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35 - Aims of the Papacy - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty five aims of the papacy. Romanism is now
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Speaker 1: regarded by Protestants with far greater favor than in former years.
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Speaker 1: In those countries where Catholicism is not in the ascendancy
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Speaker 1: and the Papists are taking a conciliatory course in order
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Speaker 1: to gain influence, there is an increasing indifference concerning the
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Speaker 1: doctrines that separate the Reformed churches from the papal hierarchy.
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Speaker 1: The opinion is gaining ground that, after all, we do
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Speaker 1: not differ so widely upon vital points as has been supposed,
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Speaker 1: and that a little concession on our part will bring
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Speaker 1: us into a better understanding with Rome. The time was
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Speaker 1: when Protestants placed a high value upon the liberty of conscience,
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Speaker 1: which had been so dearly purchased. They taught their children
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Speaker 1: to abhor popery and held that to seek harmony with
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Speaker 1: Rome would be disloyalty to God. But how widely different
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Speaker 1: are the sentiments now expressed. The defenders of the papacy
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Speaker 1: declare that the Church has been maligned, and the Protestant
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Speaker 1: world are inclined to accept the statement. Many urge that
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Speaker 1: it is unjust to judge the Church of to day
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Speaker 1: by the abominations and absurdities that marked her reign during
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Speaker 1: the centuries of ignorance and darkness. They excuse her horrible
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Speaker 1: cruelty as the result of the barbarism of the times,
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Speaker 1: and plead that the influence of modern civilization has changed
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Speaker 1: her sentiments. Have these persons forgotten the claim of infallibility
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Speaker 1: put forth for eight hundred years by this haughty power,
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Speaker 1: so far from being relinquished, this claim was affirmed in
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Speaker 1: the nineteenth century with greater positiveness than ever before, as
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Speaker 1: Rome asserts that the Church never erred, nor will it
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Speaker 1: according to the scriptures. Ever, err how can she renounce
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Speaker 1: the principles which governed her course in past ages? The
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Speaker 1: papal Church will never relinquish her claim to infallibility. All
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Speaker 1: that she has done in her persecution of those who
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Speaker 1: reject her dogmas she holds to be right, and would
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Speaker 1: she not repeat the same acts. Should be opportunity be presented,
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Speaker 1: Let the restraints now imposed by secular governments be removed,
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Speaker 1: and Rome be reinstated in her former power, and there
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Speaker 1: would speedily be a revival of her tyranny and persecution.
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Speaker 1: A well known writer speaks thus of the attitude of
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Speaker 1: the papal hierarchy as regards freedom of conscience and of
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Speaker 1: the perils which especially threaten the United States from the
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Speaker 1: success of her policy. There are many who are disposed
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Speaker 1: to attribute any fear of Roman Catholicism in the United
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Speaker 1: States to bigotry or childishness. Such see nothing in the
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Speaker 1: character and attitude of Romanism that is hostile to our
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Speaker 1: free institutions, or find nothing portentous in its growth. Let us, then,
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Speaker 1: first compare some of the fundamental principles of our government
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Speaker 1: with those of the Catholic Church. The Constitution of the
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Speaker 1: United States guarantees liberty of conscience. Nothing is dearer or
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Speaker 1: more fundamental. Pope Pious the Ninth, in his encyclical letter
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Speaker 1: of August fifteenth, eighteen fifty four, said, the absurd and
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Speaker 1: erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience
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Speaker 1: are a most pestilential error, a pest of all others,
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Speaker 1: most to be dreaded in a state. The same Pope,
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Speaker 1: in his encyclical letter of December eighth, eighteen sixty four,
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Speaker 1: anathematized those who assert the liberty of conscience and of
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Speaker 1: religious worship. Also all such as maintained that the Church
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Speaker 1: may not employ force. The Pacific town of Rome and
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Speaker 1: the United States does not imply a change of heart.
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Speaker 1: She is tolerant where she is helpless, says Bishop O'Connor.
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Speaker 1: Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be
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Speaker 1: carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world. The
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Speaker 1: Archbishop of Saint Louis once said, heresy and unbelief are crimes,
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Speaker 1: and in Christian countries, as in Italy and Spain, for instance,
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Speaker 1: where all the people are Catholics, and where the Catholic
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Speaker 1: religion is an essential part of the law of the land,
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Speaker 1: they are punished as other crimes. Every cardinal, archbishop and
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Speaker 1: bishop in the Catholic Church takes an oath of allegiance
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Speaker 1: to the Pope, in which occur the following words heretics,
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Speaker 1: schismatics and rebels to our said Lord, the Pope or
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Speaker 1: his aforesaid successors, I will to my utmost persecute and oppose.
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Speaker 1: It is true that there are real Christians in the
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Speaker 1: Roman Catholic communion. Thousands in that church are serving God
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Speaker 1: according to the best light they have. They are not
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Speaker 1: allowed access to His word, and therefore they do not
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Speaker 1: discern the truth. They have never seen the contrast between
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Speaker 1: a living heart service and a round of mere forms
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Speaker 1: and ceremonies. God looks with pitying tenderness upon these souls,
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Speaker 1: educated as they are in a faith that is delusive
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Speaker 1: and unsatisfying. He will cause rays of light to penetrate
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Speaker 1: the dense darkness that surrounds them. He will reveal to
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Speaker 1: them the truth as it is in Jesus, and many
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Speaker 1: will yet take their position with His people. But Romanism
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Speaker 1: as a system is no more in harmony with the
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Speaker 1: Gospel of Christ now than at any former period in
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Speaker 1: her history. The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or
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Speaker 1: they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman
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Speaker 1: Church is far reaching in her plans and modes of operation.
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Speaker 1: She is employing every device to extend her influence and
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Speaker 1: increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict,
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Speaker 1: to regain control of the world, to re establish persecution,
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Speaker 1: and to undo all that Protestantism has done. Catholicism is
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Speaker 1: gaining ground upon every side. See the increasing number of
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Speaker 1: her churches and chapels in Protestant countries. Look at the
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Speaker 1: popularity of her colleges and seminaries in America so widely
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Speaker 1: patronized by Protestants. Look at the growth of ritualism in
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Speaker 1: England and the frequent defections to the ranks of the Catholics.
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Speaker 1: These things should awaken the anxiety of all who prize
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Speaker 1: the pure principles of the Gospel. Distance have tampered with
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Speaker 1: and patronized popery. They have made compromises and concessions which
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Speaker 1: papists themselves are surprised to see and fail to understand.
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Speaker 1: Men are closing their eyes to the real character of
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Speaker 1: Romanism and the dangers to be apprehended from her supremacy.
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Speaker 1: The people need to be aroused to resist the advances
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Speaker 1: of this most dangerous foe to civil and religious liberty.
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Speaker 1: Many Protestants suppose that the Catholic religion is unattractive and
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Speaker 1: that its worship is a dull, meaningless round of ceremony.
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Speaker 1: Here they mistake, while Romanism is based upon deception, it
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Speaker 1: is not a coarse and clumsy imposture. The religious service
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Speaker 1: of the Roman Church is a most impressive ceremonial. Its
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Speaker 1: gorgeous display and solemn rites fascinate the senses of the people,
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Speaker 1: and silence the voice of reason and of conscience. The
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Speaker 1: eye is charmed. Magnificent churches, imposing processions, golden altars, jeweled shrines,
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Speaker 1: choice pains, and exquisite sculpture appeal to the love of beauty.
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Speaker 1: The ear is also captivated. The music is unsurpassed. The
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Speaker 1: rich notes of the deep toned organ, blending with the
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Speaker 1: melody of many voices as it swells through the lofty
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Speaker 1: domes and pillared isles of her grand cathedrals cannot fail
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Speaker 1: to impress the mind with awe and reverence. This outward splendor,
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Speaker 1: pomp and ceremony that only mocks the longings of the
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Speaker 1: sinsic soul, is an evidence of inward corruption. The religion
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Speaker 1: of Christ needs not such attractions to recommend it. In
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Speaker 1: the light shining from the Cross, true Christianity appears so
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Speaker 1: pure and lovely that no external decorations can enhance its
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Speaker 1: true worth. It is the beauty of holiness, a meek
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Speaker 1: and quiet spirit, which is of value with God. Brilliancy
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Speaker 1: of style is not necessarily an index of pure elevated thought.
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Speaker 1: High conceptions of art, delicate refinement of taste often exist
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Speaker 1: in minds that are earthly and sensual. They are often
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Speaker 1: employed by Satan to lead men to forget the necessities
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Speaker 1: of the soul, to lose sight of the future immortal life,
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Speaker 1: to turn away from their infinite helper, and to live
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Speaker 1: for this world alone. A religion of externals is attractive
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Speaker 1: to the unrenewed heart. The pomp and ceremony of the
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Speaker 1: Catholic worship as a seductive, bewitching power by which many
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Speaker 1: are deceived, and they come to look upon the Roman
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Speaker 1: Church as the very gate of heaven. None but those
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Speaker 1: who have planted their feet firmly upon the foundation of truth,
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Speaker 1: and whose hearts are renewed by the spirit of God,
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Speaker 1: are proof against her influence. Thousands who have not an
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Speaker 1: experimental knowledge of Christ will be led to accept the
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Speaker 1: forms of Godliness. Without the power. Such a religion is
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Speaker 1: just what the multitudes desire. The Church's claim to the
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Speaker 1: right to pardon leads the romanis to feel at liberty
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Speaker 1: to sin, and the ordinance of confession, without which her
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Speaker 1: pardon is not granted, tends also to give license to evil.
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Speaker 1: He who kneels before fallen man and opens in confession
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Speaker 1: the secret thoughts and imaginations of his heart is debasing
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Speaker 1: his manhood. And degrading every noble instinct of his soul.
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Speaker 1: In unfolding the sins of his life to a priest,
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Speaker 1: an erring, sinful, mortal, and too often corrupted with wine
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Speaker 1: and licentiousness, his standard of character is lowered, and he
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Speaker 1: is defiled. In consequence, his thought of God is degraded
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Speaker 1: to the likeness of fallen humanity. For the priest stands
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Speaker 1: as a representative of God. This degrading confession of man
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Speaker 1: to man is the secret spring from which has flowed
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Speaker 1: much of the evil that is defiling the world and
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Speaker 1: fitting it for the final destruction. Yet, to him who
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Speaker 1: loves self indulgence, it is more pleasing to confess to
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Speaker 1: a fellow mortal than to open the soul to God.
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Speaker 1: It is more palatable to human nature to do penance
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Speaker 1: than to renounce sin. It is easier to mortify the
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Speaker 1: flesh by sackcloth and nettles and galling chains than to
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Speaker 1: cruci fleshly lusts. Heavy is the yoke which the carnal
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Speaker 1: heart is willing to bear, rather than bow to the
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Speaker 1: yoke of Christ. There is a striking similarity between the
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Speaker 1: Church of Rome and the Jewish Church. At the time
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Speaker 1: of Christ's First Advent. While the Jews secretly trampled upon
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Speaker 1: every principle of the Law of God, they were outwardly
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Speaker 1: rigorous in the observance of its precepts, loading it down
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Speaker 1: with exactions and traditions that made obedience painful and burdensome.
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Speaker 1: As the Jews profess to revere the law, so do
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Speaker 1: Romanists claim to reverence the Cross. They exalt the symbol
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Speaker 1: of Christ's sufferings, while in their lives they deny Him
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Speaker 1: whom it represents. Papists place crosses upon their churches, upon
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Speaker 1: their altars, and upon their garments. Everywhere is seen the
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Speaker 1: insignia of the cross. Everywhere it is outwardly honored and exalted,
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Speaker 1: But the teachings of Christ are buried beneath a mass
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Speaker 1: of senseless traditions, false interpretations, and rigorous exactions. The Saviour's
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Speaker 1: words concerning the bigoted Jews apply with still greater force
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Speaker 1: to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church. They bind
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Speaker 1: heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them
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Speaker 1: on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them
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Speaker 1: with one of their fingers. Conscientious souls are kept in
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Speaker 1: constant terror, fearing the wrath of an offended God, while
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Speaker 1: many of the dignitaries of the Church are living in
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Speaker 1: luxury and sensual pleasure. The worship of images and relics,
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Speaker 1: the invocation of saints, and the exaltation of the Pope
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Speaker 1: are devices of Satan to attract the minds of the
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Speaker 1: people from God and from his son. To accomplish their ruin.
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Speaker 1: He endeavors to turn their attention from Him, through whom
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Speaker 1: alone they can find salvation. He will direct them to
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Speaker 1: any object that can be substituted for the one who
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Speaker 1: has said, come unto me, all ye that labor and
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Speaker 1: are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. It
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Speaker 1: is Satan's constant effort to misrepresent the character of God,
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Speaker 1: the nature of sin, and the real issues at stake
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Speaker 1: in the Great Controversy. His sophistry lessens the obligation of
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Speaker 1: the divine law and gives men licensed to sin. At
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Speaker 1: the same time, he causes them to cherish false conceptions
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Speaker 1: of God, so that they regard Him with fear and
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Speaker 1: hate rather than with love. The cruelty inherent in his
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Speaker 1: own character is attributed to the Creator. It is embodied
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Speaker 1: in systems of religion and expressed in modes of worship.
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Speaker 1: Thus the minds of men are blinded, and Satan secures
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Speaker 1: them as his agents to war against God. By perverted
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Speaker 1: conceptions of the divine attributes, Heathen nations were led to
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Speaker 1: believe human sacrifices necessary to secure the favor of Deity,
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Speaker 1: and horrible cruelties have been perpetrated under the various forms
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Speaker 1: of idolatry. The Roman Catholic Church, uniting the forms of
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Speaker 1: Paganism and Christianity, and like paganism, misrepresenting the character of God,
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Speaker 1: has resorted to practices no less cruel and revolting. In
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Speaker 1: the days of Rome's supremacy, there were instruments of torture
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Speaker 1: to compel assent to her doctrines. There was the stake
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Speaker 1: for those who would not concede to her claims. There
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Speaker 1: were massacres on a scale that will never be known
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Speaker 1: until revealed in the judgment. Dignitaries of the Church studied
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Speaker 1: under Sate in their master to invent means to cause
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Speaker 1: the greatest possible torture and not end the life of
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Speaker 1: their victim. In many cases, the infernal process was repeated
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Speaker 1: to the utmost limit of human endurance, until Nature gave
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Speaker 1: up the struggle, and the sufferer hailed death as a
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Speaker 1: sweet release. Such was the fate of Rome's opponents. For
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Speaker 1: her adherents, she had the discipline of the scourge of famishing, hunger,
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Speaker 1: of bodily austerities in every conceivable, heart sickening form. To
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Speaker 1: secure the favor of Heaven, penitents violated the laws of God.
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Speaker 1: By violating the laws of nature, they were taught to
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Speaker 1: sunder the ties which He has formed to bless and
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Speaker 1: gladden man's earthly sojourn. The churchyard contains millions of victims
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Speaker 1: who spent their lives in vain endeavors to subdue their
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Speaker 1: natural affections, to repress as offensive to God, every thought
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Speaker 1: and feeling of sympathy at their fellow creatures. If we
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Speaker 1: desire to understand the determined cruelty of Satan manifested for
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Speaker 1: hundreds of years, not among those who never heard of God,
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Speaker 1: but in the very heart and throughout the extent of Christendom,
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Speaker 1: we have only to look at the history of Romanism.
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Speaker 1: Through this mammoth system of deception, the prince of Evil
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Speaker 1: achieves his purpose of bringing dishonor to God and wretchedness
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Speaker 1: to man, and as we see how he succeeds in
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Speaker 1: disguising himself and accomplishing his work through the leaders of
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Speaker 1: the church. We may better understand why he has so
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Speaker 1: great antipathy to the Bible. If that book is read,
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Speaker 1: the mercy and love of God will be revealed. It
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Speaker 1: will be seen that he lays upon men none of
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Speaker 1: these heavy burdens. All that he asks is a broken
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Speaker 1: and contride heart, a humble, obedient spirit. Christ gives no
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Speaker 1: example in his life for men and women to shut
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Speaker 1: themselves and monasteries in order to become fitted for heaven.
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Speaker 1: He has never taught that love and sympathy must be repressed.
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Speaker 1: The Saviour's heart overflowed with love. The nearer man approaches
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Speaker 1: to moral perfection, the keener are his sensibilities, the more
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Speaker 1: acute is his perception of sin, and the deeper his
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Speaker 1: sympathy for the afflicted. The pope claims to be the
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Speaker 1: vicar of Christ, But how does his character bear comparison
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Speaker 1: with that of our Savior? Was Christ ever known to
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Speaker 1: consign men to the prison or the rack because they
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Speaker 1: did not pay him homage as the King of Heaven.
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Speaker 1: Was his voice heard condemning to death those who did
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Speaker 1: not accept him. When he was cited by the people
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Speaker 1: of a Samaritan village, the apostle John was filled with
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Speaker 1: indignation and inquired, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire
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Speaker 1: to come down from heaven and consume them? Even as
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Speaker 1: Elias did. Jesus looked with pity upon his disciple and
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Speaker 1: rebuked his harsh spear, saying, the son of Man is
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Speaker 1: not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.
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Speaker 1: How different from the spirit manifested by Christ is that
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Speaker 1: of his professed vicar. The Roman Church now presents a
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Speaker 1: fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record
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Speaker 1: of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in christ like garments,
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Speaker 1: but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that
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Speaker 1: existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in
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Speaker 1: the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves.
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Speaker 1: The papacy that Protestants are now so ready to honor
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Speaker 1: is the same that ruled the world in the days
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Speaker 1: of the Reformation, when men of God stood up at
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Speaker 1: the peril of their lives to expose her iniquity. She
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Speaker 1: possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded it
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Speaker 1: over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God.
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Speaker 1: Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than
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Speaker 1: when she crushed out human lifksy and slew the saints
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Speaker 1: of the Most High. The papacy is just what prophecy
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Speaker 1: declared that she would be, the apostasy of the latter times.
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Speaker 1: It is a part of her policy to assume the
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Speaker 1: character which will best accomplish her purpose. But beneath the
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Speaker 1: variable appearance of the chameleon, she conceals the invariable venom
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Speaker 1: of the serpent. I faith ought not to be kept
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Speaker 1: with heretics nor persons suspected of heresy. She declares, shall
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Speaker 1: this power, whose record for a thousand years is written
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Speaker 1: in the blood of the saints, be now acknowledged as
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Speaker 1: part of the Church of Christ. It is not without
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Speaker 1: reason that the claim has been put forth in Protestant
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Speaker 1: countries that Catholicism differs last widely from Protestantism. Then in
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Speaker 1: former times there has been a change, But the change
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Speaker 1: is not in the papacy. Catholicism indeed resembles much of
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Speaker 1: the Protestantism that now exists, because Protestantism has so greatly
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Speaker 1: degenerated since the days of the Reformers. As the Protestant
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Speaker 1: churches have been seeking the favor of the world, false
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Speaker 1: charity has blinded their eyes. They do not see but
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Speaker 1: that it is right to believe good of all evil,
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Speaker 1: and as the inevitable result, they will finally believe evil
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Speaker 1: of all good. Instead of standing in defense of the
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Speaker 1: faith once delivered to the Saints, they are now, as
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Speaker 1: it were, apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her,
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Speaker 1: begging pardon for their bigotry. A large class, even of
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Speaker 1: those who look upon Romanism with no favor, apprehend little
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Speaker 1: danger from her power and influence. Many urge that the
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Speaker 1: intellectual and moral darkness prevailing during the Middle Ages favored
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Speaker 1: the spread of her dogmas, superstitions, and oppression, and that
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Speaker 1: the greater intelligence of modern times, the general diffusion of knowledge,
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Speaker 1: and the increasing liberality in matters of religion, forbid a
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Speaker 1: revival of intolerance and tyranny. The very thought that such
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Speaker 1: a state of things will exist in this enlightened age
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Speaker 1: is ridiculed. It is true, true that great light, intellectual, moral,
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Speaker 1: and religious, is shining upon this generation in the open
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Speaker 1: pages of God's holy word. Light from heaven has been
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Speaker 1: shed upon the world. But it should be remembered that
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Speaker 1: the greater the light bestowed, the greater the darkness of
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Speaker 1: those who pervert or reject it. A prayerful study of
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Speaker 1: the Bible would show Protestants the real character of the Papacy,
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Speaker 1: and would cause them to abhor and to shun it.
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Speaker 1: But many are so wise in their own conceit that
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Speaker 1: they feel no need of humbly seeking God that they
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Speaker 1: may be led into the truth. Although priding themselves on
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Speaker 1: their enlightenment, they are ignorant both of the scriptures and
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Speaker 1: of the power of God. They must have some means
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Speaker 1: of quieting their consciences, and they seek that which is
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Speaker 1: least spiritual and humiliating. What they desire is a method
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Speaker 1: of forgetting God, which shall pass as a method of
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Speaker 1: remembering Him. The Papacy is well adapted to meet the
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Speaker 1: wants of all these. It is prepared for two classes
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Speaker 1: of mankind, and bra nearly the whole world, those who
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Speaker 1: would be saved by their merits and those who would
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Speaker 1: be saved in their sins. Here is the secret of
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Speaker 1: its power. A day of great intellectual darkness has been
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Speaker 1: shown to be favorable to the success of the papacy.
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Speaker 1: It will yet be demonstrated that a day of great
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Speaker 1: intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. In past ages,
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Speaker 1: when men were without God's word and without the knowledge
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Speaker 1: of the truth, their eyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared,
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Speaker 1: not seeing the nets spread for their feet. In this
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Speaker 1: generation there are many whose eyes become dazzled by the
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Speaker 1: glare of human speculations science falsely so called. They deserve
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Speaker 1: not the net, and walk into it as readily as
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Speaker 1: if blindfolded. God designed that man's intellectual powers should be
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Speaker 1: held as a gift from his maker, and should be
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Speaker 1: employed in the service of truth and righteousness. But when
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Speaker 1: pride and ambition are cherished, and men exalt their own
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Speaker 1: theories above the word of God, then intelligence can accomplish
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Speaker 1: greater harm than ignorance. Thus, the false science of the
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Speaker 1: present day, which undermines faith in the Bible, will prove
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Speaker 1: as successful in preparing the way for the acceptance of
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Speaker 1: the papacy with its pleasing forms, as did the withholding
21:15
Speaker 1: of knowledge in opening the way for its aggrandizement in
21:17
Speaker 1: the dark ages. In the movements now in progress in
21:21
Speaker 1: the United States to secure for the institutions and usages
21:25
Speaker 1: of the Church the support of the state. Protestants are
21:28
Speaker 1: following in the steps of papists. Nay more, they are
21:32
Speaker 1: opening the door for the Papacy to regain in Protestant
21:35
Speaker 1: America the supremacy which she has lost in the old world.
21:39
Speaker 1: And that which gives greater significance to this movement is
21:42
Speaker 1: the fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement
21:46
Speaker 1: of Sunday observance, a custom which originated with Rome, and
21:50
Speaker 1: which she claims as the sign of her authority. It
21:54
Speaker 1: is the spirit of the papacy, the spirit of conformity
21:57
Speaker 1: to worldly customs, the veneration for human tress editions above
22:00
Speaker 1: the commandments of God. Let us permeating the Protestant churches
22:04
Speaker 1: and leading them on to do the same work of
22:06
Speaker 1: Sunday exaltation which the Papacy has done before them. If
22:11
Speaker 1: the reader would understand the agencies to be employed in
22:14
Speaker 1: the soon coming contest, he has but to trace the
22:17
Speaker 1: record of the means which Rome employed for the same
22:19
Speaker 1: object in ages past. If he would know how Papists
22:24
Speaker 1: and Protestants united will deal with those who reject their dogmas.
22:28
Speaker 1: Let him see the spirit which Rome manifested toward the
22:30
Speaker 1: Sabbath and its defenders. Royal edicts, general counsels, and church ordinances,
22:37
Speaker 1: sustained by secular power, were the steps by which the
22:40
Speaker 1: pagan festival attained its position of honor in the Christian world.
22:45
Speaker 1: The first public measure enforcing Sunday observance was the law
22:48
Speaker 1: enacted by Constantine. This edict required townspeople to rest on
22:53
Speaker 1: the venerable day of the sun, but permitted countrymen to
22:56
Speaker 1: continue their agricultural pursuits. Though virtual lea heathen statute, it
23:01
Speaker 1: was enforced by the Emperor after his nominal acceptance of Christianity,
23:06
Speaker 1: the royal mandate not proving a sufficient substitute for divine authority. Eusebius,
23:11
Speaker 1: a bishop who sought the favor of princes and who
23:14
Speaker 1: was the special friend and flatterer of Constantine, advanced the
23:18
Speaker 1: claim that Christ had transferred the Sabbath to Sunday. Not
23:22
Speaker 1: a single testimony of the scriptures was produced in proof
23:25
Speaker 1: of the new doctrine. Eusebius himself unwittingly acknowledges its falsity
23:31
Speaker 1: and points to the real authors of the change all things.
23:35
Speaker 1: He says, whatever that it was duty to do on
23:38
Speaker 1: the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord's day.
23:42
Speaker 1: But the Sunday argument groundless, as it was served to
23:45
Speaker 1: embolden men in trampling upon the Sabbath of the Lord.
23:49
Speaker 1: All who desired to be honored by the world accept
23:51
Speaker 1: at the popular festival. As the papacy became firmly established,
23:56
Speaker 1: the work of Sunday exaltation was continued. For a time.
24:01
Speaker 1: The people engaged in agricultural labor when not attending church,
24:05
Speaker 1: and the seventh day was still regarded as the Sabbath.
24:08
Speaker 1: But steadily a change was effected. Those in holy office
24:12
Speaker 1: were forbidden to pass judgment in any civil controversy on
24:15
Speaker 1: the Sunday. Soon after, all persons of whatever rank were
24:19
Speaker 1: commanded to refrain from common labor on pain of a
24:22
Speaker 1: fine for freemen and stripes in the case of servants.
24:27
Speaker 1: Later it was decreed that rich men should be punished
24:29
Speaker 1: with the loss of half of their estates, and finally
24:33
Speaker 1: that if still obstinate, they should be made slaves. The
24:37
Speaker 1: lower classes were to suffer perpetual banishment. Miracles also were
24:42
Speaker 1: called into requisition. Among other wonders. It was reported that
24:47
Speaker 1: as a husbandman who was about to plow his field
24:49
Speaker 1: on Sunday, cleaned his plow with an iron. The iron
24:52
Speaker 1: stuck fast in his hand, and for two years he
24:55
Speaker 1: carried it about with him, to his exceeding great pain
24:57
Speaker 1: and shame. Later, the Pope gave directions that the parish
25:02
Speaker 1: priests should admonish the violators of Sunday and wish them
25:05
Speaker 1: to go to church and say their prayers, lest they
25:08
Speaker 1: bring some great calamity on themselves and neighbours. An ecclesiastical
25:13
Speaker 1: council brought forward the argument, since so widely employed even
25:17
Speaker 1: by Protestants, that because persons had been struck by lightning
25:20
Speaker 1: while laboring on Sunday, it must be the Sabbath. It
25:24
Speaker 1: is apparent, said the prelates, how high the displeasure of
25:27
Speaker 1: God was upon their neglect of this day. An appeal
25:30
Speaker 1: was then made that priests and ministers, kings and princes,
25:33
Speaker 1: and all faithful people used their utmost endeavors and care
25:37
Speaker 1: that the day be restored to its honor, and for
25:40
Speaker 1: the credit of Christianity more devoutly observed for the time
25:43
Speaker 1: to come. The decrees of counsels proving insufficient, the secular
25:48
Speaker 1: authorities were besought to issue an edict that would strike
25:51
Speaker 1: terror to the hearts of the people and force them
25:54
Speaker 1: to refrain from labour on the Sunday. At a synod
25:57
Speaker 1: held in Rome, all previous decisions were reaffirmed with greater
26:01
Speaker 1: force and solemnity. They were also incorporated into the ecclesiastical
26:06
Speaker 1: law and enforced by the civil authorities throughout nearly all Christendom. Still,
26:11
Speaker 1: the absence of scriptural authority for Sunday keeping occasioned no
26:15
Speaker 1: little embarrassment. The people questioned the right of their teachers
26:19
Speaker 1: to set aside the positive declaration of Jehovah the seventh
26:23
Speaker 1: day is the sabbath of the Lord by God, in
26:26
Speaker 1: order to honor the day of the sun. To supply
26:29
Speaker 1: the lack of Bible testimony, other expedients were necessary. A
26:34
Speaker 1: zealous advocate of Sunday, who about the close of the
26:37
Speaker 1: twelfth century visited the churches of England, was resisted by
26:40
Speaker 1: faithful witnesses for the truth, and so fruitless were his
26:44
Speaker 1: efforts that he departed from the country for a season
26:46
Speaker 1: and cast about him for some means to enforce his teachings.
26:51
Speaker 1: When he returned the lack was supplied, and in his
26:53
Speaker 1: after labors he met with greater success. He brought with
26:57
Speaker 1: him a role purporting to be from God himself, which
27:00
Speaker 1: contained the needed command for Sunday observance, with awful threats
27:04
Speaker 1: to terrify the disobedient. This precious document, as base a counterfeit,
27:09
Speaker 1: as the institution it supported, was said to have fallen
27:12
Speaker 1: from heaven and to have been found in Jerusalem upon
27:15
Speaker 1: the altar of Saint Simeon in Golgotha, but in fact
27:19
Speaker 1: the pontypical palace at Rome was the source. Whence it proceeded.
27:24
Speaker 1: Frauds and forgeries to advance the power and prosperity of
27:27
Speaker 1: the Church have in all ages been esteemed lawful by
27:30
Speaker 1: the papal hierarchy. The roll forbade labor from the ninth
27:34
Speaker 1: hour three o'clock on Saturday afternoon till sunrise on Monday,
27:39
Speaker 1: and its authority was declared to be confirmed by many miracles.
27:43
Speaker 1: It was reported that persons laboring beyond the appointed hour
27:46
Speaker 1: were stricken with paralysis. A miller who attempted to grind
27:51
Speaker 1: his corn saw instead of flour, a torrent of blood
27:54
Speaker 1: come forth, and the mill wheel stood still, notwithstanding the
27:58
Speaker 1: strong rush of the water. A woman who placed dough
28:01
Speaker 1: in the oven found it raw when taken out, though
28:04
Speaker 1: the oven was very hot. Another who had dough prepared
28:07
Speaker 1: for baking at the ninth hour but determined to set
28:10
Speaker 1: it aside till Monday, found the next day that it
28:13
Speaker 1: had been made into loaves and baked by divine power.
28:16
Speaker 1: A man who baked bread after the ninth hour on
28:19
Speaker 1: Saturday found when he broke it the next morning that
28:22
Speaker 1: blood started therefrom By such absurd and superstitious fabrications did
28:27
Speaker 1: the advocates of Sunday endeavor to establish its sacredness in
28:31
Speaker 1: Scotland as in England. A greater regard for Sunday was
28:34
Speaker 1: secured by uniting with it a portion of the ancient Sabbath,
28:38
Speaker 1: but the time required to be kept wholly varied. An
28:42
Speaker 1: edict from the King of Scotland declared that Saturday from
28:44
Speaker 1: twelve at noon ought to be accounted holy, and that
28:47
Speaker 1: no man from that time till Monday morning should engage
28:50
Speaker 1: in worldly business. But notwithstanding all the efforts to establish
28:55
Speaker 1: Sunday sacredness, papists themselves publicly confessed the divine authority of
28:59
Speaker 1: the Sabbath and the human origin of the institution by
29:03
Speaker 1: which it had been supplanted. In the sixteenth century, a
29:07
Speaker 1: papal council plainly declared, let all Christians remember that the
29:10
Speaker 1: Seventh Day was consecrated by God, and hath been received
29:14
Speaker 1: and observed not only by the Jews, but by all
29:17
Speaker 1: others who pretend to worship God. Though we Christians have
29:20
Speaker 1: changed their Sabbath into the Lord's Day, those who were
29:24
Speaker 1: tampering with the divine law were not ignorant of the
29:26
Speaker 1: character of their work. They were deliberately setting themselves above God.
29:32
Speaker 1: A striking illustration of Rome's policy toward those who disagree
29:36
Speaker 1: with her was given in the long and bloody persecution
29:39
Speaker 1: of the Waltencies, some of whom were observers of the Sabbath.
29:43
Speaker 1: Others suffered in a similar manner for their fidelity to
29:46
Speaker 1: the Fourth Commandment. The history of the churches of Ethiopia
29:50
Speaker 1: and Abyssinia is especially significant. Amid the gloom of the
29:55
Speaker 1: Dark Ages, the Christians of Central Africa were lost sight
29:58
Speaker 1: of and forgotten by the world, and for many centuries
30:01
Speaker 1: they enjoyed freedom in the exercise of their faith. But
30:04
Speaker 1: at last Rome learned of their existence, and the Emperor
30:08
Speaker 1: of Abyssinia was soon beguiled into an acknowledgment of the
30:10
Speaker 1: pope as the Vicar of Christ. Other concessions followed. An
30:15
Speaker 1: edict was issued forbidding the observance of the Sabbath under
30:18
Speaker 1: the severest penalties, but papal tyranny soon became a yoke
30:22
Speaker 1: so galling that the Abyssinians determined to break it from
30:25
Speaker 1: their necks. After a terrible struggle, the Romanists were banished
30:30
Speaker 1: from their dominions, and the ancient faith was restored. The
30:34
Speaker 1: churches rejoiced in their freedom, and they never forgot the
30:36
Speaker 1: lesson they had learned concerning the deception, the fanaticism, and
30:40
Speaker 1: the despotic power of Rome. Within their solitary realm, they
30:44
Speaker 1: were content to remain unknown to the rest of Christendom.
30:48
Speaker 1: The churches of Africa held the Sabbath as it was
30:50
Speaker 1: held by the papal Church before complete apostasy. While they
30:54
Speaker 1: kept the seventh Day in obedience to the commandment of God,
30:58
Speaker 1: they abstained from labor on the Sunday in conformity to
31:00
Speaker 1: the custom of the Church. Upon obtaining supreme power, Rome
31:05
Speaker 1: had trampled upon the Sabbath of God to exalt her own.
31:08
Speaker 1: But the churches of Africa, hidden for nearly a thousand years,
31:12
Speaker 1: did not share in this apostasy. When brought under the
31:16
Speaker 1: sway of Rome, they were forced to set aside the
31:18
Speaker 1: True and exalt the false Sabbath. But no sooner had
31:21
Speaker 1: they regained their independence than they returned to obedience to
31:24
Speaker 1: the Fourth Commandment. These records of the past clearly reveal
31:28
Speaker 1: the enmity of Rome toward the True Sabbath and its defenders,
31:32
Speaker 1: and the means which she employs to honor the institution
31:35
Speaker 1: of her creating. The Word of God teaches that these
31:38
Speaker 1: scenes are to be repeated as Roman Catholics and Protestants
31:41
Speaker 1: shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday. The prophecy
31:46
Speaker 1: of Revelation thirteen declares that the power represented by the
31:49
Speaker 1: beast with lamb like horns shall cause the earth and
31:52
Speaker 1: them which dwell therein to worship the papacy there symbolized
31:56
Speaker 1: by the beast like unto a leopard. The beast with
31:59
Speaker 1: two horse horns is also to say to them that
32:01
Speaker 1: dwell on the earth, that they should make an image
32:03
Speaker 1: to the beast. And furthermore, it is to command all
32:06
Speaker 1: both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,
32:10
Speaker 1: to receive the mark of the Beast. It has been
32:13
Speaker 1: shown that the United States is the power represented by
32:16
Speaker 1: the beast with lamb like horns, and that this prophecy
32:19
Speaker 1: will be fulfilled when the United States shall enforce Sunday observance,
32:23
Speaker 1: which Rome claims as a special acknowledgment of her supremacy.
32:28
Speaker 1: But in this homage to the Papacy, the United States
32:30
Speaker 1: will not be alone. The influence of Rome in the
32:34
Speaker 1: countries that once acknowledged her dominion is still far from
32:36
Speaker 1: being destroyed, and prophecy foretells a restoration of her power.
32:42
Speaker 1: I saw one of his heads as it were wounded
32:44
Speaker 1: to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all
32:47
Speaker 1: the world wondered after the beast. The infliction of the
32:51
Speaker 1: deadly wound points to the downfall of the papacy in
32:53
Speaker 1: seventeen ninety eight. After this, says the prophet, his deadly
32:58
Speaker 1: wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast.
33:02
Speaker 1: Paul states plainly that the man of Sin will continue
33:05
Speaker 1: until the Second Advent, to the very close of time.
33:09
Speaker 1: He will carry forward his work of deception, and the
33:12
Speaker 1: revelator declares, also referring to the Papacy, all that dwell
33:16
Speaker 1: upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not
33:18
Speaker 1: written in the Book of Life. In both the Old
33:22
Speaker 1: and the New World, the Papacy will receive homage in
33:24
Speaker 1: the honour paid to the Sunday institution that rests solely
33:28
Speaker 1: upon the authority of the Roman Church. For more than
33:31
Speaker 1: half a century, students of prophecy in the United States
33:34
Speaker 1: have presented this testimony to the world. In the events
33:38
Speaker 1: now taking place, is seen a rapid advance toward the
33:40
Speaker 1: fulfillment of the prediction. With Protestant teachers, there is the
33:45
Speaker 1: same claim of divine authority for Sunday keeping, and the
33:48
Speaker 1: same lack of scriptural evidence as with the papal leaders
33:51
Speaker 1: who fabricated miracles to supply the place of a command
33:54
Speaker 1: from God. The assertion that God's judgments are visited upon
33:58
Speaker 1: men for their violation of the Sunday Sabbath will be repeated.
34:02
Speaker 1: Already it is beginning to be urged, and a movement
34:06
Speaker 1: to enforce Sunday observance is fast gaining ground. Marvelous in
34:11
Speaker 1: her shrewdness and cunning is the Roman Church, she can
34:15
Speaker 1: read what is to be. She bides her time, seeing
34:18
Speaker 1: that the Protestant churches are paying her homage in their
34:20
Speaker 1: acceptance of the false Sabbath, and that they are preparing
34:23
Speaker 1: to enforce it by the very means which she herself
34:26
Speaker 1: employed in bygone days. Those who reject the light of
34:29
Speaker 1: truth will yet seek the aid of this self styled
34:32
Speaker 1: infallible power to exalt an institution that originated with her.
34:37
Speaker 1: How readily she will come to the help of Protestants
34:39
Speaker 1: in this work. It is not difficult to conjecture who
34:43
Speaker 1: understands better than the papal leaders how to deal with
34:45
Speaker 1: those who are disobedient to the Church. The Roman Catholic Church,
34:50
Speaker 1: with all its ramifications throughout the world, forms one vast
34:54
Speaker 1: organization under the control and designed to serve the interests
34:58
Speaker 1: of the Papal see. Its millions of communicants in every
35:02
Speaker 1: country on the globe are instructed to hold themselves as
35:05
Speaker 1: bound in allegiance to the Pope, whatever their nationality or
35:09
Speaker 1: their government. They are to regard the authority of the
35:11
Speaker 1: Church as above all other, though they may take the
35:15
Speaker 1: oath pledging their loyalty to the state. Yet back of
35:18
Speaker 1: this lies the vow of obedience to Rome, absolving them
35:21
Speaker 1: from every pledge inimical to her interests. History testifies of
35:26
Speaker 1: her artful and persistent efforts to insinuate herself into the
35:30
Speaker 1: affairs of nations, and having gained a foothold to further
35:33
Speaker 1: her own aims, even at the ruin of princes and people.
35:38
Speaker 1: In the year twelve o four, Pope Innocent the Third
35:40
Speaker 1: extracted from Peter the second, King of Arragon the following
35:44
Speaker 1: extraordinary oath, I Peter, King of the Eregonians, profess and
35:49
Speaker 1: promise to be ever faithful and obedient to my Lord
35:52
Speaker 1: Pope Innocent, to his Catholic successors and the Roman Church,
35:56
Speaker 1: and faithfully to preserve my kingdom in his obedience, defending
36:00
Speaker 1: the Catholic faith and persecuting heretical pravity. This is in
36:05
Speaker 1: harmony with the claims regarding the power of the Roman pontiff,
36:09
Speaker 1: that it is lawful for him to depose emperors, and
36:12
Speaker 1: that he can absolve subjects from their allegiance to unrighteous rulers.
36:16
Speaker 1: And let it be remembered, it is the boast of
36:19
Speaker 1: Rome that she never changes the principles of Gregory the
36:23
Speaker 1: Seventh and Innocent the third are still the principles of
36:25
Speaker 1: the Roman Catholic Church, and had she but the power,
36:29
Speaker 1: she would put them in practice with as much vigor
36:31
Speaker 1: now as in past centuries. Protestants little know what they
36:35
Speaker 1: are doing when they propose to accept the aid of
36:37
Speaker 1: Rome in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are
36:41
Speaker 1: bent upon the accomplishment of their purpose, Rome is aiming
36:44
Speaker 1: to re establish her power, to recover her lost supremacy.
36:49
Speaker 1: Let the principle once be established in the United States
36:52
Speaker 1: that the Church may employ or control the power of
36:55
Speaker 1: the state, that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws.
36:59
Speaker 1: In short, that the authority of church and state is
37:02
Speaker 1: to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in
37:05
Speaker 1: this country is assured. God's word has given warning of
37:09
Speaker 1: the impending danger. Let this be unheeded, and the Protestant
37:13
Speaker 1: world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are
37:16
Speaker 1: only when it is too late to escape the snare.
37:19
Speaker 1: She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting
37:23
Speaker 1: their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in
37:26
Speaker 1: the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty
37:30
Speaker 1: and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her
37:33
Speaker 1: former persecutions will be repeated stealthily and unsuspectedly. She is
37:38
Speaker 1: strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the
37:41
Speaker 1: time shall come for her to strike. All that she
37:44
Speaker 1: desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her.
37:49
Speaker 1: We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose
37:51
Speaker 1: of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey
37:55
Speaker 1: the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.
38:00
Speaker 1: End of Chapter thirty five