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Third Angel’s Message
185
the authority of the church to legislate in divine things, and declare
that Protestants, by observing the Sabbath as thus changed, are
recognizing her power. The Roman Church has not relinquished her
claim to supremacy; and when the world and the Protestant churches
accept a Sabbath of her creating, while they reject the Bible Sabbath,
they virtually admit this assumption. They may claim the authority
of apostles and Fathers for the change; but in so doing they ignore
the very principle which separates them from Rome,—that “the
Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants.” The papist
can see that they are deceiving themselves, willingly closing their
eyes to the facts in the case. As the Sunday institution gains favor,
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he rejoices, feeling assured that it will eventually bring the whole
Protestant world under the banner of Rome.
The fourth commandment, which Rome has endeavored to set
aside, is the only precept of the decalogue that points to God as
the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus distinguishes
the true God from all false gods. The Sabbath was instituted to
commemorate the work of creation, and thus to direct the minds
of men to the true and living God. The fact of his creative power
is cited throughout the Scriptures as proof that the God of Israel
is superior to heathen deities. Had the Sabbath always been kept,
man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to his Maker as
the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have
been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel.
That institution which points to God as the Creator is a sign of
his rightful authority over the beings he has made. The change of the
Sabbath is the sign, or mark, of the authority of the Romish Church.
Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment,
choose to observe the false in place of the true Sabbath, are thereby
paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. The
change in the fourth commandment is the change pointed out in the
prophecy, and the keeping of the counterfeit Sabbath is the reception
of the mark. But Christians of past generations observed the first
day, supposing that they were keeping the Bible Sabbath, and there
are in the churches of today many who honestly believe that Sunday
is the Sabbath of divine appointment. None of these have received
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the mark of the beast. There are true Christians in every church,
not excepting the Roman Catholic communion. The test upon this