So now Revelation
12 and Revelation 13
00:00:01.36\00:00:04.37
picture three
beasts; the great red dragon,
00:00:04.40\00:00:07.64
and then the leopard beast, also
has seven heads and ten horns
00:00:07.84\00:00:11.37
like the great red dragon,
00:00:11.41\00:00:12.87
and then also now
the beast from the earth.
00:00:13.11\00:00:16.01
So who is this
beast from the earth?
00:00:16.51\00:00:18.11
He comes into prominence,
the Scripture teaches us,
00:00:18.15\00:00:20.72
after or in and around the
end of this 1260 year prophecy.
00:00:20.98\00:00:27.09
So that means that we should
see this power come into being
00:00:27.19\00:00:30.73
somewhere in and around 1798.
00:00:30.83\00:00:34.46
Well that's exactly when we have
the rise of Protestant America.
00:00:34.86\00:00:39.83
Of course, the Declaration
of Independence was 1776.
00:00:40.27\00:00:44.14
And I think the Constitution
and its Bill of Rights
00:00:44.17\00:00:46.68
was put together in 1787.
00:00:46.74\00:00:49.64
So just this great
nation is just getting its start
00:00:49.68\00:00:54.08
with 13 colonies as the papacy
receives the deadly wound,
00:00:54.12\00:00:58.59
loses its power, temporal
power, and the world thinks that
00:00:58.62\00:01:03.39
its been dealt a blow.
00:01:03.43\00:01:05.23
Well, it's a pretty
powerful blow because you've got
00:01:05.26\00:01:07.80
not only Napoleon
taking the pope captive,
00:01:07.83\00:01:10.17
you've got the rise of
the Protestant Reformation
00:01:10.20\00:01:12.30
that has come up with such
power that it's now unstoppable.
00:01:12.50\00:01:16.30
And now you've got the rise
of the United States of America,
00:01:16.84\00:01:20.81
the greatest reservoir of
Protestants in all the world,
00:01:20.84\00:01:23.85
and its
Constitution is Protestant.
00:01:23.88\00:01:26.35
In fact, it's very interesting
that as the Americans were
00:01:26.85\00:01:29.28
putting together
their Constitution, and also
00:01:29.32\00:01:33.25
during the time
of Abraham Lincoln,
00:01:33.36\00:01:35.46
there were a couple of
popes that just ranted against
00:01:35.49\00:01:40.30
democracy, and the
United States and its democracy.
00:01:40.33\00:01:44.47
Because they're built on a
king system, if you please.
00:01:44.50\00:01:49.77
An emperor system.
00:01:49.80\00:01:51.14
But we won't get into that.
00:01:51.17\00:01:52.51
Let's go back to
this beast from the sea.
00:01:52.54\00:01:54.84
So we have the rise
of Protestant America,
00:01:55.04\00:01:58.71
you have the U.S. Constitution.
00:01:58.91\00:02:00.88
And it comes from the
earth in contrast to the sea.
00:02:00.92\00:02:04.05
And as I said earlier,
the leopard beast came up
00:02:04.15\00:02:07.19
among populated Europe.
00:02:07.22\00:02:08.89
Waters: peoples,
nations, tongues and people,
00:02:08.99\00:02:11.99
according to Revelation 17.
00:02:12.03\00:02:14.73
But this comes
up from the earth.
00:02:14.76\00:02:17.00
Which means it's going
to come up in an unpopulated
00:02:17.03\00:02:19.27
wilderness kind of an area.
00:02:19.47\00:02:21.64
And that's exactly
what North America was.
00:02:21.67\00:02:23.71
Now I know some people
will say there were the
00:02:23.74\00:02:26.34
native populations of America.
00:02:26.44\00:02:28.58
The best we know and the
most reasonable estimates
00:02:29.34\00:02:31.88
is that maybe there
was 2 to 20 million.
00:02:31.91\00:02:34.25
And it's very difficult
to find a really accurate...
00:02:34.28\00:02:37.52
And probably a lot of
that includes the Aztecs
00:02:37.55\00:02:40.92
in South America, and so forth.
00:02:40.96\00:02:43.53
By 1630 most of the population,
native population in America,
00:02:43.56\00:02:49.43
had been decimated by
disease and difficulties.
00:02:49.46\00:02:53.60
And so for the most part,
America was and is recognized
00:02:53.64\00:02:57.71
today as a place
of a great wilderness,
00:02:57.74\00:03:00.64
a vast wilderness
in contrast to Europe.
00:03:00.68\00:03:04.51
And so since the
earth is opposite of water,
00:03:05.21\00:03:08.08
then the symbol would
mean a wilderness place.
00:03:08.42\00:03:11.69
So this power would arise around
somewhere in and around 1798
00:03:11.89\00:03:16.52
in a wilderness place.
00:03:16.69\00:03:18.13
The only nation, the
only power that fits that
00:03:18.16\00:03:22.53
is the United States of America,
that great Protestant power.
00:03:22.63\00:03:27.74
Now the signers of
the Constitution...
00:03:27.94\00:03:29.80
In fact, I hear some chatter
sometimes on the internet
00:03:29.84\00:03:32.21
that would make you
think that the papacy invented
00:03:32.94\00:03:35.54
the United States.
00:03:35.74\00:03:37.08
Or the atheists claim that
they invented the United States.
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That's not true. I'm
sorry, and say it kindly.
00:03:40.35\00:03:43.08
They don't know what
they're talking about
00:03:43.18\00:03:44.79
when people say
that kind of thing.
00:03:44.82\00:03:46.82
The signers of the
Constitution, most of them were
00:03:46.86\00:03:50.06
Episcopalian
Anglican, Congregationalists,
00:03:50.16\00:03:53.40
Presbyterian,
Quaker, Unitarians,
00:03:53.43\00:03:56.60
and there was one dear
Roman Catholic from the state of
00:03:56.63\00:03:59.93
Maryland that had been
giving refuge to people
00:03:59.97\00:04:02.20
who were persecuted
by the Catholic faith.
00:04:02.24\00:04:04.17
That's the
wonderful thing about America.
00:04:04.21\00:04:05.91
You know, we
all love each other.
00:04:05.94\00:04:07.84
Catholics should
love Protestants,
00:04:07.88\00:04:09.48
Protestants
should love Catholics.
00:04:09.51\00:04:10.95
And vice versa. We
should love the atheist.
00:04:11.08\00:04:14.15
We may not agree with each other
but we should love each other,
00:04:14.18\00:04:17.45
because this is a great nation
and it has protected all of us.
00:04:17.49\00:04:21.52
And we've all benefited from
this marvelous wonderful nation.
00:04:21.56\00:04:25.49
Nothing in the
Scriptures should ever be taken
00:04:25.59\00:04:28.06
as a reason to hate
or persecute somebody.
00:04:28.10\00:04:31.67
That's just not right.
00:04:31.70\00:04:33.03
But how does this power go...
00:04:33.40\00:04:35.30
How does this
wonderful nation...
00:04:35.34\00:04:37.11
And I love America.
00:04:37.14\00:04:39.57
It's just the most,
it's a wonderful place.
00:04:39.67\00:04:43.04
I know people criticize it, but
there's been no nation like it
00:04:43.08\00:04:46.38
on the face of the
earth where it turns around,
00:04:46.41\00:04:49.28
defeats its enemies,
and then rebuilds them.
00:04:49.32\00:04:52.42
It's the greatest
thing that's ever happened.
00:04:52.75\00:04:56.86
There's been no comparison
to it in all of human history.
00:04:56.89\00:05:00.86
And it came because
people here had the Bible.
00:05:01.06\00:05:04.53
They could read it.
They could read about Jesus.
00:05:04.57\00:05:07.57
And they formed a
republican kind of government.
00:05:07.60\00:05:10.91
I'm not talking
about the Republican party
00:05:10.94\00:05:12.31
or the Democratic party.
00:05:12.34\00:05:13.68
They formed a
democracy built on a republic.
00:05:13.71\00:05:16.31
And this nation is
the greatest nation
00:05:16.98\00:05:20.35
that has ever graced
the face of the earth.
00:05:20.38\00:05:22.48
It's the most powerful nation
00:05:22.52\00:05:24.39
that's ever graced
the face of the earth.
00:05:24.59\00:05:26.96
But how does this go
from speaking like a lamb...
00:05:28.09\00:05:31.49
And truly this
nation has been lamb-like.
00:05:31.53\00:05:34.40
It's been Christ-like.
00:05:34.43\00:05:36.06
I didn't say it was perfect.
Nothing is ever perfect.
00:05:36.10\00:05:38.20
People say, "Well,
don't you remember slavery?"
00:05:38.23\00:05:39.73
Yes, but I also remember
that nearly 600,000 Americans
00:05:39.77\00:05:42.97
lost their lives in an endeavor
to overthrow that terrible
00:05:43.00\00:05:46.71
institution of slavery.
00:05:46.74\00:05:48.24
No, America is not perfect.
00:05:48.61\00:05:50.15
I wouldn't say that ever.
00:05:50.18\00:05:52.11
But it has certainly
had a compassion for people
00:05:52.38\00:05:57.82
that has never been seen
on the face of the earth.
00:05:57.85\00:06:00.79
And its power
comes from two horns.
00:06:00.82\00:06:04.33
By the way, horns represent
powers or sometimes nations.
00:06:04.36\00:06:07.63
But comes from the
power of two things:
00:06:07.86\00:06:10.27
civil freedom, Americans
have the right to elect their
00:06:10.30\00:06:14.17
own government and
their own representatives;
00:06:14.20\00:06:16.57
and it also comes
from religious freedom.
00:06:16.81\00:06:19.77
And we have power to
share, to convince, to persuade,
00:06:19.87\00:06:23.88
and to share our convictions,
00:06:24.15\00:06:26.75
but not the
right to force anybody.
00:06:26.92\00:06:30.75
And the government
takes a neutral stand.
00:06:31.05\00:06:33.92
It doesn't promote religion, and
it doesn't restrict religion.
00:06:34.06\00:06:38.36
At least according
to the Constitution
00:06:38.39\00:06:40.46
of the United States, for
which we are all very grateful.
00:06:41.16\00:06:44.50
So somehow this nation, in order
to speak like a dragon now,
00:06:44.60\00:06:48.90
would have to change its
constitutional principles
00:06:48.94\00:06:53.61
of religious freedom so
that it begins to force,
00:06:53.64\00:06:57.85
like the old Roman
Empire, like the leopard beast
00:06:57.88\00:07:01.58
and the papacy
during the Dark Ages,
00:07:01.62\00:07:03.82
would have to force
people and make them worship
00:07:03.85\00:07:08.72
in a certain way.
00:07:09.02\00:07:10.46
That's, of
course, very un-American.
00:07:10.93\00:07:13.46
And I love this nation.
00:07:14.00\00:07:15.33
I wish I didn't have
to even tell you this.
00:07:15.36\00:07:17.37
But the prophecy says that
this nation is going to change.
00:07:17.40\00:07:21.87
It's going to change.
00:07:22.54\00:07:24.11
And America has helped the
healing of this deadly wound.
00:07:24.91\00:07:28.11
The papacy today is
very popular because
00:07:28.14\00:07:31.31
America has made it popular.
00:07:31.35\00:07:33.55
And I'll give you some of
those reasons in a few moments.
00:07:33.58\00:07:36.12
But let's just look at
some of the facts here.
00:07:36.28\00:07:38.52
Before I say that,
there was one power
00:07:39.19\00:07:42.79
or one commentator who
said, and I think rightly so,
00:07:42.82\00:07:46.39
that America has become
the new Catholic nation.
00:07:46.43\00:07:49.26
Now it's still
Protestant, of course,
00:07:49.30\00:07:51.03
but it's saying that
America now reveres the papacy.
00:07:51.83\00:07:55.27
In fact, I think the last
president of the United States,
00:07:55.30\00:07:58.14
when the pope came, actually
went to the airport to meet him.
00:07:58.24\00:08:00.88
That's unprecedented.
00:08:00.98\00:08:02.51
The president of the
United States doesn't do that
00:08:02.81\00:08:04.28
for any other foreign power.
00:08:04.31\00:08:05.78
What's going on here?
00:08:06.41\00:08:07.75
This huge, enormous popularity.
00:08:07.78\00:08:11.49
Well, you have Vatican II.
00:08:11.82\00:08:13.29
And Vatican II told everybody,
00:08:13.32\00:08:15.02
"Hey listen, we
believe in religious freedom.
00:08:15.06\00:08:17.36
Protestants are
our departed brethren."
00:08:17.39\00:08:18.79
Well that's nice.
I'm happy for that.
00:08:18.83\00:08:20.50
And so they've said,
"We've really changed."
00:08:21.10\00:08:24.17
But Catholic
scholars that I have read,
00:08:24.20\00:08:25.97
and I'll talk
more about that later,
00:08:26.00\00:08:27.47
said that really
nothing really changed.
00:08:27.50\00:08:29.57
But many people
think it's changed.
00:08:29.60\00:08:31.77
And I would be
happy if it would.
00:08:31.97\00:08:33.48
But after Vatican
II, after Vatican II,
00:08:33.51\00:08:37.25
we have the first visit
by Pope Paul VI in 1965.
00:08:37.61\00:08:42.55
Now this is very interesting.
00:08:42.58\00:08:44.02
Becoming the first
pope to leave the confines
00:08:44.12\00:08:47.36
of the Italian border
since Napoleon, Paul VI made a
00:08:47.39\00:08:51.63
one day trip to the
United States in 1965,
00:08:51.66\00:08:56.10
becoming the first pontiff
to set foot on the New World.
00:08:56.43\00:09:00.17
That's just 1965.
That's not that long ago.
00:09:00.20\00:09:03.00
In his 14 hour
adventure he visited
00:09:03.44\00:09:08.38
Saint Patrick's Cathedral.
00:09:08.41\00:09:09.74
Now this is what he said
on his arrival at the airport,
00:09:09.78\00:09:13.15
he said,
"Greetings to you, America.
00:09:13.18\00:09:15.18
The first pope to set
foot on your land blesses you
00:09:15.22\00:09:17.99
with all his heart.
00:09:18.02\00:09:19.35
He renews, as it were, the
gesture of your discoverer,
00:09:19.39\00:09:22.36
Christopher
Columbus, when he planted the
00:09:22.39\00:09:24.33
cross of Christ
on blessed soil."
00:09:24.36\00:09:26.06
Now Christopher Columbus
discovered America in 1492,
00:09:26.09\00:09:29.26
as Americans know,
but he was no Protestant.
00:09:29.36\00:09:31.90
He came from Spain,
and they were in the throes
00:09:31.93\00:09:34.90
of using the Inquisition
and all of its tortures
00:09:34.94\00:09:38.47
to force people to
believe like they believed.
00:09:38.51\00:09:41.34
And so to invoke
Christopher Columbus,
00:09:41.38\00:09:43.38
no reference to the great
Protestants that came here
00:09:43.41\00:09:46.38
and gave us religious
freedom, that was, I think,
00:09:46.48\00:09:49.88
something that's
telling us something.
00:09:50.19\00:09:52.45
And then, of course,
you have John Paul II.
00:09:52.79\00:09:54.79
He became very, very popular.
00:09:54.82\00:09:56.73
He's a Polish person.
00:09:57.19\00:09:58.79
He made seven visits to the
United States in 1979 to 1999.
00:09:59.16\00:10:04.40
And then you have
Pope Benedict XVI.
00:10:04.53\00:10:07.80
Now he said something
very interesting in 2008.
00:10:07.84\00:10:11.01
After meeting with
George Bush in the White House,
00:10:11.04\00:10:14.18
Pope Benedict said
mass at the national park,
00:10:14.44\00:10:17.25
and also in Yankee Stadium.
00:10:17.51\00:10:20.08
And he was greatly hailed.
00:10:20.12\00:10:22.38
People by the
thousands, tens of thousands,
00:10:22.42\00:10:24.85
went and listened to him
give a blessing to America
00:10:24.89\00:10:29.59
at the World Trade Center,
00:10:29.62\00:10:31.23
the former site of
the World Trade Center.
00:10:31.26\00:10:33.63
Because America had
suffered that terrible blow.
00:10:33.66\00:10:37.53
And then we have Pope Francis.
00:10:38.03\00:10:40.44
Now this is unprecedented.
00:10:41.14\00:10:43.41
In 2015, Pope
Francis visited and spoke
00:10:43.44\00:10:47.88
to the joint house of Congress.
00:10:47.91\00:10:50.28
I don't believe a
Protestant has ever done that.
00:10:50.41\00:10:53.65
He speaks to the joint
house of Congress in 2015.
00:10:54.08\00:10:58.35
On top of that he makes a speech
in Liberty Hall in Philadelphia
00:10:58.39\00:11:01.42
just a few feet from where
Abraham Lincoln lay in state.
00:11:01.46\00:11:05.26
The great Liberty Hall
where there is the Liberty Bell.
00:11:06.06\00:11:09.10
Protestant America has changed.
00:11:09.76\00:11:11.77
And one of the big
changes was March 29, 1949
00:11:12.17\00:11:15.10
when evangelicals and
Catholics came together
00:11:15.14\00:11:18.34
for political purposes
and made a unity to be able to
00:11:18.37\00:11:22.41
get political
agenda accomplished.
00:11:22.44\00:11:25.81
Billy Graham said, "I
have found that my beliefs are
00:11:25.85\00:11:28.45
essentially the
same as the pope's."
00:11:28.48\00:11:29.82
Really?
00:11:29.85\00:11:31.19
That's an amazing statement.
00:11:31.62\00:11:33.15
He also said he was one
of the great missionaries,
00:11:33.46\00:11:35.69
and calls him one of the
world's greatest evangelists.
00:11:36.46\00:11:39.69
The pope has met three
hours in 2014 with several
00:11:40.73\00:11:45.27
evangelical and
charismatic leaders.
00:11:45.30\00:11:47.50
And they went to the Vatican,
they had lunch together.
00:11:48.17\00:11:51.54
They were declaring that
the Protestant Reformation
00:11:52.01\00:11:54.38
is over, that we don't
really need it any more.
00:11:54.41\00:11:57.88
Pope Benedict says
there's an urgent need
00:11:58.21\00:12:00.65
of true world
political authority.
00:12:00.75\00:12:06.05
And he's saying that
we need some power to
00:12:06.76\00:12:08.89
manage the global economy.
00:12:08.92\00:12:10.79
If you're listening to
Pope Francis' encyclicals,
00:12:10.83\00:12:13.46
he's saying
similar kinds of things.
00:12:13.50\00:12:16.60
Well, the book of Revelation,
I think, is being fulfilled
00:12:17.27\00:12:20.44
in our very eyes.
00:12:20.47\00:12:21.80
It's saying that some day
this great wonderful nation
00:12:21.84\00:12:26.07
is going to make
an image to the beast.
00:12:26.17\00:12:30.08
It's going to
change its principles.
00:12:30.45\00:12:33.08
There's a great...
00:12:33.78\00:12:35.12
It could be a national anthem.
00:12:35.18\00:12:36.99
It's not the national anthem.
00:12:37.02\00:12:38.45
But it's a song,
America the Beautiful.
00:12:39.42\00:12:42.09
I love America,
and this song captures
00:12:42.96\00:12:45.99
what America is all about.
00:12:46.46\00:12:47.96
O beautiful for spacious
skies, for amber waves of grain.
00:12:48.00\00:12:51.73
But listen to this.
00:12:51.77\00:12:53.10
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
whose stern impassioned stress;
00:12:53.13\00:12:58.04
a thoroughfare for freedom
beat across the wilderness.
00:12:58.07\00:13:03.11
America, America, God
mend thine every flaw;
00:13:03.14\00:13:08.12
confirm thy soul in self
control, thy liberty in law.
00:13:08.15\00:13:13.69
America!
00:13:14.36\00:13:15.69
I hope that it doesn't
ever speaks as a dragon,
00:13:15.76\00:13:18.09
but the prophecy
says that it will.
00:13:18.13\00:13:22.00
May God help us to be faithful
to the Lord Jesus always.
00:13:22.36\00:13:27.17