The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made . But there has been for years , in churches of the Protestant faith , a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine . To secure such a union , the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed-however important they might be from a Bible standpoint-- must necessarily be waived .
Charles Beecher , in a sermon in the year 1846 , declared that the ministry of " the evangelical Protestant denominations " is " not only formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of merely human fear , but they live , and move , and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt , and appealing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush up the truth , and bow the knee to the power of apostasy . Was not this the way things went with Rome ? Are we not living her life over again ? And what do we see just ahead ? Another general council ! A world ' s convention ! Evangelical alliance , and universal creed !" --Sermon on " The Bible a Sufficient Creed ," delivered at Fort Wayne , Indiana , Feb . 22 , 1846 . When this shall be gained , then , 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 influence 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 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 ' s warning is : " If any 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 " mentioned in this message , whose worship is enforced by the two-horned beast , is the first , or leopardlike beast of Revelation 13--the papacy . The " image to the beast " represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their dogmas . The " mark of the beast " still remains to be defined .
After the warning against the worship of the beast and his image the prophecy declares : " Here are they that keep the commandments of God , and the faith of Jesus ." Since those who keep God ' s commandments are thus placed in contrast with those that worship the beast and
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