Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000131A
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00:19 Hello, friends, and welcome
00:21 to another Wednesday night Bible study 00:23 here at 3ABN Worship Center. 00:24 Can we all say, "Good evening?" Good evening. 00:27 And we are bidding you a good evening 00:28 from Thompsonville here in Southern Illinois, 00:32 where the weather is unpredictable. 00:35 Yesterday, it was 70 degrees and some people today dressed 00:39 like it was yesterday and they ended up freezing, 00:41 'cause it was like 41 and right now it is 38. 00:45 So wherever you maybe enjoying the weather... 00:47 If you are in the Bahamas, pray for us. 00:50 If you are in Minnesota, we'll pray for you. 00:53 'Cause Minnesota has been dumped on 00:55 and the South has been inundated by tornados, 00:59 the East Coast by heavy weather. 01:00 It's just... 01:02 This is the time of the year where nothing is consistent. 01:04 But we are thankful that the Lord is consistent, 01:06 amen to that? 01:08 So tonight we're gonna 01:09 open the Word of God and study together. 01:11 And we'll let you know in just a few minutes 01:13 where you can get a copy of the lesson 01:14 to follow along on the continuation of the study, 01:17 "The Truth About the Change of the Sabbath." 01:19 But before we go our theme song, 01:21 we always like to begin with a word of prayer. 01:23 So bow your head with us. 01:25 Loving Father in heaven, 01:26 we thank You that as we open Your word tonight, 01:29 You promise that Your spirit will come and be our teacher. 01:33 You promise to lead us and guide us into all truth. 01:39 And Lord, tonight's topic is not an easy one, 01:42 it's not a light topic, it does require a lot of prayer 01:46 and people's hearts that are sincere. 01:48 So be the teacher, be the leader, 01:50 and be our guide tonight that hearts maybe enlightened 01:55 and someone will come to know the Savior 01:57 as his or her personal friend. 02:00 In Jesus name we pray, amen. 02:04 And now for a copy of the lesson, 02:06 go to this following website ASF.3ABN.org. 02:12 Download lesson number 33. 02:14 You may have done that last week 02:16 but I added some more questions so that you can follow along. 02:20 Lesson number 33. 02:21 Also on that same website, 02:23 you can get the prior broadcast. 02:25 I think we have more than 100 videos, 02:28 33 lessons and they will make for a very good Bible study. 02:31 So tonight, we're gonna sing our theme song together. 02:35 And what is the title of our theme song? 02:37 What is it? Victory in Jesus. 02:40 I said seem song, but its theme song. 02:42 Let's sing this theme song together. 02:53 I heard an old, old story 02:57 How the Savior came from glory 03:01 How He gave His life on Calvary 03:04 To save a wretch like me 03:08 I heard about His groaning 03:12 Of His precious blood's atoning 03:16 Then I repented of my sins 03:19 And won the victory 03:23 O victory in Jesus 03:27 My Savior, forever 03:31 He sought me and bought me 03:34 With His redeeming blood 03:38 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:42 And all my love is due Him 03:46 He plunged me to victory 03:50 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:53 I heard about a mansion 03:57 He has built for me in glory 04:01 And I heard about the streets of gold 04:05 Beyond the crystal sea 04:09 About the angels singing 04:12 And the old redemption story 04:16 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 04:20 The song of victory 04:22 He changed 04:24 O victory in Jesus 04:27 My Savior, forever 04:31 He sought me and bought me 04:35 With His redeeming blood 04:39 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:43 And all my love is due Him 04:46 He plunged me to victory 04:50 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:54 He plunged me to victory 04:58 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:04 Amen. 05:06 The topic, the change or... 05:08 "The Truth about the change of the Sabbath." 05:10 Let's say that together. 05:12 "The Truth about the change of the Sabbath." 05:17 Now if you have your Bibles tonight, 05:19 go to the Book of Daniel 7. 05:22 Daniel 7. 05:26 One of things that we can do at the beginning 05:28 tonight is thank the Lord for prophecy. 05:31 Oh, yes. Amen. 05:32 Now the reason I say 05:33 that is because for those who don't know 05:37 what's going to happen in the future, 05:40 prophecy is a reliable timeline written by the hand of God 05:45 to remind us that the world 05:47 is not just gonna go on indefinitely. 05:50 Isaiah 49, the Lord says, 05:53 "Declaring the end from the beginning, 05:56 and from ancient times, things that are not yet done." 06:01 So prophecy is a reliable timeline. 06:03 When people ask whether or not the Bible is true, 06:06 I like to point them to prophecy. 06:08 Because prophecy has been predicted 06:11 as holy man of God's speak, 06:13 they were moved by the Holy Spirit 06:15 and they wrote the words of God faithfully. 06:17 And we can now look back on those prophecies 06:19 whether Daniel or Revelation, 06:21 whether Isaiah or Malachi, or Ezekiel, 06:25 or Isaiah, or Jeremiah, the list goes on and on, 06:27 there are many prophecies. 06:29 Now out of all the prophecies concerning nations rising, 06:34 kingdoms falling, 06:38 from one kingdom to the next, to the next, 06:40 one persecuting power to the next. 06:42 The most beautiful prophecies in the Bible are prophecies 06:45 that point to the life, the ministry, 06:49 matter of fact the birth, 06:51 the life, the ministry, the death, 06:53 and the resurrection of Jesus. 06:55 Amen? 06:56 And so those prophecies have all been fulfilled 06:59 and there are other prophecies 07:00 that are going to be fulfilled, yet. 07:02 And those are the ones pointing to the coming of our Lord. 07:05 So now between the... 07:06 Between Jesus leaving and Jesus coming back, 07:11 He says in Matthew 24. 07:13 "When all these things begin to come to pass, 07:16 then look up and lift up your head 07:18 because your redemption draws" Where? 07:21 "Draws near or draws nigh." 07:22 So prophecy is reliable. 07:24 Now this prophecy in particular 07:29 that we're gonna cover tonight in greater detail is about 07:32 the fourth kingdom of Daniel 7. 07:35 It's about what kingdom? 07:37 The fourth kingdom. 07:38 Now let's go very quickly 07:40 and we're gonna cover this in a very rapid review. 07:45 There are four world empires. 07:48 The first one is what? Babylon. 07:52 The next one is two powers together, Medo-Persia. 07:56 The third one is Greece. And the fourth is what? 07:59 Rome. 08:01 Now Rome is, as the Bible comes to clarify to us. 08:05 Go to Daniel 7. We're gonna just use... 08:09 We're gonna not bring on the screen question number 10. 08:12 But you'll see that Rome is the one, 08:16 is the only kingdom of the four 08:18 that don't have any earthly description. 08:20 Now let me... 08:22 The reason I tell you that is, 08:24 Babylon was defined as a golden kingdom 08:28 in Nebuchadnezzar's dream 08:30 and a lion in Daniel's dream. 08:32 How many have seen gold before? 08:35 How many have seen a lion before? 08:36 We could easily envision that. 08:38 It's a little more difficult to envision 08:39 a lion with eagle's wings. 08:41 We've never seen that. 08:42 But that just simply showed, 08:43 that just simply talked about the rapid concurring 08:47 and the power of the Babylonian Empire, 08:50 far reaching. 08:51 Eagle flies high 08:52 and the lion is the greatest of all the beasts. 08:56 That is up for some contention in some people's minds. 09:00 But the Babylonian Kingdom 09:04 was depicted by a lion and gold. 09:06 Then the Medo-Persian Empire is the... 09:08 What kingdom in the metal? 09:10 Silver. And what beast? 09:14 The bear. 09:15 And the Bible says, 09:16 "The bear with three ribs in its mouth." 09:19 And when the Medo-Persian Empire rose to prominence, 09:22 the three ribs indicated the three nations 09:25 they brought down to come into prominence. 09:28 Then you have the next kingdom, Alexander the Great. 09:33 He was the king of which empire? 09:36 The Grecian Empire. 09:38 This empire is depicted by a leopard with four heads 09:41 and how many wings? 09:43 Four wings. 09:44 And these four wings represent 09:47 when Alexander the Great died in his 30s. 09:50 The kingdom of Greece was broken up 09:52 under the reign of four generals, 09:54 Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus, 09:58 four generals, North, South, East, and West. 10:01 Now you know very well that the hardest thing to do 10:04 is have one company with four heads 10:07 because four heads have four different ideas. 10:10 And that was the beginning of the downfall 10:11 of the Grecian Empire, the dividing of that empire. 10:14 And then let's go to this. 10:15 Now you have the leopard with four heads and four wings, 10:18 depicted by the... 10:19 What metal? 10:22 Bronze or brass. 10:23 In the image of Daniel 2, it was the brass. 10:27 And brass is, brass is harder than silver, 10:30 silver is harder than gold, 10:32 what you'll discover is that metals are getting stronger 10:36 but they are becoming less valuable. 10:39 You find the beasts are transitioning 10:42 and then now we get to this fourth beast. 10:45 How does Daniel 2 described the legs 10:48 in the image of Daniel 2? 10:51 What kind of legs did he have? Iron. 10:52 Iron. 10:54 What kind of teeth 10:56 did the fourth beast of Daniel 7 have? 10:59 Iron. 11:01 Iron and iron, 11:03 and iron represents the fourth great kingdom. 11:06 But the Bible talked about the ruthless of this kingdom. 11:10 In the Bible, in describing this fourth beast 11:12 that represents Rome, it said, 11:15 "It is great and dreadful and terrible, 11:19 exceedingly strong with huge iron teeth." 11:25 I don't care what kind of animal you have. 11:26 If something like that is running after you, 11:28 your animal is gonna run with you. 11:30 I'll be honest with you. 11:32 Great, dreadful, terrible, having 10 horns. 11:36 Not two, not four, ten, great, dreadful, terrible. 11:41 And wherever it stamps, it breaks, it tramples, 11:44 it presses down the residue. 11:46 And the Bible says, 11:47 "This fourth beast will devour," 11:49 How much of the earth? 11:51 Say it together, how much of the earth? 11:53 "The whole earth." 11:54 So now, if there are only four kingdoms, 11:59 earthly kingdoms, the next kingdom, 12:02 if we talk about a kingdom coming next, 12:04 which kingdom... 12:06 Where will that last kingdom be from? 12:08 Somebody tell me. Heaven. 12:10 Say it again. Heaven. Heaven. 12:11 The only way that this last kingdom 12:14 is going to be taken out of commission, 12:16 it is going to be replaced by the heavenly kingdom. 12:19 And Daniel 2 talks about that. 12:21 The stone cut out with a man's hand struck the image 12:24 on the toes of iron and clay 12:26 and just blew it into smithereens 12:29 and this kingdom became... 12:30 This stone became a great kingdom, 12:32 great mountain filled the entire earth. 12:34 That is the establishment. 12:36 And then Daniel says, 12:37 "This kingdom will not be left to other men. 12:39 The Lord will establish this kingdom." 12:42 And of His kingdom, there shall be no end. 12:46 Amen to that? 12:48 So we have this fourth kingdom now, 12:49 but between the three empires that fell, you have Rome. 12:53 And now, friends, I hope you're ready tonight 12:55 because we're gonna talk about this beast, this iron, 13:00 this ruthless kingdom, 13:02 and how through prophecy and history, 13:06 this kingdom has proved to be ruthless. 13:08 Now go to Daniel 7. 13:10 I want to show you a couple of verses. 13:11 Daniel 7:20. 13:13 Look at Daniel 7:20. I want to show you something. 13:16 All right? And... 13:21 Let me just start with verse 19. 13:24 Daniel 7:19. 13:25 "Then I wished to know the truth 13:28 about the forth beast, which was..." 13:30 What is the next word, together? 13:32 "Different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, 13:36 with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, 13:42 which devoured, broke in pieces, 13:46 and trampled the residue with its feet." 13:49 Ruthless power. 13:51 No power in antiquity withstood the power of Rome. 13:54 Matter of fact, just to give you 13:55 a few more facts about Rome, 13:57 Rome mastered the art of crucifixion 13:59 but the Medo-Persian Empire was the ones 14:01 that introduced crucifixion. 14:04 But Rome studied it from a medical point of view. 14:06 So by the time they came to crucify Christ, 14:09 so use crucifixion, they used it in a medical way 14:12 to extract the most pain 14:15 and to bring the most discomfort to its victims. 14:18 So they were ruthless in every particular, 14:21 no nation withstood the onslaught 14:23 and the advance of Rome. 14:25 Matter of fact, you know the phrase, 14:26 I've said this before but you can 14:28 finish the statement with me. 14:29 "All roads led to... 14:31 All roads led to Rome." 14:33 And today, I want to just put this in context. 14:36 Rome is still seeking to do the very same thing today. 14:41 This power that's still in existence, 14:43 once all nations to still beat a path to its door. 14:49 Although it's now not localized, 14:51 it's worldwide in its influence. 14:53 And it still wants the very same thing, 14:56 all nations to beat a path 14:58 both politically and religiously to its doors. 15:03 Let's look at something else in verse 20. 15:06 And it says, "And about the ten horns 15:07 that were on its head, 15:10 and about the other horn which came up, 15:14 before which three flee, 15:16 namely, that horn which had eyes 15:20 and a mouth which spoke" what, 15:23 "Pompous or blasphemous words." 15:25 Whose appearance was what? 15:27 "Greater than his fellows or more stout." 15:30 Some translations say more stout. 15:32 Which meant... 15:34 When it says more stout than his fellows are greater, 15:36 that means, there were ten horns there, 15:38 but when the three were removed, 15:41 when the three nations... 15:45 The Vandals, the Heruli, and the Ostrogoths. 15:48 Say that ten times, Ostrogoths. 15:50 I'll use the English version, Ostrogoths. 15:53 When they were removed, this nation 15:55 or this little horn that came up slowly 15:59 started growing in greater prominence 16:00 and then it passed all the other horns 16:04 that represented the other nations 16:05 that continue to exist. 16:07 And the other nations, they had names like 16:09 the Franks, the Lombards, the Saxons. 16:12 And so this little nation that came up 16:15 among the ten grow to be the holy Roman Empire, 16:21 growing up against above all the other nations 16:23 that surrounded it. 16:28 But now let's look at one more thing, verse 24. 16:33 "The ten horns are ten kings 16:37 which shall arise from this kingdom. 16:41 And another shall..." Do what? 16:44 "Rise after them. "He shall be..." 16:47 What's the next word? 16:48 "Different or diverse from the first ones and he shall do..." 16:51 What? "Subdue three kings." 16:55 That's the verse 24. 16:57 And we could look at verse 25 briefly, 16:59 but we'll go back to that in a moment. 17:01 So I want to just dive into... We ended... 17:03 We're gonna go to question number 11 17:05 and here it is on the screen. 17:07 The question we want to lead with tonight is, 17:09 "What are some of the claims made by Papal Rome?" 17:15 Now before we bring the answer on the screen, 17:17 let me just go ahead and make it clear. 17:19 Papal Rome as we studied last week 17:21 was the power that replaced Pagan Rome. 17:25 But in the transition... 17:26 And I'll show you a timeline tonight 17:28 to show you the transitional stages. 17:30 Between Pagan Rome, 168 B.C to 476 A.D, 17:35 between 476 A.D and 538 A.D, that was the... 17:39 that was what I would call the staggering period 17:41 between Pagan Rome 17:44 and Papal Rome rising to complete prominence 17:47 because they had opposition. 17:48 So that was the bridging time, 17:50 they had to get rid of the powers 17:51 that prevented them from rising to full Papal power, 17:55 where Pagan Rome was no longer recognized as the ruling, 17:59 the ruling, leading power over this Kingdom of Rome. 18:03 And it happened when Rome, Pagan Rome adopted a religion. 18:09 A religion that was simply Catholic. 18:12 When Rome adopted it, 18:14 it became the religion of Rome at the time, 18:17 the Church of Rome what was called. 18:18 Later on called "The Catholic Church." 18:20 And why Catholic? 18:22 The word Catholic means universal. 18:23 Let me make a point here 18:24 since I mentioned the word Catholic. 18:26 This message is not about Catholic people. 18:28 Can you all say amen to that? Amen. 18:30 No more than preaching about 18:32 the state the dead being people die. 18:34 It's not against... 18:35 Nothing we teach tonight is against Christians. 18:37 But we're speaking about systems 18:39 and the Lord wants you to know this 18:40 or else He would not have put it in His Word. 18:44 When Rome adopted a religion, 18:46 it gave that religion its authority. 18:49 Since Rome was a universal power, 18:51 all roads leading to it, 18:53 it gave the church the very same status 18:56 and to give it its status, 18:57 in the Latin the word "Catholico" or Catholic. 19:00 So Roman Catholicism united with its own church. 19:04 Now today represents a worldwide 19:07 and there is probably hardly any place on earth 19:10 that you can go 19:11 with the exception of Islamic countries, 19:13 that you don't find 19:14 the footprint of Rome somewhere. 19:16 However, Rome has a strong influence in the Islamic world 19:20 because of Fatima and Mary. 19:22 There's a unity there. 19:24 There's a sisterhood there, Fatima and Mary. 19:26 Matter of fact, Pope John Paul II 19:28 was the only pope ever invited 19:30 to speak at the mosque in Saudi Arabia, 19:33 the only non-Islamic speaker 19:36 that was invited there to speak at the mosque in Saudi Arabia. 19:39 So tonight, what we're gonna look at 19:41 are some of the claims made by Papal Rome today. 19:45 Now I got to give this some context. 19:47 I want to make sure that it's received well. 19:51 The heads of Pagan Rome, 19:53 all consider themselves to be kings. 19:57 So now they bring their church into existence, 20:00 they give it universal status. 20:02 And they gave its leaders the same status 20:05 that its Pagan leaders had, 20:08 universal and they set them up as kings. 20:11 Now they begin to adopt creeds that was simply transitioning 20:16 from dogmas and beliefs and paganism 20:19 that was simply introduced into Christianity. 20:21 And as some historians say, 20:24 "When the Church of Rome began to rise into prominence, 20:27 it was nothing more than baptized paganism." 20:31 It didn't change, 20:32 it just simply metamorphosized into a religious power. 20:36 That's why the Bible said, speaking of the fourth beast, 20:39 "It will be different from all the others. 20:41 It's religio-political." 20:44 So let's look at some of the claims. 20:46 And I want you to notice these claims very carefully 20:49 because I'm not just showing you claims 20:52 that are true about the Roman Church 20:54 but these claims are still true 20:57 and embraced by the Vatican Papal Rome today. 21:01 Look at this. 21:02 The claim of the pope, 21:03 the first one, here it is one the screen. 21:06 "The pope is of so great dignity 21:08 and so exalted that he is not a mere man, 21:13 but as it were God, and the vicar of God." 21:17 That's a claim made by the pope that exist today. 21:21 And here is how it happens. 21:22 He said, "Once you are elevated 21:24 from the status of a cardinal or a bishop to a pope, 21:28 now step into infallibility." 21:30 In Time magazine I have the article, 21:32 I got to bring that to the forefront. 21:33 They talked about the fact that... 21:36 And they show Pope Francis and they said, 21:41 "A man who cannot make mistakes." 21:45 Not, did not make mistakes, but he is beyond mistakes, 21:48 he cannot make mistakes. 21:50 I'll include that by the way in the next broadcast, 21:52 you'll see that article. 21:53 Right on the cover of Time Magazine, 21:55 "A man who cannot make mistakes." 21:58 Well, who's the only one that cannot make mistakes? 22:00 Somebody tell me. God. 22:01 God is the only one that cannot make a mistake, 22:03 only God has immortality, only God has insight 22:06 and perfection of that character, of that... 22:09 So he says, "He is not a mere man anymore, 22:13 but as it were the vicar." 22:14 In other words, the representative of God 22:17 or as it were God on earth. 22:20 That's why people feel to some degree 22:22 that if they confess... 22:24 Well, I want to be kind 22:25 in my presentation here tonight. 22:27 But I want to be clear. Can I be clear? 22:29 So I'm gonna try to communicate this factually 22:32 rather than making any statements 22:33 that might be offensive to someone. 22:35 But when you look at the power 22:37 that the world exudes toward any pope 22:40 or the Vatican City or anything happening. 22:43 For example, if there is a convention, 22:45 a Baptist convention, it doesn't make CNN. 22:49 If there's a Mormon convention, it doesn't make CNN. 22:52 If something happens that there is a replacement 22:54 of a Baptist leader or a Pentecostal leader, 22:57 it doesn't make CNN. 22:59 Christmas, they focus on the Vatican City, 23:01 Easter, they focus on the Vatican city. 23:04 Political maneuverings, 23:06 the pope comes to speak to Congress 23:08 and at the White House. 23:10 And when he's received, it doesn't matter who's there. 23:14 As I was in Washington, D.C on this last city visit, 23:17 and people of varying religions, 23:20 they said, "He is the peoples' pope." 23:23 Not the Catholics pope. 23:25 He is peoples' pope. 23:28 He is the spokesperson for all of us. 23:31 And we had people from varying denominations says, 23:34 "Although I am not a Catholic, 23:35 I believe he speaks in my behalf." 23:40 Let's go on. 23:41 And that's how you see 23:44 raising him to a god-like status. 23:45 Look at the next claim by the same pope, 23:48 not just him per say but anyone in the position of pope. 23:52 Here's the next claim. 23:55 "The Pope is crowned 23:56 with a triple crown, as king of..." 23:59 Let's read that together. As king of what? 24:01 "Heaven and of," what, 24:03 "Earth and of the lower regions." 24:06 Now how could you be king of heaven? 24:09 Somebody tell me. 24:10 Who is Jesus if the pope is king of heaven? 24:15 Jesus is King of Kings and together, 24:18 Lord of Lords of heaven, of earth. 24:24 That sounds like Exodus 20. 24:28 "Worship him who made the Heavens and the Earth 24:31 and the Sea and the springs of water." 24:33 And this is a man saying, "I wear a triple crown. 24:37 I am the king of heaven 24:38 and of earth and of the lower regions." 24:40 Here's another claim. 24:42 And this something that's leading 24:43 to our further questions for tonight. 24:45 Look at the third claim. 24:47 "The Pope is of so great authority and power 24:52 that he can," together, 24:54 "Modify, explain, or," what, 24:58 "Interpret even divine laws." 25:02 And there's a reference to that. 25:04 In other words, somebody might say... 25:05 Let me give you an example. 25:07 And this is one of the ones that we're gonna focus on 25:10 because this is talking about the truth 25:11 about the change of the Sabbath. 25:12 So one of the ways 25:14 that he is interpreted the divine law of the Sabbath, 25:16 you'll find in a moment, 25:18 he decides which day that is, rather than the Lord 25:21 who already established what date is, 25:23 the seventh day of the week, 25:25 sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. 25:27 He says, "You know what?" 25:28 I can modify that, I can change that 25:30 because I'm of so great authority and power, 25:33 I can modify even God's divine laws. 25:36 And here's one more before we go to the next one. 25:40 Here it is. 25:42 "The Pope can modify divine law, 25:45 since his power is not of man but of God, 25:51 and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth 25:56 with most ample power of," what, 26:00 "Binding and loosing his sheep." 26:04 Now this statement comes from 26:07 when Jesus was having a conversation with Peter. 26:11 And He said, "Thou art Peter, 26:13 and upon this rock I build my church 26:16 and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." 26:18 The interpretation of that by the Roman leaders is that, 26:24 the Lord was saying to him, upon Peter I build my church. 26:27 Well, the weakness of that is, shortly after that statement, 26:30 what did Peter do? 26:32 He denied his Lord. Peter denied his Lord. 26:35 So if the church is built on a man 26:38 and Peter dies, what happens to the church? 26:41 It dies. 26:43 But the Bible says, "No other foundation can anyone lay 26:47 than that which is laid which is Christ Jesus." 26:50 Amen to that? 26:51 So Peter was not. 26:54 The word by the way in the Greek there, 26:56 Peter is Petros, rock is petra. 26:59 And when the Apostle says... 27:01 Matter of fact, go to 1 Corinthians 10, 27:02 let's look at that together. 27:04 Let's get some clarity in the scriptures. 27:05 So I'm making a lot of references 27:07 but I want to show you some scriptures 27:08 because this is widely important. 27:11 When you accept the authority of a man 27:13 in the place of the authority of God, 27:15 it doesn't seem unusual to pray to that man. 27:19 And we'll see in some upcoming lessons 27:22 how they claim to have that kind of ability, all right? 27:27 1 Corinthians 10 and look at verse 4. 27:33 Speaking of the journey of the Israelites 27:35 through the wilderness... 27:37 It says, "And all drink the same spiritual drink, 27:42 for they drank from that spiritual rock 27:45 that follow them..." 27:47 Let's read this together with some volume. 27:48 "And that rock was Christ." 27:52 Who is the rock? Christ. 27:54 He is the foundation that no one can lay. 27:59 So when a man says that I am the rock, 28:03 that the church is built on me, 28:05 then of course he perceives that 28:07 he has the power to do with the church 28:10 as he perceives he has the power. 28:12 But there is perceived power and then there is actual power. 28:16 Jesus is... 28:18 Matthew 28. Okay, let's go there. 28:21 I don't want to just say it, I want to show it to you. 28:24 I want to show you what Jesus said of Himself. 28:30 And I also want to insert in just a moment here. 28:36 Okay, here we go, Matthew 28:18. 28:40 Matthew 28:18. 28:48 Verse 18, "Then Jesus came 28:50 and spoke to them saying all," what, 28:54 "All authority or all power 28:56 has been given to me in heaven and," what, 29:00 "On earth." 29:01 So when a man rises and says, 29:03 "I have power in heaven and earth, 29:07 and also the lower regions." 29:09 I got to ask him the question. 29:11 When did Jesus transfer the power to you? 29:14 He has transferred the power to no one. 29:17 The power is resident only in Jesus, amen to that? 29:20 So now let's look at the next question. 29:23 So these claims and I hope you wrote down 29:24 in your best to understanding, 29:26 the claims one, two, three, and four. 29:28 Let's go to the next question, question number 12. 29:31 Question number 12 29:33 and we'll go to Ecclesiastes 3:14 here. 29:36 But he question is, "What does the Bible reveal 29:40 about the laws and the Word of God?" 29:44 About the laws of God and the Word of God? 29:46 Let's go to Ecclesiastes 3 29:50 and let's look together at verse 14. 29:53 Okay, almost there. 29:59 Oh, that's amazing. 30:01 I'm glad you reminded me of that. 30:03 Okay. 30:05 Look at Ecclesiastes 3:14. 30:08 Right. 30:10 Here's what the wise man says. 30:13 He says, "I know that whatever God does, it shall be..." 30:17 Together. 30:19 "Forever. 30:20 Nothing can be added to it, 30:24 and nothing taken from it. 30:28 God does it, that men should fear before Him." 30:32 What do you say? 30:33 So when God does something, what can we add to it? 30:36 Nothing. What can we take from it? 30:38 Nothing. 30:39 Matter of fact, to verify that, go to Deuteronomy 5. 30:44 I'm bringing up this particular scripture for a reason. 30:47 Actually everything I do is for a reason. 30:49 But I want you to see this scripture 30:51 here in Deuteronomy 5. 30:56 Because when you think about, when you think about... 31:03 When you think about the law of God, 31:06 in order for men to be able to manipulate it, 31:09 they have to somehow convince us 31:12 that they could add something to it. 31:14 But God said, you can't anything to it. 31:17 And there are those that say that, 31:19 "Well, the Ten Commandments 31:20 and the ceremonial laws are merged together, 31:23 that the moral law and the ceremonial laws 31:26 are merged together. 31:27 But that's not the case. 31:29 Look at Deuteronomy 5 and look at verse 22. 31:34 Deuteronomy 5:22. 31:36 And this also, in Deuteronomy 5, 31:39 we don't often read Deuteronomy 5 31:40 for the Ten Commandments but there are also here, 31:43 Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. 31:46 Verse 22, "After writing the Ten Commandments, 31:50 these words the Lord spoke to all your assembly 31:54 in the mountain, from the midst of the fire, 31:57 the cloud and the thick darkness 32:00 with a loud voice and he added..." 32:03 How much? 32:04 "No more and He wrote them on two tablets of stone 32:09 and gave them to me." 32:10 So when Jesus finished writing the commandments, 32:14 how much did he add to it? 32:16 Nothing. 32:17 How much can we add to it? 32:19 Nothing. 32:20 He wrote it, He added nothing when He was done. 32:23 And so He says, "I finished it." 32:26 How much can we add to it? 32:28 Absolutely nothing. 32:30 As a matter of fact, go to question number 13, 32:32 go to question 13. 32:34 Moving at a good pace, question 13. 32:38 All right. 32:45 "What will happen to anyone 32:47 that alters the teachings of God's Word?" 32:52 Let's go to Revelation 22:18-19. 32:55 Revelation 22:18-19. All right. 32:58 What will happen to anyone 33:00 that alters the teachings of God's Word? 33:03 Revelation 22:18 and 19. 33:09 You guys haven't read with me yet tonight. 33:10 So let's read this one together. 33:12 Are you ready, you got some voice? 33:13 Here we go. 33:15 Here's what the Word of the Lord says. 33:16 "For I testify to everyone 33:19 who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: 33:23 If anyone adds to these things, 33:26 God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book." 33:30 Continuing. 33:32 "And if anyone takes away 33:34 from the words of the book of this prophecy, 33:36 God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, 33:41 from the holy city, 33:43 and from the things which are written in this book." 33:46 So now, can we take anything from it? 33:49 Can we add anything to it? 33:52 So to do that is to trample on divine authority. 33:55 So on question number 13, 33:57 what does the Bible reveal about 33:58 the laws and Word of God? 33:59 Can't add to it, can't take anything from it. 34:03 You can't add, you can't subtract. 34:05 When God completes it, it's blessed, it's anointed. 34:09 And He says, "I won't even alter." 34:12 Matter of fact, I'm going to go to that one next. 34:14 "You can't alter it." 34:15 But He also says something about Himself. 34:17 Let's go to question number 14. 34:20 We cannot do anything about God's Word. 34:23 No man has the authority to alter the Word of God. 34:28 No one does. 34:30 Regardless of the denomination, 34:31 no one has the power to alter the Word of God. 34:36 All right? Let's go to question number 14. 34:45 What does the Bible reveal about 34:47 God's intention to change His Word? 34:50 A little typo there. 34:52 What does the Bible reveal 34:53 about God's intention to change His Word? 34:56 All right? 34:57 Psalms 89:34. 34:59 Psalms 89:34. 35:03 Let's look at that together. 35:06 All right? 35:08 And this is in the King James Version. 35:11 "My covenant will I not break..." 35:15 Next two words together. 35:16 "Nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips." 35:22 Will He change what He says? 35:24 So if God says, how... 35:26 If God says anything, what lifespan does it have? 35:32 No, what lifespan does it have? 35:34 Eternity. 35:36 If He said it in Genesis, it applies in Revelation. 35:39 If He said it Old Testament times, 35:41 if He said, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy." 35:44 He doesn't say, "Oh, by the way, 35:45 I don't remember what I said." 35:47 No, He does not have amnesia, He does not alter the Bible. 35:53 But what's happening here 35:55 and you're gonna see this in just a moment. 35:56 What we're talking about here is a power in Daniel 36:00 that the Lord knew would come along. 36:03 For those of you who that may have 36:04 tuned in to just this broadcast, 36:06 go to Daniel 7. 36:08 I wanna show you this, all right? 36:12 Daniel 7. 36:15 Okay. 36:24 Verse 25. 36:26 This is the prophecy, Daniel 7:25. 36:30 "I showed you some of the pompous words 36:31 or the blasphemous words against the most high." 36:35 But it also says in Daniel 7:25, 36:38 "He shall persecute the saints of the most high and shall..." 36:42 What is the next word? 36:43 "Think or intent to change," what? 36:46 "Times and loss." 36:49 So we're going to see as we go further that... 36:51 What the Bible talks about is... 36:53 And by the way, nothing happens to God by surprise. 37:00 Nothing is a surprise to God and He knew 37:03 because sin was in the earth. 37:04 By the way what is sin? Somebody tell me. 37:06 What is sin? 37:08 Say it loudly. Losses. 37:10 Losses or the transgression of the... 37:13 Sin is the transgression of the law. 37:15 So is there sin in the world, yes or no? 37:17 Yes. 37:18 So did God know that the law would be transgressed? 37:20 Yes. 37:22 Did God know the law would be changed? 37:23 He said somebody is gonna come along to intent to change it 37:27 and He labeled the one who will intent to change it 37:30 as the fourth beast of Daniel 7. 37:34 He said, "That one is gonna intend 37:37 or think to change times and laws." 37:41 And when you look at the Ten Commandments 37:43 as written or modified by the Catholic Church. 37:48 You know what two commandments have done? 37:50 Somebody, I'm going to ask you. 37:51 You know, what two commandments are no longer, 37:53 the way the God put them? 37:55 One about what? Idolatry. 37:57 One about idolatry and what else? 37:59 And the fourth one. 38:00 The second commandment that forbids 38:02 image worship has been squeezed out. 38:08 And then, that must have been taken out... 38:11 And the fourth commandment has been pushed up 38:14 to the third 38:15 and the tenth commandment has been broken into two parts 38:19 to cover nine and ten. 38:21 The one that forbids image worship has been taken out. 38:24 Now I wonder why? 38:29 Because in this system also... 38:31 Remember, I said a moment ago that when Rome, 38:34 which was a pagan system adopted a church, 38:38 it simply brought the practices of paganism 38:40 into its state religion. 38:44 So they worshiped idols before, 38:46 so they worship idols continuously. 38:49 And today, it still happens around the world, 38:53 it still takes place. 38:54 Matter of fact, I just read Daniel Chapter... 38:57 I just read question number 15. 38:59 Okay, go to question 15, since we read it. 39:03 since we read it. 39:05 It's gonna come up on the screen anyway. 39:06 All right? 39:08 Question number 15. 39:10 Okay. 39:12 Here it is. Here it is. 39:15 "How long did the Bible reveal 39:18 that Papal Rome would rule?" 39:23 "How long did the Bible reveal that Papal Rome will rule?" 39:27 Look on the back of your sheet, it should be on the back. 39:30 "How long did the Bible reveal that Papal Rome would rule?" 39:37 Okay. 39:39 Okay, here it is. 39:41 And so let's look at that, Daniel 7:25. 39:44 Okay, here we are. 39:46 It's on the screen. 39:49 Okay. 39:53 And here is the word. 39:54 We just read it, but I'll read the rest of it. 39:56 "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, 39:59 shall persecute the saints of the Most High, 40:02 shall intend to change..." 40:04 Together "Times and laws. 40:07 Then the saints shall be given into his hand..." 40:10 Together, for a what? 40:12 "Time..." And what else? 40:14 "Times and..." What else? 40:15 "Half a time." 40:17 Okay, so write that down. 40:20 And I'm gonna show you the progress here in a chart, 40:22 just coming up on the very next screen. 40:26 He'll bring that up in, 40:27 as our graphic individual bring the chart up, 40:29 I want to go ahead and walk you through it very quickly. 40:31 Let's look at this chart. 40:32 Excuse my voice. 40:35 This is what I called the "Progress of the Roman Empire." 40:38 We begin to the far left with Pagan Rome, 40:40 notice the date under Pagan Rome. 40:42 What date do I have there? 40:44 168 B.C. 40:47 That's when Pagan Rome replaced the Grecian Empire. 40:51 From 168 B.C. to 476 A.D. 40:54 paganism reigned uninterrupted, uninterrupted. 40:59 But as Rome adopted a state religion 41:01 in around 476 A.D., 41:04 there began a gradual rise. 41:06 Now look between 476 and 538 41:11 and you'll notice in small print, 41:12 three horns plucked out. 41:15 Three horns plucked out. 41:18 That's the Vandals, the Heruli, and the Ostrogoths. 41:22 These were the three nations, 41:23 these were considered Aryan Nations, 41:26 that stood in the way of Rome's total dominance. 41:31 So when the Bible says, 41:32 "Three horns plucked out by the roots," 41:35 these were the nations. 41:36 When you pluck something out by the roots, do they die? 41:38 Yes. 41:40 So when these nations were plucked out by the roots, 41:42 Papal Rome began its unhindered Rome, 41:46 its unhindered reign. 41:49 In what year? 41:50 What date do you see under that? 41:51 538 A.D., Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord. 41:56 So from 538, go all the way down to 1798, 42:01 you'll see time, times, half a time. 42:04 We break that down under that. 42:06 You have 1 Time equals what? 42:08 360. 42:10 Two times equal what? 42:12 720. 42:13 And half a time equals what? 180. 42:16 Add that up to together, that gives you how many? 42:18 1260. 42:20 So Rome reign unhindered from 538 to 1798 42:25 and many, many transitions took place 42:28 during this unhindered ruthless iron kingdom, 42:34 kingdom trampling, residue breaking, 42:37 earth shattering power of Rome. 42:40 Many things happened during that time. 42:42 Anybody that stood against Rome... 42:44 You should read the history books, 42:46 "Of the all the powers 42:48 that were just brought down by Rome." 42:51 It's quite a bit of interesting reading. 42:53 I was a great student of world history, I loved it. 42:57 Matter of fact, one of the reasons 42:58 I loved it so much 42:59 because I had to pass it to get out of school. 43:02 But it's very interesting to see the history of Rome, 43:05 the popes, those that go 43:08 from one transition to the other. 43:10 The enlightening portion of this 43:12 and I'll just make reference to 538 to 1798 again. 43:15 The beautiful thing about that is God only allows, 43:20 God only allows evil to prevail but for so long. 43:26 And what I want you to see is during this time, 43:29 can someone tell me... 43:31 This was called the Medieval Times 43:32 but there was another phrase 43:34 that this long period was known for. 43:37 Could someone tell me what that was? 43:39 The Dark Ages. Say it again. 43:40 The Dark Ages. The Dark Ages. 43:42 Now why would it be called the Dark Ages? 43:43 What is the Bible? 43:45 The light. 43:47 David the Psalmist says, 43:48 "The entrance of your word brings," what, "Light." 43:52 So the Church of Rome, the bishops of Rome, 43:55 the popes of Rome, 43:57 since there were no massive printing presses, 44:00 the Bibles or whatever Bible existed 44:03 was changed to the alters in Rome. 44:06 So to have access to it, 44:08 you'd have to go on a pilgrimage 44:10 like Martin Luther did to look at the Bible itself, 44:13 'cause they were not allowed to be 44:14 in the hand of the common people, 44:15 there were no massive printing presses. 44:18 And the Bible was... 44:20 The teachings of the Word of God 44:21 were not in the language of the people. 44:24 And so the church leaders 44:27 what they did to gain access to the minds of the people, 44:30 is they built massive beautiful cathedrals. 44:32 I did a study once on stained glass, 44:34 I did a seminar on this. 44:35 This was a very interesting to me. 44:38 Number of years ago, I did the sermon called stained glass 44:40 and what I came to find out 44:42 is the wealth of the Church of Rome 44:44 was of such magnificence because they sold indulgences, 44:47 in other words, they sold license to sin. 44:50 If you sin, you can pay for your sin 44:53 and get it pardoned 44:54 or you can buy some licenses to sin in advance. 44:58 "I plan on sinning on Tuesday but I need some license, 45:00 how much would that cost me? 45:02 Thirty pennies for the license, okay, I need three." 45:04 And, it's crazy as that sounds, you had license to sin. 45:09 Then also, they taught the teachings 45:11 of purgatory and limbo, 45:13 but the people had no Bible understanding. 45:15 Purgatory is taught that when your mother or father died 45:18 and they were not baptized, 45:20 their soul which is not taught in scripture, 45:22 floated off to this Netherland between earth and hell. 45:27 And they stay there, until you paid the pope, 45:31 to pray them from purgatory into heaven 45:33 and you had 30 days. 45:36 And so if you love your mother, Dee, 45:38 or your dad, Dee, you'd say... 45:39 They'd say, "Dee, your mother was not a baptized 45:42 member of the Catholic Church. 45:43 You know, you have 28 days before she goes to hell 45:46 and it's tormented forever." 45:48 That's where the Roman Catholic Church, 45:49 they took to belief the teachings of Hades, 45:53 Greek philosophy and inserted it 45:56 into the Roman Church 45:57 and they taught this ever burning hell 45:58 which is not supported by scripture. 46:01 And so that was for purgatory. 46:02 So if you paid the price, 46:04 your parents would, as they taught, go to heaven. 46:09 But then for limbo now, was for babies. 46:11 If the baby wasn't baptized and had died, 46:13 either whatever reason, the baby would go to limbo. 46:17 So that's why we have this term nowadays. 46:19 Come on, why are in limbo?" 46:21 That term limbo actually came from that belief. 46:24 You're neither in heaven, you're not in hell, 46:26 you're just in Netherland. 46:27 It's like a bridge between two countries. 46:29 You had no place that you belong. 46:32 And the church once again taught, 46:33 "That if you pay the price, 46:35 your baby won't have to go to hell 46:36 and be tormented forever, and ever, 46:38 and ever, and ever and ever, 46:40 and if I never stop saying forever, 46:41 that's how long?" 46:43 So what do you think they did? 46:44 They paid the money for the babies. 46:46 And the church literally existed 46:50 out of fraudulent unscriptural practices 46:53 and they built massive cathedrals. 46:56 And since the people had no reason 46:58 to go to the cathedrals 46:59 because they were not hearing God's Word, 47:01 but just these repetitious chants in Latin 47:05 or whatever language the cathedral 47:06 was established in Germany 47:08 or whatever part, Switzerland, whatever the language was, 47:12 they created stained glass which were beautiful. 47:17 It's because they didn't have light like we have today. 47:19 They relied on the light of the sun. 47:21 So people actually went to the cathedrals 47:24 for a colorful light show. 47:27 That's what stained glass was used for, 47:29 to attract the people to the cathedrals. 47:31 And if you look at some of the cathedrals of Europe 47:33 that are 1,000 years old, 800 years old, 47:36 we saw some of the beautiful ones. 47:37 We went to London and we saw the Cathedral of Saint John, 47:41 Saint Paul's cathedral, beautiful, 47:43 you step in and if you are not sane, 47:46 or if you don't know God's Word, it just feels holy. 47:50 That had this awe-inspiring magnificence about it. 47:53 But the stained glass was what lit up the minds of the people 47:56 because they had no light from God's Word. 47:59 But along came people like Calvin and Zwingli 48:02 and Hus and Jerome and Wycliffe and Martin Luther 48:06 and they began a revolution back to the Bible. 48:09 So this whole period... 48:11 So I say go to Revelation 12. 48:12 Did I say that? 48:14 Go to Revelation 12. 48:15 Let's look at this. 48:16 I want you to see what happened. 48:18 Because it was not only considered the Medieval Times, 48:21 it was also considered the Dark Ages. 48:24 It was a time where this church that was trampling everything 48:28 that was against the dictates of Rome 48:30 and the teachings of the Rome in Pontiffs 48:33 had to be exterminated 48:35 and 50 million Christians lost their lives 48:38 through some measure of torture. 48:40 If you got a strong stomach, 48:41 get the book called, "Foxe's Book of Martyrs." 48:44 You better have a strong stomach 48:45 when you read it. 48:47 It's not a novel. 48:48 By any mean it's not easy reading. 48:49 But it does give you some glimpse 48:51 into the torturous power of the Church of Rome 48:54 during the Dark Ages. 48:55 Now you might ask yourself, "Why are you saying that, 48:57 we're not living in the Dark Ages?" 49:00 Stay tuned, you'll find out. 49:02 Look at Revelation 12 49:04 and this is what God did to preserve His church. 49:08 Verse 13. 49:12 "So when the dragon..." 49:13 Who is Satan... 49:14 "Saw that he had been cast to the earth, 49:16 he persecuted the woman 49:18 who gave birth to the male child." 49:20 That's when he tried to kill Jesus. 49:22 Since he couldn't kill Jesus, 49:24 he started to persecute the woman, the church. 49:27 But look at how God preserved its church. 49:29 "But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle 49:32 that she might fly into the," what, 49:35 "Wilderness to her place, where she is nourished..." 49:39 Forget this. 49:40 "A time, times and half a time 49:44 from the presence of the serpent." 49:46 So you look at that chart again, 49:47 time, times, and half a time, from 538 to 1798 49:52 God hid His woman in the wilderness. 49:54 What do you say? 49:56 God hid the church, protected the church. 49:58 The devil said, "I got to get to this church, 50:00 I got to wipe it out." 50:02 And he used the power of Rome to try to do it. 50:05 Well, let's go on. 50:07 How did God help the church? 50:09 Look at what this devil did, verse 15. 50:14 "So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood 50:18 after the woman." 50:20 What does water symbolize, you, prophetically? 50:21 What does it symbolize? People. 50:23 There was a new revolution 50:25 that sprung up during the Dark Ages, 50:26 during the Medieval Times, it was called the renaissance. 50:29 You see on the heels of the Protestant Reformation, 50:31 this is all history. 50:33 On the heels of the Protestant Reformation, 50:34 I'm teaching tonight was the Counter Reformation. 50:39 The growth of art and music and science and philosophy, 50:44 they decided... 50:46 And they decided to turn the peoples' minds 50:48 away from the growing interest on the Bible to... 50:50 "Isn't that a wonderful song? 50:52 Isn't that a beautiful cathedral? 50:54 Isn't that a wonderful philosophy? 50:56 Isn't that great science?" 50:57 And the devil is doing it again today. 51:01 Many churches today are nothing more than the cathedrals 51:04 of the Dark Ages redesigned 51:06 because music has become the central focus 51:09 and not God's Word. 51:11 Have you noticed how the devil decides? 51:12 If it worked in the Dark Ages, let's use it again. 51:15 And many churches today are just preferring music 51:18 over the unadulterated Word of God. 51:21 And there's nothing wrong with music 51:25 but it depends on what alter it leads you to. 51:27 Okay, here we go. 51:29 And it says, "He spewed water like a flood after the woman 51:33 that he might cause her to be," what, 51:36 "Carried away by the flood." 51:37 He wants to sweep away the church, 51:39 he wants drown everything it stood for. 51:42 But verse 16, "But the earth helped the woman 51:47 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood 51:50 which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth." 51:53 Now next lesson. 51:58 This is a tough lesson to preach. 52:00 This is a difficult one to teach. 52:01 Next lesson, what you're going to discover? 52:04 And I'll just go ahead and give you a preview 52:05 before I go to the next questions. 52:07 We have a few more time, few little more time. 52:09 You'll discover why America 52:12 is such a central focus of Rome. 52:16 The earth opened its mouth and helped the woman. 52:20 You'll discover... 52:22 Let's go ahead for historical reasons. 52:23 If you could bring that chart up one more time. 52:25 See if you could do that, I would appreciate that, 52:26 just bring this chart up very quickly for me 52:28 if you can on the screen. 52:30 Between 538 and 1798 something was happening, 52:35 that took place between the 1400s and the 1700s. 52:39 A little unknown continent called the Americas 52:44 was being considered by a man by the name 52:46 of Christopher Columbus or the pilgrims. 52:50 You have the Santa Maria, La Pinta and the... 52:53 I can't remember the third one. 52:54 But some of you got to remember the ships that came over here. 52:57 But in the 1700s particularly, 1776, 53:03 this country declared 53:05 its independence from British rule. 53:08 1776 is only 20... 53:13 How many years from the 1776, 76 and 98, that's 22 years? 53:19 Is that 22 years? 53:21 Is that right? 53:23 Okay, 22 years right? 53:24 So 1776 to 1798, it is only 22 years. 53:28 So between America being established 53:30 as an independent colony, 53:32 upper North-East as independent colonists, 53:36 they came to America running from the tyranny of Rome. 53:41 That's why they call themselves pilgrims. 53:43 You look at Hebrews 11 and Hebrews 11 tells you 53:47 that Abraham considered himself a pilgrim 53:50 because he was looking for a city 53:52 which had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 53:55 Amen to that? 53:56 So they no longer had the freedom to reign... 53:58 I mean to worship as they wanted to in Europe 54:02 under the auspices of you can be killed, 54:05 burnt at the stake, the list goes on and on. 54:09 So they left coming to America. 54:10 And in America, this country established eventually 54:14 through Roger Williams, 54:15 the first religiously free colony 54:18 called Rhode Island. 54:20 You see when people say, 54:21 "I want to go back to the religion 54:23 of our forefathers." 54:24 I say no, I don't. 54:25 Because when the forefathers came to America, 54:27 they did not immediately establish religious freedom, 54:31 they almost duplicated what Rome did to help America 54:34 from getting influenced by Rome. 54:37 And so they established 54:39 what they called religious intolerance. 54:41 In other words they said, "If you have anything 54:43 that remotely resembles Catholicism, 54:46 you cannot be a part of this colony." 54:49 You cannot be a politician. 54:51 Does it sound like today? 54:52 So they put a litmus test out for anybody 54:55 wanting to hold office, 54:56 so people became religious 54:58 just to be a part of the colonies. 55:01 But Roger William said, "That's not right. 55:03 You're doing exactly what Rome did." 55:05 And, you know, what they did? 55:07 They ostracized Roger Williams 55:09 and they put him out of the colonies 55:11 and Roger Williams lived among the Indians, 55:13 the Native American Indians 55:14 or the Native Americans to teach them the Word of God 55:18 and then he established Road Island, 55:20 the first truly religiously free colony in this new land. 55:26 America became the earth that opened its mouth 55:30 and helped the church. 55:31 And today, if you are an American, 55:34 you know that, 55:35 right now this is only country that still offers 55:38 most of its citizens, all of its citizens 55:40 at least constitutionally 55:42 the right to worship however you please. 55:45 So we have to be very careful if we as Americans 55:47 start saying, "Other people can't worship 55:50 the way that they choose." 55:51 In spite of the religious climate in America 55:53 and there's a whole lot of instability here. 55:56 Let us not get to the place 55:57 where we become so religiously intolerant 56:00 and we start saying, 56:01 "You cannot worship the way you desire. 56:03 I don't like the way you worship." 56:05 It's not about how they worship, 56:07 when people become extreme 56:10 and start using what they believe 56:12 as an instrument of persecution, 56:15 that's when it's crossed the line. 56:17 So let's not label any particular religion 56:19 as a persecuting religion. 56:21 Because if you want to do that, 56:23 you will have to go back to Roman Catholicism, 56:25 the worst persecuting religion of all time. 56:28 And they don't deny the record. 56:30 Matter of fact, Pope John Paul II 56:31 apologized during his reign 56:33 for the atrocities perpetrated by Rome, 56:35 they admit that. 56:37 But they said, "We are new, we are not the same Rome." 56:40 Well, I want to tell you in the next broadcast, 56:42 I'm spending sometime to teach. 56:43 In the next broadcast you're going to see 56:46 the more things change, the more they stay the same. 56:52 America right now is the only place on earth 56:55 and I say this without reservation. 56:57 It is the only safe place on earth 56:59 for those who want to practice their religion. 57:02 And even as we speak, 57:04 you can see that's being eroded, with what? 57:06 Same sex marriage. 57:09 With people being persecuted employment wise, 57:14 for wanting to honor the Sabbath. 57:18 And for this push in America 57:20 to unite Evangelicals and Catholics together 57:24 to establish one major religion, 57:27 one head over that religion. 57:31 And we know who has suggested that? 57:33 The pope himself said, 57:35 "I would like to head up the world religions." 57:36 So we know America is in a very pivotal place 57:40 for the final scenes to take place. 57:42 In the very next broadcast, you're going to see 57:44 that what God predicted in His Word 57:47 is not only accurate but we can trust it 57:50 and we can rely on the unadulterated Word of God. 57:53 What do you say tonight? 57:55 So friends, keep studying God's Word 57:56 and if it doesn't make sense, 57:58 I guarantee you one day it will come into a sharper focus. 58:02 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-03-29