You know we have to ask ourselves some important things here. Do we try to incorporate common sense into the things we read or do we try to ignore common sense and go for cunningly devised fables that sound pleasing to our ears?
2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Cunningly devised fables. These exist and in such a great number it's made it very hard for people to tell truth from lies. We need to pray first and foremost and then let the Lord guide us as we delve into His prophecies for us.
Yesterday we talked more about the 1260 days- the time, times, and dividing of time. We touched on a few things and now we need to touch on a few more. Such as we know from the first vision given in Daniel that there would come a time when things would become mingled when there would no longer be one ruling kingdom over the former Roman Empire that the one ruling kingdoms would break up and never again be ruled by one man, one government- no matter how many tried and we know some have tried.
We know from our Bible that as we are thrusted into that mingling time moving from the dominating Roman power that ten main smaller powers would come up and then three powers would be removed by yet another smaller, different sort of power. And we know that our Savior will return again while some of those powers and that strange little power were still in existence.
SO that means we know that little power, different from the others would still exist today, and it does. The Papacy still exists today, in fact it's larger than life but in a different way than it once was. Looking at the history of the Papacy we can find out a few amazing facts. Let's go through it a bit so we can catch the picture of things more clearly. Remember reading this is reading history, it's reading of the past and we can connect prophecy fulfilled with history.
• October 28, 312: Emperor Constantine leads the forces of the Roman Empire to victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Tradition has it that, the night before the battle, Constantine had a vision that he would achieve victory if he fought under the Symbol of Christ; accordingly, his soldiers bore on their shields the Chi-Rho sign composed of the first two letters of the Greek word for "Christ".
• 325: The First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, convened as a response to the Arian controversy, establishes the Nicene Creed, declaring the belief of orthodox Trinitarian Christians in the Holy Trinity.
• February 380: Emperor Theodosius I issues an edict, De Fide Catolica, in Thessalonica, published in Constantinople, declaring Catholic Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire.
• 391: The Theodosian decrees outlaw most pagan rituals still practiced in Rome, thereby encouraging much of the population to convert to Christianity.
• 400: Jerome's Vulgate Latin Bible translation is published. This remained the standard text in the Catholic world until the Renaissance, was used in Catholic services until the late 20th century, and remains an influence on modern vernacular translations.
• 452: Pope Leo I (the Great) meets Attila the Hun and dissuades him from sacking Rome.
• 455: Sack of Rome by the Vandals. The spoils of the Temple of Jerusalem previously taken by Titus are allegedly among the treasures taken to Carthage.
• September 4, 476: Emperor Romulus Augustus is deposed in Rome, marked by many as the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The focus of the early Church switches to expanding in the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, with its capital at Constantinople.
• 502: Pope Symmachus ruled that laymen should no longer vote for the popes and that only higher clergy should be considered eligible.
• January 2, 533: Mercurius becomes Pope John II. He becomes the first pope to take a regnal name. John II obtains valuable gifts as well as a profession of orthodox faith from the Byzantine emperor Justinian.
• 536: Belisarius recaptures Rome.
• 590: Pope Gregory the Great. Reforms ecclesiastical structure and administration. Establishes Gregorian Chant. Was also elected. (To be Pope)
• 596: Saint Augustine of Canterbury sent by Pope Gregory to evangelize the pagan English.
• 664: The Synod of Whitby unites the Celtic Church in England with the Catholic Church.
• 718: Saint Boniface, an Englishman, given commission by Pope Gregory II to evangelise the Germans.
• 756: Popes granted independent rule of Rome by King Pepin the Short of the Franks, in the Donation of Pepin. Birth of the Papal States.
• December 25, 800: King Charlemagne of the Franks is crowned Holy Roman Emperor of the West by Pope Leo III in St. Peter's Basilica.
• 966: Mieszko I of Poland converts to Catholicism, beginning the Baptism of Poland.
• July 16, 1054: Liturgical, linguistic, and political divisions cause a permanent split between the Eastern and Western Churches, known as the East-West Schism or the Great Schism. The three legates, Humbert of Mourmoutiers, Frederick of Lorraine, and Peter, archbishop of Amalfi, entered the Cathedral of the Hagia Sophia during mass on a Saturday afternoon and placed a papal Bull of Excommunication on the altar against the Patriarch Michael I Cerularius. The legates left for Rome two days later, leaving behind a city near riots.
• November 27, 1095: Pope Urban II preaches a sacrum bellum (holy war), a Crusade, to defend the eastern Christians, and pilgrims to the Holy Land, at the Council of Clermont.
• 1099: Retaking of Jerusalem by the 1st Crusade, followed by a massacre of the remaining non-Christian inhabitants, and the establishment of the Crusader kingdoms, in Latin bishops are appointed to dioceses still largely populated by the Orthodox.
• October 2, 1187: The Siege of Jerusalem. Ayyubid forces led by Saladin capture Jerusalem, prompting the Third Crusade.
• April 13, 1204: Sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade. Beginning of Latin Empire of Constantinople.
• November 30, 1215: Fourth Ecumenical Lateran Council is closed by Pope Innocent III. Seventy decrees were approved, the definition of transubstantiation being among them.
• 1229: Inquisition founded in response to the Cathar Heresy, at the Council of Toulouse.
• 1245: First Ecumenical Council of Lyons. Excommunicated and deposed Emperor Frederick II.
• 1305: French influence causes the Pope to move from Rome to Avignon.
• August 17–20, 1308: The leaders of the Knights Templar are secretly absolved by Pope Clement V after their interrogation was carried out by papal agents to verify claims against the accused in the castle of Chinon in the diocese of Tours.
• 1370: Saint Catherine of Siena calls on the Pope to return to Rome.
• 1387: Lithuanians were the last in Europe to accept the Catholic faith.
• c. 1412–1431: St. Joan of Arc, a peasant girl from France, has visions from God telling her to lead her countrymen to reclaim their land from the English. After success in battle she is captured by the English in 1431 and is condemned as a heretic and was executed by burning at the age of 19. Later investigation authorized by Pope Callixtus III would conclude she was innocent and a martyr.
• 1440: Johannes Gutenberg completes his wooden printing press using moveable metal type revolutionizing the spread of knowledge by cheaper and faster means of reproduction. Soon results in the large scale production of religious books including Bibles.
• May 29, 1453: Fall of Constantinople.
• 1492: Christopher Columbus discovers the New World.
• 1493: With the Inter caetera, Pope Alexander VI awards sole colonial rights over most of the New World to Spain.
• October 31, 1517: Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses, protesting the sale of indulgences.
• January 3, 1521: Martin Luther finally excommunicated by Pope Leo X in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
• 1521: Baptism of the first Catholics in the Philippines, the first Christian nation in Southeast Asia. This event is commemorated with the feast of the Sto. Niño.
• October 17, 1521: Pope Leo X confers the title Fidei Defensor to Tudor King Henry VIII of England for his defense of the seven sacraments and the supremacy of the pope in Assertio Septem Sacramentorum against Protestantism.
• October 30, 1534: English Parliament passes Act of Supremacy making the King of England Supreme Head of the Church of England. Anglican schism with Rome.
• December 17, 1538: Pope Paul III excommunicates King Henry VIII of England
• December 13, 1545: Ecumenical Council of Trent convened during the pontificate of Paul III, to prepare the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation. Its rulings set the tone of Catholic society for at least three centuries.
• February 24, 1582: Pope Gregory XIII issues the Bull Inter gravissimas reforming the Julian Calendar.
• October 4, 1582: The Gregorian Calendar is first adopted by Italy, Spain, and Portugal. October 4 is followed by October 15 – ten days are removed.
• September 28, 1586: Domenico Fontana successfully finished re-erecting the Vatican Obelisk at its present site in St. Peter's Square. Hailed as a great technical achievement of its time.
• April 19, 1622: Pope Gregory XV makes Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu a cardinal upon the nomination of King Louis XIII – becoming Cardinal Richelieu. His influence and policies greatly impact the course of European politics.
• 1685: Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes, and large numbers of Huguenot refugees leave France.
• 1691: Pope Innocent XII declares against nepotism and simony.
• April 28, 1738: Pope Clement XII publishes the Bull In Eminenti forbidding Catholics from joining, aiding, socializing or otherwise helping in any way shape or form the organizations of Freemasonry and Freemasons under pain of excommunication. Membership to any secret society would also incur the penalty of excommunication.
• 1789: John Carroll becomes the Bishop of Baltimore, the first bishop in the United States.
• 1798: Pope Pius VI taken prisoner by the armies of Napoleon I, dies in captivity in France.
• 1800–1823: Pope Pius VII
• July 16, 1802: French Concordat of 1801. The Catholic Church re-established in France.
• December 2, 1804: Napoleon crowns himself Emperor of the French in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, in the presence of Pope Pius VII.
• 1850: The Archdiocese of Westminster and twelve other dioceses are set up, re-establishing a Catholic hierarchy in the United Kingdom against intense political opposition.
• 1852: The First Plenary Council of Baltimore is held in the United States.
• 1854: Dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX
• December 8, 1869: Pope Pius IX opens the First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican
Okay I'm going to stop here for a moment so we can talk about all this for a bit. This is just a touch of Papal history. First let's note that the history continues right up until today and anyone who disagrees with that just has to check the news- the Papacy is in the news quite often and not just for the recent bad press, but for much more. So we do have a power - different from the other strictly governmental powers- that came up and continued on and on and on. However the Bible tells us this…
Dan 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Rev 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Rev. 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days
This power would prevail over God's TRUE people 1260 days. That's only 3 1/2 years and if you read back through all this history you know for a fact this power has endure much longer AND… persecuted God's people, God's truth for many, many more years than 3 1/2. So…seriously we have to think about this carefully. Let's look at prophecy, let's look at the Bible...
….tomorrow because it's late here and this is already a lot to take in. By the grace and mercy of God we will study more and understand as HE would have us understand.
In His LOVE!
Amen.
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