The Final War over Worship

>> Have you ever seen a bald eagle's nest? Eagles often use the same nest year after year; and over time, some nests grow to enormous size, many up to 9 feet in diameter and weighing 2 tons. Both parents provide well for their offspring, and the young birds grow quickly as they eat voraciously, adding a pound every five days. But eventually, they must learn to fly and hunt for themselves. Life for young eagles is tough, and tragically, only 10 to 20% survive to adulthood. They get electrocuted by landing on wires, they're hunted by poachers, hit by vehicles, and sometimes they simply starve. They were once declared an endangered species, but they've made a surprising comeback. Because of its grace, speed, strength, and its size, the bald eagle was chosen to symbolize the United States of America.

Not only do nations today choose animals as their national mascots or symbols, the Bible also uses different beasts to identify the characteristics of prominent kingdoms in prophecy. So join me now as we discover what the Bible really says about the future of the United States of America.

>>I think that we would all agree that there's something that resembles a war happening in different parts of the world right now and we're calling it a war against terrorism. I think even Pope Francis was quoted this last year as saying, "It looks like World War III is going to happen in piecemeal all over the planet." And even this week another terrorist incident.

Just a few facts you might be interested in: largest religion in the world, when you combine Protestants and Catholics, is Christianity. Approximately 2.17 billion Christians in the world, out of - pushing 8 billion - people. There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. Virtually every other major religion is either flat, as far as growth, or declining. Buddhism is declining. Hinduism is showing flat growth. Judaism - a number of other religions - the two religions that are still showing growth - Christianity and Islam. Islam is growing faster. Historians that look at what's happening today realize this is not a political problem, it's a religious problem. And some have wondered, 'Does prophecy say anything about Islam? Does prophecy say anything about Christianity and America?' And this lesson is going to be talking about that and the answer is 'Yes'.

So let's get right into some of these prophecies here in Revelation. And the first one is Revelation chapter 13, verse 15 - there's a verse there I want you to notice - speaking of the beast power that you find in Revelation 13 - it says, "He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed." Now, just from that verse right there, you can tell that there is going to be some conflict connected with religion. It's a war connected with worship. And you've seen it play out several times in history. Let's go into the first question and it's going to set us up for, I think, what you'll find to be a very interesting study.

So how long does a day represent in biblical time? When you're calculating biblical prophecies, does it mean a day is a day?

>>No.

>>So when it talks about this three and a half years - 42 months - one thousand two hundred and sixty days - you realize that that is a time prophecy given more different ways - you not only find it in Revelation 13, Revelation 12, Daniel chapter 7 - this is a time period found several times in the Bible.

So what does a day equal in prophecy? Several verses share with that. If you look, for instance, in the book of Numbers chapter 14, verse 34, you can read there: "According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years." Perhaps you remember when the spies first went - twelve spies - to look at the Promised Land, they came back and they gave a discouraging report. God said, 'Well, because you did not have faith, for every day you spied the land you're going to wander in the wilderness a year' - a day for a year. And then you can also hear that in Ezekiel 4:6 - that "I have laid on you a day for each year." Jesus used this principle - Luke chapter 13 - someone came to Jesus and they said, 'You know, Herod is going to arrest you, just like he killed John the Baptist.' Jesus said, 'Go tell that fox that I teach and do cures and cast out devils today, and tomorrow, and the third day I will be perfected.' Well this is early in Jesus' ministry. He did not teach three more days, He taught three more years. That was a prophecy Christ made and it was exactly fulfilled that way - three more years - Jesus used a day for a year.

So with that principle in mind, how long does it say there in Revelation chapter 13, would this beast power rule before it receives a deadly wound - before it's wounded? If you look in Revelation 13, verse 5, it says, "...And he was given authority to continue for forty-two months." Now that number - keep in mind, in the Jewish calendar - they had a lunar calendar, it wasn't the Roman calendar. They figured thirty days to the month. Three hundred and sixty days to the year and then they'd compensate by adding another month every few years so that it would even out with the seasons. That number - forty-two months - comes to three and a half years or 1,260 days which, by the way, is exactly half of seven - three and a half years is half of seven years.

You'll find that number several times and it's often associated with persecution. Three and a half years - Jesus is crucified - three and a half years after that Stephen is stoned - the first martyr. And so, when it talks about three and a half years there in Revelation, it is a time of darkness and persecution.

Alright, when did the time period for the beast rule begin? And you find the answer for that in history because you can look at history and it's after Bible times were written. The legalized - the legally recognized supremacy of the Pope began in 538 A.D. When there went into effect a decree of Emperor Justinian making the Bishop of Rome, better known as the Pope, head over the churches and the definer of doctrines and the corrector of heretics. And you can also read there Vigilius ascended the papal chair 538 A.D. Under the military protection of Belisarius. Now what was going on is Justinian, the Roman emperor, he moved the capital of Rome to Constantinople. He made the pope in Rome the leader of the church and he gave him a military and called him the corrector of heretics so that he could now use civil power to enforce the religion. Did Jesus ever say that, you know, you're supposed to use civil power to make people believe?

>>No.

>>Now that's a very important point. I'll say more about that a little later. This was a turning point. That happened in 538, where Christianity suddenly became a power that began to persecute, where it used to be a power motivated by love. Jesus said, 'Follow Me' - if someone didn't want to follow Him, they turned and they walked away. And so, I think that y'all understand - that was a change. God - Jesus doesn't want us to use force to make people obey. You can also read here in Abbott's Roman History, "The transfer of the emperor's residence to Constantinople was a sad blow to the prestige of Rome. And, at the same time, one might have predicted her speedy decline" - the decline of the city of Rome. But what happened was that the development of the church and the growing authority of the Bishop of Rome - or the Pope - gave her a new lease on life. It made her again the capital. This time, not the political or military capital, but the religious capital of the world. There was a transference that took place during that time.

Reading on a little more, "To the succession of the Caesars came the succession of the pontiffs in Rome. When Constantine left Rome, he gave his seat to the pontiff." Now, that's an interesting quote from history because you can actually read in the Bible, in Revelation 13, it says that the beast power receives its seat from the dragon. The roman power, ruled by the Caesars, left town and said, 'We're going to vacate our throne here, but you can have our throne; we're moving to another town.' And instead of Rome being the power that ruled the world with civil power or military power, now it was ruling through religious power. 538 A.D. - it's a very easily well-established date in history. How long is 1,260 days in biblical prophecy? 1,260 years. If you go 1,260 years, you come to where?

>>1798

>>1798. I wonder what's going on then. What happens to the beast after 42 months? You can read in Revelation 13, it says, 'I saw one of its heads as it was wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after the beast.' It at least receives a deadly wound. Its power is interrupted. Instead of it having such great control and influence and being - it wasn't just a religious power, it was a civil power over all of Europe and even parts beyond - it started to reach into South America at that point too - and Central America - it would be wounded - it would lose some of that power.

What does history tell us happened? In 1798 - anyone ever heard of Napoleon Bonaparte? He was sweeping across Europe. It was not a religious movement. It was a very secular movement. He sent his general, Berthier, into Rome and through his entrance in Rome, he abolished the papal government and established a secular one. It received a deadly wound. The Bible says in Revelation 13:10, 'He that leads into captivity will go into captivity and he that kills with the sword will be killed with the sword.' And the tables were sort of turned; instead of the Inquisition and them having so much power to torture and force people to convert, and there was a persecution against the Protestants - the Pope was carried off into Valance, France to a fortress city and he died in prison there. And, for over 130 years, they lost their civil power.

But it said it would be temporary. It said the deadly wound would be healed and all the world would wonder. You look in history and in 1929 there was a fellow named Benito Mussolini - anyone remember? You know, I’m getting old. Some of you remember World War II - not too many left anymore - Mussolini, he made a deal with the Pope. He said, 'Look, I need you to endorse me politically. If you agree to endorse me politically, so that my station will grow, we will again give you your independence as a country for the Vatican. We will make you, once again, a civil power as well as religious, so that you can send your ambassadors around the world. And so they signed the Lateran Pact. And they again began to exercise their power. It says, "The Roman question tonight was a thing of the past and the Vatican was at peace with Italy." It says, "In affixing autographs to the memorable document, healing the wound..." - even using the very same wording. And as you look at what's going on in the world today, would you say that they've returned to, not just European, but international prominence as a power?

>> Don't go anywhere, friends. We'll be back in just a moment for the rest of today's presentation. You probably already know that the United States is one of the most powerful economic and military nations in history. But have you ever wondered if the Bible has anything to say about the U.S. In Bible prophecy? What if I told you it does, would it surprise you? Well, it's true. Using vivid symbolic imagery, the book of Revelation details the rise of America and the prominent role that it will play in the last days of human history. If you'd like to know more about this important subject, Amazing Facts wants to send you a special gift called, "The USA in Bible Prophecy." This short, but insightful study guide will astound you as you see for yourself how the book of Revelation pinpoints the United States as a major player in these end-time events, and what you can do to be ready for it.

To get your free copy, call the number on your screen and ask for offer 181 or visit the web address. And after you read this incredible resource, make sure and share it with a friend. Well, let's get back to the rest of today's presentation and learn some more amazing facts from the Word of God.

>>What power will support the beast in the end time? Here's where it gets interesting, friends. Revelation 13:11 it says, "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth;" Now, the first beast comes up out of the sea; this beast comes up out of the earth. And he has two horns like a lamb. Question, is a lamb a good thing or a bad thing, in Revelation? What did John the Baptist say about Jesus? 'Behold the' –

>>Lamb.

>>"Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world." Lamb's good - two horns like a lamb and he spoke like a dragon. Question, is the dragon a good thing or a bad thing in Revelation? Bad thing. So it starts out sounding good, like a lamb; ends up like a dragon. Now what is this second beast in Revelation? I believe it represents North America. More specifically, the United States. You notice, when that time period that we looked at - it reached from 538 - who remembers that number? 1,260 years from 538 comes to 1798. We already told you what was happening in Europe. What was happening over here in 1798? The United States declared its independence in when? 1776. It voted the Constitution in 1787. It adopted the Bill of Rights in 1791 and was finally recognized by the other major empires and countries, as a separate world power, in 1798. The reason it says this second beast rose up out of the earth is because, compared to the teeming multitudes in Europe, this was a vast wilderness. There were still millions of people here, but it was comparatively very sparsely populated. And with the massive immigrations that came from England, Spain, and the Netherlands to the new world - and Portugal - things changed very quickly.

It says he spoke like a dragon. How does a country speak? A nation speaks through its legislative body. This country that started like a lamb, ends up speaking like a dragon. What are those two horns 'like a lamb'? The two things that gave America success and power is that we had a government without a king and we had a church without a pope - freedom of religion; freedom of government. He exercises all the power of the first beast before him and he forces those who dwell therein to worship the first beast who had the wound by the sword but was healed. I don't know if any of you remember this cover from a Time magazine back in 1982 - it was finally revealed how involved the U.S. was with the Catholic church in helping overthrow the former Soviet Union. It talks about this meeting that Ronald Reagan had with Pope John Paul II, and they agreed that the U.S. sent tons of communications equipment into Poland to help solidarity, with Lech Walesa, overthrow communism in that country. And once that happened, the dominos began to fall and it just collapsed. It was something that was orchestrated and it's all - it all came out between - matter of fact, you go to Poland you'll see a picture. Ronald Reagan - there's a bronze of it up on the screen - Ronald Reagan walking with John Paul II because they give them credit for helping overthrow communism in their country and helping them to achieve freedom. This is just public knowledge.

You know, I just can't forget this picture that when Pope John Paul II died and here you've got several presidents that were there kneeling. That's very different from the way things used to be. America, philosophically, was in a very different place than the papacy. We're all about religious freedom. You know, when America - when America was first formed, they actually tried to tell people what day to go to church. That's why we have Sunday laws on our books. There was a pastor, who was also a leader, named Roger Williams and he said, 'You're misunderstanding. It's not a question of whether we force people to keep the Ten Commandments, but which ones.' He said, 'The Ten Commandments are written on two tables of stone. The first four are our personal relationship with God, the last six deal with our relationship with our fellow man.' He said, 'You cannot have a government that tells people how to keep the first four.' You must decide how you worship your God, who your God is, when you worship Him, what His name is. You don't want anyone else telling you that, do you?

>>No.

>>But you don't want a government that does not enforce 'You don't steal, you don't lie, doesn't respect parental rights,' - the last six commandments are civil - they need to be supported by the government. You see the difference? You know why everything costs so much? Because everybody covets everybody's stuff and they're suing everybody. And so Roger Williams understood that. Well, right now, I’m hearing is people say 'Completely get rid of the Ten Commandments', which is a bad idea, or 'Force everybody to keep all of them', which is telling you who to worship. And if we'd go back and realize what our founding fathers understood was the best formula - that's why God put them on two different tables. It says He causes "The earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed."

You know, you just can't get over some of the things you saw happen just a few months ago - this historic trip of Pope Francis to the United States - there was no important place - significant place - that he missed. He went to the White House, spoke to our greatest august body - Congress, the senators, everybody - standing ovation. Would they do that for a pastor? Goes to the United Nations. Goes to Philadelphia where our government was founded - it was all very - and went to the 9/11 memorial - had a joint religious service at the 9/11 memorial, showing solidarity with the United States against - what brought about 9/11? Wasn't it some of this war on worship? Nobody wants to say that but we all know it was religious zealots that did this - that were ready to die for what they believed, crazy as it was.

And so, what you're seeing happening, is a hand being reached across the Atlantic, both ways, to build some solidarity. "They should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." Now what does that mean? It means that what the beast was doing during that 1,260 years of using civil power to force religion, is going to happen again. There are going to be religious laws that will go against the law of God and every child of God is going to have to make a decision: do you obey God or man? Who is going to be first in your life? And the decision Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had to make, and Daniel had to make, whether he was going to go to the lion's den or compromise his faith, every believer is going to have to make.

If I was the devil, let me tell you what I’d do. Now don't misunderstand, I’m not. (laughter) but if I was - I hope not. If the idea is to try to get God's people to break the law of God - doesn't the devil want us to sin?

>>Yes.

>>Bible says he's come down with great wrath because his time is short. He wants to get us to sin. And, you know, in Daniel chapter 3 he tried to get them to break the law about idolatry. It doesn't matter which one, because if you break one, you're guilty of all. James - in Daniel chapter 6 it was the law - the first commandment - don't have other gods. And since it's going to be something that deals with times and laws - the beast power would think to change times and laws - the only commandment that fits into all those categories - related to worship, a time, and a law - is the Sabbath. I would say, 'You know what? I’m going to tell them, 'Keep all Ten Commandments, but on that fourth commandment that has the name of God, where it says 'Keep the seventh day holy' I don't want you to keep the day of God holy. I want you to keep the day of man holy and I’m going to give you a new commandment: instead of worshiping on the seventh day, worship the first day. What difference does one day make?

And it is such a subtle, small thing that most of the world's going to say, 'In the sake of unity, sure. Why not? We all need to make little compromises for unity.'' And there's going to be a coalition of supposed Christians that will gather together and say, 'We all need to come back to God and worship God.' And it's going to sound wonderful. And they're going to say many things we agree with. That's what makes a counterfeit so dangerous, it's similar to the true. And they're going to say, 'We all need to go to church.' Folks'll say, 'Amen! Every Sunday we need to be there.'

And they're going to make laws that are going to persecute those that stand up for the commandments of God - not just the fourth commandment, but probably the other commandments as well. Idolatry may be involved. It says an image to the beast, doesn't it? And people are going to say, 'For the sake of unity we all need to make little sacrifices of our convictions.' And there'll be great persecution against those who stand for God. At one point, they won't be able to buy or sell. And we all know - how easy would it be today, in an almost cashless society, to enforce that? You'll go to swipe your card or to use your pin number and it's going to say 'Malfunction' - it won't work - 'You weren't at the Universal church last week and you cannot buy or sell.' But economic sanctions are more than just what might happen at the supermarket. Does the U.N. and the United States now enforce economic sanctions, telling countries that if you don't cooperate you cannot buy or sell? It's already happening. It's an international economy now.

You can look at the waves - America sneezes and the whole world get ripples, financially. Everyone - everything's interconnected now. What's the only thing that is going to prevent God's end-time people from being deceived? To the law and to the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word it's because there's no light in them. It says, in Acts chapter 17, verse 11, speaking of the people in Berea, "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." You know, friends, it's not going to go on like this forever. Jesus is going to come.

>>Amen!

>>That's the only solution. And I’m not telling you these things to trouble you because, you know, I just want to pause right here and remind you. Even if I could tell you the day and hour of Jesus' coming, that would not save you.

>>Nope.

>>And I can't tell you because nobody knows. The purpose of prophecy is redemptive. Jesus said, 'When these things begin to come to pass lift up your heads.' He said, 'Then you will know - after these things have happened, then you will know that I was telling the truth.' As you're looking back and seeing how Jesus outlined the history of the beast and the second beast and all that's happened, you say, 'Wow, it's all unfolding just like He said. Why does He want us to know that? That must mean what He says in the Bible about saving me from sin is true.'

>>Amen. >>See, that's the reason for prophecy. It's not to just tantalize you with the future, I mean, that's what astrologers do. The reason God shows you He knows about prophecy is so you'll trust His word that it is a supernatural book and what He says about salvation is true and that He has - if He knows the history of the world does He have a history for you?

>>Yes.

>>He has a plan for your life. And nothing happens by accident with God.

>>Amen.

>>He sees everything that's coming.

>>Amen.

>>I’d like to encourage those who are with your groups - some who may be watching on television - you can simply go to the Last Day of Prophecy website and you can watch the presentations - maybe you've missed - and prepare for what's coming upon the world as we speak. These are very interesting times. The Bible tells us a time of trouble is coming such as there never has been. But I’m not afraid. You know why? Because I know Jesus has a plan for my life and if Christ is with you, do you need to be afraid of the fiery furnace? If Christ is with you, do you need to be afraid of the lion's den? If Jesus is with you, do you need to be afraid of the time of trouble? He will go through it all with you, friends, but you must invite Him to be in your heart. Have you done that yet?

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