The Signs of the Times
                   DT- 03-22-10

                   The Sign of Loyalty

                   By Mrs. E. G. White

     In the issue of the great contest between the forces of good and of
evil, two parties are to be developed,--those who "worship the beast and his
image, and receive his mark," and those who receive "the seal of the living
Elohim," and have "the Father's name written in their foreheads."

     In the fourth commandment is found the seal of Elohim's law. This only, of
all the ten, brings to view the name and the title of the Lawgiver. It
declares Him to be the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus shows
His claim to reverence and worship above all others. Aside from this precept,
there is nothing in the Decalogue to show by whose authority the law was
given.

     The Sabbath enjoined by the fourth commandment was instituted to
commemorate the work of creation. Had the seventh day always been kept, there
would never have been an idolater, and atheist, or an infidel. The sacred
observance of Elohim's holy day would have directed the minds of men to their
Creator, the true and living Elohim. Everything in nature also would have
brought Him to their remembrance; and would have borne witness to His power
and love.

                             The Seal of Elohim

     The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living Elohim. It
points to Elohim as the Creator, and is the sign of His rightful authority over
the beings He has made. Those who obey this law will bear the seal of Elohim,
for He has set apart this day as a sign of loyalty between Himself and His
people. To Moses on Mount Sinai He said, "Speak thou also unto the children
of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between
Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am Yahweh
that doth sanctify you."

     The mark of the beast is the opposite of this,--the observance of the
first day of the week as the sabbath enforced by human law. This mark
distinguishes those who acknowledge the supremacy of the papal authority from
those who acknowledge the authority of Elohim.

                          Claimed as Her Mark

     As the sign of the authority of the Catholic Church, papist writers cite
"the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow
of, . . . because by keeping Sunday strictly they acknowledge the church's
power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin."

     The Roman church thus declares that by observing the first day of the
week as the sabbath, Protestants are recognizing her power to legislate in
divine things. And it is true that those who, understanding the claims of the
fourth commandment, choose to observe a false sabbath in the place of the
true, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded.

     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 tradition and of the 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 movement for Sunday enforcement gains favor, he
rejoices, feeling assured that it will eventually bring the whole Protestant
world under the banner of Rome.

     With rapid steps we are approaching this period. When the Protestant
churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for
opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution: when the
state shall use its power to enforce the decrees and sustain the institutions
of the church,--then will Protestant America have formed an image to the
Papacy, and there will be a national apostasy which will end only in national
ruin.

                          Elohim Rather than Man

     The laws of nations should be respected as long as they do not conflict
with the laws of Elohim; but when there is collision between them, every true
disciple of The Messiah will say, as did Peter when commanded to speak no more in
the name of Yahshua, "We ought to obey Elohim rather than men."

     Paul wrote to the Romans, "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you,
live peaceably with all men." But there is a point beyond which it is
impossible to maintain union and harmony without the sacrifice of principle.
Separation then becomes an absolute duty.

     The Messiah never purchased peace and friendship by compromise with evil. The
life of Yahshua, the suffering which He endured from a perverse nation,
demonstrate to His followers that there must be no sacrifice of principle.
Peace is too dearly obtained if purchased by the smallest concession to
Satan's agencies. The least surrender of principle entangles us in the snares
of Satan.

     The Sabbath question is to be the issue in the great final conflict, in
which all the world will act a part. Men have honored Satan's principles
above the principles that rule in the heavens. They have accepted the
spurious sabbath, which Satan has exalted as the sign of his authority. But
Elohim has set His seal upon His royal requirement. Each Sabbath institution,
both true and false, bears the name of its author, an ineffaceable mark that
shows the authority of each.

     The great decision now to be made by every one is, whether he will
receive the mark of the beast and his image, or the seal of the living and
true Elohim And now, when we are on the very borders of the eternal world, what
can be of so much value to us as to be found loyal and true to the Elohim of
heaven? What is there that we should prize above His truth and His law? What
is so necessary as a knowledge of "what saith the Scripture?"

Psalms 140:13
Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto Thy Name: the upright shall dwell in Thy presence.

Isaiah 61:10
I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh, my soul shall be joyful in my Elohim; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.