Participants:
Series Code: MAT
Program Code: MAT000018S
|
00:20 Let's pray.
00:22 Father in heaven, we come before Your awesome throne 00:27 with open hearts, open minds. 00:31 We want to hear Your voice. 00:34 This is a very solemn presentation. 00:36 Names will be mentioned. 00:39 Not to question the motives that the people have 00:43 that I'm going to quote, but to show that it's very possible 00:48 and probable that at some point religious legislation 00:52 will be brought into the Constitution. 00:54 So be with us, open our minds and hearts. 00:57 We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 01:00 In our last session we studied Ellen White's blueprint 01:05 of end time events. 01:08 The big question is, was her view of end time events 01:12 realistic and accurate? 01:15 The United States has a history of respecting 01:18 civil and religious liberty. 01:21 "This is the land of the free and the home 01:23 of the brave," people say. 01:25 "There never could be persecution in these 01:28 United States of America." 01:30 However, as we noticed, at the end of the 19th century, 01:35 actually from a little beyond the middle to the end 01:37 of the 19th century, there was a national reform movement 01:42 to establish a national Sunday law. 01:45 And many people were persecuted in certain states 01:50 because they did not respect Sunday as the day of worship. 01:55 Also, we're going to notice, in the latter half 01:58 of the 20th century and the early 21st century 02:03 there was a movement in the United States 02:06 driven by religious leaders and certain political leaders 02:10 to also use the state to favor the agenda of the church. 02:18 And so in our study today we are going to take a look 02:22 at the movement that took place in the 02:25 1980's, 1990's, and the early 2000's. 02:30 Now I need to make something clear. 02:33 I'm going to mention proper names of individuals. 02:37 However, I want everyone to understand that it is not 02:41 my intention to impugn the motives of those individuals 02:45 whom I will mention in this presentation. 02:49 I will not question their sincerity in what they believed 02:53 and in what they were doing. 02:56 I can only bring to view what they said on the record. 03:01 God will be the one that will have to judge their motivations 03:06 and whether what they were doing is actually right or not. 03:12 Saul of Tarsus provides us a vivid illustration 03:15 of one who was absolutely sincere in persecuting 03:19 what the book of Acts calls, the Way. 03:22 That is, Christians. 03:25 Saul was certain that he was doing God's will 03:27 in persecuting the church. 03:29 He sought out Christians to take them to trial. 03:33 And some of them were condemned to death, 03:35 according to Acts chapter 26. 03:38 His intention was to preserve the orthodoxy 03:41 of the Jewish religion. 03:43 And he did it in the name of God. 03:46 He was zealous, he was relentless, 03:50 but his work was misguided. 03:56 As I mentioned before, in the latter part of the 20th century 03:59 and the early part of the 21st century, our own, 04:02 the great religious leaders of the United States 04:05 were advocating causes similar to those that the 04:09 National Reform movement had from the middle to the end 04:14 of the 19th century. 04:17 The humanist philosopher, Fredrick Nietzsche, 04:20 once wrote some very wise words. 04:24 I quote. 04:33 Is it possible that in fighting against the dragon 04:37 of secular humanism, or the political left 04:42 as it's called today, that the Christian right will become 04:45 the dragon that they actually are attempting to overcome? 04:52 Now I'm going to mention the chief protagonists 04:54 of this movement in the 1980's, 1990's, and early 2000's. 05:01 Some of these individuals have passed away, 05:04 others are still living today. 05:08 What were the chief protagonists? 05:10 The late Chuck Colson, president of International 05:14 Prison Ministries who did wonderful work with prisoners 05:18 in the United States and abroad as well. 05:21 The late D. James Kennedy, pastor of the Coral Ridge Church 05:26 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 05:29 Very good preacher. 05:30 I would tune him in on Sundays and listen. 05:33 He had very good material. 05:35 Pat Robertson, president of the Christian Broadcasting Network, 05:40 the 700 Club, CEO of Regent University, 05:45 founder of the American Center for Law and Justice. 05:50 Keith Fournier, who was the first executive director 05:54 of Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice. 05:59 A Roman Catholic. 06:00 The late Jerry Falwell, long time pastor of the 06:04 Thomas Road Baptist Church, chancellor of Liberty University 06:09 in Lynchburg, Virginia, and founder of The Moral Majority. 06:14 James Dobson, president and CEO of Focus On The Family. 06:20 And Focus On The Family has many, many wonderful, 06:23 marvelous programs. 06:25 Rod Parsley, who operates Harvest Ministries 06:28 in Columbus, Ohio, and has a large church there. 06:32 Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council. 06:36 The late Bill Bright, president of Campus Crusade for Christ. 06:40 Did many, many good things with students on our campuses. 06:45 William Bennett, author of, The Book of Virtues, 06:49 an Education Secretary during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, 06:53 and drug czar during the presidency of George H. W. Bush. 06:59 The late Tim LaHaye, president of the American Coalition 07:03 for Traditional Values, and author of the wildly popular 07:08 Left Behind series which provides the eschatological 07:12 foundation for the Christian right movement 07:15 and for a futuristic approach to Bible prophecy. 07:19 John Hagee, pastor of the Cornerstone Church 07:22 in San Antonio; packs his church every Sunday, 07:27 and prolific author on Bible prophecy 07:30 from a futurist perspective. 07:33 Ralph Reed, first president of Pat Robertson's 07:36 Christian Coalition. 07:38 And now I believe he's a lobbyist in Washington, DC. 07:42 The late John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, 07:47 a conservative think tank. 07:49 Jimmy Swaggert, who at the time was a megachurch founder 07:53 and television evangelist. 07:55 And William Rehnquist, chief justice of the Supreme Court 07:59 of the United States for 19 years. 08:03 Now the first thing which I find distressing 08:06 during this period is tampering with the First Amendment 08:11 to the Constitution of the United States of America. 08:15 What was being said in the 80's and 90's, 08:19 and even to the early 2000's is that the First Amendment 08:23 forbids simply the establishment of a national church or favoring 08:28 one church above another, but it does not forbid the government 08:32 from favoring all churches equally. 08:35 In 1994 the Republican party in Congress unveiled its agenda 08:41 in the book, Contract With the American Family. 08:45 On pages 4 and 5 we find the following interpretation 08:48 of the establishment clause. 09:05 It's interesting that at this time the Speaker of the House 09:09 was Newt Gingrich who was a Baptist and converted 09:12 to the Roman Catholic Church. 09:14 Also we find in this document, Contract With 09:18 the American Family, the following words, 09:20 "The Europeans believed..." 09:45 In other words, what the, Contract With American Family, 09:48 is saying is that the First Amendment simply forbids 09:52 the establishment of a national church. 09:55 And that's what is meant by separation of church and state. 09:59 William Rehnquist, as I mentioned before, 10:01 served 19 years as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. 10:06 In 1985 he dissented with the majority in a school prayer case 10:14 stating that the framers of the Constitution 10:17 intended only, and now I quote, "to prohibit the designation..." 10:36 This was a revisionist's interpretation 10:39 of the Establishment Clause. 10:42 Nowhere does the Establishment Clause of the Constitution 10:46 refer to the non-establishment of a church or a religion, 10:52 but rather of religion, period. 10:56 The founding fathers certainly knew the history of the papacy 11:00 where the papacy, a church, used the civil powers of Europe 11:05 to enforce its agenda and to persecute anyone who was not 11:09 in harmony with the church. 11:12 The founding fathers also knew the history of the 11:14 colonial period where individuals were punished 11:17 with civil penalties for not going along with the desires 11:22 of the established church, which was the church of the Puritans 11:26 or the Anglican church. 11:29 Rehnquist affirmed that the Establishment Clause 11:33 merely, and now I quote... 11:46 However, the First Amendment does not say 11:49 Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment 11:52 of a church or a religion. 11:55 The First Amendment says Congress shall make no law 11:58 establishing religion, period. 12:02 Not a church or a religion. 12:05 According to Rehnquist the Establishment Clause 12:09 does not forbid, and now I quote... 12:20 What does he mean by that? 12:22 What it means is that the government can provide aid 12:28 to churches as long as it does not discriminate among churches, 12:31 as long as it helps all religions equally. 12:36 Of course, the question is, would this also include Islam? 12:40 Would it include Buddhism? Would it include Hinduism? 12:45 Or any non-Christian religion? 12:49 If the answer is that it can distribute among 12:51 all denominations that are Christian equally, 12:55 then that would be establishment of Christianity 12:57 above other religions. 13:00 Pat Robertson agreed with Rehnquist 13:03 and added his own testimony or touch regarding the states. 13:09 This is what Pat Robertson wrote. 13:13 "The First Amendment says..." 13:29 Now what is Pat Robertson saying here? 13:32 You see, in those times there was a strong movement in favor 13:36 of state's rights. 13:39 Those who advocated for state's rights argued that 13:42 the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses 13:45 of the Constitution apply on a federal level. 13:50 Because the First Amendment says, 13:52 "Congress shall not make any law..." 13:55 In other words, this law does not apply 13:57 to the individual states. 14:01 It might sounds nice to keep the federal government 14:04 out of the business of the states, 14:06 but there was a hidden agenda in this state's rights movement. 14:11 If enough states could agree on a certain agenda 14:15 then they could exert influence to force the federal government 14:20 to follow their lead by amending the Constitution. 14:26 Now let's talk about the strategy of the religious right 14:30 during this period of the 80's, 90's, and early 2000's. 14:35 At the beginning of the religious right movement, 14:38 they held massive marches to Washington D.C. 14:42 For example, the "Washington for Jesus" rally took place 14:47 on April 29-30, 1980. 14:51 Pat Robertson marched to Washington D.C. with a large 14:56 cross on his shoulder and hundreds of church members, 15:01 not his own church, but Christians 15:03 marching along with him. 15:06 However, in the course of time the movement became 15:09 much more sophisticated than marches on Washington. 15:13 They soon discovered that marches accomplish very little. 15:18 They discovered that the best way to gain power 15:22 was by lobbying individual members of Congress 15:27 as well as networking on a local level. 15:31 They realized that they would meet with much greater success 15:35 if they organized on a local level by taking over 15:40 local high school boards and influencing local governments. 15:45 They came to realize that all politics is local. 15:50 They realized that if they could take over local precincts, 15:54 then the states would be there's as well. 15:57 And if the states were theirs, then the government, 16:01 the federal government, would be theirs as well. 16:04 You know, it's notable that in 1888 those who pressed for a 16:08 national Sunday law also worked on establishing local chapters 16:15 and influencing state conventions before attempting 16:19 a national Sunday law. 16:21 Ralph Reed, one of the leaders of the religious right movement 16:25 during the period that we're discussing, 16:28 said the following words. 16:30 "We tried to charge Washington..." 16:33 These are the mass demonstrations where they had 16:36 Christians march to Washington D.C. 16:56 So they started working on a local level 16:59 because they realized that they could cause a greater impact 17:02 by working there. 17:05 Now during this period Christians felt that they 17:08 were being persecuted, particularly those 17:11 who sympathized with the views of the religious right. 17:15 In the 80's there was talk of amending the Constitution 17:20 to protect Christians from discrimination in the exercise 17:25 of their religion. 17:26 The leaders of the religious right movement 17:29 argued that a secular humanistic government 17:34 was persecuting them because it did not allow them, for example, 17:39 to put nativity scenes on federal property, 17:44 or government property, 17:46 and because the Alabama judiciary did not allow 17:51 Judge Roy Moore, for example, to put a 5300 pound monument 17:57 of the Ten Commandments in the rotunda of the 18:00 State Capital building. 18:03 The leaders attempted to convince their church members 18:06 that government was persecuting them 18:09 because it did not support their religious views. 18:14 However, this was not the case. 18:18 The government must keep aloof from religion. 18:22 It must neither support nor oppose religion. 18:27 The role of government is to preserve the freedoms 18:29 that we have: freedom of speech 18:32 and freedom of assembly among them, 18:34 so that religion can flourish freely. 18:38 The purpose of the government is not to enforce 18:40 the Ten Commandments, particularly the first four. 18:44 The first four commandments describe our duty towards God. 18:48 The state can have nothing to do with these commandments. 18:52 The, Contract With the American Family, page 1 18:56 complained about the rights of religious Americans 18:59 and suggested a religious amendment as the 19:02 solution to the problem. 19:04 So in other words, the, Contract With the American Family, 19:06 said we can amend the Constitution. 19:08 And that way, Christians will not be discriminated against 19:11 because, for example, they can't put nativity scenes 19:14 on federal government property. 19:17 This is what the, Contract With the American Family, 19:20 page 1, stated, "We have witnessed the steady erosion..." 19:39 Their view of freedom of speech was putting nativity scenes 19:44 on public property, putting the Ten Commandments 19:47 on government property, et cetera. 19:49 In no way was religious freedom curtailed. 19:53 People could go to church, people could go from 19:55 home to home proselytizing, people could speak in the 19:59 public square as individuals in favor of their religious belief. 20:04 There was really no persecution. 20:06 But because the church could not do things with the state, 20:11 they were suffering persecution according to this group. 20:16 Now there's no country in the world that guarantees 20:19 the freedom of speech in its constitution 20:23 such as the United States of America. 20:25 The freedoms we enjoy have made it a pleasure to live 20:30 in the United States of America. 20:33 Sadly, some that belonged to the religious right 20:37 at the end of the 20th century were saying that if secular 20:41 humanists do not like it here in the United States, 20:45 they should move to another country. 20:49 Several years ago Greg J. Dickson who was the co-founder 20:54 of, The Moral Majority, and the organizations leader in the 20:58 state of Indiana, actually had a prayer hit list 21:03 where his supporters prayed that the Lord would remove 21:07 from office anyone who did not confess the Christian religion. 21:12 Alaska senator, Edna DeVries, once stated that non-Christians 21:19 should, and I quote, "leave the country." 21:24 The religious right complained that kids could no longer 21:28 pray in public schools, that prayer was kicked out of 21:32 public school, and the Bible was kicked out of public school. 21:35 That liberals had kicked God out of the public square. 21:39 It is true that school mandated prayer 21:43 would be unconstitutional, however... 21:48 And of course, the reason why is because 21:50 prayer is a duty that we belong to God. 21:53 The government does not need to get involved in prayer. 21:57 However, the Constitution does not forbid individual students 22:03 from praying in public school. 22:05 In fact, students constitutionally 22:07 can actually take the initiative to organize prayer groups 22:11 in school, as long as it's their initiative and not mandated by 22:15 the school itself. 22:16 They can organize for prayer, 22:18 they can organize for Bible study groups. 22:22 The Constitution guarantees the right of free exercise of 22:26 individuals even on government property. 22:30 The Constitution also guarantees that students can take their 22:34 Bibles to the school and they can freely read them 22:37 in the school. 22:38 So there is no persecution against those who pray 22:42 individually or pray with groups of students 22:45 as long as it's not mandated by the federal government. 22:49 It is true that a handful of teachers at that time 22:53 attempted to keep students from exercising 22:56 their individual rights, but they lost their cases in court. 23:01 The government must remain neutral in matters of religion. 23:07 Another thing that occurred during this period 23:09 was having voter guides. 23:14 Politicians who wanted to win elections catered to the 23:17 preachers and the churches. 23:20 Even Democrats who used to shy away from speaking about 23:24 religion in the public arena began to address publicly 23:29 moral and religious issues during the height of the 23:33 Christian right movement. 23:35 Politicians love to show up at religious right activities 23:39 because they knew that they could deliver votes. 23:44 Rallying the base to go out and vote for them. 23:47 That's why they went to churches. 23:49 During the presidency of George W. Bush 23:53 a leak revealed that Karl Rove and Dick Cheney 23:57 really had little love for the agenda of the religious right. 24:02 In private they referred to them as nuts and weird. 24:07 However, they publicly supported their causes 24:09 because they knew that the religious right 24:12 brings out the vote. 24:15 If you'll remember, in 1888 there was also a move 24:19 for voter guides. 24:21 During the height of the power of The Moral Majority 24:25 and the Christian Coalition voter guides even provided 24:29 the names of candidates and the causes they 24:32 supported and opposed. 24:34 The religious right sought to pursue Christians 24:37 to vote for candidates that supported their causes 24:41 and to vote against those who opposed them. 24:44 For example, Tim LaHaye affirmed that 25% 24:49 of federal jobs should go to Christian conservatives. 24:55 That's interesting. 24:57 He also stated, and I quote, "No humanist 25:01 is qualified to hold any governmental office." 25:05 That's Time magazine, September 2, 1985. 25:08 This flies in the face of the 14th Amendment 25:11 to the Constitution of the United States 25:14 where it clearly states that there can be no religious test 25:18 to occupy any office of trust in these United States. 25:24 Another interesting feature of the Christian right 25:28 during this period was the desire 25:31 to come together with Catholics. 25:34 Protestants and Catholics. 25:36 You remember that leading up to 1888 the same thing happened. 25:40 During the heyday of the religious right 25:43 Protestants and Catholics worked together 25:45 for common social causes. 25:49 Now I'm going to share with you some very interesting 25:52 information that you might not know about. 25:55 On August 12, 1993 Billy Graham appeared on the program, 26:02 Good Morning, America. 26:05 At the time, Pope John Paul II was visiting 26:08 the United States of America. 26:10 And I heard with my own ears Billy Graham say, 26:15 "I admire the Pope..." 26:22 Furthermore, on January 21, 1997 26:26 when the Pope visited Salt Lake City, 26:29 Larry King interviewed Billy Graham on his program, 26:34 Larry King Live. 26:36 Here is a portion of the interview 26:38 that I'm going to share with you. 26:41 Larry King asked, "Do you feel comfortable with Salt Lake City? 26:47 Do you feel comfortable with the Vatican?" 26:51 Here's Graham's answer. 26:53 "Oh, I'm very comfortable with the Vatican. 26:56 I've been to see the pope several times. 27:00 And in fact, the day that he was inaugurated, made pope, 27:06 I was preaching in his cathedral in Kraków. 27:10 I was his guest." 27:13 King said to Billy Graham, "You were preaching in 27:18 his church the day he was made pope?" 27:21 Graham answered, "That is correct. 27:24 In Kraków." 27:26 And Graham chuckled when he said that. 27:28 Larry King then said, "You must have been shocked." 27:32 Billy Graham answered, "Of course I was. 27:34 There was shouting in the streets, you know, 27:37 the next day, 'Polish pope! Polish pope!'" 27:41 And then King asked Billy Graham, 27:43 "Do you like this pope?" 27:45 Billy Graham answered, "I like him very much. 27:48 He's very conservative. 27:50 He and I agree on almost everything." 27:55 Very interesting. 27:58 The dean of all evangelists, the most well-known Protestant 28:02 evangelist, I think, ever in the United States of America. 28:07 Most people do not know that Billy Graham received an 28:10 honorary doctorate degree in 1967 from a 28:14 Roman Catholic Jesuit university called Belmont Abbey College. 28:20 Someone wrote the college and asked if it was true 28:24 that Billy Graham had received a doctorate 28:26 from this Jesuit university. 28:28 And Cuthbert E. Allen, Executive Vice-President 28:32 of the university responded in these words... 29:14 Let me read that again. 29:16 This is Cuthbert Allen, who is a Jesuit. 29:20 And he was actually the president 29:23 of this Jesuit university. 29:26 Here it is... 30:02 Hmm. 30:04 Very interesting, isn't it. 30:06 Ralph Reed, who was the first president of Pat Robertson's 30:10 Christian Coalition, wrote in his book, 30:14 Politically Incorrect, page 16, the following words... 30:30 So notice, he's seen the future of American politics, 30:33 and he says that the secret of success "lies in the growing 30:38 strength of Evangelicals and their Roman Catholic allies." 30:43 Then he continues. 31:09 Are you seeing what's happening here? 31:11 In other words, it's Catholics and Protestants 31:14 trying to influence the election in the United States of America. 31:21 He continues, "Nasty nativism and dark distrust..." 31:35 "John F. Kennedy's election," which we'll refer to 31:37 in our next presentation... 31:52 He who forgets the past, folks, is bound to repeat the past. 31:58 Especially the negative mistakes of the past. 32:27 So you see, the idea is joining all religions together 32:33 to fight a common enemy by using the power of the state. 32:39 Ralph Reed also gave a speech to the 32:41 Catholic Campaign for America, 32:44 and he spoke the following words... 33:31 What is the agenda again? 33:32 Is the agenda, "Well, let's preach the gospel 33:35 from our pulpits so that the Holy Spirit will 33:37 change the lives of people. 33:39 And then you have a more just and moral society." 33:42 No, no, that's not the secret, according to him. 33:44 The secret is for Protestants and Catholics to come together 33:48 and use the political system to implement the agenda 33:53 of the church. 33:55 He continued writing, "It is the emerging force 34:00 in the electorate today..." 34:01 That is, of the union of Catholics and Protestants. 34:27 I'm going to read a statement that I read before 34:29 from the writings of Ellen White. 34:31 But before I do, I'm going to read the last part 34:33 of the statement that I just presented. 34:36 "Father Robertson said, 'Obviously some teachings 34:40 are more important than others, and there has to be an agreement 34:44 on those essential points while leaving considerable latitude 34:50 on other points that are less essential to the faith.'" 34:54 Is there such a thing as essential points in your faith 34:57 and non-essential or less essential points? 35:00 Compare this that Ralph Reed said 35:03 with what Ellen White wrote. 35:06 Great Controversy, page 445. 35:09 "When the leading churches of the United States, 35:13 uniting upon such points of doctrine..." 35:40 So the idea is unite on points of doctrine that are 35:44 held in common, and then get the state to do 35:48 what the church wants. 35:49 And Ellen White states that then Protestant America 35:53 will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, 35:56 and the result will be persecution. 35:59 Once again, I will repeat what I said in a previous lecture. 36:03 And that is that the word, "papacy," is not the same 36:07 as the Roman Catholic Church. 36:10 The Roman Catholic Church is a church. 36:11 The papacy is the union of the church with the state. 36:15 Because, you know, the Catholic church, the papacy 36:18 is actually is a church and it is also a state. 36:22 So what happened in 1798? 36:25 In 1798, Pope Pious VI was taken prison to France 36:30 where he died in exile. 36:32 In other words, the political arm of the 36:35 Roman Catholic Church was removed. 36:37 Now let me ask you this, did the Roman Catholic Church 36:42 as a church still continue to function? 36:44 Of course. 36:46 People still took their little babies to get baptized, 36:49 people still went to the confessional, 36:52 people still went to participate of the Eucharist. 36:56 In other words, the Catholic church as church 36:59 did not cease to function when the papacy received the 37:02 deadly when the pope was taken prisoner to France 37:05 and died in exile. 37:07 The church continued to function, but the papacy did not 37:10 because the papacy had lost the support of France, 37:14 and then later on the other nations of Europe. 37:17 So the point is that when the United States 37:21 imposes a Sunday law on pain of civil penalties, 37:25 the bottom line is that that's going to be an image 37:27 of the Roman Catholic papacy because that is the foundational 37:30 characteristic of the papacy. 37:33 So once again, Ellen White wrote, "When the leading 37:35 churches of the United States, uniting upon such points 37:39 of doctrine as are held by them in common, 37:42 shall influence the state to enforce their decrees 37:45 and sustain their institutions... 37:52 There is the image of the beast. 38:01 So when the church joins with the state, 38:04 when the church, you know, no longer are denominations 38:07 fighting among one another, then they're able to influence 38:10 the state; the result, the automatic result is persecution. 38:15 History has clearly shown that. 38:19 Then we have the document, 38:20 Evangelicals and Catholics Together. 38:23 We're talking now about how Protestants and Catholics 38:26 are coming together during this period of the 38:28 80's, 90's, and the early 2000's. 38:31 What was this document, 38:33 Evangelicals and Catholics Together? 38:36 The document was an ecumenical agreement 38:39 by 40 of the most influential evangelical and Roman Catholic 38:46 representatives in the United States of America. 38:50 Protestant Chuck Colson and Lutheran turned Catholic 38:55 John Richard Neuhaus developed the 25-page document. 39:01 When the 40 influential leaders signed the document 39:05 on March 29, 1994, Chuck Colson and Richard Neuhaus 39:12 remarked the following... 39:48 What is it that Neuhaus and Colson are saying here? 39:52 Well, one of the notable elements of the document 39:56 is that it recommends and actually discourages 40:01 proselytizing between Catholics and Protestants, 40:05 especially in Latin America where there were at the time 40:11 and still are thousands upon thousands 40:15 abandoning the Roman Catholic Church and joining 40:18 Protestant churches such as Jehovah's Witnesses, 40:22 Seventh-day Adventists, Pentecostals, Mormons, 40:25 and Baptists. 40:26 This mass exodus from the Roman Catholic Church 40:30 to various Protestant denominations has been 40:34 a matter of great concern for the Roman Catholic Church. 40:37 And so, in the document that was signed by 40:41 Catholics and Protestants, the great leaders, 40:44 they agreed officially to stop stealing one another's sheep. 40:49 They agreed that instead of arguing over insignificant 40:53 points of doctrine, they should rather unite forces 40:57 to fight against the common enemy, secular humanism. 41:02 They decided to join forces to fight in causes such as 41:07 against abortion, homosexual marriage or gay marriage, 41:11 euthanasia, pornography, et cetera. 41:15 An article appeared in USA Today commenting about the ecumenical 41:20 nature of this particular document. 41:23 This was March 30, 1994. 41:56 Interesting. 41:58 Keith Fournier, who was one of the signers of the document, 42:03 wrote a book titled, House United, where he described 42:08 the incredible ecumenical implications 42:11 of this particular document. 42:14 Now I quote... 42:30 That is, between Catholics and Protestants. 42:45 Now the question is, how could Protestants 42:49 reach this point where they're willing to 42:52 stretch forth the hand and take the hand of Roman Catholics, 42:57 setting aside the differences and doctrine 42:59 and fighting for common social causes? 43:03 Obviously, there has been a radical change of attitude 43:08 of Protestants towards the Roman Catholic Church. 43:11 The question is, why? 43:15 Well, I want to share with you a historical experience that 43:18 took place in the times when John F. Kennedy was running 43:23 for president of the United States of America. 43:25 This was in the year 1960. 43:29 And it was during a very heated campaign. 43:33 And the Protestant ministers in Houston, Texas 43:37 were very concerned that perhaps John F. Kennedy, 43:43 if he became president, he would implement Roman Catholic 43:46 principles into the United States. 43:49 In other words, religious freedom would come to an end. 43:51 Persecution would arise. 43:53 So in 1960 Protestants were still very suspicious 43:57 of the aspirations of the Roman Catholic papacy. 44:00 I want to read to you what John F. Kennedy said 44:04 to those religious leaders, those pastors of the 44:09 ministerial association of the Houston area. 44:13 You know, John F. Kennedy almost sounded like a Protestant here. 44:17 I read, this is September 12, 1960. 44:30 So what did John Kennedy, the Roman Catholic, believe? 44:34 First Roman Catholic president in the history 44:36 of the United States. 45:53 Wow! 45:54 But the fact is that John F. Kennedy had to 45:56 go to this meeting and he had to explain 46:00 that he was not going to follow the instructions of the pope, 46:03 that he was going to follow the Constitution 46:04 of the United States, because these ministers in Houston 46:07 feared to have a Roman Catholic president 46:10 because they knew the history of the Roman Catholic papacy. 46:13 They wanted to make sure that John F. Kennedy 46:16 would abide by the Constitution and not simply inject into the 46:20 United States the principles of the Roman Catholic Church. 46:23 How interesting. 46:26 Now in our next segment we're going to take a look 46:28 at some additional evidence on the desire of Protestants 46:33 to join with Roman Catholics in these common causes 46:37 and setting aside their differences and doctrine. 46:40 But now let me share with you another couple of points 46:43 as to why Protestants and Catholics feel more and more 46:48 comfortable with one another even though their 46:51 doctrinal systems are just radically different. 46:54 If they went by what the Bible says and what their 46:57 doctrine are, they could never unite 47:00 because the doctrines and the practices are so different 47:04 between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. 47:07 What is it that led to the melting of the ice 47:11 between Protestants and Roman Catholics? 47:15 Two issues that I want to address as we move along. 47:20 First of all, Vatican Council II. 47:25 Vatican Council II under the leadership of John XXIII 47:29 and then Pope Paul VI, because John XXIII died 47:32 before the council was over, took place between 47:35 the years 1962 and 1965. 47:38 The purpose of the council was to renew 47:41 the Roman Catholic Church. 47:43 In fact, the Italian word that was used was, aggiornamento. 47:48 In other words, a renewal of the Roman Catholic Church. 47:51 And the Roman Catholic Church actually invited Protestants 47:54 observers to come. 47:56 And if you read the conciliar documents, you're going to find 48:00 that they're very conciliatory towards Protestants. 48:04 And so as a result, in the course of time Protestants 48:09 started thinking, "Well, you know, the Roman Catholic Church 48:11 actually recognizes us as ecclesiastical societies, 48:15 so you know, maybe the Catholic church isn't what it used to be. 48:18 Maybe the papacy isn't what it used to be." 48:21 The fact is, folks, that the papacy cannot change. 48:24 You say, "Why not?" 48:26 Because if the papacy decides that it's not going to be a 48:29 state, it's only going to be a church, 48:31 it's not the papacy anymore. 48:32 Because as I mentioned, the papacy is a system 48:37 where you have a church and a state in one. 48:40 You know, take for example the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 48:43 The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a president. 48:47 But we are not a political entity. 48:49 We are a church. 48:51 We are not a state. 48:53 But when it comes to the Roman Catholic Church, 48:55 the Roman Catholic Church is a church and it is also a state. 48:59 And as a state, it has nuncios... 49:02 You know, other countries call them ambassadors. 49:05 ...that represent the Vatican before practically every 49:09 country in the world. 49:10 And so, this church through its nuncios can influence 49:15 the political systems of the many nations because the 49:18 papacy is not only a church, it is also a state. 49:22 So it can use the power of the states of the world 49:26 to implement its agenda. 49:29 And so, one of the ways in which the ice was melted 49:32 was first of all because of the election of John F. Kennedy. 49:36 And by the way, while he was president, 49:39 of course he was assassinated, but you know, during his 49:42 presidency he did not introduce Roman Catholic principles 49:47 into the United States government. 49:49 So people said, "Oh, we feared that a Roman Catholic 49:52 was going to be president of the United States. 49:54 We had absolutely no reason to fear." 49:56 And then you have Vatican II where even Protestant observers 50:01 are invited to come. 50:02 And Protestants are no longer called heretics. 50:05 They're called separated brethren. 50:08 And they're called the daughters of the church, 50:10 and the mother is calling them back 50:12 into union with the church. 50:14 In other words, the language is very conciliatory. 50:17 And so Protestants say, "You know, the Catholic church, 50:21 the papacy is no longer any danger to Protestantism 50:24 because the papacy has changed." 50:26 It can't change. 50:28 It can't change for the simple reason that it would not longer 50:31 be the papacy if it decided to be a church 50:34 and not a state. 50:36 You know, it reminds me of what Jesus said. 50:39 You know, when Pilate asked Jesus whether He was a king. 50:43 What did Jesus say? 50:44 He said, "My kingdom is not of this world. 50:49 If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight 50:53 so that I would not be arrested." 50:55 Jesus was offered all the kingdoms of the world 50:57 on the mount of temptation. 50:59 And we find that when Satan offered Him all of the kingdoms 51:03 of the world, Jesus refused to look. 51:06 He said, "No, I will not receive the kingdoms of the world. 51:10 I did not come to take over the throne of the world." 51:15 And when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, 51:18 He was agonizing, sweating drops of blood, 51:21 we find the guard, a religious guard of the Jewish temple, 51:26 comes to arrest Jesus Christ. 51:28 And of course, Peter, who the Roman Catholic Church 51:31 believes was the first pope, he takes out his sword 51:35 and he swings his sword and he cuts off the ear 51:38 of the high priest's servant. 51:40 You know, my own personal opinion is that 51:41 he was not intending to cut off his ear, 51:44 he was intending to cut off his head. 51:46 But Peter was a fisherman, he was not a soldier, so he missed. 51:50 You know, that's just speculation. 51:51 I don't think he had such good aim that he just 51:54 wanted to cut off his ear. 51:55 He wanted to kill him because they came to arrest his Master. 51:59 What did Jesus say to Peter? 52:00 "Well done, Peter. 52:02 Thanks for using the sword to try and defend Me." 52:04 That's not what Jesus said. 52:06 Jesus said, "Peter, put away that sword. 52:10 For whoever kills with the sword will die by the sword." 52:15 And it's no coincidence that in Revelation chapter 13 52:19 when it speaks about the healing of the deadly wound 52:22 we are told that the papacy was wounded by the sword. 52:26 That is, by the sword of the civil power. 52:29 And the way in which the papacy will recover its power, 52:32 when the pause will end between the first period of tribulation 52:37 and the second period of tribulation 52:38 of the single tribulation, is when the civil power of the 52:43 United States, and then of the entire world, 52:46 lends their power to the Roman Catholic papacy 52:51 to implement Sunday as the day of rest. 52:54 It's going to happen, folks. 52:56 And you might think, "No, it's not going to happen. 52:58 That would never happen in the United States of America. 53:00 You know, mandating Sunday by law and forbidding 53:03 Sabbath observance? 53:04 That's never going to happen?" 53:06 But it happened during the 1880's. 53:10 You know, the law was not finally implemented. 53:13 It was stopped. 53:14 But the movement was there. 53:16 The movement, as we're noticing, was also there 53:18 in the 80's, 90's, and early 2000's. 53:22 And we're seeing a lot of things happening today, 53:24 which we'll see in a future lecture, 53:26 that show that it could very well happen in our time as well. 53:33 A third factor that makes Protestants feel 53:37 perfectly at ease with the Roman Catholic papacy 53:41 is their view of end time prophecy. 53:44 You see, Protestants today, conservative Protestants, 53:47 evangelicals, believe that the antichrist is going to arise 53:51 and sit in the temple in the Middle East. 53:55 And the church, of course, by this time will be gone 53:57 in the rapture. 53:59 And then that antichrist sitting in a rebuilt Jewish temple 54:03 is going to create a great big statue and is going to command 54:06 everyone to worship that great big image 54:08 or that great big statue. 54:10 And he's going to place a tattoo on the foreheads 54:13 and the right hand of those individuals 54:16 who are left behind after the rapture. 54:19 And so, all Christian eyes these days are looking to the 54:23 Middle East for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. 54:26 They're looking to the Muslims, and they're looking to all of 54:29 the events that are happening over in Israel. 54:31 And they're saying, "Look, prophecy is being 54:33 fulfilled over there." 54:34 And meanwhile, the prophecies that have to do with the papacy, 54:37 which is the beast, the little horn, 54:39 the abomination of desolation, the harlot, 54:42 whatever name the Bible uses to describe this system, 54:46 they cannot see the role of the papacy in the 54:49 fulfillment of prophecy because they're looking 54:51 in the wrong place. 54:53 So the enemy is the Muslims. 54:54 The enemy is not the Roman Catholic Church, 54:56 so they feel comfortable with the papacy. 55:00 And so, you know, the same with the United States in prophecy. 55:04 Revelation 13:11-18 clearly points out 55:08 that the United States is going to make an image of the papacy 55:11 by uniting church and state. 55:14 But Protestantism says, "Oh no, the image is going to 55:17 be this great big status that's going to be built 55:19 over in the Middle East." 55:21 And they don't see that they're living in the country 55:24 that is going to fulfill Bible prophecy 55:26 where a Sunday law is going to be enacted, 55:29 and whoever does not go along will be persecuted, 55:33 even a decree not to be able to buy or sell. 55:36 A decree eventually that enforces the death penalty 55:40 upon those who keep God's holy Sabbath. 55:45 So these are the reasons why Protestantism these days 55:49 is feeling comfortable with the papacy. 55:52 Another factor which we're going to discuss 55:54 a little bit later on in our talks is that Protestantism 56:00 has become politically correct. 56:03 You know, Ellen White calls it false charity. 56:06 You know, it's being nice. Let's just be nice. 56:08 Even when we see something that's done that is wrong, 56:11 you know, don't rebuke it, don't say that it's wrong. 56:14 Everybody is okay. 56:16 Post-modern thinking has basically blurred 56:19 the distinction between right and wrong, 56:21 between good and evil. 56:23 And for that reason people feel comfortable with that 56:27 which the Bible openly opposes. 56:31 So we still have to study part two of this presentation. 56:34 Right now we are talking about, you know, what is happening 56:39 in the 80's, in the 90's, and the early 2000's. 56:43 And the point that we're dealing with is how Protestants 56:47 and Catholics are coming together. 56:50 Now in our next presentation we are going to finish this 56:53 particular point and we're going to talk about 56:55 other parallels between what happened in the 1880's 57:00 and what is happening in the world today. 57:03 And we will see that what is taking place 57:07 is actually a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. 57:10 So, folks, the Bible is very clear on what the 57:14 end time conflict is going to be about. 57:17 In Revelation 12:17 we are told 57:20 what the conflict is going to be. 57:22 It's going to be over the commandments of God, 57:25 particularly the fourth commandment. 57:27 It says in Revelation 12:17, "Then the dragon was enraged 57:32 with the woman and went to make war 57:35 with the remnant of her seed." 57:37 That is the final remnant. 57:38 What are their characteristics? 57:40 They keep the commandments of God. 57:43 That's all of them, folks. 57:45 Just like they're written in Exodus chapter 20. 57:47 They keep the commandments of God 57:49 and they have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 57:54 My desire of heart is that all those who are listening 57:59 will choose to be on the Lord's side 58:02 in this great final conflict. |
Revised 2021-10-11