I'd like to take this opportunity to read to you about the time coming when we're not going to have these opportunities anymore. This is in the book Sketches from the Life of Paul, 251. This is the section of the book where Paul has appealed to Caesar because Festus has suggested that he be sent back to Jerusalem to be tried by the Jews. Of course, he would never have made it, he would have been murdered on the way. Paul knew that if he were fried by the Jews, he would be killed and sent to prison; so he appealed to Caesar.
In commenting on this, Ellen White says the following: "It was the same hatred that forced the prophet Elijah to flee for succor to the widow of Sarepta; that constrained the heralds of the gospel to proclaim their message to the Gentiles. It is the same spirit that the people of God in this age have yet to meet. In the great crisis through which they are soon to pass, they will become better acquainted with the experience of Paul. Among the professed followers of Christ, there is the same pride, fonnalism, vainglory, selfishness, and oppression, that existed in the Jewish nation. Before the warfare shall be ended and the victory won, we as a people are to experience trials similar to those of Paul. We shall encounter the same hardness of heart, the same cruel determination, the same unyielding hatred.
"Men professing to be representatives of Christ will take a course similar to that taken by priests and rulers in their treatment of Paul." Who will these people be who oppose us? They will be the professed representatives of Christ. Notice that these people that were opposing Paul said, "We're the true church!" That's who they were; that's who his opposition was that was trying to kill him.
"All who would fearlessly serve God according to the dictates of their own conscience, will need moral courage, firmness, and a knowledge of God and His Word to stand in that evil day. Persecution will again be kindled against those are true to God; their motives will be impugned, their best efforts misinterpreted, their names cast out as evil. Then will it come to pass, as foretold by Christ, that whoever shall seek to destroy the faithful, will think that he is doing God service. Then Satan will work with all his fascinating power, to influence the heart and becloud the understanding, to make evil appear good, and good evil. Then it is that he is through his agents to 'show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.'"
Maybe I should stop right there for a moment. She says that the devil will attempt to make good appear evil and evil appear good. Now Ellen White, in the book Great Controversy, enlarges on this concept. She says thatwhatis happening now is that evil is made to appear good, but then she says the eventual result of that will be what? Good will be made to appear evil. If you are faithful to God, you will be considered by all sections of society to be a wicked person deserving of death. Have you seen in the media how public opinion can be changed concerning an individual or group of individuals? And in a matter of just a short time people think that if they're killed they deserved it.
Concerning this we read on page 252, "God would have his people prepared for the soon-coming crisis." Now that's why we're here--we want to know what to do to. get ready. What's involved in getting ready? How do we get ready for this crisis that's coming? It says that God wants us to be ready. She says, "Prepared or unprepared, we must all meet it." Everybody's going to meet it whether they're ready or not. Since you're going to meet itanyway, Iwould rather be ready, how about you?
What's involved in getting ready? She says, "Only those whose characters are thoroughly disciplined to meet the divine standard will be able to stand finn in that testing time. But when enemies shall be on every side, watching them for evil, the God of heaven will be watching His precious jewels for good. When secular rulers unite with the ministers of religion to come between God and our conscience, then those who cherish the fear of God will be revealed. When the darkness is deepest, then the light of a noble, Godlike character will shine the brightest. When every other trust fails, then it will be seen who have an abiding trust in God.
"The stronger and purer the faith of God's people, and the firmer their determination to obey Him, the more will Satan stir up the rage of those who claim to be righteous, while they trample upon the law of God. In that coming emergency, rulers and magistrates will not interpose in behalf of God's people." In the time Paul, as she's already illustrated, the Jews (the religious authorities) were against the apostle Paul; but he could appeal to Caesar. In the final crisis, you won't be able to appeal to Caesar; there will be a harmony between the religious and the secular power. She says, "In that coming emergency, rulers and magistrates will not interpose in behalf of God's people. There will be a conupt harmony with all who have not been obedient to the law of God. In that day, all time-servers, all who have not the genuine work of grace in the heart, will be found wanting. It will require the firmest trust, the most heroic purpose, to hold fast the faith once delivered to the saints." I want to be ready to hold fast the faith, how about you? And now is the time to get ready.
In understanding how to get ready for the coming crisis, one of the things that we have to understand is that we have to know who and what the enemy is. I do not like to spend large amounts of time studying this subject because I like to get people's attention on the Lord and on Jesus where the help is. That's where we need to keep our attention focused. However, if you have your Bible, I want you to notice what the apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:11. He said, "Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices." If we are ignorant of the devices of the devil, he will take advantage of us. The Bible tells us what we need to know about the enemy we face.
The powers that the devil has used to try to enslave the world and to destroy the people of God are seven. They are described as ferocious beasts in the books of Daniel and Revelation. Turn in your Bible to Rev. 17:9, 10. It says, "Here is the mind which has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings." These seven heads, or seven mountains, are seven kings (seven kingdoms, or seven powers) through which the devil has worked from the beginning of time to the end of time to try to destroy the people of God and to take the entire world captive. The devil's principle objective from the beginning of the world was to control every single human being in this world--that was the devil's objective.
Ellen White tells us that in the final controversy, in the final crisis, we will learn that the devil is a tyrant. He wants absolute control over not just the bodies, but the minds of every person-- he wants absolute control of your mind. Innumerable are the methods that the devil uses to try to get control of the human mind.
In Rev. 17:5 it says, "On her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the great." The religion of Babylon was associated with mysteries from the beginning of time. Babylon was the first great power by which Satan tried to gain complete control over the human race. Let's go back to the book of Genesis. We'll see the origin of this power a short time after the flood. We often think of Nebuchadnezzar when we're talking about Babylon, but Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom of Babylon is called by historians the neo-Babylonian empire--the new Babylonian empire. Babylon existed before the days of Nebuchadnezzar.
Look back here in Genesis 10. In Genesis 10 you have the nations that descended from Noah, and in verse 6 it lists the sons of Ham. Now one of his sons was named Mizraim. Now Mizraim is a Hebrew word and when you're reading in a Hebrew Bible and you come to the word Mizraim and you translate that into English, that's Egypt. Mizraim is Egypt; Mizraim and Egypt are the same word. Egypt is the English word and Mizraim is the Hebrew word. Put is the name of another country in northeastern Africa. You all know about Canaan and the Canaanites; they established the territory that the children of Israel took over.
But there was another son. Who was the first one listed, the son of Ham? Who was the first one listed? Cush. Now notice who Cush begot in verse 8. It says Cush begot Nimrod. Now this Nimrod is a principle character in ancient history because he was the one who founded the nation or the kingdom of Babylon. Notice what it says in the Bible starting in verse 9: "He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, 'Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.' And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, [that's where we get the word Babylon] Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and builtNineveh." Genesis 10:9--11. Babylon was the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom.
Nimrod was the first person after the flood that organized men into armies. He began to wage war against his neighbors and to bring them into subjection to himself, and he developed a kingdom. This, by the way, was in defiance of the kingdom of heaven, because in heaven, the government that they have is a kingdom. The creator is the King, and He is described throughout the scriptures as a great King. Jesus Christ is described as a King. The devil designed to set up his counterfeit of heaven's government down in this world. So through Nimrod he developed the first kingdom.
In heaven you worship the King, because the king is God. So that's where the idea came from that kings were gods or deities and you worshipped the king--kings had absolute control over everyone's life in the kingdom. If a king decided to kill you, you were dead.
Before this time all men had been free, sovereign citizens of the world. They were under the government of God and they had freedom. But as soon as these kingdoms begin to be established, men were brought into slavery or servitude to another human being. Ellen White says in the book Testimonies to Ministers that all of the devil's plans lead men to be the slaves of other men. That's where all the devil's plans are directed. Then if all men are the slaves of some other men, if the devil can control the men at the top, he has control over the entire population. The object of Babylon was to bind all mankind in blind and absolute submission to a hierarchy, entirely dependent on the sovereigns of Babylon.
Nimrod intended to create a one-world government and to control every single person in the world--that was the object of Babylon. It would have happened if God had not confused their languages at the tower of Babel. There was going to be a one-world government; they were going to control every single person in the world; they were going to bring into servitude and slavery every single person in the world. It was right at the beginning of the world, the world was still in its infancy and the devil was going to create this monster that would eliminate all human freedom of choice and force everyone into servitude to himself. If you didn't comply, of course, then you would just be liquidated.
To stop that from happening, God confused their languages and the peoples of the earth were dispersed all over the earth. So it became impossible to set up a one-world government, because you couldn't communicate with the different peoples. Actually, the world lost a great deal and we have had great difficulty clear up to the present time as a result of all these different languages. But it was necessary in order to prevent the devil from centralizing power and forcing the entire world under his control by a one-world government.
Babylon was the place where the entire system of paganism was first and most fully developed. Isaiah the prophet predicted that Babylon was going to be destroyed, and when the neo-Babylonian empire that Nebapolassar and Nebuchadnezzar started, when that was destroyed, God said it would never be rebuilt. The city of Babylon is in the country of Iraq and it has not been rebuilt since it was destroyed by the Persians under Cyrus.
The way that the kings of these ancient pagan kingdoms controlled the population was by means of the pagan priest-hoods. The pagan priests became very, very powerful individuals. You can see that in the nation of Egypt in the time of Moses. These pagan priests became very powerful individuals. Incidentally, to become a member of these pagan religions, you had to go through initiation ceremonies; and these ceremonies were mysterious and secret--they were called mysteries.
One of the things that people had to do to be initiated into these mysteries was that they had to go to confession, a secret confession, to a pagan priest. The pagan priest delved into every secret of their lives and their thoughts. Then, after they had confessed, that pagan priest had tremendous power over them, because if they didn't do as they were instructed or if they broke confidence, the priest could blackmail them. If you're interested in this subject on the development of Babylon and the meaning of Babylon and the Babylonian religion, the book called the Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, describes all this.
But as I was saying, when the neo-Babylonian empire was destroyed, the city of Babylon was destroyed, the priests of the Babylonian religion fled from that place and they went up into the place we call Mount Turkey; they established the same Babylonian religion in the city of Pergamus. Now open your Bible to Revelation 2 and notice what the Lord says about this Babylonian religion. Pergamus became the headquarters of this Babylonian religion after the priests of Babylon fled when it was destroyed. I want you to see what the Lord says about this Babylonian religion who's headquarters now is in Pergamus.
"And to the angel of the church in Pergamus write, These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells." Revelation 2:12. Notice, the Lord says this is Satan's headquarters. Why was it Satan's headquarters? Because the priests from the city of Babylon, when Babylon was destroyed, had traveled to Pergamus and made that the headquarters of their religion. It was from Pergamus that the Babylonian religion was taken to Rome. The Babylonian religion, of course, involved sun-worship.
Now I mentioned that there have been seven, according to Revelation 17:9, 10, heads, seven major powers, through whom the devil has worked since the beginning of time to try to control the world and enslave or destroy God's people. Babylon was the first I mentioned that these seven powers are likened to seven ferocious beasts by the prophets in Daniel and Revelation. After Babylon there was Medo-Persia.
Medo-Persia added a little refinement to the Babylonian philosophy. They had an idea that anything that their king said was unchangeable or immutable. Now when the God of heaven says something is it unchangeable? Yes, it is. God's law is immutable, it doesn't change. God said to the prophet Malachi, "I don't change." WIth him there is no variableness nor shadow of turning (James 1:17). In imitation, the counterfeit system that the devil used set up something that was immutable, that didn't change. By the way, have you ever heard of any Christian church that says, "We're immutable, we don't change?" That idea came from Medo-Persia.
After Medo-Persia was Greece. Now Greece adopted the Babylonian system of worship; they were also sun-worshippers. All of these things developed out of the root--Babylon. But the Greeks added a sophisticated system of human philosophy called humanism. We need not get into this system of Greek philosophy tonight. If you want to study a little bit about it, Dr. Edward Sutherland, the founder of Madison College, wrote about it. If you get his book called LivingFountainsorBroken Ci$terns, he discusses the difference between an educational system based on Greek philosophy and the system of education that God has set up for His people.
Notice what Zechariah says is going to happen in the time of the end. "Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you. For I have bent Judah, My bow, fitted the bow with Ephraim, and raised up your sons, 0 Zion, against your sons, 0 Greece, and made you like the sword of a mighty man." Zechariah 9:12, 13. The sons of Zion are the sons of faith; the sons of Greece are the sons of reason and human philosophy. Oh friends, Greek philosophy has had a tremendous influence on education from that time clear to the present day. It is part of the devil's overall system to destroy God's people.
After Greece, the fourth power that the devil used to try to control the world and destroy the people of God was the Pagan Roman Empire described as such a ferocious beast that Daniel could find no beast in the natural world that was equal to this power. He called it a great, dreadful, terrible beast with iron teeth that would break in pieces and bruise and crush. We still have the effects of Roman law as they were refined during the Middle Ages into Canon law with us today. In fact, the state of Louisiana has not adhered to Common law, which comes from Great Britain, but to Roman law. We do not have time to get in Rome tonight.
If you want to study that and what happened, one of the greatest historians, a self-educated man, but still one of the greatest historians we have ever had in the Seventh-day Adventist church, that we usually associate with the 1888 Minneapolis Conference, A.T. Jones, wrote a book called The Two Republics. It's a very large book, about 900 pages; a very interesting book. The two Republics that he describes in this book are Rome and the United States. People that haven't read books of that kind have no idea how much of our government is derived from ancient Rome. You see, they had a republic, and a Senate and all of these things. We will not spend time studying more about Rome; that's described a great deal in the early part of Great Controversy. In the New Testament, the Pagan Roman power tried to destroy the church of God by violence and failed.
After the devil failed at destroying the church of Christ through the Roman power by violence, he decided he had to change his tactics. And so he took everything that he had learned from Babylon, MedoPersia, Greece and Rome, and he combined it all into one masterpiece power to try to control the world. We read about that in Revelation 13.
Notice that this beast in Revelation l3is "rising up outof the sea, having seven heads and ten horns." Do you remember any other beast having seven heads and ten horns? There was a beast that had ten horns back in Daniel 7, remember that? Which beast was that? That was the Pagan Roman Empire. Notice, this beast has some likeness to the pagan Roman empire. But notice in verse 2 that this beast was like a leopard. Now which was the leopard? That was Greece, so this beast had some likenesses to Greece--it had that Greek philosophy.
By the way, let me just mention in passing, it was a part of Babylon, but Greek philosophy developed into a much higher extent. It was from Greek mythology, it was from Greek philosophy, that the idea came that a human being had something inside of him that was immortal, and when you died you didn't really die, you just went on living in another form. That was developed to a great extent through Plato. That's how it came into Christianity. That's where it comes from, it does not come from the Bible. There was the likeness of the leopard in this beast. In fact, it says the beast was like a leopard.
Then it says, "his feet were like the feet of a bear." Which power was that? That was MedoPersia. And then it says that his mouth was like the mouth of a lion. Which power was that? That was Babylon. So you have everything that the devil had learned from all the powers of the past all rolled into one. Ellen White calls it the devil's masterpiece.
Through this power the most tragic thing has happened to the human race now for over fifteen hundred years. Namely this: billions of people (I say billions because it's been over so many generations) have been led to believe that they will have eternal life; and are they ever going to be shocked at the end-- they're not going to have it. I've said many times that I can't think of anything more terrible than to think your whole life that you're going to have eternal life and then right at the end to not have it. Can you think of anything more awful than that? I can't. To think your whole life that you're going to have eternal life and then not have it.
Now why and how does this operate. We'll go right to the heart of the problem. Look at how this power is described in 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 2 describes this same power. And notice what's it called here in 2 Thessalonians2:3. Paulsays, "Let no one deceive you by any means; forthat Day [that is when Christ will come again] will not come unless the falling away [the Greek word for falling away is apostasia--t hat's the apostasy] comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." Now what is sin? Sin is the transgression of the law. And the man of sin would be a man that teaches people to do what? Break God's law.
Now the devil knew that if he tried to teach people to break all of the ten commandments, they wouldn't believe it, they wouldn't follow it. Buthe alsoknew, James said, that if you break one, what? You've broken them all. Remember, keep this very clearly in your mind, we must know this as we enterthe end times: the ten commandments are not ten laws. Oh, no! The ten commandments are not ten laws; the ten commandments are one law.
We won't take the time to read it in the Bible, but it's described that way many times-- described that way in James 2:10--12. He says, "The same Person who said, Do not murder, also said, Do not commit adultery." So if you don't commit adultery, but you're a murderer, you have become guilty of breaking the law, and that's one law. In Exodus 24:12 it's called one law, not ten laws. Just one law, singular. See if you come before the Judge and you're accused of murder, you can't say, "But Judge, I didn't commit adultery." That won't get you off. All ten commandments are just one law. So if break one, you've broken it. You cannot be called a commandment-keeper if you break one, that cannot be. The man of sin would teach people to break God's law. Now catch this point: if you teach people to break one, eventually they'll break all.
In the Christian world today, we meet people that believe and teach that the law of God is done away with, nailed to the cross. "You don't have to keep it under the New Covenant." Have you heard that? Do you know where that teaching comes from? That teaching was not going on in the Christian world in the sixteenth century. Did you know that? In the sixteenth century, during the time of the Protestant Reformation, both Roman Catholics and Protestants taught that you needed to keep the law of God. All Christians believed that you needed to keep the law of God.
When I was a pastor in North Dakota, I bought a used set of book from a Lutheran minister one time. They're the sermons of Martin Luther. I've never read the set of books, but I looked through them and was very interested to find out that Martin Luther preached sermon after sermon after sermon on the ten commandments and the necessity of keeping the ten commandments. Martin Luther believed in the ten commandments. Now he didn't understand the Sabbath.
By the way, I found one history book that said that Martin Luther did not work on the Sabbath in his own home. It was very interesting when I found that out. But he did not teach the seventh-day Sabbath. Ellen White's very clear that because of the darkness that the Christian world was in, they could not be brought to all the light of truth immediately, it was impossible.
Have you ever study the sermons of John Wesley? A couple hundred years later after Luther, John Wesley preached about the ten commandments over and overand overand over again. By the way, John Wesley understood the difference between the moral law and the ceremonial law, too. John Wesley did not keep the ceremonial law, but he taught that the moral law was binding in all time. In the days of John Wesley, if you were a Christian, you believed in the ten commandments. That was in the 1700's.
So what happened in the last couple of hundred years, actually about 150 years? What happened in the last 150 years that this teaching got to going around that the law of God was nailed to the cross? You know where it came from? God led the Protestant churches step by step into more truth. You see, Luther didn't understand the truth about baptism andalot of things, but God led the Protestant churches to more and more truth, and when He led them to an understanding of the seventh-day Sabbath do you know what happened? The great majority rejected it. There were people that rejected every point of truth.
You see, when Protestantism started there were still Episcopalians. We have nothing against Episcopalians, but Episcopalians are just one step out of the Catholic church. They don't acknowledge the pope, but except for that one point they're just the same as Roman Catholics. I baptized a lady just a few months ago that years ago used to be an Episcopalian. She was a nun back then, an Episcopalian nun. They have monks and nuns and they have just about everything that you can find in the Roman Catholic church except that they don't acknowledge the pope. They're just one step away from the papacy. Lutherans are another step away. Baptists are a further step away and so forth.
But when the time came that God led His people to an understanding of the seventh-day Sabbath, the majority rejected it. Now if you reject it, but you believe in the ten commandments, that doesn't make any sense does it? How can you say you believe in the ten commandments? All Christians two hundred years ago believed in the ten commandments. But how can you say you believe in the ten commandments if you don't keep the Sabbath? When you understand what the fourth commandment means, it doesn't make any sense!
And so within the last 150 years, in order to explain a position so that it would be logical, they were forced to try to explain that the law of God was nailed to the cross. Now it's very interesting if you have studied with people from the Billy Graham evangelistic association, when they explain this to you they say, "Now actually we keep nine of the commandments. We just don't keep one. We just don't keep the ceremonial part of the law."
Well now, what is ceremonialabout the fourth commandment? Concerning the ceremonial law the apostle Paul says it was added because of transgressions. Let me ask you this quick question: was the Sabbath added because of transgressions? Absolutely not! The Sabbath was given at creation before there was any transgression. The Sabbath was not added because of transgressions, it existed before there was sin.
The Sabbath was not part of the plan of salvation even, because the Sabbath was given before man needed a plan of salvation. The Sabbath was given to Adam and Even in their unfallen state in the Garden of Eden as one of the gifts of God.
It says here, concerning this power, this is the fifth power described as a composite beast in Revelation 13, this power is described as the man of sin in verse 7 of 2 Thessalonians 2. It's described as the mystery of lawlessness. Notice: over and over again Paul puts his finger right on the point; he says that the identifying mark on this power is what? It teaches the breaking of the ten commandments--it's against the law of God, it's lawlessness. Notice verse 8: "Then the lawless one will be revealed." Notice that it's the lawless one, it's the third time it's mentioned here. Verse 9: "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders." Daniel 7:25 describes this same power and says that he will intend to change times and law.
Friends, if you're going to be ready for the crisis that's coming, you must know absolutely why and what your position is on the law of God and whether or not you're willing to go to prison or lose your job or die because you keep the seventh-day Sabbath. There's going to be a group of people that are going to be taken to heaven without seeing death, but let me tell you, before they are translated they're going to face a death decree and it's going to look like they're going to die and those people are going to say, "Look! Whether you kill me or not, I'm going to keep the Sabbath anyway. I'm going to keep the law of God."
Oh, friend! In the judgment, Ellen White said God is only going to ask one question--just one. And that question is, Did this person keep My law? "Oh," somebody says, "Pastor John, what about my grandmother or grandfather? They were keeping Sunday; they didn't know any better." Well, the Bible says that if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man has and not according to what he has not (2 Corinthians 8:12). Sure there will be people that lived up to all the light that they had.
Let's realize friends that in the dark ages, very few common people even possessed the Bible. God did notexpect of them what he expects of you and me. We have much more light than they had, much, much more light. In fact, we have more spiritual truth and light than any other previous generation that was alive in the world, even more than they had in the days of Ellen White, because we have her writings, plus we can see the fulfilling prophecies that she prophesied that hadn't happened yet, but they've happened now.
The devil tries to tell people that either you can't keep God's law or you don't have to. But Romans 8 teaches that through the power of the Holy Spirit you can put to death the deeds of the flesh. Romans 6 says the same thing. Through the power of the Holy Spirit you can do it. God will give you all the power that you need to keep His law if you want to.
Tomorrow I want to go a little bit deeper into the law of God and the meaning of the law of God, because I want to tell you friends, if we're going to go through the coming crisis and be ready for Jesus to come, we have to know exactly what the principles of the law of God is. On what is it based and what does it mean and what does it mean to live according to it? That's going to be the issue in the last days. Ellen White's very clear on that, that that will be the issue--the law of God and the Sabbath.
You study the history of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, or the Papacy and you will find that through them the devil tried to force people to break God's law. What happened with Babylon, those three Hebrew worthies on the plain of Dura? What were they trying to do? They were trying to force them to break the second commandment! They said, "We'll throw you into a burning fiery furnace if you don't."
Why was Daniel throne into the lion's den by the Medo-Persian government? Because he refused to pray to the king. He said, "I'm going to pray only to the God of heaven." He refused to break the first commandment
Why did the king of the south and the king of the north kill over forty thousand Jews? Why? Because they would not participate in their pagan, idolatrous sacrifices, they wouldn't break the second commandment.
Why were so many people killed by pagan Rome? Because the emperor claimed to be divine. The Christians would not acknowledge his divinity, they would not break the first commandment. So millions--some people dispute that but I still believe it's millions--of Christians were destroyed, killed, by the Pagan Roman Empire.
The same was true during the reign of the Papacy during the Dark Ages. We will never know until the day of judgment how many people were killed for one of two reasons: some because they would not bow down to images such as the virgin Mary; some because they refused to give up the seventh-day Sabbath.
But the devil got something worked up perfect, and God let it develop until people saw, until people got disgusted with it. And so in the end time, the time came the people who had been the most loyal to the Papacy became disgusted with it. So what did the devil do then? Well the prophecy predicted that in the time of the end there would be a new development of Satanic power. To understand the interplay between these two things--Satan's masterpiece described in Revelation 14 and a new development of Satanic power in the end time--if you understand that, you understand the situation that we're in today.
Now what this new manifestation of Satanic power that would be developed right about the time of the end and would continue until the time of the end? In fact, it will continue clear to the second coming of Christ. Turn in you Bible to Revelation 11. This is the sixth power. Revelation 11. It says here that God's Two Witness' will prophecy in sackcloth for forty-two months--that's the twelve hundred and sixty year period. This is Revelation 11:2.
Now notice verse 7. Ellen White's very clear on this, this is in the future tense in the Greek; it should be translated literally, "when they are finishing," or "when they shall be finishing their testimony." "When they shall be finishing their testimony, [now notice, here's another ferocious beast] the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them."
Here's another ferocious beast coming up out of the bottomless pit, as ferocious as the Pagan Roman Empire or any other power that the devil has ever used before. This a new development of Satanic power that would develop about the close of the 1260 year period. This beast that came up out of the bottomless pit was the power that developed and caused the French Revolution. You can read the chapter in GreatControversy on the French Revolution; she goes right through this scripture phrase by phrase.
The philosophy behind and undergirding the French Revolution was first of all a philosophy which denied the authority of the Scriptures and the God of heaven. You see, people had been told that this was Christianity. Now it really wasn't, it was the devil's counterfeit. But they had been told that this is Christianity. Finally, when they got so immersed in that system after hundreds of years, they said, "If that's what Christianity is and if that's what the Bible teaches, we don't want anything to do with it." So it was an atheistic philosophy. Notice, it says this power is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. That's verse 8. Egypt was the power where Pharaoh said, "Who is God, that I should know Him?"
Secondly: since it denied the authority of the God of heaven and of His Book, it denied the authority of His law. So it became spiritually like Sodom, God's law was broken. It is well known that it fostered the abolition of all religion. It was in favor of the abolition of all rights to private property and inheritance. The philosophy that developed and caused the French Revolution was developed by a man by the name of Adam Weishop at Englestadt University. They date the founding of this philosophy from May 1, 1776.
Now Americans think that 1776 is an important date. Actually, there's several important things that happened in 1776. This was the year that the United States declared their Declaration of Independence, but it was also the beginning of the Illuminati developed byAdam Weishop, the philosophy that culminated eventually and developed into the French Revolution. It was also that same year that Adam Smith wrote a book called Wealth olNations which defended the concepts of capitalism and free enterprise upon which the United States was built. So 1776 was a very significant year.
This philosophy that Adam Weishop developed and that culminated in the French Revolution, first of all it was against the rights to private property and inheritance. All property was to belong to the state. Furthermore, it was against patriotism to one's country and family. And finally, it was in favor of the destruction of all ordered governments in the world and the setting up of a one world government--the very same thing that Nimrod tried to do clear back at the beginning and that God prevented by dispersing the people and confusing their languages.
This philosophy was in favor of the destruction of all ordered governments in the world and the setting up of a one world government and a new world order, which actually then would be ruled by Lucifer. This philosophy, which anyone today is familiarwith who has studied about communism, was first developed by Adam Weishop, who developed the secret order called the Illuminati and was later updated by Karl Marx in the Communist Manifesto in 1848. It was developed and world saw what would happen if a country adopted this philosophy in France, and it resulted in the French Revolution. But the believers in this philosophy did not want this to get control of the country of France, they wanted to control the world.
When I was in Budapest a few years ago, I went to a museum there and I was very interested in what I saw. They still admire one of the Hungarian leaders who was part of trying to set a world-wide revolution in 1848. If you study in the history books, you will find that in 1848, in the big cities of the world there were uprisings; there was an attempt to cause a worldwide revolution and set up what we call communism, or socialism, atheistic socialism, all over the world. There was an attempt to do that in 1848.
Bt the way, the leaders in that movement were apparently the first people in the world who had two-way radio communications. They were able to communicate with each other. They had this all planned, and somehow it didn't happen. Well you know why it didn't happen? If you've read Ellen White, you understand why it didn't happen. It was in that very same year that Ellen White had a vision. Do you know what Ellen White saw in that vision? She saw Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary. She saw things in this world getting ready for the closing scenes. And Jesus held up His hands, and He said, "Hold, hold." Why? Because God's people weren't ready. So it was postponed. The worldwide revolution that would have occurred in 1848, God juststalled it off for another almost 70 years.
But even though itwas stalled it was not killed. Notice what Ellen White wrote later, right around the turn of the century about it. In the book Education, 228, she says, "At the same time anarchy is seeking to sweep away all law, not only divine, but human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast combinations for the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many; the combinations of the poorer classes for the defense of their interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed; the world-wide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution--all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France."
She said that there is a worldwide dissemination of the same teachings that led to the French Revolution, and it's tending to convulse the whole world in a struggle similar to what convulsed France.
Well, it happened. It happened in Russia. We saw it happen in Eastern Europe; we've seen it happen in China; we've seen it happen in Africa; we've seen it happen in countries in South America. When I was in New Zealand I got a book on the history of New Zealand. Iwas interested that around the turn of the century there was a movement to try to foster off thesame teachings in New Zealand. It's been all over the world. This is a special development of Satanic power during the end time. The very same thing that he tried to figure out how to pull off during Nimrod's day, a one world government that the Lord forestalled and didn't allow to happen.
We see here from this statement in Education, 228, that in the end of the world, this same philosophy must again be met. When you understand this, you're to the point where you can understand what is going on in the world today. You see, the devil has two different systems apparently opposing each other; and either one that gets control, he's got control. On the one hand you have the masterpiece of counterfeit Christianity. But if people get disgusted with that, he flips them over and says, "Well, if you don't like that, then take this." They take humanism, atheistic philosophy, and say, "Well, religion's no good." Then they accept this.
A few years ago, in 1989, when we saw the fall of the communist block countries in Eastern Europe, a lot of people said, "I was amazed." The U.S. news started reporting that we don't need to worry about an army, we don't need to worry about a navy, or armed forces anymore--Communism is gone! I thought, What are you dreaming about? What do you mean it's gone? It's not gone. It may have gone undercover.
But let me tell you something, there is a gigantic struggle developing right now to get control of the entire world with this kind of philosophy, including the United States. I want to tell you friends, they're within just a little bit of having absolute control of this country. I'm not a prophet, I'm not saying what's going to happen. Whether the masterpiece of counterfeit Christianity is in control or whether the red beast is in control, the beast that comes out of the bottomless pit, whichever one, the devil's in control either way. We are facing very interesting times.
If you study Revelation 17 very carefully, you will see that right at the end there's going to be another flip-flop. We're not done flip-flopping yet In France, France was the most loyal of all the nations of Europe to the Papacy. But eventually they got disillusioned and they flipped. But you see, when you flip back and forth between these two, either way the devil's got you.
Now in the middle of all this turmoil that's going to be all over the world, and I want to tell you friends we're entering times when there is going to be turmoil and absolute confusion all over the world, you see these two powers get into collision. That's the way the devil works-- one against the other.
We're going to see the image to the beast enforced in this country. That's the seventh one. We studied six, that's the seventh one. And of course there's an eighth one Revelation says, but he's just one of the seven. See, they're going to flip. We're going to have the image to the beast, but then it's going to flip. And in the middle of that, where are you and I going to be. Some of us might be in some cave somewhere, some us might be in some prison somewhere. What we're going to study tomorrow is, it actually doesn't matter where you are. What matters is who you are and who you know. That's what we're going to study tomorrow.
I want to tell you friend, the times in which we're living today, there is security in nothing earthly. People have thought in the past, We've got this farm, we've got this property. Let me tell you, we're living in times when your property can be taken away from you that quick. You're liberties can be taken away from you that quick. Is there something that they can't take away from you? Yes, there is. If you know the Lord, there is something they can't take away from
I hope that nobody's discouraged thatwe've studied the powers tonight that the devil has used down through the ages and at the end time to try to destroy God's people. We need to understand what we're up against so that we can understand the importance of the spiritual preparation. We are facing the most momentous struggle of the ages. God's going to win all right, there's no question about that The God we serve always wins. Sometimes it doesn't look like it though. Sometimes it takes faith, because you could have to stand in aposition where it seems like you're all alone. Did Daniel get in a situation like that? Did Paul get in a situation like that? He surely did. He said one time when he had to stand before Nero, he said, "Everybody forsook me, I was alone. But," he said, "the Lord didn't forsake me."Andlwanttotellyou friend, the Lord won't forsake you. The important point is you and I better not forsake Him, we better stay close to him.
Friend, there is One that is altogether lovely and He's all-powerful. We have no idea the power of the God that we serve. What we have to do is to get close to Him. You're not going to be able to face the image to the beast and all these Satanic powers that you'll have to face right at the end, you're not going to be able to face it unless you're close to Jesus, unless you're with Him. Are you spending time with Jesus everyday? Are you learning to know Him? Are you studying His Word? Are you studying His life and character?
There's only two kinds of religion in the world, and in the end-time there will only be two kinds of people in the world. The pressure is going to be put on and everybody's going to go all one way or the other. Ellen White says that the devil will see men in his own image. But God is going to see some people in His own image and He's going to take them to heaven. All of us are going to be in one group or the other. Our character is going to become rapidly more Godlike or more Satanic as we approach the end.
Oh, friend! Are you spending time with Jesus? Are you keeping your eyes focused on Him? Do you understand that He has all power? If you are in Him, whether they say they're going to kill you or whatever anybody says, you can trust Him and you can obey Him and He has promised to make it possible for you to be faithful and true and loyal to Him and obey His law. He has promised to give you the power and strength to do it if you decide to. Don't be unfaithful to Him and decide to serve another master. Friend, we mustget close to Jesus; we must spend time with Him; we must know Him and we must know the principles of His character and His law.
But before we go tonight, when I study about the powers that the devil has worked through, I know my only safety is to commit my life fully to Jesus Christ. And that's your only safety too. Without Him, the strongest can very rapidly become the weakest when the pressure's on. Before I go tonight, I'd like to commit fully my life to Jesus Christ. Would you? Would you like to do that? He's the one who can get you through the storm and tempests of the last days. If you have enough faith and trust in Him as the storm comes, you're going to have great joy; because you know that the storm proves that we're just about home. Just on the other side of that storm, you're going to see your loved ones coming up out of the graves and you're going to go up in the air and it's going to be a wonderful time.
We need to commit our lives fully to Him so we are ready for what's coming. So if that's what you want to do, I want to invite you to kneel with me and let's pray before we go.