The
History of Christianity (Roman)
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The historical formation and progress of Christianity; from the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ on through the origin of the different Christian denominations, up to our modern day Christianity, then on through the prophesied 'Great' Apostasy of the book of Revelation, and into the Second Advent of the Messiah Jesus Christ.
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Continuation of Dr. Halley's "Church History":
Forerunners of the Reformation:
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Albigenses or Carthari: In Southern France, Northern Spain and Northern Italy. Preached against the immoralities of the priesthood, pilgrimages, worship of saints and images; completely rejected the clergy and its claims; criticized church conditions; opposed the claims of the Church of Rome; made great use of the Scriptures; lived self denying lives and had great zeal for moral purity. By 1167 they embraced possibly a majority of the population of South France; by 1200 very numerous in North Italy. In 1208 a crusade was ordered by Pope Innocent III; a bloody war of extermination followed; scarcely paralleled in history; town after town was put to the sword and the inhabitants murdered without distinction of age or sex; in 1229 the Inquisition was established and within a hundred years the Albigenses were utterly rooted out.
Waldenses: Southern France and Northern Italy. Similar to Albigenses, but not identical. Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons, South France (1176), gave his property to the poor and went about preaching; opposed clerical usurpation and profligacy; denied the exclusive right of the clergy to teach the Gospel; rejected masses, prayers for the dead and purgatory; taught the Bible as the sole rule of belief and life; their preaching kindled a great desire among the people to read the Bible. They were gradually repressed by the Inquisition except in the Alpine Valleys southwest of Turin where they still are found, the only medieval sect still surviving, a story of heroic endurance of persecutions. Now the leading Protestant body in Italy.
John Wyclif (1324-1384): A teacher at Oxford, England. Preached against the spiritual domination of the priesthood, the authority of the Pope; opposed the existence of Popes, cardinals, patriarchs, monks attacked transubstantiation, and auricular confession. Advocated the peoples right to read the Bible. Translated it into English language. His followers were called Lollards.
John Huss (1369-1415): Rector of the University of Prague, Bohemia. He was a student of Wyclif, whose writings had penetrated Bohemia. He became a fearless preacher; attacked the vices of the clergy and the corruptions of the church; with impassioned vehemence condemned the sale of indulgences; rejected purgatory, worship of saints and worship in a foreign language; exalted the Scriptures above the dogmas and ordinances of the church. He was burned alive at the stake, and his followers, a large part of the Bohemian population, were almost extirpated by a crusade ordered by the Pope.
Savonarola (1452-1498): Florence, Italy. Preached, like a Hebrew prophet, to vast crowds who thronged his cathedral, against the sensuality and sin of the city, and against Papal vice. The penitent city reformed. But Pope Alexander VI sought in every way to silence the righteous preacher; even tried to bribe him with a cardinals hat; but in vain. He was hanged and burned in the great square in Florence 19 years before Luther posted his 95 theses.
Anabaptists: Appeared through the Middle Ages, in various European countries, under different names, in independent groups, representing a variety of doctrines, but usually strongly Anti-Clerical, rejecting Infant Baptism, devoted to the Scriptures, and standing for Absolute Separation of Church and State; very numerous in Germany, Holland, and Switzerland at the time of the Reformation, perpetuating ideas that had come down from preceding generations; as a rule, a quiet and genuinely pious people, but bitterly persecuted, especially in the Netherlands.
The Renaissance: or Revival of Learning, occasioned, in part, as a result of the Crusades, helped along the Reformation movement. There arose a passion for the ancient classics. Vast sums of money were spent in the collection of manuscripts and the founding of libraries. Just at that time printing was invented. And there followed an abundance of dictionaries, grammars, versions and commentaries. There was study of the Scriptures in their original languages. "Renewed knowledge of the sources of Christian doctrine revealed the vast difference between the native simplicity of the Gospel and the ecclesiastical fabric that professed to be founded upon it." "THE REFORMATION OWED ITS BEING TO THE DIRECT CONTACT OF THE MIND WITH THE SCRIPTURES," and it resulted in the emancipation of the human mind from priestly and Papal authority.
Erasmus (1466-1536): Greatest scholar of the Reformation. His great ambition was to free men from false ideas about religion; and thought the best way to do it was to return to the Scriptures. A relentless critic of the Roman Catholic Church; delighted especially to ridicule "unholy men in holy orders." Greatly helped the Reformation, but never joined it.
Conditions: There was widespread discontent with the corruption of the Church and the clergy. The people had grown restive under the cruelties of the Inquisition. Civil rulers had grown tired of Papal interference in governmental matters. And "at the blast of Luther,s trumpet Germany, England, Scotland and other countries startled, like giants out of their sleep."
The reformation:
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MARTIN LUTHER (A.D. 1483-1546): Next to Jesus and Paul, the Greatest Man of all the ages. He led the world in its break for Freedom from the most Despotic Institution in history. Born of poor parents at Eisleben (1483). Entered University of Erfurt (1501), to study law. "A fine student, great talker and debater, very sociable and very musical," he took his degrees in an unusually short time. 1505 he suddenly decided to enter a monastery. An exemplary monk, and very religious, he practiced all the forms of fastings and scourgings, and invented new ones, and for two years endured, he said, "such anguish as no pen can describe." One day, in 1508, while reading Romans, his enlightenment and peace came suddenly: "the just shall live by faith." He saw, at last, that salvation was to be gained by Trust in God through Christ, and not by the rituals and sacraments and penances of the Church. It changed his whole life, and the WHOLE COURSE OF HISTORY. 1508 he became a teacher in the University of Wittenberg, which position he held till his death in 1546. 1511 he went to Rome, and was appalled at the Corruption and Vice of the Papal Court. Returned to Wittenberg. His sermons on the Bible began to attract students from all parts of Germany.
INDULGENCES: Tetzels sale of Indulgences was the occasion of Luthers break with Rome. According to Romanist teaching, Purgatory is very much the same as Hell, only it does not last as long; but all have to pass through it. But the Pope claimed to have the power to lessen, or altogether remit, these sufferings; and this prerogative belonged exclusively to the Pope. It began with Popes Pascal I (817-24) and John VIII (872-82). Papal Indulgences were found to be exceedingly profitable, and soon came into general use. They were offered as inducement to go on Crusades, or Wars against Heretics, or against some King whom the Pope wished to punish, or to Inquisitors, or to those who brought faggots for the burning of a heretic, or SOLD for MONEY. Pope Sixtus IV (1476), was the first to apply them to souls already in Purgatory. Indulgences were farmed out, to be retailed. Thus "selling the privilege to sin" became one of the main sources of Papal Revenue. In 1517 John Tetzel came through Germany selling certificates, signed by the Pope, offering pardon of all sins, to buyers and their friends, without confession, repentance, penance, or absolution by the priest. He said to the people, "as soon as your coin clinks in the chest the souls of your friends will rise out of Purgatory into Heaven." This horrified Luther.
THE 95 THESES: On October 31, 1517, Luther posted on the church door in Wittenberg 95 theses, nearly all of which related to Indulgences, but which in substance struck at the authority of the Pope. It was merely a notice that he was willing to discuss these things in the University. But printed copies were eagerly sought all over Germany. It proved to be "the spark that set Europe aflame." By 1520 he had become the most popular man in Germany.
Luthers Ex-Communication: In 1520 the Pope issued a Bull excommunicating Luther, and declaring that, unless he would retract within 60 days, he should receive the "penalty due for heresy" (which meant death). When Luther received the Bull he Burned it Publicly (Dec. 10, 1520). "A New Age in History began That Day." (Nichols)
The Diet of Worms: 1521 Luther was summoned by Charles V, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (which at that time included Germany, Spain, Netherlands and Austria), to appear before the Diet of Worms, and in the presence of the assembled dignitaries of the Empire and the Church, ordered to retract. He replied that he could retract nothing except what was disproved by Scripture or reason:
"Here I stand; I can do naught else; so help me God." He was condemned; but he had too many friends among the German Princes for the Edict to be carried out. He was hid by a friend for about a year, and then returned to Wittenberg to continue his work of speaking and writing. Among other things he translated theBible into German; it "spiritualized Germany and made the German language."
THE POPE'S WAR ON THE GERMAN PROTESTANTS:
Germany was made up of a great many small States. Many Princes, with their whole States, had been won to Luthers cause. By1540 all North Germany had become Lutheran. Pope Paul III urged the Emperor Charles V to proceed against them, and offered him an army. The Pope declared the war a Crusade, and offered Indulgences to all who would take part. The war lasted from 1546 to 1555, ending with the Peace of Augsburg, by which the Lutherans won legal recognition of their religion.
The Name "Protestant": The Diet of Spires (AD.1529) at which Roman Catholics were in the majority ruled that Catholics could teach their religion in Lutheran States, but forbade Lutheran teaching in Catholic States, in Germany. Against this the Lutheran Princes made formal protest, and henceforth were known as "Protestants." The name, originally applied to Lutherans, has now come to be applied in popular use, to those protesting against Papal Usurpation - including all Evangelical Christian Bodies.
IN SWITZERLAND, the historic land of freedom, reform was started by Zwingli, and carried on by Calvin, the union of their followers (1549), constituting the "Reformed Church." Their reforms were more sweeping than Luthers.
Zwingli (A.D. 1484-1531): Zurich, became convinced, about 1516, that the Bible was the means by which to purify the church. 1525 Zurich officially accepted his teaching; and the churches gradually abolished Indulgences, Mass, Celibacy, Images, using the Bible as Sole Authority.
John Calvin (AD.1509-64): A Frenchman, accepted Reformation teachings 1533. Driven out of France 1534. VVent to Geneva 1536. There his Academy became a pivotal center of Protestantism, attracting scholars from many lands.
IN THE NETHERLANDS: the Reformation was received early; Lutheranism, and then Calvinism; and Anabaptists were already numerous. Between 1513 and 1531 there were issued 25 different translations of the Bible in Dutch, Flemish and French. The Netherlands were a part of the dominion of Charles V. In 1522 he established the Inquisition, and ordered all Lutheran writings to be burned. In 1525 prohibited religious meetings in which the Bible would be read. 1546 prohibited the printing or possession of the Bible, either vulgate or translation. 1535 decreed "death by fire" for Anabaptists. Philip II (1566-98), successor to Charles V, re-issued the edicts of his father, and with Jesuit help carried on the persecution with still greater fury. By one sentence of the Inquisition the whole population was condemned to death, and under Charles V and Philip II more than 100,000 were massacred with unbelievable brutality. Some were chained to a stake near the fire and slowly roasted to death; some were thrown into dungeons, scourged, tortured on the rack, before being burned. Women were buried alive, pressed into coffins too small, trampled down with the feet of the executioner. Protestants of Netherlands, after incredible suffering, in 1609, won their independence; Holland, on the North became Protestant; Belgium, on the South, Roman Catholic. Holland was the first country to adopt public schools supported by taxation, and to legalize principles of religious toleration and freedom of the press.
IN SCANDINAVIA: Lutheranism was early introduced, and was made the State Religion, in Denmark (1536), Sweden (1539), Norway (1540). A hundred years later Gustavus Adolphus (1611-32), King of Sweden, rendered signal service in defeating Rome's effort to crush Protestant Germany.
IN FRANCE: By 1520 Luther's teachings had penetrated France. By 1559 there were about 400,000 Protestants. They were called "Huguenots." Their earnest piety and pure lives were in striking contrast to the scandalous lives of the Roman clergy. In 1557 Pope Pius urged their extermination. The king issued a decree for their massacre, and ordered all loyal subjects to help in hunting them out.
St. Bartholomews Massacre: Catherine de Medici, mother of the King, an ardent Romanist and willing tool of the Pope, gave the order, and on the night of August 24, 1572, 70,000 Huguenots, including most of their leaders, were Massacred. There was great rejoicing in Rome. The Pope and his College of Cardinals went, in solemn procession, to the Church of San Marco, and ordered the Te Deum to be sung in thanksgiving. The Pope struck a medal in commemoration of the Massacre; and sent a Cardinal to Paris to bear the King and Queen-Mother the Congratulations of Pope and Cardinals.
The Huguenot Wars: Following St. Bartholomews Massacre the Huguenots united and armed for resistance; till finally, in 1598 by the Edict of Nantes, they were granted freedom of conscience and worship. Pope Clement VIII called the Toleration, Edict of Nantes a "cursed thing"; and, after years of underground work by the Jesuits, the Edict was Revoked, (1685); and 500,000 Huguenots fled to Protestant Countries.
The French Revolution: A hundred years later, (1789), one of the most frightful convulsions in history. The people, in a frenzy against the tyrannies of the ruling class (among whom were the Clergy, owners of one-third of all land, wealthy, lazy, immoral, and heartless in their treatment of the poor), rose up in a Reign of Terror and Blood, abolished the government, closed the churches, confiscated their property, suppressed Christianity and Sunday. Napoleon restored the church, but not the property; 1802 granted Toleration to all; and almost ended the Political Power of the Popes in every country.
In Bohemia: By 1600, in a population of 4,000,000, 80 per cent were Protestant. When the Hapsburgs and Jesuits had done their work, 800,000 were left, all Catholics.
In Austria and Hungary: Half the population Protestant, but under the Hapsburgs and Jesuits they were slaughtered.
In Poland: By the end of the 16th century, it seemed as if Romanism was about to be entirely swept away, but here, too, the Jesuits, by persecution, killed Reform.
In Italy: The Popes own country, the Reformation was getting a real hold; but the Inquisition got busy, and hardly a trace of Protestantism was left.
IN SPAIN: The Reformation never made much headway, because the Inquisition was already there. Every effort for freedom or independent thinking was crushed with a ruthless hand. Torquemada (1420-98), a Dominican monk, arch-inquisitor, in 18 years burned 10,200 and condemned to perpetual imprisonment 97,000. Victims were usually burned alive in the public square; made the occasion of religious festivities. From 1481 to 1808 there were at least 100,000 martyrs and 1,500,000 banished. "In the 16th and 17th centuries the Inquisition extinguished the literary life of Spain, and put the nation almost outside the circle of European civilization." When the Reformation began Spain was the Most Powerful country in the world.
The Spanish Armada (1588): One of the features of Jesuit strategy was to seek the overthrow of Protestant countries. Pope Gregory XIII "left nothing undone to impel Philip II, Emperor, and King of Spain, to proceed in war against Protestant England." Sixtus V, who became Pope as the enterprise was maturing, made it a Crusade (that is offered Indulgences to those who would take part).
WBSG Note: In other words, the Pope promised 'tickets to Heaven' to those who would war, murder, and grab land for the Catholic Empire. And the people, ignorant to Biblical truth, believed him. For at this time in history the Bible was not yet available to the common man, the Scriptures were locked away in the Church and the priests told men what God said.
That is why it is so important for us to study God's Written Word, the Bible ourselves, lest someone comes along and deceives us as well. satan does his 'best' deceiving from the pulpit in priests robes, not from a barstool in some saloon slugging down shots. Nobody expects the un-expected, and it is upon those with self-induced ignorance that satan's plots best flourish. You must study God's Written Word, the Bible, or else how will you know the truth from a lie?!?
We continue in Halley's book excerpt:
At that time Spain had the most powerful Navy that had ever sailed the seas; but the proud Armada met defeat in the English Channel. "England's victory was the final turning point in the great duel between Protestantism and Romanism; not only assured England and Scotland, but Holland, North Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, to the Protestant cause." (Jacobs.)
IN ENGLAND: It was Revolt, and then Reform. From the days of William the Conqueror (1066), there had been repeated protests against Papal Control of England. Henry VIII (1509-47) believed, as his predecessors had, that the English Church should be independent of the Pope. His Divorce was not the Cause, but the Occasion, of his break with Rome. Henry was no saint; but neither was the contemporary Pope, Paul III, who had many illegitimate children. In 1534 the Church of England definitely repudiated Papal authority, and settled down to an independent life under the spiritual direction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer was Archbishop of Canterbury, and under him Reform began; monasteries were abolished on the grounds of immorality; an English Bible was put in the churches and a Prayer-Book for services in English, and the churches were stripped of many Romanist practices. Out of the English Church came the Puritans and Methodists.
IN SCOTLAND: The story of the Scotch Reformation is the story of John Knox.
John Knox (1515-72): A Scotch priest, about 1540 began teaching Reformation ideas. On the accession of Bloody Mary (1553), he went to Geneva, where he thoroughly absorbed Calvins teaching. 1559 he was recalled to Scotland by the Parliament of Scotch Lords to become leader of the National Reform movement. The Political situation made Church Reform and National Independence ONE movement. Mary, Queen of Scots, had married Francis II, King of France, who was son of Catherine de Medici (of St. Bartholomew's Massacre fame). Scotland and France were thus in alliance, their crowns united by marriage. France was bent on the destruction of Protestantism. Philip II, King of Spain, with other Romanists, plotted the assassination of Queen Elizabeth, to put Mary queen of Scots on the English throne. Pope Pius V aided the scheme by issuing a Bull excommunicating Elizabeth and releasing her subjects from allegiance (which, by Jesuit teaching, meant that the assassin would be doing an act of service to God). Thus there was no chance for Reform of the Scotch Church as long as it was under French control. John Knox believed that the future of Protestantism was bound up in an alliance between Protestant England and Protestant Scotland. He proved to be a magnificent leader. The Reformed Church was established 1560; and, with the help of England, by 1567, the French were driven out; and Rornanism was more completely swept away than in any other country. John Knox, largely, made Scotland what it still is.
THE COUNTER-REFORMATION: In 50 years the
Reformation had swept Europe, with most of Germany, Switzerland,
Netherlands, Scandinavia, England, Scotland, Bohemia, Austria,
Hungary, Poland in its grasp; and making headway in France. This
was a terrific blow to the Roman Church, which, in turn,
organized the Counter-Reformation; and by means of the Council of
Trent (in session 18 years, 1545-63) and the Jesuits and the
Inquisition sonic of the moral abuses of the Papacy were
abolished, and by the close of the century Rome was organized for
an aggressive onslaught on Protestantism; and under the brilliant
and brutal leadership of the Jesuits regained much of the lost
territory; South Germany, Boheniia, Austria, Hungary, Poland,
Belgium, and crushed the Reformation in France. Within a hundred
years, by 1689, the Counter-Reformation had spent its force. The
principal Rulers who fought the Popes Wars were: Charles V (1519-56)
of Spain, against German Protestants; Philip II (1556-98), of
Spain, against Holland, England; Ferdinand II (1619-37), of
Austria, against Bohemians; Catherine de Medici, mother of three
kings of France, Francis II (1559-60), Charles IX (1560-74),
Henry III (1574- 89), in the wars for the extermination of French
Huguenots.
RELIGIOUS WARS: The Reformation movement was followed by a hundred years of religious war:
THE THIRTY YEARS WAR (1618-48): In Bohemia and Hungary, by 1580, Protestants were in the majority, including most of the land-owning nobles. Emperor Ferdinand II, of the House of Hapsburg, had been educated by the Jesuits; and with their help undertook to suppress Protestantism. The Protestants united for defense. The first part of the war (1618-29), was a Catholic victory; they succeeded in driving Protestantism out of all Catholic States. Then they determined to re-Catholicize the Protestant States of Germany. Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, realized that the fall of Protestant Germany would mean the fall of Sweden, and perhaps the end of Protestantism. He entered the war, and his army was victorious (1630--32). He saved the day for the Protestant cause. The rest of the war (1632-48), was mainly a struggle between France and the House of Hapsburg, ending with France the leading power in Europe. It ended with the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which fixed the lines between Romanist and Protestant States.
PAPAL PERSECUTIONS: The number of Martyrs under
Papal Persecutions far outnumbered the Early Christian Martyrs
under Pagan Rome: hundreds of thousands among the Albigenses,
Waldenses, and Protestants of Germany, Netherlands, Bohemia and
other countries. It is common to excuse the Popes in this matter
by saying that it was the "spirit of the age."
Whose age was it? and who made it so? The Popes. It was their
world. For 1000 years they had been training the world to be in
subjection to them. If the Popes had not taken the Bible from the
people, the people would have known better, and it would NOT have
been "the spirit of the age." It was NOT the
spirit of Christ, and "Vicars of Christ"
should have known better. Persecution is the spirit of the DEVIL,
even though carried on in the name of Christ.
Protestant persecutions:
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Calvin consented to the death of Servetus. In Holland Calvinists executed an Arminian. In Germany Lutherans put to death a few Anabaptists. In England Protestant Edward VI executed 2 Roman Catholics in 6 years (Romanist Mary in the 5 following years burned 282 Protestants). Elizabeth executed, in 45 years 187 Romanists, most of them for treason, not heresy. In Massachusetts, 1659, 3 Quakers were hanged by Puritans, and, in 1692, 20 were executed for witchcraft. All told a few hundred martyrs may be charged against Protestants, at most not over a few thousand; but to Rome, untold millions. While the Reformation was a grand struggle for Religious Freedom, the Reformers were slow in granting to others what they sought for themselves. In Protestant countries Persecution ceased by 1700.
Protestantism
ITS DIVISIONS: The Protestant Movement was an effort of a part of the Western Church to free itself from the authority of Rome, and to gain for every man the right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. Inevitably, in the breakaway, the struggle for freedom resolved itself into different streams with different emphasis carrying over some of Romes errors. The Movement, now about 400 years old, has made enormous growth and remarkable improvement. There is a growing spirit of unity, and a clearer understanding of Christianity. The Protestant Church, though it is a long way from perfection, in spite of its cross-currents and its weaknesses, beyond any doubt whatever, represents the Purest Form of Christianity in the world today; and probably the purest the church has known since the first three centuries. On the whole, there is no nobler set of men in the world than the Protestant Ministers.
NATIONAL CHURCHES: Wherever Protestantism triumphed a National Church arose: Lutheran in Germany; Episcopal in England; Presbyterian in Scotland; etc. Worship conducted in the language of the country, as against the universal use of Latin in Romanist churches. Invariably when the church in any country gained its freedom from the Pope it began to make progress in self-purification.
THE UNITED STATES: Was colonized: 1607, by Anglican Puritans, in Virginia: 1615, by Dutch Reformed, in New York; 1620, by Puritans, in Massachusetts; 1634, by English Catholics, in Baltimore, who could obtain their charter only by allowing freedom to all religions; 1639, by Baptists, in Rhode Island, under Roger Williams pioneer in advocating unlimited toleration for all religions; 1681, by Quakers, in Pennsylvania; lured to our shores in search of Religious Liberty. Thus our country came into being on the principles of Religious Toleration for all, and of absolute Separation of Church and State; principles that are now permeating all the Governments of the world, so that, in recent years, very many countries, even Roman Catholic countries, have decreed Separation of Church and State (though there seems to be a setback just now).
THE FUTURE OF THE PROTESTANT MOVEMENT: Is bound up in its attitude toward the Bible. "With the traditional form of Christianity there was handed down, in the Sacred Text itself, a source of divine knowledge, not exposed in like manner to corruption, from which the Church might learn how to distinguish Primitive Christianity from all subsequent additions, and so carry forward the work of keeping the Church pure till its completion."
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL: Founded by Robert Raikes, an editor of Gloucester, England (1780), to give Christian training to poor and unschooled children. Founded as a missionary branch of the church, it has grown enormously, and has now become a normal part of church life. Its great value is its promotion of the Bible, and its development of layman leadership.
MODERN WORLD-WIDE MISSIONS: The Most Important movement in history. Supplies some of the most thrilling stories in all literature, vibrant with life and heroism and helpfulness. Neither preachers nor Sunday School teachers pay enough attention to the lives of missionaries. Every congregation ought to hear over and over the story of Livingstone, unmatched among the worlds heroes; and Carey, Morrison, Judson, Moffat, Martin, Paton and others, who have borne the tidings of Christ to distant lands and founded systems of preaching and Christian education and philanthropy which are transforming the world. When history is finished, and the whole story of mankind can be seen in its broad general perspective, it will probably be found that the World-Wide Missionary Movement of the past century, in its total influence on the nations, will have constituted THE MOST GLORIOUS CHAPTER IN THE ANNALS OF MAN.
The Greek, or Eastern Orthodox, Catholic Church:
Christianity was first established in the Eastern, or Greek part of the Roman Empire. For two hundred years Greek was the language of Christianity.
At times there have been attempts to reunite the churches; but they have been futile, because the East would not acknowledge the authority of the Pope.
The Greek Church, now the church of southeastern Europe and Russia, is one of the three great divisions of Christendom, numbering 150,000,000 as against 340,000,000 Roman Catholics and 210,000,000 Protestants; or approximately one-fifth of Christian population of the world.
The Greek Church, in many of its practices, is very similar to the Roman Catholic Church. They do not require celibacy of their priests. They have no Popes.
Wyclif 14th century: The "morning star of the Reformation," translated the Bible into English, and paved the way for the Reformation in England.
Luther, Calvin, Knox 16th century: Were the leaders in the Protestant Revolution that freed Western Europe from bondage to the Papacy.
Puritanism:
Early half of the 17th century, arose in the latter part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It was produced by a popular interest in the Bible. It was a reform movement within the Church of England, protesting against the lifeless formalism of the times, and aiming at general purity and righteousness of life. Because they were persecuted by the ecclesiastical authorities, they separated themselves into Independent Churches, mostly Baptist, Congregational and Presbyterian. It was from among these Puritans that New England was colonized, lured to the shores of the New World, in search of liberty.
Roger Williams,17th century: An Episcopal clergyman, was driven out of Massachusetts (1636), and founded the colony of Rhode Island, where he affiliated himself with the Baptists. The Puritans had been very zealous in demanding liberty of conscience for themselves. But Williams insisted on it for ALL. His great passion was for the ABSOLUTE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. All honor to the Baptists for their unceasing emphasis on it, for there are still mighty forces at work that would rob us of this precious heritage if they could.
John Wesley, 18th century: A hundred years after the rise of Puritanism, and a product of it, for his mother was of Puritan stock. At a time when the Church had again fallen into lifeless formalism, he preached the doctrine of the witness of the Spirit and of a holy life. He was a rector in the Church of England, but they would not let him preach his doctrines in the churches. So he preached in the fields, mining camps and street corners. Organized societies of holy living, and spent his long life looking after them. Like the Puritan movement of the preceding century, he changed the whole moral tone of England. His movement is generally credited with saving England from a French Revolution. One of earths greatest.
Map
of the lands of early Christianity:
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The
Mediterranean Basin: Extending across the middle
of the Eastern Hemisphere, between the Indian and
Atlantic Oceans, bounded on the North by Europe, on the
East by Asia, on the South by Africa, has been, until
modern times, the area within which flowed the course of
civilization. The Roman Empire, in the days of Christ,
controlled the entire basin, under the sway of the
Caesars.
World
situation (as of 1961):
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back to index
The figures on this and the following numbers are only approximate, and in round numbers. Some are merely rough estimates. Statistical tables and estimates vary greatly.
Protestant figures, in these tables, indicate actual church membership. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox figures count membership from birth and, in some cases, by families regardless of actual relationship with the church. So, Protestantism may, comparatively, be relatively stronger than the figures would indicate.
In Communist dominated lands the Church is suffering tremendous reverses. To what extent the Soviet has succeeded in crushing the Russian Church is not known.
To what extent present world convulsions may alter the religious status of the various countries is yet to be seen.
Religions
of the World, Roughly, as of 1961
Total World Population 2,500,000,000
- Confucianism: Is an ethical and philosophic system based on ancestor-worship.
- Buddhism: Is an ascetic religion whose main tenet is the annihilation of desire.
- Hinduism: The native religion of India, is an admixture of Buddhism, Brahmanism, and many deities residing in objects and animals.
- Animism: Is the belief that all inanimate objects are inhabited by spirits.
Figures above mentioned indicate about one-third of the worlds population have professed Christianity in some of its forms, a large part of the third being a grossly corrupted Christianity.
(End of Dr. Halley's book excerpt)
WBSG Supplement:
Present situation, as of A. D. 2000:
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back to index
Well, 40 years after the article in the Dr. Halley's
Bible handbook appeared, we still see one-third of the world's
population professing Christianity. An interesting point on the
pie-chart to the left is that Judaism (Jews) are so small in
number that they are contained within the 3% 'other' category.
There are currently 15 million Jews on the planet of six billion
people, but to listen to them, you would thing the world was half
Jewish!
And just as in 1961, much of Christianity today is grossly corrupted. However, back in 1961 only one third of Christianity was considered corrupted, today sadly, MOST of Christianity is grossly corrupted with false doctrines and traditions of men that have made void the true Word of God.
Col 2:8
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and
vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of
the world, and not after Christ. (KJV)
Mark 7:13
13 Making the word of God of none effect through your
tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do
ye. (KJV)
WORLD STATISTICS Total world population |
AS OF A.D. 1961 2,500,000,000 |
AS OF A.D. 2000 6,066,569,719 |
INCREASE 3,566,569,719 |
| Christianity (all) | 790,000,000 | 2,000,000,000 | 1,210,000,000 |
| Roman Catholic Christianity | 400,000,000 | 1,030,000,000 | 630,000,000 |
| Protestant Christianity (et all) | 240,000,000 | 679,000,000 | 439,000,000 |
| Eastern Orthodox Christianity | 150,000,000 | 240,000,000 | 90,000,000 |
| Mohammedan (Muslim - Islam) | 300,000,000 | 1,200,000,000 | 900,000,000 |
| Jews (Judaism) | 11,000,000 | 15,000,000 | 4,000,000 |
| Buddhist | 150,000,000 | 350,000,000 | 200,000,000 |
| Hindu | 250,000,000 | 900,000,000 | 650,000,000 |
Religions of the World, Roughly, as of A.D. 2000
Total World Population: 6,066,569,719 (6 billion plus)
Sizes shown are approximate estimates, and are here mainly for the purpose of ordering the groups, not providing a definitive number. This list is sociological/statistical in perspective. List last modified 10 April 2000.
Ranked in order by number of adherents:
- Christianity: 2 billion
- Islam: 1.2 billion
- Hinduism: 900 million
- Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 900 million
- Buddhism: 350 million
- Chinese traditional religion: 225 million
- primal-indigenous: 190 million
- Yoruba religion: 20 million
- Juche: 19 million
- Sikhism: 18 million
- Judaism: 15 million
- Spiritism: 14 million
- Babi & Baha'i faiths: 6 million
- Jainism: 4 million
- Shinto: 4 million
- Cao Dai: 3 million
- Tenrikyo: 2.4 million
- Neo-Paganism: 1 million
- Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
- Scientology: 750 thousand
- Rastafarianism: 700 thousand
- Zoroastrianism: 150 thousand
False doctrines and traditions of men that make the word of God of none effect:
First of all, it must be stated that all world religions other than Christianity are false religions and go directly against God. God tells us how we are to worship Him in the Bible. But many people in the world have never had access to the Bible, either by the fact that it isn't in their land or that they country is totally anti-Christian and the individual never really has a chance to know the Bible. In most countries where Christianity is not recognized, if someone is caught with a Bible they are called a betrayer of their faith (Muslim, Judaism, Hindu...). Therefore, those people never really have a fair chance to make a decision to worship God His way. Does that mean that God will send them to "Hell"?
No! God will not judge anyone unfairly. In matters spiritual, one is only judged on what they know, what they have had the chance to know. For the multitudes of people who died before hearing the truth of Christianity, there is a 1000 year span of time in [Rev 20:4-6], referred to as "the Millennium" by Bible Scholars, where-in those people who did not have a chance to learn the truth will be taught BEFORE THE JUDGMENT DAY of [Rev 20:11-12]. The Millennium is also spoken of in the last eight chapters of the book of Ezekiel [Ezek Chaps. 41-48]
Those people taught in the Millennium include those above, as well as aborted and stillborn fetuses, mentally retarded, and any other people who for one reason or another never had a fair chance to choose God through Jesus Christ over satan through the ways and traditions of the world.
Then in [Rev 20: 7-8] those people will be tested by satan as we are tested today to determine if they will remain faithful to God. But this is not a second chance, there are NO second chances! And you cannot pretend to be ignorant and 'pull one over' on God. He knows whom He gave the opportunity to learn the truth in this lifetime and whom He did not. God is fair, and there is a reason for everything He does, though often times we with our small human minds cannot comprehend why He does what He does. But I assure you, He is always perfectly fair!
Rom 11:33-36
33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. (KJV)
But the False doctrines and traditions of men that we shall concern ourselves with here are those committed by Christians through the various corruptions within the various Christian denominations. For they should know better, they have God's Word, they have the Written Word, they have the Bible! But they disregard the Bible, they instead obey Catechisms, Hymnals, book of Mormons, Rapture Doctrines....
We have seen firsthand and in-depth, the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church, so we shall not cover it here. But the Catholic Church is not the only Christian denomination that has become corrupted, they have just had more time to fall.
A great portion of the Christian denominations other than Catholic have fallen prey to a Doctrine strait from satan - the Rapture doctrine. Many of the Pentecostal, Full Gospel, talking in tongues (also a false demonic practice) type Christian churches have been mislead into believing any one of the many false rapture doctrines.
The false Rapture Doctrine:
What is the Rapture theory? Many of the deceived believe that Jesus is going to come down and take the "good" rapture believers and leave the rest of the Christians and other peoples to suffer a hell on earth devoid of God's help! Where on earth did they get that? I'll tell you something they don't want you to know: The rapture theory was born in the year A.D. 1830, by a sick 15 year old girl in Scotland, named Margaret McDonald.
She had this "vision" of this rapturing of the church and told it to two preachers, they molded it, packaged it, and sold it to the world. It has spread like wildfire ever since. This is why you see in the In-depth Bible Study series that we stress being careful where you receive your Bible instruction from. There are many many false teachers out there, and you might study under one of them for two months before they start springing all their bizarre theories on you. That is also why I stress checking out in your Bible, us or anyone else that you might study with. If they are a true teacher of God's Word they will not be offended, if anything it will keep them on their toes! A real good guide to follow is if you are learning more than just salvation from them, and they study the Bible chapter by chapter, and verse by verse and they don't conflict with God's Word, then that's a good start.
Back to the rapture theory: What they who teach any one of the multitudes of rapture theories always seem to conveniently leave out is that Margaret McDonald admitted That at the time she received it, the vision felt cold and satanic. We review two very good books on the Rapture theory in our studyaids section, they are: The Rapture Plot & The Incredible Cover-up.
And it is satanic at it's base, however it is packaged as being legitimate. The Bible declares that satan will come first claiming to be the Savior Jesus Christ; and the Biblically illiterate Christians of today that are waiting for a "rapture," or a "catching away," or a "gathering back to Christ in the sky," or a "flying to the Lord,"... will not know any better than to worship satan, believing him to be the True Christ! They will be worshiping the anti-Christ, God's archenemy. We have covered the rapture theory in many of the In-Depth Bible Studies and have documented through the Bible that the rapture theory is a lie. And we have exposed the rapture theory for what it is, a lie strait from satan's camp! Although most of those that follow the rapture theory do it in ignorance, they only study certain verse in their Bible that the rapture doctors have managed to pull obscenely out of context. You see, they have bought into the deception and are simply deceived, but the teachers themselves of the rapture doctrine, who knows???
I'm not trying to scare anybody, but just be careful, don't stray from the written Word! There is a spiritual war going on for your soul, and satan knows that sometimes he can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. And always pray to God for the true wisdom of His Word, and for His guidance and protection in all your ways.
Lets take a real close sobering look at the events of the supposed rapture. Lets take a look into the future till that imaginary day, lets envision this "rapturing" as it is taking place:
Graves fly open and corpses reanimate, cars driving down the highway suddenly crash as their drivers float through the sheet metal of the roof of the car, up onto a cloud, where they hover as the crowd forms. The Heathen peoples of the world are amazed as Christians in the middle of conversation immediately begin to levitate and sift through the roof of the building as they float to their reward. All the while, Jesus Christ; The Living Son of Almighty God is directing from a safe distance up in the atmosphere, this retreat of His Christian warriors from the power and evil of the antichrist. Then for the next seven years, God, Jesus Christ, and all the Mighty Angels sit on their hands while satin rules on God's earth and torments God's creation, even allowing blasphemous persecutions and murders of those remaining Christians who for some unknown reason, were not deemed worthy to be "Raptured away" and are instead relegated to suffer this hell on earth, all the while being forsaken by God - in direct contradiction of what God states in the Bible: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." [Heb 13:5]
OK back to reality, How on God's earth could the twentieth century Christian actually have let himself be fed this trash? Why do they think God gives them the Gospel Armor if they will be gone when the antichrist gets here?!? Answer - because they won't be gone, there will be no Rapture, we will all be here when the false christ (antichrist) comes. The true Jesus Christ will strengthen us until His arrival at the prophesied Second Advent.
Heb 13:5
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (KJV)
And again the Bible says:
Luke 10:19 (Jesus speaking)
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (KJV)
Unfortunately,
most Christians will be woefully unprepared for satan's most
diabolical plan yet - as the fake messiah - the impostor who is
prophesied to come first before the true Messiah Jesus Christ.
Conclusion,
what we can each do on an individual level:
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We must study God's Word, the Bible. It is through God's Written Word the Bible that we come to understand what God expects from us and what He promises us.
Yes we are saved by grace, for none of us could ever deserve salvation but you must take an active role in your salvation, you must have a working knowledge of God's Written Word The Bible or how else will you know whether or not you are being deceived? Please don't tell me that as long as you think that you can go to Heaven "by the skin of your teeth" that you don't care about pleasing God. I know that you would not want Him to be so flippant about you. God warned us that the famine in the end times would not be for lack of food, but that it would be for the lack of understanding the true Word of God [Amos 8:11+12]. Think about it, when was the last time you ever really learned anything substantial in church?
Amos 8:11-12
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. (KJV)
Oh yes! God Himself sends the famine for His true Word upon a disobedient world. Why, they would ask, would such a loving and merciful God do such a thing? Because He is angry, He sent His only begotten Son to be tortured and murdered for our sakes, a man that lived in the flesh for 33 years and did not commit even one sin, this innocent man (Jesus) was punished for our sins, and we the guilty disregard Him; we are too busy, we need more evidence, or we just don't care.
God also wrote us a letter telling us all things (The Bible) and we rejected it. We let satan's false teachers and false doctrines be our study guides, it is them that we study, worship, and obey. And in doing so we deserve exactly what we got:
Lies and false doctrines; Rapture theories; Saint worship; Wind and rain gods; Mariology, which is the making of a Deity out of Mother Mary and turning her into some kind of goddess, in direct violation of the first and second commandments of God; New age religion; Allah; Buddha; Idols; Christian parents letting their children die rather that take advantage of the miracles of modern medicine that are only possible but by the Grace of God and His laws of biology and nature;
The "God is in us, thus we are god" religious movement that is growing in leaps and bounds; Entire church systems placing their credibility on the line by supporting "shrouds of Turin," that are not Biblically documentable; thousands of aimless souls flocking to see weeping plaster statutes and religious paintings; The Koran; The Book of Mormon; The Talmud; Babbling in some demonic tongue (talking in tongues) and claiming that it is God speaking through them; Misconstruing one of God's food laws and turning it into a command against blood transfusions;
The laughing church; The drinking poison and handling deadly snakes church; Priests claiming to have the power to forgive sin and thus place themselves between God and His children; Practicing ancient pagan fertility rites like "Ishtar" worship (Easter) on the Holiest day of the Christian year (Passover); Religious nut cases committing mass suicides to get to God quicker; Holy water, that is not written of in the Bible, but rather adopted from pagan traditions; Rip off artists claiming to work for God and bilking old ladies out of their life savings on so-called religious television; Priests sodomizing little boys and not being removed from the pulpit - only to do it again;
Falsely teaching that Judas Iscariot is the son of perdition, were-by we don't know to beware of satan who is the true son of perdition; False teaching that God's Word declares the earth to be only 6000 years old but we have entire skeletal remains of dinosaurs that date back to millions of years old, when in reality the Bible declares that this earth is untold billions of years old; False forehead slapping "healers" who lie and claim to heal in Jesus' name on television by smacking someone on the forehead;
Lies to children in Sunday school about Adam and Eve eating the wrong apple and ruining everything, there-by making God seem so very petty; Church sanctioned gay marriage; Openly gay preachers; Gay churches; Crystals; Christian priests that don't believe in the virgin birth; Kabbalah; The Pope who admittedly supports and believes in the evolution theories that make Almighty God out to be a cheap liar; Clergymen that don't know squat about the Holy Word they profess to love and are charged to teach, blind leading the blind right to "hell." Is it any wonder why God has just about "had it up to here" with us?!? And is it any wonder that the heathen unbelievers snicker at us, can you really blame them? What kind of example have we been?
Now I know that the truth may offend some, but never-the-less, it is the truth. But God will judge every soul individually. You don't have to starve for God's truth if you actively seek it out. He will deny no-one that seeks His truth; Christian, Jew, Muslim, Heathen, Satanist... All have an opportunity to hear the True Word of God and be saved! Jesus Himself promised us that. And remember, the words ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK are verbs, they require action on our part.
Luke 11:9-10 (Christ speaking)
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (KJV)
A simple trip to the Webster's Dictionary should make very clear in your mind the meaning of the phrase: "EVERY ONE THAT..." You also notice that there are a lot of action words here, it requires action on our part: Ask, Seek, and Knock are things that we must do. And if it has become easier for you to just sit in the same church pew every Sunday for fifty years and never learn anything more about God's Word and His plan than the day you first walked into that Church, then are you a faithful follower of God, or are you a pew potato, ripe for the false harvest?
Now lets understand why God would send a famine for the true Word of God to His beloved children. On face value it might seem to some that God is being unfair by "blinding" some of His children to His truth in the end times. However, quite the contrary is true. It is because He loves them that He closes their eyes and ears to the truth. Simply put, there is a certain innocence in ignorance, and a spiritual sin committed in ignorance (perhaps kinder put: in a lack of knowledge) is not necessarily a sin against your soul. For if one were to come to full knowledge that satan as the antichrist is an impostor, and that person who knew better were to worship antichrist as though he were the True Christ; that would constitute one form of the The Unforgivable Sin. But it is written that most of the world will be deceived by antichrist, they will do it in ignorance, there-by leaving a window of hope that they will have a chance in the thousand year (millennium) teaching period [ Rev 20:1-6] to learn truth, receive instruction and discipline and be forgiven, because they knew not what they had done.
To sum it up, you must study God's Word yourself. Find a good Bible teaching church and don't be concerned about denominationalism. Christianity is not a denomination, it is a reality, it is the ONLY way to salvation.
If you can't find a good Bible teaching church, we recommend (another Ministry on TV), available world-wide through Cable, satellite, regular television channels, 18" satellite dish, and short-wave radio. And you are always welcome to study with us at WBSG. But be careful about where you study on the internet, there are a lot of false teachings on the net; heck, there are allot of false teachings in the churches!
"The Shepherds Chapel" is on over 250 television stations in the United States, and can be found by that name in any TV guide. It is also on satellite: Galaxy 6 Trans 16. On Direct TV on channel #373 (The Word channel). Also on short wave radio: WHRI & KWHR from Indiana (17.780 MHz @ 0500-0600Hrs, 5.745 MHz @ 0700-0800 Hrs, 13.760 MHz @ 1700-1800Hrs. (All times Universal Time). They also have a website @: www.shepherdschapel.com. Introductory Offer: The (another Ministry on TV) has a free introductory package which includes the Mark of the Beast tape which is available to all new students - from the United States, Canada and Mexico call (800) 643-4645 or (501) 787-6026 or write to: The Shepherd's Chapel; P.O. Box 416, Gravette, AR 72736 USA.
A
look at Biblical prophecy future yet:
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Let's go forward in time to our very near future, and observe what the Bible says about the final days of this age. Here is the events of the last five months immediately prior to the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which shall happen exactly as prophesied in God's Word, the Bible. We will pick it up at the instructions from Jesus Christ to those who know the truth about the antichrist and are being persecuted during the final days by satan (antichrist) and those who are doing his handy work, albeit, most of them will be doing it in ignorance:
Luke 12:8-12 (Christ speaking)
8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.
10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
11 And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say:
12 For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. (KJV)
In verse [11] above, this is speaking of the events at the end of times and during satan's five month reign as antichrist.*1 Satan, as the antichrist, will be given power from God to deceive most of the world. But it is written *2 that some will stand against satan and not bow a knee to the antichrist. These are known as the Election Of Grace, spoken of as the 7000. *3 Satan, by means identified in scripture *4, will locate and seize God's Election, who are men and women who reject satan as the false Christ and refuse to bow to him. Satan will deliver some of these Elect up to 'Sanhedrins' (synagogues and councils) to attempt to "convert" them and make them worship the antichrist as True Messiah.*5 But they will not! In fact it is through the testimony of God's Elect at these councils (that will no doubt be carried live on satellite, to the whole world), that the 144,000 known as the: "Sealed Of Israel", and written of in [Rev 7:3+4], will become aware of the true identity of the antichrist and resist, refusing to worship him as True Messiah.
Scriptural documentation for above points:
- [Lk 21:12-15], [Rev 9:1-11], [Mk 24:4-15].
- [Mk 13:9-11], [Mt 24:9-13], [Lk 21:12-15], [Dan 11:44].
- [1st King 19:18], [Rom 11:1-5].
- [Lk 21:16], [Mk 13:12], [Mt 24:10].
- [LK 12:11], [Mk 13:9], [Mt 24:9].
At this point, the end is very near. Then the "Two Witnesses", who have been sent to earth earlier from God to lead His Elect in resisting the antichrist, and whom are spoken of in [Rev 11:3-19; below], are murdered by antichrist and his misguided followers. Their dead bodies are left to rot in the street, in public view.
Rev 11:3-11
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. (KJV)
At this point, I would imagine that some who thought that they
were really worshiping Jesus Christ begin to get a sick feeling
in the pit of their stomachs as they reason within themselves
that the True Christ would never do this. They think back to the
true Word of God and know that they were warned of this in the
Bible, but they had rejected God's True Word instead opting to
follow "feel good" doctrines of vain men in the watered
down corrupted churches of their day.
But of course if they were to try to back out now they themselves would be murdered by mob rule, as antichrist has by now stirred the masses into a frenzy. Yes, murdered by the very "Christian Brothers" that had deceived them in the first place. It now sets in: They have been bought and paid for, they have been marked by the beast, and they thought they were such good little Christians; they should have listened to God's Word, not the words of men. Put this in the back of your mind and remember this for all you are worth, it still at this time is not to late to repent. If you should sadly find yourself like the one above, repent immediately for the time is short!
Three and a half days later, as prophesied in the Bible, in full view of the whole world (no doubt carried live to the world by live real-time satellite broadcast), God audibly calls the Two Witnesses back to life and they rise up into Heaven in the sight of men. We are now within one literal hour of Jesus Christ's return, commonly known as the Second Advent.
Rev 11:11-19 (Cont)
11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. (KJV)
I guess I don't have to tell you that God is not too happy with
those who not only did not listen to His Word, but they killed
His True followers for not bowing to the antichrist. Beloved,
this is where false doctrines and false teachers/preachers will
lead you. Study God's Word and rebuke any man that tries to teach
you something contrary to what's in your Bible. God saw to it
that you would have The True Word of God for a reason, don't
throw that away for the imaginations of vain spiritually dead men.
You should find it scary that you haven't been taught this in the
super-denominations of today, but yet it has been written in the
Word of God since A.D. 94!!!
What can we do then? Are we doomed to participate in this abomination? How can we come to know God's truth? How will we know the truth when we see it? How can you know this author is telling you right?
It's simple, study God's Word for yourself. It is absolutely necessary that you begin to build on a solid Biblical foundation, or you can never hope to understand and overcome. Beloved, it is imperative that you check out myself and any other person that would presume to bring the Word of God to you! You do that by looking in your Bible to document what someone is teaching you, and if they are trying to teach you something that goes against what the Bible says, then it's time to find a new teacher. No man is perfect, we all make mistakes, but what I am talking about is someone who would tell you things that are contrary to the very core and foundation of what God tells you in the Bible.
And there's more: You have been given free will to follow God or to follow satan, you must ASK God to show you the True way. Many people wonder why God allows people to become evil and to do harm in this world. As with everything God does there is a very good reason for this: God seeks only your true love for Him, everything else is incidental. The sole reason for our time here on earth is to determine if we will love God and Jesus, or satan and the ways of this world. You remember that in the first earth age one third of God's children turned against Him and chose satan.
And, to have true love for God generate within us God had to give us free will to make a choice. Otherwise, if God programmed us to love Him it wouldn't mean anything. You can't make someone love you and have it to be true love. And God will abide by His own rules and accept the fact that some will forsake Him and instead turn to satan again. He will not interfere with your free will, or it could not be your own free will! The Elect have not free will, see the THE FEELING OF FRUSTRATION SOMETIMES FELT BY THE ELECT In-depth Bible Study.
So therefore; you must ASK God in your prayers, to help you find the true path that pleases Him, and tell Him that you love Him. He has emotions; we are created in His likeness, and when one of His beloved children, whom He created, tell Him that they love Him; it just makes His day! Jesus made us a promise about God's truth:
Matt 7:7-8 (Jesus speaking)
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (KJV)
Friend; do you seek the true wisdom of God? Do you study our Fathers Word and pray for Wisdom and Knowledge from Him? Or do you let some man do your thinking for you? Do you study with a teacher/preacher without checking him/her out in your Bible? If that is the case then I say to you danger of the highest order!! You are ripe for satan to deceive. Most teachers/preachers that teach satan's many lies are not evil men, they themselves have just listened to false teaching and now they pass it on like a plague.
And if they are teaching the traditions of man instead of the Word of God then they are disregarding God's Written Word, The Bible, and instead teaching satan's lies. These men no longer work for God, even though they still wear the garb and the fine robes and preach in a Church, Temple, or Synagogue . And if they did try to teach a truth that goes against something in the doctrines of their particular religion or denomination, then they would be fired by their religious hierarchy and lose their pensions. But who are these "Religious hierarchies," and who do they work for?!? God is very much against false teachers of His Word because it leads souls to satan.
Don't let them mislead you. Always check out everybody in your Bible, even us. The Bible is your failsafe guarantee and safeguard from God that the teacher is telling you the truth! That is why we go to the extent of including the referenced Bible Scriptures into these In-depth Bible Studies for you to verify.
Beloved; As hard as it may be to accept, not everyone holding a Bible works for God. Look at who manipulated the Roman government into crucifying Jesus Christ! Was it murderers, thieves, and drunkards, or was it the High Priest; Caiaphas? You know the answer beloved; it was Caiaphas the high priest, but do you know why? do you know why the priests wanted Jesus out of the way? Because Jesus told them and everyone else that would listen the truth about the false religious systems that had crept in to the synagogues, and the profitable traditions of men that had made void the True Word of God! You remember when Christ tipped over the tables of the money-changers and took a whip to their backs? [Jn 2:13-17]
Is this not happening at our present time? I mean, with the preachers more interested in making money than teaching God's word. We all understand that Ministries are supported by tithes and offerings, and if you have found a good one you should help to support them. But are there not Television "preachers" who never seem to get around to teaching God's word (unless it's a scripture on tithing) that tell you to send them monetary "faith offerings" to secure their prayer to God, for your blessing? You don't need their prayers, God can hear you just fine, and He loves us all the same, even the greatest of sinners!
Do we not also see fakes on television, slapping peoples foreheads to heal them in Christ's name? Believe me, if God wants to heal someone, he doesn't need a beggar on television to smack them! God and Jesus never ran a sideshow circus act when healings were performed, in fact, most times Jesus told them not to tell anyone that He had healed them.
And God does heal to this very day, but it will not be televised or marketed. Beloved, understand this one thing; satan will win more souls from the pulpit than he ever could from a bar stool. Any enemy is dangerous when you don't know him to see him. And most importantly; is it not written "there is nothing new under the sun", and that things will happen now just as the did in the past, as when the money-changers were in the House of God?:
Eccl 1:9-10
9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. (KJV)
That is speaking of this generation friend. Many things in the Bible were written to this end generation and were not understood by preceding generations. Time to wake up and do as Jesus did: "Be about my Fathers business" [Lk 2:49]. Do you want to stand up for Christ against the antichrist? Can the Father count on you? Or are you just playing church like so many do in this generation?
The day is long, and the time draws near. God is calling out a people, is he calling you? He gave us a time marker in the parable of the Fig Tree [Mt 24:32-34]. The generation of the Fig Tree began on or about May 14th, in the year A.D.1948 when Israel once again became a nation (or by another reckoning: June 5,1967 when Jerusalem was liberated by Israel), this had not happened since Christ's time. And as Jesus stated in the 34th verse of Matthew Ch. 24:
Matt 24:34 (Christ speaking)
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. (KJV)
And above all, beware of any man that tells you that you don't have to understand the plan of God or the Bible. Prophecy must come to pass exactly as it is written. God gave you the book of Revelation to warn you and teach you of the events that consummate the end of this earth age. The very word "Revelation" means: the revealing, to make known, the unveiling - in any language you choose. Don't let any man take that wisdom from God away from you.
Some of the false teachers tell you that: "you aren't supposed to understand revelation." That is a lie my friend, and I know that you don't think that God had the book of Revelation, or any other book of the Bible, put before us just to take up space? Did God make some kind of a mistake, was He bored? Or did those who have misinformed you and try to mislead you make the mistake? Rebuke any man that would tell you that you aren't supposed to understand any one part of God's Written Word the Bible!
And be double sure to flee from those false religions and denominations that write up their own books of worship. If they are telling you: "Thus saith the Lord," and they aren't reading from a Bible, then it's time to get away from them and satan's lies, for they don't work for God. This not only goes for the Koran, Talmud, Kabbala, Tibetan Book Of The Dead. . . it also goes for the Catechism, the book of Mormon, . . . .
And besides, don't you think it just a little bit suspicious, that the parts of the Bible that they tell you not to understand are the very parts of the Bible that warn us about false teachers and the antichrist? Come on, wake up. There is a spiritual battle waging for your eternal soul whether you realize it or not!
God saw to it that we would have His Written Word, the Bible, so we could know what He wants from us, and what to watch out for. For the only ones who don't want you to understand the prophesies of the Bible are satan and his misguided bunch of Hell bound blasphemers!
How
can satan accomplish deceiving the entire world you ask?:
How satan
as antichrist claiming to be the True Christ, is enabled to
deceive and cause the various "belief systems" of the
world into unknowingly worshiping him as the True Messiah:
In short, every major religion and group of believers and non-believers alike will accept the false messiah. None are taught that the false messiah comes before the True Messiah Jesus Christ comes. The antichrist will be the false messiah, and he is none other than satan himself in one of his many roles.
Every major religion teaches of a coming Messiah or coming leader who will consummate the fulfillment of the Divine Will on earth. This entity is given many different names and many different distinct duties within the various religions of the world. But they are all taught to trust and follow him. And none are taught that there will be an impostor who precedes him except Christianity.
All throughout the Bible we are forewarned of this spurious (false) messiah who comes first . But sadly, the Christian clergy in all the different Christian denominations don't herald the warning. Perhaps they don't understand it, or perhaps they have become so integrated with their corrupted religious systems of man that they dare not 'rock the boat' of their watered down traditions.
But you, as an individual must study your Heavenly Father's Written Word were-by you can learn the truth and stand on it for Him. Just simply going to church once a week and dropping a little conscience money in the till will not avail you of God's solemn warnings that He felt inclined to write to YOU - but that no-one harkens to in these spiritually degenerate times. Nobody seems to care, from the Preachers down to the lay persons, no-one seems to care. Do you care? Judgment day will be a very personal time between you and Almighty God, there will be no deceiver, no false teacher/preacher standing between you and God on that day, we shall all stand alone before God and give account of our lives.
Rev 20:11-15 (Judgment day)
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (KJV)
Below, we supply an excerpt from an article that shows the writings in the holy books of various world religions regarding the coming Messiah. It shall be painfully obvious that they are all set to fall down and worship the first super-natural being that comes to earth claiming to be the Savior. But they are not taught that that first super-natural being that comes is an impostor possessing super-natural abilities, as is forewarned of in God's Holy Word The Bible:
II Th 2:1-5
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? (KJV)
Rev 13:11-18
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (KJV)
When this comes about, who can stand against it? Who will stand
against it? The Biblically illiterate masses? The Heathen? The
Muslim, the Jew, the Buddhist, the Hindu? No way, they won't even
have a clue what the h*ll is going on. Will you?
You must study God's Word, the Bible, or you shall be deceived - Period! No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I don't care how nice of a person you are, I don't care how charitable you are, I don't care how smart you are, I don't care how religious you are: If you do not study the warnings that God has sent to you in writing - you will be deceived - Period!
Observe below the writings from the holy books of many of the worlds religions regarding the coming Messiah, and see if you can understand how easy it will be for satan to slip in and become the impostor and deceiver to all - sadly, even to Christians who just haven't been taught.
Excerpted from: "World Scripture" Author unknown:
The Messiah from the Scriptures of the World's Religions
The scriptures of many religions speak of a coming leader who will consummate the fulfillment of the divine will on earth. He will manifest in his person the righteousness and compassion of God, and he will bring about the final defeat of evil, and establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. The Hebrew title Messiah--'Christ' in Greek means "anointed one," that person who will be specially chosen by God for this mission and empowered to accomplish it. But while the term Messiah is specific to only a few religions, prophecies that a leader will come and accomplish such a mission are nearly universal. Religions call him by various names: Jews long for the promised Messiah; for Christians the Messiah is Jesus of Nazareth, who has already come and ascended to heaven but will reappear (perhaps in a new guise) at his Second Coming. Muslims also expect the second advent of Jesus, who will come as a Muslim Imam, and among Shiite Muslims there are various expectations of a future Imam Mahdi. Buddhist sutras prophesy the coming of the Maitreya Buddha; Vaishnavite Hindu scriptures prophesy the future descent of an avatar named Kalki; Zoroastrian scriptures prophesy the coming of the Saoshyant; and some Confucian texts speak of a future True Man who will finally bring peace to the world by perfectly instituting the Way of Confucius. Various prophecies of these future redeemers are gathered, by religion, in this section.
- Christianity. Revelation 22.20:
"Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!- Judaism and Christianity. Isaiah 9.6-7:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called "Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness, from this time forth and for ever more. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.- Judaism and Christianity. Daniel 7.13-14: I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man. He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominon and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
- Christianity. Matthew 24.29-31:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.- Christianity. Revelation 19.11-16:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords.- Judaism. Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a:
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi met Elijah at the mouth of the cave of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai. He asked Elijah, "When will the Messiah come?" Elijah replied, "Go and ask him." "But where is he?" "At the gates of Rome." "And how shall I recognize him?" "He sits among the wretched who are suffering from sores; all the others uncover all their wounds, and then bind them all up again, but he uncovers and binds up each one separately, for he thinks, 'Lest I should be summoned and be detained." Then Rabbi Joshua found him and said to him, "Peace be with you, my Master and Rabbi." The Messiah replied, "Peace be with you, son of Levi." He said, "When is the Master coming?" He replied, "Today." Then Rabbi Joshua returned to Elijah, who said, "What did he say to you?" He replied, "Peace be with you, son of Levi." Elijah said, "Then he assured to you and your father a place in the world to come." The rabbi said, "He spoke falsely to me, for he said he would come today, and he has not come." Then Elijah said, "He meant 'today, if you hearken to His voice!" [Psalm 95.7]- Judaism. Midrash, Pesikta Rabbati 162b-63a:
In the time to come... the Patriarchs will say, "Ephraim, our righteous Messiah, though we are your ancestors, you are greater than we. For you have borne the sins of our children, and you have borne heavy punishments, such as neither the former nor the latter generations have endured, and you became the laughter and the mocking of all the nations for Israel's sake, and you sat in darkness, and your eyes saw no light. And your skin shrank upon your bones, and your body withered like a tree, and your eyes grew dark from fasting, and your strength dried up like a potsherd, and all this befell you because of the sins of our children. Is it your will that your children should enjoy the felicity which God has destined to give them in abundance? Perhaps because of the pains which you have endured in overflowing measure for their sakes, and because thou hast lain fettered in prison, your mind is not at rest because of them?" Messiah will reply, "Patriarchs, all that I have done, I have done only for your sakes and for your children, and for your honor and theirs, so that they may enjoy the felicity which God has destined for them in abundance." Then they reply, "May your mind be appeased, for you have appeased the mind of your Creator and our mind."- Islam. Qur'an 43.61:
And [Jesus] shall be a Sign of the Hour [of Judgment]; therefore have no doubt about it, but follow Me: this is a straight way.- Islam. Hadith of Muslim:
The Messenger of Allah observed, "What will be your state when the Son of Mary descends amongst you, and there will be an Imam amongst you? What would you do when the son of Mary would descend and lead you?"- Islam. Hadith of Abu Dawud:
The Apostle of Allah said, "Were there remaining but one day of the duration of all time, God would send forth a man from the people of my house, who will fill the earth with equity as it has been filled with oppression."- Islam (Shiite). Nahjul Balagha, Khutba 141, 187:
The Imam who will create a world state will make the ruling nations pay for their crimes against society. He will bring succor to humanity. He will take out the hidden wealth from the breast of the earth and will distribute it equitably amongst the needy deserving. He will teach you simple living and high thinking. He will make you understand that virtue is a state of character which is always a mean between the two extremes, and which is based upon equity and justice. He will revive the teaching of the Holy Qur'an and the traditions of the Holy Prophet after the world has ignored them as dead letters....He will protect and defend himself with resources of science and supreme knowledge. His control over these resources will be complete. He will know how supreme they are and how carefully they will have to be used. His mind will be free from desires of bringing harm and injury to humanity. Such a knowledge to him will be like the property which was wrongly possessed by others and for which he was waiting for the permission to repossess and use. He, in the beginning, will be like a poor stranger unknown and uncared for, and Islam then will be in the hopeless and helpless plight of an exhausted camel who has laid down its head and is wagging its tail. With such a start he will establish an empire of God in this world. He will be the final demonstration and proof of God's merciful wish to acquaint man with the right ways of life.- Zoroastrianism. Avesta, Farvardin Yast 13.129:<