p. 6 | A Vision of Empires-5

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 19, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 12.

A Vision of Empires—5

The Empire of the Spiritual, Continued; the Application of the Prophetic Delineations

In our last study we learned that the "daily," or "continual," or "perpetual," which was taken from the "Prince of the host," implies all that Christ would be to His people, and the response of that appeal to Him in life union and consecrated, continued service. Christ is our Creator, our King, our Sacrifice, our Priest, our Mediator, our Life, our Potency, our Director, our Friend, our All in all; and our only true response to that is to yield to Him full-hearted, continual service and worship. The scriptures used in our last lesson study, clearly declare the life union between our Lord and His child, the blessings He bestows in response to prayer, and their response in a life of fruitful obedience to His Word. His church are those believers in the aggregate joined together in Him. HE IS THE HEAD, and He designed that no person shall come between Him and a single soul purchased by His redeeming love. Men may point souls to Him, they may bring them to Him; but no priest, nor MINISTER, nor council, nor pope, nor PREACHER, may come between the soul and God. Says our Lord, in infinite tenderness, "COME UNTO ME, . . . I will give you rest." "He is the HEAD OF THE BODY, the church." "For IN HIM DWELLETH ALL THE FULNESS OF THE GODHEAD bodily, and IN HIM YE ARE MADE FULL." Col. 1: 18; 2: 9, 10.

And He has left in the church His Holy Spirit, with all the varied gifts of the Spirit, to guide His church to the perfect day. From these considerations it must be evident that the little-horn power must strike directly against the headship of Christ and His church, and that the perversions of all other great and important relationships would follow in logical sequence. And this has been done. Apostasy has put in the place of our blessed Lord a mere man, exalted to be "the vicegerent of the Son of God." She has placed between the soul and Him who died for it, great cordons of saints and prelates and priests, whose favor must be propitiated and purchased, whose wishes must be met before the soul has access to Christ; and then the access must come through the creature channel. Even so the prophecy declared: "It magnified itself, even to the Prince of the host"—"the Head of the church." "He shall also stand up against the Prince of Princes." Dan. 8: 11, 25. "He shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god." Dan. 11: 36. This is the very core and heart of the Papacy, the headship. It is the dogma upon which all others hang. So we read in the "Faith of Our Fathers," by James Cardinal Gibbons, archbishop of Baltimore, 63d edition, 1905, in his chapter 11, on the "Infallibility of the Popes," that "the pope as successor of St. Peter, prince of the apostles by virtue of the promises of Jesus Christ, is preserved from error of judgment when he promulgates to the church a decision on faith and morals." "In a word, the sovereign pontiff is to the church, tho in a more eminent degree, what the chief justice is to the United States." "Peter was appointed by our Lord the universal shepherd of His flock, of the sheep and of the lambs; that is, shepherd of the bishops and of the priests as well as of the people." Then he quotes from the "Second General Council of Lyons," 1274, as follows:

The Holy Roman Church possesses full primacy and principality over the universal Catholic Church, which primacy, with the plenitude of power, she truly and humbly acknowledges to have been received from our Lord Himself, in the person of blessed Peter, prince or head of the apostles, whose successor the Roman pontiff is; and as the Roman See above all others is bound to defend the truth of faith, so also, if any questions on faith arise, they ought to be defined by her judgment.

And from the Council of Florence, in 1439: We define that the Roman pontiff is the successor of the blessed Peter, prince of the apostles and the true vicar of Christ, the head of the whole church, the father and doctor of all Christians, and we declare that to him, in the person of blessed Peter, was given, by Jesus Christ our Saviour, full power to feed, rule, and govern the universal church.

On the next page he is called the "father" and "doctor" of all Christians, the "chief pilot of the church."

Then he states that "the church, like civil powers, must have a permanent, stationary, SUPREME TRIBUNAL," and asks what constitutes this. "Is it the bishops, or the general council? Is it composed of bishops scattered throughout the world? — By no means." And then says, "THE POPE, then, as head of the Catholic Church, CONSTITUTES with just reason this SUPREME TRIBUNAL."

Here is the testimony of another Catholic, taken from Cardinal John Henry Newman's essay entitled "The Protestant Idea of Antichrist:"

We observe then that the essence of the doctrine that there is "one only catholic and apostolic church" lies in this;—that there is on earth a representative of our absent Lord, or a something divinely interposed between the soul and God, or a visible body with invisible privileges. All its subordinate characteristics flow from this description. Does it impose a creed, or impose rites and ceremonies, or change ordinances, or remit and retain sins, or rebuke and punish, or accept offerings, or send out ministers, or invest its ministers with authority, or accept of reverence or devotion in their persons? — all this is because it is Christ's visible presence. It stands for Christ.

Can it convey the power of the Spirit? does grace attend its acts? can it touch, or bathe, or seal, or lay on hands? can it use material things for spiritual purposes? are its temples holy? — all this comes of its being (so far) what Christ was on earth.

Is it a ruler, prophet, priest, intercessor, teacher? — it has titles such as these in its measure, as being the representative and instrument of the Almighty Lord who is unseen. Does it claim a palace and a throne, an altar and a doctor's chair, the gold, frankincense and myrrh of the rich and wise, an universal empire and a never-ending succession? — all this is so, because it is what Christ is. All the offices, names, honors, powers which it claims depend upon the determination of the simple question — Has Christ, or has He not, left a representative behind Him? . . . It comes forward instead of Christ and for Him; it speaks for Him, it develops His words; it suspends His appointments, it grants dispensations in matters of positive duty; it professes to minister grace, it absolves from sin; — and all this of its own authority. Is it not forthwith, according to the very force of the word, "antichrist"? He who speaks for Christ must either be His true ambassador or antichrist; and nothing but antichrist can be, if appointed ambassador there is none. Let his acts be the same in both cases, according as he has authority or not, so is he most holy or most guilty. It is not the acts that make the difference, it is the authority for those acts. The very same acts are Christ's acts or antichrist's, according to the doer: they are Christ's, if Christ does them; they are antichrist's, if Christ does them not. There is no medium between a vice-Christ and antichrist. — "Essays Critical and Historical," London and New York, 1880, Longmans, Green, and Co.

Certainly one could not ask for anything stronger than this, that the claim of the Papacy is that the pope stands in the place of

Christ, vicar of Christ. Evidence on this might be multiplied, but this is sufficient. We know that this doctrine rests upon her self-assumed doctrine, or teaching, and that is, that the Roman Church itself is the infallible interpreter of Scripture. We have not time to develop that thought, but we would like to throw out the following suggestions:

The prophecies of God's Word make some tremendous charges against some criminal who has dared to tamper with the words of the Most High, with the law of the Most High, with the simple plan of salvation as presented through our Lord Jesus Christ. These charges are repeated by divine prophecy over and over again, in Daniel, in the words of Paul, in the Apocalypse. Unequivocally, without question, they are met in Rome, in the Roman Catholic Church. Every specification is met in the Roman Catholic Church. She, to escape this, declares that she has power to interpret the Scriptures; and that instead of these Scriptures' meaning just what they do, on the very face of them, so clearly that any one can see them, they mean the very opposite of this.

God's law of witness is a twofold witness. This great fact can not be emphasized too strongly. All His Word comes to us resting on that basis. These witnesses are not collusive, there is no agreement between them as to how they shall testify. God has so fixed the witness of His Word in prophecy, in history, in morals, that there can be no question as to the divine, twofold witness. In prophecy He has told us, hundreds of years before the event was to take place, just what would come. He has written it specifically, particularly, strongly, repeatedly, emphatically. Centuries roll on, the prophecy still stands; but in God's own time the events occur, and the Word of God is written again in those events. Fact answers to prediction. Prophecy is fulfilled. This was pre-eminently true in the life of our Lord; it is emphatically true in that system which has assumed to take the place of our Lord.

This is also true in the realm of morals. God has given us as the very summary of morality His holy law of Ten Commandments. There it stands. Men may deny it, men may declare that it is invalid, annulled, done away, repealed; but it still stands with the authority of the eternal God behind it. It stands in words as a transcript of holy character; and then God demonstrated the kind of character that law would produce if obeyed in every respect, in the life of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; and He comes to every soul that will yield to that law, and writes that same law in the hearts of His children, to demonstrate to them that the law written on tables of stone is the eternal, moral truth of God. That Son argued no changes in that law to conform to a perverted life or age. He granted no dispensation of indulgences. He honored the Word in exactness of letter and fulness of Spirit.

The Papacy must meet this test of the Word in the judgment of God. The charges lie against her. She has demonstrated their truthfulness in her own life and entire career. What would we think of a criminal called before the bar that should say: "I am the interpreter of the law. I am above the law. I am the one who is to say as to how that law should be applied. I can make no mistake in regard to this. I can change, set aside, add to, or utterly pervert the words of the law. I have been given authority to do that"! In all civil procedure such claims on the part of a criminal would be set aside, unworthy of consideration.

The Lord Jesus Christ is on trial before this world, and He has been willing to let Himself be on trial. The great, wicked world has denied God's love and God's goodness and God's purity and God's truth. How did Jesus meet that charge? He met it by living the very truth of God, and the very life of God, by fulfilling in His own life, in His doing, in His teaching, in all that He did, the very words of the Scripture, so that He could say that "the works which the Father hath given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me." With that is the witness of the Word: "The Scriptures, . . . these are they which bear witness of Me." John 5: 36, 39. The Word had said, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love;" and He said, in that transcendent life of His, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son."

Weighed by this test of the twofold witness, Christ in His mission stands. But by this test the Papacy is revealed as the one who has assumed the place of Christ without authority. Her parallel is found in the later doctors of the Jewish church itself, who claimed to be the successors of Abraham, and the children of Abraham, but did not do the works of Abraham, and were set aside of God. Yet the very priests that put our Lord to death, who ministered at the Jewish altars, were direct descendants of Levi, and of the household of Aaron; and the very tribe which held the city of Jerusalem was the tribe of Judah, concerning which God had spoken. But the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Levi were set aside for those who met in their lives the witness of the truth concerning Christ and His work. Says one:

When the bishop of Rome placed his chair, with all the prerogatives and dignities vested in it, upon this ground, he stood no longer upon a merely imperial foundation. Henceforth he held neither of Cæsar nor of Rome. He held immediately of heaven. What one emperor had given, another emperor might take away. . . . The pope . . . claimed to rest it upon a divine foundation. He claimed to be not merely the chief of bishops and the first of patriots, but the vicar of the most high God.—"History of Protestantism," volume 1, pages 9, 10.

On the assumption that the pope is Christ's vicar, is built the whole fabric of popery. On this point, according to Bellarmine, hangs the whole of Christianity; and one of the latest expounders of the Papacy re-echoes this sentiment. "Wanting the sovereign," says De Maistre, "Christianity wants its sole foundation." Anything farther that would go to annihilate that assumption would raze, as Bellarmine admits, the foundation of the whole system. The Papacy, then, has in its choice to be the superior of kings, or nothing. It has no middle path. "Aut Cæsar aut nullus." The pope is Christ's vicar, and so lord of the earth, and of all its empires, or his pretensions are unfounded, his religion a cheat, and himself an impostor.—"The Papacy," by Wylie, pages 153, 154.

The claim of supremacy was made quite early by the Roman bishops, but was not generally acknowledged. So far as we know, the first time that it was acknowledged in a council was in the year 503, the thirteenth year of the emperor Anastasius, and the fifth of Pope Symmachus. At that synod the Roman pontiff was declared "most holy." See "Baronius Annales," volume 6, pages 556, 557.

The reason of the utterance of this synod was that certain charges had been brought against Pope Symmachus by Laurentius. King Theodoric called a council to settle the matter. He did not believe that it was for him to meddle in things spiritual, that it was a matter which the church should settle, itself. An answer to these charges was drawn by Ennodius, and "Dictionary of Christian Biography," by Smith and Wace, under the heading of "Symmachus," says that the apology is "noteworthy as containing the earliest well-established expression of the view of the pope's entire immunity from all human judgment."

Again: "The causes of other men God may have willed to determine through men. The bishop of this see He has without question reserved to His own judgment. . . . And again I say that by the voice of holy pontiffs the dignity of his see has been made venerable throughout the world, the causes of the faithful everywhere being submitted to him, while he is designated the 'HEAD OF THE WHOLE BODY.'" In a subsequent synod of 218 bishops at Rome, this libellus of Ennodius was read and approved, having synodical authority given to it, and Symmachus ordered it to be inserted among the APOSTOLIC DECRETA.

Bower's "History of the Popes," volume 2, edition of 1750, pages 268, 269, says that the bishops "ordered it to be inserted among the acts of the council, and to be deemed of as much authority as the council itself, or any decree made by the council. The pope, not satisfied with that mark of honor, the greatest that had been yet bestowed on any work, commanded it, with the unanimous consent of the bishops, to be placed among the Decrees of the Apostolic See, and to be held by all as one of them."

Dowling, in his "History of Romanism," chapter 5, book 1, pages 50, 51, says:

It was on this occasion and in this apology, says Gieseler, that the assertion was first hazarded that the bishop of Rome was subject to no earthly tribunal. . . . In this apology for Symmachus, the servile flatterer Ennodius styles the object of his flattery, "judge in the place of God, and vicegerent of the Most High." This was the first time, so far as is known, that this blasphemous title was given to man, tho some centuries afterward it was commonly applied to the popes, thus fulfilling the prophetic words of Paul, "So that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. 2:4.

Gieseler, volume 2, pages 124, 125, published by T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1848, says:

After the Synodus Palmaris, called by Theodoric to examine the charges newly raised by the Laurentian party against Symmachus (503), had acquitted him without examination, in consequence of the circumstances, the apologist of this synod, Ennodius, bishop of Ticinum (511), first gave utterance to the assertion that "the bishop of Rome is subject to no earthly judge."

The "Encyclopædia Britannica," volume 19, page 492, under the general title of "Popedom," says:

The Palmary Synod, as it was termed, convened in Rome during the pontificate of Symmachus, formally disavowed its own right to sit in judgment on his administrative acts. Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, declared that the Roman pontiff was to be judged by God alone, and was not amenable to any earthly potentate or tribunal. It is thus evident that the doctrine of papal infallibility, tho not yet formulated, was already virtually recognized. (See also "Historians' History of the World," volume 8, page 528.)

Recognition by Civil Powers in the West

This claim of the church within itself was helped mightily by the civil powers, in the West, by the conversion of Clovis, one of the Gothic princes. Arianism was flourishing, a mighty foe to the claims of the Papacy. Arian Ostrogoths ruled Rome, Arian Visigoths in Southern France, Arian Suevi in Spain. Their conversion seemed hopeless, their subjugation also, till the profession of Clovis. He had married a Christian princess, Clotilda. On the battle-field of Tolbiac, where he vanquished the Alemanni, he made a vow that if he were given the victory he would become Christian, and this he professed. When he ascended from the baptismal font he alone of all the new chiefs that governed the West had submitted to the baptismal rite. After this he espoused the cause of the Catholics against the Arians. The pope called him "the eldest son of the church," a title perpetuated in the kings of France. The battle of Poitiers was fought in 507, between Clovis and Alaric. Clovis was victorious. In 508 the province of Aquitaine was annexed to France. Imperial titles were conferred upon Clovis by the emperor Anastasius. Clovis entered the church of St. Martin in Tours clothed in purple, and was saluted as "consul and Augustus." (See Ridpath's "History of the World," volume 4, pages 432-435.)

In the "Encyclopædia Britannica," volume 9, page 529, under the date of 507, they state that Clovis reduced the Visigoths under Alaric, and that he "stands out in history as the founder of a new world in France." "In him the church first made that connection with feudalism, which lowered her character, while it strengthened her power and influence."

Paris was made his official capital, in 508, according to volume 18, page 287, of the above work. Guizot's "France," volume 1, page 113, says: "The question between Catholic orthodoxy and Arianism, was at that time a vital question for Christianity in its entirety, and St. Athanasius was not wrong in attributing to it supreme importance." On pages 116, 117, of the same volume, Avitus, the bishop of Vienna, wrote to the Frankish king Clovis, and said: "Your faith is our victory. In choosing for you and yours, you have pronounced for all. Divine providence hath given you as ARBITER TO OUR AGE. Greece can boast of having a sovereign of our persuasion, but she is no longer alone in possession of this precious gift. The rest of the world doth share her light."

Pope Anastasius hastened to express his joy to Clovis. "The church, our common mother," he wrote, "rejoiceth to have born unto God so great a king. Continue, glorious and illustrious son, to cheer the heart of this tender mother. Be a column of iron to support her, and she in turn will give thee victory over all thine enemies."

Guizot tells us further, volume 1, chapter 7, page 119, "It appears that even the Britons of Amorica tendered to him [Clovis] at that time, through the interposition of Melanius, bishop of Rennes, if not their actual submission, at any rate their subordination and homage." On page 123 Guizot says:

It is but right to make the reader intimately acquainted with that great barbarian who, with all his vices and all his crimes, brought about, or rather began, two great empires which have already endured through fourteen centuries, and still endure, for he founded the French monarchy and Christian France.

The "Historians' History of the World," volume 7, page 466, says that Clovis "made his throne the center of union to by far the greater portion of the whole German race." And in volume 7, page 477, we read:

By his conversion he had led the way to the triumph of Catholicism. He had saved the Roman Church from the Scylla and Charybdis of heresy and of paganism, planted it on a rock in the very center of Europe, and fixed its doctrines and traditions in the hearts of the conquerors of the West.

In the Eastern Empire

So much for the establishment of the claim of the Papacy in Western Rome. It was first acknowledged by the church in council in 503. It really was established in Western Rome by the ascendency of Clovis in 508. But it also received acknowledgment in the Eastern empire. At that time Justinian reigned, and in the year 533 made his famous decree that the bishop of Rome should be head over all the churches. The original is found in "Baronius Annales," tome 7, page 197, of the Antwerp edition, under the date of 533, seventh year of Justinian, and second of John the pope. The translation of that letter of Justinian we take from Croly's "Apocalypse," pages 134, 135, edition of 1838, London. His letter was couched in these terms:

Justinian pious, fortunate, renowned, triumphant, emperor, consul, etc., to John the most holy archbishop of our city of Rome and patriarch.

Rendering honor to the apostolic chair, and to your holiness, as has been always and is our wish, and honoring your blessedness as a father, we have hastened to bring to the knowledge of your holiness all matters relating to the state of the churches, it having been at all times our great desire to preserve the unity of your apostolic chair, and the constitution of the holy churches of God, which has obtained hitherto, and still obtains.

Therefore we have made no delay in subjecting and uniting to your holiness all the priests of the whole East.

For this reason we have thought fit to bring to your notice the present matters of disturbance; tho they are manifest and unquestionable, and always firmly held and declared by the whole priesthood according to the doctrine of your apostolic chair. For we can not suffer that anything which relates to the state of the church, however manifest and unquestionable, should be moved without the knowledge of your holiness, who are the head of all the holy churches, for in all things, as we have already declared, we are anxious to increase the honor and authority of your apostolic chair.

Croly remarks, "The emperor's letter must have been sent before the 25th of March, 533. For in his letter of that date to Epiphanius he speaks of its having been already despatched, and repeats his decision that all affairs touching the church shall be referred to the pope, HEAD OF ALL BISHOPS, AND THE TRUE AND EFFECTIVE CORRECTOR OF HERETICS." This is found in the same volume of Baronius as noted above, page 199.

That this was not a mere matter of flattery from Justinian to the bishop of Rome is evident from the fact that in the division of Justinian's code termed "The Novellæ," in the preamble of the 9th, is the statement made, "As the elder Rome was the founder of the laws, so it is not to be questioned that in her is the supremacy of the pontificate." And in the 31st of the Novellæ, on "Ecclesiastical Titles and Privileges," chapter 2, the statement is made, "We therefore decree that the most holy pope of the elder Rome is THE FIRST OF ALL THE PRIESTHOOD, and that the most blessed archbishop of Constantinople, the new Rome, shall hold the second rank, after the apostolic chair of the elder Rome."

Charles E. Little, in his "Encyclopedia of Classified Dates," published by Funk and Wagnalls, says: "533, Constantinople. The Greek emperor first acknowledges the pope's supremacy." Thus in 503 the claim of the bishop of Rome was acknowledged by the council of the church, really established in the West by the ascendancy of Clovis in 508, and acknowledged in the East by Justinian in 533. He shall stand up against the Prince of Princes, and shall take from Him the continual, declares the prophecy; and the prophecy meets its specific fulfilment in Rome.

More of these dates later on.

Specification Twelve

The place of His (the Prince's) sanctuary was cast down. This has been applied, and may have partial application, to the casting down of the center of worship at Jerusalem, under pagan Rome; but to our mind it has a far broader application than that. He who strikes against the authority of our Lord Himself, strikes also against the very place of His authority. By putting man in the place of Christ, He, the Master, has been set aside and trodden underfoot in His church and in the efficacy of His work. He who is all-sufficient is said to be inefficient. Consequently the multiplied additions and traditions to the Word of God. The temple in heaven where He serves as priest, is no longer the center to which the faithful are taught to look. Their mind and worship are directed to the earthly, and this thought is clearly expressed in Hebrews the 10th chapter and 29th verse. The inspired Word there tells us of those who were guilty of sore punishment, "who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace." Of course we know that literally the Son of God has not been trodden underfoot; He still reigns in heaven. But in the minds of the great mass of people He has been as literally set aside as if He were really trodden underfoot. The pure, simple righteousness by faith has been replaced by human works. The blood which is all-sufficient for the atonement of sin has been superseded by the doctrine of works of penance; and the place of our Lord's sanctuary, where He Himself ministers the virtue of His own precious blood, is set aside for a throne and a sanctuary and a temple of man. Rome has taken the place of the New Jerusalem on high, as the center of worship, as the pope has taken the place of Christ as the head of the church.

Specifications Thirteen and Fourteen

The host (that is, many of the people of God, the church of God) and the continual (what we have been treating under specification eleven) were given over to this apostate power, and that through transgression. The explanation of this has already been suggested. It is only by the transgression of God's children that a usurper can take the place of our Lord. Referring to this great apostasy, in 2 Thessalonians 2, the apostasy in which the man of sin would be developed "so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God," the apostle tells us that in his day there was something that restrained this manifestation. "And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is ONE THAT RESTRAINETH NOW, until he be taken out of the way." Verses 6, 7. There is only one thing that can prevent apostasy among God's people, only one thing which can restrain the development of the man of sin among God's children; there is only one thing that can hold in check the powers of apostasy, and that is the CONTINUAL CHERISHING OF CHRIST AND ALL HE WOULD BE TO HIS CHILDREN IN THEIR HEARTS, in their daily lives.

When the Jews yielded themselves to the perversions of the traditions of the fathers, when they transgressed God's law and the implicit directions which He had given them, they started on that course which inevitably brought them to the place where they could say, "We have no king but Cæsar," and they crucified the Son of God. And likewise when the Christian church yielded herself to transgression, she came to that place where she let go of the hand of her rightful spouse, Christ Jesus, and turned to the kingdoms of the world, united with them in spiritual fornication, and by the traditions of sacerdotalism and unholy union with the world, set up a rival to Christ. The great mass of the people were given over to the little-horn power through transgression, and the continual followed as a necessary consequence. In fact, the two were so bound together that it was utterly impossible to separate them, except in our thought.

And in this transgression, and in the perversion of truth which led to the transgression, has that mighty system destroyed many by peace and prosperity. It has ever tended toward the exaltation of the human, and where it has taught submission it has been the human to the human. But in human exaltation there is destruction; in humility to God there is help. It was not God's design that His church should bring war upon earth, but peace; and yet there were millions slain during the Dark Ages, simply and solely because the professed church of Christ had forgotten her divine Lord, the Prince of Peace, and had taken the arms of men. Not only were many destroyed in the erroneous doctrines spread abroad in the world, but through the teachings and attitude of that system many were led on to destructive warfare. Very much is made of the souls who have been put to death by the Papacy, or papal influence, as heretics, during the Dark Ages; but it is a serious question, after all, whether those who have trusted to human help for salvation instead of to the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus have followed a vain hope, do not greatly outnumber those who died for their faith. And the lot of the latter is preferable to that of the former.

Specification Fifteen

"It did its pleasure and prospered." And yet the prosperity of the Papacy is taken as an evidence of its sanction by the Lord. The prophecy declares that tho it cast down the truth to the ground and tho it stood up against the Prince of Princes, and tho it set aside His work, profaned His tabernacle, and those who dwelt therein, on high, still it would do its pleasure and prosper. How true it has been! Look at the long career of the apostasy during the Dark Ages, when kings bowed at the feet of the popes, when kingdoms and dominions were parceled out according to the will of the Papacy, when the lands of earth were divided, when heretics were prosecuted to the limit, and thousands upon thousands of those who felt in conscience bound to oppose that apostasy were adjudged to be heretics and slain.

Specification Sixteen

"It [the little-horn power] cast down the truth to the ground." And how true this has been! We need to mention but two or three self-evident propositions. One of the great truths of the Gospel is that we are justified

by faith alone, that by faith alone is forgiveness of sins, by faith alone man is cleansed of all his iniquity, and stands just before God. In the place of this the apostasy has substituted salvation by works; and not only has it taught that works are sufficient to save, but that the good works of the church and of the holy men of the church are sufficient to pile up merit, works of supererogation above and beyond what God calls for, that the church may use as she will for the benefit of those who are wanting.

We have dwelt upon the great truth that Jesus Christ is the Head of every man, and consequently the head of the church, and that the Spirit is the Guide and the Interpreter of the Word of God in the various gifts which the Lord has placed in that church in harmony with His holy law; but these have been set aside, and man has been put in the place of God.

The Scriptures teach us to look forward to that time when Christ shall come again, when men righteous and wicked shall be raised from the dead and judged according to their works; but it has been taught, and is taught, that men go to their rewards or punishments direct at death, or to a middle place called "limbo," or "purgatory," where they are in a state of semi-suffering or happiness until the judgment-day,—a doctrine that utterly sets aside the preciousness of Christ's second coming.

The Scriptures plainly teach that there is one Mediator between God and man,—the Man Christ Jesus; but in His place the apostasy has placed many mediators, in the mother of our Lord, in saints and priests.

The great rule of moral conduct which God has given is summarily comprehended in the Decalogue, of which law our Lord tells us "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fail," which is the test of all moral conduct; and yet Rome has changed the fourth commandment of this law, which declares that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and has substituted in its place the first day, for which there is no Scriptural authority, and this Rome herself boldly tells us. The apostasy would cast down the truth to the ground. How truly it has been fulfilled,—not only the truth in its theory, but the truth in the person of its devotees!

All the foregoing specifications have been met in the great system of the Papacy. We note one more in our next,—its blasting, blighting effect will be manifest concerning the continual for 2,300 prophetic days. We regret that the space at our disposal did not permit us to give clear, definite proofs from papal authority concerning some of the statements of these last specifications; but we are sure that those who are tolerably well-informed regarding these things will not dispute the statements which are made. What we all desire is the truth of God. Note how the witness of God concerning this power is fortified by the facts of history. In the prophecy itself and in its fulfilment is the demonstration of the truth of His Word.