14-18

8. Daniel 3:19-25
   

9. Mark 7:9

10. John 14:15

11. James 4:17

12. James 2:10

13. Revelation 18:4