#20 The Mark of the Beast, Part 3

From Meditations on the Past, Present, and Future, by G. M. Mangold.

Therefore did the Lord warn: "Beware of false prophets, who go about in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves; by their fruits ye shall know them." (Matthew 7 verses 15 through 16). Whosoever had not taken on the mark of the beast and obligated himself under oath unto the ordinances and symbols of the church, could neither teach nor in any way apply his spiritual talents, neither buy nor sell; consequently all teachers who were called of God and anointed with His Spirit were at all times persecuted as deceivers and heretics, because they were not in fellowship with the church. The essence of these marks is the doctrine and spirit of the church which is impressed upon its preachers; they have sprung from the Papacy and the tradition, and have no ground in the word of God; but in the Reformation they were yet accepted, to the end they might designate the worshippers of the image with the marks, like as the worshippers of the beast were marked; for they saw no difference between the Papacy and the church of Jesus Christ, and regarded the beast as the church of Christ, which they thought to reform and improve, and establish a new system of learning which would be more conformable to God’s Word; but thereby they made, without knowing or realizing it, an image unto the beast, a reform of worship which afterwards was approved and worshipped as divine.

This is the name of the beast and the number of his name; it is the tradition wherein the faith of the fathers is handed down to the children through the natural birth and the subsequent Infant Baptism, and wherein the whole character of Christendom consists of a mouth confession and in observance of church customs, forms and ceremonies. Unto such an empty form of faith have people now drifted, having forsaken the Word of God, and drinking out of these stagnant pools; and like tares on a field this traditional faith propagates itself without toil or care from generation to generation, even as thorns and thistles which need not to be planted or tended; the living faith of the truth, however, requires much toil and care, and thrives beneath God's help and blessing in believing and penitent hearts, whereof a godly fruit is brought forth, for otherwise it cannot grow and thrive. The contrast between these two is as great as indicated in the parable. (Matthew 13 verses 24 through 26), between the good seed which Christ sows through His living Word and the tares which the devil sows. Both are growing, and both will ripen to their harvest.