Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000034
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:14 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:17 Last Day Events with John Lomacang. 00:23 Hello friends and welcome once again to the 3ABN Worship Center 00:26 located in one of the largest cities in the world; 00:29 Thompsonville, Illinois. 00:30 Can the church say amen. 00:33 It's the hub of quite a bit of what's happening in the world. 00:36 And praise the Lord that He has chosen this obscure village 00:40 to be a place where beams of light are going in every 00:43 direction around the world. 00:44 And we thank you today for tuning in and waiting for 00:48 the Lord to speak to your heart. 00:49 And whether you're joining us via satellite, television, 00:53 internet, or radio, or however, whatever means God is using to 00:58 reach you with this message today, we thank you for 01:00 taking the time to sit down and listen to what the 01:03 Spirit of God has to say to you. 01:05 We began a few days ago. 01:07 And the entire topic this week, or for this Anchors series, 01:10 was Last Day Events. 01:12 The first sermon was The Final Countdown, 01:15 then The Final Stage, then The Final Coalition last night. 01:19 This morning's message is entitled, The Final Apostasy. 01:23 And then on this afternoon at 3:00 pm Central time, 01:27 I want to invite you to come back, we have the last message 01:30 entitled, The Last Act. 01:34 We are living in very critical times in the world, 01:36 and what's happening around us is almost imperceptible. 01:38 It's like a coming tsunami. 01:41 500 miles an hour but you can't see it because 01:44 it's under the surface. 01:45 And so we pray that the Holy Spirit today will guide your 01:48 heart, open your ears, and also give you the leading of the 01:52 Holy Spirit to bring, not only information, 01:55 but to bring conviction and to lead you to the 01:58 person of Christ Jesus. 02:00 So bow your heads with me as we invite the Lord 02:03 to continue with us this morning. 02:07 Our gracious Father in heaven, we thank You, Father, that 02:10 when we open the Word, things get brighter. 02:14 In this day and age, Father, we pray that more will 02:17 choose to open the Word, for there to be an extension 02:21 of light in this field of darkness. 02:25 We now put our lives in Your hand, heavenly Father, 02:28 and we ask that You'll lead us and guide us. 02:30 We also pray that You'll work on the hearts of those who are 02:33 hearing this concentrated truth for the very first time. 02:37 Dilute it so that they can digest it, 02:39 not that it will go away. 02:41 And I pray that, Lord, I submit myself to You, that Your 02:44 Holy Spirit will work through me to accomplish Your 02:47 design and Your purpose. 02:49 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. 02:54 Revelation 13 verses 11 to 12 is the scripture for this morning. 02:59 You know, I remember when my wife and I flew to Australia. 03:03 That is, consciously. 03:04 We went with the Heritage Singers, but I remember being 03:07 invited there again. 03:08 And we both went together. 03:10 I won't mention the airline. 03:12 But there was something very intriguing about flying back. 03:15 On this particular occasion, we had never done it before 03:19 and we haven't done it since, on this particular occasion 03:23 we left Australia in the evening when it was dark, 03:28 never knowing that we would arrive in San Francisco 03:32 three hours before we left. 03:37 The phenomena of flying against the time zone is this. 03:41 We left at night, as we were in flight the sun rose, 03:46 before we landed the sun set. 03:48 We left in darkness, flew in the light, landed in darkness. 03:54 And you know, to some degree, that's how our world is today. 03:57 This Protestant Reformation that I introduced last night 04:00 took off in darkness. 04:02 At its height, we were flying in the light. 04:05 But now we're getting to the place where the world is 04:08 descending again into darkness. 04:11 This is the critical hour where those who understand that the 04:16 Word of God is a light and a lamp need to embrace 04:19 the Word of God afresh all over again. 04:22 This is a crisis hour. 04:24 And even though we live in an age where more Bibles are 04:27 sold and read and put into all kinds of forms of media, 04:30 we're still living in one of the darkest hours 04:33 in earth's history. 04:34 This Bible verse tells us what we can expect 04:37 and how the scenario is going to unfold before us. 04:41 John the revelator, marooned on an island at Patmos, 04:46 sequestered there by the very power of Rome, 04:49 he begins to write what God gave to him 04:52 as they unsuccessfully tried to end his life 04:56 in a cauldron of boiling oil. 04:59 They could not put his light out because God was about to 05:02 turn his light on. 05:04 And thus, this message is communicated, from a little man 05:07 languishing on the island of Patmos, 05:10 to people in this modern age. 05:12 Listen to what he says. 05:46 John walks us through an unfolding scenario of how 05:49 things are going to be in the end times. 05:51 And whether we believe this languishing prophet or not, 05:55 his words being communicated through him from God, 05:58 these are accurate words. 05:59 We're living in a stage that's developing. 06:02 Truly, the issue of the last days is going to be worship. 06:05 Everybody is going to be worshipping. 06:08 Everybody is going to worship something. 06:10 Someone once said, if you want to see what people worship, 06:14 look at their bank books. 06:15 Nowadays I would say, look at their credit card statements. 06:18 Everybody worships something. 06:20 God created within us a vacuum that can only 06:24 be filled by worship. 06:25 Whether it's materialistic things or whether it's 06:29 worshipping God. 06:30 But I want to say this. 06:32 Materialistic things cannot satisfy us 06:35 like worshipping God can. 06:38 Last night I talked about the coalition, the seven systems 06:41 through which Satan has worked throughout the generations. 06:44 Mentioning once again that this is not something that is 06:46 encapsulated in one particular section of the Bible. 06:49 But as we begin to unfold in this morning and 06:52 this afternoon's presentations the seventh part of the 06:55 final coalition, we will discover that the seventh 06:59 or last piece of the final coalition has been 07:02 in development for nearly 500 years. 07:09 Unlike spiritualism that's been in existence 07:12 for nearly 6000 years. 07:14 Each of the portions of these systems, each of the 07:17 components of this seven piece final coalition, 07:20 has a life on the shelf. 07:23 This is the youngest one with the shortest shelf life, 07:26 but the greatest impact. 07:28 And there's a paradigm shift that's taking place 07:31 in our world. 07:32 It is a subtle but steady transition from 07:35 light to darkness. 07:37 It is the continual and determined acceptance 07:41 of error in place of truth. 07:44 But the danger is, when error is embraced in place of truth, 07:49 evil will be embraced in place of good. 07:54 Ellen White said it this way, and I summarized it. 07:57 When we believe right of all wrong, 08:01 eventually we will believe evil of all good. 08:06 In this day and age where error is accepted as though 08:09 delivered by God, which it's not, it is hard to see light 08:14 when you have made your mind accustomed to darkness. 08:17 When you have accepted a lie, it is almost against your 08:21 natural mental grain to now begin to love 08:24 and embrace the truth. 08:26 And we're living, even though we have so many evidences, 08:28 we are living in one of the darkest periods 08:31 in earth's history. 08:32 Categorized also by the last church, the church of Laodicea. 08:36 Filled with goods. 08:38 Magnificent mega and giga churches in our world today, 08:42 but oh how dark many of them are. 08:45 That's why Paul the apostle wrote these words in 08:47 Romans 14 and verse 6. 08:48 He said: 08:55 What he means by that is simply this. 08:58 People, when you try to communicate the truth 09:00 from God's word, under some spiritual bend or some 09:06 satanic bend, they turn what you say into something 09:10 that seems to be bad. 09:12 You communicate the message of the Sabbath, 09:14 or the state of the dead, or any of the tenants of the faith, 09:18 or any of the 28 fundamentals, and people, even Christians 09:22 that receive it, almost receives it as though it's something bad. 09:26 And then evil is spoken of it when it really is good. 09:31 John the apostle was also given a glimpse 09:34 of the coming religious shift. 09:36 Jude 1 and verse 3, look at what he says. 09:48 Let me just say something. 09:49 There's a common salvation in Christendom. 09:51 That is simply this; we believe that we are saved by grace 09:54 through faith in Jesus Christ alone. 09:56 Can you say amen. 09:57 That's the common salvation. 09:59 But John didn't leave it there. 10:02 He said, "But there's something I need to talk to you about. 10:05 Although we have a common salvation and we look to Jesus, 10:08 everyone of us, there's something I need to 10:10 pull your coat tail about." 10:12 As he continues, he said: 10:27 When the apostles began to die out, the truths of the cross 10:31 began to fade away with them. 10:33 When Roman persecution began to rise up under the Roman Emperor 10:36 Diocletian from 303 to 313 AD, all those who had faithfully 10:40 embraced the message, that was given to them by the 10:42 apostolic church, began to die off. 10:45 And Rome sought in strategic and very military ways 10:48 to break the church down and turn its attention right back 10:52 to the reigning and ruling power of Rome. 10:54 As a matter of fact, the entire New Testament, 10:57 its entire history comes from the time that Rome was in power. 11:02 From the very first chapter in Matthew to the very last chapter 11:07 in the book of Revelation, all existing, all taken from 11:10 the period under the reign of Rome. 11:13 However, as God led men to be faithful to what God called 11:17 them to, on October 31, 1517, repulsed by the error that 11:25 was taught by the church of the dark ages, 11:28 Martin Luther began to contend with the hierarchy of Rome. 11:35 He began what we now call today, the Protestant Reformation. 11:40 Here's a picture of Martin Luther nailing his contentions, 11:45 or his thesis, to the church door at Wittenberg, Germany. 11:49 The other picture to the right there is the church that is 11:52 now a part of the Reformation tour. 11:54 You can go to Wittenberg Germany and it would take you somewhat 11:57 like our pioneer's tour in the northeast. 12:00 That's the church there where people pass by and they 12:02 see that as a place where the Protestant Reformation began. 12:05 In other words, God began a movement to restore 12:09 the integrity of the Bible. 12:14 The Bible had been stamped out. 12:15 That's why when you study history... 12:17 I loved history. 12:18 As a matter of fact, that was one of my 12:19 favorite subjects in school. 12:20 Science and history and math, one of my favorite subjects. 12:24 It was when I began to study history in school 12:27 that I realized how much the Bible was parallel to many 12:31 events that unfolded in history. 12:34 Namely, the dark ages. Also called, the medieval times. 12:36 Medieval, because the times that the Protestant Reformation 12:39 was catapulted was during the times that evil was 12:42 in its middle stages. 12:44 People were put to death, considered heretics. 12:48 And those who were outside of the church, the church of Rome, 12:51 gave the job to the civil government to inflict 12:54 the penalties, just like it happened to Jesus. 12:57 The Jews gave the Romans the job to inflict civil penalties 13:01 on Jesus, "for religious infractions," they said. 13:05 And during the dark ages, God did not forget His people. 13:09 The Word of God, though trampled down, the Word of God 13:13 continued to shine in the hearts of those who sought for it. 13:18 And Martin Luther, as he went on a pilgrimage to the 13:22 Vatican City, to Rome, as he went there and read the Bible 13:26 that was chained to the altars, which only the bishops 13:28 and the popes had access to, he began to read. 13:31 And the Bible says in Psalm 119 verse 130, listen to the words. 13:44 Martin Luther began to read the Bible for himself. 13:47 And he stayed in this pilgrimage in Rome much longer than he 13:50 intended to be there. 13:52 He stayed there to read the Bible for himself. 13:55 And he began to formulate and understand that the theory 13:58 and the source of his salvation was not by the works that 14:03 he had formerly embraced. 14:06 But simply by the faith; by faith in Jesus, 14:10 by faith in His word. 14:12 And so he stood on that platform, 14:14 "The just shall live by faith." 14:17 And he turned around and left a different man than he was 14:20 when he went to Rome. 14:22 The Protestant Reformation began. 14:24 And the revolt was against the teachings of the Roman church. 14:27 It was also called in history, 14:29 the European Christian Reform Movement. 14:33 Fueled by men like Martin Luther and John Calvin. 14:37 They were chief among the reformers. 14:39 But they were joined by a man by the name of Philip Melanchthon. 14:44 What they did together, as they rejected the system of works 14:48 that was put together by Roman Catholicism, 14:50 they began to systematically put the Bible together. 14:53 As a matter of fact, Martin Luther, refusing to recant 14:56 what he believed, he was sought by the Roman government. 14:59 And they asked him to recant what he believed, 15:02 and he refused to. 15:03 And then they said, "Well, since you will not give it up, 15:05 we're going to take your life." 15:06 And Martin Luther was hidden by one of his friends 15:14 in a castle in Germany. 15:17 And there, he faithfully methodically translated the 15:21 Bible from Latin to German. 15:26 He unchained the Bible from the altars of Rome 15:29 and began to pass it among the common man. 15:33 What a thing to be put in jail for; putting the Word of God 15:36 in the hand of the common man. 15:40 Not allowed by the powers and the governments of Rome. 15:44 John Calvin was a French theologian who also broke away 15:48 from the Roman church. 15:49 Philip Melanchthon joined Luther and Calvin as reformers. 15:53 And when they stood up toe to toe with the Roman hierarchy 15:56 and challenged them on every point, they were able 15:59 by the Word of God to defend their faith 16:02 with a, "thus saith the Lord." 16:05 That's why today, if you don't know what the Bible says, 16:07 you are of no value to the cause of God. 16:10 You've got to store it in your mind, because the day is 16:11 going to come when this book will not be with you. 16:14 And the Lord has promised He will bring back to our minds 16:18 those very things that we have learned. 16:21 He will fill our hearts with those things that 16:23 we have stored there. 16:25 You can't get money out of the bank if you 16:27 haven't put it there. 16:28 And the Word of God can't come back unless 16:29 you've stored it there. 16:31 This is the hour, this is the time. 16:33 The times of peace and prosperity. 16:35 That's why Satan works so hard to keep us busy with 16:38 things that do not pertain to studying the Bible. 16:41 You can't cram for a final exam in one day. 16:44 And you can't cram for the final spiritual exam 16:47 unless we begin by studying the Word of God now. 16:50 These three men stood up together. 16:53 Here's a picture of these reformers; 16:55 Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Philip Melanchthon. 16:59 Obviously, these were artist conceptions because they 17:03 didn't have cameras back then. 17:04 But you'll notice that these men were dressed in the 17:07 garb of their day. 17:08 But it was less about how they were dressed. 17:11 It was more about what fueled them. 17:13 These men were like the ancient reformers of Israel. 17:16 And there's a text in 1 Chronicles 12 and verse 32 17:19 that's really pertinent to any time in which God 17:21 calls us to stand firmly. 17:22 Look at what it says. 17:25 These men were likened unto the sons of Issachar. 17:36 Brothers and sisters, those joining us, we have to have 17:38 an understanding of the times to know what to do. 17:42 That's why Solomon says that we should redeem the time, 17:46 because the days are evil. 17:48 If you look at the world around you, everything is crumbling. 17:52 You don't try to put your roof on when you see 17:54 the rain clouds coming. 17:56 You do it while the sun is still shining. 17:58 God has given us days of peace to get ready before the 18:01 days of storms come. 18:03 And the storm is building on the horizon. 18:05 But it always begins as a subtle breeze. 18:07 But before you know it, the storm will be right upon us. 18:10 These are days that we have to understand the times 18:14 and know what we ought to do to prepare for the 18:17 trials that are ahead. 18:18 The Protestant Reformation began to spread like a storm 18:21 in northern Europe. 18:22 Every country, with the exception of Ireland and pockets 18:26 in Britain, to God's glory, they began to turn Protestant. 18:29 Do you know what that means? 18:30 They began to move back to the Bible. 18:32 Can somebody say amen. 18:33 Southern Europe remained Catholic, though. 18:37 Italy, Spain, Greece, Serbia, Portugal, Gibraltar, and Croatia 18:42 just to name a few. 18:43 There was a dividing line between the north and the south. 18:47 That's why there were constant wars in Central Europe. 18:53 Because those from the south sought to increase their 18:55 territory to the north and take back what Protestantism 18:58 had taken from them. 18:59 And Protestantism, pushing down, sought to take from Catholicism 19:03 what they had stolen from God. 19:05 Constant wars in Central Europe. 19:08 Here's a map of how the territories were divided. 19:11 You have Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern Europe. 19:15 The colors are associated; blue for Northern, 19:17 green for Southern, lighter blue for Western, 19:20 and somewhat of a pink there for Eastern Europe. 19:24 That's how Europe was divided. 19:26 And the Bible predicted that it would be divided. 19:32 It said, because of the iron, it will never cleave. 19:36 The clay and the iron could never mix together. 19:39 And boy did they try to make Europe united. 19:42 But something you have to keep in mind, 19:43 understanding the times to know what to do. 19:45 Today, Europe is somewhat united. 19:48 United economically. 19:51 Not politically. 19:53 They are united under the Euro dollar. 19:56 They're seeking to establish what's called, a common market. 19:59 Because according to prophecy, they'll never 20:01 be united religiously. 20:04 And when God says never, He means never. 20:06 What do you say? 20:07 See, Babylon came down. 20:09 God said it would never rise again. 20:11 But now we have a spiritual Babylon that took its place. 20:15 The Roman Catholic Church launched what was called a 20:17 counter reformation because the wars were so fierce. 20:20 They could not defeat the Protestant reformers 20:23 based on the Bible because they couldn't gainsay what the 20:27 Bible had already taught. 20:29 You cannot fight against the sword of the Spirit 20:30 because it's two-edged. 20:32 It cuts up error no matter which way you throw it at the Bible. 20:35 Both ways they were succeeding. 20:37 And every Christian that was persecuted, 20:40 one drop of blood, history says... 20:42 Read Foxe's Book Of Martyrs, if you have a strong stomach. 20:47 But every Christian that died, two or three sprung up 20:49 in his or her place. 20:51 They could not stamp out the light of God. 20:52 And the blood of the saints became seed and catalysts 20:56 for the growth of truth in Europe. 21:00 And so, what did Rome do? 21:01 They launched a counter reformation. 21:05 The focus became art, music, literature, politics, science. 21:11 And then also, religious reformation. 21:15 If you look at what's happening today, the same paradigm shift 21:19 is taking place in the Christian world. 21:20 We focus more on the music. 21:22 And now our big push in religion is politics. 21:26 Why? 21:27 Because what Rome did in Europe, they are now including us in 21:31 here in America. 21:34 And so, how did Rome successfully catapult 21:36 the counter reformation? 21:40 From 1545 to 1563, Rome launched a counter reformation 21:46 and they established something called, the Council of Trent. 21:51 What did I say? The Council of Trent. 21:54 The Council of Trent met in the capital city of the 21:58 holy Roman Empire. 21:59 It's now simply called Italy. 22:02 Here's a picture of the Council of Trent as it met in session 22:05 in the Santa Maria Maggiore church. 22:09 Large contingency, all the leaders of the Roman world 22:14 gathering together. 22:15 And the purpose of their gathering was, 22:17 "What do we do with these Protestant reformers? 22:20 How do we quiet them? 22:21 How can we strengthen our efforts to block out 22:25 and stop the progress of the Bible?" 22:27 As a matter of fact, in the Latin, "Concilium Tridentinum" 22:31 simply means, or the "Council of Trent" in Latin means, 22:35 an ecumenical movement. 22:37 The word "ecumenical" is the Greek word 22:39 for the inhabited world. 22:41 And the word "catholic" is the Greek word for "universal". 22:45 So here you have the Catholic universal church 22:49 getting together with an ecumenical, a worldwide agenda. 22:54 Pushing it and structuring it through the Council of Trent. 22:58 But is this a surprise to God? 23:00 Not at all. 23:01 Look at Daniel 7 and verse 23. 23:03 The Bible predicted the rise of the power of Rome. 23:07 Here's what the Bible says. 23:09 Daniel 7 verse 23. 23:29 The iron kingdom of Rome. 23:31 The iron kingdom. 23:32 What made it different was, it was a religio-political system. 23:37 And today, it is still a religio-political system. 23:43 Today, it's regaining its strength and momentum 23:46 that it once had during the dark ages. 23:49 The topic of the Council of Trent was Protestantism 23:52 and the counter reformation. 23:54 You had two churches. 23:55 One pushing in the direction of the Bible, 23:58 the other one bolstering its strength in the 24:01 direction of tradition. 24:04 But the challenge for Rome was; how do you attack and win 24:09 when your sword is non-scriptural? 24:12 They couldn't do it. 24:13 They had to find a way to at least strengthen their arsenal 24:17 against the Protestant reformers. 24:19 But they couldn't do it if they chose the same sword. 24:23 Let me make a point here. 24:24 I remember once preaching and teaching when I was up in 24:27 northern California and I had a Revelation seminar. 24:29 I talked about that a few nights ago. 24:31 And when I began my Revelation seminar, all of sudden, 24:34 all the other churches in town about a week later 24:36 began to have prophecy seminars just to counteract 24:39 my Revelation seminar. 24:41 I got a letter from a pastor whose member was very 24:44 disgruntled that she was learning truth. 24:47 And so he wrote me a letter. 24:48 And I still have it in my possession to this very day. 24:51 The letter had the following content: 24:57 "I have my scriptures and you have yours." 25:04 I wrote him back, "I don't have any scriptures, 25:07 and neither do you. 25:08 And the Bible does not back up two opposing views." 25:13 But he also said something like the Roman church would have said 25:16 during the dark ages. 25:17 He said to me, "For the sake of your church and our community, 25:20 please reconsider your position." 25:21 I took that as a threat. I'm from New York City. 25:24 That sounded like fighting words. 25:25 So I made an appointment to meet with him. 25:28 And I waited until he came back from his 25:29 missionary trips in Africa. 25:31 And I was there sitting in his office when he came in that day. 25:33 And I had a very respectful conversation with him. 25:36 I challenged him, if he didn't like what I was teaching, 25:40 I said, "Let's meet in your church. 25:41 Let's have a meeting in your church. 25:44 Let them ask me questions and let them ask you questions, 25:46 and let us both answer from the Bible." 25:49 Well I can guarantee you he said "no." 25:54 And then I said to him, respectfully but very straight, 25:57 "So therefore, I'm going to continue to preach and teach 26:00 what I'm preaching and teaching. 26:02 Don't every threaten me again." 26:04 And I walked out hoping there was nothing pointing at my back. 26:09 Because he was a very powerful man, the largest church in town. 26:11 Matter of fact, the lady that he was tormenting, 26:13 a lady that was up in years, she held the purse strings 26:17 for the building of that new church facility. 26:20 And the pastor and her son and other church members 26:22 pressured her into not accepting the truth. 26:24 And I said, "Lord, she's in your hand. 26:26 I'm not requiring anything of her." 26:27 I knew where her heart was, and so did the Lord. 26:30 But they refused to allow her to attend that church, our church, 26:32 because she had the money that was going to be the catalyst 26:35 for building their new church. 26:37 Well friends, when it comes to truth, money means 26:39 absolutely nothing. 26:40 I'd rather lose all my money and live for the truth 26:44 and have eternal life. 26:45 What do you say? 26:46 They did not know how to fight against 26:48 the Protestant reformers. 26:49 And so they began to do something. 26:51 And they began to shift from what the 26:53 Bible says to tradition. 26:58 They began to persecute men whose sole purpose 27:01 was to put the Bible back into the hands of common man. 27:05 And the Bible also predicted the ruthlessness of Rome. 27:08 Daniel 7 verse 7, notice what it says, again. 27:21 That's how God describes the power that embraced 27:25 the world through Rome. 27:44 And when you follow history, you find the ten nations of Europe. 27:47 The three that opposed Rome; the Vandals, the Heruli, 27:50 and the Visigoths. 27:53 And Rome methodically brought them down. 27:55 And when Rome brought down the very last power that opposed it, 27:58 Rome began an uninterrupted unobstructed reign 28:02 from 538 to 1798, when the dark ages were officially launched. 28:07 And the Bible predicted that also. 28:09 It said that Rome would persecute the saints of the 28:12 Most High for a time, times, and dividing of time. 28:15 1260 years Rome reigned almost unchallenged. 28:19 But all of a sudden in the midst of their reign, here comes men 28:22 that said, "Hey, it's time to get back to the Bible." 28:24 Brothers and sisters, it's time to get back to the Bible. 28:27 They couldn't stop the roll, they couldn't stop the rain. 28:30 But look what they did. 28:31 The Council of Trent was determined. 28:33 Iron kingdom. 28:34 All roads, as history said, led to Rome. 28:38 Every king had to bow to the authority of Rome. 28:41 But look what the Council of Trent did. 28:44 The Council of Trent, when they met from 1559 to 1563, 28:49 they wrote the following words. 29:05 They began to exalt tradition up to the standard 29:11 of the Scripture. 29:12 Look at the very next slide and you'll notice, 29:15 Roman Catholicism, how they developed their teaching. 29:18 Roman Catholicism's doctrinal formation was 29:20 sacred scripture and sacred tradition. 29:24 In other words, they determined what, in tradition, was sacred. 29:29 When you follow the history, they began to borrow 29:32 from the history of the kings before them, 29:34 the Roman Emperors before them; like Roman Emperor Justinian, 29:38 Roman Emperor Constantine. 29:41 In 168 AD, the first Sunday law was issued. 29:44 But it was not a law in the sense that everybody had to 29:47 keep it under penalty of death. 29:48 Then in 321 AD, May 321 AD, another Sunday law was passed. 29:56 But those were not the Sunday laws that made it an issue 30:00 for the world in the sense of whether or not 30:02 your life was on the line. 30:04 But Rome re-enforced itself during the dark ages. 30:07 Here's how the Protestants established their teachings. 30:10 The Protestants stood up and said to the Roman government... 30:12 Look at this slide. 30:15 ...sola scriptura, the Bible and the Bible only. 30:23 The Bible and the Bible only. 30:25 How do you fight somebody with the Bible by using the Bible? 30:29 They couldn't do it. 30:31 That's why I appreciate what Ellen White says. 30:33 A lot of people misunderstand her place 30:34 in the Adventist church. 30:36 But listen to what she says about this very same 30:38 Protestant creed in the book, The Great Controversy, 30:41 the 1888 edition, page 205. 30:43 Listen to what she says, speaking about the Bible. 31:10 That's what we are. 31:11 If you're a Protestant, your creed is the Bible 31:14 and the Bible only. 31:15 But you're finding today that what's being taught in 31:18 Protestantism is not really Protestant at all. 31:21 What's really being taught in Protestantism 31:23 is baptized paganism to a great degree, 31:25 and refurbished Catholicism. 31:28 The lines have been dimmed. 31:30 Rome made sure that the Protestant reformers 31:34 did not get the Bibles in the hands of the common man 31:37 without opposing them, without instilling persecution. 31:40 But something happened very significant going many years 31:44 forward in the 1900's. 31:46 Two particular popes. 31:48 Here's the pictures of both of them. 31:50 Pope John Paul XXIII and Pope Paul VI. 31:56 They both said: 32:09 Notice, from 1881 to 1963 and from 1897 to 1978. 32:14 These men both met similar to each other. 32:17 One followed the other. 32:20 The first Pope that called for the second council 32:26 died before the council was held. 32:30 Taken up by the Pope that followed him. 32:32 And they both said, what the church did during the 1500's 32:36 still exists to the very day. 32:40 What actually is that? 32:42 What did the church do that continues to exist 32:44 to the very day. 32:46 Listen to what the Council of Trent did. 32:50 The Catechism of the Council of Trent, page 402. 33:06 The Council of Trent did that. 33:07 So when these two popes in our modern time 33:09 said that the Council of Trent still exists in our modern era, 33:13 and the principles continue to be proliferated, 33:15 they're saying, what they did then 33:17 we still see it existing today. 33:18 But let's continue. 33:48 That's what the Council of Trent did in 1566. 33:52 Well let's continue, because when this came up 33:54 the challenge came to Rome, "How could you do that? 33:57 How and where do you get the authority from?" 34:00 And look at the question. 34:41 The questioning to Rome continued. 34:51 And by the way, the references are sometimes almost as long 34:54 as the quote itself. 34:56 But I put it there just so you know that it's not something 34:58 that was arbitrarily put together, but it exists 35:01 in actual writing. 35:22 Have you ever played hide and seek before? 35:25 Trying to find people where they're not really hiding? 35:29 Many Protestant leaders are trying to find in the Bible 35:32 what is not really there? 35:35 Trying to find foundation... 35:37 That's why I was so thankful... 35:38 I'm glad I heard Shelley's voice. 35:39 I was so thankful that God moved upon Shelley and Danny Shelton 35:41 to put together that book, The Commandments Twice Removed. 35:44 Five million copies went out. 35:46 Five million copies sowing seeds of truth, 35:48 harvesting a kingdom for the coming of our Lord. 35:52 Because this is a message, though hard to hear, 35:55 must be heard. 35:57 Because this is the foundation of truth. 36:00 Listen to what Rome continues to say. 36:03 And I'm so glad, because the Protestant leaders that are 36:05 trying to find it in the Bible... 36:06 There are only, by the way, twelve references 36:08 in the New Testament to the first day of the week. 36:09 Only twelve. 36:11 Eight of them have to do with the resurrection. 36:13 So they only have four shots to find the sanctity of Sunday 36:18 in the New Testament. 36:19 And listen to what Rome says when the Protestant leaders 36:22 try to find it, here's what Rome says. 36:43 That's what Rome says, "We never sanctify that day." 36:46 God sanctified the Day. 36:50 By the way, you can't sanctify what God never sanctified. 36:53 You can't make holy what God never made holy. 36:55 Let me use another example. 36:56 Living together does not sanctify your relationship 36:59 into a marriage in God's sight. 37:02 The churches living together. 37:03 Error, darkness; living together. 37:07 God never sanctified that connection. 37:09 Therefore, it is not accepted by God. 37:12 They continue. 37:13 Look at the next small quotation. 37:26 That's exactly how they put the brackets there. 37:29 That's the homage they pay. 37:30 So when a Protestant leader says he denies the authority, 37:35 or is repulsed by what Rome teaches, 37:38 Rome says, "So where did you get Sunday from? 37:42 So on what authority do you honor the day we set up? 37:45 Huh, come on tell me?" 37:49 They can't find it. 37:51 I remember when I was part of a pastoral council there in 37:55 northern California, I remember very well. 37:57 The Catholic priest was ostracized from attending it 38:01 because the Protestant pastors said, "We don't want to be 38:04 associated at all with the Catholic priest." 38:06 But he was my good friend. 38:08 Pastor John Lawrence, the Catholic priest. 38:09 I would go visit him all the time, he had lunch together, 38:11 we laughed together. 38:12 Matter of fact, when the Adventist book mobile 38:14 came through, he would buy books like the Bible commentaries 38:17 and the entire Conflict series. 38:18 And I said to this Catholic pastor, I said, "Wait a minute. 38:23 Why are you buying all those books?" 38:24 And here's what he said, and I appreciate this so much, 38:26 he said, "I am reading your books so that when anybody 38:30 ask me what you believe, I can show them from what you write." 38:38 They never allowed him to be a part of the council, 38:40 but we still had a friendship, we still visited together, 38:42 we still laughed together. 38:44 And whenever he began his Revelation seminar 38:47 to counteract mine, I visited him and I said, 38:48 "Now what's your position on Revelation?" 38:50 And he put his finger on his lip and he said, 38:51 "Actually, I don't have one." 38:54 He just held the meetings to keep people away from mine. 38:58 But the Lord said that this would occur. 39:00 Daniel 7 verse 25. 39:03 Speaking of Rome, the Lord says: 39:23 In other words, you ever see a kid try to hide from an adult? 39:27 They hide like this. 39:30 They figure if they cover their eyes, you can't see them. 39:33 Like many of us when we were growing up, you know, 39:35 we figure by pulling the blanket over, 39:36 the boogie man can't see us. 39:38 Remember that when you were young? 39:40 Afraid of the dark. 39:41 And so they pull the blanket over. 39:43 And so all of a sudden, they think the blanket 39:44 is an invisible shield. 39:46 Well, there are those who have put their own hands 39:48 over their eyes and they believe by blinding themselves 39:51 they have blinded God. 39:52 But God said, "Ah, you think you've changed it." 39:54 But the things that they've changed, they've altered the 39:57 commandments of God. 39:58 When you read the Catholic version of the ten commandments, 40:01 they have taken out the commandment forbidding 40:03 image worship and put the fourth commandment 40:05 into the third spot. 40:08 And they broke the tenth commandment into two 40:10 to make up the gap. 40:13 But they only, as far as God is concerned, they just thought 40:17 that they changed times and laws. 40:19 The sad reality is, men have accepted what they did 40:22 over what God has done. 40:25 But how could they do that unless they felt they 40:27 had some kind of authority. 40:28 Listen to what they say they believe they have. 40:31 The next quotation reads as follows. 40:52 In other words, he is, as it were, God on earth. 40:55 I would say, "Nay, nay." 40:59 God is God in heaven, and God is God on earth. 41:01 Can you say amen. 41:03 But you have to remember that Martin Luther 41:05 ignited the Protestant Reformation. 41:06 Martin Luther was labeled as a Protestant heretic. 41:10 And Rome never denounced its error. 41:14 But the first two denominations that were formed out of the 41:16 Protestant Reformation were the Lutherans and the Anglicans. 41:20 And Pope John Paul, before his death, appealed to 41:24 both of these congregations, both of these denominations, 41:28 to reunite under the authority of Rome, 41:31 under the authority of Rome. 41:32 Look at this slide right here very quickly. 41:34 This is a slide, I got this back in 1980. 41:41 I'm going to try to read that. 41:55 In that particular article, Pope John Paul II 41:58 calls Martin Luther a "German rebel theologian." 42:02 A rebel? What did he do? 42:04 He just simply brought the Bible back to the hand of the people. 42:06 A rebel? 42:07 Because it unveiled Rome's intent. 42:09 But he comes now as the spiritual 42:12 inheritant of Martin Luther. 42:13 In other words, you know, "I'm coming in his place now. 42:16 So since I'm coming in his place, accept me 42:20 and let's unify ourselves together again." 42:23 But that's not all. Look at the next slide. 42:25 The New York Post. 42:49 The next article points out very clearly what they mean 42:52 by "new relationship." 42:53 How did the Anglicans respond to that? 43:04 What exactly does that mean? 43:05 Look at the next article. 43:55 That was the year 2007. 43:56 And they got their 42 page document together. 44:00 And friends, would you know it, they signed on the dotted line. 44:05 "Let's get back together. 44:07 Not on the basis of the fact that we now embrace 44:09 the Bible together. 44:11 But now tradition seems more convenient to me now that 44:14 our reforming leaders have now passed away and are asleep." 44:20 But what does Ellen White say about this? 44:21 Where is it all headed? 44:22 Look at The Great Controversy, page 542, the 1888 edition. 44:31 She says: 45:00 So the question is, what is Rome urging Americans to do? 45:06 And by the way, let me just say this. 45:08 I stand here today like Martin Luther, like John Calvin, 45:14 like Philip Melanchthon; a Protestant who still believes 45:19 that the only rule of faith in practice is 45:21 God's word, not tradition. 45:24 I stand here as a reformer in 2011 45:28 carrying the torch of truth. 45:30 Not my truth, but God's truth. 45:34 And I humbly deal with it because there are souls 45:36 watching and listening that are yet to be snatched out 45:40 of the jaws of error and darkness. 45:42 There is space in the kingdom for those who want to follow 45:45 the Lord and accept His truths. 45:47 The more recent pope, Pope Benedict, 45:49 made a powerful move. 45:51 Look at this next slide. 46:00 Look at the actual article as it reads. 47:21 That's what is happening today. 47:23 And American leaders in the midst of this fragile economy 47:25 are listening to the voice of Rome. 47:27 I'll show you this afternoon, Rome says there's a need 47:30 for a leadership in America and in the world 47:34 that have real teeth. 47:36 Could he mean iron teeth? 47:40 And he's asking the United States government 47:43 and the leaders of the G8 Summit and the G20 to give him that 47:46 power so that he can reign in all the problems of our world; 47:50 financial, economic, global, whether it's ozone, co2 levels, 47:56 global warming, you name it. 47:57 He says, "I can fix it, but you have got to give me the power 48:00 to make the decisions for the world." 48:02 It's coming together very quickly, because Rome is 48:05 urging Sunday as a national day in America. 48:09 All you've got to do is look around 48:10 and you begin to see a lot of stores closing. 48:13 And they list the reasons on their store windows 48:16 as to why the close. 48:17 "Because we honor Sunday as the holy day." 48:21 You can't make holy what God never made holy. 48:23 You can stay home on Sunday, like many of us, and rest. 48:28 But it's not a day that God sanctified. 48:31 You may see that the final apostasy also answers the 48:33 question, what is the seventh system of the final coalition. 48:37 The answer to both is apostate Protestantism. 48:44 Why apostate? 48:45 Protestantism is already in an apostate condition. 48:48 But right now, there are many sincere Christians that 48:51 go to church in every denomination. 48:53 Somebody ought to say amen. 48:55 Some of you are here. 48:56 Some of you came here because you heard God calling you out 48:59 and you responded to the truth of God's word, 49:01 to the voice of God's word. 49:03 You responded knowing that we are living in the last days. 49:06 And when you begin to see this, as I get to the message on 49:08 the final act, or the last act, I will show the progress 49:11 already made in America to create a bond between 49:14 Rome and the Protestant Americans. 49:16 The leaders in the churches of America, 49:18 these mega and giga churches, they do it through 49:20 all these coalitions. 49:21 First was the Christian coalition. 49:24 Before that, one led out by Jerry Falwell. 49:28 When he passed away, they took on a different leadership, 49:31 a different name. 49:32 And all these mega movements, all these firm strong political 49:36 movements, even under Pat Robertson. 49:38 Matter of fact, a few years ago the IRS yanked away his 49:40 501c3 status because they said, in 1996 Pat Robertson, 49:45 with his organizations in 49 different states, 49:49 sent out 40 million flyers to churches telling them 49:53 who to vote for in the election. 49:55 And they said, "That's a violation. 49:56 You cannot tell the state, you cannot tell its 49:58 citizens how to vote. 49:59 That's a violation of your status." 50:01 It took them a year to get that back. 50:04 But that's what is happening in America. 50:06 And what are they saying? 50:07 If they can create the largest voting bloc, 50:09 they can control America. 50:10 And thus control the destiny of the world. 50:13 Because when America sneezes, the rest of the world 50:15 catches a cold. 50:19 That's why when President Reagan sent an ambassador to the 50:22 Vatican, TIME magazine had the article, 50:25 "Unholy Alliance." 50:28 Against the constitution of the United States, 50:30 against our Bill Of Rights; 50:32 establishing a political leader to a holy organization 50:36 when our Constitution strictly says, our Bill Of Rights 50:39 strictly says, "We shall make no laws in respect 50:42 to religious or the free exercise thereof." 50:45 But Rome says they have the answer. 50:48 And Protestant America will be the system to unite us 50:53 under the tyranny of Rome. 50:56 The question is, is Protestant America protesting 50:58 anything anymore? 50:59 Absolutely not. 51:01 Listen to this quotation from the book, Signs Of The Times, 51:07 to answer the question, what is the final apostasy? 52:01 Where are we today? 52:03 We are on the brink of national apostasy, 52:06 to be followed closely on the heals by national ruin. 52:11 I know what I've said here today has probably rattled 52:13 some people's cages. 52:14 And they're probably swallowing right now and drinking water 52:17 and trying to get their composure. 52:19 But let me just say this. 52:20 I said it not with the intent of hurting anybody. 52:23 But with the intent just like I would, I'd bang your door down 52:26 if your house was on fire. 52:29 There are sincere Christians watching this program 52:34 that will get up tomorrow morning and go to the 52:35 church of their choice. 52:37 I have no problem with that at all. 52:41 But this is the day and age where God is saying, 52:46 if this book is your map, it's time to get back to the Bible. 52:53 If your destination is important, it's time to 52:56 get back to the instructions in the road map 53:00 from this world to the world that the Lord is preparing 53:04 for everyone of us. 53:06 We're living in a crisis hour. 53:08 Everything that we have trusted in is crumbling around us. 53:11 You can't trust politicians. 53:13 That's why every time I see a debate going on, 53:14 I say, just another debate. 53:16 Because the answers are not in Washington. 53:18 The answers are in the Lord Jesus Christ. 53:22 If we're looking for a secure foundation, the Lord says it, 53:25 there is no other foundation that anyone can lay 53:29 than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. 53:33 My other appeal is this. 53:34 Those of you that know the truth, one of the things that 53:37 we need to do that we can do better is love those that 53:40 don't understand this truth as well as we do. 53:45 Our church should be so warm that when people of other faith 53:48 walk in here, they are so caught off guard by the 53:51 contagion of love that they say, "They don't only have the truth, 53:55 but they have the love of Jesus in their hearts." 53:58 You see, to know the message without having the love of 54:00 Christ in your heart is just as bad as not knowing the message. 54:04 So God's people ought to learn how to love one another. 54:06 Because one of the signs of the last days, 54:07 Jesus says, "Because iniquity will abound, the love of 54:12 many will wax cold." 54:15 So what does Satan do? 54:16 He goes to the place where the truth is found 54:17 to make it one of the coldest places on earth. 54:19 That why, brothers and sisters, I'm so glad that when people 54:21 come in here, your faces are smiling, your hearts are warm, 54:24 and you embrace those that come in here. 54:26 May it be our constant testimony that whoever walks through 54:29 those doors is a candidate for the kingdom. 54:33 The thing I also want to say is that we do not by any means 54:36 believe that Seventy-day Adventists 54:37 are the only ones saved. 54:38 Can somebody say amen. 54:40 We do not label other churches as lost. 54:43 We don't label other Christians as lost. 54:46 We're simply saying, there's some problems in 54:48 some of your directions. 54:49 Fix it before it's too late. 54:54 And if somebody were driving with me, following me to 54:57 my destination, going with me to the airport, 55:00 and they had the wrong directions, 55:01 I'd pull off the road and wait for them and say, 55:03 "Where are your directions? Let me look at those." 55:05 And they would praise me and thank me 55:08 for fixing their directions. 55:11 But the devil has so done a job today that people get angry 55:15 when you try to fix their directions. 55:18 This book is the only book that is reliable in a world 55:24 where error is being embraced. 55:27 And so today I appeal to you, on the basis of 55:31 your love for the Lord. 55:32 Jesus didn't say, "Keep my commandments 55:35 and you'll love me." 55:36 Look at the scripture, it's so beautiful. 55:38 Put there by Jesus, the One who established this truth. 55:42 The One who wants to save everyone who comes 55:44 to a knowledge of His saving grace. 55:46 He says in John 14:15, our final text. 55:49 And I'd like you to read that with me, church, 55:51 our local congregation. 55:53 Are you ready? Here we go. 55:54 Jesus says what? 56:02 Simple, but oh so profound. 56:05 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 56:08 My wife and I enjoy having breakfast together. 56:11 As a matter of fact, she buys all those cereals 56:12 with fiber in it. 56:15 And I like Post Super Sugar Crisps. 56:19 And she pulled my coat tail the other day. 56:21 She said, "Let me see the side of that box. 56:23 What's the ingredients? 56:24 How much fiber? 56:27 How much iron?" 56:29 She had eight grams of fiber in hers. 56:32 I had one gram of fiber in mine. 56:37 And she said, "It tastes good, but it's not good for you." 56:40 My point is, friends, error may taste good, 56:43 but it's not good for you. 56:46 Today God is saying, "Don't go by how it tastes." 56:49 It may fit your life style, it may fit into your schedule, 56:52 it may be perfectly convenient with all the things you want to 56:54 do on the weekend. 56:55 But if it tastes good, and that is the only thing that it brings 56:58 to your table is taste, check out its content, 57:01 check out its ingredient. 57:03 It may not be good for you. 57:07 It didn't taste good to go to the cross. 57:09 But it's the best thing that Jesus did for us. 57:13 And because Jesus was obedient even unto death, 57:16 He's calling those who love the Lord to be obedient, 57:19 that you may not lose your life. 57:22 And I appeal to you today, it's time to get back to the Bible. 57:26 May the Lord bless you as we look forward to the 57:28 final presentation this afternoon. |
Revised 2014-12-17