Participants: Jim Reinking
Series Code: LDS
Program Code: LDS000014
|
00:34 The Mark of the Beast and of course the question is
00:36 when you come to the Mark of the Beast 00:39 who is beast or what is the beast, 00:41 and what is the significance of his is mark? 00:46 And specifically how about that number 666, 00:48 what is that all about? 00:50 Now these are some of the questions 00:52 we want to answer tonight 00:53 as we again turn our attention 00:55 to that apocalyptic Book of Revelation. 00:58 You know, the Bible 00:59 in contemning this apostate power 01:01 gives us one of the strongest mornings 01:03 anywhere in scriptures. 01:06 We find it and it's gonna be on the screen to night 01:07 Revelation 14:9,10 where it says "And another angel" 01:13 that would angel translates out to be messenger aggelos 01:16 the Greek word means actually messenger. 01:19 "And another angel, a third one, 01:21 followed them, saying with a loud voice, 01:23 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, 01:28 and receives a mark on his forehead 01:31 or upon his hand, 01:32 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 01:35 which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger." 01:38 I mean, this eminently is very strong language, 01:41 isn't it? 01:42 And then it goes on to say 01:43 "And he will be tormented with fire and brim-stone 01:47 in the presence of the holy angels 01:48 and in the presence of the Lamb." 01:51 My friend, we do serve a God of love 01:54 but a God of love that in the end 01:57 is going to take action to eliminate and destroy evil. 02:01 It is a cancer and it must be dealt with. 02:06 But again we know that He's gonna do everything 02:09 that He possibly can to say as many who will. 02:13 But we all have the choice in this, don't we? 02:15 And when it comes down to the issue of the mark 02:17 we have a choice in all of this. 02:20 And so if we make the right choice 02:21 and our love for Jesus Christ 02:23 my friend, we have nothing to fear about the end times, 02:26 we have nothing fear about the beast 02:28 and the mark and all of these issues. 02:30 Again I remind you the promise is that, 02:33 you know, Jesus said I am with you always 02:36 even to the end of the age or the end of the world. 02:40 But the Lord clearly as given us warning 02:43 to keep us from being deceived 02:45 and receiving the terrible judgments 02:48 and the final destruction in the lake of fire 02:50 for those who receive the mark of the beast. 02:53 And so tonight we're going to-- 02:56 our subjects divided into two parts. 02:57 We're going to first of all identify the beast 03:01 and we're going to do that 03:02 by taking seven identifying characteristic 03:06 straight out of the Book of Revelation Chapter 13. 03:09 And then the later part of the presentation 03:12 we'll examine what the Mark of the Beast is all about. 03:15 And we will spend near as much time on the mark 03:19 it's very important of course. 03:22 But we will not spend as much time in the mark 03:24 as we do in the identity of the beast 03:27 because that is essential for us to be clear on. 03:29 Won't you agree? 03:31 And by the way for those who thought there 03:33 we're gonna get a presentation 03:34 as we come to the Mark on the issue of the mark 03:36 whether it's a literal mark. 03:39 I do not deny the possibility 03:41 that they could be a literal mark 03:42 I believe however that it represents a choice. 03:49 He says Mark in the forehead, 03:51 I think they are those 03:52 who are gonna buy into this last deception 03:54 I think that's what he's represented there. 03:57 And then it says those-- 03:58 and those who are received it in their hand 04:01 and that is they are going to go long 04:03 not because they are so convinced 04:06 but you do understand, 04:07 you know, unless we have the Mark we can buy or sell. 04:10 There's consequences that follow if you don't have the mark. 04:13 So some are just gonna go a long. 04:15 So let's look at this matter the beast 04:17 as we turn to Revelation Chapter 13 04:19 and we look at verses 1 and 2 04:21 where it says "And I stood" 04:23 John says "I stood upon the sand of the sea, 04:26 and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea, 04:29 having seven heads and ten horns, 04:33 and upon his horns ten crowns, 04:35 and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 04:38 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, 04:41 and his feet were as the feet of a bear, 04:45 and his mouth as the mouth of a lion, 04:47 and the dragon gave him his power, 04:50 and his seat and great authority." 04:53 It's great composite beast is what we have in Revelation 13 04:59 and it's important to take note of the fact 05:02 that the dragon is involved with the beast 05:05 and the dragon it says gave him his power, 05:09 his seat and great authority. 05:12 That's gonna be important in our identity 05:15 of the beast as we move into it. 05:18 So anyway this idea beast, 05:20 remember again in the Book of Revelation 05:21 as we noted on numerous occasions 05:24 this is a book that is filled with prophetic symbolisms, 05:28 right. 05:29 It's coded but we can as we study 05:33 we can understand the great things 05:35 that we find in the Book of Revelation. 05:37 In fact as we talk about the symbolisms 05:40 these Prophetic symbolisms 05:42 we're not unfamiliar with this kind of symbolisms. 05:45 In fact, when you look at the bear 05:47 what great countries represent by the bear? 05:50 Yeah, Russia you've got it. 05:52 And let's go on how about the Lion, 05:54 what country is represented by the lion? 05:56 And my friend, the answer is 05:59 that represents Great Britain doesn't it? 06:01 And now if you miss this one you plunge a course 06:05 because the bald eagle represents what great country? 06:10 It represents the United States. 06:13 So again, we know something about symbolisms 06:19 and we have them here and we can understand 06:22 what is behind the symbolisms. 06:25 But remember it said there in those first verses 06:28 "That the dragon gave the beast his seat, 06:30 his power and great authority." 06:33 And of course, the question 06:34 then naturally follows who is the dragon? 06:36 And we certainly had studied this one out, haven't we? 06:39 But less we be confuse about it. 06:41 Let's go to the chapter and verses its Revelation 12:9 06:45 where it says "And the great dragon 06:47 was thrown down, the serpent of old 06:49 who is called the devil and Satan, 06:51 who deceives the whole world, 06:52 he was thrown down to the earth." 06:54 And so the dragon represents whom? 06:58 It represent Satan, it represents the devil. 07:01 And I don't think if I-- well, let me ask you a question. 07:04 Anybody surprised to find out 07:06 that behind a beast is the devil? 07:10 No, I don't think we'll be surprise at all 07:13 but it's exclusively explained here. 07:15 And for the more in that some context 07:18 that is in Revelation 12 looking at verses 3-5 07:22 we see the conflict and we see the hatred of the evil one. 07:28 In verse 3 it says "And behold, a great red dragon 07:32 having seven heads and ten hors, 07:34 and on his heads were seven diadems. 07:38 And the dragon stood before the woman 07:41 who was about to give birth, 07:42 so that when she gave birth he might devour here child. 07:46 And she gave birth to a son, 07:49 a male child, who is to rule 07:51 all the nations with a rod of iron, 07:54 and here child was caught up to God and to His throne." 07:58 Well, who is that talking about? 08:01 It's talking about Jesus, isn't it? 08:03 And so we see the dragon, 08:05 he is anticipating the coming of Jesus. 08:09 Again the language here prophetic 08:11 but he certainly his anticipating 08:12 the coming of Jesus. 08:14 And what is his intention? 08:16 Well, he is-- what is rebelled it is evil. 08:21 And my friend, he knew everything 08:23 depended on the outcome of this conflict with Jesus. 08:27 And He was determined that word that is used here 08:30 that he would devour Jesus 08:33 when He came into the world. 08:36 And so we're going to trace this, 08:38 we're gonna see how this plate out historically 08:40 which will help us 08:42 again in identifying who the beast really is. 08:46 We need to take note 08:47 that the devil rarely operates in the open. 08:51 I mean, he is the great manipulator. 08:53 He works behind the scenes often manipulating individuals, 08:58 and manipulating powers and institutions 09:02 that's what we know of him. 09:04 And so he would seat to devour the Christ child 09:07 and we look at the historical the biblical record of it 09:10 and it takes us right back to the wise men. 09:12 Remember they've been following the star for the east. 09:15 They have been studying the prophecies 09:17 they predicted the birth of a king. 09:21 Unfortunately the people of God had not really been 09:24 keeping in touch with those prophecies. 09:27 But anyway they came to Jerusalem 09:28 following the star and they were asking. 09:30 They thought everybody would be excited about the fact 09:33 you know the king was gonna be born 09:35 and you know they again create 09:37 a quite a bit of activity within the city as they were 09:41 you know asking the question. 09:42 King Herod, King Herod, God word 09:46 of the stir that was happening in Jerusalem 09:49 from these strangers these mystic strangers 09:53 from the east. 09:54 And so he had to brought into his presents 09:58 and we've been through this little bit before 09:59 and he turn to his Jewish counselors 10:01 and he said you know do you have any idea where the king, 10:04 you know, the new born king would be born? 10:06 And they turned to the prophecy 10:08 of Mike 5:2 said it was gonna be Bethlehem. 10:11 And remember he said to the wise men, go find Him 10:15 and when you find Him send me word 10:17 so I too can come and worship. 10:20 Well, he didn't have worship in mind at all. 10:23 He perceived this is threat to his position. 10:27 He was the king, King Herod 10:30 and he was gonna have none of it 10:32 and remember when the wise man were told 10:37 to get out of Bethlehem 10:39 do not return to King Herod 10:42 and further more Joseph received a dream 10:45 and he said to take the child at his mother 10:47 and get out of town and head down to Egypt. 10:50 When that became apparent to Herod 10:53 he sent his soldiers into Bethlehem 10:55 and they destroyed every child, every male child 10:58 two years of age and under. 11:01 That has to go down in history 11:03 as one of the most dastardly deeds 11:05 in his attempts to destroy the Christ child. 11:08 And again the prophecy is that the devil, 11:10 the evil one would seek to devour the Christ child. 11:13 And again we see how he was manipulating behind the scenes 11:17 working in this case through King Herod, 11:21 but King Herod did not stand 11:23 upon his own authority is what we find. 11:27 In fact, it goes back to 37 B.C, 37 B.C. 11:31 The practice of the Roman Empire that period of time 11:33 was to establish these-- we will call them puppet states 11:37 on the frontiers of the empire 11:39 buffer states is what they were 11:41 buffer states to well lay beyond the empire. 11:45 And so Octavian 11:48 you know that word from history don't you, 11:50 Octavian and Mark Antony interestingly again in 37 B.C 11:56 sponsored Herod to become the king 11:59 of the state this buffer state. 12:02 Now the emperor-- empire was setting up 12:06 and the Roman senate conferred on Herod his kingship. 12:12 And so what was-- who is the power behind 12:15 the authority of King Herod? 12:18 My friend, it was Rome. 12:20 And we're talking about imperial or pagan Rome. 12:24 And we will discover 12:25 that imperial pagan Rome played a role, a part 12:28 it is not the beast but it played part 12:31 in this matter of seeking to destroy the Christ child. 12:34 I remind you that it was before a Roman governor 12:38 that Jesus was tied and condemned 12:41 that was by Roman soldiers 12:42 that He was crucified on the cross of Calvary 12:45 and at the tomb there was Roman God and Roman sealed 12:48 that was put over the tomb. 12:50 So imperial Rome plays a major role 12:53 in this matter of the transparence 12:56 of the dragon seat and power and great authority. 13:00 In fact, Constantine played a major role in this. 13:04 This is going into the early 4th Century the 300s 13:09 and it was Constantine 13:10 who transferred the seat of his power 13:13 from Rome the City of Rome to Constantinople. 13:18 He established the city in the east 13:20 and part of the empire and he named it after himself. 13:22 He did that in 330 A.D is what the Bible 13:26 as what history tells us. 13:28 And in the resulting vacuum in Rome-- 13:32 papal Rome gradually became more dominate 13:37 assuming both civil and religious authority, 13:42 again is what the Bible indicates to us. 13:45 Let me share a couple of statements 13:46 historically that we bear this out 13:48 Labianca from the University of Rome 13:51 may this observation he said 13:53 "To the succession of the Caesars 13:54 came the successions of the Pontiffs in Rome. 13:57 When Constantine left Rome 13:59 he gave his seat to the Pontiff." 14:03 And then we move on to Abbots Roman History 14:05 page, 236 where he says 14:07 "the transference of the emperor's residence 14:10 to Constantinople was a sad blow to the prestige of Rome, 14:14 and at the time one might have predicted her speedy decline. 14:19 But the development of the Church, 14:21 and the growing authority of the Bishop of Rome, 14:24 or the pope, gave her a new lease on life, 14:27 and made here again the capital 14:31 this time the religious capital of the civilized world." 14:34 Then it is a historical fact, papal Rome. 14:40 And my friend, key to the immersions of papal Rome 14:44 in this position of dominates 14:46 was the influence of Constantine. 14:50 Constantine had a dramatic influence on-- 14:55 in the immersions 14:57 under development of the papal system. 15:00 So was through the influence of Constantine 15:02 coupled with the disintegration of the empire over time 15:08 these two factors were major in the emergence 15:11 and the development of papal system. 15:14 And so as we examine the Biblical evidence 15:17 it clearly points to papal Rome 15:19 as the only possible power or institution 15:23 that immerge out of disintegration of pagan Rome 15:27 that fulfills the prophecy here of Revelation Chapter 13. 15:31 So papal Rome in Herod it is seed 15:33 and powerful imperial Rome 15:35 another historically event that is important 15:38 in the emergence of the papal system. 15:40 Came in the 6th Century the 6th Century, 15:44 when the emperor Justinian, 15:47 Justinian made a decree 538 AD 15:51 in which he settle the issue of the supremacy 15:55 of the Bishop of Rome over the church universal. 16:00 But churches of the east had been resisting 16:02 the authority of the Bishop of Rome. 16:05 And so 538 was important. 16:08 And so 538 is a key date 16:12 in the establishment of the papal system. 16:15 And by the way that decree went into effective 538, 16:20 when the strangle hold of the Ostrogoths 16:25 with the city of Rome was broken, was broken 538 A.D 16:32 and that day we will come back to. 16:34 So again remember we're gonna be looking 16:36 at seven identifying characteristics, 16:37 so we have just started. 16:39 Let me just put the evidence together 16:41 both biblically and from the historical record. 16:43 But we go on back into Revelation 13 16:46 and looking at verses 5and 6 16:47 as we pick up another identifying characteristic 16:50 where it says "And there was given unto him 16:52 a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. 16:56 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, 16:59 to blaspheme His name, and his tabernacle, 17:03 and them that dwell in heaven." 17:06 I mean, this is quite an outstanding passage isn't it. 17:10 Blasphemy it would guilty a blasphemy 17:13 could that possibly be true of the papal system. 17:18 And what is blasphemy anyway? How would you define it? 17:23 Well, we have to do it biblically, don't you think. 17:26 Let's get a cup of biblical definitions of blasphemy. 17:28 In John 10:33 that chief priest describes accuse Jesus of this 17:34 it says "The Jews answered Him, saying, 17:36 'For a good work we do not stone You, 17:39 but for blasphemy, and because You, 17:42 being a man, make Yourself God." 17:46 Now they were correct on the principal of it. 17:49 No human being as right to take those purgatives 17:53 and take those claims 17:54 that belong to God alone, to God alone. 17:59 So they were right in the principal 18:01 they were wrong in the application of it, 18:03 to Jesus Christ, 18:05 who clearly is God. 18:07 We've studied that haven't we? He is God. 18:09 Look at some of the claims 18:11 that are made by the papal system 18:14 this is from the, Extracts from Ferraris, 18:16 Ecclesiastical Dictionary it's an Article on the Pope. 18:20 "The Pope is of so great dignity 18:22 and so exalted that he is not a mere man, 18:27 but as it were God, and the vicar of God. 18:30 He is likewise, the divine monarch 18:34 and supreme emperor and king of kings." 18:38 By the way does the Bible tells is the king of kings. 18:43 Jesus is the King of Kings. 18:45 I mean really fantastic extraordinary claims 18:49 as you really study out again the papal system. 18:51 It goes on to say 18:52 "So that if it were possible 18:54 that the angels might err in the faith, 18:56 or might think contrary to the faith, 18:58 they could be judged and excommunicated by the Pope." 19:02 Even claims of the authority 19:05 over the angels of God in heaven, think of that. 19:10 Truly as I said a moment ago, extraordinary. 19:12 Pope Leo XIII said very simply 19:15 "We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty." 19:21 And my friend, you can multiply many of these kinds of claims 19:25 but I think it's a sufficient for our study this evening. 19:29 I had privilege of being there that is in Rome. 19:33 It was kind of trip that was kind of pull together 19:35 at the last moment 19:37 decided I want to get to the holy land 19:39 and I could get three days in Rome. 19:41 What do you do with three days in Rome? 19:44 Well, if you're me and interested in history 19:47 as I am you know you've got compact 19:51 a lot of you know sightseeing 19:54 in three days and I prepared for it. 19:57 I knew the things I want to see in Rome 20:00 and I was not really interested in the fountains 20:02 of some of the typical thing that many sightseers 20:06 would have been interested in 20:07 but I was particularly interested 20:10 in visiting the Vatican. 20:12 And so the last day that I was there, 20:14 there was general people audience 20:16 and I determine I was gonna be there. 20:19 We were flying out the very next morning. 20:21 And so I came 20:22 this is the entrance to St. Peter's Square 20:27 and let me tell you the security was out in force. 20:31 It was, they had this they put up this fences 20:35 and entrances only at certain places 20:38 where you could go into St. Peter's Square. 20:41 And they were looking crowd over intently. 20:45 In fact, as I bring this picture up 20:46 you will see this man right here, 20:48 you see with his arms up 20:50 lifted like this they're searching him. 20:52 Again you believe it they stopped me. 20:56 They did. 20:58 Well, you see I was carrying this bag 21:00 it was about this long and about this bigger island 21:04 and they just had to see what was in it 21:06 and so I open it up and I said see its a tripod. 21:10 You know, I have my camera there. 21:12 I have big camera bag on one side of me 21:14 with all the lenses and stuff 21:16 that we use to do with 35 millimeter cameras 21:18 and I had a tripod. 21:21 I came two hours early and this was as close 21:25 as I could get, believe or not. 21:29 And then you know there was stirring 21:31 and before we knew what was happening 21:33 the people in front of us was guard 21:36 we're all on standing on top of their seats 21:40 and some of them have brought banners 21:42 you would have thought they-- 21:44 were you at a super bowl game. 21:47 You know, and they were just ecstatic. 21:51 And we couldn't see anything 21:54 because they were standing on their seats 21:56 and we wanted to see what they were so excited about. 22:00 And so, you know, I don't speak Italian 22:02 but you know it wasn't really we're going gregarine chant 22:05 but they began to pick up this chant around me 22:08 I knew what they were saying, 22:09 so I added my English tongue. 22:12 We were shouting sit down, sit down. 22:16 Yes, we did. 22:18 And they were enough of us 22:19 that we got the attention of some of them 22:21 on the back seats, they looked back 22:24 but didn't make any difference that all. 22:26 But finally they settled down 22:28 and when they did sure enough he was there Pope John Paul II. 22:34 And praise the Lord for telephoto lens 22:36 when you are that far back. 22:38 And he gave various greetings in quite a few languages. 22:43 You know, it's this cathedral, 22:46 it's this temple that was so fascinating. 22:48 It is the largest cathedral in Christendom. 22:52 And I want to tell you it is magnificent. 22:54 The architecture and the art that went into this cathedral 22:59 and it was huge. 23:03 You know, I am not good estimating crowds 23:05 not crowds like that where 23:06 in that particular cathedral that day 23:08 but I wouldn't be surprised to hear 23:10 there were 10,000 people inside of that cathedral. 23:14 It was just jammed paked full. 23:17 And so, you know, I was with my group, 23:19 I was with my group 23:20 that I just been a week with in the holy land 23:23 and it was our first day. 23:25 Now I'll take you back a little bit. 23:27 It's the first day I was there twice. 23:30 And so we have an official tour of the Vatican. 23:33 And we had this tall Italian he stood ahead 23:37 and almost shoulders above the rest of the crowd 23:39 wearing a black hat 23:42 and he sometimes put on his umbrella 23:43 so we wouldn't get lost in the crowd 23:45 as we are trying to find 23:46 and he was explain this and that and micro Angelo 23:49 and what he did here and there. 23:51 And eventually we got down 23:53 to the main altar there in St. Peter's Cathedral. 24:00 And I want tell you its pretty fantastic. 24:02 This is the seat of St. Peter 24:05 I guess it would be the proper way to refer to 24:07 it is the official thrown of the pope. 24:11 And the only time did he ever sits on that 24:14 is when he speaks ex-cathedral 24:17 that is with the final word of authority 24:19 for the papal system. 24:23 And to my knowledge put John Paul II 24:25 never sat in that seat 24:27 and Pope Benedict XVI has not either. 24:30 So it's a rare occasion. 24:32 But I mean, look at that. 24:34 I mean, that is just pretty fantastic 24:37 when you take look at it. 24:38 Well, I saw that a prophecy came to my mind 24:42 a prophecy that Paul made in 2 Thessalonians 2 24:46 beginning with verse 3 where he said 24:48 "Let no man deceive you in any way, 24:50 for it will not come." 24:52 Remember that's talking about the coming of Jesus. 24:54 "For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first 24:59 and the man of lawlessness is revealed, 25:02 the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself 25:06 above every so called God or object of worship 25:08 so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, 25:13 displaying himself as being God." 25:18 Now you understand why I made that connection 25:21 when you look at this particular statements scripture 25:24 and I will take you back 25:25 to what we read in Revelation 13:6. 25:29 I want to remind you something we just read. 25:32 It said that "He would open his mouth 25:35 in blasphemies against God, and His tabernacle." 25:41 What is God's tabernacle? What's another word for that? 25:46 God's temple and remember we've been studying 25:49 about that Friday night particularly 25:51 we're studying about how the earthly temple 25:54 with symbolic of the heavenly temple. 25:56 How the earthly temple system was done away with 26:00 with the sacrifice of Jesus and then his ascension 26:03 into the heavenly temple as our intercessor. 26:06 And there is a connection here 26:08 when he talks about he open his mouth in blasphemy 26:10 against his tabernacle against the temple of God. 26:14 Remember Hebrew 8:1, 2 26:16 it says "We have such a high priest, 26:18 who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne 26:21 of the Majesty in the heavens, 26:23 a minister in the sanctuary, which the Lord pitch not man." 26:28 And so my friend, we have two systems 26:31 one if Heavenly, one if Earthly. 26:34 And the earthly system here is counterfeit of the heavenly. 26:38 In heavenly system we have our high priest 26:42 the one that pay the price of our redemption 26:45 split his blood on the cross of Calvary for us 26:50 who has we noted already ascended into heaven 26:53 and now functions as high priest in the heavenly temple 26:57 that counterfeit has its temple. 27:00 I told you I was gonna show that temple to you 27:02 and I just done it, 27:04 and we haven an earthly temple 27:06 in which operates or functions a counterfeit high priest. 27:11 Now I know this is really kind of laying it out, isn't it? 27:16 But I remind you he spent three weeks 27:18 and there is lot of things we've studied 27:20 that really prepared the background 27:22 for our study to night. 27:25 And I just want to go on record 27:26 we're talking about an institution tonight. 27:29 We're not here to talk about the people. 27:32 I mean, undoubtedly. 27:35 You know there are probably are more sincere Christians 27:40 in the Roman Catholic Church than any other church. 27:44 Again we're not here to talk about the people 27:48 because they are many sincere people 27:51 in the Roman Catholic communion that loved the Lord 27:55 and I believe many of them are gonna be saved 27:57 as I believe in many, 27:59 you know, I think that's true of all churches, don't you. 28:02 We're not to be exclusive about this. 28:04 However the prophecy does makes it pretty clear 28:08 that is talking about a system 28:09 and this is not new novel interpretation, 28:12 this an interpretation that goes back 28:14 to great reformers beginning with Martin Luther. 28:17 Now listen, his language was not always temper 28:19 when it came to this issue but anyway this is what he said. 28:23 "Let the great day of God come 28:25 and destroy the devil's nest at Rome." 28:27 I don't really like that kind of language, do you? 28:30 But, you know, I didn't live through 28:32 what Martin Luther live through. 28:34 He says "There sits the man 28:36 of whom Paul said he shall act as God, 28:38 the man of sin and the son of perdition." 28:42 Quoting 2 Thessalonians 2 as we just did. 28:45 Each of the reformers without exception 28:49 may the application of these prophecies 28:51 in reference to the antichrist 28:53 to the Church of Rome to the papal system. 28:57 And we don't hear this so often today. 29:01 But he said delicate issue it is delicate to be sure. 29:06 John Calvin for those of us 29:08 who may be from a reform background 29:10 and his Institutes, volume 2 page, 410 29:13 said "Some people think us too severe and censorious 29:17 when we call the Roman Pontiff antichrist 29:21 His kingdom will consist in speaking great words, 29:24 or blasphemies against the Most High." 29:27 And in The Blessed Hope page, 33 it observes 29:30 "Many of the great Christians of Reformation 29:32 and post-Reformation times 29:34 shared this view of prophetic truth 29:37 and identified the antichrist with the Roman Papacy. 29:40 "Among adherents of this interpretation 29:42 were the Wilderness, the Hussites, Wyclif, 29:46 Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Melanchton" 29:49 an associate of Martin Luther 29:51 "the Baptist theologian John Gill, the martyrs" 29:54 of course the martyrs we would expect that 29:56 "Cranmer, Tyndale, Latimer, and Ridley." 29:59 So my friend, this is not a new or novel interpretation 30:04 it may be to us if we never heard it 30:07 and we just really have gotten started. 30:09 So let me just line them up. 30:11 You know, when you study the-- 30:13 when you study Bible truth 30:14 its like have you ever built a fence? 30:18 You know I did built a fence once I had help with it 30:21 but you know your laying down a post, 30:24 you are laying down the post, 30:25 and when you put the first post in 30:27 you know, casual observer may not have any idea 30:30 just really where you are going with that 30:31 but, when you put down the second 30:32 and third and fourth post 30:34 you began to get a sense of the line 30:37 of direction that you are heading. 30:38 And my friend, that's what we do when we study the word of God. 30:41 We take a Bible text, 30:42 its like putting a post in the ground 30:44 then you take another relevant Bible text 30:46 and you put in place and then another 30:48 and then you began to see the line of truth 30:51 and that's what we were doing 30:52 as we're looking at the seven identifying characteristics 30:55 as we get each one into position, into place. 31:00 Now, there's another definition of blasphemy 31:03 that we find in Luke 5:21 where it says, 31:05 "And the scribes and the Pharisees 31:06 began to reason, saying, 31:08 'Who is this man which speaks blasphemies? 31:10 Who can forgive sins, but God alone?'" 31:14 And again, they write on the principal, 31:17 they were just wrong and making it an application to Jesus. 31:22 No one has the authority to forgive sins. 31:27 Notice this from the Dignity and Duties of the Priest, 31:30 volume 12, page 27 where it says, 31:33 "God Himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of His priest, 31:37 and either not to pardon or to pardon, 31:40 according as they refuse or give absolution. 31:43 The sentence of the priest precedes," 31:45 it goes first, "and God subscribes to it." 31:48 That's secondary. That's official teaching. 31:52 This is from The Catholic Priest, pages 78, 79, 31:55 "Seek where you will, through heaven and earth, 31:57 and you will find but one created being 32:00 who can forgive the sinner, that extraordinary being 32:02 is the priest, the Catholic priest." 32:05 And my friends, I found them all 32:07 through Saint Peter's Cathedral, the confessional. 32:10 Individuals, I don't know what they had on their hearts 32:12 it wasn't my business to know that 32:15 nor do I think it's any other human's business 32:18 to know that outside of somebody as I said, who has been wronged. 32:21 Let me share with you 32:23 what the Bible teaches about this matter. 32:25 In 1 Timothy 2:5 it says, "For there is one God, 32:28 and one Mediator" what" mediator or intercessor 32:32 "between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 32:39 My friends, as I already noted it 32:40 in our study the other night 32:42 temples came to an end 32:45 when Jesus ascended to heaven and to the heavenly temple. 32:48 Earthly priest came to an end 32:51 with the heavenly priesthood of Jesus Christ. 32:54 But my friend, when we have sinned 32:56 we can go directly to Jesus and we can confess our sins 33:02 and we know how we will be received 33:05 because we know something 33:06 about he depths of His love for us. 33:10 Forgiveness and pardon is freely extended 33:13 to every one of us. 33:15 It's marvelous as you look at the plan of salvation. 33:20 This one in Revelation 13:7, it says, 33:23 "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints," 33:26 to make war with the saints-- with the people of God, 33:29 "and to overcome them and power was given him over all kindreds, 33:32 and tongues, and peoples." 33:35 Making war with the saints, persecuting the saints, 33:38 could that be true of papal system? 33:41 And my friends, sadly history does bear testimony to that 33:46 and to his credit Pope John Paul II 33:48 acknowledged that historically 33:50 the church have been guilty of some of these things. 33:52 I mean, that took some crunch on his part to acknowledge that. 33:56 Don't you think? 33:57 Now I'll give you one or two examples 33:59 of what we are talking about historically. 34:01 It was Pope Pius V 34:03 and this was when the reformation 34:05 was really taking hold in Europe 34:08 and they were shaking the church. 34:09 It shook the church down to its very foundations 34:12 and Pope Pius V gave to the king of France 100 crowns 34:18 if he would eliminate the Protestants from his realm. 34:23 They were called Huguenots. 34:25 And the king of France agreed. 34:30 In Paris alone it is estimated 34:32 some 70,000 Huguenots were put to death 34:37 because of the insistence of the Church of Rome. 34:41 And the general persecution and martyrdom 34:46 of the reformation followers 34:49 proceeded for the next two months. 34:52 I mean, I take no pleasure in sharing this 34:56 but it is historically what happened, 34:58 exactly what happened. 35:00 The church was guilty of seeking to put society 35:03 to cleanse society of decadence. 35:07 It's estimated by historians that between 1540 and 1580 35:11 some 900,000 people were put to death by the Church of Roman. 35:15 I mean, that's just 35:16 kind of blows your mind, doesn't it. 35:18 And during the 30 years of the Spanish inquisition 35:21 it is estimated some 150,000 were put to death. 35:27 Now we have to be balance about this, 35:29 there were occasions in which 35:31 the reformers also were guilty of persecuting Catholics. 35:37 Let's be clear in that. 35:39 But my friend, it was never to the extent 35:41 that it was by the Church of Rome 35:43 who saw its authority 35:45 being undermined by the reformation. 35:50 And then I take you on Revelation 13:5, 6. 35:53 We have looked at this in part 35:55 but it says here, "And he was given a mouth 35:57 speaking great things and blasphemies; 36:00 and he was given authority 36:01 to continue for forty-two months." 36:04 That's a prophetic time period, 42 months. 36:07 And remember, we've been looking at time prophecies 36:10 so this not to you know, 36:12 it's not gonna be foreign territory to most of us. 36:15 So again as we done 36:17 when we looked at the 70 week prophecy 36:20 just yesterday 36:22 we're gonna break it down to prophetic days 36:23 and in a prophetic month there are exactly 30 days. 36:27 So we multiply 42 by 30 36:30 and the resulting number is 1,260 36:33 prophetic days or years, okay. 36:38 Is what we find, that's based on the principles 36:40 of Ezekiel 4:6 where it says, 36:42 "I have given you a day for a year." 36:47 1,260 years. 36:49 So when we'll begin that prophetic period of time? 36:52 Well, my friend, I gave you the date 36:54 of the decree made by Justinian in 538. 36:59 And so it stretches from 538, 37:04 1,260 years down to 1798. 37:10 And if you look at that period of time 37:12 and you thinking to yourself, well, that's the Dark Ages. 37:17 My friend, it is largely the period of the Dark Ages. 37:21 And the papal system has to accept 37:25 some major responsibilities, not exclusively 37:27 but some major responsibility for that dark period 37:31 of superstition than in developed Europe. 37:36 1,260 years. 37:39 Furthermore back in verse 3 it says, 37:41 "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, 37:43 and his deadly wound was healed 37:45 and all the world wondered after the beast." 37:47 Interestingly, this part of the prophecy 37:50 was fulfilled in 1798. 37:52 What was going on in 1798? 37:55 Well, my friend, this is what was going on, 37:57 Napoleon was going on, 37:59 Alexandre Berthier has in 1798 was sent by Napoleon 38:05 and he abolished the papal government, 38:08 he abolished the papacy standing army. 38:14 I mean, this is kind of hard for us to grasp 38:17 that the church had at that time a standing army. 38:21 They had to disarm them, they had to dismiss the troops. 38:26 And out of it came the emergence of the republic of Italy. 38:31 And this is what it says in The Modern Papacy, 38:33 "Berthier entered Rome on the 10th February, 1798, 38:37 and proclaimed a republic. 38:39 Half Europe thought Napoleon's veto would be obeyed, 38:42 and that with the Pope the Papacy was dead." 38:46 That's what they thought 38:48 would happen and in fact, 38:49 this is the copy of the actual document 38:53 that was executed by Berthier in 38:57 and I get abolished the papal government 39:00 in establishing a republic. 39:02 You will find this on the website 39:03 if you look for it. 39:05 You will actually be able to see it. 39:07 And so that's what happened 39:09 and it was Pope Pius VI 39:11 that was taken into exile and died in exile. 39:15 And people really thought 39:17 that the church really was pretty much done in. 39:21 They received a deadly wound. 39:23 But remember the prophesy said, 39:24 it would-- it would be healed. 39:27 And my friend as we look at it, 39:29 yeah, there it is, Revelation 13:3, 39:31 "And his deadly wound was healed." 39:33 And again, we can trace this out historically. 39:37 This happened in the year 1929 39:39 as reported here in the San Francisco Chronicle, 39:42 February 11, 1929. 39:44 This is what the article said, the report said, 39:46 "The Roman question tonight was a thing of the past, 39:49 and the Vatican was at peace with Italy. 39:51 In affixing the autographs 39:53 to the memorable document healing the wound, 39:55 extreme cordiality was displayed on both sides." 40:00 And I have a photograph of the signing of this agreement 40:04 between the Italian government 40:07 and representatives of the Vatican. 40:09 On one hand is Cardinal Gasparri and on the other, 40:14 do you recognize him? 40:16 It's Mussolini. 40:19 And he restored the church and established the sovereignty. 40:23 Recognize the sovereignty of the church. 40:24 I mean, on a very reduce scale, 40:28 you know, its not-- 40:31 you know, it's not a very large at all. 40:34 But then we move on, Revelation 13:7, 40:36 it says, "An authority was given him over every tribe, 40:39 and tongues and nations." 40:41 My friend, Revelation 13 tells us 40:44 that what has happened in the past 40:45 is going to be repeated in the end time. 40:48 History is going to repeat itself 40:51 under the papal system. 40:52 And can you imagine any deadlier 40:55 deception than that, that comes-- 40:57 than that which will come to us in the name of Christ? 41:00 Well, there is, that says, 41:02 "The whole earth would be amazed." 41:05 Would be amazed. 41:06 My friends, this is in development. 41:10 And we can really talk about the pope and circumstance 41:13 and I mean, you know it's something else 41:16 when you consider it. 41:17 I mean, there we see the representatives 41:19 of our government and past presidents 41:22 who were there at Pope John Paul II's burial. 41:27 Interesting as you look at it. 41:29 And the tapestries of the position 41:34 representing the authority 41:36 is something to really behold. 41:39 And we remember when Pope Benedict XVI 41:42 visited this country just a year or two ago. 41:45 Remember? 41:46 And of all of the world representatives 41:49 that have ever come to this country 41:52 our President George Bush 41:54 gave the pope an official red carpet 41:57 welcome at the airport. 42:00 He had never done that for any other, 42:04 again, representative of any other country. 42:08 And so you know, you would be amazed, 42:10 he spoke before the U.N. week ago, on and on. 42:12 Couldn't we? 42:14 But there's one other-- 42:15 there's one other identifying characteristic 42:18 and yes, it's that number. 42:19 We find it in Revelation 13:18 42:22 where it says, "Here is wisdom. 42:23 Let him who has understanding 42:25 calculate the number of the beast, 42:27 for it is the number of a man, 42:32 His number is six hundred and sixty-six." 42:35 Now notice this from Our Sunday Visitor, 42:39 it asks the question, 42:40 "What are the letters inscribed in the pope's crown or mitre? 42:44 And what do they signify if anything?" 42:46 And here's the answer, Vicarius Filii Dei, 42:49 which is Latin for Vicar of the son of God. 42:51 And indeed this is one of the official titles 42:55 of the head of the Church of Rome 42:57 of the papal system Vicarius Filii Dei. 43:00 And when you work it out 43:02 according to the simple Roman numerals, 43:05 guess what, it's in your notes, 43:06 it comes out to exactly 666. 43:10 And my friends, the evidence just lines up from the Bible. 43:13 One and-- you know, it could be coincidental 43:16 but when you have all seven 43:18 clearly historically lining up, this is not coincidental. 43:24 It's not. 43:26 And remember, this comes out of the apostasy. 43:29 I've not really gotten into this 43:31 but the church went through apostasy 43:33 and allowed the counterfeit system. 43:37 So we come to what is the mark. 43:40 What's the Mark of the Beast? Let's look at that. 43:42 Daniel 7:25 deals with the same identifying characteristics 43:46 as it relates to the system. 43:48 But it adds one important one. 43:50 Daniel 7:25, it says, 43:51 "And he shall speak great words against the most High, 43:54 and shall wear out the saints of the most High," 43:58 we saw that, didn't we 43:59 in little bit different language. 44:00 And furthermore, "And think to change times and laws." 44:05 He would think to change times and laws. 44:07 Now I don't know Latin 44:09 so but here is where the statement is taken from 44:12 and it's from the Episcop Cap, 44:16 I can read that. 44:17 It's from the church, a formal declaration. 44:21 It says, "The Pope has the power to change times, 44:24 to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, 44:28 even the precepts of Christ." 44:32 I tell you, the papal system has some extraordinary claims 44:36 and there's a totally different authority base 44:39 in the papal system 44:40 than there is in any other church. 44:43 Most other churches would profess 44:47 that the authority of faith comes from the Bible. 44:52 The papal system does not feel bound at all 44:55 to the authority of the Bible. 44:57 They believe their authority stands above that of the Bible. 45:01 And so the decleration of the church to the pope 45:06 and the decleration of the church councils 45:09 and as it embodied in cannon law 45:13 is the final authority. 45:15 And yet I find most Roman Catholics, 45:17 I mean in this country 45:19 yet have a high regard for the Bible 45:22 and believe that really we ought to take the Bible 45:25 very seriously in the matters of faith. 45:28 So they think to change times and laws. 45:30 What laws? Human laws come and go. 45:33 Devine Law? 45:34 There's only one what that would be of significance 45:37 and when we think of the commandments, 45:39 when we think of the law of God, 45:40 which commandment deals with the issue of time? 45:43 Do you think they change times and laws. 45:45 There's only one, 45:46 and it's the one that deals with the Sabbath. 45:48 This is from The Convert's Catechism, 45:51 the question is, "Which is the Sabbath day?" 45:53 The answers is "Saturday is the Sabbath day." 45:56 Question, "Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?" 46:00 Answer, "We observe Sunday 46:02 instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church 46:06 transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday." 46:12 And my friends, the Church of Rome admittedly, 46:14 and the documentation historically is absolutely clear 46:20 was involved in tampering with the commandments. 46:23 Father Enright in a lecture declared, 46:25 "It was the holy Catholic Church 46:27 that changed the day of rest 46:28 from Saturday to Sunday, the first day of the week. 46:31 And it not only compelled all to keep Sunday, 46:33 but at the Council of Laodicea, 46:35 in 364 AD, anathematized 46:38 all who kept the Sabbath and urged all persons to labor 46:42 on the seventh day under the pain of anathema." 46:45 Which is one step short of being excommunicated. 46:52 Why did the church feel it was necessary 46:53 to declare an anathema 46:56 except that it bears testimony, 46:58 there was a significant number of Christians 47:00 who did not embrace Sunday but still honor the Sabbath. 47:04 Another saying from The Catholic Mirror, 47:06 "The Catholic Church for over one thousand years 47:09 before the existence of a Protestant 47:13 changed the day from Saturday to Sunday. 47:16 The Christian Sabbath" 47:17 and they are talking about Sunday 47:19 "is therefore to this day, 47:20 the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church 47:23 without a word of remonstrance from the Protestant world." 47:26 That's not quite true, there are 15 million of us 47:28 Sabbath keeping Christians that are saying, 47:31 this is not what the Bible teaches. 47:34 Something is wrong here. 47:37 Again, from the Catholic Record, "Sunday is founded, 47:39 not on scripture, but on tradition, 47:41 and is distinctly a Catholic institution." 47:45 And my friends, if the change 47:48 is not documented in the scriptures 47:51 and it is not, nobody has come to me with that text 47:56 and I've been preaching this a long time. 47:58 They never come with a text because it's not there. 48:01 And my friend, if it is not in the Bible the change 48:04 then we have to turn to the historical record. 48:06 And this is what the historical record tells us. 48:09 It's the church that assumed 48:11 the authority to make the change 48:15 contrary to what the Bible actually teaches. 48:18 You know, there's a lot of documentations, 48:19 I was-- I just a year ago in Modesto, California. 48:23 I had a very devout young woman that was attending, 48:26 very devout woman, catholic. 48:28 She's sitting in the very back, she was there every night 48:30 and when she heard this presentation of the Sabbath 48:34 the next day she was at her-- she was at mass 48:38 and after the mass she took her priest aside 48:41 and she said, "Father, is it true that the church 48:45 changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday?" 48:48 She came back and told me, 48:49 she said, "I was shocked, he told me, 48:51 'Yes, the church changed it.'" 48:54 I will tell you after a few conversations 48:57 of that nature with her priest 48:59 and she had known him for a long time, 49:01 she made a decision to become a Sabbath keeping Christian. 49:05 And she was in a baptism. 49:08 I mean, that is really sincerity of faith. 49:11 Don't you think, 26 years of age, 49:13 bless her heart. 49:15 Young people, I can share a lot of statements with you 49:19 and you have a lot of them in your notes. 49:22 But I take you to our Catholic Records, 49:23 it says, "Sunday is our mark of authority. 49:26 The church is above the Bible, 49:27 and this transference of Sabbath observance 49:30 is proof of that fact." 49:34 Sunday keeping is the Mark of the Beast. 49:40 These things have not come into focus yet, 49:43 this is our future. 49:46 And my friends, to be clear about it 49:48 I mean, there are so many 49:50 sincere Sunday keeping Christians 49:52 that love the Lord, they are born again, 49:55 the issue of their salvation is not in question. 49:59 You know, most Christians don't really understand 50:01 why they keep Sunday it's just the established 50:04 and traditional practice. 50:05 That's' all they know. 50:07 And so we're not condemning 50:10 you know, those who are doing it without knowing. 50:12 But my friend, there is an issue of truth here 50:16 and that's what I am trying to get at. 50:18 It's just like that, you know, it can't be a day, 50:21 it can't be the issue 50:22 the Sabbath or Sunday the Mark. 50:26 Oh, my friend, think this over again. 50:27 Think about the tree of the knowledge 50:28 of good and evil. 50:29 You can say of that fruit, it's just a piece of fruit. 50:32 And as I said a number of times, 50:34 it was not just a piece of fruit 50:36 it is what it represented. 50:39 And my friends, so it is with the Sabbath 50:41 and this issue of Sunday, it is what it represents. 50:45 Sabbath represents loyalty to God and to His word 50:48 and to the commandments and to Jesus. 50:52 Sunday represents apostasy. 50:56 It carries with it the marks of the apostasy 50:59 for it was out of the apostasy 51:01 of the church that this pagan day 51:04 that dedicated to sun was embraced. 51:08 Are we just gonna go by that which is convenient? 51:11 I like this, sounds good to me over here, 51:13 I embrace this, I like-- 51:16 I don't know about this, 51:18 because again, something's go against 51:19 the natural inclination of our natural hearts. 51:25 Is that true? It does. 51:29 We say, we believe that the Bible 51:32 is the only rule of our faith and practice. 51:35 But my friend, are we consistent? 51:37 So on one hand we have the declarations of the church, 51:41 on the other we have the declarations of scripture. 51:45 And my friend, where is our first loyalty? 51:48 Is our first loyalty to the church? 51:51 You think so or is our first loyalty to Jesus, 51:55 who is the head of the church 51:57 and to the teachings of His word? 52:02 And I remind you it is one of the commandments. 52:04 Exodus 20 says, "Remember the Sabbath day, 52:07 to keep it holy. 52:08 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 52:10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord 52:13 your God in it you shall not do any work, 52:16 you, nor your son, nor your daughter, 52:18 now your male servant, nor your maidservant, 52:20 nor your cattle, nor your stranger 52:22 who is within your gates. 52:24 For in six days" I mean, it's a long one, isn't it. 52:27 "For in six days the Lord made heavens and earth, 52:30 the sea, and all that in them is, 52:32 and rested the seventh day. 52:34 Therefore the Lord blessed 52:35 the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." 52:37 Again I can imagine somebody saying, 52:39 well, it can't really be this, it can't really be this. 52:42 I am gonna show you in context, 52:45 in reference to the warning about the Mark of the Beast 52:47 that it is this issue and I am gonna read it again 52:50 going back to Revelation 14. 52:52 Remember what we read at the beginning, 52:53 "And another angel, a third one, 52:55 followed them, saying with a loud voice, 52:57 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, 53:00 and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 53:04 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 53:07 which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger 53:12 and he will be tormented with fire" 53:14 this language is really pretty tough, isn't it? 53:16 "With fire and brimstone 53:18 in the presence of the holy angels 53:20 and in the presence of the Lamb. 53:22 And the smoke of their tormen 53:23 goes up forever and ever, 53:25 and they have no rest day and night, 53:26 those who worship the beast and his image, 53:29 and whoever receives the mark of his name.'" 53:33 Next verse, right in the context, 53:36 in contrast to those at the end time, 53:39 this is all future, 53:40 who sell themselves out to the apostasy 53:42 of which this is represented by this pagan holiday. 53:48 Notice in contrast to those who receive the mark, 53:51 God's people are identified. 53:53 Verse 12 says, Here "Here is the perseverance of the saints 53:58 who keep the commandments of God 54:01 and their faith in Jesus." 54:04 So in contrast of those who receive the mark, 54:06 what are God's people noted for? 54:08 And there are two significant things 54:11 and the most significant of them is the last one. 54:15 There will be noted for their faith in whom? 54:19 Their faith in Jesus. 54:22 And as I said early, it takes a lot of faith in Jesus 54:26 sometimes to make some of the changes 54:29 in our lifestyle to bring ourselves into harmony. 54:32 By His grace we do this in harmony 54:34 with the teachings of principles of scripture. 54:36 Does it take faith in Jesus to do that? 54:40 Absolutely. 54:42 And the other identifying characteristic here 54:45 is that they keep the Commandments of God. 54:48 How many do you think 54:49 that by their faith in Jesus they keep? 54:54 What do you think? 54:56 All by the grace of Jesus 54:58 which leads us to the conclusion, 55:02 that they are keeping all by His grace 55:04 they are seeking to enter into the rest of the Sabbath. 55:11 And Jesus said it, "If you love me, 55:13 you will keep My commandments." |
Revised 2014-12-17