The Revelation Explained / An Exposition, Text by Text, of the Apocalypse of St. John

In the city of Rome there still stands an old heathen temple built by Marcus Agrippa and dedicated in the year B.C. 27 to all the gods. In the year A.D. 610 it was reconsecrated by Pope Boniface IV. to "the blessed Virgin and all the saints." From that time until the present day Romanists in the same temple have prostrated themselves before the very same images and have devoutly emplored them by the same forms of prayer and for the very same purposes as did the heathen of old.

The only difference is, that instead of calling this idol Jupiter, they call it Paul; instead of denominating that one Venus, they call it Mary, etc. Well has Bowling said: "The scholar, familiar as he is with the classic descriptions of ancient mythology, when he directs his attention to the ceremonies of Papal worship, can not avoid recognizing their close resemblance, if not their absolute identity. The temples of Jupiter, Diana, Venus or Apollo, their 'altars smoking with incense,' their boys in sacred habits, holding the incense box, and attending upon the priests, their holy water at the entrance of the temples, with their aspergilla, or sprinkling-brushes, their thuribula, or vessels of incense, their ever-burning lamps before the statues of their deities, are irresistibly brought before his mind, whenever he visits a Roman Catholic place of worship, and witnesses precisely the same things." History of Romanism, pp. 109, 110.

Having failed in his direct attacks against the Christian church, with the accession of Constantine, who established Christianity as the State religion, the dragon soon clothed his pernicious principles in a Christian garb and made war against the remnant of the woman's seed that kept the commandments of God, through the rising hierarchy, under the name of Christianity; but his heads and horns being visible, and he being unable to control his tongue, his real sentiments crop out, and he is easily identified. It is not to be supposed, however, that the beast would appear suddenly in full possession of the immense power ascribed to him in this chapter. On the contrary, Daniel represents it as a little horn at first, whose look finally became "more stout than his fellows." Dan. 7:8, 20. Such ecclesiastical power was attained only by the process of gradual development. According to the vision his universal power was limited to "forty and two months," or twelve hundred and sixty years. Since this has reference to the beast as an ecclesiastal power, which according to Daniel grew up by degrees, the time should be calculated the same as in chapter 11:2, 3-dated from the time when the external, visible church was wholly in the hands of the profane multitude of Gentiles and the true church crowded into the wilderness. The nationalized hierarchy, however, continued to advance to greater degrees of power over the nations, until it reached its zenith under the pontificate of Gregory VII., A.D. 1073-1080.

The great things and blasphemies spoken by this beast are doubtless fulfilled by the prerogatives and rights belonging to God alone which this apostate church, especially through her regularly constituted head, claims. In fact, the Pope is the real mouth of this beast, the one who dictates her laws with great authority. He claims to be the vicar of Christ on earth and supreme head of the church, even, as in the case of Pope Innocent, denominating himself the one before whom every knee must bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth. He claims power over the souls of all men on earth and even after their departure from earth. If this is not blasphemy against God, his tabernacle, or church, and "them that dwell in heaven," then I am wholly unable to imagine what would fulfil the prediction. Among the blasphemous titles assumed are these: Lord God the Pope, King of the World, Holy Father, King of kings, and Lord of lords, Vicegerent of the Son of God. He claims infallibility (which was backed up by the Ecumenical council of 1870) and has for ages. Further, he claims power to dispense with God's laws, to forgive sins, to release from purgatory, to damn, and to save.

All the inhabitants of the earth were to worship him, except those whose names were in the book of life. Thank God that even during the dark age of Romanism a people existed who were owned by the Lord and who refused to render idolatrous worship to this tyrannical beast. For further information regarding these medieval Christians, see remarks on chapter 11:3. But these saints who opposed the Papal assumptions were made the object of fearful persecutions, until Rome glutted herself upon the blood of millions of God's holy saints. This will be more fully described in chapter 17, where this apostate church appears under another symbol, "drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." In all their severe trials, however, they were comforted with the knowledge that Justice would not always sleep, but that a time would come when her retributive hand would be stretched forth to lead into captivity their persecuting enemies and break their world-wide reign of tyranny and usurpation. "Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." To a number of people God gave special foresight of the coming reformation of the sixteenth century, in which the universal spiritual supremacy of the Papacy ended. A few of the many examples will be profitable.

Says D'Aubigne: "John Huss preached in Bohemia a century before Luther preached in Saxony. He seems to have penetrated deeper than his predecessors into the essence of Christian truth. He prayed to Christ for grace to glory only in his cross, and in the inestimable humiliation of his sufferings.... He was, if we may be allowed the expression, the John Baptist of the reformation. The flames of his pile kindled a fire in the church that cast a brilliant light into the surrounding darkness, and whose glimmerings were not to be so readily extinguished. John Huss did more: prophetic words issued from the depths of his dungeon. He foresaw that a real reformation of the church was at hand. When driven out of Prague and compelled to wander through the fields of Bohemia, where an immense crowd followed his steps and hung upon his words, he had cried out: 'The wicked have begun by preparing a treacherous snare for a goose. But if even the goose, which is only a domestic bird, a peaceful animal, and whose flight is not very far in the air, has nevertheless broken through their toils, other birds, soaring more boldly towards the sky, will break through them with still greater force. Instead of a feeble goose, the truth will send forth eagles and keen-eyed vultures.' This prediction was fulfilled by the reformers.

"When the venerable priest had been summoned by Sigismund's order before the Council of Constance, and had been thrown into prison, the chapel of Bethlehem, in which he had proclaimed the gospel and the future triumphs of Christ, occupied his mind much more than his own defence. One night the holy martyr saw in imagination, from the depths of his dungeon, the pictures of Christ which he had painted on the walls of his oratory, effaced by the Pope and his bishops. This vision distressed him; but on the next day he saw many painters occupied in restoring these figures in greater number and in brighter colors. As soon as the task was ended, the painters, who were surrounded by an immense crowd, exclaimed, 'Now let the popes and bishops come! they shall never efface them more!' And many people rejoiced in Bethlehem, and I with them, adds John Huss. 'Busy yourself with your defence rather than with your dreams,' said his faithful friend, the Knight of Chlum, to whom he had communicated this vision. 'I am no dreamer,' replied Huss, 'but I maintain this for certain, that the image of Christ will never be effaced. They have wished to destroy it, but it shall be painted afresh in all hearts by much better preachers than myself. The nation that loves Christ will rejoice at this. And I, awaking from the dead, and rising so to speak, from my grave, shall leap with great joy.'" History of the Reformation, Book I, Chap. 6.

This bold witness for Christ was burned at the stake July 6, 1415, by order of the General Council of Constance. When the fagots were piled up around him ready for the torch, he said to the executioner, "You are now going to burn a goose [Huss signifying goose in the Bohemian language]; but in a century you will have a swan whom you can neither roast nor boil." Fox's Book of Martyrs. This was fulfilled in Martin Luther.

Henry Institorus, an inquisitor, uttered these remarkable words: "'All the world cries out and demands a council, but there is no human power that can reform the church by a council. The Most High will find other means, which are at present unknown to us, although they may be at our very doors, to bring back the church to its pristine condition.' This remarkable prophecy, delivered by an inquisitor at the very period of Luther's birth, is the best apology for the reformation."

Andrew Proles, provincial of the Augustines, used often to say: "Whence, then, proceeds so much darkness and such horrible superstitions? O my brethren! Christianity needs a bold and a great reform, and methinks I see it already approaching.... I am bent with the weight of years, and weak in body, and I have not the learning, the ability, and eloquence, that so great an undertaking requires. But God will raise up a hero, who by his age, strength, talents, learning, genius and eloquence, shall hold the foremost place. He will begin the reformation; he will oppose error, and God will give him boldness to resist the mighty ones of the earth."

John Hilten censured the most flagrant abuses of the monastic life, and the exasperated monks threw him into prison and treated him shamefully. "The Franciscan, forgetting his malady and groaning heavily, replied: 'I bear your insults calmly for the love of Christ; for I have said nothing that can injure the monastic state: I have only censured its most crying abuses.' 'But,' continued he (according to what Melancthon records in his Apology for the Augsburg Confession of Faith), 'another man will rise in the year of our Lord 1516: he will destroy you, and you shall not be able to resist him.'"

In 1516 Luther held a public discussion with Feld-kirchen, in which he upheld certain doctrines of truth that made a great stir among the Romanists. Says D'Aubigne: "The disputation took place in 1516. This was Luther's first attack upon the dominion of the sophists and upon the Papacy, as he himself characterizes it." And again, "This disputation made a great noise, and it has been considered as the beginning of the reformation." Book I, Chap. 9. The next year, however, he entered publicly upon the actual work of reformation.

Frederick of Saxony, surnamed the Wise, was the most powerful elector of the German empire at the period of the reformation. A dream he had and related just before the world was startled by the first great act of reformation is so striking that I feel justified in repeating it in this connection. It was as follows:

"Having gone to bed last night, tired and dispirited, I soon fell asleep after saying my prayers, and slept calmly for about two hours and a half. I then awoke, and all kinds of thoughts occupied me until midnight.... I then fell asleep again, and dreamed the Almighty sent me a monk, who was a true son of Paul the apostle. He was accompanied by all the saints, in obedience to God's command, to bear him testimony, and to assure me that he did not come with any fraudulent design, but that all he should do was conformable to the will of God. They asked my gracious permission to let him write something on the doors of the palace-chapel at Wittemberg, which I conceded through my chancellor. Upon this, the monk retired thither and began to write; so large were the characters that I could read from Schweinitz what he was writing [about 18 miles]. The pen he used was so long that its extremity reached as far as Rome, where it pierced the ears of a lion which lay there, and shook the triple crown on the Pope's head. All the cardinals and princes ran up hastily and endeavored to support it.... I stretched out my arm: that moment I awoke with my arm extended, in great alarm and very angry with this monk, who could not guide his pen better. I recovered myself a little.... It was only a dream. I was still half asleep, and once more closed my eyes. The dream came again. The lion, still disturbed by the pen, began to roar with all his might, until the whole city of Rome, and all the States of the holy empire, ran up to know what was the matter. The Pope called upon us to oppose this monk, and addressed himself particularly to me, because the friar was living in my dominions. I again awoke, repeated the Lord's prayer, entreated God to preserve his Holiness, and fell asleep.... I then dreamt that all the princes of the empire, and we along with them, hastened to Rome, and endeavored one after another to break this pen; but the greater our exertions the stronger it became: it crackled as if it had been made of iron: we gave it up as hopeless. I then asked the monk (for I was now at Rome, now at Wittemberg) where he had got that pen, and how it came to be so strong. [In those days they used goosequills for pens.] 'This pen,' replied he, 'belonged to a Bohemian goose [Huss] a hundred years old. I had it from one of my old schoolmasters. It is so strong because no one can take the pith out of it, and I am myself quite astonished at it.' On a sudden I heard a loud cry; from the monk's long pen had issued a host of other pens. I awoke a third time; it was day light." History of the Reformation, Book III, Chap. 4.

Frederick related the foregoing to his brother John, the Duke of York, on the morning of Oct. 31, 1517, stating that he had dreamed it during the previous night. The same day at noon Martin Luther advanced boldly to the chapel at Wittemberg and posted upon the door ninety-five theses, or propositions, against the Papal doctrine of indulgences. This was his public entrance upon the great work of reformation. The importance of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century is incalculable. It gave the deathblow to the universal spiritual supremacy of Rome. As we have already seen, the Papacy had for centuries held despotic sway over the minds and the consciences of men. One potent cause of the Reformation was the great Revival of Learning that marked the close of the medieval and the beginning of the modern period of history. This great mental awakening contrasted sharply with the blind ignorance and superstition of the Middle Ages, and caused many men to doubt the Scriptural authority of many of the doctrines and ceremonies of the Church of Rome; such as invocation of saints, auricular confession, use of images, worship of the Virgin Mary, etc.

Scandals and abuses in the Church of Rome also hastened the Reformation. During the fifteenth century the morals of that church had sunk to the greatest depths of iniquity. The Popes themselves were, in some cases, monsters of impurity and iniquity, insomuch that historians are obliged to draw the vail over many of their dark deeds.

But the real occasion of the revolt of the northern nations of Europe against the jurisdiction of Rome was the controversy regarding indulgences. "These in the Catholic church, are remissions, to penitents of punishment due for sin, upon the performances of some work of mercy or piety, or the payment of a sum of money." When Leo X. was elected to the Papal dignity (1513), he found the church in great need of money for the building of Saint Peter's and other undertakings, and he had recourse to a grant of indulgences to fill the coffers of the church. The power of dispensing these indulgences in Saxony in Germany was given to a Dominican friar named Tetzel. This fanatic enthusiast entertained the most exaggerated opinion of the efficacy of indulgences. In his harrangues he uttered such expressions as the following:

"Indulgences are the most precious and the most noble of God's gifts." "There is no sin so great that an indulgence can not remit; ... only let him pay well, and all will be forgiven him." "Come, and I will give you letters, all properly sealed, by which even the sins that you intend to commit may be pardoned." "I would not change my privileges for those of St. Peter in heaven; for I have saved more souls by my indulgences than the apostle by his sermons." "The Lord Omnipotent hath ceased to reign; he has resigned all power to the Pope." See D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, Book III, Chap. 1.

Martin Luther was an Augustine monk and a teacher of theology in the University of Wittemberg. Before Tetzel appeared in Germany, Luther possessed a wide reputation for learning and piety, and he had also entertained doubts respecting many of the doctrines of the church. During an official visit to Rome in 1510 he was almost overwhelmed with sorrow because of the moral corruption there; but while penitentially ascending on his knees the sacred stairs of the Lateran, he seemed to hear a voice thundering in his soul, "The just shall live by faith!" This marked an important epoch in his career.

When Tetzel appeared in Saxony with his indulgences, Luther fearlessly opposed him. He drew up ninety-five theses against the infamous traffic and nailed them to the door of the church at Wittemberg, and invited all scholars to criticise them and point out if they were opposed to the doctrine of the Word of God or of the early church Fathers. Here the invention of printing proved to be a powerful agency in advancing the cause of reformation by scattering copies of these theses everywhere; and soon the continent of Europe was in a perfect turmoil of controversy. The Pope excommunicated Luther as a heretic. In reply Luther burned the Papal bull publicly at Wittemberg. Shortly afterward Luther produced his celebrated translation of the Bible in the German language. Even a brief history of the entire Reformation would be too large for the limits of the present volume, therefore with a few words respecting the nature of the work of the Reformation we will pass on to another prophetic vision.

The great secret of the early success of the reformers was their appeal from the decisions of councils and regulations of men to the Word of God. So long as the Word and Spirit of God were allowed their proper place as the Governors of God's people, the work was a spiritual blessing. But this happy state of affairs did not long continue. Within a few years the followers of the reformers were divided into hostile sects and began to oppose and persecute each other. Luther denounced Zwingle as a heretic, and "the Calvinists would have no dealings with the Lutherans." The first Protestant creed was the Augsburg Confession (1530). This date marks an important epoch. From this time the people began to lose sight of the Word and Spirit of God as their Governors and to turn to the disciplines of their sects, which they upheld by every means possible. Thus we find Calvin at Geneva consenting to the burning of Servetus, because of a difference of religious views; and in England the Anglican Protestants waged the most bitter, cruel, and relentless war not only against Catholics, but against all Protestants who refused to conform to the Established Church. The Protestants placed armies in the field and fought for their creeds, as during the Thirty Years' War in Germany and the long period of the Hugenot wars in France. The real work of the Reformation, the promulgation of so much of the truth of the Bible, was an inestimable blessing to the world; but the rise of Protestantism (organized sectism) in 1530 introduced another period of apostasy as distinct in many of its features as was that of Romanism before it. The historian D'Aubigne recognizes an important change at this period. He says:

"The first two books of this volume contain the most important epochs of the Reformation-the Protest of Spires, and the Confession of Augsburg.... I determined on bringing the reformation of Germany and German Switzerland to the decisive epochs of 1530 and 1531. The history of the Reformation, properly so-called, is then in my opinion almost complete in those countries. The work of faith has there attained its apogee: that of conferences, of interims, of diplomacy begins.... The movement of the Sixteenth Century has there made its effort. I said from the very first, It is the history of the Reformation and not of Protestantism that I am relating." Preface to Vol. V.

The symbolic description of this beast directs us also to a political and a religious system rising at the expiration of the twelve hundred and sixty years' reign of the first beast, but that he was no such terrible beast politically as the one before him is proved by the fact that he had but two horns and they like a lamb. This beast rose "out of the earth"-the Apocalyptic earth, or the territory of the Roman empire.

The first beast rose out of the sea, which, as before shown, signifies the heart of the empire in an agitated state; for the ten horns came up through the greatest political convulsions that the page of history records. When John beheld the second beast "coming up," however, the empire was in a state of comparative quiet, although fierce wars followed afterward. He stands as a symbol of Protestantism in Europe; although his power and influence afterwards extended beyond the "earth"-the Apocalyptic earth-into "the whole world." Chap. 16:14. That this beast came up upon the same territory occupied by the Papacy is proved also by the statement that "he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him." It was predicted in a subsequent chapter (17:16) that the ten horns, or kingdoms of Europe, after supporting the Papacy during the Dark Ages, would later turn against her. This has met a remarkable fulfilment under the reign of Protestantism.

The first two nations to turn violently against Popery were England and Germany. They have ever since been the chief supporters and defenders of Protestantism, and they are doubtless the two kingdoms symbolized by the two horns of the beast. While at one time the Pope was a temporal sovereign and could, by his political and ecclesiastical power, humble with ease the mightiest nations of Europe before him, his authority has been wrested from him by degrees, so that to-day not a vestige of his temporal power remains, and his anathemas fall harmlessly. The nations have asserted their rights as kings. When King Victor Emmanuel entered Rome on the twentieth day of September, 1870, the Pope's temporal sun set forever, and he does not control even the city in which he lives-Rome. He is often referred to as "the prisoner of the Vatican." "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity," said the prophecy; "he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." It was by force of arms that the Popes obtained and maintained their temporal power over the nations, and by the force of arms they have had their authority torn from them. Religion has been referred to as "the basis of government"; for the legislators of any country are to a great degree influenced in their deliberations by religious sentiments. In all Protestant countries that greatest of Protestant principles, religious liberty, is as truly recognized by statute as was that infernal principle of the Papacy, religious intolerance, when formerly enforced by law. Protestant principles have so far permeated the nations of Europe formerly controlled by the Papacy that religious toleration is generally granted. In Italy, the headquarters of Popedom, where the Catholics are greatly in the majority, religious liberty is granted by law. And even Spain, denominated by the Encyclop?dia Britannica "the most Catholic country in the world," exhibits "a general indifferentism to religion," meaning that the fanaticism and intolerance of former ages that caused thousands, and perhaps millions, to be slain, is rapidly dying out. In the vision before us, however, the special actions ascribed to this beast-speaking, working miracles, deceiving, making an image and imparting life to it, etc., which all belong properly to the department of human life-show conclusively that it is the character of this beast as an ecclesiastical power that is the chief point under consideration. He was not to become such a terrible beast politically (for his horns were only like a lamb), but "he spake as a dragon." As soon as we enter the department to which speaking by analogy refers us, we find this beast to be a great religious power; and it is in this character alone that he is dilineated in the remainder of the chapter. That the description of a religious system is the main burden of this symbol, is shown also by the fact that it is in every case referred to in subsequent chapters as the "false prophet." Chap. 16:13; 19:20; 20:10. Therefore every reference I make to this second beast hereafter should be understood as signifying the religious system of Protestantism, unless otherwise stated.

That Protestantism in its many forms can be properly represented by a single symbol-a beast or false prophet-may seem a little strange at first; but when we come to consider next the making of an image to the beast, it will be seen that the Protestant sects, from God's standpoint of viewing, are all alike in character, as were the multitudinous forms of heathen worship represented under the single symbol of the dragon. Hence only one beast, or the making of one image, was necessary to stand as representative of the entire number. It will be noticed by the reader that from verse 12 to the close of the chapter the term beast signifies the first beast, or the Papacy, and that the second beast, or Protestantism, is designated by the pronoun he.

Image is defined to be "an imitation, representation, similitude of any person or thing; a copy, a likeness, an effigy." The second beast, then, is to manufacture something in imitation of the first beast. If any doubt exists as to which phase of the first beast, political or ecclesiastical, is copied, it can be settled by considering what is said of the image made from the original. "The image of the beast should-speak." This directs us by analogy, as heretofore explained, to the department of religious affairs; hence the second beast forms an ecclesiastical organization in imitation of the hierarchy of Rome. At this juncture the Protestant will doubtless exclaim, "Oh, our churches are nothing like the church of Rome!" But consider a little in the light of truth. God's Word teaches that they bear the close relationship of mother and her daughters (Rev. 17:5), and by the help of the Lord we shall point out a similarity of character in this and subsequent chapters. The symbol of the church of Rome in chapter 17 is that of a corrupt prostitute, while the symbol of Protestantism is that of her harlot daughters. The Roman church is a humanly organized institution governed by a set of fallible men, their claims of infallibility to the contrary notwithstanding. Protestant sects, likewise, are all human organizations (even though they may sometimes deny it), and are governed by a man or a conference of men. The Roman Catholic church makes and prescribes the theology that her members believe. Protestant churches, also, make their own disciplines and prescribe rules of faith and practise. The Word of God, inspired by his Spirit, could not be enforced in Romanism without destroying it; for its main spirit is Antichrist. So, too, the whole Word in Protestantism would soon annihilate her God-dishonoring sects; for they are all contrary to its plain teachings, which condemn divisions and enjoin perfect unity and oneness upon the redeemed of the Lord. What is said concerning the image of the beast applies to sectarianism as a whole and the human organization of all her so-called churches, regardless of the differences that exist between them as individual institutions; for they may differ as widely as the various systems of heathen religions symbolized by the dragon, yet they can be represented by the single symbol of an image to the first beast, because they are built upon the same general principles-are but human organizations, falsely called churches of Christ, and are all contrary to the Scriptures.

Imparting life to the image of the beast simply signifies the complete organization of the ecclesiastical institutions so that they are capable of self-government and their decrees possess authority. Every living body is animated by a spirit. The sectarian spirit that animates the Methodist body will lead people into that body, etc.; but the one Spirit of God will, if permitted, baptize us all into the one body of Christ, where we can all "drink into one Spirit." 1 Cor. 12:13. "And he spake as a dragon" signifies the great authority by which his laws are enacted and enforced upon the people.

"And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast." Fire from heaven upon Elijah's sacrifice was the attestation of God to his divine mission. Bringing down fire from heaven, then, symbolically describes the claims of this beast to being a true prophet of the Lord.

At this point we must make a distinction which, being true in the facts of history, must necessarily be intended in the symbolic representation. According to the symbols of the preceding chapter the woman, or true church, "fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." The time-prophecy is the same and covers the same period as the reign of the Papal beast; therefore just as an important change in the Papacy occured at the expiration of the prophetic period, so also we must expect a radical change with respect to the true church: it must no longer be completely obscured in the wilderness.

As the Reformation, and Protestantism as a religion, was the means of ending Rome's universal spiritual supremacy, so also the same movement must be regarded as possessing sufficient light and truth to again bring into prominence the work of the Spirit and the true people of God. "Fire from heaven" may therefore be regarded as describing the divine work of reformation, the unfolding of truth accompanied by the saving power of God. Such spiritual work has accompanied the origin of various religious movements during the Protestant era.

The general description of the two-horned beast, however, brings into prominence an evil characteristic-the disposition to lead people into deception by making an image to the beast and then worshiping it. The evil does not inhere in the work of bringing down "fire from heaven," but in image-making and image-worship, for which the Spiritual work simply furnished an occasion. The Spiritual work of reformation is therefore to be distinguished from the later work of creed- and sect-making. And since the beast takes advantage of Spirit manifestations, in order to deceive men, he becomes a sort of apostate and is denominated "the false prophet." See Chap. 16:14; 19:20.

Ecclesiastically considered, the two-horned beast stands as the symbol of the religious system of Protestantism as a whole-a peculiar combination of truth and error, of good and bad, of "fire from heaven" and false, miracle-working power (chap. 16:14); while the "image to the beast" signifies the sectarian institution-the man-made, man-controlled, unscriptural sect machinery manufactured in imitation of the Papal original. To exalt such earth-born churches and lead people to adore and worship them is but a species of idolatry and the rankest deception. It is a sad fact that multitudes of people in Protestantism are more devoted to their particular church than they are to the Lord Jesus Christ. They can witness the open rejection of God's precious Word and the vilest profanation of his holy name, without uttering a word of protest; but let anyone say a word against their church, and instantly they are aroused to the highest pitch of excitement-beast-worshipers!

The Protestant era has witnessed many wonderful reformations in which the true fire of God fell upon waiting souls, but this initial work of the Spirit has in each case been employed as an excuse for taking the next step-making an image. Thousands of honest souls, lacking better light, have been induced to submit to such human organization. But the truly saved have always loved and adored their Lord more than the human church to which they were attached, therefore they should not be regarded as beast-worshipers. They are the ones whom the Lord denominates his people when the voice is heard calling them out of Babylon. Chap. 18:4.

The "mark of the beast" next claims our attention. The beast referred to is the Papacy. How did the Papacy mark its subjects? Undoubtedly, by the false spirit which animated that organization, branding them all with its delusive doctrines and errors. In a previous chapter the servants of God were represented as receiving the seal of God in their foreheads. This was shown to signify the pure Word and doctrines of the Bible being planted within them by the Holy Spirit. In making the sect image in imitation of the Papal original, then, the principle of marking subjects has also been copied. The members of every sect organization are indelibly marked. You can not become one of them without solemnly agreeing to believe the doctrines taught in their discipline and accepting the government of their man-made institutions. Subscribing to the rules of faith and practise that originated with the sect shows how its members worship the image. They are also said to worship the first beast, the original of the image. How is this fulfilled? In the same manner that the worshipers of the first beast worshiped the dragon that preceded it; namely, by accepting and believing false principles of faith that originated in the system immediately preceding. Protestant sects have transferred many of the false doctrines of Romanism to their own creeds, hence they worship the first beast just as truly as the Papists worshiped the dragon by accepting heathenish principles. The greatest principle of false doctrine that originated with Catholicism, and one that has been transferred to every Protestant sect, is, that a human organization is necessary to complete the church of Christ on earth. The church of Rome has an earthly head and a human government; and Protestants, also, firmly believe the unscriptural doctrine that they must bow to an organization of men and thus be under a visible headship: they receive the mark of the beast. Many sects have also copied other Popish doctrines, such as infant baptism, the destruction of all outside of the pales of the church (?), infantile damnation, sprinkling, and other things too numerous to mention. Thus, they worship the first beast as well as his image.

They also receive the "name of the beast." Here again "beast" refers to the Papacy. The Papal beast was represented as being full of the names of blasphemy, which blasphemy was shown to signify the usurpation of prerogatives and rights belonging to God alone. The greatest ecclesiastical usurpation reached by the Romish hierarchy was that of claiming to be the head of the church and the right to prescribe and enforce their doctrines, naming their organization the Holy Catholic Church. In making their sect organizations in imitation, Protestants, as above stated, have transferred the same principle and make the same blasphemous claim of a right to make disciplines to govern God's people, and then name their sect machinery a church of God. The name may be Methodist, Baptist, Mennonite, Episcopalian, or what not, it is only a beast name, yet a name that you must accept if you desire to become one of them.

They not only receive the name of the beast, but also receive the "number of his name." It will be necessary first to explain what is meant by the number of a name. "The modern system of notation by the nine digits and the cipher, was not introduced until the tenth century, but on account of its superior excellence, has since superseded every other. Previous to this great discovery, the letters of the alphabet were used to denote numbers, each letter having the power of a number as well as a sound. The same system is still retained among us for certain purposes. The Roman letters I. V. X. L. C. D. M., have each the power of expressing a number. This, however, was the common and the best mode of notation that the ancients possessed." The number of a name, therefore, was merely the number denoted by the several letters of that name.

The number of the name of the beast-the first beast-is said to be the number of a man. When we enter the Romish hierarchy and search for a man the number of whose name will be six hundred and sixty-six, where could we go more appropriately than to the Pope himself, its authorized head? The Scriptures point him out particularly as the "man of sin," "the son of perdition." 2 Thes. 2:3, 4. Has the Pope of Rome a name the letters of which, used as numerals, make six hundred and sixty-six? Yes. He wears in jeweled letters upon his miter the following blasphemous inscription: Vicarius Filii Dei-Vicar of the Son of God. Taking out of this name all the letters that the Latins used as numerals, we have just six hundred and sixty-six. U and V were both formerly used to denote five.

V ..... 5 F ..... 0

I ..... 1 I ..... 1

C ... 100 L .... 50

A ..... 0 I ..... 1

R ..... 0 I ..... 1

I ..... 1 D ... 500

U ..... 5 E ..... 0

S ..... 0 I ..... 1

--

Another phase of the last reformation is here brought to view-its communicative genius. It not only stands clear from the apostasy, but it sounds the warnings of God and proclaims his message. The first messenger had a very important message to deliver, even "the everlasting gospel." His message was not limited to the inhabitants of "the earth"-the Apocalyptic earth-only, but included "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," showing that it was of universal importance. It was not a new gospel, but the everlasting gospel, the same gospel preached before the long period of apostasy.

There is one phase different, however, and that is that the nearness of the second coming of Christ is a leading feature; the messenger with loud voice warns the people to prepare for the awful judgment just at hand by turning to "worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." The apostle Paul cautioned the Thessalonian brethren not to entertain the idea that the advent of Christ was then near at hand, for it could not come until after the great period of apostasy that he predicted; but here is a messenger now claiming that the "hour of his judgment is come"-an event just at hand. He carries his special message to all people; for Jesus declared, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24:14. This represents the restoration of gospel truth in the reformation that was begun about the year A.D. 1880 and that is now being carried to all nations by a holy ministry.

The nature of this restoration work is clearly shown. Its leading feature is its missionary character, the proclamation of the pure gospel to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." Since the days of the apostles the whole gospel has not been boldly declared and carried forward with burning missionary zeal. Romanism and Protestantism have conducted their missionary work and, according to chap. 16:14, their sphere of influence will extend throughout "the whole world"; but here is clearly set forth the fact that God has authorized another universal message and world-wide work wholly distinguished from all others. The contrast between the worshipers of the beast and his image and those composing the redeemed company on Mount Sion is so clear, also the nature of the work done by each, that we can not possibly identify them as being one.

This work of conducting a world-wide missionary enterprise may appear to be a gigantic task, but the seeming impossibility vanishes when we consider the fact (to be more fully developed hereafter) that God calls into this service all his people who are yet under the sectarian yoke. With this great host already dispersed over the world, the work of making known this last message can and will be accomplished.

The positive statement that the hour of his judgment is come shows that the end is exceedingly near; hence the second and third angels must follow the first in the closest proximity possible in order to introduce their messages before the wrath of God is poured out upon apostate Christendom. The time is so short that these three messengers can not possibly refer to three distinct reformations in the world; hence they must signify three important phases in the one last reformation that carries the gospel to all nations in the short period of an "hour," which time also includes the final judgment.

A careful study of these three messages will show that they are inseparably connected. The second cry was against Babylon, that she had fallen. Rev. 18:1, 2 proves this fall of Babylon to be a moral one-a giving away to ungodliness, iniquity and all manner of deception. According to chapter 16:19 the great city of Babylon is composed of three parts, being a confederation of the dragon10 (heathenism), the beast (Catholicism), and the false prophet (Protestantism). Chap. 16:13, 14. It is evidently to this latter division of Babylon that this second message applies; for Paganism was always a false religion, and Catholicism was always a corrupt one, during whose reign the church of God, as already shown, was separate. Protestantism, then, was the only part of the great city that could fall morally or spiritually. During the space of three hundred and fifty years, from the formation of the first Protestant creed, she held reign and authority over the people of God, who were scattered among her hundreds of opposing sects.

Footnote 10: (return) That the dragon should be a part of great Babylon seems at first improbable; but in this statement reference is made, not to the dragon in his original, or Pagan, state, but to the form in which he is manifesting himself in these last days to deceive the nations, working in conjunction with apostate Christendom. This phase of the dragon power which brings him into harmony with, and, in reality, a part of, modern Babylon, will be more clearly understood when we come to consider the three unclean spirits that come out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (chap. 16:13, 14), and the release of the dragon in chapter 20:7-9.

In this condition the faithful children of God, although bearing the mark and name of the beast, longed for restoration of the divine, primitive standard; but in the cloudy atmosphere of that period they could not clearly discern the whole truth. Later, when the full tidings of the everlasting gospel came, there came also a revelation that Babylon is fallen and that God is calling his people out of confusion just before the end of time.

I call to witness every child of God who has been with the present reformation from its beginning, if there were not three special phases of the development of the truth, as follows: 1. A wonderful revival of spirituality among a few of God's chosen ones, caused by the "everlasting gospel" being revealed to them as never before. 2. The knowledge of the truth and deep experience thus obtained prepared the way for the next step, which was the discovery that the "churches" were a part of the great Babylon of Revelation and were in a fallen condition, "a hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Chap. 18:2, 3. Hence the cry went up, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen." 3. Then followed immediately the message to God's people to "flee out of the midst of Babylon and deliver every man his soul," warning them that no one could any longer bear the mark of the beast or worship his image without forfeiting eternal salvation and that the fearful judgments of heaven would soon descend upon every one who refused to obey the message and to walk in the light. The last two phases, which apply to Babylon, are the same and in the same order as the description given in chapter 18:1-4. First, an angel from heaven cries mightily with a strong voice, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen"; and then "another voice" from heaven says, "COME OUT OF HER, MY PEOPLE." The three successive phases of the message are now all combined in one, and God is gathering his holy remnant "out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day" (Ezek. 34:12) into the one body of Jesus Christ. Halleluiah! John, also, saw this glorious result of the three messages-"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sung the song of Moses the servant of God [a song of deliverance], and the song of the Lamb [the song of redemption], saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints." Chap. 15:2, 3. Let all the people of God rejoice!

"Hail the day so long expected,

Hail the year of full release;

Zion's walls are now erected,

And the watchmen publish peace.

"Now on Shiloh's wide dominion,

Hear the trumpets loudly roar:

Babylon's fallen, is fallen, is fallen,

Babylon's fallen to rise no more."

Those of the Lord's people who through lack of sufficient light were yoked up with unbelievers in Protestantism, labored faithfully to upbuild the very sectarian institutions that God was against and that were destined to be destroyed, though they themselves were saved as by fire; but from the time this reformation began the redeemed die in the triumphs of a living faith, and their labors in upbuilding the true cause and kingdom of God are still blessed and fruitful, being perpetuated in the works that follow them.

"Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." As before mentioned, God's people during the reign of Romanism expected her universal supremacy to come to an end, and their patience was greatly exercised in waiting for the appointed time to arrive. It came with a great spiritual reformation. Then followed another period of apostasy, during which time God's people again looked forward to something better in the future. Many remarkable predictions of this present holiness reformation were uttered by some of the most spiritual saints during the Protestant era, and I can not refrain from mentioning a few of them in this connection.

D'Aubigne: "The nineteenth century is called to resume the work which the sixteenth century was unable to accomplish." History of the Reformation, Book XV, Chap. 1.

Fletcher: "Only He will come with more mercy, and will increase the light that shall be at eventide, according to his promise in Zech. 14:7. I should rather think that the visions are not yet plainly disclosed; and that the day and hour in which the Lord will begin to make bare his arm openly are still concealed from us. Oh, when will the communion of saints be complete? Lord, hasten the time; and let me have a place among them that love thee, and love one another in sincerity." This is an extract from a letter written by John Fletcher to Mr. Wesley, dated London, May 26, 1757, as given in Joseph Benson's life of Fletcher, pp. 39, 40.

D'Aubigne again: "In every age it has been seen how great is the strength of an idea to penetrate the masses, to stir nations, and to hurry them, if required, by thousands to the battle-field and to death. But if so great be the strength of a human idea, what power must not a heaven-descended idea possess, when God opens to it the gates of the heart! The world has not often seen so much power at work; it was seen, however, in the early days of Christianity, and in the time of the Reformation; and it will be seen in future ages." Book VI, Chap. 12.

"It has been said that the three last centuries, the sixteenth, the seventeenth, and the eighteenth, may be conceived as an immense battle of three days' duration. We willingly adopt this beautiful comparison.... The first day was the battle of God, the second the battle of the priest, the third the battle of reason. What will be the fourth? In our opinion, the confused strife, the deadly contest of all these powers together, to end in the victory of Him to whom triumph belongs." Book XI, Chap. 9.

Lorenzo Dow, comment on Rev. 14:6-11; 18:1-5: "The angel, or extraordinary messenger, with his assistants, proclaiming the fall of Babylon will be known in his time. Also the one warning the people of God to come out of Babylon literally, spiritually, and practically, will be known also, and such other threatening for the omission of compliance is not to be found in all the Bible." Dow's Works, p. 533.

The following extracts are from an old book written about 1812 by Theophilus R. Gates and entitled "Truth Advocated." Through the kindness of a sister living in Allegan County, Michigan, the writer was enabled to secure the following from the only copy of this book known to be in existence-she having borrowed it of her neighbor, a relative of its author.

On Rev. 14:11: "I would here gladly drop the subject, lest I give offense; but duty compels me to remark, what can not be denied, that an inordinate attachment to certain systems and forms of religion, has occasioned all the strifes, animosities, and persecutions, that have so long agitated the Christian world; and if God be just, every one must drink of the cup of his indignation, according to his offense. The beast and his image, as it exists in Protestant countries, seems in this place particularly meant; and our own land is full of the number of his name. That such a testimony will one day go forth we must believe, or else St. John saw that which will never be: and the testimony will as certainly be received; for a company in the next chapter are to be seen that had gotten the victory over the beast, his image, his mark, and the number of his name. It is also equally true that as yet it has never gone forth; and that at the time, great afflictions or suffering of some kind will be undergone to exercise the patience of the saints.... It is at this very time, no doubt, that the three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet; spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the great battle of the great day of God Almighty. The greatest possible efforts, indeed will now be made by all the sectarians to keep up their existence ... nor is it any wonder that hireling ministers and system worshipers, Demetrius like, should be stirred up and raise no small stir about the way; for it is evident, not only their craft is in danger of being set at naught by this testimony, but also the great Diana of systems and forms of religion to be despised, and their magnificence destroyed, whom now almost the whole Christian world worshipeth." Pp. 281-283.

"And now commences an era of light and suffering, when the corrupt churches (with the kings of the earth and great men united with them) being about to be wholly brought down, make one general muster against Christ and his true worshipers. These things are clear to me as a ray of light; and whoever lives at this time will see as great opposition and spite to the true way of righteousness then set forth from sectarians and professors generally, as there was from the Jews towards Christ and his testimony: and also, like the Jews, at the very time they oppose the true way of the Lord with all their might, they will no doubt make the greatest possible show of religion, will think they are the true church, yea will have a zeal for God, carrying on religion with great success, forming societies, sending missionaries among the heathen, etc., etc. That such an event will take place is very clear." Pp. 286-288.

"This happy period I never expect to see: but known unto the Lord only are all things. I know that such a time will be; for we are assured by the angel, these are the true sayings of God: and I also believe that it will take place within two centuries from this time. But oh! how corrupt doth the world now appear to me.... Help me, O Lord, I pray thee, to do thy will.

"Whenever any body of people come into notice, establish their rules and institutions, and become a respectable sect, they are the people of God then only in name; they cease to have the nature any longer; and whoever unites himself to the same, constitutes himself one of the beast's party, and so far as his influence extends, he helps to establish the kingdom of Antichrist in the earth. This is clear from the prophecies of the Revelation, and it will answer no purpose to take offense when the truth is spoken. These things will, moreover, sooner or later be declared with great plainness by some one; and then will the man of sin put forth all his strength; then will persecution come, and the beast muster his armies to defend himself and to destroy the assailants, but in vain; for however few their number may be at first, and however furious the battle may rage against them, they are destined to conquer. And herein the words of Christ will fitly apply, 'Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.'" P. 313.

Speaking of sectarianism, he says further: "The same round of things will continue until the evil is remedied.... When this shall take place, time only can determine with certainty. It will probably commence slowly, and not come with any great outward observation. Few will at first see or embrace the way, being strange to them, and appearing on account of their prejudices, and the way they have been taught by the false prophet, to be wrong and improper: moreover, being opposed to all others, they will have all others to oppose them. But though they are despised and hated, and few in number, the Lord is with them." Pp. 322, 323.

On Rev. 16:13, 14: "I have already delivered my views with respect to these unclean spirits ... and it is not necessary to say much here upon the subject; only I would just observe, that this will be a time of greater trial to Christians in general, and in a time in which more will be deprived of every particle of true religion through the influence of false ministers belonging to the different societies in Christendom, than any that has ever yet been in the world. But while they are making these great exertions, they are only preparing themselves and their deluded votaries for a more awful and complete destruction. For God Almighty is against them, and they against Him; though they will know it not, but think perhaps all the while they are his peculiar favorites, and that they are employed in maintaining his cause, like the Jews before them, when it is only their own cause and men's traditions." P. 338.

"I am but as the voice of one crying in the wilderness of error and of sin, of wickedness and delusion, testifying according to the best light given me; and any light that I can possibly communicate will in a little time become as the feeble shining of the sun, by reason of the greatness of the light that shall be hereafter." P. 354.

"A true and living testimony will go forth before this last period of the awful judgments of God comes to a close, and in consequence of rejecting it, like the Jews of old, the wrath of God will come upon them to the uttermost. The testimony against the worshipers of the beast, by the third angel, Rev. 14:9, is the testimony that effectually overthrows the kingdom of darkness and establishes the truth as it is in Jesus, pure and undefiled.... The authors of this testimony will ... unlike to all who go before them, attack the evil at its root, and expose the deceit, hypocrisy and wickedness of the different sects in a way that has never before been done; for which they will suffer the greatest persecution. You may look upon these things as the reveries of my own fancy; but some day or other, people will witness to the truth of what I now write." Pp. 421, 422.

"All the reformations which go before this last great reform will only be partial and temporary. They will only lop off the branches, or at the most, only strike at the body of the corrupt tree, while the roots remain untouched and uninjured. But when this last testimony goes forth, the very roots of the corrupt tree will be attacked." P. 426.

"Every sect is under an idea that whenever the Lord comes to establish truth in the earth, it will be to establish their creed, raise up their sect, and bring the whole world into their way. And when the faithful witnesses whom God will raise up shall openly declare that they have all gone out of the way, that the greatest professors have so much of guile, selfishness and party spirit about them as to be nothing but hypocrites, and that a person must be better than they are or be lost forever; that sects are an abomination to the Lord; denounce eternal death upon every advocate and adherent of men-made establishments; ... I say when such a testimony as this goes forth, as it sooner or later will, no wonder that the sects, all with one accord, should set themselves against it-should call it heresy-declare it will ruin the churches if it is not suppressed.... Although, as I have before testified, I am only as the voice of one crying in the wilderness-a mere babe in the knowledge of these things which are to be revealed hereafter, yet I expect to raise a host of bigots and hypocrites against me.... Nor can it be very long before the true light, in a very especial manner, will shine.... If these things do not come to pass, then let me be called an enthusiast or a deceiver." Pp. 444-446.