Reception of Mark of the Beast Future—The change of the Sabbath is the sign or mark of the authority of the Romish church. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false sabbath in the place of the true, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. The mark of the beast is the papal sabbath, which has been accepted by the world in the place of the day of God’s appointment. (Ev 234.1) MC VC

No one has yet received the mark of the beast. The testing time has not yet come. There are true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion. None are condemned until they have had the light and have seen the obligation of the fourth commandment. But when the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit sabbath, and the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive the mark of the beast. (Ev 234.2) MC VC

The gospel is to be proclaimed in our cities. Men of learning and influence are to hear the message. Not only white men but colored men of ability are to accept the faith. These are to work for their own people, and they are to be supported in doing the work the Lord desires to have done. (Ev 559.1) MC VC

Much more prayer, much more Christlikeness, much more conformity to God’s will, is to be brought into God’s work. Outward show, an extravagant outlay of means, will not accomplish the work to be done. Many are gasping for a breath of life from heaven. They will recognize the gospel when it is brought to them in the way that God designs it to be brought. (Ev 559.2) MC VC

Into the busy world, filled with the din of commerce and the altercation of trade, where men were trying selfishly to get all they could for self, Christ came; and above the confusion, His voice, like the trump of God, was heard: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26. (Ev 559.3) MC VC

Christ points men to the nobler world, which they have lost out of their reckoning, and declares that the only city that will endure is the city whose builder and maker is God. He shows them the threshold of heaven, flushed with God’s living glory, and assures them that the heavenly treasures are for those who overcome. He calls upon them to strive with sanctified ambition to secure the immortal inheritance. He urges them to lay up their treasure beside the throne of God. Then, instead of taxing themselves almost beyond endurance to gain earthly riches, they will work with all the powers of body and mind for Christ. By using their talent of means to win souls to Him, they will be doing a work of more importance than any other work in the world. (Ev 559.4) MC VC