Gods Sabbath

C HRIST S HOWS T HE W AY

273

cause Sunday is the symbol of man setting himself in God’s place, everyone will be required to observe this child of the pa pacy as a token of allegiance to, and conformity with, the grand human plan for restoration to temporal prosperity. The true people of God will not be misled, for they will discern the real nature of this movement. They will recognize that the solution the law makers deem to be the one sure way out of their troubles, will in fact entrap them in a hopeless snare. They will therefore, in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, raise their voi ces to warn the world’s peoples of the certain disaster they are bringing upon their own heads. But, instead of heeding these warnings, the majority will do all they can to compel the loyal followers of Jesus to adopt their plans in the place of His. As a result of the increase in trouble and disaster, the civil au thorities will find themselves unable to contain the fearful woes falling on the earth. The united churches will then arise and propose that if the state gives them its power, the churches will solve its problems. This is the same proposal made by Jezebel to Ahab when the latter found that he could not gain possession of Naboth’s vineyard (see 1Kings 21). As the world unites under one head—the papacy—people will hail this development as the answer to human troubles and di visions, and no resistance to the movement will be tolerated. They will confidently proclaim that the long-sought millennium of peace is about to be instituted. Instead of this grand human scheme bringing the expected peace, unity, and prosperity, world conditions will rapidly worsen. The blame for this will be levelled at God’s children who are protest ing against the system, and they will consequently be subjected to fearful persecution, including eventually, the sentence of death.

Apparently Forsaken

For God’s people it will be a night of terrible trial made worse by the fact that, to all appearances, God has forsaken them. Their experience will be similar to Christ’s in the wilderness of temptation, with Satan attacking them as he attacked the Sav iour, and they will have to gain the victory exactly as He did.