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THE REFORMATION...
The sixteenth century work under Martin Luther has been pointed to as the date of the Reformation; but it may be well to observe that prior to Luther's time the Lord raised up certain reformers and that these prepared the way for the work that was consummated under Luther. Among them was John Wyclif, who was born in 1324. He was one of the greatest of the reformers before the Reformation. He was a man of great learning, and by his writings he fearlessly and successfully exposed the wicked and unchristian pretensions of popes, prelates, and Roman officers and the corruption of the Romish church. He was professor of divinity at Oxford, which university he defended against tile insolent pretensions of the mendicant friars. He boldly remonstrated with the pope. Wyclif rendered to the church the greatest service that was possible in the order of instrumentality. Besides restoring the true doctrine of justification by faith in the atonement and righteousness of Christ, he translated the whole Bible into English. By the circulation of the Word of God, especially of the New Testament, a permanent foundation was laid for the future destruction of Romish idolatry and superstition. The principles of this reformer did not perish with the death of their advocate. Though his doctrines were condemned in popish counsel and his books destroyed, his bones dug up and burned to ashes, yet he had kindled a flame that continued to grow brighter and brighter until it became the blazing light of the Sixteenth Century Reformation.
Among the other reformers who preceded the Reformation was John Huss. He was converted by reading the writings of Wyclif. Huss raised his voice in Bohemia a hundred years before Luther offered to speak in Saxony. He seemed to have been able to penetrate deep into the real essence of Christian truth. The flames which rose from his funeral pile kindled a fire that spread through dense darkness a distinct light, the glimmerings of which were not readily extinguished. From his dungeon he sent forth to the world words of pathetic import. He foresaw the needs of the Reformation. Among the prophetic declarations of Huss are the following: "The wicked have begun by preparing a treacherous snare for a goose; but if even the goose, which is only a domestic bird, a peaceable creature, and whose flight is not very far in the air, has nevertheless broken into their toils, other birds soaring more boldly towards the sky, will break through them with still greater force. Instead of a feeble goose, the truth will send forth eagles and keen eyed vultures." This was fulfilled in the Reformation a hundred years later. When Huss was brought to the stake and the fagots were piled up around him, he said to those doing it, "You are now going to burn a goose [Huss signifying goose in the Bohemian language], but in a century you will have a swan, whom you can neither roast nor boil." This surely was fulfilled in Martin Luther.
We might mention many other forerunners of the Reformation, but space will not permit. These men who preceded the work of Luther were only preparing the way for a mighty overturning of the powers of the papacy, a work which was effected in the Sixteenth Century Reformation.
Martin Luther was born at Eisleben on Nov. 10, 1483. He was educated in the university at Erfurt. In 1507 he was ordained a. priest; in 1509 he became a bachelor of theology and commenced lecturing on the Holy Scriptures. God revealed to this man the glorious truths of justification by faith. The Roman church and religion was made up largely of works, doing penance etc. But when God revealed to the reformer the truth of justification by faith, he began to herald forth the same with all the powers and energies which God gave him. From the time he nailed the ninety nine theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, a new epoch in the church began.
Luther had a faithful colaborer by the name of Melanchthon. Their works spread rapidly over Germany. Thousands upon thousands threw away the galling yokes imposed upon them by the Catholic church and came out into the clear light.
About the same time that Luther was preaching the truth revealed to him, Menno Simons came out and also began to preach salvation from sin. About this time Zwingli began to preach the truth of salvation from sin throughout Switzerland. Thus the Reformation rapidly spread in every direction.
Among the noted reformers who followed Luther may be named John Calvin. Though he held some doctrines which were not Scriptural, as predestination, yet he effected a great work and led thousands out of darkness. Religious liberty came as a result of the Reformation. The great Babylon of popery was declared by Luther to be fallen, and there is no question but that at his time there was a fulfilling of the Scriptures in the calling of God's people out of her.
Not only was a great reformation the result of preaching the glorious truth of justification by faith, but those who came out under this teaching began to protest against the superstitions, the false doctrines, and the evil practices of the papacy. This set them in direct opposition against the church of Rome, and thus those who came out under the reformers were called Protestants.
There is no question but that God was in the Reformation and that he raised up such men as Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, Menno Simons, and Calvin to lead the people of God out from under the galling yokes imposed upon them by the church of Rome into a blessed Christian liberty and enjoyment of the privileges of the gospel. Though the reformers did not have the clear light as it shone in the days of primitive Christianity, yet the truth that they did preach, coming as it did out of the utter darkness that had covered the earth for more than one thousand years, was like brilliant rays of light from heaven. Thousands upon thousands rejoiced in that light and embraced it. Thus the church of God emerged from the great wilderness of obscurity in which she had been held fast so long, and songs of deliverance filled the hearts of the redeemed.
This naturally stirred the camp of the Roman church into a state of hatred against the reformers and their followers. Persecution at once began. Soon after tile death of Luther there came a great war in Germany between the Protestants and the Catholics. It is known in history as the Thirty Years' War. In tile beginning of this great conflict it seemed that the work of the reformers would be crushed, but through the assistance of Gustavus Adolphus, from Sweden, who, with his armies, came to the rescue of the Protestants in Germany, they eventually gained the victory and secured their religions liberty.
It has become customary to denominate all the religious systems that have arisen since the Reformation, Protestants; therefore Protestantism is properly all the so called Christian churches that discard at least some of the doctrines of their mother, the Roman church.
PROTESTANTISM...
Not only was a great reformation the result of preaching the glorious truth of justification by faith, but those who came out under this teaching began to protest against the superstitions, the false doctrines, and the evil practices of the papacy. This set them in direct opposition against the church of Rome, and thus those who came out under the reformers were called Protestants.
There is no question but that God was in the Reformation and that he raised up such men as Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, Menno Simons, and Calvin to lead the people of God out from under the galling yokes imposed upon them by the church of Rome into a blessed Christian liberty and enjoyment of the privileges of the gospel. Though the reformers did not have the clear light as it shone in the days of primitive Christianity, yet the truth that they did preach, coming as it did out of the utter darkness that had covered the earth for more than one thousand years, was like brilliant rays of light from heaven. Thousands upon thousands rejoiced in that light and embraced it. Thus the church of God emerged from the great wilderness of obscurity in which she had been held fast so long, and songs of deliverance filled the hearts of the redeemed.
This naturally stirred the camp of the Roman church into a state of hatred against the reformers and their followers. Persecution at once began. Soon after tile death of Luther there came a great war in Germany between the Protestants and the Catholics. It is known in history as the Thirty Years' War. In tile beginning of this great conflict it seemed that the work of the reformers would be crushed, but through the assistance of Gustavus Adolphus, from Sweden, who, with his armies, came to the rescue of the Protestants in Germany, they eventually gained the victory and secured their religions liberty.
It has become customary to denominate all the religious systems that have arisen since the Reformation, Protestants; therefore Protestantism is properly all the so called Christian churches that discard at least some of the doctrines of their mother, the Roman church.
SECT MAKING...
The Lutheran reformation was soon followed by apostasy. As before stated, Zwingli at this time was effecting a reformation in Switzerland, and Calvin also was doing a work. Menno Simons came out of popery at this time. Though the reformers preached some truth, yet coming out of the darkness of night as they did, they understood comparatively little of the clear truth taught in the primitive days of Christianity. The result was that several sects were organized, and this marks the rise of Protestant sectism. The oldest of these is the Lutheran, whose creed—the Augsburg Confession —was formed in A. D. 1530. As before stated, this marks the end of the papal reign, as portrayed in prophecy and revelation.
Turning again to the thirteenth chapter of Revelation, we find a description of the ruling power in Protestantism: "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. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." Rev. 13: 11-18.
This second beast is Protestantism. The symbolic description of this beast directs us to a political and religious power rising at the expiration of the 1,260 years' reign of the first beast. This one looks more natural than the first in that it has but two horns. These are England and Germany—the two political powers that have always stood in defense of Protestantism. By these two powers Protestantism arose. It is reasonable that if the ten horns of the first beast represented ten temporal powers that supported it, the two horns of the second beast represented two temporal powers which have always supported it. England and Germany have done this, and they are two of the original ten. His two horns like a lamb signify the tolerance and mildness of these nations, as well as of Protestantism as a whole. Though this beast was lamb like, yet it spake as a dragon. The dragon power was even traceable down through the Protestant age. This two horned beast was to exercise all the power of the first beast before him. Popery, as we have seen in a previous chapter, exercised a universal influence, swayed universal dominion; therefore to exercise the same power of the first beast, Protestantism must exercise a universal influence. This it has surely done. Protestantism is the universal religion of the so called Christian world, just as popery once was. It may be a question in the mind of some how Protestantism, divided in so many different bodies, can be represented by one beast. The Protestant sects are all alike in character, from God's standpoint of viewing, just as the multitudinous forms of heathen worship are represented in the twelfth chapter by the single symbol of a dragon.
This second beast was to cause the people to worship the first beast. This has been accomplished by Protestantism perpetuating doctrines and services of popery. All her creeds are tinged more or less with the doctrines and idolatries of Roman Catholicism. Many things—for example, the rite of sprinkling, which Rome substituted for baptism—have been copied by most of the Protestant sects. Infant baptism, infant damnation unless baptized, baptism for the forgiveness of past sins, confirmation, taking members into an exterior institution—these and many other things have been copied from Rome by Protestants to cause the people to worship as the papists worshiped, thus causing them to worship the first beast.
This second beast was to do great wonders, even to bring fire down from heaven and by means of this gain the confidence of the people and influence them to make an image to the first beast. Many hundreds of these images have been made in the Protestant age. Such are the Protestant ecclesiastical organizations. Every one of these is but an image of the papal sect, all being modeled after it. We can understand this prophecy better if we understand the ancient image worship of the pagans. They made images of their gods and bowed to these images and worshiped them. The image was supposed to resemble the god. This same image worship was continued among the Roman Catholics, who called their gods saints. Protestantism continues the same worship in essence by making images to the papacy and causing the people to worship them. This is another way in which Protestantism "causeth the people to worship the first beast." These sect images of popery are the only gods that many people of today really worship. Every sect called Protestant, whether great or small, is more or less modeled after the organization known as the Catholic church; therefore they are all properly termed images, or likenesses, of that beast.
Many of the Protestant denominations started with a spiritual reformation. When the Lutheran reformation started, it was a spiritual e T he heavenly fire fell in some places, and God honored the work. The same was true of Zwingli's work in Switzerland. But when the followers of Luther and of Zwingli saw that God was specially favoring them, they at once organized. The result was two sects, two images of the papal beast. As soon as these people made an image, they lost their spiritual power, and they are today but formal bubbles sailing along on the agitated sea of sect confusion. Just so it was with the Wesleyan reform. For about fifty years the world shook under the labors of Charles and John Wesley. Watchfires es were kindled throughout Europe and America, and torrents of Holy Spirit fire fell from heaven. No other fire comes from heaven. After a great body was thus called out, they became deceived because God was specially favoring them, and organized into a sect, or, in other words, made an image to the old, or papal, beast. As soon as they did this, they lost their spirituality, and so they are a dead, formal body. The very doctrine with which Wesley started his reform is today rejected by a large number of the Methodist divines. A number of years ago B. T. Roberts and several other Methodist ministers began to preach holiness, and the result was an excommunication. These preachers then began to shout, "We are free! We are free!" But not willing to give up the name Methodists, they organized an image that they term Free Methodists. These people are now as dead spiritually as their mother. Their work is accompanied by much noise but little power of God. So it has been throughout the entire Protestant age.
The work of Alexander Campbell in preaching against the evils of sectarianism and division, and in maintaining the necessity of unity among all true believers, was a spiritual work, and no doubt God blessed in that reformation. But soon they organized on the same plane with every other sect, and now they are a spiritually dead body. Time and again men have received some new light and truth, and have started a spiritual work. Fire from heaven would fall, and God would bless their labors. But not being able to discern the body of Christ, which only is the church. these people would organize a human system, call it a church, and these systems are but images.
It may be asked how people become deceived as a result of this fire which came from heaven, or spiritual reformation. I answer as follows: Speak to any of the various sects today whose work starter! in a spiritual reformation, and invariably they will point to such reformation as an excuse for the existence of their sect. In this they are deceived. The various branches of Methodism today, which number nearly one hundred, will, when interrogated on this subject, point back to the work of Wesley and the spiritual reformation of his time as an excuse for the existence of their sects. In this they are deceived. While the work of Wesley was spiritual and fire from heaven fell under his labors, yet Wesley and his work gave no excuse whatever for the modern sects called after his name. The same is true of the Lutherans. With all their dead formality and lack of spiritual godliness and vital salvation, if you speak to them about coming out of and forsaking the formal institution in which they live and hold membership, they will point you back to the work and reformation by Martin Luther as an excuse for the existence of their sect. In this they, like the Methodists, are deceived; for the work and reformation effected by Luther is no foundation nor cause for the existence of the Lutheran sect.
Not all the sects of Protestantism, however, started with a spiritual reformation. Many of their founders claimed to be effecting real reformation in the earth, whereas these were only pretensions. Fire from heaven upon Elijah's sacrifice was the attestation of his divine mission; the falling of the fire confirmed the fact that Elijah was God's prophet. Many of the sects of today will point to some fanatical movement stimulated more by excitement than by real Holy Spirit fire, as an excuse for the existence of their institution. Such is true of nearly all the modern holiness sects, tongues movements, etc. As Bro. F. G. Smith, in his work, "The Revelation Explained," says:
"The pretentious miracles and mighty works done in the various movements of our slay have resulted in the deception of multitudes of people and the creation of new sects. Only a few of the Protestant sects of today were preceded by a reformation that was truly spiritual and of God, and the salvation work done among them before their lapse into sectarianism, I can not attribute to this false prophet. For lack of sufficient light, however, they also submitted to human organizations just as did those who were deceived in movements wholly deceptive and false from the beginning. But in that case they did not thereby become false worshipers, and those of that class who retain their spirituality are the ones whom the Lord denominates his people. When the voice is heard calling them out of Babylon, the numerous communicants of Protestantism, its great revivals so called, its financial enterprises, its missionary efforts, its civilizing effects on barbarous nations, its social, moral, and intellectual influences upon the race—all these mighty works are brought forward to prove that the system is of God. But in this they deceive themselves, for this is not sufficient to show that this beast is a true prophet, when on account of the deceptions practiced God has denominated him a false prophet. "
True, the term "false prophet" with reference to the beast includes both the religion and the institution of Protestantism; but, in reality, the beast in Revelation 13, which is said to have brought fire from heaven, refers more to Protestantism as a religion titan to the sectarian institution, for this is clearly referred to as an image made to the first beast. So while the sects of Protestantism that have been the outgrowth of spiritual reformations have brought real fire down from heaven, those that have been the outgrowth of man have never done this, but have been wild fire, fanatical movements filled with more excitement than spirituality, and, as Brother Smith says in his work, have "only pretended to bring fire from heaven. " In both cases, people have been deceived, and so they point to such spiritual reformations or such seasons of excitement and false enthusiasm as an excuse for the existence of their various institutions. All these systems are but images to popery.
As soon as these images were formed, the next step was to mark their subjects. The poor blind Adventists suppose that this mark is keeping Sunday, but this is folly and ignorance. This mark signifies the instilling of the doctrines of the various sects into the minds of their adherents. The members of every sect organization are indelibly marked. You can not become one of them without solemnly agreeing to believe the doctrines taught in their disciplines, accepting the government of their man made institutions, subscribing to the rules of faith that originate with the sect. This shows how its members worship the beast. The mark in the right hand may signify the right hand of fellowship, which takes them into these institutions. It is further said "that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. " Jesus said to his ministers, "Freely ye have received, freely give. " Paul says that he made the gospel of Christ without charge. God's ministers received the everlasting gospel which they preach, from the Lord. They receive it free. The anointing teaches them; they are taught of God. Hence they give the gospel out free. But in sect Babylon the ministers make merchandise of the gospel and of the people. They traffic; that is, buy and sell. What they preach costs them considerable. They must take a certain course in order to get the theology they are to preach to the people. So after they obtain it, they hire out and sell it for so much a year. "They can never have enough . . . all look to their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter." Isa. 56: 9, 11. Every sect has its peculiar mark or doctrine with which to mark its adherents Sectarians have erected " preacher factories " for the express purpose of marking their ministers with their particular marks. For example, a Methodist seminary will never send out Lutheran preachers. A Presbyterian seminary never sends out Baptist preachers who preach Baptist doctrine. Ah, they receive another mark.
A man must have the doctrines of Babylon and belong to one of the various Protestant sects or he will not be allowed to preach in their houses of worship. A few years ago a brother in the ministry went into a certain town to find a place to conduct a series of holiness meetings. He was directed by a Presbyterian lady to their pastor, whom she said was a believer in the doctrine of holiness. When the brother called on the minister and made known his errand, the first question asked him was this: " Are you a member of the Presbyterian church?" The brother answered in the negative. He did not have the name of the beast. The next question that greeted him was this:
"Do you believe the Westminster confession of faith to be orthodox ? " He answered, " No, sir. " He did not have the mark of the beast. The last question asked was: "Do you belong to any of the various orthodox Protestant denominations?" The brother said, "No." He did not have the number of his name. The answer was, "You can not have our house." This explains what is meant by not allowing any one to buy and sell—preach the gospel—except those who have the name, mark, and number of the name of the beast. This has a real fulfillment in Protestantism today.
There is one more point I will explain here. The second beast represents Protestantism as a whole, or the religion of Protestantism, while the image represents the sectarian institution— the sect organizations. The number 666, which was to make up the second beast, signifies the great multiplicity of sects that make up Protestantism. Without any reflection whatever upon the spiritual reformations during the age of Protestantism, and the many revivals that were held there in years past, the sect institutions themselves were never used of God. God simply worked through the humble instrumentality of his people who had been led honestly, into these denominations. The oldest of the Protestant sects is the Lutheran. As before observed, its creed was formed in 1530. Since that time all the other sects of Protestantism, numbering nearly one thousand, have arisen. At different times men have come out of the older institutions and have preached some truth that had died out in those older organizations; but, not discerning the body of Christ, which only is the church, they have formed their followers into sects—humanly organized bodies with human government, human creeds, human disciplines. These organizations they have called churches. The very foundation of Protestantism is sectish strife and division. When weighed in the balance of God's Word, it is found sadly wanting.
The New Testament teaches one faith, one baptism, one body—the church—one fold, one heart and soul, one mind, no division. "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. " 1 Cor. 1: 10. In the light of this text either the Bible is wrong or sectism is wrong. We are forced to one conclusion or the other. It is a fact that in denorninationalism today the members do not all speak the same thing. They are not perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. I ask, In what are the various denominations united? They claim to be one in the essentials, but somewhat divided on the non-essentials. But what are the essentials? Is baptism one of them? Is it not an essential, since Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved"? Do these men all speak the same thing on baptism? Nay verily. As to mode, one preacher teaches that sprinkling is the only true mode, another that pouring is the Scriptural mode, another that triune immersion is the Biblical action in baptism. while still others teach that single immersion only is baptism. Many sects teach against baptism in any mode or form; and there are those who teach that either sprinkling, pouring, or immersion is baptism. With respect to the design of baptism, one minister teaches that in this ordinance sins are washed away, another that it is the door into the church another that through baptism the new birth is effected and our names written in heaven, and still others that baptism is only for justified believers. Some teach infant sprinkling, others do not. Thus on this essential truth, the ministers of sectism and their devotees do not fulfill the scripture, "All speak the same thing." This is true not only of the ordinances, but of all other essential New Testament doctrines. Protestants are divided on the divinity of Jesus Christ. They are divided on the work of the Holy Spirit. They have various ideas regarding God himself. Therefore I repeat that either this text of Scripture is wrong or sectism is wrong.
" Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." Psa. 133: l. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Acts 2: 1. "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. " Acts 4: 31-33. "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one." Acts 5: 12-16.
This blessed power and unity of apostolic days is a complete stranger to Protestants. They are scattered in hundreds of sects, adhere to so many different faiths, and belong to as many separate bodies. In a small town in our land a dozen or more steeples will be seen, and on Lord's day morning the people will congregate in a dozen different places and profess to worship God. Oh, what a picture modern so called Christianity presents to the poor sinner! In the early church the children of God in a town were found all of one accord in one place. They dwelt together in unity. The result was, the world believed and the Lord added to the church daily such as were being saved. But Protestantism presents a divided religion, and the result is skepticism and infidelity. The following scriptures describe the condition of Protestantism.
" Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." Rom. 16:17-18. The Lord gathers his people into one fold, into one body. "Ye are called in one body." He reconciles "all in one body by the cross." That one body is his church. And to all such he delivers the one faith of the gospel to observe. When the honest people thus saved and gathered into one fold are persuaded and led by ministers, so called preachers of the gospel, into other folds and other bodies than the body of Christ, and are required to subscribe to faiths and creeds written by men, instead of the faith of the gospel, this is making or causing division contrary to the doctrine of Christ, and we are told to avoid such persons. Let me give an illustration.
Suppose that in a town the pure gospel of salvation is presented and one hundred people are converted to God. Through conversion those one hundred souls are joined to the Lord, and the same love and spirit that in salvation join them to the Lord join them to each other. Thus they are made members of the church of God and constitute a local assembly of the true church. They belong to nothing but Christ. They have no faith but the gospel, no creed but the Word of God. Their names are written in heaven. Their bond of union is the love of God. They love each other, and love binds their hearts together. The Spirit of God draws them together in meeting, and therefore they "forsake not the assembling of themselves together." The Lord calls some to the work of elders, others to the work of deacons. After such have proved themselves, they are ordained by the imposition of hands to the work to which the Lord has called them. This is the church of God in its local sense.
Now suppose that, for want of better light, a Methodist minister approaches this congregation of believers and persuades twenty to join his sect, and that a Dunkard, a Quaker, a Baptist, and a Wesleyan minister do likewise. Now instead of meeting in one place, the hundred assemble in five different places of worship. Before, one minister could preach to them all; now, it requires five. Before, they had one faith, the simple faith of the gospel; now, they have five different faiths. They are divided on baptism, its designs and its mode; they are divided on the Lord's Supper, on feet washing, on the manner of obtaining salvation, and on many other things too numerous to mention. Woe be to the pastors that thus destroy and scatter the sheep of God's pasture! These are the very men that make division contrary to the doctrine of the Bible. Some of them have been traditionized to believe that they are doing God's service, but we hope and pray that God will enable them to comprehend his truth and that they may renounce all such deception and abide in the one and only true church of the living God.
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." 2 Pet. 2: 1-3. "And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?" Hab. 1:14-17. False prophets scatter and divide the people of God by leading them into their sects. With good words and fair speeches they deceive the people and make merchandise of them.
Multitudes of cold professors will not endure sound doctrine, but heap to themselves these teachers who turn away their ears from the truth unto fables. The more people these preachers can gather into their drag, the more they rejoice, "supposing gain is godliness." Many of them sacrifice to their drag—sect—more than they do to their God. Thus they slay the nations. Woe unto you sectarian preachers, blind guides, hypocrites! You compass land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he is made, he is twofold more the child of hell than when you found him. You are the very ones who are making division contrary to the doctrine of Christ, and we are commanded to avoid you. You oppose the truth, not only refusing to obey it yourselves, but also hindering those who would. Thus you are likened unto whitened sepulchers, which appear beautiful outward: within you are full of uncleanness, hypocrisies, and iniquity. For a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you shall receive the greater damnation. The pulpits of Protestantism are filled with a hireling ministry, a worthless set of preachers, who love greetings in the market and the highest seats of honor? who love the praise of men more than the praise of God, and who are filled with pride and formality.
Turning again to the eleventh chapter of Revelation, we find mention of two prophets— the Word and Spirit of God—the true vicars of Christ during the Protestant age. " And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them." Verses 7-11.
In this prophecy we see that the beast finally succeeded in slaying tile two prophets that he had been fighting for 1,260 years. The first part of this prophecy we have already considered in the reign of popery. After the 1,260 years of papacy, they lay dead three days and a half. This was fulfilled when those children of God who had been standing out clear against popery in the papal age united with Protestantism. Protestantism, as well as Romanism, accepts human vicars. Protestants bitterly oppose the government of the church by the Word and Spirit of God, and set up human vicars, who are their lawmakers and governors. Whether the vicar be one individual or a legislative body, it is a human vicar just the same; and when all God's people throughout the world accepted human vicars, the two prophets—the Word and Spirit of God—were virtually slain.
The three days and a half during which they were to lie dead signify three and one-half centuries, or three hundred and fifty years. The term "day" when applied to the papal age signifies a year, and when applied to the Protestant age it signifies a century. There is reason for this. The events of each century of the Protestant age are naturally divided into separate periods. The divisions of the centuries of the Protestant age are so marked that historians have adopted them. The following quotation from D'Aubigne's History of the Reforrnation, book II, chap. 9, is a fair sample of the use historians have made of this figure: "It as been said that tile three last centuries, the sixteenth, the seventeenth, and tile eighteenth, may be conceived as an immense battle of three days' duration. We willingly adopt this comparison. The first day was tile battle of God; the second, the battle of the priest; the third, the battle of reason. What will be the fourth? In our opinion the confused strife and deadly contest of all these powers together is to end in the victory of Him to whom triumph belongs." It is because the centuries of the Protestant age are thus divided into separate periods that God makes use of a day to signify a century. Counting, therefore, a day for a hundred years, we see that the three days and a half during which the two prophets were to lie dead signify three hundred and fifty years.
During this period the people were to make merry because the two prophets did not torment them. Ah, the Protestant people have been fulfilling this to the letter in their shameful socials and revelings. Measuring this 350 years from 1530, the date when the two prophets were slain, we have the year 1880, at; which time, according to the prophecy, the spirit of life from God was to enter into the two prophets. So the reader can see that we are now diving in the age when the Word and the Spirit of God were to resume their places as sole governors of the church of God. The gathering together of God's people out of sects into the one body, a process which has been taking place since 1880, is due to the resurrection of the Word and Spirit of God. The kingdom of God again triumphs upon earth. [ End of Part 10 ]
