Participants:
Series Code: TAM
Program Code: TAM000013S
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00:30 Let's bow our heads for prayer.
00:31 Our Loving Heavenly Father, once again we come into Your 00:36 presence with humble hearts, with the spirit of learners 00:43 wanting to hear Your voice speaking to us. 00:48 Our thoughts can never reach the height of Your thoughts, 00:54 and therefore we implore divine wisdom. 00:58 We ask, Lord, that You will give us tender hearts to receive the 01:01 message that you have for us today. 01:03 And we thank You for hearing our prayer, for we ask it in 01:08 the precious name of Jesus, Amen. 01:11 In our topic today we're going to study about the 01:16 number of the beast. 01:18 And I'd like to begin by reading a text that we find in 01:22 Revelation 13:1, Revelation 13:1. 01:28 This is the passage that begins the description 01:32 of the sea beast, which we have already identified as 01:36 the Roman Catholic papacy; not individuals within the system. 01:40 We're talking about a system; we're talking 01:42 about an organization. 01:44 And we've already clearly identified, from the Bible, 01:47 that this beast that rises from the sea represents 01:51 the Roman Catholic papacy. 01:52 It says there in Revelation 13: 1, speaking about this beast: 02:18 So as we begin our study we want to notice that the name 02:23 of the beast is a blasphemous name. 02:26 The blasphemous name is found on the beast's heads. 02:31 Now in order to understand what this blasphemous name is, 02:37 we must, first of all, understand the Biblical 02:41 definition of blasphemy. 02:42 Do we have a clear definition in the Bible of what 02:48 blasphemy consists of? 02:50 The answer to this question is absolutely yes. 02:56 In the Bible blasphemy is when a mere man claims to be God, 03:03 and when a mere man claims to have the power to 03:07 perform the works of God. 03:09 And we're going to take a look at several instances 03:14 in Scripture where blasphemy is described in this manner. 03:19 Once again, blasphemy is the Bible means a man, a mere man, 03:24 who claims to be God, and secondly, that mere man claims 03:29 to be able to perform the works of God, and exercise in his 03:34 actions the power of God. 03:37 One time Jesus said something very controversial. 03:41 It's found in John 10:30. 03:44 This is what He said to the Jews that were listening to Him. 03:52 And we're told in the context that the Jews immediately picked 03:56 up stones to cast at Jesus. 03:59 Because, you see, Leviticus 24: 16 clearly said, 04:03 and they knew this, that whoever claimed to be one with the 04:08 Father, in the sense that Jesus was saying it, 04:11 was claiming to be God. 04:13 And the Levitical law said that whoever claimed to be God 04:17 needed to be stoned. 04:19 And so when they picked up stones, 04:22 Jesus asked them a question. 04:24 He said, Why do you want to stone Me? 04:26 What evil work have I done that justifies you stoning Me? 04:32 And notice what their response was in John 10:33, John 10:33. 04:53 What is blasphemy? 04:55 It's when a mere man claims to be what? God. 04:58 Now Jesus was God. 05:00 He had a right to claim to be God. 05:02 But according to them, blasphemy is when a mere 05:05 man claims to be God. 05:08 Also blasphemy is when someone claims to be able to 05:12 perform the works of God. 05:14 Immediately after Jesus said, I and My Father are One. 05:18 Jesus claimed also to perform the works of His Father. 05:23 Notice John 10:36-39, John 10: 36-39. Jesus says: 05:30 Do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified, 05:34 and sent into the world, You are blaspheming; because I said 05:39 I am the Son of God? 05:41 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me. 05:47 But if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works: 05:52 that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in Me, 05:56 and I am in Him. Therefore they sought again to seize Him: 06:01 but He escaped out of their hand. 06:04 So, notice, the definition that Scripture gives of blasphemy 06:09 is when a mere man claims to be God, and claims to perform 06:13 the works of God, or manifests in his actions the power of God. 06:19 Now it's interesting to notice also that the Jews accused Jesus 06:25 of blasphemy, because He claimed to be the Son of God. 06:29 Now all of the Jews believed that they were Sons of God 06:33 in a general sense of the word. 06:35 But they knew that when Jesus was saying that He was the 06:38 Son of God, what He was meaning is that He was the 06:42 representative of God on earth; that He was the authorized 06:47 spokesman for God. 06:48 If you please, Jesus was claiming to be the Vicar of God. 06:54 or the Vicarious Filii Dei, the representative of God on earth. 06:59 Now it's interesting to notice also that blasphemy is defined 07:04 in Scripture as when a mere man claims to have 07:08 the power to forgive sins. 07:10 Not only when a mere man claims to be God, but also when he 07:14 claims to exercise the power and prerogatives of God. 07:17 Notice Mark 2:7. Jesus meets a paralytic, and He says to the 07:25 paralytic, Your sins are forgiven. 07:28 By the way, this took place in the city of Capernaum. 07:31 And the Jews immediately, when Jesus said, Your sins are 07:35 forgiven, they thought in their hearts, 07:37 according to Mark 2:7, 07:49 You see, they were thinking, If this man forgives sins, 07:52 and only God can forgive sins, this man is claiming to be God. 07:58 So blasphemy is when a man claims to be God, and claims to 08:03 be able to perform the functions and the prerogatives of God. 08:07 Notice 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4. 08:11 This is another passage that's speaking about the antichrist. 08:15 By the way, the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians 2, is the same as 08:19 the beast from the sea, is the same as the little horn, 08:22 is the same as the abomination of desolation, and the same 08:26 as the harlot of Revelation 17. 08:29 In other words, these are different symbols that point 08:31 to the same power. 08:33 The man of sin is the same as the little horn, 08:36 the same as the beast. 08:37 Notice 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, and 4, what the antichrist does. 08:42 It says there: 08:47 Which is the coming of Christ. 08:53 A better translation is: the apostasy. 08:56 In Greek it says, apostasia. 08:58 So it should be translated: 09:08 So is this a mere man that is revealed? 09:11 Yes, it's a mere man, right? 09:32 What is one of the main characteristics 09:34 of the antichrist? 09:36 He sits in the temple of God, and he claims to be what? 09:39 He claims to be God. 09:41 And, by the way, what is the temple of God? 09:44 The temple of God is not the Jewish temple, which supposedly 09:48 is going to be rebuilt in the Middle East. 09:50 The temple of God, according to every other passage in the 09:54 writings of the apostle Paul, represents the Christian church. 09:58 Now I want you to notice also that this antichrist of 10:02 2 Thessalonians 2, not only claims to be God, 10:06 but he also claims to have the power of God, 10:09 to exercise the power of God. 10:12 Notice in the same passage, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10:16 2 Thessalonians 2:9, speaking about this same individual 10:20 who sits in the temple of God, showing himself to be God. 10:25 It says there: 10:37 Let me ask you, Is this antichrist only going to claim 10:40 to be God, or is he going to apparently do the works, 10:43 the powerful works of God? 10:45 Evidentially he's also performing the works of God, 10:47 although he is a mere man; he's the man of sin. 10:51 By the way, the only other time in the New Testament where these 10:56 three words appear together in one verse: power, signs, 10:59 and wonders, is in Acts 2:22. 11:02 I want to read that verse because I'm going to show you 11:05 that what the antichrist is going to do is falsify the works 11:10 that Jesus performed while He was on this earth. 11:13 Notice Acts 2:22: Men of Israel. This is Peter speaking. 11:34 Did Jesus perform the power and the acts of God? 11:38 He most certainly did. 11:39 Is the antichrist going to perform works that appear 11:42 to be the works of God? Absolutely! 11:45 Because he claims to be what? God. 11:48 But these aren't the only passages that 11:50 describe blasphemy. 11:52 You remember that little horn of Daniel 7? We read verse 25. 11:56 And one of the characteristics of the little horn is that this 12:00 horn speaks pompous words against the Most High. 12:06 Daniel 7:25, He speaks pompous words against the Most High. 12:10 The question is, What are those pompous words that this 12:14 little horn speaks? 12:16 Revelation 13:5 defines what those words are. 12:21 It says in Revelation 13:5 that the beast that comes from the 12:26 sea was given a mouth that speaks... 12:34 So what does the little horn speak? 12:36 He speaks blasphemies. 12:39 What does the beast speak? blasphemies. 12:42 Must that mean then that the little horn, and the beast 12:46 claimed to have God on earth, and claimed to have the power 12:50 to forgive sins, and also perform many of 12:53 God's other functions? Absolutely! 12:56 But this isn't all. 12:57 In Daniel 8 we have something very, very interesting. 13:01 And by the way, before we go to Daniel 8, let me just mention 13:05 that in Daniel 7 this little horn also thinks that he can 13:08 perform the works of God. 13:10 Because it says that the little horn not only speaks blasphemies 13:14 against God, but he actually thinks that he has power 13:17 to change God's times, and God's what? and God's Holy Law. 13:22 In other words, he's not only claiming to be God, 13:24 he's claiming to exercise the functions, and the power of God. 13:28 Then, of course, we have Daniel 8. 13:31 Daniel 8 speaks also about a little horn. 13:35 This little horn represents the same as the 13:38 little horn of Daniel 7. 13:39 But the interesting thing is that in Daniel 8 13:43 this little horn is not mentioned as speaking 13:46 blasphemies against God. 13:48 Do you know what the little horn does in Daniel 8? 13:52 This is extremely interesting. 13:54 What the little horn does is he tries to supplant the 13:59 prince of the host. 14:00 Do you know who the prince of the host is? 14:03 The prince of the host is Jesus Christ. 14:06 You can read, for example, Joshua 5:13-15 where the same 14:10 expression, prince of the host, is used. 14:13 And you're going to find that the prince of the host 14:15 is none other than Jesus Christ. 14:17 And so in Daniel 8 we're told that the little horn was going 14:23 to try and take away the functions of Jesus, 14:26 defined as the daily. 14:29 Do you know what the daily is? 14:30 I wish I had time to give a whole lecture on the daily. 14:33 The daily has to do with the functions that the priest 14:36 performed in the court and in the holy place. 14:38 The sacrifice in the court was to be offered morning, 14:42 and evening daily. 14:44 The lamps in the holy place were to burn daily. 14:48 The bread was to be there daily. 14:51 And the incense, which represents the prayers 14:54 of the saints, was to go up daily, or continually. 14:57 In other words, the little horn was going to take away from 15:01 Jesus these functions, and he was going to appropriate 15:05 these functions to himself. 15:07 He was going to think that he could occupy 15:09 the place of Jesus Christ. 15:12 Are you understanding what blasphemy is 15:15 according to Scripture? 15:17 There's an abundant amount of testimony in the Bible of what 15:21 constitutes blasphemy. 15:23 Now the question is, does the Roman Catholic papacy claim, 15:28 or has it claimed, in the past, that the Pope is God on earth? 15:32 Absolutely! Let me just read you a sampling of statements. 15:36 I could give you more, but we don't have 15:38 the time to read them all. 15:39 This is from the prestigious commentary, Roman Catholic 15:43 Commentary, Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, 15:47 in the article, Papa, or Pope. 15:50 Notice what he has to say: 16:01 His power is what? 16:06 Now notice this: 16:14 Notice that this Roman Catholic Encyclopedia says that the Pope 16:18 occupies the place of God. 16:21 Pope Nicholas I, who ruled from 858 to 867 A.D., 16:29 had this to say about the power of the pope's. He says: 16:46 Now listen to this. 17:00 That's blasphemy, folks. 17:02 It continues saying: 17:15 Notice what Pope Leo XIII had to say in an Encyclical Letter. 17:21 The name of the Encyclical Letter was on, The Chief Duties 17:24 of Christians as Citizens. 17:25 It's dated January 10, 1890. 17:28 Notice what he said. 17:29 This is more contemporary. 17:35 By the way, that's another name for the Pope. 17:58 And Leo XIII also said, in an Encyclical Letter 18:03 dated June 20, 1894. 18:06 He said unabashedly, 18:16 Time and again you'll find in the writings of Roman Catholics 18:20 expressions that apply to the Pope calling him 18:23 Vicar of Christ, Vice Regent of Christ, 18:26 Representative of Christ, and yes, Vicar of the Son of God. 18:31 Do you know the Popes have claimed throughout the course 18:34 of history to perform the functions of God? 18:38 I don't have time to get into all of this. 18:40 You have these texts on your sheets. 18:43 But he claims to have the power to forgive sins. 18:46 He claims to have the power to set up kings, 18:50 and to remove kings. 18:51 Daniel 2 says that that's God's prerogative to place kings, 18:55 and to remove kings. 18:56 He claims to have the prerogative of 18:59 being bowed down to. 19:00 He accepts the title, Holy Father. 19:03 He believes that he can execute the death 19:05 penalty upon dissenters. 19:07 He's said that he had power to change the Sabbath to Sunday. 19:11 He's felt that it's okay to change God's prophetic calendar. 19:14 They claim to be God's supreme judges on earth. 19:18 And they also claim to be infallible expositors of 19:22 God's will in faith and morals. 19:24 Now folks, all of those things in the Bible are 19:27 prerogatives of God. 19:29 If the papacy claims to have had this power, 19:32 it's because they're usurping the title, and they're usurping 19:36 the power of God. 19:37 Now let me read you some blasphemous statements from 19:41 a book by St. Alphonsus Liguori. 19:43 He is one of the few doctors of the Roman Catholic Church. 19:48 There are very few of those. 19:49 Thomas Aquinas was another. 19:50 And there's a handful of other ones. 19:52 But he did a compendium of all of the Roman Catholic wisdom 19:56 on what the power of the priest is. 20:00 And I want to read a statement from his book, 20:03 Dignity and Duties of the Priest or Selva. 20:06 This is Page 28. He says this: 20:18 You know what the confessional is, right? 20:26 You know what that means? those who haven't 20:28 been Roman Catholics? 20:29 It means that you go to the confessional. 20:30 You confess your sin and the priest says, Ego te absolvo, 20:34 in other words, I forgive you. So it says: 20:54 That means I forgive you. 21:05 Here's another statement. It gets worse. 21:09 Listen, when the priest claims to have the power to transform 21:14 the bread and the wine into the real body and blood of Jesus, 21:18 notice what St. Alphonsus Liguori says: 21:59 That is, this is my body. 22:07 Now listen to this: 22:22 That's blasphemy, according to Scripture. 22:26 By the way, that's on Pages 33 and 34 of his book, 22:30 The Dignity and Duties of the Priest or Selva. 22:33 Let me read you one more from the same book, Page 34. 22:57 That means, I forgive you. 23:02 Or he forgives sins. 23:04 Is that blasphemy according to Scripture? 23:06 That is absolutely blasphemy. 23:09 And this system claims to have the power of God, 23:12 and claims to be able to exercise 23:14 the prerogatives of God. 23:15 Now you notice when we began this evening, that it says that 23:20 the beast has a blasphemous name. 23:23 And some people have said, Well, you know, that's not 23:27 saying that he had a blasphemous title. 23:29 It's saying that he had a blasphemous name, 23:31 so it must be a proper name. 23:33 Not so, because in the book of Revelation name can 23:37 also refer to a title. 23:39 And you say, How is that? 23:40 Go with me to Revelation 19:16, Revelation 19:16. 23:47 This is speaking about Jesus. 23:49 I just want to show you that the name doesn't have 23:51 to be a proper name. 23:52 It doesn't have to be the name of a specific pope; proper name. 23:57 It refers to a title. 23:59 Notice Revelation 19:16. 24:12 Let me ask you, Is that a proper name, or is that a title? 24:14 That is a title. So when it says that the beast has a name, 24:17 the name is not a proper name, it is a title. 24:21 Now did you notice that the name has a number? 24:24 You say, the name has a number? 24:26 We didn't read that. 24:27 Well, let's go to Revelation 13: 17. 24:30 The name is a blasphemous name. 24:32 Are you clear on that point? 24:33 The name is a blasphemous name. 24:35 Now we're going to notice that the name has a number. 24:54 So does the blasphemous name of the beast have a number? 24:59 It most certainly has a number. 25:01 You say, Well, Pastor Bohr, how do you get the 25:03 number from a name? 25:04 If this name has a number, (which, by the way, 25:09 we're going to notice is 666), how do you get 25:12 a number from a name? Let me explain. 25:14 In Biblical times they did not have Aerobic numerals 25:18 like we have today. 25:20 The way that they wrote numbers was by using 25:23 letters of the alphabet. 25:24 That's true in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. 25:28 And it's called gematria, that's the method of using 25:33 letters of the alphabet as numbers. 25:37 Let me give you an example. 25:38 The word for cross in the New Testament is stauros. 25:43 If you add up the value of the letters in Greek, 25:47 because it's a Greek word, the value of the word cross is 777. 25:53 That's interesting. 25:54 Now if you add up the number value of the letters 26:00 in the name Jesus, Yesus, the value is 888. 26:05 And if you add up the letters in Greek... 26:08 See, we're not cheating. 26:10 We're not applying Greek to English, or Latin to Italian. 26:15 No, we're using the name, in the language, 26:17 in the number system of the language. 26:19 The word paradosis, which means tradition, the number value 26:24 is 666, interestingly enough, the word tradition. 26:30 Now how do we find the numerical value of the name of the beast? 26:36 Well, allow me to read from a few versions here 26:40 what we need to do in order to determine the 26:44 number of his name. 26:45 I want to read from the Living Bible. 26:47 I don't normally read from paraphrases, but this paraphrase 26:52 I believe is very, very faithful to the original text; 26:55 to the meaning of the original text. 26:57 Notice what the Living Bible says on Revelation 13:18, 27:01 where it speaks about counting the name of the beast, 27:04 and the name has a number. 27:06 It says; this is the translation. 27:25 Did you catch that? 27:26 The numerical value of the letters in his 27:28 name adds up to 666. 27:31 Notice the way the New English Bible, which is a kind of a 27:34 dynamic translation of the Bible, 27:37 the New English Bible says: 27:49 Even the Roman Catholic Douay version has a 27:53 footnote that says this: 28:02 So even the Roman Catholic version says what you have to do 28:06 is find the number value of the letters of his name, 28:09 and then you know what the number of his name is. 28:13 Now I want you to notice another characteristic that we find 28:17 of this beast with this number. 28:20 Notice Revelation 13:18. 28:24 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the 28:30 number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. 28:34 His number is 666. 28:36 Now let me tell you something about that expression, 28:38 It is the number of a man. 28:40 Really, the word man has the indefinite article A, 28:49 but it's not in the original language. 28:50 It can be translated, It is the number of man. 28:55 In other words, this is a system that is centered in man. 28:58 By the way, isn't it interesting that many of these antichrist 29:02 passages have the emphasis upon man. 29:05 For example, the little horn has eyes like a man. 29:08 This system has the number of a man. 29:12 And the one who sits in the temple of God is the man of sin. 29:18 In other words, this is a system that centers on man; 29:22 that majors on man. 29:24 It claims the prerogatives of God, but it brings honor 29:27 and glory to man. 29:28 Now we want to ask the question, in what language should we use 29:33 to determine the value of the letters of the name? 29:36 You say, Well, how do we know which language to use? 29:39 Should we use the Greek number system to determine 29:41 the meaning of the name? 29:43 Should we use the Hebrew system value of the letters? 29:47 Should we use the Latin system of the value of the letters? 29:51 How do you know which number system to use to determine 29:54 the numerical value of the name? 29:57 Well, the fact is there's no doubt whatsoever that we need 30:01 to use the Latin as the language to determine the number, 30:07 and the name of this beast. 30:09 And you say, Why Latin, Pastor Bohr? 30:12 Well, for a very simple reason. 30:14 You remember that there was a dragon in Revelation 12 30:18 that tried to kill the child as soon as the child was born? 30:21 Let me ask you, What empire was ruling at that time? 30:25 It was Rome. Then you read Revelation 13:2, and it says 30:28 that the dragon gave his seat, and his power, and his authority 30:33 to whom? To the beast. 30:34 So let me ask you, Where does the beast receive 30:37 it's authority from? 30:38 He receives it from the dragon, and the dragon represents Satan, 30:41 but also what? Rome. 30:43 So, in other words, the beast, and the little horn, 30:45 receive their power from Rome. 30:47 By the way, the little horn also comes from the head of the 30:49 dragon beast, which is Rome. 30:50 In other words, this power, the little horn, or the beast, 30:55 are from what nation? 30:57 They are Roman powers, which means that we must use the 31:02 system of what? the system of numbers that was used in Rome. 31:06 Now let me ask you, What number system was used in Rome? 31:09 The system that is known as Roman Numerals. 31:15 Now allow me to read a text from the New Testament to prove 31:20 to you that Latin was spoken in the days of Christ. 31:23 John 19:20 tells us that Latin was spoken. 31:27 And don't you think that I'm just saying, Well, you know, 31:29 they spoke Latin way back then. 31:32 No, I'm not saying that. 31:34 The Bible says that Latin was the language of Rome back then. 31:37 Notice John 19:20. It says: 31:58 So did Latin exist in the times of the Roman Empire? 32:02 Yes, it was the official language of Rome. 32:04 Let me ask you, What is the official language of Papal Rome? 32:11 Portuguese? No! The official language of Papal Rome is Latin. 32:17 Which means that his name must be a Latin name, because this is 32:20 a Roman power and we must use Roman numerals to determine the 32:24 number of his name. 32:26 Are you understanding what I'm saying? 32:27 Very, very important. 32:28 Okay, now let me just digress a moment here, because I want 32:32 to show you that the number 666 is very closely related to Rome. 32:37 You know, in antiquity, as I was mentioning, in Hebrew, 32:40 and in Greek, they use letters to denote numbers. 32:47 And they did the same thing in Latin, 32:49 but they things around. 32:51 Whereas in Greek, and in Hebrew, there were many, many of the 32:57 letters of the alphabet that were equivalent to numbers, 33:00 it wasn't so in Latin. 33:02 In Latin what they did was choose six Roman numerals 33:09 to represent all numbers. 33:11 You say, No, Pastor, there's seven. 33:13 There's the I, the V, the X, 33:20 Right? And the M, so there's seven, there's not six. 33:24 But let me tell you that the original system, 33:26 which was developed by the Latin poets, did not include the M. 33:29 The M was added in the Middle Ages. 33:31 The way that they used to write a thousand was not with an M. 33:35 I have pictures of this. 33:36 They would write two D's side by side to indicate a thousand. 33:41 And so the Latin poets established a system where there 33:47 were six letters of the alphabet that were equivalent to numbers. 33:52 And do you know what's very interesting? 33:53 If you add the six Roman numerals that were part of the 33:58 original system; if you add 1 plus 5, plus 10, plus 50, 34:02 plus 100, plus 500 the total of the Roman numerals is 666. 34:09 This would seem to indicate they were supposed to look for the 34:14 number 666 somewhere in Rome. 34:18 Now a question that comes up is what is the name that this 34:22 system has that this system applies to its leader, 34:25 which is a blasphemous name? 34:28 I'm going to tell you what the name is. 34:29 The name is Vicarious Filli Dei. 34:34 Do you know what that expression means, that name means in Latin, 34:40 Vicarious Fillii Dei? 34:42 It means Vicar of the Son of God. 34:45 See, in Latin when you have an ending in I, Fellii, and Dei, 34:50 it's degenitive, it's possessive. 34:52 So basically it means Vicar, or representative, or one who takes 34:57 the place of the Son of God. 34:59 Now some people say, Well, you know, this is just, this name 35:03 really is not a name that was given to the popes. 35:05 It's not an official name of the popes. 35:07 It's just Protestants that say that that was 35:09 a name of the pope. 35:11 Well, I want to go through some historical evidence to show 35:13 you that it's not so. 35:15 For example, in the Donation of Constantine... 35:18 I'm going to go through some history now, and you might not 35:21 know a lot of this history, but I think 35:22 it's very, very important. 35:23 In the Donation of Constantine we find the following words 35:27 written in this document, which I'm going to talk to you 35:31 a little bit more about in a few moments. 35:41 Blessed Peter was what? constituted what? 35:46 By the way, this was written in Latin, and the expression is: 35:49 Vicarious Filiii Dei 36:08 Let me tell you a few things about the 36:10 Donation of Constantine. 36:12 It was actually, purportedly, a letter that was written by 36:17 Constantine the Great, the Emperor to Pope Silvester I. 36:20 And if you read the Donation of Constantine, you'll see that 36:24 Constantine apparently gave temporal power to the pope. 36:27 He practically gave the pope unlimited temporal or political 36:31 power in the Donation of Constantine. 36:33 Now it's interesting that this document was known as early 36:37 as the 9th Century A.D. 36:40 But beginning with the 11th Century A.D. it began to be 36:45 used by the popes in order to prove that they had a right 36:49 to govern not only in religious affairs, but they had the right 36:53 to govern in political affairs as well, because they used 36:56 the forgery that said Constantine signed this as the 36:59 Emperor, and he told us that we could govern, 37:03 not only in religious affairs, but also in civil affairs. 37:08 Well, the authenticity of the Donation of 37:11 Constantine was questioned. 37:13 Beginning in the 15th Century, when literary criticism began 37:17 to grow, a man by the name of Nicholas of Cusa was the first 37:21 to really say, You know, there's some things in this that show 37:24 that this doesn't go all the way back to Constantine. 37:27 This is a forgery from much later. 37:30 And then a scholar by the name of Laurentius Valla decided 37:35 that he would do a very meticulous historical study 37:38 of the Donation of Constantine, and he showed beyond any 37:42 reasonable doubt, that this document was a total forgery 37:47 that was used to try and sustain the temporal claims 37:51 of the Roman Catholic Papacy. 37:53 By the way, the Papacy did not enjoy the work of 37:56 Laurentius Valla because in 1559 the Roman Catholic 38:02 Inquisition put his book on the index of forbidden books. 38:07 Now some Catholic theologians say, Well, you know, 38:11 this was a forgery. 38:12 You can't say that because this document used the name 38:15 Vicarius Filiii Dei, and it says that this title was given to 38:20 Peter, and it was given to his successors, you can't say that 38:23 that's an official title of the Roman Catholic Papacy 38:27 when it's a forgery. 38:28 But the fact is, folks, that this document, even though it 38:32 was a forgery, was used at least by ten popes, and panned off as 38:38 authentic and authoritative of the Roman Catholic Church. 38:42 In other words, even though it was a forgery they said 38:44 This is definitely true. 38:46 And for hundreds of years they actually used the wording of 38:51 the Donation of Constantine to defend the temporal power 38:55 of the Roman Catholic Papacy. 38:57 By the way, this title, Vicarius Filiii Dei, was incorporated 39:04 into official Roman Catholic Cannon Law in what is known as 39:08 Gratian's Decretals, which was published in 1140. 39:13 And this is an official document of the Roman Catholic Church. 39:16 It's Cannon Law, it's the laws of the Roman Catholic Church. 39:20 And that language from the Donation of Constantine 39:22 was incorporated into the Decretals of Gratian, 39:27 which means that it became official in Roman Catholicism. 39:31 In other words, it is an official title. 39:34 By the way, the title is also used by 39:38 Cardinal Henry Edward Manning in his book, 39:42 The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, 39:45 which he wrote in the year 1862. 39:48 Actually, at his time none of the nations of Europe wanted 39:53 anything to do with the Roman Catholic Papacy. 39:55 And so Manning wrote his book to scold the nations of Europe, 40:00 because they didn't support the Papacy after the French 40:03 Revolution, when the Papacy received the deadly wound. 40:05 And so I'd like to read this statement where he's castigating 40:08 the nations of Europe for abandoning the Papacy. 40:11 He said this: 40:33 In other words, they're giving up this concept of Jesus Christ, 40:36 the Vicar of Jesus Christ. 40:41 And now notice this: 40:45 By the way, that's Vicarius Filiii Dei. 40:57 He's saying, We're turned our faces from the Vicar 41:01 of the Son of God, which was the Pope that was ruling in his day. 41:04 He continues saying in his book, speaking about the growing 41:10 temporal power of the Papacy under the Popes': Gregory I, 41:15 Leo III, Gregory VII, and Alexander III. 41:18 He says that at this time the power of the Pope, 41:23 the temporal power of the Pope became a dogma, 41:27 a law of conscience, and action of the reason, 41:32 and theological certainty. 41:34 And then he says this: 41:44 There's the same title again. 41:58 By the way, the title is also in the prestigious Roman Catholic 42:03 Dictionary, or Encyclopedia called Prompta Bibliotheca, 42:08 written or prepared by Lucius Ferraris. 42:11 I'd like to read you an interesting statement also 42:15 from the book by John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, 42:19 a very, very popular book. 42:21 This is what he says on, actually I think it's page 7 42:27 of his book, he says this, actually it's page 3. He says: 42:44 And then John Paul II says this: 42:54 Is that what a Vicar is? someone who represents someone else? 42:58 Yes. 43:01 And now notice, who what? 43:10 What is he saying? 43:11 The Pope what? The Pope occupies the place of Jesus Christ, 43:17 and actually represents Jesus Christ; taking his place. 43:23 By the way, one of the greatest Patristic scholars, 43:26 an expert in the writings of the church fathers 43:29 in the Roman Catholic Church, was Johannes Quasten. 43:32 Even today if you ask a Roman Catholic who the standard was, 43:37 when it comes to the writings of the Church fathers, 43:39 the name of Johannes Quasten will come up. 43:42 And notice what he had to say: 43:44 The title, Vicarius Christi, that's Vicar of Christ, 43:47 as well as the title Vicarius Filiii Dei, 43:52 is very common as the title of what? as the title of the Pope. 43:59 Now for some time Adventists were saying that this title, 44:05 Vicarius Filiii Dei, was on the Papal tiara, 44:09 or on the Papal mitre. 44:11 But people today they look at the mitre, 44:14 and they look at the tiara, and they say, 44:16 the name Vicarius Filiii Dei isn't on there. 44:19 And so the Roman Catholic Church has said it was never on there. 44:22 I want to share a statement from The Great Controversy, 44:26 Page 61, where Ellen White explains what happened to 44:31 several of the records that were kept during the period 44:35 of the Middle Ages. 44:36 Actually, they were not preserved, they were destroyed. 44:39 Notice what she says: 45:10 Now I want to read you a couple of statements from 45:13 Our Sunday Visitor. 45:14 It is actually a very important publication. 45:18 It's the main publication of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 45:22 or at least it was. 45:24 In the addition of November 15, 1914... 45:28 And, by the way, I have copies of both of these that I'm 45:31 going to read now. 45:33 So this is something that I have in my possession, in my files. 45:36 The question was asked, November 15, 1914, 45:41 and this is the question: 45:51 Now here's the answer that's given in this 45:54 Roman Catholic publication. 46:18 This is an official Roman Catholic publication. 46:38 In another addition of Our Sunday Visitor, April 18, 1915, 46:43 answer question was asked. Here it is: 46:52 Here's the answer that's given in this publication: 47:02 This is not some Protestant saying this. 47:15 Vicar means, he who represents, he who occupies the place, 47:19 as was defined by John Paul II. 47:21 It continues saying: 47:51 Now the interesting thing is that a Roman Catholic apologist 47:55 by the name of Patrick Madrid contacted Robert Lockwood, 47:58 who was the editor of Our Sunday Visitor, and said that he wanted 48:04 to take a look at the 1915 issue of Our Sunday Visitor. 48:09 And when he contacted Robert Lockwood he said, I'm sorry, 48:14 but that particular issue is not available. 48:17 It has been expunged from the archives. 48:21 Now let me tell you folks, if they expunge an incriminating 48:25 article like that; a whole issue, not an article, 48:27 but a whole issue of Our Sunday Visitor from their archives, 48:31 would it just be very possible to delete or take away 48:35 the title Vicarius Filiii Dei from the tiara, 48:38 or from the mitre of the Pope's crown? Absolutely! 48:42 By the way, there are witnesses from the past who testify 48:46 that they saw the papal tiara, or the mitre with the name 48:51 Vicarius Filiii Dei. 48:53 Now it's true that September 16, 1917, and this article was 48:59 repeated on August 3, 1941 of Our Sunday Visitor, 49:02 the Roman Catholic Church disowned what they had said 49:06 in the first two issues. 49:07 This is what they said: 49:16 Now we've already noticed historically that it is his 49:20 official title, and it's officially incorporated and used 49:24 in the Donation of Constantine in Gratian's Decretals. 49:27 It's also used by Pope John Paul II. 49:30 It's used by Cardinal Henry Edward Manning. 49:34 It's used in different sources as an official title. 49:37 And, of course, Johannes Quasten, the renowned patristics 49:41 scholar of the Roman Catholic Church says that it 49:43 is an official title. 49:45 So let me ask you, Which issue of Our Sunday Visitor 49:48 should we believe? 49:49 Now there are many people these days who choose different names 49:55 to apply to the number 666. 49:58 For example, they say dux cleric, which means the head of 50:02 the clergy, comes out to 666. 50:05 Another word, lateinos, which means Latin man, 50:08 also comes out to 666. 50:10 Another name, ludovicus, means chief of the court of Rome, 50:14 if you add up the letters in Roman numerals, 50:18 it also comes out to 666. 50:20 Actually, the name of John Paul II in Latin, 50:25 loannes Paulus Secundo also comes out to 666. 50:29 And so they try and find the number 666 50:33 in all of these names. 50:34 But let me tell you the problem that I have 50:36 with all of these names. 50:37 None of these names are particularly blasphemous. 50:40 Is it blasphemous to speak of the head of the clergy? No. 50:48 Is it blasphemous to speak of the Chief of 50:52 the Court of Rome? No. 50:53 Is the name loannes Paulus Secundo 50:57 particularly blasphemous, his proper name? Absolutely not. 51:00 Is the word Lati inos, which means Latin man; 51:03 is that particularly blasphemous? No. 51:05 The name which gives a number must be what kind of a name? 51:09 It must be a blasphemous name; a name that apparently gives him 51:15 the right to claim the prerogatives of God, 51:18 and to claim the power of God. 51:21 By the way, do you know who Jesus left on this earth as His 51:24 representative when He left? 51:29 It was not the Pope. 51:32 It was the Holy Spirit. 51:34 Notice what we find in John 14: 16-18. 51:39 Here Jesus is speaking. 52:03 So who did Jesus send as His representative on earth? 52:07 the Holy Spirit. Now look how interesting this is. 52:10 Jesus said, I'm going to be the visible head, 52:13 and I'm going to be in heaven. 52:15 The Holy Spirit is going to be the invisible head, 52:19 and He's going to be on earth. 52:20 The Roman Catholic Church has changed that around. 52:23 And they say the invisible head of the church is in heaven: 52:27 Jesus Christ, and the visible head of the church 52:30 is the Pope on earth. 52:31 In this way the Pope has usurped not only the position of Jesus 52:37 Christ, but has usurped the position of the Holy Spirit. 52:41 If that isn't the epitome of blasphemy, I don't know what is. 52:47 By the way, did you know that the word antichrist is almost 52:52 synonymous to the expression, Vicar of the Son of God, 52:56 Vicarius Filiii Dei? 52:57 You say, now wait a minute Pastor. 52:59 Antichrist means somebody who is against Christ, 53:03 or who is opposed to Christ. 53:04 That's possible, but do you know that the Greek preposition 53:10 anti also means to take the place of, 53:15 or to substitute for someone. 53:17 Let me give you some examples. 53:20 In Greek the word antipastos means one who takes the place 53:27 of the king when the king leaves. 53:30 You are acquainted with the name Antipas, right? 53:33 Antipas actually means one who ruled in place of his father. 53:41 He didn't rule against his father. 53:42 He ruled in place of his father. 53:44 We have the word antitype. 53:46 Do you know what the word antitype means? 53:48 It means that which takes the place of the type. 53:50 See when the antitype comes you don't need the type anymore, 53:53 because the type is fulfilled. 53:55 So, in other words, antitype means that which takes 53:58 the place of the type. 54:00 So the question is, what is meant then 54:04 by the word antichrist? 54:07 The word antichrist does not mean merely against Christ, 54:13 it means one who seeks to occupy the place of Christ, 54:18 just like John Paul II said in his book, The Threshold of Hope. 54:23 I'd like to finish by reading a statement from the book of 54:28 Dave Hunt, Global Peace. 54:30 Now I disagree with Dave Hunt almost on 54:33 everything that he writes. 54:34 In fact I disagree with his identity of the antichrist here. 54:37 He says that this antichrist is going to be a nasty individual 54:41 who's going to rise in the Middle East 54:42 when the temple is rebuilt after the church has been 54:45 raptured to heaven. 54:47 Now I don't believe any of that. 54:48 I believe the antichrist arose in the Middle Ages, 54:50 and he ruled for a long period of time. 54:52 It wasn't one person. 54:53 It was a succession of individuals. 54:55 But I believe that the portrait that Dave Hunt gives 54:58 of the antichrist is accurate, and it applies to a T 55:01 to the Roman Catholic Papacy. 55:03 And notice what he says. this is Pages 6-8 55:04 This is Pages 6-8 of his book, Global Peace. He says: 55:53 Notice the word substitution. 56:02 And now notice what he says: 56:21 Do you understand a little bit better now what 56:24 the number of the beast is? 56:28 The number of the beast is 666. 56:31 But that number is the number of his what? 56:33 of his blasphemous name, which is Vicarius Filiii Dei, 56:38 where he claims to occupy the position of God on earth; 56:43 to occupy the position of Jesus Christ on earth, 56:47 and to exercise the powers and prerogatives of Jesus 56:50 of forgiving sins, of interceding for sinners, 56:54 of placing kings and deposing kings, of speaking infallibly 56:58 in faith and morals, and receiving, you know, 57:02 people bowing down to him, and calling him Holy Father, 57:05 when Jesus said no one on this earth should be called Father, 57:10 for one is your Father: your God who is in heaven. 57:13 Folks all of these characteristics clearly show 57:17 what this power is. 57:18 And God has given us all this so that we can escape 57:21 from his power in these last days. |
Revised 2023-04-20