Prophecy - 14 - A Remnant

Yesterday we continued our prophecy study and today there will be more studying of the same by the grace of our wonderful, loving, God. May He bless us with understanding, being the eye salve we need to have our understanding open so we can see His will, His work, His love.


We began yesterday with some verses on the little horn and today we'll do the same but just a touch differently. We have to ask ourselves some questions here to make sure we are understanding things correctly.


Dan 7:8
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.


If you've been following the study you have a positive ID on this little horn by now, right? If you haven't been following the studies please go back and do so because what we might talk about from here on in might not make a whole lot of sense to you.


We know that history is prophecy fulfilled and history has revealed that this little horn is the Papal power that arose as the Roman Empire broke apart.


Dan 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them


History has many proofs that the Papacy has warred with God's people and prevailed against them in many cases- murdering them. Remember this isn't me spouting off at the mouth willy nilly without any proof. I'm not making this stuff up. The modern Papacy today has even issued apologies for their behavior in the past- admitting to their role in the war against those who dared defy their mandates to search for the truth. Just imagine being a Christian back in the day, and you live under the Papal thumb dictating all you can believe in, telling you that you cannot own a Bible, cannot read a Bible but must have it read to you because you can't possibly understand what it is saying- that's for greater minds than yours. The Papacy alone had the right to explain, to interpret any scriptures because they believed they alone had the power of God to do so and none other did. And what would happen should you be caught with a Bible, or part of a Bible written in a common language for common understanding? You could be arrested, tortured, and yes…killed. Killed all because you dared to read God's word without the Papacy reading it to you and telling you what it means. I don't know about you but this is bizarre to me, the idea of it totally bizarre. Of course I live in a democracy and I'm allowed a lot of freedoms- practically the freedom to do anything inside the established laws and there is no law forbidding our reading our Bibles.


Taking our supposing a little further, suppose you were alive back then and felt the need to understand God's will and the Papal instruction just wasn't enough, you wanted … no, you needed more than their bits of instruction. So you manage to get a Bible, manage to read it and your eyes are opened to the truths of God's word- that the ruling religious institution the Papacy is NOT following the Bible they themselves read, and claim authority over. The very truth of the Savior they claim to have been commissioned by through the apostle Peter, is being distorted. The Savior NEVER instituted any sort of church that would bring power to itself and claim the right to abduct, torture, and even kill people that chose to believe differently than they do. How can the Papacy read the words of Jesus about turning the other cheek, about giving your cloke as well when your coat is taken, about doing good even when you are abused and reviled.


Mat 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.


Mat 5:40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.


Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.


How could they read those words and then turn around and be the men persecuting others because they don't hold to your same beliefs. Jesus NEVER advocated using violence against people. Jesus admonished His disciples to walk away when people weren't receptive to the gospel of the Kingdom they wanted to spread.


Mat 10:14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.


Jesus did not say- before departing torture and kill those who won't listen to you and, murder those who won't believe the truth- and YET the Papacy claiming to have the authority of God on earth did just that more than once, more than ten times, more than a hundred, more than a thousand… and so on. Is there any definite number given to the amount of people tortured, and those murdered by this religious force claiming to be the true church of God? No. People give numbers and depending upon who you listen to the number is extremely high or extremely low. The exact number doesn't matter for our understanding because the guilt was warranted upon the very first person tortured, upon the very first person murdered. So whether you're among those who believe the Catholic Church-the Papacy, was guilty of taking a few or many lives, their lengthy history is filled with abuses and corruption and this is FACT not fiction!


Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Dan 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and...


...another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.


We know this to be true, there had never been a rising power like that of the Papacy, never.


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.


What great words has the Papacy spoken against the Most High?


First let's ask ourselves a question- what did God think of those who claim to be like the Most High?


Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.


Satan! Satan made this claim that He would be like the most High. And then we have this…


From the Catholic online encylopedia-


Vicar of Christ
(Latin Vicarius Christi).

A title of the pope implying his supreme and universal primacy, both of honour and of jurisdiction, over the Church of Christ.

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****They claim this is a scriptural title- but when Christ told Peter to feed His sheep He did NOT tell Peter he was going to be HIM on earth. Peter would NEVER had presumed to be Christ on earth. Peter knew He was a servant of Christ's. Peter knew that as an apostle He was doing the work of Christ, but not taking the place of Christ. NO ONE could take the place of Christ, NO ONE. I no more have the power to tell you that God has forgiven your sin, than any man or woman alive. I can tell you God will forgive you if you ask for forgiveness and repent, but that forgiveness is between YOU and GOD. I can forgive you if you hurt me, but I can't give you the forgiveness of God. I can tell you that God will forgive you, but I can't presume that God has forgiven anyone, I do NOT know the heart of anyone. I do NOT know the sincerity of anyone. I am NOT God, I am NOT Christ, as a follower of Christ I can point the way to Christ, but never can I be presumptuous enough to believe that Christ wants me to act in His place, act as if I am Him with authority of the Most High. Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH, the LIFE, not any man, not any Pope. Yes, we are to be Christ's and by His grace, through His forgiveness we can point the way to Him, but never are we to presume to be HIM.



Vicar of Christ
–noun Roman Catholic Church .
the pope, with reference to his claim to stand in the place of Jesus Christ and possess His authority in the church.

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The Papacy HAD to issue a statement, a doctrine of their authority claiming infallibility for the Pope. They MADE themselves infallible! No where in our Bible, NO where does God make any man infallible, none! The only infallible one was our Savior who was God-Man, God's Son, and our Savior made NO man infallible, NONE!


'Papal infallibility is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, by action of the Holy Spirit, the Pope is preserved from even the possibility of error[1] when he solemnly declares or promulgates to the universal Church a dogmatic teaching on faith as being contained in divine revelation, or at least being intimately connected to divine revelation. It is also taught that the Holy Spirit works in the body of the Church, as sensus fidelium, to ensure that dogmatic teachings proclaimed to be infallible will be received by all Catholics. This dogma, however, does not state either that the Pope cannot sin in his own personal life or that he is necessarily free of error, even when speaking in his official capacity, outside the specific contexts in which the dogma applies.

This doctrine was defined dogmatically in the First Vatican Council of 1870.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_infallibility


It doesn't matter that they clarify it by saying the Pope can sin in a personal matter, they ARE saying he CANNOT sin when he makes solemn declarations, teaches dogma, had divine revelations.


They are saying the POPE cannot sin, that he is past being able to sin when he speaks for the church!


The are claiming that He is LIKE THE MOST HIGH!


So has this little horn spoken great words against the most High? Yes, yes, and YES! Lucifer a covering angel sinned becoming the father of sin when he claimed that he would be like the most High, and yet we want to overlook the Papal claim of infallibility as being of none effect?


What did Jesus say when the apostles talked about which one of them was greater????


Mar 9:33 And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?
Mar 9:34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.
Mar 9:35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.


This does not sound at all like the Papacy does it, they don't lay claim to being servants? They claim to be the greatest proudly, and throughout their history they've promoted this aspect of themselves in direct opposition to our Savior's teachings. They are so great in fact they claim to have an infallible leader on matters of dogma.


I don't know about you but I just can't seem to wrap my brain around how they believe the way they do, it's not of God!!!!


We have to pay attention here, we really, really do because this prophecy will come to pass concerning that little horn power--


Dan 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.


The dominion that little horn power claims to have will be taken completely away, this is fact, this will come to past just as all the other prophecy came to pass. Nothing will stop the rest from coming true no matter what a single person claims. Claim this to be a bunch of lies it doesn't matter, scoff all you want it doesn't matter, what you and I think doesn't change a thing. We cannot change the past that has been fulfilled and we cannot change the future we are told will come to pass- it will be. God's will is done, past, present, and future. We can only fall to our knees and pray that we are worthy to escape, worthy in HIS righteousness!


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Now we know that this power would have it's greatest control over things for a time, times, and dividing of times- 1260 days= prophetic day for a year principle - 1260 years. We know that if we look at history this can apply in this way-- 1798AD the Papacy suffered a blow unlike any other in time past -- counting backwards 1260 years we are left with 538AD and we've seen that history records the insidious power of the Papacy and in 538AD there is a parallel with 1798AD both times reveal a pope being exiled and dying. The first in 538AD ushered in a very deceptive Pope- the corruption set and well under way in Papal dealings, and the last in 1798AC ushering out that crushing corruption so that God's true word could be spread. An interesting note-- a VERY interesting note--


'The modern Bible Society movement dates back to the foundation of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804 when a group of Christians sought to address the problem of a lack of affordable Bibles in Welsh for Welsh-speaking Christians. This was highlighted by a young girl called Mary Jones who walked over 20 miles to get a Bible in Bala.'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_society


When did this begin?! 1804! When was the papacy struck a blow 1798, six short years prior to this! You can bet your bottom dollar that in 1798 there was already much talk under way about getting the Bible out to the masses in their own language, Bibles they could afford.


This isn't a coincidence?! This is fact and prophecy, this is God's hand working and allowing us to understand.


For 1260 years the Papacy held sway.


Let's read more about these 1260 years.


Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
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 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.


Our Savior was born. Our Savior was caught up to God and to his thrown. No one disputes this, right? No Christian disputes this.


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.


God's people - God's true people fled. God's true people were kept alive. Throughout all the deception, all the corruption, all the murdering, all the crusading, all the power of Satan wanting to destroy God's true people they were kept alive. Year after year they were kept alive passing down the truth in Christ, protected. God's people, God's true church, was never wiped out of existence. Remember this…


Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.


Narrow is the way… few there be that find it.


Few found it, few kept it, and these true adherents to our Savior endured throughout time nourished by God in their wilderness. The fact of the matter is, God would have a people, adherents to His truths throughout time. There wouldn't be many- ever. Even today. There may be millions of Christians-sorry, billions--


'As of the early 21st century, Christianity has approximately 2.2 billion adherents'

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There may be billions of Christians but the words of our Savior tells us that the way is narrow and FEW will find it. This doesn't look good for Christianity, does it? With its billions of followers. The majority of those adherents are walking the broad path that leads to destruction along with the many.


It's no shock to true Christians to realize that their spiritual descendants through time would be suppressed. That while the dragon power reigned growing more and more powerful they would be in the minority kept safe by God through their true love of God. Then when that power would lose it's hold to the point of being able to murder dissenters, God's true people would be allowed to come out of the wilderness. The truths would be unfolded so that all would have an opportunity to be among God's true people when our Savior returns.


Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.


Keepers of the commandments of God.
Those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ.


The dragon is warring with these people- the remnant- the last of the true people of God.


To ALL of us, to EVERY single one of us this is a message of great magnitude!


If you do NOT keep the commandments of God, if you do NOT have the testimony of Jesus Christ… you are NOT among the remnant of God.


I did not make that up!? I did not say that?! The BIBLE says it! God says it to us!


So go your way ignoring the commandments of God and being flippant at best about the testimony of Jesus Christ and if you choose to believe you are among God's remnant than that is your prerogative but God says otherwise. You are on the broad path! A battle has been fought for you by Satan and he's won your life- your eternal life. He wants you to perish eternally with Him.


We can't ignore this! Please don't ignore this!


Christ our righteousness, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior must be in our lives- the testimony of Him readily on our lips, apparent in our lives. The commandments of God have never been burdensome except to those who side with Satan. The commandments of God were formed out of love for us, not as punishment. God's remnant will KEEP His commandments, not believing their works are saving them at all whatsoever but they will keep His commandments out of their love for Him!


By His grace may we be among the remnant!


Please Lord,
Save us!


In His love!


Amen.

Prophecy - 13

The Little Horn.


Why is this little horn so big? A contradiction, no, not at all, not really. Many little things have huge impacts upon our lives.


Dan 7:8
I considered the horns,
and, behold, there came up among them another little horn,
before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots
and, behold,
in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man,
and a mouth speaking great things.


Dan 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
Dan 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and...


...another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.


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.


Dan 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

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Dan 8:9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn
which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.
Dan 8:10 And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven
and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground
and stamped upon them.
Dan 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host
and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away
and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
Dan 8:12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it
cast down the truth to the ground
and it practised,
and prospered.


Dan 8:13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
Dan 8:14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.


Dan 8:20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
Dan 8:21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.
Dan 8:22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.


Dan 8:23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
Dan 8:24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power
and he shall destroy wonderfully,
and shall prosper,
and practise,
and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
Dan 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand
and he shall magnify himself in his heart,
and by peace shall destroy many
he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes
but he shall be broken without hand.


Do you see? There is so much to study! So much to contemplate and understand by the grace and mercy of God.


We've talked of the possibility of the 1260 days rather than being a mere 3 and 1/2 years that the little horn would wear out the saints of the most high, rather than this amazing power thinking to change times and laws in such a short period of time, that Biblically this could possibly mean 1260 years. We know from studying history and applying it to the prophecy that the little horn is the Papacy (Papal Rome) and we know that the Papacy has had great influence in our history not for a mere 3 1/2 years but for many, many, many more. The times and laws this little power would think to change didn't occur instantaneously but rather during the course of its history and NO ONE can dispute that the Papacy has literally changed times and laws, even the Papacy itself knows it has done this as no other has. The Papacy knows that it has taken upon itself to be a power of influence, an authoritative power claiming to have authority over all others, claiming to be the only ones who can truly interpret even the Bible correctly. I don't lie! This is fact!


Read this excerpt--


From Cardinal Merry de Val, "Forward," in the Index of Prohibited Books, revised and published by order of His Holiness Pope Pius XI (new ed.; [Vatican City]: Vatican Polyglot Press, 1930), pp. ix-xi:


[p. ix] What many, indeed fail to appreciate, and what, moreover non-Catholics consider a grave abuse — as they put it of the Roman Curia, is the action of the Church in hindering the printing and circulation of Holy Writ in the vernacular. Fundamentally however, this ac- [p. x] cusation is based on calumny. During the first twelve centuries Christians were highly familiar with the text of Holy Scripture, as is evident from the homilies of the Fathers and the sermons of the mediaeval preachers; nor did the ecclesiastical authorities ever intervene to prevent this. It was only in consequence of heretical abuses, introduced particularly by the Waldenses, the Albigenses, the followers of Wyclif, and by Protestants broadly speaking (who with sacrilegious mutilations of Scripture and arbitrary interpretations vainly sought to justify themselves in the eyes of the people; twisting the text of the Bible to support erroneous doctrines condemned by the whole history of the Church) that the Pontiffs and the Councils were obliged on more than one occasion to control and sometimes even forbid the use of the Bible in the vernacular...
[p. xi] Those who would put the Scriptures indiscriminately into the hands of the people are the believers always in private interpretation — a fallacy both absurd in itself and pregnant with disastrous consequences. These counterfeit champions of the inspired book hold the Bible to be the sole source of Divine Revelation and cover with abuse and trite sarcasm the Catholic and Roman Church.


Far from championing the spread of the Bible, and the translation into the vernacular, the Catholic Church has a history of repression and censorship in this regard. It was really the combination of the reformation and the advent of the printing press that "let the cat out of the bag." It seems that Bibles could be printed faster than they (and their authors or owners) could be burned. Since Catholicism could no longer contain the Bible and keep it out of the hands of the laity, the issue has become one of authority to interpret.

For those Catholics who continue to maintain that the Roman Catholic Church was justified in seizing and burning "faulty" vernacular Bibles, and that grave errors in translation were the primary reason for destroying them, I offer the following challenge:

Tyndale's Bible has recently been republished by David Daniell and Yale University Press and can still be found at some bookstores. Tyndale's New Testament is 0-300-04419-4 for the hardback and 0-300-06580-9 for the paperback. Tyndale's Old Testament in hardback is ISBN 0-300-05211-1. Mr. Daniell has updated the spelling but remained faithful to the original text.
http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/tyndale/

The Geneva Bible's 1602 New Testament has also been reprinted in facsimile by Pilgrim Classic Commentaries in 1989 from an original in the Cambridge University Library. The ISBN is 0-8298-0789-6 for the hardback and ISBN 0-8298-0785-3 for the paperback.

The 1611 Authorized Version (King James) Bible has also been reprinted word-for-word with original spelling by Thomas Nelson Publishers in 1993.


In addition, to my knowledge, the Roman Catholic Church was unsuccessful in completely destroying all copies of any "heretical" reformation era vernacular translations of the Bible. Despite their diligence, there are surviving copies existing today that can be studied. I therefore challenge Catholics to produce Catholic documents from the reformation period that cite and explain in detail the grave "errors" in vernacular Protestant Bibles, that warranted not only their destruction, but also frequently the death of the author, as well as those found in possession of said Bibles. It would seem that any charge of grave translation "errors" can still be verified by almost anyone today from either original editions or facsimile reprints. So mere claims of faulty vernacular Bibles proves absolutely nothing without providing citations of the exact verse and Bible edition where the alleged error occurs.

I maintain that the objections of the Catholic church to the various attempts to produce a Bible in the vernacular, were not that of faulty translations (although that claim was made), but rather that of "unauthorized heretical" interpretations that resulted from widespread publication and the laity finally being able to read the entire Bible for themselves in their own tongue, as noted in the various items above. The laity was then able to discern the truth for themselves, and the biblical truth was often at odds with Catholic teaching. Dissent flourished with the availability of the Bible, and so persecution of these heretics increased as well, in an attempt by the church to maintain control and assert her presumed authority. It is a sad chapter in history that is quite well documented.

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This is our history! This isn't some made up story, but truth as it happened. The Papacy today can apologize all it desires but it cannot wipe out the facts of its behavior over the many, many year it has been in existence. Was it a one year mistake on their part? No, more years than we can truly fully fathom as reality the Papacy used the authoritative power it was given not by God but by worldly men in worldly power, to bring abuse after abuse, corruption after corruption of God's truth to people trying to force it upon them. But there was a people- the few among the many- who stayed to the narrow path Jesus implemented and these people were abused but kept alive, not totally wiped out which would have suited the Papacy just fine. In fact today the Papacy claims to be the head of the ONE TRUE CHURCH and all other are called to join her. Yes, the Papacy would love unity but in truth, only fully by all others converting to her religion.


So seriously, we can honestly say there would be a 1260 year period in which the Papacy would hold sway, even against those of the wilderness faith- God's true people as they- in the minority by far, would hold fast to truth over error. But there would come a time when the full force of military power would be stripped away and the influence of the Papacy would begin to wane until we come to our current place in time where the Papacy while having great power and influence does not have what it once had that power to condemn men to death on their word. That power was cut down, a death blow was struck that would reverberate onwards to affect the course of the Papacy's history, shaping it into what it is now. That wound is healed now, but the change was made and God's wilderness people, His true people were allowed to flourish and after this death blow- knowledge began to increase and the little book of Daniel was eventually to be opened for comprehension.


During the various Papal reigns there were many events to take place, the head of the Papacy would be relocated, he would excommunicate people who would go on to form religions without him being in authority. People would be unhappy with Him and yet to actually take a Pope captive and strip him forcibly of his power, making him powerless to lead as if he were truly dead - unable to communicate with any of his priests, his bishops, his cardinals, all those who looked to him… well this only happened one time that I can ascertain.


In 1798 this happened--

• 1798: Pope Pius VI taken prisoner by the armies of Napoleon I, dies in captivity in France.

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General Berthier marched to Rome, entered it unopposed on 10 February 1798, and, proclaiming a Roman Republic, demanded of the Pope the renunciation of his temporal authority.
Upon his refusal he was taken prisoner, and on 20 February was escorted from the Vatican to Siena, and thence to the Certosa near Florence. The French declaration of war against Tuscany led to his removal (he was escorted by the Spaniard Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marquis of Labrador) by way of Parma, Piacenza, Turin and Grenoble to the citadel of Valence, the chief town of Drôme where he died six weeks after his arrival, on 29 August 1799, having then reigned longer than any Pope

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So a blow is struck here against the papal idea of supremacy, something it had for so long it was all but incomprehensible to people that it could ever be touched. Touched it was. Some might argue the papacy wasn't down for the count long, and they'd be right. The deadly wound would begin to heal and as mentioned before the power it would have would be ultimately much different than what it once held.


If we are to take the 1260 days and make them prophetic years and then take the date history provides as the date the Papacy was dealt a severe, deadly blow (the Pope did die in captivity after being pulled from power), then we are left with the date 538 AD as the date the Papacy began to wield its strange power over the governmental forces. Can we find any historical significance to this date, to this year?


The man in civil power was Justinian this is said about him-

Justinian was one of the first Roman Emperors to be depicted wielding the cross on the obverse of a coin.

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And of the pope -

On 29 June, 538, a decretal was sent to Bishop Profuturus of Braga containing decisions on various questions of church discipline. Bishop Auxanius and his successor, Aurelian of Arles, entered into communication with the pope respecting the granting of the pallium as a mark of the dignity and powers of a papal legate for Gaul; the pope sent suitable letters to the two bishops.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15427b.htm


Pallium-

As early as the 6th century the pallium was considered a liturgical vestment to be used only in the church, and indeed only during Mass, unless a special privilege determined otherwise. This is proved conclusively by the correspondence between Pope Gregory I and John of Ravenna concerning the use of the pallium

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History --


Siege of Rome (537–538)


The First Siege of Rome during the Gothic War lasted for a year and nine days, from 2 March 537 to 12 March 538.[1] It was fought between the defending East Romans, under general Belisarius, and the Ostrogothic army under king Vitiges. The siege was the first major encounter between the forces of the two opponents, and played a decisive role in the subsequent development of the war.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Rome_(537%E2%80%93538)

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In 538 AD there are a few notable events. Just as in 1798 the Pope was pulled from power and exiled until he died in 1799, events can begin that continue on, or events and culminate. The importance of something begun can't be overlooked. We are looking at the little horn power and at this time in history papal and military we can see the influence of the two combined and separately. The intertwining of the Papal influence with things secular, things military can't be denied.

*


'After Agapetus's death on April 22, 536, Vigilius returned to Rome equipped with letters from the imperial Court and with money. Meanwhile Pope Silverius had been made pope through the influence of the King of the Goths. Soon after this the Byzantine commander Belisarius garrisoned the city of Rome, which was, however, besieged again by the Goths. Vigilius gave Belisarius the letters from the Court of Constantinople, which recommended Vigilius himself for the Papal See. False accusations now led Belisarius to depose Silverius. Owing to the pressure exerted by the Byzantine commander, Vigilius was elected pope in place of Silverius and was consecrated and enthroned on March 29, 537.
Vigilius brought it about that the deposed Silverius was put into his keeping where the late pope soon died from the harsh treatment he received. After the death of this predecessor Vigilius was recognized as pope by all the Roman clergy. Much in these accusations against Vigilius appears to be exaggerated, but the manner of his elevation to the See of Rome was not regular.'

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One Pope- Silverius was established but another man desiring to be pope used false means (secular means-governmental not religious means) to dispose of Silverius. He didn't kill him outright, in fact the exact date of his death is unknown. Vigilius the man who was instrumental in this deception had the disposed pope treated very harshly until he did die and then Vigilius became the Pope- all because of the mingling of the religion with the politics of the time. This is important to note, because in 1798 when the Pope was torn from power by the military authority it is very, very similar to Pope Silverius' disposal. Torn from power by deception, in exile they both died. This is a connection we cannot fail to make. While it began in 537, again, the exact date of the pope's death isn't know and it's definite that in 538 the successor pope was in charge having begun fully and completely leaving NO doubt that the papacy had been gained through deception, it was thoroughly corrupt … this man's 'elevation to the See of Rome was not regular'. No, it was far from regular but it was right on time to usher in the evil mingling fully that had been slowly creeping into play. I read somewhere, but it's too late for me to look for it now and I'm tired (maybe tomorrow hehe) that Pope Silverius was one of the last genuinely good Pope's that would exist for a long, long time. Of course we know the whole of it, the man of sin was at work right away guiding things to suit himself and in 538 AD we are left with NO doubt that the corruption was sealed and would only continue on and on growing over time- history proves this without a doubt.


Only those with willing eyes will see, only those with willing ears will hear… only a very small group will accept truth where it is exposed. I pray to God we are among those elect. Please God help us to hear and see all that we need to, all according to Your righteousness not because any of us have any righteousness in and of ourselves. We are only deserving through Christ, because He is deserving and it's through Him we pray, live, and love.


All glory to God!
Thank you Jesus!


Amen.

Prophecy - 12

Picking up from yesterday… (This study is very lengthy but soooo worth taking the time to read)


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--


Is it possible that days could equal years in prophecy… is this a principle in the Bible- not a man made principle, but a Biblical one?


Ezekiel is a Biblical prophet without a doubt, and this is found there in the book of Ezekiel-


Eze 4:6 And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.


Forty days- each day for a year.


Now I'm not telling anyone that every time a day is mentioned in the Bible it means it's really a year, that would be just crazy. However, we read something like this- 'thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days' and we think…day… a 24 hour period of time, not a year. Yet it spells it right out there in Ezekiel- I have appointed thee each day for a year- and suddenly a day might not always mean just a day, right? Seriously. Forty days-I have appointed thee each a day for a year. Forty years. So why even say forty days if forty years is meant in the first place? I'll tell you what I think, that there would be prophecies that included this way of interpretation and to outright say that there would be a power that dominated over God's people for one thousand two hundred and sixty years would be a bit more than could be comprehended because seriously who really contemplates things in that vein? In thousands of years. What would it mean to those living in the time of the thighs or legs, or even to those living in the toes?


Daniel was told this very important fact and we CANNOT neglect to comprehend it--


Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.


Shut up the words.
Seal the book
Even to the TIME of the END.
Many shall run to and for and
KNOWLEDGE shall be increased.


The book would be unsealed, the words would no longer be shut up at the time of the end when knowledge would increase. Understanding of these prophecies would only happen when it became necessary. Understanding would unfold when history had fulfilled so much of the prophecy there could be left NO DOUBT as to its validity. Once there is no doubt to the validity of these prophecies then the logical conclusion is this… the prophecy yet unfulfilled WILL BE FULFILLED! Nothing would stop the rest of the prophecy from coming to pass, not one single thing and there is no doubt in the slightest. God would have a people, a true people that would exist as His saints when Christ returns and these people will inherit the kingdom He has prepared for them- history proves this!


So we can see how important it is for us to look at this in light of history. Three and a half years after that little horn power ascended the saints were not suddenly through being persecuted and oppressed by any power. Three and a half years after that power ascended NOTHING occurred to indicate that the saints were no longer going to be caught under this new, different power. As a matter of fact the worst was yet to come. That little horn power of the Papacy fulfills the prophecy picture logically as NO other does.


Let's ask ourselves a questions about things people learn in school during history lessons.


Has the Papacy ever persecuted God's people?


According to them- not really. They made a few mistakes and such but they've never been in a position which warranted their being completely wrong . They've apologized but even today they believe they are God's only true people. But history tells us at great lengths about just how severe the papal punishments were for those who didn't believe as they did, for those who didn't accept their religion. You couldn't be a non-Catholic and NOT be persecuted at one point in history, to be anything but Catholic meant you were a pagan, a heretic, a heathen.


Tell me this- please- where did Jesus ever institute such a thing?! Where?! Where in our Bible did Jesus tell us to force people to believe in Him? Where in our Bibles did Jesus say to torture and kill those who dared to speak out against Him? I can't find it anywhere! Yet the Papacy killed many all in the name of Jesus!


Let's read a few facts…


'The first Inquisition was established in Languedoc (south of France) in 1184.


In the 13th century, Pope Gregory IX (reigned 1227–1241) assigned the duty of carrying out inquisitions to the Dominican Order. They used inquisitorial procedures, a legal practice common at that time. They judged heresy alone, using the local authorities to establish a tribunal and to prosecute heretics. After the end of the twelfth century, a Grand Inquisitor headed each Inquisition. Grand Inquisitions persisted until the 19th century.[8]


By the start of the 16th century the Catholic Church had reached an apparently dominant position as the established religious authority in western and central Europe dominating a faith-landscape in which Judaism, Waldensianism, Hussitism, Lollardry and the finally conquered Muslims al-Andalus (the Muslim-dominated Spain) hardly figured in terms of numbers or of influence.


When the institutions of the church felt themselves threatened by what they perceived as the heresy, and then schism of the Protestant Reformation, they reacted. Paul III (Pope from 1534 to 1549) established a system of tribunals, administered by the "Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition", and staffed by cardinals and other Church officials. This system would later become known as the Roman Inquisition. In 1908 Pope Saint Pius X renamed the organisation: it became the "Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office". This in its turn became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith[9] in 1965, which name continues to this day[update].'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition


Now read this very MODERN news article and NOTE the date it was written (2004)-


'Vatican downgrades Inquisition toll

Report: Torture, burning at stake less common than thought

The Associated Press

updated 6/15/2004 6:35:20 PM ET

VATICAN CITY — Torture, burning at the stake and other punishment for the faithful condemned as witches or heretics by church tribunals during the Inquisition was not as widespread as commonly believed, the Vatican said Tuesday.

Pope John Paul II praised the research, recalling that in 2000, the church asked pardon for “errors committed in the service of the truth through recourse to non-evangelical methods.”
“In the opinion of the public, the image of the Inquisition represents almost the symbol ... of scandal,” the pontiff wrote in a letter about the research. “To what degree is this image faithful to reality?”

In 2000, John Paul apologized for the sins of Roman Catholics made in the name of their faith, including abuses during the Inquisition, a systematic crackdown by church officials to defend doctrinal orthodoxy.

Catholics suspected of being heretics, witches or others considered of dubious faith, including Muslims and Jews who had converted to Catholicism, were among the targets.
At a news conference to present a 783-page book on the findings, church officials and others involved in the project said statistics and other data demolished long-held clichés about the Inquisition.

“The recourse to torture and the death sentence weren’t so frequent as it long has been believed,” said Agostino Borromeo, a professor at Rome’s Sapienza University.
For some, the scholars’ conclusions had limited value.


‘Cannot excuse the work of the Inquisition’
“Vatican research findings are interesting, but they cannot excuse the work of the Inquisition that terrorized and led to the expulsion of thousands from their homes,” said David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee.

Borromeo, who oversaw the volume, said that while there were some 125,000 trials of suspected heretics in Spain, researchers found that about 1 percent of the defendants were executed.

In Portugal, 5.7 percent of the more than 13,000 people tried before church tribunals in the 16th and early 17th century were condemned to death, he said. In many cases, courts ordered mannequins to be burned when the condemned escaped capture.

Many of the executions during the centuries spanned by the Inquisition were carried out by non-church tribunals — including witch hunts in Protestant countries, Borromeo said.
The study grew out of a 1998 conference at the Vatican of 50 historians and other experts from Europe and North America.


Pope: ‘Before seeking pardon ... the facts’
“Before seeking pardon, it is necessary to have a precise knowledge of the facts,” John Paul wrote in his letter, expressing “strong appreciation” for the research. He said his 2000 prayer for pardon “was valid both for the dramas tied to the Inquisition as well as for the wounds of memory that are the consequence of it.”

The pontiff, who lived through the horrors of Nazism in his native Poland, has dedicated a good deal of his papacy to the theological question of asking forgiveness.

He has prayed for forgiveness for the wrongdoing of the faithful in slavery and the Holocaust, among other events. The Inquisition’s horrors are delicate for the church, since it was an ecclesiastical institution, ordered by popes.

Michael Marrus, a Holocaust historian at the University of Toronto, ventured that the Vatican’s promotion of the findings could reflect the opinions of those in the church hierarchy who don’t share the pope’s passion for apologies.

Leaving aside what he called the “numbers game” of Inquisition statistics, Marrus said: “While the pope is a great promoter of the apologies, not everyone in the curia, and certainly not everyone in church leadership, shares this disposition.”


Galileo ‘rehabilitated’
Among those the Inquisition went after was the scientist Galileo Galilei, who was “rehabilitated” by the Vatican during John Paul’s papacy. Theresa of Avila and Ignatius of Loyola, destined to become saints, were probed for heresy.

Among the targets were Waldensians, members of a pre-reformation religious sect that was later declared heretical. The group later joined the Protestant fold.

“If there are many or few cases, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is you don’t say, ‘I am right and you are wrong and I burn you,” said Thomas Noffke, a Waldensian pastor in Rome, where a Waldensian preacher was hanged and then burned in 1560.

John Paul said theologians should keep in mind “the dominant mentality in a determined era.”

Borromeo denied the Vatican was playing down the wrongs of the Inquisition. “I don’t want to say that the Inquisition was an ethical institution,” he told Associated Press Television News. “It doesn’t change the nature of the problem — people were tried for their religious beliefs. But for historians, numbers have a significance.”

Cardinal Georges Cottier, a Vatican theologian, stressed the need to have the facts before making judgments about history. “You can’t ask pardon for deeds which aren’t there,” he said.

But one of those at the 1998 conference, Italian Renaissance history professor and Inquisition expert Carlo Ginzburg had his doubts about using statistics to reach a judgment about the period.

“In many cases, we don’t have the evidence, the evidence has been lost,” said Ginzburg.'

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If you took the time to read that entire article you just found out that the Vatican was looking for PROPER statistics before asking pardon for the things they did. They KILLED! They TORTURED! They did this wielding the power of the papacy, thinking that gave them the authority to do this! They were supposed to be doing this with God's blessing. And you know what??? It didn't happen just once. It didn't happen just a few times. It didn't happen over the course of a couple years. It wasn't some mistake quickly repented of. That they are willing to apologize today for it- on their terms- means what? This power, this strange power different from others came up as a force mingling with governmental powers yet not being a government body but rather a religious power and it began to oppress those who did not follow it's rules and regulations, it's laws. Forget the laws that our Savior told us to follow, the papacy instituted its own laws, it's own very strange beliefs that are no where to be found in Scripture. The papacy mingled many of its beliefs with the pagan institutions creating something new out of that which our Savior abhorred, our God condemned.


This is history. This is fact.


So when we read that this little horn would oppress the saints for 1260 days, and using an established possibility of a day equating to a year and read it as the papacy oppressing the saints for 1260 years, what exactly are we understanding here? That there would be over a thousand years of oppression? Was there over a thousand years of oppression by the papacy? Beyond any historical doubt there has been.


Remember yesterday's study? Do you remember reading of any time when the Pope was overthrown, the Papacy taking a very serious blow, the government unseating the Papal authority? Go back and look at it if you want to. Here it is --


'1798: Pope Pius VI taken prisoner by the armies of Napoleon I, dies in captivity in France.'



'In 1796 French Republican troops under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Italy, defeated the papal troops and occupied Ancona and Loreto. Pius VI sued for peace. The price of persuading the French intruder to head north again, agreed in the Treaty of Tolentino, was a massive indemnity, the removal of many works of art from the Vatican collections and the surrender to France of Bologna, Ferrara and the Romagna.


However, on December 28 of that year, a popular French general was killed in a riot outside the French embassy in Rome, thus providing a new pretext furnished for invasion by the French. French army units marched to Rome, entered it unopposed on and, proclaiming a Roman Republic, demanded of the Pope the renunciation of his temporal authority. Upon his refusal to do so, Pius VI was taken prisoner, and on February 20 was ultimately brought to the citadel of Valence in France where he died.'


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'It would be several months before a new pope was elected and there was great political say so in that.
The Pope- the head of the Papacy was torn from power in 1798 and put in exile- where he died.


Pope Pius VII


Following the death of Pius VI, virtually France's prisoner, at Valence in August 1799, the conclave met on 30 November 1799 in the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio, Venice. There were three main candidates, two of whom proved to be unacceptable to the Habsburgs, whose candidate, Alessandro Mattei, could not secure sufficient votes. After several months of stalemate, Chiaramonti was elected as a compromise candidate, certainly not the choice of the die-hard opponents of the French Revolution.[2] He was crowned Pope Pius VII at Venice on 21 March 1800 in a rather unusual ceremony, wearing a papier-mâché papal tiara, since the French had seized the original along with Pius VI, after which a barely seaworthy Austrian ship, the "Bellona", with no cooking facilities, took 12 days to carry him to Pesaro, from where he proceeded to Rome'

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'French Revolution


At the outbreak of the French Revolution, Pius VI witnessed the suppression of the old Gallican Church, the confiscation of pontifical and ecclesiastical possessions in France, and an effigy of himself burnt by the Parisians at the Palais Royal.


Deposition and death under NapoleonMain article: Napoleon and the Catholic Church
In 1796 French Republican troops under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Italy, defeated the papal troops and occupied Ancona and Loreto. Pius VI sued for peace, which was granted at Tolentino on 19 February 1797; but on 28 December of that year, in a riot blamed by papal forces on some Italian and French revolutionists, the popular brigadier-general Mathurin-Léonard Duphot, who had gone to Rome with Joseph Bonaparte as part of the French embassy, was killed and a new pretext was furnished for invasion. General Berthier marched to Rome, entered it unopposed on 10 February 1798, and, proclaiming a Roman Republic, demanded of the Pope the renunciation of his temporal authority.


Upon his refusal he was taken prisoner, and on 20 February was escorted from the Vatican to Siena, and thence to the Certosa near Florence. The French declaration of war against Tuscany led to his removal (he was escorted by the Spaniard Pedro Gómez Labrador, Marquis of Labrador) by way of Parma, Piacenza, Turin and Grenoble to the citadel of Valence, the chief town of Drôme where he died six weeks after his arrival, on 29 August 1799, having then reigned longer than any Pope (except possibly St Peter).


Pius VI elevated Romualdo Braschi-Onesti, the penultimate cardinal-nephew.Pius VI's body was embalmed, but was not buried until 30 January 1800 after Napoleon saw political advantage to burying the deceased Pope in efforts to bring the Catholic Church back into France. His entourage insisted for some time that his last wishes were to be buried in Rome, then behind the Austrian lines. They also prevented a Constitutional bishop from presiding at the burial, as the laws of France then required, so no burial service was held. This recrudescence of the investiture conflict was settled by the Concordat of 1801. Pius VI's body was removed from Valence on 24 December 1801 and buried at Rome 19 February 1802.


Pius VI has been accused of having led a futile and immoral life, of having neglected his duties and of having been bad-tempered and even brutal with his attendants. Allowance of course must be made for enmity and exaggeration, but there can be no doubt that the Pope resorted to low and crooked means of obtaining money, both to meet the demands of his insatiable family and the cost of his own extravagance. As a monarch he was isolated and ignored. When the French Revolution broke out, the population of Avignon and of the Comtat Venaissin turned out the papal officials and declared themselves French citizens. News of this event was received in Paris with a great show of rejoicing and the Pope's effigy was publicly burned in the gardens of the Palais Royal to the accompaniment of ribald jokes and songs." [3].


A long audience with Pius VI is one of the most extensive scenes in the Marquis de Sade's narrative Juliette, published in 1798. Juliette shows off her learning to the Pope (whom she most often addresses as "Braschi") with a verbal catalogue of alleged immoralities committed by his predecessors.


As a means of humiliation, Sylvain Maréchal's play Le Judgment dernier des rois forces the character of the pope to marry after a global revolution has dethroned him and other monarchs.'


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_VI


THIS next piece is a very LONG article but worth reading it for the information it contains--


'Spain, Portugal, and France had at first combined to prevent his election, because he was believed to be a friend of the Jesuits; he was well disposed towards the order, but he dared not revoke the Bull of their suppression.


Still he ordered the liberation of their general, Ricci, a prisoner in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo in Rome, but the general died before the decree of liberation arrived.


Upon the request of Frederick II of Prussia he permitted the Jesuits to retain their schools in Prussia; while in Russia, he permitted an uninterrupted continuation of the order.


Soon after his accession he took steps to root out the Gallican idea of papal supremacy which had been spread in Germany by Hontheim (see FEBRONIANISM. )


***Interjecting a definition of Febronianism-

The main propositions defended by Febronius were as follows. The constitution of the Church is not, by Christ's institution, monarchical, and the pope, though entitled to a certain primacy, is subordinate to the universal Church. Though as the centre of unity he may be regarded as the guardian and champion of the ecclesiastical law, and though he may propose laws, and send legates on the affairs of his primacy, his sovereignty (principatus) over the Church is not one of jurisdiction, but of order and collaboration (ordinis et consociationis). The Roman (ultramontane) doctrine of papal infallibility is not accepted by the other Catholic Churches and, moreover, has no practical utility. The Church is based on the one episcopacy common to all bishops, the pope being only first among equals.

It follows that the pope is subject to general councils, in which the bishops are his colleagues (conjudices), not merely his consultors; nor has he the exclusive right to summon such councils. The decrees of general councils need not be confirmed by the pope nor can they be altered by him; on the other hand, appeal may be made from papal decisions to a general council. As for the rights of the popes in such matters as appeals, reservations, the confirmation, translation and deposition of bishops, these belong properly to the bishops in provincial synods, and were usurped by the papacy gradually as the result of a variety of causes, notably of the False Decretals.

For the health of the Church it is therefore necessary to restore matters to their condition before the False Decretals, and to give to the episcopate its due authority. The main obstacle to this is not the pope himself, but the Curia, and this must be fought by all possible means, especially by thorough popular education (primum adversus abususn ecclesiasticae potestatis remedium), and by the assembling of national and provincial synods, the neglect of which is the main cause of the Church's woes. If the pope will not move in the matter, the princes, and notably the emperor, must act in co-operation with the bishops, summon national councils even against the popes will, defy his excommunication, and in the last resort refuse obedience in those matters over which the papacy has usurped jurisdiction.

***End interjection


Joseph II forbade the Austrian bishops to apply to Rome for faculties of any kind, and suppressed innumerable monasteries. Pius VI resolved to go to Vienna; he left Rome on 27 Feb., 1782, and arrived in Vienna on 22 March. The emperor received him respectfully, though the minister, Kaunitz, neglected even the ordinary rules of etiquette.


The pope remained at Vienna until 22 April, 1782. All that he obtained from the emperor was the promise that his ecclesiastical reforms would not contain any violation of Catholic dogmas, or compromise the dignity of the pope.


The emperor accompanied the pope on his return as far as the Monastery of Mariabrunn, and suppressed this monastery a few hours after the pope had left it.


Scarcely had the pope reached Rome when he again saw himself compelled to protest against the emperor's unjustifiable confiscation of ecclesiastical property.


But when Joseph II filled the vacant See of Milan of his own authority, Pius solemnly protested, and it was probably at this occasion that he threatened the emperor with excommunication.


On 23 Dec., 1783, the emperor unexpectedly came to Rome to return the papal visit. He was determined to continue his ecclesiastical reforms, and made known to the Spanish diplomat, Azara, his project of separating the German Church entirely from Rome.


The latter, however, dissuaded him from taking this fatal step. To avoid worse things, the pope granted him the right of nominating the bishops in the Duchies of Milan and Mantua, in a concordat dated 20 Jan., 1784 (see Nussi, "Conventiones de rebus ecclesiasticis et civilibus inter S. Sedem et civilem potestatem", Mainz, 1870, 138-9).


Joseph's example was followed in Tuscany by his brother, the Grand Duke Leopold II and Bishop Scipio Ricci of Pistoia.


Here the antipapal reforms culminated in the Synod of Pistoia in 1786, where the doctrines of Jansenius and Quesnel were sanctioned, and the papal supremacy was eliminated.


In his Bull "Auctorem fidei" of 28 Aug., 1794, the pope condemned the acts, and in particular eighty-five propositions of this synod.


In Germany the three ecclesiastical Electors of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne, and the Archbishop of Salzburg attempted to curtail the papal authority by convening a congress at Ems (q.v.).


With Portugal the papal relations became very friendly after the accession of Maria I in 1777, and a satisfactory concordat was concluded in 1778 (Nussi, loc. cit., 138-39). In Spain, Sardinia, and Venice the Governments to a great extent followed in the footsteps of Joseph II.


But the most sweeping anti-ecclesiastical reforms were carried out in the Two Sicilies. Ferdinand IV refused the exequatur to all papal briefs that were obtained without the royal permission, and claimed the right to nominate all ecclesiastical beneficiaries.


Pius VI refused to accept the bishops that were nominated by the king and, as a result, there were in 1784 thirty vacant sees in the Kingdom of Naples alone, which number had increased to sixty in 1798.


The king, moreover, refused to acknowledge the papal suzerainty which had existed for eight hundred years.


The pope repeatedly made overtures, but the king persisted in nominating to all the vacant sees. In April, 1791, when more than half the sees in the Kingdom of Naples were vacant, a temporary compromise was reached and in that year sixty-two vacant sees were filled (Rinieri, loc. cit., infra).


In response to the application of the clergy of the United States, the Bull of April, 1788, erected the See of Baltimore.


After the French Revolution, Pius rejected the "Constitution civile du clergé" on 13 March, 1791, suspended the priests that accepted it, provided as well as he could for the banished clergy and protested against the execution of Louis XVI.


France retaliated by annexing the small papal territories of Avignon and Venaissin.


The pope's co-operation with the Allies against the French Republic, and the murder of the French attaché, Basseville, at Rome, brought on by his own fault, led to Napoleon's attack on the Papal States.


At the Truce of Bologna (25 June, 1796) Napoleon dictated the terms: twenty-one million francs, the release of all political criminals, free access of French ships into the papal harbours, the occupation of the Romagna by French troops etc.


At the Peace of Tolentino (19 Feb., 1797) Pius VI was compelled to surrender Avignon, Venaissin, Ferrara, Bologna, and the Romagna; and to pay fifteen million francs and give up numerous costly works of art and manuscripts.


In an attempt to revolutionize Rome the French General Duphot was shot and killed, whereupon the French took Rome on 10 Feb., 1798, and proclaimed the Roman Republic on 15 Feb.


The pope refused to submit, he was forcibly taken from Rome on the night of 20 Feb., and brought first to Siena and then to Florence.


At the end of March, 1799, though seriously ill, he was hurried to Parma, Piacenza, Turin, then over the Alps to Briançon and Grenoble, and finally to Valence, where he succumbed to his sufferings before he could be brought further. He was first buried at Valence, but the remains were transferred to St. Peter's in Rome on 17 Feb., 1802 (see NAPOLEON I). His statue in a kneeling position by Canova was placed in the Basilica of St. Peter before the crypt of the Prince of the Apostles.'


http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12131a.htm


If you've read all that then you know that this portion of history unlike any other- even the Protestant Revolution- was taking the Pope off his throne, was stripping the Pope of all the power he'd accumulated- even if it was being stripped temporarily. The fact that the Pope, the Papacy could be touched in this way opened up a world without that power. The Papacy has never again attained the full power it had. Yes, there were still inquisitions, there were many remnants of the authority, but ask yourself this… does the Papacy have that all controlling sense of power it had back then? No, not at all. The Papacy today can excommunicate anyone it wants to but to put the fear into people that they will be tortured and murdered is gone. The strike by the French against the Papacy was momentous. There had been 247 Pope's, 248 including Pius VI. 248! Today there have been 263 Popes. 248 Popes existed in some form for a long, long, long time and their history is full of corruption, full of horrors, and then one of them was taken from power by a government.


More on this tomorrow, by the grace of God. This is so much to take in, but we are discussing our future- because we are discussing our past in light of Biblical prophecy. We've discussed a lot today pointing to papal history and we're going to discuss more because it is necessary.


May God help us so much because to try and understand this without His guidance is pointless. We can create our own fables out of things and Satan will be right there encouraging us to do so. Please God help us not be deceived.


By His love! By His mercy and grace! Please, Lord, please help us with this. By your righteousness! Amen!!!

Prophecy - 11

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.

Prophecy - 10 Time, times, dividing of time

Let's do a recap here of what we've learned so far.


Daniel 2 tells of a prophetic dream and in that dream is a giant statue that portrays various ruling kingdoms of the Middle East and parts of what is now Europe. At the time of the dream the kingdom in control of Jerusalem was Babylon. Then the Medes and Persians took control of Babylon, after the Medes and Persians the Greeks took control then after that Romans. We then have the ten major areas that Roman was split into.


After that we find in Daniel 7 more information on this same prophetic message. We learned that out of the ten areas that three of them would be plucked up- their rule over the territories they'd taken from Rome would be taken away from them completely and they'd no longer have any power whatsoever to control what they once controlled. Not only that, we learned that a rising power different from every power up to that point in time would have influence over those three powers being displaced. The only logical power that was rising up at the time was the Papacy and that was most assuredly different than all the other military powers that had any sort of control by the governments- the ruling parties and their armies. This new influence came from the rise of Christianity and unfortunately its corruption. It was clear that Papacy was corrupt- God NEVER intended His true people to merge with the government in any way. Jesus wasn't of this world, and as a result those who are His are not of this world. Governments, those whose interest lies in ruling land and the people of it would flourish and even in our greatest democracies we have those who feel the need to be in control of the worldly power because even democracies are a controlling interest for the people of the land they are in.


Jesus did NOT set up a worldly kingdom for His people. Jesus KNEW that from the time of His life on earth bringing salvation to all who would be His, that there would NEVER again be any worldly kingdom that would be God's people. There would be Spiritual Israel and those of Spiritual Israel would be from all over- never congregated into a world power of any sort. Worldly power was not of God and will never be of God no matter how convincing the sheep's clothing the wolf is wearing may be and believe me… no… don't believe me… believe GOD, the evil will take on the appearance of good, the evil will be so incredibly deceptive that only those who would be God's will be kept from succumbing to that evil. If you doubt me that's fine, but don't doubt God.


Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.


Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.


Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.


We've talked before about deception but it bears discussing again because the Papacy today comes across as being reformed from their evil but in truth that can't happen, it won't happen. Prophecy remains true to the end. That *little horn* power rises corrupt and stays corrupt until it is destroyed.


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.
Dan 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.


Once we understand the truth of this as a reality there is much more that falls into place. We've had a couple thousand years of history between the first kingdom, Babylon, and God truly did map things out for us in so many ways.


I'm not a Biblical scholar and will never claim to be one. I'm not a historian and will never claim to be one of those either. I'm just a simple, average person praying for understanding, praying for guidance, praying for forgiveness, praying for God's leading in all I do, praying to have the Holy Spirit's enlightenment as God wills.


Remember we talked of a time, times, and dividing of time, just a brief note on studying it later, we're going to start that now because we are told that the saints would be given into the little horn's hand for a time, times and the dividing of time. Just how long would that be? We're going to find out.


There is another place we read about a time, times, and 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.


It make sense doesn't it. Right off we know that the saints of God would be under the rule of and oppressed by the little horn power for a time, times, and dividing of time, so… here we have a woman who is given two wings of a great eagle so she could fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is kept safe for a time, times, and half a time (dividing of time).


A woman in the Bible can signify God's people- a church.


Jer 6:2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.


Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.


God's people would be oppressed, the woman- God's people - would be in the wilderness, nourished there in the wilderness while the little horn power was in charge.


We have one prophecy in Daniel, the other prophecy in Revelation- but they are speaking of the exact same thing. There is little doubt here. They're both saying that God's people would be oppressed for this period of time that we still have to determine beyond knowing it is for a time, times, and a dividing of (half of) time.


Let's jump to Revelation 12:6


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


1260 days.


Now that's not a long period of time in the grand scheme of things, remember we have had thousands of years between Babylon and now.


We need to look at more facts here.


There are 30 days to a Biblical month-

Gen. 7:11 17th day of 2nd month (Flood came)
Gen. 8:4 17th day of 7th month (Waters subsided)
Flood continued from 2nd to 7th month= 5 months
Gen. 7:24 'waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days'
150days/30days = 5mos.


So with 30 days to a month we have 360 days to a years.


A time is a year-


Antiquities of the Jews - a highly respected book by Josephus has this to say…


The day is coming when the wicked shall be cut down, and no hope will be left them. No mercy will be mingled with their punishment. They shall be destroyed both root and branch.


"Let seven times pass over him," was the decree. This simple expression is evidently to be understood literally. But how long a period is denoted by the words "seven times"? This may be determined by ascertaining how long Nebuchadnezzar, in fulfillment of this prediction, was driven out to have his dwelling with the beasts of the field. This, Josephus informs us, was seven years. [2] A "Time," here, then, denotes one year.
[2] Flavius Josephus, "Antiquities of the Jews," book 10, chap. 10, sec. 6, Works of Flavius Josephus, p. 316.


Dan 4:23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;


Dan 4:32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.


History records that seven times- was seven years.

So…


A time being a year would be… time= 1 year, times = 2 years, and dividing of time = 1/2 a year so that gives us 3 and 1/2 years.


1 year = 360
2 years = 720
1/2 year = 180


Total = 1260


Amazing isn't it?! Seriously amazing!


The time, times, and dividing of time is the same as the 1260.


This isn't all, we also have mentioned 42 months in bible prophecy.


Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.


What does 42 months amount to? 1 year- 12 months, 2 years- 24 months, 1/2 year- 6 months= 42 months!


These are NOT coincidences, not at all! We have to pay attention to this, we really do. It all goes together in the way God intended it to do and for the serious Bible student, for the sincere Bible student God will enlighten. We have to study this so much more but not all in one night that's for sure.


So, leaving it all here for the night it is my prayer that God bless us all so much. We need His blessing, we need His enlightenment. We need His love, His forgiveness, all He has to give to us we need so desperately.


Thank you Lord for your love and all that entails.


By the grace and mercy of God always!


Amen.

Just Going to Get Dirty Again

Today as I was scrubbing the floor something I rarely do… hey before you think I don't mop the floor I do, but to get down on my hands and knees and scrub it hard getting all the little hard caked on dirt that has accumulated in the linoleum design over the *coff* years, well, let's just say it doesn't happen often. Then again it takes awhile for all that to accumulate, right? Sounds bad, but truthfully, I wash the floor quite a bit but unfortunately the mops (and I've had several) don't seem to keep it from happening. Maybe if I hands and kneed it once a month or so then it wouldn't happen, but I'm just a lazy person. My house is LIVED in, but not disgusting or anything if you know what I mean. I have a collection of dust bunnies that like to be moved around once in a while and sucked up into the vacuum cleaner on occasion but for the most part they enjoy their accommodations under various beds, dressers, couches and such and I don't like to disturb them.


So why am I talking about all this? Well, while I was scrubbing my son comes in and says why are you doing all that, it's just going to get that way again. I chuckled to myself and said because it needs to be done. Then I got to thinking how blessed we are that God doesn't feel that way about us sinners. I can picture the Devil saying, 'Why bother God, they're just going to get dirty again.'


They are just going to get dirty again, so why bother.


We can say this about any number of things in life can't we? Yet, we need to be clean, we need things to be cleaned. We can't live our lives surrounded by dirt, can we? Some people do, and we label them in a lot of bad ways.


We weren't meant to be stained with sin. When we were created we were created sinless and we weren't meant to have to live with sin in our lives. We were created perfect, we were created good. No... we were created VERY good.


Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.


Very good. We were not created for sin. We were NOT created with the intent that we would be born, grow to adult hood, and then slowly deteriorate over time until our bodies could no longer survive. We were created very good. Death was NOT supposed to be a part of our lives, not in any way. The stain of sin was not supposed to cover us but that is as they say… water under the bridge. It happened and now we live this way and some might be inclined to say that we're sinners so that's that, why bother cleaning the sin from our lives if we just remain sinners.


We sin and we ask for forgiveness, then we sin again and we ask forgiveness again- this is how it must be because to just allow ourselves to sin unchecked without feeling any need for forgiveness is to allow that sin to accumulate. The accumulation of sin weighs heavy on our lives, on our spirit. We can't pretend that sin isn't there, or rather we can pretend but that won't make it true. Sins don't just magically slip away, sins don't just disappear, they don't vaporize, they don't have no effect on us. Sin has a lot of effect on our lives but quite often people don't even notice that it does. People don't want to think about the effects of sin in their lives.


Sin is real, but people will encourage others not to believe that sin is real. Whether you believe sin is real or not, it is. Whether you believe you're a sinner or not, you are. We are stained by sin and only the cleansing blood of our Savior can clean that stain.


Odd isn't it, to think about how our human blood stains and isn't always easy to get out. Blood gets into things and often it takes a strong chemical like bleach to destroy all traces of it. From the various crime shows I've seen on tv bleach is one of the only means of getting blood out and off of things and it isn't easy. Blood stains, yet it's the Blood of Christ that frees us from the stain of sin. It's Christ's blood that makes us white as snow.


Isa 1:18 ... though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.


1Jn 1:7 ... the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.


Our sins are as scarlet, our sins are red like crimson- when we ask for forgiveness with genuine repentance then it's Christ's blood that washes over us- cleansing the blood of our sin. Christ's blood washes away the blood of our sins, but if we do not ask for forgiveness then Christ's blood cannot wash away our sins. We remain filthy, we remain covered in sin.


Christ forgives us over and over again, praise God! Yes, we might sin over and over again, just as so much in our lives gets dirty over and over- very little ever stays clean and that's a fact. We spend a lot of time cleaning things in our lives, daily we clean things- ourselves and all that is around us. If we don't clean things, or have others clean them for us we would live in filth and be filthy. We cannot clean sin from ourselves but we can set the cleaning in motion by asking for forgiveness and the mercy of our Savior will clean us by His grace, His love, His righteousness.


So yes, we will get dirty again, just as kitchen floors get dirty over and over, just as so much in life gets dirty and it takes someone's effort or something's effort to clean(look at all the effort we are saved from expending by our washing machines, our dryers, our dishwashers, our self-cleaning ovens, etc). The only one who can clean us spiritually is Christ, there is no other and there will never be another. We must seek cleansing from Christ often, whenever we knowingly get dirty by sin we have to purposely- knowingly ask for forgiveness, this is real, this is a fact, this is necessary and we cannot forget it, we just can't.


Tomorrow we'll pick up more on prophecy, but today this needed to be said.


By the grace of our Lord we may be saved, only by His grace!


In His love always!!! Forgive us Lord, forgive us! Cleanse us!


Amen.

Prophecy - 9

I hope you're not tired of prophecy because there is a long way to go yet. There is so much involved in all this. We don't want to get it wrong though. We don't want to imagine things or make up pieces to fit our own suppositions. The Bible speaks. The Bible gives us clues and such clues that enable us to piece things together.


Do you remember when Jesus talked of speaking in parables?


Mat 13:10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.


Prophecy is meant to be understood- why else would it be given? Many prophets throughout the Old Testament would prophesize and then within the time allotted their prophecy would come to pass. This happened over and over again. God used His prophets to warn people, to encourage people to have faith. Prophets served God's purpose. We can't forget that prophecies are a reality with God, not fables as so many would love to believe. Shove away the prophecies that are too hard to comprehend, that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Hide those things we can't readily understand spoken in plain language. We can't do that. We have to understand that God has a purpose in all He does. Making prophecies hard for us to decipher is for a reason. The prophecies we are studying in Daniel right now reach all the way to the end of time. As long as we are alive and the end has not come this prophecy applies to us.


Like it or not, we are a part of this prophecy. People from the moment it was given were living in prophetic time. Watching things take place, seeing them unfold. Nebuchadnezzar had been told His kingdom would fall and it fell. The Medes and Persians fell. The Greeks fell. Rome was diminished and divided but still exists. Political kingdoms warred and had for many, many years warred against each other fighting, conquering and being conquered. What came into play in the last kingdom prophesized as it was being divided was a new force at play, a different force, a man-like force. Is this to say men were NOT behind the force of those other horns that came up first? They were, but, and this is something we have to really considered- they were not using any religious power to gain their conquered kingdoms, a religious power such as this one did not exist. This religious power was NOT the common pagan priest, not a soothsayer, not a magician that men were making a part of their entourage. This was a NEW power that hadn't existed before and the power came into being under our SAVIOR. This power became a counterfeit to our Savior's truth. This power put on a form of godliness. This power took the things of God and warped them from their pure simple truths into something to serve man, not God. And as they became corrupt, claiming God as their High Authority, they put themselves in league with the warring factions. They submitted to the kings and rulers, bowing to them, and agreeing to pervert their truths in order to gain power, to gain prestige, to gain acceptance, to stop their persecution. These men became as guilty as the Pharisees themselves that Jesus condemned. As they perverted Christianity into their own selfish ideas they aligned themselves with others and used their influence to rid themselves of their worst distracters desiring to make themselves more powerful and their enemies less powerful, destroying them if possible to further their own ambitions.


I need to jump back to history again here and bring up a few bits and pieces of the rising Papacy of the day as recorded as put forth from the Catholic Encyclopedia.


PLEASE read them if you can, it's NOT easy to read history if you've no inclination to do so but to catch these points here means bringing to life the reality of the time. The rising of that Little Horn displacing other Horns through its MOUTH, its EYES, not through its beasts strength, not through military power.


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POPE St. Agapetus I
(Also AGAPITUS.)
Reigned 535-536. Date of birth uncertain; died 22 April, 536... Meanwhile Belisarius, after the very easy conquest of Sicily, was preparing for an invasion of Italy. The Gothic king, Theodehad, as a last resort, begged the aged pontiff to proceed to Constantinople and bring his personal influence to bear on the Emperor Justinian.


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POPE St. Silverius
(Reigned 536-37).

The Empress Theodora, who favoured the Monophysites sought to bring about the election as pope of the Roman deacon Vigilius who was then at Constantinople and had given her the desired guarantees as to the Monophysites. However, Theodatus, King of the Ostrogoths, who wished to prevent the election of a pope connected with Constantinople, forestalled her, and by his influence the subdeacon Silverius was chosen.


However, the pope committed himself to nothing and Theodora now resolved to overthrow him and to gain the papal see for Vigilius. Troublous times befell Rome during the struggle that broke out in Italy between the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines after the death of Amalasuntha, daughter of Theodoric the Great. The Ostrogothic king, Vitiges, who ascended the throne in August, 536, besieged the city. The churches over the catacombs outside of the city were devastated, the graves of the martyrs in the catacombs themselves were broken open and desecrated. In December, 536, the Byzantine general Belisarius garrisoned Rome and was received by the pope in a friendly and courteous manner. Theodora sought to use Belisarius for the carrying out of her plan to depose Silverius and to put in his place the Roman deacon Vigilius, formerly apocrisary at Constantinople, who had now gone to Italy. Antonina, wife of Belisarius, influenced her husband to act as Theodora desired. By means of a forged letter the pope was accused of a treasonable agreement with the Gothic king who was besieging Rome. It was asserted that Silverius had offered the king to leave one of the city gates secretly open so as to permit the Goths to enter. Silverius was consequently arrested in March, 537, roughly stripped of his episcopal dress, given the clothing of a monk and carried off to exile in the East. Vigilius was consecrated Bishop of Rome in his stead.


Silverius was taken to Lycia where he was went to reside at Patara. The Bishop of Patara very soon discovered that the exiled pope was innocent. He journeyed to Constantinople and was able to lay before the Emperor Justinian such proofs of the innocence of the exile that the emperor wrote to Belisarius commanding a new investigation of the matter. Should it turn out that the letter concerning the alleged plot in favour of the Goths was forged, Silverius should be placed once more in possession of the papal see. At the same time the emperor allowed Silverius to return to Italy, and the latter soon entered the country, apparently at Naples. However, Vigilius arranged to take charge of his unlawfully deposed predecessor. He evidently acted in agreement with the Empress Theodora and was aided by Antonina, the wife of Belisarius. Silverius was taken to the Island of Palmaria in the Tyrrhenian Sea and kept their in close confinement. Here he died in consequence of the privations and harsh treatment he endured. The year of his death is unknown, but he probably did not live long after reaching Palmaria. He was buried on the island, according to the testimony of the "Liber pontificalis" on 20 June; his remains were never taken from Palmaria. According to the same witness he was invoked after death by the believers who visited his grave. In later times he was venerated as a saint. The earliest proof of this is given by a list of saints of the eleventh century (Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire, 1893, 169). The "Martyrologium" of Peter de Natalibus of the fourteenth century also contains his feast, which is recorded in the present Roman Martyrology on 20 June.


POPE Vigilius


Vigilius is said to have agreed to the plans of the intriguing empress who promised him the Papal See and a large sum of money (700 pounds of gold). After Agapetus's death on 22 April, 536, Vigilius return to Rome equipped with letters from the imperial Court and with money. Meanwhile Silverius had been made pope through the influence of the King of the Goths. Soon after this the Byzantine commander Belisarius garrisoned the city of Rome, which was, however, besieged again by the Goths. Vigilius gave Belisarius the letters from the Court of Constantinople, which recommended Vigilius himself for the Papal See. False accusations now led Belisarius to depose Silverius. Owing to the pressure exerted by the Byzantine commander, Vigilius was elected pope in place of Silverius and consecrated and enthroned on 29 March, 537. Vigilius brought it about that the unjustly deposed Silverius was put into his keeping where the late pope soon died from the harsh treatment he received. After the death of this predecessor Vigilius was recognized as pope by all the Roman clergy.


Vigilius refused to acknowledge the imperial edict and was called to Constantinople by Justinian, in order to settle the matter there with a synod. According to the Liber pontificalis on 20 November, while the pope was celebrating the feast of St. Cecilia in the Church of St. Cecilia in Trastevere, and before the service was fully ended, he was ordered by the imperial official Anthimus to start at once on the journey to Constantinople. The pope was taken immediately to a ship that waited in the Tiber, in order to be carried to the eastern capital, while a part of the populace cursed the pope and threw stones at the ship. Rome was now besieged by the Goths under Totila and the inhabitants fell into the greatest misery. Vigilius sent ships with grain to Rome but these were captured by the enemy. If the story related by the Liber pontificalis is essentially correct, the pope probably left Rome on 22 November, 545. He remained for a long time in Sicily, and reached Constantinople about the end of 546 or in January, 547.


Thus at the end of a sorrowful residence of eight years at Constantinople the pope was able, after coming to an understanding with the emperor, to start on his return to Rome in the spring of 555


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Reading those few bits of historic information we can see how the Pope's entered into alliances with the military powers- the emperors, the empresses, the kings, the queens, the generals- rather than fight in the sense of retaining a pure alliance to God- they chose compromise with the world, they chose mammon, they chose the broad path and we know where that leads. It'd be great to be able to say this changed- but the Little Horn only continued to fit more and more into the prophetic picture as the Papal System.


More tomorrow by the grace of God.


May we pray with a sincere heart for His guidance in all things, in all truth. We need His guiding love, we need the Holy Spirit desperately so that we are not deceived as all but the very elect will be. Only through the righteousness of our Savior will we be saved by His grace.


In His amazing love!


Amen.