Awesome Truths and Amazing Facts
Richard Vaughn

Today: “Prophecy – The Mark of the Beast – Part 1”
We are beginning a series of studies that will clearly identify the mark of the beast. It must be repeated, this is the Word of God. The prophecies are His and are recorded by His servants the prophets. All the proofs we use to establish Biblical fact are directly from the Bible. So please understand, there is no attack on any individuals of any denomination. God has never allowed disobedience and disobedience runs rampant in the Christian world today, along with many man made doctrines that are contrary to God's Word and Will, and are at the root of the worldwide Christian apostasy. The prophecies we are studying are meant to open up your understanding to the displeasure that God has in the religious systems of today, what will happen in the near future, and His expressed will for your life.
God's truth is likened to a two edged sword. It cuts both ways. We have one of two choices to make. Accept and follow God's Word, or we can reject it and harden our hearts. We are held accountable for the truth we have learned. If you have discovered new truths in these studies, no matter what the sacrifice, Jesus would have us to follow and uphold His truth. With that said, let us now begin this most important Bible study.
God’s word clearly identified the little horn power in Daniel chapter 7 and the beast power of Revelation chapter 13, as Papal Rome. In both cases there were 9 identifying points, which could fit no other power in history on earth, but Papal Rome.  
The MOST fearful, awesome and shocking language in the book of Revelation, and for our generation in all of the Bible, is used in connection with receiving the MARK of the BEAST. To read how GOD describes the punishment for those who receive the Mark of the Beast, read Revelation 14:9-11. “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 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, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” 
What is the mark that Papal Rome has set its government against the God of Creation? Listen, your eternal life can hang on how you receive the evidence. We begin with the following questions and answers from page 50 of Peter Geiemann's "Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine."
Q. "Which is the Sabbath day?"
A. "Saturday is the Sabbath day."
Q. "Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?"
A. "We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."
There was a man who read the above and was dumbfounded. He sent a letter to James Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore, MD, inquiring if the Catholic Church did indeed change the Sabbath. The Cardinal replied, "Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters." 
Notice the following words from "The Catholic Record" of London, Ontario, Canada, September 1, 1923. "Sunday is our MARK of authority....the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that."
And from "A Doctrinal Catechism" by Stephen Keenan:
Q. Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority."
Note- The Papacy claims it changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. It claims that Sunday-keeping is its mark of authority and power. God's mark or sign of power is the Sabbath and Sabbath-keeping. The beast's sign or mark of power is Sunday and Sunday-keeping. This subject may cut across something you have loved from childhood. So read the loving words of Jesus in Revelation 1:3 "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand."
Next Week: “Prophecy – The Mark of the Beast – Part 2”