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Series Code: DAA
Program Code: DAA000007A
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00:01 Music...
00:25 Hello, once again we welcome you to Daniel All Access... 00:29 our behind-the-scenes look at the book of Daniel. 00:32 We've been seeking to ask not only the question "what" 00:35 but also the question "why" 00:37 and sometimes "who" and "how" 00:39 as we look behind the scenes at this powerful book of prophecy 00:43 that has so much to say to us in these last days. 00:47 We've looked at Daniel 00:48 and we've seen how God has blessed his life 00:51 and we've taken out lessons for ourselves 00:54 and tonight will be no different 00:55 as we take a look at Daniel chapter 7. 00:58 We've entitled our message 01:00 "Alpha Predators and the Protestant Inconsistency" 01:04 Alpha Predators and the Protestant Inconsistency. 01:08 Join with me now in a word of prayer 01:10 as we open God's Word. 01:12 "Father God, we do praise you and thank you 01:15 for the power of your Word 01:17 and how this ancient Book has so much to say to us 01:23 in the latter stages of this earth's history. 01:27 There is so much that you want us to know 01:31 and so much that you want us to do 01:35 and so much that you want us to be. 01:38 Help us Lord... to know and to do 01:43 and to be the kind of children that you can use. 01:48 Oh Father, teach us this night, show us your will for our lives 01:53 fortify us for the trials which are sure to come 01:57 that we may be overcomers, that we may stand victorious 02:03 on the day we see you face to face. 02:06 We thank you dear Father in Jesus' name, amen. " 02:10 Daniel chapter 7 pivots into full prophetic apocalyptic mode 02:20 and although it appears that he is covering 02:24 some of the same material as Daniel chapter 2... 02:27 and indeed he is, 02:28 you will find that a feature of Daniel 02:32 is this particular idea of of what we call 02:35 "Repeat and Enlarge" 02:38 "Repeat and Enlarge... " 02:41 whenever Daniel goes over 02:44 previously-spoken-of prophetic material, 02:48 he repeats it but he also enlarges it. 02:53 I was telling someone just today I look at it... I look at it... 02:56 much as Google Earth, 02:58 you know, when you have Google Earth 03:00 and you see a picture of a... a continent 03:04 and you push it a little closer and you see cities 03:07 and you go a little closer and you see streets 03:10 and you push a little closer and you see houses, 03:13 and you push a little closer and you can actually see people 03:15 on the lawn and near those houses. 03:18 Well, that's what Daniel does. 03:19 Each time he goes over the material, 03:21 he gives you a little better view... 03:24 he gives you a little better view 03:26 and we will see this in Daniel chapter 11 03:28 in a very, very marked and dramatic way. 03:31 So, it's called "Repeat and Enlarge" 03:33 it does cover the same material 03:35 but he gives you a little more depth... 03:38 he magnifies it a little more, 03:40 he gives you a little more information, 03:42 he shines the light a little brighter 03:45 every time he goes over material. 03:48 So, Daniel 2, is the worldview through naked eyes. 03:52 Daniel 7 now, is that same world with reading glasses on. 03:58 and Daniel 11 actually is that same material 04:02 under a microscope 04:04 and we'll see that coming up in our lectures 04:08 that come in just a little bit. 04:10 So, he repeats and he enlarges. 04:13 Daniel chapter 11 is going to be a fun chapter 04:17 that we will get to in just a little bit, 04:19 it's... it's entitled, "The Train is on the Tracks" 04:22 so we want you to look out for that. 04:24 So, we will see the same history that we saw in Daniel 2 04:28 but we see it with greater clarity... 04:31 we'll see it again in Daniel chapter 8, 04:33 we'll see it again in Daniel chapter 9, 04:35 we'll see it again in Daniel chapter 11. 04:37 Pause. 04:39 So, we... we... we see the same material 04:42 but this time... we actually get the help of an angelic tutor, 04:49 so we're going to get homeschooled by an angel. 04:52 Notice, we are going back in time, 04:55 we are going back to the first year of Belshazzar's reign 05:00 so we are going back previous to Daniel chapters 5 and 6. 05:05 Nebuchadnezzar's reign of course was 40 years 05:09 and we ended that in Daniel chapter 4. 05:12 Daniel chapter 2 took place 05:16 at the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, 05:19 so, now, we are dealing with events 05:22 that proceed Daniel chapter 5 and 6 05:25 and we are at the behest of an angel instructor. 05:29 So we got to go to school with Daniel 05:32 and we got to homeschool with Daniel. 05:36 Daniel now has a dream. 05:38 He states he had a dream 05:41 and he wrote down the main points of that dream. 05:46 So, when we interpret Scripture, we do so literally 05:51 until we move into apocalyptic mode 05:54 and then, things equal other things. 05:57 So, we're moving into that mode now... 06:00 from the historical... the interpersonal... 06:04 to full apocalyptic mode. 06:06 Let's go to Daniel chapter 7 verse 2 06:08 because the Bible talks about wars and strife 06:11 and school is now in session. 06:12 Wars and strife mean political, social, societal upheaval 06:19 and I've given you some reference texts... 06:22 Jeremiah chapter 49... Revelation and Zechariah. 06:26 So, when the Bible talks about winds and strife, 06:29 you know you're dealing with a situation of war... 06:33 of strife... of upheaval... 06:35 political war... sometimes spiritual conflict 06:39 but a scene of turmoil and chaos 06:42 and so, what is happening here in early... 06:45 in the early portions of Daniel chapter 7, 06:48 war... strife... political chaos... 06:51 and we've given you the texts for that. 06:55 The winds are striving upon the great sea 06:58 and of course, The Great Sea is the Mediterranean 07:00 and we've given you some background material 07:03 for that also, Joshua chapter 1 verse 4, 07:05 Numbers chapter 34 verses 6 and 7. 07:08 We don't have time to read all of those 07:11 but this is your homework assignment, 07:13 you can look at those yourself. 07:15 They will assure you that we're talking about 07:17 the Mediterranean Sea. 07:18 So, in short, Daniel is viewing war and strife... 07:23 conflict among nations that border the Mediterranean. 07:28 So, we know the "what" and we know the "where" 07:34 Daniel sees four great carnivorous beasts... 07:40 I call them Alpha Predators. 07:41 These are top-of-the-food-chain beasts, 07:45 these are big cats and a big bear 07:49 and a beast that I call the iron-teeth beast, 07:53 these are... these are alpha predators. 07:55 They're on the scene. 07:58 So, not only do we see political strife, 08:02 we also see military strife and military power. 08:06 Daniel chapter 7 and verse 4. 08:10 That first beast in this particular scenario is a lion. 08:16 These empires super-imposed their cultures over each other 08:21 when one country captured another country, 08:24 they imposed their culture on that second country 08:27 and so, Daniel chapter 7 verse 4 08:31 introduces us to the lion which we know is analogous 08:35 to the golden head of the image in Daniel chapter 2 08:38 so, we're talking about the Empire of Babylon. 08:42 But here, again, Daniel gives us more information 08:45 because Daniel says... this lion undergoes a change... 08:50 because it's a winged lion, 08:52 it undergoes what we call an "anthropomorphic change" 08:56 which is a long 25-cent word... 08:58 simply means... he gets human characteristics. 09:01 What was once a beast now becomes a man... 09:05 literally and figuratively. 09:08 It's talking about Nebuchadnezzar 09:10 because Nebuchadnezzar lived 7 years as a beast 09:13 and then, came back to be a man 09:15 but more than that, Daniel is giving us some clues 09:20 to the conversion 09:21 and ultimate redemption of Nebuchadnezzar. 09:25 He started out as an idol worshipper. 09:27 He started out as one who worshipped the gods of wood 09:31 and stone and gold and silver 09:33 but before it was all over, he stood up like a man... 09:37 gave his heart to the Lord and is a saved person. 09:41 Isn't it nice to know when you get to heaven 09:43 one of the people who will be in your neighborhood 09:46 will be King Nebuchadnezzar. 09:48 You can get to talk to him and ask him what it was like 09:52 to live and eat grass for seven years 09:54 and then come back to his kingdom 09:55 and have his kingdom there waiting for him 09:58 So, the Bible is saying here that this beast worshipper 10:03 becomes a man... he gets eyes, 10:05 he gets a... he... he gets saved... 10:09 pause 10:12 and when did that happen? 10:13 When Nebuchadnezzar surrendered himself to the Lord. 10:17 So, in the first four verses of Daniel chapter 7, 10:21 we actually get a summary of the first four chapters 10:26 of the book of Daniel, 10:28 highlighted by the conversion of its greatest king... 10:34 Nebuchadnezzar. 10:36 Now we come to Daniel chapter 7 verse 5. 10:39 We go from the lion to the Medo-Persian Bear. 10:44 Now, what is interesting... 10:46 again, we get a little more information 10:48 the median half is older but the Persian half is stronger 10:53 which is why the bear has got 10:54 sort of a scoliosis kind of condition... 10:56 he's kind of... up on one side 10:58 the Median half... Media was an older country 11:03 but the Persian half was stronger. 11:05 So, he's on one side and he, of course, has three ribs 11:12 in his mouth. 11:13 The three principal nations 11:15 conquered by the Medo-Persian Empire 11:20 were Lydia, Egypt and Babylon itself. 11:25 Lydia, Egypt and Babylon... 11:28 those are the three ribs. 11:31 Daniel chapter 7 verse 6 we see... another big cat... 11:37 Daniel chapter 7 verse 6... 11:39 Greece comes... which is a leopard... 11:42 another big cat... 11:44 an alpha predator... 11:46 a leopard with four wings and four heads. 11:50 Again... more information... 11:51 the four wings indicate the speed 11:55 at which Alexander the Great and the Grecian Empire was formed. 12:00 By the time he was 30 plus years of age, 12:03 he had conquered the then-known world... 12:05 he had crossed the Indus River had gone into India, 12:09 he had gone as far west as Greece and Central Europe 12:13 he'd gone south into North Africa... 12:16 he had covered pretty much all he wanted to cover 12:20 and all he could cover and then in a drunken stupor 12:23 suffered from Malaria... he died... 12:27 four wings... but also, four heads... 12:30 Alexander was the son of Philip of Macedon 12:34 and he conquered the then-known world at age 30. 12:39 It's an amazing feat that at 30 years of age, 12:43 you've conquered just about everything 12:46 that you wanted to conquer. 12:47 You've done just about everything you've wanted to do. 12:50 Pause. 12:53 So, let's note, that each empire increases in size. 12:58 the Babylonian Empire was fairly compact, 13:02 the Medo-Persian Empire was fairly broad 13:06 and the Grecian Empire was broader still 13:10 but before his death, 13:12 Alexander summoned his four principal Generals 13:16 Cassander... who was given Macedonia, Greece and the west, 13:23 Lysimachus or Lysimachus... 13:26 who was given Thrace/Bithynia... 13:28 also called Pergamum in the north, 13:31 Seleucus... who took Syria and the east 13:35 and all of the Seleucid kings took the name "Antiochus" 13:39 all of them were called Antiochus the 1st... 13:42 Antiochus the 2nd and Antiochus the 3rd 13:44 Antiochus the 4th or Antiochus Epiphanes... 13:47 they all took the name Antiochus... 13:48 there were eight Seleucid kings all taking the name "Antiochus" 13:54 then, of course, Ptolemy... he took Egypt and the south. 13:58 Cleopatra was a Ptolemy 14:01 and, of course, there were several Cleopatras. 14:03 The Cleopatra that we all know was Cleopatra number seven 14:06 and when we get to Daniel chapter 11, 14:09 we're going to see a lot of interplay 14:12 between these four Generals. 14:14 Daniel chapter 11 really shines a light on these four Generals 14:18 and gives us much history and there's some interesting stuff 14:23 that went on between these four fellows. 14:25 So, this leopard has four wings and now four heads. 14:33 Then, I suspect, Daniel saw the beast 14:37 that caused him the most distress. 14:41 Pause. 14:44 I call this beast the Iron-Teeth beast 14:49 because it has no analogy in fiction or in the real world. 14:54 Now, I've seen it portrayed as a dragon, 15:00 usually some sort of cobbled-together beast, 15:05 we don't know what he saw... we know it had iron teeth 15:09 and it had claws and it ground down 15:12 and stamped into powder everything that opposed it. 15:17 It is an incredibly strong, 15:20 vicious, unmerciful devouring beast 15:24 that breaks into pieces everything that opposes it 15:27 and then stamps on the residue... residue. 15:31 When the Roman armies attacked a nation, 15:34 they either enslaved it 15:36 or destroyed it 15:38 and so, this picture of this beast is very, very accurate. 15:42 Rome's legacy 168 B.C. to 476 A.D. 15:49 just over 600 years 15:53 by far, the longest of the world kingdoms, 15:56 by far the largest of the world kingdoms 15:59 and we saw the other day that the Roman Empire 16:03 went from East to West... North to South... 16:06 and even crossed over the English Channel 16:09 into Great Britain. 16:10 Pause. 16:12 Then, Daniel sees the Germanic tribes that begin to encroach 16:18 and invade on Roman territory 16:21 breaking it into pieces. 16:24 Here they are, the Alamanni... 16:27 the Ostrogoth's... the Visigoths... 16:30 the Franks... the Vandals... 16:33 the Suevi... the Burgundians... 16:36 the Heruli... the Anglo Saxons... 16:39 and the Lombard's. 16:41 These Germanic tribes began to encroach on the territory 16:47 of the Roman Empire 16:49 and for a while... for a time... 16:51 Rome was able to withstand their forays 16:54 but soon the internal decay of the Roman Empire began to show 17:01 and these Germanic tribes 17:03 began to take large sections of territory 17:06 once ruled by Rome. 17:08 Pause. 17:10 Daniel chapter 7 verse 8... 17:13 there comes from the head of this beast 17:18 a small horn which displaces three of those horns, 17:24 let's read it, "I was considering the horns, 17:27 and there was another horn, a little one, 17:29 coming up from among them, 17:31 before whom... of the first horn... 17:34 before whom three... rather... 17:37 of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. 17:41 And there, in this horn, 17:45 were eyes like the eyes of a man, 17:48 and a mouth speaking pompous words. 17:52 Pause. 17:53 Now, when you try to identify who and what this horn is, 17:57 there are some parameters that you need to be governed by, 18:01 one, when you're trying to find out who this horn is, 18:05 there is no need to look in Asia, Africa or North America. 18:11 Amen. 18:13 That's because the text says, the horn came up... 18:18 out of the head of the first beast 18:22 and among the ten horns. 18:25 So, if the first beast is the Roman Empire, 18:30 then, if you're trying to identify who this horn is, 18:35 there's no need to look in China. 18:38 Amen. 18:40 There's no need to look in Africa. 18:42 There's no need to conjecture about North or South America 18:47 because the horn comes from the head of the Roman Empire. 18:51 So, whatever that horn is... it's got to be Roman, amen. 18:57 Because it's coming up out of the head... 18:59 it's coming up out of the seat of authority. 19:01 So, if we're trying to identify who this beast is, 19:04 all you've got to do is go to your history book 19:07 and find out what came up out of the seat of the Roman Empire. 19:13 Not that tough. 19:15 Out of the Roman Empire, came the Roman Church. 19:19 Amen. 19:21 Now, the Bible also says 19:23 that it plucks up three of those kingdoms... 19:26 well, we know who those three kingdoms are. 19:30 The Heruli... the Vandals... and the Ostrogoth's 19:33 were completely destroyed by the Roman armies 19:36 and never really got a chance to settle in. 19:39 What's interesting is that those three kingdoms... 19:42 the Heruli... Vandals... Ostrogoth's... 19:45 embraced a theological concept called "Arianism" 19:49 they all believed and taught that Christ was a created being 19:53 and somehow... they developed this belief 19:58 and they were destroyed by the Roman armies 20:02 before they ever got a chance to take root 20:06 and so, today, there are no Ostrogoth's... 20:09 there are no Vandals... there are no Heruli... 20:11 these other ten tribes are now the ten kingdoms of Europe, 20:16 you've got the Lombard's... you've got... 20:18 you've got the Italians... you've got the French... 20:21 you've got the Anglo-Saxons... you've got the Germans... 20:23 you've got the Swiss... 20:24 they're all here today but there are no Heruli... 20:28 there are no Vandals... 20:30 there are no Heruli... let's see... Heruli... 20:35 no Vandals and no Ostrogoth's. 20:37 So, this horns get... this horn gets eyes and a mouth 20:43 this is code for new power that will not be ruled by Committee 20:49 but that will be ruled by a single person. 20:53 This is not a parliamentary system, 20:55 this is not a system where people are voted in and out 20:58 the Bible is telling us that this new entity 21:02 that comes from the head of the old Roman Empire 21:06 is going to have one person sitting at the top 21:10 and that one person will speak for this entity... 21:14 will be the power in this entity... 21:17 and will speak great words. 21:21 One man... a top... 21:23 a System that is going to speak pompous words 21:29 pause 21:31 comes up from among the others... 21:33 so we're talking about Europe... 21:34 it comes from the head of pagan Rome 21:38 and it uproots the Heruli... the Vandals... 21:41 and the Ostrogoth's. 21:43 So, when we take our time with prophecy, 21:44 it tends to make sense... 21:46 it tends to fall apart or build itself up on its own. 21:51 So, the Bible is identifying not a person, per se... 21:55 but a Position and a System... 21:59 a Position and a System. 22:02 The Position is Head of the Church. 22:06 The System is the ecclesiastical body 22:09 that came up after pagan Rome fell to ashes. 22:14 So, we're talking about an entity 22:18 that speaks pompous words. 22:21 Now, the word for "pompous" in the Bible is "rabrab" 22:27 interesting word... 22:29 it means... huge in size 22:33 and domineering or dominating in character. 22:37 Very interesting. 22:39 The Bible is saying that this new entity 22:41 is going to be huge as far as its size is concerned, 22:46 as far... as far as its control is concerned, 22:50 but it will also be dominating in character. 22:54 It's going to be a bossy kind of a System. 22:58 It's going to try to take control 23:00 not only of what man does but what man thinks. 23:06 History tells us that the Entity 23:10 that came up out of the pagan Roman Empire 23:14 was called the Holy Roman Empire. 23:19 The pagan Roman Empire fell 23:23 to be replaced by the Holy Roman Empire, 23:27 in short, the Roman Universal Church 23:31 or the Roman Catholic Church. 23:33 The Holy Roman Empire was an amalgamation of kings, 23:38 emperors, electors and popes 23:42 that dominated the history of Europe from the sixth century 23:46 all the way down to the 18th century. 23:50 The Holy Roman Empire began with the inauguration 23:56 by Pope Leo of King Charlemagne of France in 538 B.C. 24:01 and it pretty much continued unabated till 1808 24:08 just after the 1,260 years 24:12 which we'll talk about in just a minute. 24:14 So, kings, emperors, electors and popes 24:17 were in-charge of the Holy Roman Empire 24:20 for short periods of time 24:22 the emperors and the electors took the lead 24:26 but make no mistake about it, the power behind the church 24:31 from 538 to 1798... that 1,260-year period 24:36 was the man who sat on the Cathedra in Rome 24:40 that was the Pope... the Head of the Catholic Church. 24:45 The church insinuated itself 24:49 into every aspect of medieval life. 24:53 The church controlled how you ate, 24:56 the church controlled what you drank, 25:00 the church controlled how you lived, 25:03 the church controlled your employment 25:06 and they even tried to control what you thought. 25:11 European culture had one Master, 25:15 it was run from Rome 25:18 and Rome insinuated itself 25:21 into every aspect of medieval church life. 25:27 That's one of the things that becomes very, very apparent 25:32 as we study Daniel chapter 7. 25:34 Pause. 25:36 So, Daniel now gives us increased focus 25:39 on beast number 4. 25:43 Daniel uses that term, "Pompous Words" 25:47 a number of times. 25:49 Daniel chapter 7 verse 8, Daniel chapter 7 verse 11, 25:53 Daniel chapter 7 verse 25. 25:56 He is begging the point... 26:00 insisting on the fact that this new entity 26:04 stands not necessarily for God 26:08 but oft times in opposition to God 26:12 and by the words that it speaks 26:16 and the way that it conducts itself, 26:18 it assumes 26:21 many of the prerogatives of God. 26:24 In Daniel chapter 7 verse 21, Daniel says, 26:27 "This same horn was making war against the saints. " 26:33 So, make no mistake about it, this is not a civil army, 26:38 this issue is a... a spiritual battle. 26:43 When we look at this new beast, 26:46 we are moving from physical conquest 26:50 to spiritual warfare... 26:52 the issue in Daniel chapter 7 is not just physical conquest... 26:58 it is spiritual warfare 27:01 and this horn is not fighting a nation or a kingdom 27:05 or even an ideology, 27:07 it's fighting against the saints of God 27:10 and when you fight against the saints of God, 27:14 you are in effect fighting against God Himself. 27:17 Pause. 27:19 So, we're speaking about pompous words 27:22 and an entity that is wearing out the saints 27:25 of the Most High. 27:27 The Bible explains how this little horn power 27:30 virtually reigns unfettered and unchallenged 27:34 for a period of 1,260 years... that's an awful long time. 27:39 Paul talks about him 27:41 in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 4. 27:44 The Bible says... this power exalts himself above God, 27:48 sits in the place of God... in the temple of God 27:52 claiming that he is God. 27:54 Now, how do you do that? 27:56 You do that when you try to... 27:59 to say that... the things that God says are important 28:03 are not important. 28:04 You do that when you say... 28:05 the Laws of God are no longer able to be kept 28:11 or even should be kept. 28:12 You do that when you try to take the prerogatives of God 28:17 and the power of God and apply it to yourself. 28:21 So, this new exposition is telling us what happens 28:25 down in the ankles and toes and feet of that image 28:29 of Daniel chapter 2. 28:31 It's explaining in greater detail what we saw 28:34 in Daniel chapter 2 28:36 just prior to the second coming 28:38 of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 28:40 So the... the picture we get is one of... 28:45 is one of aggressive... grinding persecution. 28:50 Years of persecution... years of privation... 28:55 we get a picture of a power 28:58 that insinuates itself 29:02 into every aspect of life and controls that life 29:06 and grinds against the people of God 29:09 even to... to the extent of coming to America... 29:13 the... the... the Inquisition went as far as 29:16 Goa, India and also came to America. 29:21 If you want to read interesting history, 29:23 look how the Papacy ordered Spain and Portugal 29:31 to divide South America. 29:34 Why some countries are Portuguese... 29:36 some countries speak in Spanish 29:38 that was done at... at... at the insistence of Rome. 29:43 "You get this piece... you get that piece... " 29:46 very, very interesting history 29:48 how the church even insinuated itself into South America. 29:52 I remember speaking with Malachi Martin... 29:55 that name may not be familiar to some of you, 29:58 he was a famous Jesuit scholar... 30:01 lived in New York... died in 1999. 30:05 We had a chance to meet at a local radio station 30:08 and had many, many talks, 30:12 he has written a number of books... 30:13 "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church" 30:15 "Keys of This Blood" 30:16 just a number of books... 30:18 an outspoken Jesuit scholar 30:20 and after having read his, 30:22 "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church" 30:24 about 650 pages... 30:25 Dr. Martin admitted to me in private discussion 30:30 how he felt... his church had done many, many wrong things 30:35 down through the Middle Ages. 30:37 I was meeting with him and we were going to have a debate 30:42 on one of the local radio stations 30:44 in the... in the New York City area 30:46 and I came armed with all of this material 30:49 as to how the Catholic Church had done some of these things 30:52 in the Middle Ages 30:54 and I had facts and figures from the Lutheran... 30:57 the Lutheran church and other churches 30:59 how they say... the Catholic church during the Inquisition 31:02 was responsible for the death of about 50 million people. 31:05 I came armed with my material and we sat down for the debate 31:09 and I hit him with my... my hardest salvo, 31:11 I said, "Well, my figures show 31:13 that the Catholic Church 31:16 through the Inquisition was responsible for the death 31:18 of about 50 million Protestants... 31:19 he said, "It was way more than that. " 31:21 Audience: Laughter... 31:22 He said, "Way more than that" 31:24 and he disarmed me right away, 31:25 he said, "Yeah, everything is true" 31:27 he said, "We did. " 31:28 But this is what he said 31:29 and we're going to come back to this in just a little bit, 31:32 this is what Malachi Martin, famous Jesuit Scholar said to me 31:35 he said, "Sometimes, mothers are little over-zealous 31:40 in correcting their wayward children. " 31:42 Pause. 31:44 That was his statement... 31:45 statement of a famed Jesuit scholar 31:48 he said, "Sometimes mothers can be a little over-zealous 31:53 in correcting their wayward children. " 31:56 Some scholars estimate 50 million... 32:00 Malachi Martin said, "Much more than that. " 32:03 So, he wasn't making an excuse, 32:05 he said, "Sometimes when you spank your children, 32:08 you spank them a little hard... 32:10 you spank them a little too hard. " 32:11 But given all of the torture and the millions of deaths, 32:18 as sad as that was... 32:21 and as bad as that was... 32:24 perhaps the most audacious aspect of Papal intention 32:31 was to change... times and laws 32:36 and that's what Daniel chapter 7 tries to stress 32:42 in its portrayal of this new beast. 32:45 What does that mean? 32:49 What does it mean to try to change 32:53 times and laws? 32:56 There is a wonderful book that is no longer in print 32:59 that I have in my library called, 33:01 "How the Pope Became Infallible" 33:03 and it deals with the changing of times and laws 33:07 but in verse 25 of Daniel chapter 7, 33:11 we see that statement made. 33:15 This new power... this horn... 33:19 will seek to change times and laws... 33:25 this little horn claims the prerogatives of God. 33:31 The question we need to ask, 33:34 "What times and whose laws is the Bible speaking of?" 33:41 Well, first we can discount man's laws... 33:44 can you say, "Amen" 33:46 because man's laws change like the wind. 33:52 Think of the number of times that England, as a country, 33:56 went from Catholic to Protestant... 33:58 Catholic to Protestant 34:00 depending on the king or the queen on the throne, 34:02 it went from Catholic to Protestant. 34:04 We now have in... in the United States here, 34:07 a President can sign Executive Orders. 34:09 One President can sign an Executive Order 34:12 that says, "Yea... " 34:13 and the next President comes right behind him 34:16 and signs an Executive Order that says, "Nay. " 34:19 So, we're not talking about man's times and laws 34:22 because man's laws change with the whim of the person 34:25 who gets elected... 34:26 they are not permanent... 34:27 they are as ropes of sand... they're like the wind... 34:30 so, when we talk about changing times and laws... 34:32 we've got about the church trying... 34:35 we've got to be speaking about the church 34:37 attempting to change God's times and God's Laws 34:41 because it's only God's time 34:43 and God's law that really matter amen. 34:46 Pause... 34:51 Every time we amend the Constitution, 34:53 it occurs to me... we change our own laws... 34:55 so, we're talking about God's time... God's Law... 34:59 here's a text for you, Malachi chapter 3 verse 6, 35:02 the Bible says, "I am the Lord, I change not" 35:06 So, God is not fickle... God doesn't say one thing today 35:10 and then sign an Executive Order 35:12 and sign and make it another thing tomorrow 35:14 and the battle really is between earth and heaven. 35:19 So, let's put that in context, 35:22 God's Law is the 10 Commandments 35:24 amen... 35:26 we're talking about the Law of God... 35:27 we're talking about the eternal Law of God 35:29 the Law that is part of His character... 35:32 that's the 10 Commandments. 35:33 The only Commandment that deals with time 35:37 is the 4th Commandment. 35:39 The rest of the Commandments 35:41 are sort of "do" and "don't" Commandments 35:42 that really deal with interpersonal relationships 35:44 between humans 35:46 and interpersonal relationships between man and God. 35:48 The only one that deals with time is Commandment number 4. 35:53 Now, this is very, very important... 35:55 I'm going to show you something in just a little bit. 35:57 So, God's Law... Ten Commandments... 35:59 God's time... the 4th Commandment. 36:02 So, then, Daniel chapter 7:25 identifies a power 36:07 that will attempt to change the Lord's Sabbath. 36:12 That's what Daniel 7:25 is saying. 36:14 This power is going to attempt to change 36:19 God's holy Sabbath 36:21 because the Sabbath is the only part of the Ten Commandments 36:25 that deals with time. 36:28 The first change... or the first attempt to change 36:33 began with the Edict of Constantine 36:36 in 321 A.D. 36:38 Now, we're not going to go through that because 36:39 many people talked about that. 36:41 What the Edict of Constantine... 321 A.D. did 36:45 it de-criminalized work on Sunday. 36:50 Prior to 321 A.D., 36:53 Christianity was still a religio-illicitus, 36:58 in other words, an illegal religion... 37:00 and the reason we know that it was an illegal religion 37:02 because just ten years before or less, 37:07 the Christian Church went through 37:09 one of the worst times of persecution in its history 37:12 called the Diocletian Persecution. 37:14 Ten years of persecution under the Emperor Diocletian 37:19 303 to 313 37:20 when Christians were slaughtered by the tens of thousands 37:26 so now, after 313... in 321... Constantine makes an Edict 37:33 that de-criminalizes work on Sunday. 37:37 It de-facto recognizes Christianity 37:41 it turns it from a religio-illicitus 37:44 to a legitimate religion. 37:47 Most people know about 321... 37:50 I want to take you to the next big attack on Christianity 37:57 at the Council of Laodicea in 364 A.D. 38:02 364 A.D. 38:06 and I want to give you the language that was voted 38:09 by the Church at the Council of Laodicea... 364 A.D. 38:13 "... Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday" 38:19 that is the Sabbath... 38:20 "Judaizing" meant just acting like a Jew 38:23 and doing nothing on Sabbath. 38:26 So they wanted you working on... on Sabbath. 38:30 a little bit later, something very interesting... 38:32 the Catholic Church actually instituted something 38:35 they called "the Sabbath Fast" 38:36 they made you fast on Sabbath to make it a day of drudgery 38:40 and then they allowed you to feast on Sunday. 38:43 Pause. 38:45 So, you can't "Judaize" on Sabbath... 38:47 "but shall work on that day. " 38:49 So they want you in the field working... 38:51 they want you working on that day. 38:52 "But the Lord's Day they shall especially honor 38:56 and as being Christians shall if possible, 39:01 do no work on that day. " 39:04 If, however, they are found Judaizing, 39:08 they shall be cut off from Christ... " 39:13 That's the Council of Laodicea 364 A.D. 39:17 In other words, if they caught you not working on Saturday, 39:24 you were anathema... you were cut off from the Lord. 39:29 So, this now, is the first fully functioning Edict... 39:33 not only in favor of Sunday, 39:37 but specifically against Sabbath. 39:40 Then, in the 16th Century, 39:44 the church found its philosophical motherlode. 39:50 Pause. 39:52 In the 16th Century, the church convened an 18-year convocation 39:57 called "The Council of Trent" T R E N T 40:03 after the city in northern Italy. 40:06 Pause. 40:09 The Council of Trent took up many, many doctrines 40:12 pause 40:14 but one of the things that it did 40:18 towards the end of the Council 40:21 was address itself to the Sabbath. 40:25 Let me give you some of the words 40:29 of the hero of the Council of Trent... 40:32 his name was Archbishop Reggio 40:35 or the Archbishop of Reggio. 40:39 Pause. 40:40 Here is what the Catholic Church discovered 40:43 in 1551 right near the close of the Council of Trent. 40:48 "The written word 40:51 explicitly enjoins the observance of the seventh day" 40:57 now, that's the Catholic Church 40:59 telling the truth about the Sabbath. 41:03 "The written word explicitly enjoins 41:06 the observance of the seventh day... " 41:09 in other words, "The Bible says, 'keep the Sabbath... '" 41:11 "as the Sabbath. 41:13 We do not observe the seventh day. 41:17 If they... " that is... Protestants 41:21 "do truly hold the Scripture alone as their standard... 41:27 they would be observing the 7th day 41:31 as enjoined in the Scripture throughout. " 41:35 See what he's saying, 41:36 he's saying, "If you really were Bible keepers, 41:40 you would be keeping the seventh day. " 41:42 Now, hold on to your hats, 41:44 here is how he uses that argument. 41:45 "Yet they not only reject the observance of the Sabbath 41:54 enjoined in the written word" 41:56 so he's saying it again, 41:57 not only do you reject the Sabbath in the Bible, 42:00 "but they have adopted and do practice 42:04 the observance of Sunday 42:06 for which they have only the tradition of the church. " 42:11 Now, look what he's saying, 42:12 he is saying, "You say that you're Bible keepers, 42:18 but the day you're keeping... 42:20 you'll forgive my pejorative English, 42:23 "ain't in the Bible" 42:27 so, you're keeping a day 42:30 and the only reason you have for keeping that day 42:33 is because we're telling you to keep that day. 42:37 So, you cannot really say... you're Bible keepers. 42:41 Now, this... this is very, very important, 42:44 this is very crucial. 42:45 "Consequently... " he goes on, 42:48 "the claim of Scripture alone as their standard falls 42:53 and the doctrine of Scripture and tradition as essential 42:59 is fully established... " 43:00 He's... he's... he's... we've got a pretty tight case here. 43:03 "The Protestants themselves being judges. " 43:07 This was voted at the Council of Trent 43:10 in spring of 1551. 43:13 It's a powerful, powerful argument. 43:16 Pause. 43:18 Now, the Augsburg Confession... 43:20 The Augsburg Confession was voted as the Catholic... 43:27 I'm sorry, the Protestant doctrine in 1530. 43:32 It was presented to the 43:39 Holy Roman Empire Elector in Germany... 43:44 Lutheran scholars put it together 43:47 and before long all Protestant Denominations 43:51 accepted the Augsburg Confession. 43:54 I've read the Augsburg Confession. 43:56 The... the book in which it is written is 878 pages long. 44:00 It's got 28 different parts 44:02 and each of the different parts has about 20 different sub-texts 44:06 it's a long, long thing. 44:09 The Council of Trent calls it the Protestant Inconsistency. 44:17 Here's their reasoning, 44:20 the Augsburg Confession states that Protestants 44:29 would accept and revere Sunday 44:33 and all Protestant Churches signed on 44:36 to the Augsburg Confession. 44:38 It admits the observance of Sunday as the Lord's Day. 44:45 So now, Archbishop Reggio comes along, 21 years later 44:51 at the Council of Trent and says, 44:54 "Because of this one issue... 44:57 because of this one issue, 45:00 he says, "the entire Protestant Reformation 45:06 is nothing more than an unwarranted revolt 45:11 against the Mother Church 45:13 and that was voted at the Council of Trent 45:16 and from that day to this, 45:18 that shows what the Catholic Church 45:22 thinks of Protestantism. 45:26 It is an unwarranted revolt. 45:30 Why is it a revolt? 45:31 He says, "Because you don't believe yourself... 45:36 what you're teaching" 45:37 and it's a powerful argument. 45:40 He says, "You cannot believe what you're teaching... 45:45 because the main argument of the Protestant Reformation 45:49 was Sola Scriptura... 45:53 the Bible and the Bible only... " 45:57 The main argument coming out of the Council of Trent 46:02 is that Scripture and tradition are equal 46:08 so, how can you be Sola Scriptura 46:13 and keep a day which is not "Scriptura?" 46:18 You understand that argument? 46:20 It is so powerful that every Catholic scholar 46:25 from that day to this has used that same argument, 46:29 every one, you name them. 46:31 Cardinal Gibbons... Albert Smith... John Newman... 46:36 Louis Gaston de Ségur 46:38 Nathan Canaan, 46:39 all of the great theologians have used that same argument 46:48 that you cannot be Sola Scriptura 46:51 because you're keeping a day that has no place in Scripture. 46:57 "We changed the day... you're keeping our day... 47:01 so you're not really Protestant. " 47:03 And many Catholic theologians call it to this day, 47:09 "The Protestant Inconsistency" 47:12 they say, cannot be Sola Scriptura 47:17 because you're keeping a day that is not in Scripture. 47:20 I brought this up to Malachi Martin... 47:23 this "Protestant Inconsistency" 47:26 this idea that you cannot be Sola Scriptura 47:29 and keep Sunday 47:30 and here's what Malachi Martin told me face to face. 47:33 He said, "If you worship the Lord 47:40 on the day designated by the Catholic Church... 47:44 if you worship the Lord 47:47 on the day designated by the Catholic Church 47:52 regardless of what you call yourself... 47:56 you are Catholic... " 47:58 that's Malachi Martin. 48:01 It doesn't matter what your name is... 48:03 Baptist, Protestant... Presbyterian... doesn't matter 48:06 if you're worshipping on the day that we designate, 48:09 you're Catholic... 48:10 and that is the mindset of the church to this day 48:14 and that's why you hear terms like, "Erring Brethren" 48:17 you know, brethren that have departed... 48:19 "you're still Catholic because you're worshipping on our day" 48:21 now that's not the Protestant argument, 48:24 that's not the Seventh-day Adventist argument, 48:26 it is the Catholic Church's theological content from 1551 48:32 and the Council of Trent. 48:33 You're accepting our day... you are de facto Catholic 48:38 and of all the dogma coming from the Council of Trent 48:44 and they ratified many things 48:46 arguably the one that has the most far-reaching effect 48:52 on how Catholic theologians 48:55 view and treat all Sunday-keeping Protestants 48:59 is this idea of the Protestant Inconsistency. 49:04 They're saying, 49:06 "You don't believe yourself what you're teaching... 49:09 you cannot... because you're keeping our day. " 49:11 It's a very, very powerful argument 49:13 and it... it is buttressed 49:15 by what the Bible says in Daniel chapter 7:25, 49:18 "They will seek to change times and laws" 49:21 and then we find out in Revelation that the whole world 49:24 is moving in that direction. 49:26 That is why, Ladies and Gentlemen, 49:29 the Counter Reformation was so vicious 49:33 and why the fires of the Inquisition raged 49:36 for the next 400 years 49:39 because from the Catholic standpoint, 49:41 said Malachi Martin to me, 49:44 "They were crushing an illegitimate religion 49:48 whose adherence not only didn't believe what they taught, 49:54 they couldn't believe what they taught... 49:57 according to Malachi Martin, "they couldn't believe it 50:00 because 50:02 their basic worship premise 50:04 did not come from the Word of God. 50:08 Pause. 50:11 Many of the Popes and Leaders of the Church 50:14 saw their persecution of Protestants 50:19 not as persecution but rather... fumigation... sterilization... 50:27 eradication of a disease that infected the Holy Mother Church. 50:35 Protestantism in the Middle Ages was for many 50:40 not a rival religion... 50:43 but a virus that needed to be cleansed. 50:48 That's why they took such extreme measures... 50:52 such ungodly measures... 50:54 such horrific measures in stamping out 50:58 what they thought was an unnecessary revolt 51:04 that should have never taken place. 51:07 So, groups like the Huguenots, the Albigenses, 51:12 the Waldenses, the Cathari, the Lombards, 51:17 the Anabaptists, the Jews... I'm sorry, the Lollards, 51:25 the new Christians which were 51:28 Sabbath-keeping Christians by the way, 51:30 were hunted down and destroyed 51:35 because the Church thought they were doing the work of God. 51:39 As far as India and... in the east 51:44 and Spain and its colonies in the west 51:49 the church thought it... its duty to execute offenders. 51:58 The move to change God's Sabbath... 52:02 to change the times and laws of God 52:05 did not happen overnight 52:07 it took centuries of force, coercion, edicts, Papal Bulls 52:17 and discipline to try to get the Sabbath to go away 52:23 but praise God... 52:25 after 100,000 Albigenses were destroyed in a day 52:30 and 70,000 Huguenots destroyed in France 52:35 and tens of thousands of Christians destroyed, 52:39 God's truth still marched on. 52:44 Audience: Amen. 52:45 Now, let's look quickly before our time gets away 52:48 at the time period as spoken of in Daniel chapter 7. 52:51 The Bible says that this persecuting power 52:54 would be in the ascendency 52:56 Time, Times and dividing... or half a Time 53:01 so let's look at numbers, 53:03 looking at the day/year/day principle, 53:06 Time... 360 day/years 53:09 the Jewish year was 360 days not 365... 53:13 Times... is a multiplication of that times two... 53:17 or 720 day/years 53:20 and 1/2 a Time is 180 day/years 53:24 we mark that from the year that Pope Leo crowned Charlemagne 53:31 Head of the Holy Roman Empire... 53:35 the same year that the Ostrogoths were eradicated 53:39 from Italy... 53:41 the same year that the Catholic Church began to function 53:46 on its own... the year 538 A.D. 53:51 you add to that 1,260 years and you come up to 1798. 54:00 It was in that year that Alexandre Berthier... 54:07 Napoleon's General 54:09 went to Rome and took the Pope off his throne 54:14 and the 1,260-year Reign of Terror came to an end. 54:21 During that time, God's people stood up for Him 54:29 in marked and wonderful ways. 54:31 God's people were burned and hounded and chased 54:38 and weren't allowed to read the Bible, 54:43 they were persecuted almost beyond reason 54:48 and yet, the truth of God stood strong. 54:54 Audience: Amen. 54:56 I'll say it again... 54:57 I said before, rather, and will say again, 55:01 God has always had His witnesses always... 55:04 there have always been people 55:07 who were able to risk life and limb and even liberty 55:15 for the cause of Christ. 55:16 We don't know how many millions died at the hands of persecution 55:24 but God does. 55:26 Every name has been written down, 55:29 every face is marked in the mind of God 55:33 and not one tear was shed that wasn't written down in heaven 55:40 and that's why I'm so thankful 55:44 that at the end of that wonderful faith chapter 55:48 in the book of Hebrews, there is this text that says, 55:53 "they without us should not be made perfect" 55:57 even those who suffered... when they get their reward 56:04 you will get your reward at the same time... 56:07 we'll all go in together... 56:09 my prayer is that we all stand for the Lord. 56:14 Our faith will be tested... 56:16 oh yes, it will be... 56:18 but the same God who was with those wonderful saints of old 56:24 is with us here today. 56:26 Audience: Amen. 56:28 He has not left us... He has not forsaken us 56:32 and He guarantees that the children of God 56:36 will be victorious. 56:39 This is like the seal... the... the... 56:46 I'm trying to think of the person you go to... 56:47 the Notary Public 56:49 who gives you that seal and makes it official... 56:51 that's what this last line is. 56:53 "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. " 56:58 That's the Notary Public's seal. 57:01 God says, "What I have told you... 57:04 I, Myself, guarantee... 57:06 they will seek to change times and laws... 57:10 they will seek to tell you what you can do 57:13 or even what you can think 57:16 but have no fear... " 57:19 fear not... 57:21 God will bring forth a people... 57:24 and I want to be in that number, how about you? 57:28 Amen. 57:29 And then He says, 57:30 "I'm guaranteeing you your deliverance" 57:34 you will make it through. 57:37 Why? Because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. 57:45 Amen. 57:46 Audience: Amen. 57:48 Pastor Murray: And amen. |
Revised 2018-08-14