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From Here to Forever
godliness, but denying the power thereof.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5
. “Now
the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines
of devils.”
1 Timothy 4:1
.
All that “received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved,” will accept “strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”
2 Thessalonians 2:10, 11
. When this state shall be reached, the same
results will follow as in the first centuries.
The wide diversity of belief in Protestant churches is regarded
by many as proof that no forced uniformity can ever be made. But
there has been for years in Protestant churches a growing sentiment
in favor of union. To secure such union, discussion of subjects upon
which all were not agreed must be waived. In the effort to secure
complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort to force.
When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon
such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influ-
ence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions,
then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman
hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will
inevitably result.
The Beast and His Image
The beast with two horns “causeth [commands] 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, or the name of the beast, or the number
of his name.”
Revelation 13:16, 17
. The third angel warns: “If any
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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.”
“The beast” whose worship is enforced is the first, or leopardlike,
beast of
Revelation 13
—the papacy. The “image to the beast” repre-
sents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed
when the Protestant churches seek the aid of civil power for the
enforcement of their dogmas. The “mark of the beast” still remains
to be defined.