Participants: John Dinzey
Series Code: POF
Program Code: POF000019A
|
00:24 Hi, I'm Brian Hamilton, and welcome to the
00:27 3ABN Worship Center for another program 00:31 entitled, Pillars of Faith. 00:34 We're glad that you have come to join us today, 00:37 and we want to welcome you, both our television audience 00:41 and radio, as well as any who are right here for 00:45 the presentation today. 00:48 Elder Johnny Dinzey, manager of our Latino network, 00:54 is going to be our presenter. 00:57 Elder Dinzey and his lovely wife, Idalia, literally 01:02 travel the globe sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ 01:07 to the world. 01:09 They do it by television and they do it personally 01:11 as they travel from place to place. 01:15 Elder Dinzey is a sought after presenter, and so is Idalia. 01:18 And we're just pleased today to have them here, 01:22 have Johnny here with us for this particular program. 01:27 His message is based on Revelation chapter 14. 01:33 It is the last warning message in the Bible 01:37 given to a world, a rebellious world, 01:41 spinning out of control. 01:43 And this is a very pointed message, a serious message, 01:48 a solemn message for our time. 01:50 And so it's fitting that Elder Dinzey be able to 01:54 present this series. 01:55 It's a five part series, and he is presenting part four 01:59 in this particular program. 02:02 He covered the first angel's message in a 02:06 two part presentation. 02:08 And then the second angel's message. 02:11 And today he is presenting part one 02:14 of the third angel's message. 02:17 And so we want you to get your Bibles 02:19 if you don't already have them there. 02:22 Take a moment, grab your Bible, turn to Revelation chapter 14, 02:26 and be prepared for Elder Dinzey as he presents 02:30 in just a moment. 02:31 But I'd like to precede it with prayer. 02:34 So if you would, bow your heads with me. 02:36 Father in heaven, we live in solemn times. 02:42 We live just before the second coming of Christ. 02:46 As we study, prophecy tells us that Your coming is near, 02:52 even at the door. 02:54 And we know that preceding Your coming, Jesus, will be 02:58 events of judgment, and You'll always send a warning 03:01 before You judge. 03:02 And so the three angels' messages of Revelation 14 03:06 are that warning. 03:08 So please give Elder Dinzey clarity of speech, 03:13 and give us the gift of receptive hearts and minds 03:17 to be able to receive this message 03:19 and apply it to our lives. 03:21 Thank You. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. 03:27 Amen. Thank you, Pastor Brian. 03:30 We are now in number four of five, as you heard. 03:35 And we are grateful to the Lord for His mercy 03:38 and that He is still on the throne. 03:42 It is my pleasure to be with you during the rest of this hour. 03:47 And we are going to study, we're going to continue our study 03:50 as we have been going on. 03:51 We've talked about angel number one, 03:53 the first angel. 03:55 And in this particular study you will notice 03:58 that the message begins with, "And the third angel followed." 04:03 You will notice this because when we started our study, 04:07 it says, "another angel," starting with Revelation 14:6. 04:13 But these three angels have a message of vital importance 04:17 for those that are living in the last days of this earth. 04:21 The time factor involved is the last days, 04:24 because it is only at the end time that you can say, 04:29 as it is stated by the first angel, that the hour of 04:33 God's judgment is come, the hour of God's judgment is come. 04:37 And Satan, of course, is working behind the scenes 04:42 through powers and people to try to accomplish his purposes 04:46 and to lead people astray and to be lost, 04:51 while God is working to save as many as possible. 04:55 And the Bible says that we are suppose to preach the gospel 04:58 unto every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people. 05:05 So I know we have prayed, however, I'd like to go 05:09 to the Lord in prayer one more time 05:11 and ask for the Lord to bless us. 05:13 I know He will because we depend totally on Him. 05:17 I will kneel and I will ask for you to pray for me 05:19 as well as yourself as we approach God's throne of grace. 05:24 Let us pray. 05:26 Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You so much, Lord, 05:30 that we can study the Holy Scriptures. 05:33 We ask You, Lord, to bless us with the Holy Spirit. 05:36 We pray that You will guide us into all truth. 05:40 We pray that Your Holy Spirit will guide the thoughts 05:43 and understanding of those that will be listening 05:46 wherever they may be in this world. 05:48 And we ask You, Father, for clearness of thought 05:51 and clarity of speech. 05:53 And we ask that Your name will be glorified, 05:55 and that Your children will be awakened to the time 05:58 that we are living in so that we may understand 06:01 that You love us, care for us, and want to save us. 06:04 I place myself in Your hands, Lord, and I ask 06:07 for Your Holy Spirit to be poured out 06:09 that Your name may be honored. 06:12 We ask You, Father, in Jesus' holy and blessed name. 06:16 Amen, amen. 06:19 Well, we begin our study in Revelation 14, once again. 06:25 During the last time we were together we studied 06:27 Revelation 14:8, the second angel's message, which 06:32 I will read at this moment. 06:33 "And there followed another angel, saying, 06:37 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 06:42 because she made all nations drink of the wine 06:46 of the wrath of her fornication.'" 06:50 This angel follows the first. 06:52 And the third angel followed this angel. 06:55 And it is a continuing message that we have 06:58 here outlined in Revelation 14:6-12. 07:03 And this message is a warning. 07:08 Notice that she made all nations drink of the wine 07:12 of the wrath of her fornication. 07:15 Wine is a symbol of doctrines. 07:18 And so we are talking about that she made all nations 07:21 drunk with the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 07:24 In other words, the nations of the world, 07:28 the people of the world, have been fed these doctrines 07:31 that you become intoxicated with to the sense that 07:36 you are believing these things that are not true. 07:41 And the Lord has a message for His children. 07:46 He says they are fallen because they believe 07:49 these false doctrines, and because she made all nations 07:53 drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 07:55 That is the reason for the fall of Babylon. 07:58 And we remember that, as we stated in the last message, 08:04 that Babylon here represents the different denominations 08:09 that have departed from the true biblical doctrines. 08:13 They have departed from the true biblical doctrines, 08:15 therefore they are said to be fallen. 08:18 Now we also stated that this is something yet future. 08:22 How is it that we know? 08:24 Because at this time that we are living in at this moment, 08:27 not all nations are drunk with the wine of the wrath 08:32 of her fornication. 08:33 We know that in these last days we have different means 08:36 by which messages could be carried. 08:38 Electronically, physically with paper, whether it be letter, 08:44 or whatever the system may be, or in person. 08:46 And so whatever means can be used to bring 08:51 a message to someone else. 08:53 As we continue our study, we go right into Revelation 14:9-12. 08:58 And I will read all these verses at this time, 09:01 and then we'll go back and talk about each verse separately. 09:05 Let us begin Revelation 14:9-12, the third angel's message. 09:10 "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 09:15 'If any man worship the beast and his image, 09:20 and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 09:25 the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 09:29 which is poured out without mixture into the cup of 09:33 his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire 09:37 and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, 09:40 and in the presence of the Lamb. 09:43 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: 09:47 and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast 09:51 and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 09:56 Here is the patience of the saints: 09:59 here are they that keep the commandments of God, 10:02 and the faith of Jesus.'" 10:06 So here we have a message for the people of the world. 10:10 And this message is of such importance 10:13 that everyone needs to look at it, consider it, 10:16 and understand it. 10:18 This message tells us that God is going to pour out 10:23 His wrath without mixture. 10:26 And I say to you that throughout history God has visited 10:31 people or nations with punishment based on 10:35 the wicked deeds. 10:36 You may remember the flood. 10:37 You remember Sodom and Gomorrah. 10:39 And other nations as well. 10:42 However, all of God's judgments can be said to have come 10:47 mingled with mercy. 10:50 However, in this particular context, the Bible says 10:55 that the wrath of God is poured out without mixture. 10:59 In other words, it is pure and without mercy. 11:03 Why? 11:04 Because God has done all that could possibly be done. 11:08 All that could possibly be done to lead the people 11:13 of this world down the right path. 11:15 The message is presented all around the world. 11:18 Remember that as the devil is trying to lead people 11:22 to destruction, God is trying to lead people to salvation. 11:25 And there's a great controversy between good and evil. 11:28 Here in these verses that we are reading, 11:31 we see some of the things that take place as Satan tries to 11:35 take control of the minds of people. 11:37 As a matter of fact, it goes to the point of mandating worship. 11:43 And this is outlined in Revelation chapter 13. 11:47 Mandating worship, and this is mandated in Revelation 13. 11:51 And we're going to look at this. 11:53 Notice here in Revelation 13:4. 11:59 This message in Revelation 14 is linked to Revelation 13 12:05 because it is talking about the mark of the beast 12:08 and the mark of his name. 12:10 Notice Revelation 13:4. 12:12 "And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: 12:18 and they worshiped the beast, saying, 12:21 'Who is like unto the beast? 12:24 Who is able to make war with him?'" 12:28 In other words, this power is said to be of such 12:32 high authority that the question is asked, 12:34 "Who can possibly make war with this beast? 12:38 Who can possibly make war with this beast? 12:42 And who is able to stand?" 12:48 So at this point we now ask you to go to Revelation 13:8. 12:53 Notice again that it's talking about worship. 12:57 Worship. 12:59 In this particular verse 4, we read that they worshiped 13:02 the dragon. 13:03 I ask you, do you know who the dragon is in this scripture? 13:07 Revelation chapter 12 reveals that the dragon 13:11 is that old serpent called the devil. 13:14 The dragon is the old serpent called the devil. 13:17 So people in this context are worshiping the dragon, 13:24 which is a symbol of the devil himself. 13:27 "And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: 13:30 and they worshiped the beast, saying, 13:33 'Who is like unto the beast? 13:35 Who is able to make war with him?'" 13:37 Revelation 13:8. 13:39 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, 13:45 whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb 13:50 slain from the foundation of the world." 13:55 Now this is a very interesting scripture. 13:57 It says, all that dwell on the earth worship this beast 14:04 whose names are not written in the book of life. 14:08 So, it is of great importance for you to have your name 14:12 written in the book of life. 14:14 How is it that you get your name written in the book of life? 14:19 It is very simple. 14:21 Jesus said, "Come unto Me all ye that are weary 14:26 and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 14:31 Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. 14:35 No man can come to the Father but by Him. 14:38 There's no other name under heaven 14:41 whereby man should be saved. 14:43 By grace are we saved through faith. 14:46 It is a gift of God. 14:48 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 14:51 And therefore, how do you get your name written 14:53 in the book of life? 14:54 You give your heart completely to the Lord. 14:57 You surrender your life to Him. 14:59 You come before Him and repent, confess your sins before Him, 15:03 and say, "I accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior." 15:08 And remember, in John chapter 3 Jesus said, 15:12 "Except a man be born of water and the spirit, 15:16 he cannot see the kingdom of God." 15:20 Therefore, we are called upon to be baptized 15:23 and to come into God's fold, 15:25 and to become a follower of Jesus Christ. 15:28 And as you do this, your name will be written 15:32 in the book of life. 15:34 If you do not do this, you're going to fall in the category 15:37 of those that worship the dragon and worship the beast, 15:41 and will have to experience the wrath of God 15:44 which is poured out without mixture. 15:47 And so it is a choice that every individual will have 15:51 in the last days. 15:52 Worship God or worship the dragon, worship the beast, 15:56 worship the devil. 15:59 So notice now Revelation 13:11. 16:02 "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; 16:06 and he had two horns like a lamb, 16:08 and he spake as a dragon." 16:10 In other words, identified himself, this nation identifies 16:15 itself with the devil, because it speaks as a dragon. 16:21 Revelation 13:12, "And he exercises all the power of the 16:26 first beast before him, and causes the earth 16:30 and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, 16:34 whose deadly wound was healed." 16:37 So we have here several occasions in these verses 16:41 that we have mentioned where worship of the 16:44 dragon is mentioned, worship of the beast is mentioned. 16:48 But are they worthy of worship? 16:50 There is, according to verse 11, it says that 16:56 you're going to be called upon, it's going to cause all that 16:59 dwell upon the earth. 17:00 In other words, this power that is like a lamb 17:03 has power over those other nations to the point 17:07 that it causes all that dwell on the earth 17:10 to worship the first beast. 17:11 Notice Revelation 13:15. 17:14 Revelation 13:15. 17:16 "And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, 17:21 that the image of the beast should both speak 17:24 and cause that as many as would not worship the image of 17:29 the beast should be killed." 17:31 In other words, the time will come, the time will come 17:36 upon this nation and eventually every other nation 17:40 that if you do not worship this beast, 17:44 first it will be civil penalties with some fines, jail time. 17:50 However, these will eventually escalate to death. 17:55 If you don't worship the beast, you will be killed. 17:58 And if you don't take a mark in your hand or in your forehead, 18:02 then you will be killed. 18:04 Everyone will have to make a decision. 18:06 Everyone will have to decide: worship the beast, 18:09 worship the dragon, or worship God. 18:13 So just as Joshua called the people of Israel, 18:16 "Choose you this day whom you will serve," 18:19 you will be called upon to choose whom you will serve, 18:23 where you will place your allegiance. 18:25 And I urge you to place your allegiance, to place your faith, 18:30 to place your trust, in God who cares for you. 18:34 The Bible says that, "God so loved the world 18:38 that He gave His only begotten Son, 18:40 that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, 18:44 but have everlasting life." 18:46 God has made provision for you to be saved. 18:49 You do not need to be lost, except if you decide to be lost. 18:55 And I encourage you to decide to be saved 18:58 by the Lord Jesus Christ. 19:02 I would like to invite you to Luke 4:6. 19:05 In Luke 4:6 we have a scripture that identifies with 19:11 these scriptures, because the dragon, the devil is 19:14 behind all these things. 19:16 He wants to be worshiped. 19:18 He sought this in heaven, and he's seeking this on earth. 19:21 In Luke 4:6, Jesus Christ goes to the wilderness 19:26 and the devil goes to tempt Him. 19:27 And notice what verse 6 says. 19:29 "And the devil said unto him, 19:31 'All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: 19:36 for that is delivered unto me; 19:39 and to whomsoever I will, I give it.'" 19:44 So we see here that the devil is offering to Jesus 19:47 all the kingdoms of the world. 19:49 Took Him to a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms 19:52 of the world, claiming that it belongs to him. 19:56 But he usurped the authority that God had given to Adam 20:00 and claims to be the supreme ruler of this earth. 20:05 Jesus Himself said, "The prince of this world..." 20:09 He called the devil the prince of this world. 20:11 And many are following the devil instead of 20:14 following Jesus Christ. 20:16 So we see here that Jesus was told by the devil 20:20 that he was willing to give all to Jesus 20:27 if He does what is described in Luke 4:7. 20:31 Notice, "If thou therefore wilt worship me, 20:35 all shall be thine." 20:39 So the devil shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world 20:43 and says, "I'm going to give you all these things 20:47 if you will bow down and worship me." 20:51 This was a temptation; the kingdoms of the world. 20:54 In other words, "You don't have to go through 20:57 all this difficulty, Jesus. 20:59 To go through this life of suffering. 21:01 To be tempted and to suffer on this world. 21:05 Eventually die for these people. 21:07 You want all these kingdoms? 21:10 I will give them to You. 21:11 All You have to do is bow down and worship me." 21:16 Jesus answered, in Luke 4:8, "And Jesus answered 21:20 and said unto him, 'Get thee behind me, Satan: 21:24 for it is written, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, 21:28 and him only shalt thou serve."'" 21:34 So we see here that Jesus declared that it is only 21:38 God that we should serve and worship. 21:42 Only God deserves our worship. 21:44 And Satan is seeking people to worship him. 21:48 And he is seeking people to worship him also through 21:52 the agents that he uses upon this world. 21:55 And so I urge you to study the Scriptures 21:59 "to show yourself approved unto God; 22:02 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed; 22:04 rightly dividing the word of truth." 22:07 I point you now to Isaiah chapter 14. 22:11 We're going to read verses 12-14. 22:14 Isaiah 14:12-14 22:17 "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, 22:21 son of the morning! 22:22 How art thou cut down to the ground, 22:25 which didst weaken the nations! 22:27 For thou hast said in thine heart, 22:29 'I will ascend into heaven, 22:31 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. 22:35 I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, 22:39 in the sides of the north. 22:41 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. 22:43 I will be like the most High.'" 22:48 And so the devil himself is seeking the worship 22:52 of all the people of the world. 22:55 And Jesus said, "It is only God that you shall serve. 22:59 Only He is worthy is your worship." 23:03 Remember, we're studying the three angels' messages. 23:08 The first angel's message outlined in Revelation 14:7 23:15 notice, "Saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God, 23:17 and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: 23:21 and worship him that made heaven, and earth, 23:24 and the sea, and the fountains of waters.'" 23:27 So on the one hand God is saying, "Worship Me." 23:30 Why? Because He is the Creator, He is the one that has made you. 23:35 He is the one that has provided for you. 23:38 He is the one that gave His Son to die for you 23:42 so that you could be saved. 23:43 God is worthy of all your worship and adoration. 23:47 And He is the one that deserves all your worship. 23:52 The devil is trying to take that away from God. 23:56 And this beast power, which is identified as Babylon 24:01 in the Bible, is the antichrist and is connected 24:06 to the devil himself. 24:07 Is the antichrist and is connected to the devil himself. 24:11 Only God is worthy of worship. 24:16 I would like to point you to Revelation chapter 5. 24:25 In Revelation chapter 5 we have a scripture. 24:31 Actually, in Revelation chapter 4 and chapter 5 24:35 we are told that we are to worship God, 24:37 for He is worthy of worship. 24:40 He is worthy of our worship. 24:44 Notice Revelation 4:11, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, 24:48 to receive glory and honour and power: 24:53 for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure 24:57 they are and were created." 25:02 So God is worthy of our worship 25:06 because of the fact that He is our Creator and our Savior. 25:10 The one that continues to provide for us. 25:13 And I say to you, He provides the sunshine 25:16 so that you may be blessed by the sunshine. 25:20 He provides the sunshine that the plants may grow 25:23 so you can have food upon your table. 25:25 God is worthy of your worship. 25:27 If God were to stop His sun from shining upon this earth, 25:33 this earth and the inhabitants thereof would cease to exist 25:38 because all plants would die, therefore you would die 25:41 and you would no longer exist. 25:43 God is worthy of our worship. 25:45 God is worthy of His authority and honor 25:49 that we can possibly give Him. 25:50 Notice Revelation 13:1. 25:54 We're talking about the antichrist at this point. 25:57 The antichrist that calls upon people to worship 26:02 and calls upon people to take the mark of the beast. 26:05 Revelation 13:1. 26:07 "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast 26:11 rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, 26:16 and upon his horns ten crowns, 26:19 and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." 26:25 The name of blasphemy. 26:29 And so you have to ask yourself, what is this name of blasphemy? 26:32 As we continue on, you will notice that there is 26:35 a power upon the earth that has a name of blasphemy 26:39 upon its head. 26:42 It's a power upon this earth. 26:44 Revelation 13:2, "And the beast which I saw 26:47 was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, 26:51 and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. 26:54 And the dragon," that is the devil, "gave him his power, 26:58 and his seat, and great authority." 27:02 So we see here that the beast that we are talking about, 27:05 which eventually calls upon people to worship, 27:10 is none other that behind him is the dragon, the devil himself, 27:16 that is giving him his seat, his power, and his authority. 27:21 So this beast is connected to the devil himself, 27:25 and seeks the worship of God's children. 27:29 Worship that only belongs to God Himself. 27:33 In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, one of the characteristics 27:40 of this beast power is presented to us in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. 27:47 Notice what the Bible tells us. 27:50 "Let no man deceive you by any means: 27:53 for that day," that is the coming of Jesus Christ, 27:56 "shall not come, except there come a falling away first, 28:01 and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 28:06 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is 28:11 called God, or that is worshiped; 28:14 so that he as God sits in the temple of God, 28:19 showing himself that he is God." 28:22 So here we have a power upon this earth 28:24 in these last days, even today there is a power upon this earth 28:29 that sits in a temple of God, claims that it's a 28:33 temple of God, and as it says here claims or shows himself 28:41 that he is God. 28:42 Is there a power upon this earth that claims this today? 28:45 Yes there is. 28:46 And it has been around since several hundred years. 28:51 It came into power in the year 538 AD. 28:55 And it's still upon this earth today. 29:00 It existed before 538 AD, however more authority 29:04 and power was given to it, as it's stated, as we just read, 29:07 that the dragon gave him his seat, his power, 29:11 and great authority. 29:14 So who is this beast? 29:15 Who is this beast described in Revelation 13? 29:20 In Revelation 13 we read the description of the beast. 29:25 And this beast of Revelation 13 combines the features and 29:32 characteristics of all the beasts, or kingdoms, 29:36 of Daniel chapter 7, which represent the empires 29:41 that ruled the world since Daniel's time. 29:45 All the empires that ruled since Daniel's time. 29:48 All the characteristics are upon this beast of Revelation 13. 29:54 You may remember the four kingdoms that ruled the world. 29:58 You can see history. 29:59 Very easily you can determine this and see this. 30:03 It was Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and eventually Rome, 30:10 the empire of Rome, and then eventually the 30:14 Roman Catholic Church that continued to reign 30:17 after the Roman Empire declined in power. 30:23 I would like to invite you to Daniel chapter 7. 30:27 Let's look at some of the characteristics, 30:29 let's look at these kingdoms, so that we can understand 30:34 whom this power is. 30:35 And as we speak about these things, I should mention 30:38 that when we're talking about a power, 30:41 we're not talking about the people 30:43 that are part of the kingdom. 30:45 If the people that are part of that power or that system 30:50 identify with the power, then it can be said about them 30:55 the same that is said about the power. 30:57 But God says there are people, as we saw in the last message, 31:01 that are in Babylon, and He calls them out. 31:05 He calls them out of Babylon so they can avoid partaking 31:10 of her plagues and the punishment that 31:13 God has determined for her. 31:15 Daniel chapter 7. 31:16 Daniel chapter 7, we'll begin in verse 2. 31:19 Let us read. 31:21 "Daniel spake and said, 'I saw in my vision by night, 31:25 and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove 31:28 upon the great sea. 31:30 And four great beasts came up from the sea, 31:32 diverse one from another. 31:34 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. 31:38 I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, 31:41 and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon 31:45 the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 31:49 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, 31:54 and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs 31:57 in the mouth of it between the teeth of it. 31:59 And they said thus unto it, "Arise, devour much flesh."'" 32:05 Daniel 7:6 32:07 "After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, 32:11 which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; 32:15 the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." 32:21 Thus far, in these six verses are described the first 32:24 three world powers that ruled this earth. 32:28 That is Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. 32:33 The last one we mentioned was Greece. 32:35 You may remember the four generals that took over 32:38 after Alexander the Great died at such a young age. 32:43 And they say that Alexander the Great quickly conquered 32:49 the many nations about him and extended very far. 32:53 And that after he thought he had conquered everyone 32:57 he was depressed because there were no more nations to conquer. 33:01 And he died very young in drunken debauchery. 33:09 So we have talked about the three world powers. 33:11 Let's look at the fourth world power. 33:14 Daniel 7:7 33:16 "After this I saw in the night visions, 33:19 and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, 33:24 and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth. 33:29 It devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped 33:32 the residue with the feet of it. 33:33 And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; 33:38 and it had ten horns." 33:41 So we have all four kingdoms mentioned. 33:44 And this last one is the kingdom of Rome. 33:48 The kingdom of Rome that came into power after Greece. 33:53 So how did the kingdom of Rome come into power? 33:57 For this we begin reading Daniel 7:8. 34:00 "I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them 34:05 another little horn, before whom there were 34:10 three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. 34:13 And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, 34:18 and a mouth speaking great things." 34:23 So we have here a description of the fourth power 34:27 and how it comes up, and eventually how it grows. 34:33 Right there in Daniel chapter 7 we do not have time to 34:35 read all of the verses, so we're going to jump down 34:38 to Daniel 7:20. 34:40 It's history. 34:41 Let's go to Daniel 7:20. 34:43 Notice what it says of the ten horns. 34:46 "And of the ten horns that were in his head, 34:49 and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; 34:52 even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake 34:56 very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 35:00 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, 35:06 and prevailed against them..." 35:09 So we have here this Roman power that eventually 35:14 would prevail, make war with the saints 35:17 and prevail against them. 35:19 In other words, this power would eventually persecute 35:23 the children of God and make war with them. 35:28 More information is given to us that helps us understand 35:31 a time frame when this happens. 35:33 And as we continue reading, we shall find these things. 35:37 Daniel 7:24 35:39 "And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings..." 35:44 The Bible defines itself. 35:46 "...the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise. 35:50 And another shall arise after them; 35:52 and he shall be diverse from the first, 35:55 and he shall subdue three kings. 35:58 And he shall speak great words against the most High, 36:02 and shall wear out the saints of the most High, 36:04 and think to change times and laws. 36:07 And they shall be given into his hands 36:09 until a time and times and the dividing of time." 36:15 So we have here this beast power that is said to 36:19 persecute the saints, make war with the saints. 36:22 And not only does he make war with the saints, 36:26 he thinks to change times and laws; 36:30 showing great authority, showing great power, 36:34 and having sway over the minds of people. 36:38 And so we ask ourselves, who is this little horn. 36:43 Let's look at the identifying characteristics. 36:46 We're going to look at Daniel chapter 7 alone. 36:51 We find seven or eight of them. 36:53 Look at number one. 36:54 It arose out of the fourth beast. 36:58 That's found in verse 8 and 24 of Daniel chapter 7. 37:02 It appeared after the ten other horns. 37:04 That's in verse 24. 37:06 It was little when it was first seen, but it in time became 37:10 greater than its fellow. 37:11 It says it became more stout. 37:13 You can look at verse 8 and 20. 37:16 And it also says it would subdue, or in other words, 37:19 take down three kings. 37:22 So then it arose. 37:23 And three of the first horns also were 37:26 plucked up by the roots. 37:27 That's verse 8 and verse 24. 37:29 It had eyes like the eyes of a man 37:31 and a mouth speaking great things. 37:33 And it spoke great words against the Most High. 37:36 That's verse 25. 37:37 It was to wear out the saints of the Most High; verse 25. 37:40 It was to think to change times and laws. 37:43 It was allowed power over the saints 37:45 for a time, two times, and a half of time. 37:49 That's verse 25. 37:51 So we see here that these are identifying characteristics. 37:55 And in order for us to identify whom the little horn is, 37:59 you have to look at each one of the characteristics. 38:03 Our time is limited. 38:04 We will discuss as many as possible 38:07 during this time that we are together. 38:09 The three kings that were plucked up 38:15 are the Vandals, the Ostrogoth's, and the Heruli, 38:19 which are Barbarian tribes that came in after the ten kings. 38:26 The language of Revelation chapters 13, 14, 17, and 18, 38:33 and Daniel chapter 7, help us to understand that 38:35 the Bible is referring to the same political religious power. 38:40 Daniel chapter 7, and also 8, 38:44 has some information concerning that. 38:46 But the language of these chapters help us to understand 38:49 that this little horn is the same as the beast power 38:54 that eventually comes in power in Revelation chapter 13. 38:58 Also Revelation chapter 17 which is described as 39:01 the great Babylon, the whore that the Bible describes. 39:06 It uses that particular language. 39:08 And so we are using the same language as it is written 39:11 in the book of Revelation chapter 17. 39:14 The little horn grows out of the fourth beast. 39:18 It's also among the ten horns. 39:20 It comes out of the Roman Empire. 39:22 And it is, therefore, a continuation 39:25 of the Roman Empire. 39:27 The little horn grew up among the ten horns 39:30 after the Barbarian tribes had divided 39:32 the Roman Empire into pieces. 39:34 When the Roman Empire began to decline, 39:37 these ten Barbarian tribes kept attacking Rome. 39:42 It literally weakened and devoured it 39:47 practically into pieces. 39:48 However, it did not totally disappear. 39:52 The Bible says that a little horn would come up 39:55 and grow mighty. 39:57 Indeed, the devil is behind the whole thing. 40:00 And as we read in Revelation chapter 13, 40:02 the devil will give it its seat, its authority, 40:06 and its power. 40:07 And history reveals that it was so. 40:13 So let us look at Daniel 7:25. 40:17 We read that this beast power speaks blasphemies. 40:21 This beast power speaks blasphemies. 40:23 You will notice that as you study history, 40:26 the power that came into existence and controlled 40:31 the majority of western Europe was the Roman Catholic Church. 40:37 And I hesitate here and say we're not aiming at them, 40:41 we're not trying to bring them with bad reputation. 40:48 We are speaking of the characteristics, 40:49 we're speaking of what the Bible says, 40:52 and what history reveals that this power did. 40:56 I have family that have been members of the Catholic Church, 41:00 are members of the Catholic Church. 41:02 And out of love for them and love for all of you 41:06 that are listening to this program, we share this 41:08 information so that you can make a decision concerning 41:11 what will take place in the latter days, 41:15 what will take place even in these days that we're living in. 41:19 Notice that in Daniel 7:25, as we already read, 41:23 great words are spoken against the Most High. 41:27 Notice, one, we have to refer to history of this. 41:31 The bishop at Rome began to take on some daring titles. 41:37 He began to us the, "Vicar of Christ," as a title. 41:41 I would like to bring to you some interesting information. 41:46 Do you understand that the Christian church... 41:51 Remember that the rain, they were blessed with 41:56 the Holy Spirit power; the first rain. 42:01 The Pentecost, as you remember. 42:03 They preached the Word of God with power, 42:05 and it was growing mightily. 42:06 These people were on fire, as they say. 42:09 They began to preach the gospel through Jerusalem. 42:12 Eventually after Stephen was stoned, they went out 42:15 through the world preaching the gospel 42:18 of Jesus Christ. 42:20 And on the day of Pentecost, there were devout Jews 42:23 from every nation under heaven, the Bible says 42:26 in Acts chapter 2. 42:28 And the message that Peter presented to them 42:31 was taken to the other nations. 42:34 So the gospel began to spread throughout the world. 42:37 So the Christian church began to grow. 42:40 And the Bible says that people were added daily 42:45 such as would be saved. 42:46 When Peter preached, over 2000 people accepted the Lord. 42:51 So what is it that happened? 42:53 Where did this power come from? 42:56 In Rome. 42:58 The bishop of Rome. 42:59 They began to make changes. 43:02 After the apostles died there came in... 43:09 Let me read to you one of the scriptures as we find it here 43:14 that will help us understand some of the things that 43:18 Paul himself prophesied would come. 43:21 And so stand by for a moment as I look this up. 43:25 And in Acts chapter 20, Paul is speaking. 43:31 Let us begin there in Acts chapter 20 43:34 beginning in verse 28. 43:38 "Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, 43:42 over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, 43:45 to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased 43:50 with his own blood. 43:51 For I know this, that after my departing..." 43:54 That means, after he dies. 43:56 "...shall grievous wolves enter in among you, 43:59 not sparing the flock." 44:02 Verse 30, "Also of your own selves shall men arise, 44:07 speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." 44:11 Verse 31, "Therefore watch and remember, 44:14 that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn 44:17 every one night and day with tears." 44:22 And so we see here that a warning is given 44:25 that false teachers would come. 44:27 Jesus Himself said in Matthew chapter 24 44:30 that there will be false teachers, and false prophets, 44:34 and even false christs that would come in 44:36 throughout history deceiving people. 44:39 And so therefore, it should not surprise us 44:43 that the Bible calls that there will be a falling away. 44:47 Remember we read about a falling away. 44:49 And when Paul says that there would come a falling away, 44:52 that means they fell away from the pure doctrines of the Bible. 44:57 So little by little, the church at Rome began to make changes 45:02 to try to attract the pagans in the area. 45:05 And as they tried to attract the pagans in the area, 45:08 they started to do things that were the same as the pagans. 45:12 And little by little, a change took place 45:15 in the church that brought in the man of sin. 45:20 It was a process that little by little took place. 45:23 And so this is one of the titles they took. 45:26 The bishop at Rome took on the title, the Vicar of Christ. 45:31 What does it mean, the Vicar of Christ? 45:33 This means that he stands in the place of the Son of God 45:38 to represent Him here on earth. 45:42 So I read to you from, The Great Encyclical Letters 45:46 of Leo XIII, page 304. 45:51 Notice the words that he said. 45:53 "We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty." 46:01 In another historical work, Pope Pius V, quoted in, 46:06 Barclay, chapter 27 page 218, notice these words. 46:14 It's from Petrus Bertanous. 46:19 And it says, "The Pope and God are the same, 46:22 so he has all power in Heaven and earth." 46:27 This is a very presumptuous claim. 46:30 And we say to you that this is a very dangerous claiming. 46:35 It would speak great words. 46:38 Notice also from Lucius Ferraris, 46:42 Prompta Bibliotheca, 1763, volume 6, PAPA 2, pages 25-29. 46:52 "The Pope is of such great dignity and so exalted 46:56 that he is not a mere man. 46:58 He is, as it were, God on earth... 47:02 ...sole sovereign of the faithful of Christ, 47:05 chief of kings, having plenitude of power..." 47:11 And another one, The Catholic National, 47:14 on July 1895 made this boastful claim. 47:19 "The Pope is not only the representative..." 47:21 Let me start again. 47:23 "The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, 47:25 he is Jesus Christ himself, hidden under the veil of flesh." 47:31 And I say to you, these are blasphemous words. 47:35 And I say to you that we need to be aware of these things 47:39 so that we may understand that there is great danger 47:43 in this system of worship. 47:46 But the Bible says that God is calling people from 47:48 this type of confusion. 47:50 Another aspect is that it would make war with the saints. 47:55 It would make war with the saints. 47:56 I will read to you two scriptures so you can see 47:59 the link that there is between Daniel and Revelation. 48:04 Daniel 7:21 48:06 "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, 48:10 and prevailed against them..." 48:13 Now let's look at Revelation 13:7. 48:16 "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, 48:20 and to overcome them. 48:21 And power was given him over all kindreds, 48:23 and tongues, and nations." 48:25 This little horn is the same power, the same beast power, 48:30 in Revelation 13. 48:32 And I say to you, a terrible account is told in history. 48:38 The church of the Dark Ages, Roman Catholic Church, 48:42 was indeed a persecuting power. 48:45 History is filled with accounts of individuals 48:47 that were labeled as heretics 48:50 and they were burned at the stake. 48:53 And they say, people have tried to calculate this, 48:58 the conservative estimate is that 50 million people 49:04 were killed for their faith during the Dark Ages 49:07 by the Roman Catholic Church. 49:10 Eventually even the Protestants got involved. 49:14 And they killed Catholics and even other Protestants. 49:19 It was indeed the Dark Ages. 49:21 But the Roman Catholic Church, being controlled, 49:23 is responsible for millions of people being put to death, 49:27 because these people that were put to death 49:31 supposedly did not follow the Roman Catholic Church. 49:36 Because of this we have recent history. 49:40 And the recent history is that the late John Paul II 49:45 apologized for what the church did during the dark era 49:50 by burning at the stake and making religious wars 49:54 that follow Protestant reformation. 49:57 And so this was made on May of 1995. 50:01 Pope John Paul II, the late Pope John Paul II, 50:05 made this apology. 50:07 However, recently if we say, as we can say compared to this, 50:13 February 2016, Pope Francis made a similar apology. 50:20 "Pope Francis," I'm reading to you, quoting, 50:22 "Pope Francis officially apologized for persecuting 50:25 Protestants on January 25th as he unveiled plans 50:30 for a radical push for unity during the 500th anniversary 50:34 of the Protestant Reformation." 50:36 So I'm quoting. 50:38 "As the Bishop of Rome and pastor of the Catholic church, 50:42 I would like to invoke mercy and forgiveness 50:45 for the non-evangelical behavior of Catholics toward Christians 50:51 of other churches." 50:54 He said at the same time, "I invite all Catholic 50:57 brothers and sisters to forgive if today or in the past 51:03 they have suffered offense by other Christians." 51:07 So it is that the current pope is trying to bring unity 51:12 by trying to bring other Christians to unite with them. 51:18 But I say to you, to unite upon a foundation of error 51:23 is not something that we should do. 51:26 It is not something that any denomination should do. 51:29 And this foundation of error that the Bible says 51:32 this power, which is Babylon, is full of blasphemies. 51:37 And none of the claims in the past have been said; 51:41 that they are God on earth, and these type of things... 51:44 As a matter of fact, Revelation 13 tells us 51:48 that this will become a persecuting power. 51:52 The Bible says that it would reign 51:53 for a time, two times, and a half a time. 51:57 In Daniel 7 it says, a times, two times, and half a time; 52:01 Daniel 7:25. 52:03 Daniel 12:7 says, a time, times, and a half. 52:07 Revelation 11:2, moving on to Revelation, 52:10 it says that this power would rule for 42 months. 52:15 Revelation 11:3, a thousand two-hundred threescore days. 52:19 That's one-thousand two-hundred sixty. 52:21 Revelation 12:6 also says, 52:23 a thousand two-hundred threescore days. 52:25 Revelation 12:14 says, a time, and times, and half a time, 52:29 from the face of the serpent the woman hides. 52:32 That is, the pure woman hides for a 52:34 time, times and half a time. 52:36 All these times; the 42 months, the 1260 days, 52:41 times, times, and half a time, are all equal to the same thing: 52:45 1260 days. 52:48 These 1260 days are equal to years. 52:51 Because in Bible prophecy it is a day for a year. 52:55 This power would persecute for 1260 years. 53:01 Did it happen? Yes. 53:03 We have been talking about the Dark Ages, 53:05 we have been talking about how it came into power 53:08 little by little. 53:09 And officially, we would have to go through some history 53:13 to show you that it was in the year 538 AD 53:16 that the Bishop of Rome became a sovereign in western Europe. 53:22 So these 1260 years are from 538 AD to the year 1798 AD. 53:32 It would end on the year 1798 AD. 53:35 An interesting historical note is that on November 9, 1793 53:44 during the French Revolution in France, Christianity was 53:48 abolished and replaced with the worship of reason. 53:51 They found a prostitute in the streets and they said, 53:54 "This is our queen. 53:55 This is who we will worship." 53:58 And nearly five years later on February of 1798 54:03 the French general, Berthier, entered Rome and took 54:08 Pope Pius VI prisoner. 54:12 And so we have the end of the 1260 years 54:17 of rule of the Roman Catholic Church. 54:22 Now we have very little time. 54:24 But it would think to change times and laws. 54:28 It would think to change times and laws. 54:30 Around 1400 AD, Piètro d'Ancarano, 54:36 you might say it that way, made the claim that, "The pope 54:39 can modify divine law since his power is not man 54:43 but of God, and he acts in the place of God on earth 54:46 with fullest power of binding and losing his sheep." 54:49 That's from Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca. 54:53 There are eight volumes. 54:54 And there's an article called, PAPA 2. 54:58 That's, the pope two. 54:59 Later at the Council of Trent during an address on 55:02 January 18, 1562, the archbishop called, Rheggio, declared, 55:10 "The Sabbath, the most glorious day in the law, 55:13 has been changed into the Lord's day." 55:17 So the Catholic church claims to have changed 55:20 the Sabbath, the seventh day Sabbath, to Sunday, 55:24 which they call the Lord's day. 55:27 The 1957 printing of the Catechism of the 55:30 Catholic doctrine, there's a few questions there. 55:34 Notice the questions. 55:35 "Question: Which is the Sabbath day? 55:36 Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day. 55:39 Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?" 55:42 The answer they have there is, "We observe Sunday 55:46 instead of Saturday because the Catholic church 55:48 transferred the solemnity of the Sabbath to Sunday." 55:55 The Bible says in Exodus 20 that we are to remember 56:00 the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 56:03 The seventh-day Sabbath. 56:05 Jesus Himself kept the seventh-day Sabbath. 56:09 In Luke 4:16 it says, "And he came to Nazareth, 56:13 where he had been brought up. 56:14 And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue 56:17 on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read." 56:21 And I remind you that in Matthew 24:20, 56:24 Jesus says, "Pray that your flight," that means 56:26 your escape, "be not in the winter, 56:28 neither on the Sabbath day." 56:30 In other words, the Sabbath has not been changed. 56:33 The Catholic church claims to have changed it, 56:36 but it remains as a day that God's children are 56:41 to keep as holy. 56:42 And I encourage you to study these things. 56:46 And I urge you to look into the Bible, 56:48 look at the Scriptures, compare the Scriptures 56:52 with what took place in history. 56:53 And you will see that what we have shared 56:56 is true and correct. 56:57 If you have any questions concerning this, 56:59 you are welcome to write to us at 3ABN. 57:01 We will share some literature with you 57:03 with more information to help you understand 57:06 how this change took place. 57:08 As a matter of fact, you may order free the book, 57:11 The Great Controversy, that has a lot of this detail 57:14 so that you can understand better the development of 57:19 this power and what will happen in the last days. 57:22 Thank you for being with us during, Pillars of Faith. 57:24 And we invite you to tune in for the last and final message 57:28 on the three angels' messages. 57:29 We will see you next time. |
Revised 2017-04-10