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. 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.

An Unusual Christmas Sermon ?

Some of you will be curious about our message today, "The Millennium in Review." After all, it doesn’t sound very "christmas-sy." But keep in mind that we have come to an unusual point in time. And really, if we will be honest with ourselves, we have as much biblical mandate to observe a Christmas holiday as we do to observe Sunday--namely none. So while we do appreciate parts of the Christmas season--family get-togethers, a time to be at home for a day or two, a respite from the common toil of our days, and a slightly more spiritual focus among even our irreligious friends--still, we hesitate to absorb ourselves in what has become largely a commercialized, secularized, materialized, humanly-devised alchemic-blend of paganism and false-theology from the Roman Catholic Church. God’s messages aren’t running on the same schedule as what might fit into a comfortable human plan. When it's mother’s day a preacher might preach about mothers, or on father’s day, he might preach about fathers, but only if the Spirit truly leads him to preach on that. It may be that heaven has a more pivotal life-or-death message than what might be devised by following a human calendar. God’s calendar is different, as we shall clearly see today.

So if I don’t preach about groundhogs on groundhogs day, please, don’t be offended; and if, on Christmas day a week before the year 2000 I present a message reviewing what God and Satan have been doing over the last 1000 years, please don’t be offended. If I sought to please men, I would not be a servant of God (Galatians 1:10).

A Unique Opportunity to Catch a Glimpse from Overhead

While this transition from 1999 to the year 2000 in itself really has no particular prophetic significance different from any other year, and while the millennium technically begins not next week but at the transition from 2000 to 2001, the present moment is a fortuituous opportunity to look back and consider to what end God and Satan have bent their efforts during the past thousand years.

And they have not been inactive. Not at all.

An incident comes to mind as we prepare to hear such an overview. You may recall the story of Elisha and his servant: the king of Syria was peeved because all of his war plans were going wrong. After making inquiry as to how it was that their war plans were being "leaked" to the enemy, the fact that Israel had a powerful prophet who was being shown their plans against in advance God’s people led them to go after him. So they came and surrounded the city of Dothan where Elisha was.

If you think about the logic of it, it seems rather misguided to go after someone because they are always foreseeing your actions. It would stand to reason that perhaps they would see you coming and escape! In any case, they did indeed come after Elisha. In the night they surrounded the city, and in the morning the servant of Elisha went outside and to his great dismay, all he could see were the chariots and horses of the Syrians surrounding the city. In fear he ran back inside to Elisha and said "Oh master! What shall we do?"

But Elisha’s response was "Don’t be afraid. The stronger power is on our side." In fact, right after that, 2 Kings 6:17 says that

Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his [Elisha’s servant’s] eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around about Elisha.

The servant of Elisha, who could not see beyond the veil of the physical world was enabled by God to see the vivid spiritual conflict around about him on every side. God’s hand was protecting his prophet and he then saw the reason for Elisha's statement at the beginning that he should not be afraid.

Let us now pray that God will do something on a similar order for us. Let’s bow our heads.

Dear Father in heaven, today we pray that in Your message You will in some measure open our eyes to behold the spiritual battle that is raging around about us. Your horses and Your chariots are here; your armies, Your warrior angels and the death-dealing enemy demons are here. Lord, if you will, throw back the curtain in some measure, and point out to us where we stand, so that we may not fear, but understand what Your will for us is at this time, so that that we may bring glory to You. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Before we get into the thick of this, let us pause and consider what our Jesus is doing. It is by beholding Him that we become changed people (2 Corinthians 3:18). And so let us remind ourselves, before we look into what has been happening on earth, what Jesus was doing a thousand years ago. Let us look to Jesus. Let’s keep in mind that although He is identified as the "Prince of peace" (Isaiah 9:6) in the Scriptures, He also said "Think not that I am come to send peace on the earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34).

What Was Jesus Doing in 1000 A. D.?

Where was Jesus in 1000 A. D.? We know from the Scripture that He ascended into heaven in 34 A. D. and began to minister in what is called the "holy place," of the heavenly sanctuary. But what does that mean? Let’s just refresh our mind on this for a moment.

The tabernacle on the earth that God had asked Moses build was really just a copy of the "true tabernacle that the Lord pitched and not man" (Hebrews 8:1-2), in heaven. God wanted to take His people into the promised land, and He wanted to do it personally. He knew they needed a reminder of His presence, and He knew they needed a way to deal with the sin problem if they were going to go anywhere with Him. The sin problem involves the whole universe. The Bible says that the gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16-17), and that the mission of Jesus and His gospel is to save His people "from sin" (Matthew 1:21).

Remember that the purpose of the earthly tabernacle was to demonstrate God’s plan to His people, to reveal His holiness; and how they were to deal with their sins and become a changed people, and a holy nation before Him. The services of the earthly sanctuary had two main divisions: the daily services and the yearly service. Every day throughout the year the sanctuary was active in the regular, daily service. This involved the offering of certain sacrifices evening and morning, and the regular availability of the forgiveness of sins. Day by day, if anyone in the camp sinned, they could go to the tabernacle, bring their offering, slay it, and the priest would see to it that the animal was appropriately offered in sacrifice. He then took its blood into the holy place of the earthly sanctuary where he ministered it according to the Scripture. Mind you, this was the daily service of the sanctuary. Its function was to transfer the sins of Israel from God’s people to God’s sanctuary. But this left the sanctuary "holding" these sins. There it stood in the midst of Israel like a toxic-waste dump at the very center of the camp.

The once-a-year service was the time when the sanctuary itself was cleansed of that record of sins. The sins of all Israel were, at that time, blotted out, and at the end of the service the camp was entirely free from sin. This was necessary in order to rid Israel of sin, and also reminded the people that sin is only a temporary situation in God’s universe. God wanted His people to keep it fresh in their mind that He was holy and that He was dealing with the sin problem; that in the end, the sin problem would be over.

Just as the earthly sanctuary service was a shadow, the heavenly sanctuary service was the shadow-caster--it was the real thing. So Jesus went to heaven in 34 A. D. and began His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary as our high priest. From then until 1844 He ministered in the "holy place" of the heavenly sanctuary. This was Him carrying out the true ministry of forgiveness for sins that was the equivalent of the services earlier conducted at the earthly sanctuary. Remember, the sins that were forgiven in symbol back in the earthly tabernacle/sanctuary had to be forgiven in substance in heaven. No sin has ever been forgiven but by the authority of the blood of Christ, and the blood of Christ--the life of Jesus given on the cross for us--was not offered until 34 A. D. Therefore His blood could not be available to the heavenly sanctuary to be formally ministered until after Jesus died on Calvary. So for 1810 years following His death on the cross, Jesus functions as our great high priest in the "holy place" of the heavenly sanctuary. Doing what? Forgiving sin; handling the sin problem. But not just that.

See, many have the idea somehow that Jesus went to heaven after He died on the cross and then suddenly went into hiding. He disappeared off the radar of earth and all is a mystery: what is He doing? where has He gone? when will He come back? But we know better--much better--only because we look into the Bible and study it out, and by the grace of God it has been revealed to us what is going on.

Jesus did not just disappear. The Scripture answers In Hebrews 9:24 that

Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

Verse 26 continues by stating that

Now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

What is He doing? Far from disappearing off the map, He has gone into the heavenly sanctuary. He brings the blood of His own sacrifice with Him, His perfect life offered up in our place as a ransom for our sins. Brothers and sisters, we know exactly where He is at, exactly what He is up to, and when He will come back. He will come back when the sanctuary has been cleansed (Daniel 8:14). And the sanctuary will be cleansed when His people are sealed. And His people will be sealed when they stop sinning.

And we haven’t stopped sinning yet.

So now as you follow me through a set of 24 snapshots covering the progress of the battle between good and evil over the last millennium--the past 1000 years--keep in mind that God is dealing with the sin problem. And not just in the heavenly sanctuary, but also on earth He has been providentially weaving His movements and His developments in the fight into the web of history. Things are moving forward, and how rapidly they are beginning to move! But now, let’s flip back to the year 1000 and see where the great controversy stood a thousand years ago...

Twenty-four Snapshots

So now let us take these 24 snapshots. A day is, according to the Bible, like a thousand years to God (2 Peter 3:8). So then how has the last day passed for Him?

YEAR 1000 (Midnight in the dark ages)

As the year 1000 begins, we find Pope Sylvester II (ca. 945-1003) sitting upon the papal throne. God’s true church is "in the wilderness" so to speak, as it had been since 538 A. D., from 472 years previous. The early Waldenses are living out their faith in the mountain strongholds of the Alps. The entirety of established Christendom is reeling under the influence of Augustine’s "City of God" theology. Augustine highlighted Christ (as he understood Him) to such a great extent that his teachings really made history, and thus prophecy, irrelevant. And so, under the cover of a "Christ-centered" theology, interest in the prophetic books of Scripture waned, and continued in such a state for centuries. Yes, two distinct groups operating under mutually exclusive conceptions of the gospel are on the map. One is running under the Bible’s authority, the other, under the compromised authority of a church teaching in vain the commandments of men. The Prophetic Faith of our Fathers, (hereafter referred to as PFOOF), vol. I, p. 587, 691.

YEAR 1042 (1:00 AM in the morning so to speak)

In 1077 the world would see Pope Gregory VII force King Edward IV of Germany to cross the mountains in midwinter and stand barefoot outside in the snow for three days, fasting, to plead for the Pope’s mercy. Finally, after three frigid days he was permitted to kiss the pope’s feet, and the Pope later permitted him to reascend his kingly throne. After this humiliating incident, Gregory bragged in many letters that it was his "duty to pull down the pride of kings." Wm Jones, History of the Christian Church, vol. I, p. 466.

Among other innovations of Gregory was the enforcement of strict celibacy.

YEAR 1083 (2:00 AM in the morning so to speak)

Documents dated as coming from 1120 among the Waldensis already identified the AntiChrist with the Roman Catholics. From this treatise we read:

According to the Apostle we may truly say, This is that man of sin complete, that lifts up himself against all that is called God, or worshiped, and that setteth himself in opposition against all truth, sitting down in the temple of God, that is in his church, and shewing forth himself as if he were God, being come with all manner of deceivableness for those that perish. And since he is truly come, he must no longer be looked for; for he is grown old already by God’s permission. PFOOF vol. I, p. 881.

YEAR 1125 (3:00 AM in the morning so to speak)

In 1130 Bernard of Clairvaux would declare a rival claimant to the Papal title to be "either of antichrist, or antichrist himself." PFOOF vol. I, p. 639. Also around this time Bernard of Cluny would record in telling words the accelerating apostasy within the Roman Church:

Rome gives all things to all who give all things to Rome, for a price, because there is the way of justice, and all justice is dead. She wobbles like a rolling wheel, hence shall Rome be called a wheel, who is wont to burn like incense with rich praises. . . . The peace that wisdom cannot, money gives you. Money makes agreements and restrains the threatener. . . . If money is given, pontifical favor stands near; if not, that is afar off--that is the law and teaching obtaining there." PFOOF vol I., p. 632.

Instead of being guided by Scripture, the Roman Church was led by Canon law. The basis for that Canon law was issued in 1150 as the Decretum of Gratian. Gratian quoted as authority 324 canons/rules in the documents that are understood to be forgeries, and 11 canons base upon the genuine! This was the fruitage of stepping outside of the Bible. PFOOF vol. I, p. 788.

YEAR 1167 (4:00 AM so to speak)

Joachim of Floris (c. 1130-1202) came along with an entirely new prophetic scheme--new in relation to the stacked-up centuries of Augustinian influence. His teachings led to the renewal of the historicist understanding of Bible prophecy.

As Roland Bainton noted of Austine’s thinking,

He was more ready to assign a role to the church in society because he envisaged for mankind a long span of time on earth; unlike the early Christians, who expected the speedy termination of the historical process through the return of Christ, Augustine projected the end indefinitely into the future. The role of the saints as judges of the world in the great assize on the last day was then transferred to the church on earth.Bainton, Christianity, p. 123.

Joachim for the first time applied the year-day principle to the 1260 day prophecy. His importance was very great. Froom writes:

Joachim provided the basis for the historical method of interpretation of the time relationships of prophetic symbols, as applied to both nations and churches when he extended to this period the Biblical principle of a day for a year, which had in the early centuries been applied only to the seventy weeks [of Daniel nine]. To the early expositors, who expected the end soon, or within a few centuries, all time perspectives pertaining to last things were foreshortened, for they could not conceive of the world’s lasting long enough to cover time prophecies of such length as 1260 years. Froom, PFOOF vol. I, p. 690, 700-701.

In 1231 the infamous "Inquisition" was begun, as its agents were originally called by the pope, "inquisitors of heretical depravity." Ellen White writes of the inquisition as follows:

In the thirteenth century was established the mot terrible of all the engines of the papacy--the inquisition. The prince of darkness wrought through the leaders of the papal hierarchy. In their secret councils Satan and his angels controlled the minds of evil men, while unseen in the midst stood an angel of God, taking the fearful record of their iniquitous decrees and writing the history of deeds too horrible to appear to human eyes. "Babylon the great" was "drunken with the blood of the saints." The mangled forms of millions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance upon that apostate power. Great Controversy, p. 59.

By 1198 Pope Innocent III was seated. At the fourth Lateran Council he legalized the inquisition, and added the teaching of transubstantiation.

YEAR 1208 (5:00 AM so to speak)

About this time the massacres of the Albigenses occurred. While Rome was gathering an army to attack, a plea was made that the Albigenses meet with a group of Catholics and go over their beliefs, each side striving to support its beliefs only from the Bible. This was done, but soon an army came and decided the issue. The Albigensis were slaughtered. Again, many fled into the realms of Count Raymond where additional slaughters occured. They fled again to the city of Beziers, and a vast army surrounded that city. Again and again the soldiers were repulsed (They had been offered eternal life if they would sign up for a 40 day period of crusading). The city was told that if they would all become Catholic they would be spared, if they would not, all would be killed. The city was filled with many, both Catholics and Abigenses. Although they pled strongly, the Catholics inside the city were unable to convince the Albigenses to give up their faith. Finally, the city was again attacked. The soldiers weren’t sure what to do, for they would be coming into contact with many of their brother Catholics within the walls in the assault. When asking what to do, they were told by Arnold, the Abbe of Cisteaux, "Kill them all--the Lord knoweth them that are His." This decided the matter. All were slaughtered, including the Catholic Priests. Wm Jones History of the Christian Church, vol. II, pp. 117-125.

YEAR 1250 (6:00 AM so to speak)

Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175-1253) urged reform within the Roman Catholic Church, and had the boldness to declare that the Pope should be called to account for heresy. But the real point of interest near this time was Archbishop Eberhard identifying the Pope as the Little Horn of Daniel seven. Eberhard was the first to realize with clarity that the actual disintegration of Rome had occurred centuries ago. The implications of this understanding cannot be underestimated. Eberhard stood "forth to level his finger at the Papacy as the Antichrist and the Little Horn ‘speaking great words against the most High.’" PFOOF vol. I, p. 803.

YEAR 1292 (7:00 AM so to speak)

The Italian poet Dante’s Divine Comedy published during this snapshot recapitulated the story of good and evil as conceived in medieval thought, including vivid descriptions of the various happenings in hell as they were then portrayed. Few individuals have done more to spread a powerful distortion of what God is like. And yet he unsparingly attacked Rome for her harlotries, in his epic poem even assigning popes to the infernal regions.

In 1294 Pope Boniface VIII ascended to the throne. Among the points that he insisted upon was he assertion

That every human creature is subject to the Roman pontiff,--this we declare, say, define, and pronounce to be altogether necessary for salvation. PFOOF vol. I, p. 679.

In the year 1300 this pope launched a year-long jubilee, similar in idea to what the present pope, John-Paul II launched this morning in Rome.

YEAR 1333 (8:00 AM so to speak)

Repeatedly attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church were made from within. But at every turn these endeavors were blocked by Satan. A group of individuals known as the "spirituals" tried in the 1200s to reform her, but when pope Boniface VIII came to power in 1294 hope of reform was obliterated. Among the would-be reformers was Pierre Jean D’Olivi (b. 1248-d.1298). He produced several writings critical of the Papacy. He identified the Roman Church as the whore of Babylon. His writings produced a serious stir, and Pope John XXII who remained in power in 1333 ordered an inquiry and condemned 60 articles of Olivi's writings on the book of Revelation.

YEAR 1375 (9:00 AM so to speak)

Matthias of Janow (d. 1394) paved the way for John Hus and John Wycliffe. He firmly believed that the antichrist was already present, and declared the idea of a future antichrist to be a trick of the devil. Neander recounts Janow’s teaching:

Lest--says he--the abomination of desolation, (Matthew 24:15), should be plainly manifest to men, he has invented the fiction of another abomination still to come, that the church, plunged still deeper in error, may pay homage to the fearful abomination which is present, while she pictures to herself another which is still in the future. It is a common, everyday fact, that Antichrists go forth in endless numbers, and still they are looking forward for some other and future Antichrist. PFOOF, vol. II, p. 40.

And again, of God’s church in the end-time:

All holy Scripture--he says--predicts, that before the end of the world the church of Christ shall be reformed, renovated, and more widely extended; that she shall be restored to her pristine dignity, and that still, in her old age, her fruitfulness shall increase. PFOOF vol. II, p. 42.

But above all other voices was now heard the preaching of John Wycliffe (b. 1324-d.1384). Fearlessly he identified the Roman church as Antichrist, denounced her doctrines, attacked her friars, taught that the church was not lord over the state, and sought to bring doctrinal reform by replacing the tradition of the church with the law of the gospel. Above these exploits, he set loose a powerful band of preachers upon the land, and translated the Bible into english.

Wycliffe’s contemporary, John Hus of Bohemia taught very much as he. His fate was to be burned for his teachings in 1415. After his body was burnt his persecutors stirred the bones in the ashes with a stick and drew out his smoldering skull. They split it open with a stick and cast it back into the fire to assure the consumption of even his silenced brain. PFOOF vol. II, p. 116. Hus had called the pope the vicar of Satan, and he paid the price.

YEAR 1417 (10:00 AM so to speak)

In 1414 the Council of Constance was opened, and after Wycliffe’s death commanded that his bones be dug up and burned. Although this decision had been made earlier, it wasn’t actually carried out until 1428. The ashes were cast into a little stream called the Swift. With intensity the Lollards taught the truth of God, but were soon being burned to death for their faith on a regular basis. It is no wonder that in their writings, such as "The Lantern of Light," they urge the readers to

Strive in this life to leave the fiend’s church, and to bring yourself, both body and soul, into the church of Jesus Christ, while grace and mercy may be granted. PFOOF vol. II, p. 65.

In the year 1417 itself the famous Lord Cobham was martyred for his beliefs. He wrote

My belief is (as I said afore) that all the Scriptures of the sacred Bible are true. . . . And let all men consider well this, that Christ was meek, and merciful; the pope is proud, and a tyrant; Christ was poor and forgave, the pope is a rich and malitious Man-slayer, as his daily acts do prove him. Rome is the very nest of Antichrist, and out of that nest come all the Disciples of him. Of whom, Prelates, Preists, and Monks, are the body, these pil’d Friars are the tail, which covereth his most filthy part. PFOOF vol. II, p. 89-90.

In 1417 Cobham was dragged to St. Giles, suspended in chains, and was slowly burned to death, praising God.

YEAR 1458 (11:00 AM so to speak)

The invention of the printing press signaled the end of the Papacy’s control over the minds of men. In the closing 1450s, and to the great consternation of the Papacy, the Bible began to be printed on the earliest printing presses. The Papal response to this new freedom was to initiate the Index of prohibited books.

Christopher Columbus came of age during this period, and sailed to the Americas. The Pope, urging that he rightly held power over all lands, divided the so-called "new world" between the two-superpowers (besides the Roman Church, that is), of the age: Spain and Portugul.

All the dust seemingly was settling. The Papacy had triumphed. But there remained in the equation one significant detail that Rome could not manipulate.

God.

In a dimly lit hovel, a poor miner’s home, a new child cried out, exercising his lungs for the first time. It was 1483. His parents named the young child...

Martin Luther.

YEAR 1500 (High noon, the time when God launched the Reformation)

By 1512 the Papacy had begun the Fifth Lateran Council. This council seemed to signal the final triumph of the Papacy. At that Council they extended their censorship over all with the following decree:

No one shall presume to print or caused to be printed, in Rome or in any other city or diocese, any book or any other writing whatsoever unless it has first been carefully examined and its publication approved by our vicar and the master of the Sacred Palace, in other cities and dioceses by the bishops or by competent persons appointed by them and by the inquisitor of the city or disocese in which the books are to be printed. This approval must be given over the personal signatures of the censors, free of charge and without delay, under penalty of excommunication. PFOOF vol. II, p. 183.

But the Papacy had not triumphed.

In 1506 they began building St. Peter’s Basillica in Rome, a task that was not completed until 1626. The final cost of the structure was immense. In order to finance the fantastic project, arrangements were made to secure widespread sales of indulgences. But when the designing Tetzel made his way into the parish of 34 year old Martin Luther, the young preacher saw the danger that this false-teaching held for his flock. On the 31^st of October of 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. His intentions, as those of most reformers, were not high or mighty. But heaven there launched an attack on the kingdom of Satan that reverberated throughout the world. Luther was deeply interested in prophecy. He exposed Rome as the Antichrist, opposed her false teachings, translated the Bible into his people’s native tongue, and preached salvation through faith in Christ. He initiated an offensive operation against evil, the likes of which had not been seen since our Lord Jesus sacrificed His life for us on Calvary.

YEAR 1542 (1:00 PM so to speak)

The Reformation made great headway for some time, but not without a strong battle. A generation of bold reformers risked (and many gave) their life for their faith in Christ. In this wave of the war between good and evil, Ulrich Zwingli, Philip Melanchthon, Martin Luther, Oecolampadius, and many others engaged the foe. William Tyndale translated the Bible from Greek to English and was burned at the stake in 1536. King Henry VIII banned the Bible in english and many other anti-Catholic works. The Protestant Reformation made difficult progress in England. Books giving prophetic explanation that identified the Antichrist power were continuously burned. The Word of God was through prophecy exerting a tremendous pressure against the Roman Catholic Church. This had a good deal to do with the underlying strength of the Reformation.

John Bale (b. 1495-d. 1563) spoke of the golden cup in the hand of the whore as follows:

Moreover in her hand, which is her external ministration, she hath a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her execrable whoredom. This cup is the false religion that she daily ministereth, besides the chalice whom her merchants most damnably abuse; and it containeth all doctrine of devils, all beastly errors and lies, all deceitful power, all glittering works of hypocrites, all crafty wisdom of the flesh, and subtle practices of man’s wit, besides philosophy, logic, rhetoric, and sophistry; yea, all prodigious kinds of idolatry, fornication, sodomitry, and wickedness. Outwardly it seemeth gold, pretending to the glory of God, the holy name of Christ, the sacred scriptures of the Bible, perpetual virginity of life; and all are but counterfeit colours and shadows of hypocracy in the outward letter and name.

     Full of abominations is the drink of the execrable faith of that Romish religion received of others, and full of filthiness also. PFOOF vol. II, p. 400.

Among those commenting on the Papacy during this period stand Edwin Sandys (b. 1519-d.1588). When accused of apostasizing from the Roman Church, he answered thusly:

This is our apostasy. We have forsaken him that hath forsaken God, and whom God hath forsaken: we have left that man of sin, that rose-coloured harlot with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, that triple-crowned beast, that double-sworded tyrant, that thief and murderer, who hath robbed so many souls of salvation, and sucked so much innocent blood of Christian martyrs, that adversary unto Christ, that pretensed vicar, who hath displaced the person, not only taking upon him Christ’s room and office, but also boasting himself as if he were a god, and being content of his parasites so to be called. This wicked man of sin is at length revealed by the sincere preaching of the gospel. Daniel in his prophecies, Paul in his epistles, and John in his revelations, have most lively described and pointed him forth even as it were with the finger. Yea, through his pride and ambition, his usurping authority and worldly rule, his tyranny and persecuting of Christ in his members, he hath sufficiently revealed and detected himself, if none had done it for him. PFOOF vol. II, p. 420.

Sandys was not well-liked by Papists.

Rome reacted to the Reformation with what has come to be known as the "Counter-Reformation." It really meant relatively little reformation and a great deal more "counter." Rome hunkered down right where she was at and made no meaningful move toward a true reformation. The Jesuit Order was established in 1540 with the express purpose of destroying Protestantism.

The Council of Trent was held beginning in 1545 and ending in 1563. This council declared the Reformation false, attacked the Protestants, and firmed up the creed of the Roman church. At Trent the Catholic Church pointed to her change of the Sabbath from the seventh-day to the first day as a mark of her authority and asked Protestants where their Bible evidence was for their observance of the Sunday. Roman Theology hardened into place. Only a very few doctrinal developments came after Trent. At Trent Pope Pius IV passed a creed that "utterly denies salvation to those who differ from Rome." PFOOF vol. II, p. 476. Persecutions were renewed. Rome bit back.

The year 1572 saw the infamous massacre of St. Bartholomew. Approximately 50,000 French Protestants were slain. The Pope was so pleased that he had a special commemorative medal struck in honor of the event. The true spirit behind that church is ever freshly revealed when she has opportunity to inflict her wrath upon those who do not submit to her.

YEAR 1583 (2:00 PM so to speak)

During this time-frame the Jesuits introduced some of their most deadly and effective ideology; they introduced countering methods of prophetic interpretation to remove from the church the onus of being the Babylon of Bible-prophecy.

Alcazar, a Spanish Jesuit from Seville, introduced the Preterist method of interpretation. This scheme assigned virtually all prophetic developments to times past. If Antichrist had already come in time past, then antichrist couldn’t be the Roman Church in the present.

In exact contrast to his colleague from Seville, Jesuit Ribera introduced what readily became known as the "Futurist" school of prophetic interpretation. His ideas assigned much of prophetic fulfillment to a brief period far off into the indefinite future, again meaning that the church at the present time could not be the Antichrist of Bible prophecy. Robert Bellarmine, the most brilliant Catholic of his age built on Ribera’s ideas and attacked Protestants on the ground of prophetic interpretation! He especially attacked the year-day principle by teaching that Antichrist would be a single individual in the future. Since this would be a human individual, the length of his reign must be limited within the potential lifetime of a human being, and so the 1260 days could never be years. So virtually all of prophecy was made to fit into the short space of three and a half years, and placed far off to the vague end, somewhere in the hazy future.

Both of these teachings began within decades of each other; each was mutually exclusive of the other. But both suited the purposes of Rome. It is astonishing that today the foundational prophetic understanding of the Protestant Reformation has been almost entirely displaced by the Futurist and Preterist methods of interpretation, both rising, without dispute, from Jesuit forces.

Jacobus Arminius died in 1609 after a powerful battle with Dutch Calvinists, but his work laid the foundation to un-stall the Reformation.

YEAR 1625 (3:00 PM so to speak)

The "bloody Easter" massacre of the Piedmont occurred in 1655. In the middle of winter the Waldenses were ordered to leave their country enmass, but did not. It was the design of the government to utterly destroy them, and in a brief period a massive army broke through into the mountain strongholds and immediately began tearing those people into shreds. In this heinous bloodbath Waldensian Christians were slain, tortured, dismembered, women raped, mothers with their infants throne off of cliffs, and an indescribable litany of violence was done to them. Du Petit Bourg, first captain of the regiment of Groncy, noted in his plea that

I was a witness to his [the Marquis of Pionessa] issuing orders to give them no quarter at all, assigning as a reason, that his highness was resolved to have none of that religion in any of his dominions. Wm Jones, History of the Christian Church, vol. II, p. 341.

How bloody and sad is the tragic history of Satan working through the Roman Catholic Church.

YEAR 1667 (4:00 PM so to speak)

By the closing decades of the 17^th century, Knox in Scotland thundered the truth in bloody Mary’s ear. In England the tide swept back and forth from Catholicism to Protestantism, with persecution in between. On the continent the Reformation had lost its momentum and was doing well if it held its ground against the resurgence of the Papal power. John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress and other works while incarcerated in the Bedford jail. Throughout the century believers were fleeing the old continent and arriving in the new. The pilgrims came to America, not yet understanding the principle of religious freedom. Still, the foundation of a new country was being laid by divine providence.

YEAR 1708 (5:00 PM so to speak)

By 1703 another young powerhouse was born: John Wesley. He came of age and started his "holy club" while at University. He preached and wrote extensively throughout most of the century, picking up where Arminius had left off. He reunited the healing emphasis of eastern Christianity with the legal emphasis of western Christianity. He preached obedience to the law of God and sanctification. His methodical approach to the personal life of holiness soon led to the derisive appellation "Methodist." He was a great organizer. God used him in a mighty way.

YEAR 1750 (6:00 PM so to speak)

In 1776 a new nation was formed: the United States of America. Its twin principles of Republicanism and Protestantism led to ready application in the saying, "A nation without a king, and a church without a pope."

YEAR 1792 (7:00 PM so to speak)

The close of the century saw the ghastly atheistic revolution in France wherein the Bible and Christian religion was cast down for the greater portion of the decade. At the close of this period the Pope was taken prisoner by Napolean’s General Berthier and the Papacy sustained its "deadly wound." Meanwhile, Methodism was transplanted to America and began to thrive. As the young nation began to blossom into power, religious freedom began to be recognized in the United States. Toward the close of this period of time a young lady was born in Maine. Her name was Ellen Harmon.

YEAR 1833 (8:00 PM so to speak)

A young farmer named William Miller began to study his Bible. His understanding of prophecy and his preaching of Bible realities that had a most present application to his time fired the great advent awakening. He had drifted into deism through association with his other younger friends; it had been the popular ideology of the time. But the Lord reached out to him and caught him through the loveliness of Jesus. Miller began to study his Bible through anew, believing that God must have produced a consistent book and that the various "difficulties" in it should be capable of being understood if Scripture were simply allowed to interpret Scripture. He laid aside the Bible commentaries and focused his study on the first verse of the Bible and proceeded. When he reached the prophecies, they began to open to him, and soon he reached the startling conclusion that Jesus would "cleanse the sanctuary" at the conclusion of the 2300 year-day prophecy of Daniel 8:13-14. Believing the sanctuary to mean "the earth," Miller concluded that the second coming of Jesus would occur in a few short years! He went back over his study numerous times, trying to be absolutely sure; he didn’t even want to go preaching, let alone with a message such as this. But the call came to him "Tell it to the world!" which he did.

The message spread all through the land as hundreds of preachers crossing denominational boundaries came together to give the message. On different continents around the world others reached the same conclusions as Miller and presented the same truths in those places. The churches of America threw open their doors to Miller at first, and reaped the benefits. A vast change came over many communities as folk sobered, turning to Jesus Christ and to the Bible. There was a personal preparation to be made to be ready when Jesus came, and many commenced that work with sobriety and with joy.

But as the time of the expectation drew near, a change came over the churches. Many turned away from the message. Church members were disfellowshiped for holding to the Advent belief of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. People who had been thoroughgoing church members for years, and whose lives had ever been exemplary, were repressed, not permitted to share about or speak of the joy that burned within their hearts, that Jesus was coming soon! Many had to leave these communions and congregations that beforehand they had been appreciated members of. The light of the judgment day near at hand was unwelcome, and the piety that it provoked in those who believed meant the glow of strong spiritual life springing up in the heart--a light unwelcome to those in whom grace was burned dim. Especially in America the light was rejected. What this meant for the churches--the inheritors of the Protestant faith in particular--was tragedy. They had rejected the light that their God had sent them from heaven. They had turned against Him, refusing to follow-out the full truth of the Bible, and imposed their will on those who sought only to worship God. The first angel’s message of Revelation 14:6-7 was going, but they were staying. And so that light rejected, heaven sent another message in Revelation 14:8:

Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she hath made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

Those churches had voluntarily turned their backs upon God, but still claimed to represent Him. So, painfully, He told the world that they had morally gone away from Him, that they had experienced a "fall;" that they had joined themselves to Babylon--to the religious confusion and apostasy so epitomized by the Roman Church. Astonishingly, the heirs of the Protestant Reformation had settled into a despicable spiritual slumber, and had realigned themselves with the mother of harlots (Revelation 17:5).

Revelation 13:11 tells of the rising of another beast-an image beast to the first beast of Revelation 13:1-10. As we have traced the roar of the dragon down through the ages the roar of the dragon through His Babylon Church, we’ve seen the spirit of that organization. We’ve seen it rejoice to slay all who will not believe her religious fables and darkling teachings that in effect remove Jesus from the equation. When we began our journey through this past 1000 years, at the very beginning that Roman Church was entrenched and deepening its grip on the world. But now a crucial prophetic development takes place, probably the most deep-reaching development during this 1000 years so far.

Jesus moves in the sanctuary!

In all those years since 34 A. D. He had functioned in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. But now there is a change. Now He goes into the Most holy place to cleanse the sanctuary. In the earthly service of the sanctuary, once a year the sanctuary was cleansed of sin. The high priest went in alone into the most holy place to cleanse the sanctuary. When he came out, it was over--the camp was clean. And God began, according to Bible prophecy, to cleanse His heavenly sanctuary in 1844. He is going over the lives of His people and comparing them with the record of sin. Before He comes again in glory, it will have been made plain to the universe that it is right for His people to receive the gift of eternal life, that they are safe to save because He has changed them.

Friends, I have labored through a most condensed and incomplete recounting of a few of the atrocities and departures of the Roman Catholic Church, the first beast of Revelation 13:1-10, not to "slay the beast," but to warn you. Because the Scripture says that

I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

We have seen the first portion of that road, and so now we know what is coming right up on our end of the road.

In 1844 Jesus moved in the heavenly sanctuary into the most holy place. He had been expected to return to the earth and cleanse it with fire, but deeper Bible study after Jesus had failed to appear as expected opened up the beautiful truth that He had indeed begun to cleanse the sanctuary at that time, but that the sanctuary to be cleansed was in heaven. There Jesus ministers before the Father in our behalf. There our faith reaches within the veil and by faith connects with our Saviour appearing in the presence of God for us to put away sin. And there we tap His strength to live godly in this present age (Titus 2:12).

Those who had expected Jesus to come in 1844 experienced a deep-reaching disappointment--that is true. But many went on to see the power of the experience that heaven was working-out for them. They pursued their study and came together to teach obedience to all of God’s commandments. They realized that the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary also contained at its center the ark of God, and that He was calling His people in the end-time to keep all of His commandments, including the fourth. Exodus 20:8 commands "remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." God called a people to preach holiness and live in obedience. The Reformation was not permitted to remain in a stalled state. God let His truth roll. The Seventh-day Adventist movement was underway!

It is worth noting that two fantastic heretical teachings of the Catholic church were solidified during this period. In 1854 the teaching of the immaculate conception of Mary was affirmed, and in 1870 the infallibility of the Pope and the universality of the authority of His office was affirmed by the Vatican. The darkness was even at this point, only deepening. PFOOF vol. II, p. 476.

YEAR 1875 (9:00 PM so to speak)

During this period the outreach of the church blossomed. Missionaries began to be sent overseas, and in a host of ways God’s work went forward. A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner preached strong righteousness-by-faith messages at the 1888 General Conference, but there was trouble and division. Ellen White’s powerful messages went unheeded by many, and she crossed the ocean and wrote Desire of Ages in Australia. She died in 1915, not yet having seen Jesus come. The church missed some precious opportunities during this period. In fact, Jesus was ready to end His work in the heavenly sanctuary and return to the earth. The darkness of sin had finally been largely enough revealed to the world. But the righteousness of God had not yet been. Ellen White put it this way:

If all who had labored unitedly in the work in 1844 had received the third angel’s message and proclaimed it in power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts. A flood of light would have been shed upon the world. Years ago the inhabitants of the earth would have been warned, the closing work completed, and Christ would have come for the redemption of His people.

     It was not the will of God that Israel should wander forty years in the wilderness; He desired to lead them directly to the land of Canaan and establish them there, a holy, happy people. But "They could not enter in because of unbelief." Hebrews 3:19. Because of their backsliding and apostasy they perished in the desert, and others were raised up to enter the Promised Land. In like manner, it was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be so long delayed and His people should remain so many years in this world of sin and sorrow. But unbelief separated them from God. As they refused to do the work which He had appointed them, others were raised up to proclaim the message. In mercy to the world, Jesus delays His coming, that sinners may have an opportunity to hear the warning and find in Him a shelter before the wrath of God shall be poured out. Ellen G. White, Great Controversy, p. 458.

It is a pivotal moment in the history of God’s people when His own children delay the consumation of His plan. God’s remnant movement had opened with vigor in the middle of the century, but as time drew on they had waned. In 1901 she had to write "We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel; but for Christ’s sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with their own wrong course of action." Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 696.

God led forth His truth through the Bible, yet provided His church with the guidance of contemporary prophesy, mostly through the life and ministry of Ellen G. White. But with her death in 1915, that prophetic voice was silenced until the present. And still we are here, land-locked, earth-locked, as it were. And Jesus waits.

Thus, this period shows the most significant set of prophetic development among all the "hours" of this day of God’s:

1. == His people rejected the light of His judgment and soon coming, leading to the divine declaration "Babylon is fallen, is fallen."
2. == He called out a final remnant to keep His commandments, and brought the truth of the seventh-day Sabbath and the cleansing of the sanctuary to the forefront.
3. == His remnant did well at first but then relaxed, delaying the second coming of her Lord.
4. == God raised up prophets to guide His church, and granted His word to His people afresh through writings and warnings filled with spiritual life.

YEAR 1917

This period was one of much conflict in the world, containing its most violent conflict to date, World War II. Just previous to that war, in 1929, the Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty with Benito Mussolini, granting sovereignty to Vatican City as its own separate, independent, papal state. See Richard P. McBrian, Lives of the Popes, 19997, p. 361.

The deadly wound of 1798 was healed. This same pope was the first to use the radio to spread his influence, and began a program of publicity that would culminate at earth’s next midnight.

Meanwhile, God’s church was still present, although consolidating and institutionalizing. Toward the close of this period some tragic moves were made among some in leadership that subsumed important insights on the nature of Christ and other important points of understanding so as not to give ground to some to label the church as "a cult." The results of this misguided work would hinder the church for another forty years before its full recounting in an official publication of the church. See Jean Zurcher, Touched by His Feelings, (1999, RH).

YEAR 1958

The Vatican has worked relentlessly to regain its lost influence, and the results have been tremendous. Protestants have flocked to Catholicism, anxious to hold her hand. In recent months she has published official documents urging Christians to keep Sunday as their Sabbath, and urging that laws be passed to facilitate Sunday observance! A few months ago a fantastic agreement was signed by the vast bulk of the Lutheran church saying that the Reformation was all a misunderstanding, and that the differences that separated Protestantism and Rome were not worth being separate about. Union is taking place on many levels my brothers and my sisters. Something is happening.

This afternoon at 3:00pm our time the Pope launches a jubilee year that will extend throughout the year 2000. Indulgences are still for sale. What is the purpose of the Jubilee? The papacy wants to put behind us the things that have separated us, they want reconciliation among all churches. They even plan to ask non-Catholics for forgiveness, although they will not admit to specific sins.

Hear some excerpts from their news release by the Zenit News Agency, from December 1st, 1999:

The church’s petition for forgiveness is one of the main issues being discussed at the current meeting of the International Theological Commission, being held in the Vatican, under the presidency of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith...The commission...is analyzing the attitude the church should assume in relation to faults committed in the past by her children...which continue to leave their mark on the collective memory and are an impediment to evangelization. [During this commission] the experts will not be analyzing specific historical events, such as the crusades or the inquisition...’It must never be forgotten that, as unlike other human communities, the church regards herself as a unique subject of history, because we appreciate as our own what our fathers in faith did, and we are in solidarity in the unity of the faith and the spirit with the church at all times in her history.’ [The petition for forgiveness] will be carried out with care and responsibly so as not to wound the ecclesial conscience.

The Roman Church will, in the year 2000, ask us all for forgiveness, not for her sins, but for "faults" committed not by her, but "her children." Furthermore, we are told, specific historical events will not be considered. Again, that church stands in solidarity with the spirit expressed through her at all times in her history. Finally, this petition for forgiveness will in no way wound the ecclesial conscience.

So we are supposed to roll-over and accept this wicked excuse for an apology? This has double-talk of the plainest order written all over it. They will not admit to sins, they will not claim them as their own, but as the mere faults of their children. They will not examine specific historical events. They refuse to ask forgiveness in any way that will wound their ecclesial conscience (At least this part of the situation is all too true!), but, my brothers and sisters, they do want you to forgive them and purge the past from your memory, which they readily admit contains a record that leaves its mark on the collective memory and stands as an impediment to evangelization!

But consider, what if Satan asked God to forgive him, as follows: "Hi God. Please forgive me even though I've not changed one iota and I still believe in all the sin and suffering I've caused ove the past 6000 years. Please let me into your kingdom (where I'll wreak havoc!) simply because I ask for forgiveness." Now do you think God would forgive him on that basis? Where is repentance on the devil's part? Did God let Moses go into the promised land after he truck the rock? No, he had to die in the desert. God knows what is appropriate and what is not ppropriate. He knows what is a trick and what is not.

Friends, this is nothing more than sophistry from the pit. And when we don’t roll over and vacuously say, "sure, aw shucks, we forgive ya," then we will be portrayed to the world as being the bad-guys. Listen, if they will really change--if they will reject their past wickedness--if they are truly repentent, they will be willing to say that they no longer stand in solidarity with the past-actions of their church. If they will change over from the false gospel to a true gospel, and leave behind the soul- destroying, unbiblical doctrines that form the essence of what they are, then their fruits will demonstrate where they are, and we will joyously receive them. But the lives of millions martyred for their faith point out to us the necessity of demonstrated change on Rome's part. By their works you'll know them. We will forgive Rome when Rome really repents. But so far all the world has seen, in even the most recent time, is more of the same. The sophistries of Rome may have improved, but we have not forsaken the Bible, and we detect the dragon in light-robed guise. (For further comment on Rome's petition for forgiveness, Click here).

May God help us.

YEAR 2000 (midnight again and high noon for the world?)

What the year 2000 and time thereafter holds, in terms of when certain things occur, remains uncertain. But the groundwork has certainly been laid for a the continuing spread of the influence of the Papacy. Where she wants to take the world is more than hinted at in the document she released in late 1998, the Papal letter Dies Domini. One or two quotes from this very significant document published worldwide by the Vatican help us understand what is the attitude of the Papacy, and what it will be, towards those who persist in keeping the seventh-day Sabbath and refusing to bow down to the so-called "vicar of Christ..."

[In the time of Constantine] Wise pastoral intuition suggested to the Church the christianization of the notion of Sunday as "the day of the sun", which was the Roman name for the day and which is retained in some modern languages. Para. 27.

Only in the fourth century did the civl law of the Roman Empire recognize the weekly recurrence, determining that on "the day of the sun" the judges, the people of the cities and the various trade corporations would not work. Christians rejoiced to see thus removed the obstacles which until then had sometimes made observance of the Lord’s day heroic. Para. 64.

Therefore, also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy. Para. 67.

The handwriting is already on the wall. Rome has not deviated. The Sunday movement is still moving, it is just moving in darkness. As circumstances shift to make acceptable the rise of Sunday legislation to the surface, we will see the very things that have been foretold.

Are you ready?

Recall this statement from the book Great Controversy, p. 444:

The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made. But there has been for years, in churches of the Protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine. To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all are not agreed--however important they might be from a Bible standpoint--must necessarily be waived.

Now hear these words offered by Pat Robertson in the Forward to Keith Fournier’s book A House United?

When I was invited to sign the historic accord "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium," I didn’t hesitate. I am convinced of the importance of such united efforts. Not "humpty-dumpty solutions," which Keith also mentions in this book, but true alliances rooted in our common faith in Jesus Christ and dedicated to serving him together for the sake of our country and our world. There are many theological issues I, a Baptist, differ on with Roman Catholics. These differences are very important. But even more important is the common ground on which we stand and the vital mission we share at the close of this century and into the next. We have a moral imperative to join together in our efforts to oppose the killing of the unborn, the hostility toward and censorship of the Christian message, and the wholesale assault on the traditional family. The next seven years are crucial if we are going to make any inroads against the pressing darkness of our age. The lives of 31 million children alone, killed in the womb by legalized abortion, cry out for judgment. But, if we have any hope of turning the tide, we must come together in our efforts.A House Divided, p. 8

Notice several things in Robertson’s letter. He claims to be a Protestant, and that the differences that separate himself from Catholicism are important. But to him there is something yet more important: joining together to fight abortion and other moral evils bludgeoning our society. But Robertson is not a Protestant in actuality; he utters no protests against Rome’s false-teachings, but instead coddles and adores her for her power. He thinks that she represents a body holding a "common faith in Jesus Christ" with himself. This is such a farce and a lie that it is laughable. Robertson holds out to us a supposed "common ground" battle which supercedes the battle for the truth of salvation from sin, religious freedom of conscience, and salvation by grace through faith. Indeed, Satan is the source of the Roman Catholic religion, just as he is the source of the evils of abortion, the assault on the family, and the suppression of the Christian message. If Robertson is a Protestant, what fellowship can his light have with Rome’s darkness? What unity could he or we have with a religious system that has enslaved, tortured, murdered, plundered, and accelerated all wickedness in this earth, even teaching that the Pope is infallible and that Mary was immaculately conceived? Does Robertson covet much more the power of Rome than the lonely light of conscience and truth?

On page 14 of his book, Fournier writes "we face a multi-faceted crisis at the end of this twentieth century that also brings with it an incredible opportunity to see a new outpouring of the Spirit. One of the signs of this movement of the Spirit in our age is, I believe, renewed efforts between Protestants and Catholics to cooperate in their fight against the culture of death." With this I surely agree, as do the words of warning from the messenger of the Lord:

Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience. Ellen G. White, Great Controversy, p. 588.

Conclusion

Now, at the close of this all too brief and all too incomplete survey of the last millenium, where do we come out? We see that vast prophetic developments have taken place throughout this period, and that indeed, our own time is host to an accelerated state of change. We may not normally see these developments because our time perspective seems to move much more slowly, and because we are not taught our history and we are in ignorance of the true nature of the Papacy--of Babylon the Great and her daughters--her siblings--churches that live just down the road from us or just across the street from us, who teach her demonic lies and the commandments of men in the place of the commandments of God. The ministers of these churches are our neighbors and friends, our fellow associates in ministerial covens. But what fellowship hath light with darkness? We can be friendly to them, and that best by sharing the truths that God has committed to us for this time.

Again I say as I have said before, it is late in the hour. O Israel! What are you doing!

Do you know the time of your visitation?

Are you ready for what is about to come on the earth?

Read my brothers and sisters--read in the history of the past the history of the future. In America the image beast will enforce the worship of the first beast. If Satan has his way, you will burn for your beliefs.

But if God has His way, you will burn for your beliefs. But the burning is different. It will be the burning of the Spirit of God, the outpouring of the latter-rain as we give in accordance with Bible prophecy, God’s final warning call in the third angel’s message.

Therefore, stand ready with your loins girt,

And prepare ye the way of the Lord. Amen.

Last Modified 23 Mar 2000