Participants:
Series Code: ICJ
Program Code: ICJ190013B
|
00:01 So now Revelation 12 and Revelation 13
00:04 picture three beasts; the great red dragon, 00:07 and then the leopard beast, also has seven heads and ten horns 00:11 like the great red dragon, 00:13 and then also now the beast from the earth. 00:16 So who is this beast from the earth? 00:18 He comes into prominence, the Scripture teaches us, 00:20 after or in and around the end of this 1260 year prophecy. 00:27 So that means that we should see this power come into being 00:30 somewhere in and around 1798. 00:34 Well that's exactly when we have the rise of Protestant America. 00:40 Of course, the Declaration of Independence was 1776. 00:44 And I think the Constitution and its Bill of Rights 00:46 was put together in 1787. 00:49 So just this great nation is just getting its start 00:54 with 13 colonies as the papacy receives the deadly wound, 00:58 loses its power, temporal power, and the world thinks that 01:03 its been dealt a blow. 01:05 Well, it's a pretty powerful blow because you've got 01:07 not only Napoleon taking the pope captive, 01:10 you've got the rise of the Protestant Reformation 01:12 that has come up with such power that it's now unstoppable. 01:16 And now you've got the rise of the United States of America, 01:20 the greatest reservoir of Protestants in all the world, 01:23 and its Constitution is Protestant. 01:26 In fact, it's very interesting that as the Americans were 01:29 putting together their Constitution, and also 01:33 during the time of Abraham Lincoln, 01:35 there were a couple of popes that just ranted against 01:40 democracy, and the United States and its democracy. 01:44 Because they're built on a king system, if you please. 01:49 An emperor system. 01:51 But we won't get into that. 01:52 Let's go back to this beast from the sea. 01:55 So we have the rise of Protestant America, 01:58 you have the U.S. Constitution. 02:00 And it comes from the earth in contrast to the sea. 02:04 And as I said earlier, the leopard beast came up 02:07 among populated Europe. 02:08 Waters: peoples, nations, tongues and people, 02:12 according to Revelation 17. 02:14 But this comes up from the earth. 02:17 Which means it's going to come up in an unpopulated 02:19 wilderness kind of an area. 02:21 And that's exactly what North America was. 02:23 Now I know some people will say there were the 02:26 native populations of America. 02:29 The best we know and the most reasonable estimates 02:31 is that maybe there was 2 to 20 million. 02:34 And it's very difficult to find a really accurate... 02:37 And probably a lot of that includes the Aztecs 02:40 in South America, and so forth. 02:43 By 1630 most of the population, native population in America, 02:49 had been decimated by disease and difficulties. 02:53 And so for the most part, America was and is recognized 02:57 today as a place of a great wilderness, 03:00 a vast wilderness in contrast to Europe. 03:05 And so since the earth is opposite of water, 03:08 then the symbol would mean a wilderness place. 03:11 So this power would arise around somewhere in and around 1798 03:16 in a wilderness place. 03:18 The only nation, the only power that fits that 03:22 is the United States of America, that great Protestant power. 03:27 Now the signers of the Constitution... 03:29 In fact, I hear some chatter sometimes on the internet 03:32 that would make you think that the papacy invented 03:35 the United States. 03:37 Or the atheists claim that they invented the United States. 03:40 That's not true. I'm sorry, and say it kindly. 03:43 They don't know what they're talking about 03:44 when people say that kind of thing. 03:46 The signers of the Constitution, most of them were 03:50 Episcopalian Anglican, Congregationalists, 03:53 Presbyterian, Quaker, Unitarians, 03:56 and there was one dear Roman Catholic from the state of 03:59 Maryland that had been giving refuge to people 04:02 who were persecuted by the Catholic faith. 04:04 That's the wonderful thing about America. 04:05 You know, we all love each other. 04:07 Catholics should love Protestants, 04:09 Protestants should love Catholics. 04:11 And vice versa. We should love the atheist. 04:14 We may not agree with each other but we should love each other, 04:17 because this is a great nation and it has protected all of us. 04:21 And we've all benefited from this marvelous wonderful nation. 04:25 Nothing in the Scriptures should ever be taken 04:28 as a reason to hate or persecute somebody. 04:31 That's just not right. 04:33 But how does this power go... 04:35 How does this wonderful nation... 04:37 And I love America. 04:39 It's just the most, it's a wonderful place. 04:43 I know people criticize it, but there's been no nation like it 04:46 on the face of the earth where it turns around, 04:49 defeats its enemies, and then rebuilds them. 04:52 It's the greatest thing that's ever happened. 04:56 There's been no comparison to it in all of human history. 05:01 And it came because people here had the Bible. 05:04 They could read it. They could read about Jesus. 05:07 And they formed a republican kind of government. 05:10 I'm not talking about the Republican party 05:12 or the Democratic party. 05:13 They formed a democracy built on a republic. 05:16 And this nation is the greatest nation 05:20 that has ever graced the face of the earth. 05:22 It's the most powerful nation 05:24 that's ever graced the face of the earth. 05:28 But how does this go from speaking like a lamb... 05:31 And truly this nation has been lamb-like. 05:34 It's been Christ-like. 05:36 I didn't say it was perfect. Nothing is ever perfect. 05:38 People say, "Well, don't you remember slavery?" 05:39 Yes, but I also remember that nearly 600,000 Americans 05:43 lost their lives in an endeavor to overthrow that terrible 05:46 institution of slavery. 05:48 No, America is not perfect. 05:50 I wouldn't say that ever. 05:52 But it has certainly had a compassion for people 05:57 that has never been seen on the face of the earth. 06:00 And its power comes from two horns. 06:04 By the way, horns represent powers or sometimes nations. 06:07 But comes from the power of two things: 06:10 civil freedom, Americans have the right to elect their 06:14 own government and their own representatives; 06:16 and it also comes from religious freedom. 06:19 And we have power to share, to convince, to persuade, 06:24 and to share our convictions, 06:26 but not the right to force anybody. 06:31 And the government takes a neutral stand. 06:34 It doesn't promote religion, and it doesn't restrict religion. 06:38 At least according to the Constitution 06:41 of the United States, for which we are all very grateful. 06:44 So somehow this nation, in order to speak like a dragon now, 06:48 would have to change its constitutional principles 06:53 of religious freedom so that it begins to force, 06:57 like the old Roman Empire, like the leopard beast 07:01 and the papacy during the Dark Ages, 07:03 would have to force people and make them worship 07:09 in a certain way. 07:10 That's, of course, very un-American. 07:14 And I love this nation. 07:15 I wish I didn't have to even tell you this. 07:17 But the prophecy says that this nation is going to change. 07:22 It's going to change. 07:24 And America has helped the healing of this deadly wound. 07:28 The papacy today is very popular because 07:31 America has made it popular. 07:33 And I'll give you some of those reasons in a few moments. 07:36 But let's just look at some of the facts here. 07:39 Before I say that, there was one power 07:42 or one commentator who said, and I think rightly so, 07:46 that America has become the new Catholic nation. 07:49 Now it's still Protestant, of course, 07:51 but it's saying that America now reveres the papacy. 07:55 In fact, I think the last president of the United States, 07:58 when the pope came, actually went to the airport to meet him. 08:00 That's unprecedented. 08:02 The president of the United States doesn't do that 08:04 for any other foreign power. 08:06 What's going on here? 08:07 This huge, enormous popularity. 08:11 Well, you have Vatican II. 08:13 And Vatican II told everybody, 08:15 "Hey listen, we believe in religious freedom. 08:17 Protestants are our departed brethren." 08:18 Well that's nice. I'm happy for that. 08:21 And so they've said, "We've really changed." 08:24 But Catholic scholars that I have read, 08:26 and I'll talk more about that later, 08:27 said that really nothing really changed. 08:29 But many people think it's changed. 08:31 And I would be happy if it would. 08:33 But after Vatican II, after Vatican II, 08:37 we have the first visit by Pope Paul VI in 1965. 08:42 Now this is very interesting. 08:44 Becoming the first pope to leave the confines 08:47 of the Italian border since Napoleon, Paul VI made a 08:51 one day trip to the United States in 1965, 08:56 becoming the first pontiff to set foot on the New World. 09:00 That's just 1965. That's not that long ago. 09:03 In his 14 hour adventure he visited 09:08 Saint Patrick's Cathedral. 09:09 Now this is what he said on his arrival at the airport, 09:13 he said, "Greetings to you, America. 09:15 The first pope to set foot on your land blesses you 09:18 with all his heart. 09:19 He renews, as it were, the gesture of your discoverer, 09:22 Christopher Columbus, when he planted the 09:24 cross of Christ on blessed soil." 09:26 Now Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, 09:29 as Americans know, but he was no Protestant. 09:31 He came from Spain, and they were in the throes 09:34 of using the Inquisition and all of its tortures 09:38 to force people to believe like they believed. 09:41 And so to invoke Christopher Columbus, 09:43 no reference to the great Protestants that came here 09:46 and gave us religious freedom, that was, I think, 09:50 something that's telling us something. 09:52 And then, of course, you have John Paul II. 09:54 He became very, very popular. 09:57 He's a Polish person. 09:59 He made seven visits to the United States in 1979 to 1999. 10:04 And then you have Pope Benedict XVI. 10:07 Now he said something very interesting in 2008. 10:11 After meeting with George Bush in the White House, 10:14 Pope Benedict said mass at the national park, 10:17 and also in Yankee Stadium. 10:20 And he was greatly hailed. 10:22 People by the thousands, tens of thousands, 10:24 went and listened to him give a blessing to America 10:29 at the World Trade Center, 10:31 the former site of the World Trade Center. 10:33 Because America had suffered that terrible blow. 10:38 And then we have Pope Francis. 10:41 Now this is unprecedented. 10:43 In 2015, Pope Francis visited and spoke 10:47 to the joint house of Congress. 10:50 I don't believe a Protestant has ever done that. 10:54 He speaks to the joint house of Congress in 2015. 10:58 On top of that he makes a speech in Liberty Hall in Philadelphia 11:01 just a few feet from where Abraham Lincoln lay in state. 11:06 The great Liberty Hall where there is the Liberty Bell. 11:09 Protestant America has changed. 11:12 And one of the big changes was March 29, 1949 11:15 when evangelicals and Catholics came together 11:18 for political purposes and made a unity to be able to 11:22 get political agenda accomplished. 11:25 Billy Graham said, "I have found that my beliefs are 11:28 essentially the same as the pope's." 11:29 Really? 11:31 That's an amazing statement. 11:33 He also said he was one of the great missionaries, 11:36 and calls him one of the world's greatest evangelists. 11:40 The pope has met three hours in 2014 with several 11:45 evangelical and charismatic leaders. 11:48 And they went to the Vatican, they had lunch together. 11:52 They were declaring that the Protestant Reformation 11:54 is over, that we don't really need it any more. 11:58 Pope Benedict says there's an urgent need 12:00 of true world political authority. 12:06 And he's saying that we need some power to 12:08 manage the global economy. 12:10 If you're listening to Pope Francis' encyclicals, 12:13 he's saying similar kinds of things. 12:17 Well, the book of Revelation, I think, is being fulfilled 12:20 in our very eyes. 12:21 It's saying that some day this great wonderful nation 12:26 is going to make an image to the beast. 12:30 It's going to change its principles. 12:33 There's a great... 12:35 It could be a national anthem. 12:37 It's not the national anthem. 12:39 But it's a song, America the Beautiful. 12:42 I love America, and this song captures 12:46 what America is all about. 12:48 O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. 12:51 But listen to this. 12:53 O beautiful for pilgrim feet, whose stern impassioned stress; 12:58 a thoroughfare for freedom beat across the wilderness. 13:03 America, America, God mend thine every flaw; 13:08 confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law. 13:14 America! 13:15 I hope that it doesn't ever speaks as a dragon, 13:18 but the prophecy says that it will. 13:22 May God help us to be faithful to the Lord Jesus always. |
Revised 2019-09-26