AMERICA, LAND OF THE FREE?LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE

THREATENED!

A N A R T I C L E F R O M :

FOURTH OF JULY – INDEPENDENCE DAYA HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE DAY

Romanism is now regarded by Protestants with far greaterfavor than in former years. In those countries whereCatholicism is not in the ascendancy, and the papists aretaking a conciliatory course in order to gain influence,there is an increasing indifference concerning the doctrinesthat separate the reformed churches from the papalhierarchy; the opinion is gaining ground that, after all, wedo not differ so widely upon vital points as has beensupposed, and that a little concession on our part will bringus into a better understanding with Rome. The time waswhen Protestants placed a high value upon the liberty ofconscience which had been so dearly purchased. Theytaught their children to abhor popery and held that to seekharmony with Rome would be disloyalty to God. But howwidely different are the sentiments now expressed!  {The Great Controversy, 563.1} “The Constitution of the United States guarantees libertyof conscience. Nothing is dearer or more fundamental.Pope Pius IX, in his Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854,said: `The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings indefense of liberty of conscience are a most pestilentialerror—a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a state.’The same pope, in his Encyclical Letter of December 8,1864, anathematized `those who assert the liberty ofconscience and of religious worship,’ also ‘all such asmaintain that the church may not employ force.’{The Great Controversy, 564.5}

The Fourth of July—also known as Independence Day or July 4th—has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution. On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 to the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues. By the middle of the following year, however, many morecolonists had come to favor independence, thanks to growinghostility against Britain and the spread of revolutionarysentiments such as those expressed in the bestselling pamphlet“Common Sense,” published by Thomas Paine in early 1776. On June 7, when the Continental Congress met atthe Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall) inPhiladelphia, the Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee introduceda motion calling for the colonies’ independence. Amid heated debate, Congress postponed the vote on Lee’sresolution, but appointed a five-man committee—including Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, JohnAdams of Massachusetts, Roger Shermanof Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Robert R.Livingston of New York—to draft a formal statement justifyingthe break with Great Britain. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of Lee’sresolution for independence in a near-unanimous vote (the NewYork delegation abstained, but later voted affirmatively). On thatday, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail that July 2 “will becelebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversaryFestival” and that the celebration should include “Pomp andParade…Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminationsfrom one End of this Continent to the other.” On July 4th, the Continental Congress formally adoptedthe Declaration of Independence, which had been written largelyby Jefferson. Though the vote for actual independence took placeon July 2nd, from then on the 4th became the day that wascelebrated as the birth of American independence.

BY: HISTORY.COM EDITORS

URL: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/july-4thTo read the full article, go to the link below.

Aims of the Papacy

LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE THREATENED1. This is a two-part study on the Beast and its Image. This lesson addresses first the Beast and then its Image. Read and meditate upon Revelation 13:1-10.2. Who does this leopard-like beast represent? Answer: The Papacy, Popery, Roman Catholicism. Let's confirm this point.3a. What does a beast represent in Bible prophecy? Daniel 7:17,23Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________3b. Note: The beasts of Daniel 7 are intimately connected with the leopard-like beast of Revelation 13.4. What is the name that is written on the head of this beast? Revelation 13:1Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________5a. What does the Bible call blasphemy? John 10:30-33Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________5b. Consider the following admission by Roman Catholics: “All bishops, with Peter at their head, are vicars, that is, they take the place of Christ on earth.” http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/PRIMPOPE.htm 5c. “The title Vicar of Christ is more expressive of his supreme headship of the Church on earth.” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15403b.htm 5d. However, who does Jesus say would stand in His place on the earth? Who does the Bible say is the head of the church on earth? John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16,7,8,13 and Ephesians 5:23; Ephesians 1:20,22Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________6a. What does the Bible call blasphemy? Mark 2:5-7Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________6b. Even to this day the Roman Catholic Church continues to commit blasphemy. “Pope Francis sends out 1,000 new hand-picked 'super confessors' to forgive those who have sinned so badly that only normally be pardoned by the pontiff himself.” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3441058/Pope-Francis-sends-1-000-new-hand-picked-super-confessors-forgive-sinned-badly-normally-pardoned-pontiff-himself.html7a. How long was the leopard-like beast, the Papacy, to reign before receiving a deadly wound? Revelation 13:3,5Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7b. Note: These 42 months represent prophetic time.7c. Note: A biblical month has 30 days. Read Genesis 7:11,24 and Genesis 8:3,4.7d. How many days are in 42 months, considering that a biblical month has 30 days? Answer: 1260 days.Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________8a. Note: Here we have the fact that 42 prophetic months represent 1260 prophetic days.8b. What does a day represent in Bible prophecy? Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________8c. Note: Based on the previous facts, 1260 prophetic days represent 1260 literal years.9a. When did the 1260 years of the reign of the Papacy begin and when did it end?Answer: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

*All Bible verses are from the King James Version*

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9b. Consider the following historical account: "Power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." And, says the proph-et, "I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death." And again: "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." The forty and two months are the same as the "time and times and the dividing of time," three years and a half, or 1260 days, of Daniel 7 - - the time during which the papal power was to oppress God's people. This period, as stated in preceding chapters, began with the supremacy of the papacy, A.D. 538, and terminated in 1798. At that time the pope was made captive by the French army, the papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled, "He that leadeth into cap-tivity shall go into captivity." {The Great Controversy, 439.2} 10a. What did the leopard-like beast receive between A.D. 538 and 1798? Revelation 13:4Answer: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________10b. What kind of power did the leopard-like beast have between A.D. 538 and 1798? Revelation 13:7____________________________10c. Using the previous conclusions, the leopard-like beast is a union of church and state. To confirm, consider that the Pope is both head of the Church (Roman Catholicism) and the head of the state (the Vatican/Holy See).11a. With whom did the Papacy make war between A.D. 538 and 1798? Revelation 13:7; Daniel 7:25 (Revelation 14:12). The Roman Catholic Church, The Papacy, has been guilty of persecuting and murdering Christians.Answer: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11b. To confirm, read the following: “Pope John Paul II Makes Unprecedented Apology For Sins of Catholic Church… Pope John Paul II led church leaders and followers in sweeping confession, seeking repentance for sins that may have been committed over the past 2,000 years in the name of the church...They fell into seven general categories of wrongs which include, without being too specific, everything from the Crusades to the Inquisition, the forced conversions, to sins against women and anti- Jewish acts. It was a first for the church. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/12/sm.06.html12. A diligent study of Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 will reveal that the leopard-like beast is called the little horn in Daniel 7:7,8,23-25. 13a. What does a horn represent in Bible prophecy? Revelation 17:12 Answer: _________________________________________13b. The Papacy is called a Little Horn, according to Daniel 7:7,8,24,25. What is the smallest country in the world?Answer: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ There is a country in the world smaller than New York City’s Central Park and one with a population smaller than a typical high-school class. Based on landmass, Vatican City is the smallest country in the world... The official seat of the pope of the Catholic Church since 1377, Vatican City was not declared an independent state until the Lateran Treaty of 1929. https://www.history.com/news/what-is-the-smallest-country-in-the-world The Vatican is the smallest independent state in the world and residence of the spiritual leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-1799486814a. What will happen to the names of the individuals who worship the beast, the Papacy? Revelation 13:8Answer: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________14b. Which day does the Papacy, the Pope of the Roman Catholic church, call the day of worship, the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day? Answer: Sunday. 14c. However, which day does the Bible call the Lord’s Day, the Sabbath of the Lord? Isaiah 58:13; Mark 2:27,28; Malachi 3:6Answer: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

15a. What did the Bible predict that the Little Horn, the Papacy, would do that it did indeed fulfill? Daniel 7:25Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________15b. Who was the person that legislated and announced that the worshiping of the sun, which was then called Sunday worship, was the day of worship for Christians?Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________15c. History records: “In the early part of the fourth century the emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a public fes-tival throughout the Roman Empire. The day of the sun was reverenced by his pagan subjects and was honored by Christians; it was the emperor's policy to unite the conflicting interests of heathenism and Christianity. He was urged to do this by the bishops of the church, who, inspired by ambition and thirst for power, perceived that if the same day was observed by both Christians and heathen, it would promote the nominal acceptance of Christianity by pagans and thus advance the power and glory of the church. But while many God-fearing Christians were gradually led to regard Sunday as possessing a degree of sacredness, they still held the true Sab-bath as the holy of the Lord and observed it in obedience to the fourth commandment. {The Great Controversy, 53.1}

16. How does Jesus treat those faithful Christians who died honoring Sunday as the Lord’s Sabbath, who did not have an opportunity to learn about God’s seventh-day Sabbath? Acts 17:30 What does Jesus expect of us who know the truth?Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________17. Who gave the Papacy its power, seat, and great authority? Revelation 13:2 Answer: _____________________________________18. In the primary sense, who does the dragon represent? Revelation 12:7-9 Answer: _______________________________________19. Why was Satan expelled from heaven? What has ever been Satan's desire to receive? Isaiah 14:12-14; Matthew 4:8-10Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________20. Through whom does Satan seek to receive worship? Revelation 13:4 Answer: __________________________________________21. What was the chief god that the pagans, the heathens, worshiped? 2 Kings 23:5; Deuteronomy 4:16-20Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________22. What happened to the people who rejected God’s true worship and worshiped the sun, which was the forerunner of Sunday worship? Ezekiel 8:16-18 (read also Deuteronomy 17:2-5) Answer: _____________________________________________________23. Various animals have been used to depict the different parts of this beast, the Papacy. However, the Papacy predominantly looks like which animal? Revelation 13:2 Answer: _______________________________________________________________________24. What is so significant about a leopard that would cause Jesus to identify Popery as a leopard? Jeremiah 13:23Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part Two: The Image of the Beast which is Protestant America

25. Read and meditate upon Revelation 13:10-18. 26. What was prophesied to happen to the Papacy? Revelation 13:3,10. See also number 9b.Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________27. What did the Lord show John in vision, which would arise during the time period when the Papacy would receive its deadly wound? Revelation 13:11 Answer: _______________________________________________________________________________28a. Note: The leopard-like beast which is the Papacy rose up out of the sea. See Revelation 13:1. The sea represents a populated area, according to Revelation 17:15. The geographical location of the rise of the Papacy was in the Roman Empire of Europe. Therefore, the lamb-like beast or lamb-like nation which was seen rising from the earth, must represent a geographical location that was not populated. The location could not be in Europe, in the Old World. It must be in the New World, the western hemisphere.

28b. But the beast with lamblike horns was seen "coming up out of the earth." Instead of overthrowing other powers to establish itself, the nation thus represented must arise in territory previously unoccupied and grow up gradually and peacefully. It could not, then, arise among the crowded and struggling nationalities of the Old World--that turbulent sea of "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." It must be sought in the Western Continent. {The Great Controversy, 440.1}29. What nation was represented by the lamb-like beast of Revelation 13:11?Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ What nation of the New World was in 1798 rising into power, giving promise of strength and greatness, and attracting the attention of the world? The application of the symbol admits of no question. One nation, and only one, meets the specifications of this prophecy; it points unmistakably to the United States of America. {The Great Controversy, 440.2} 30a. Note: For decades, students of Bible prophecy have used the bison or buffalo as the primary image for Protestant America, the lamblike beast of Revelation 13:11 that will speak as a dragon. Officially, the Federal Government has made the bison the national beast, the national mammal of the United States. Surely they have their reasons for this; however, to students of Bible prophecy this is a prophetic move for the fulfillment of Revelation 13:11-17.

30b. “On May 9, 2016, President Obama signed the National Bison Legacy Act into law, officially making the American bison the national mammal of the United States.” https://www.doi.gov/blog/15-facts-about-our-national-mammal-american-bison31.What have been the two significant powers or principles of the United States of America, since her declaration of independence in 1776 and during the time of 1798?Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ "And he had two horns like a lamb." The lamblike horns indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness, fitly representing the character of the United States when presented to the prophet as "coming up" in 1798. Among the Christian exiles who first fled to America and sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance were many who determined to establish a gov-ernment upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. Their views found place in the Declaration of Independence, which sets forth the great truth that "all men are created equal" and endowed with the inalienable right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." And the Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self-government, providing that representatives elected by the popular vote shall enact and administer the laws. Freedom of religious faith was also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. {The Great Controversy, 441.1} 32. What principles are the secret of America’s power and prosperity? Revelation 13:11Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation. These principles are the secret of its power and prosperity. The oppressed and downtrodden throughout Christendom have turned to this land with interest and hope. Millions have sought its shores, and the United States has risen to a place among the most powerful nations of the earth. {The Great Controversy, 441.1}33. How will this lamb-like nation, the United States of America, speak? Revelation 13:11Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________34. Since the dragon represents Satan in the primary sense, what has been Satan’s desire? Isaiah 14:12-14; Matthew 4:8-10;Revelation 12:17 Answer: _____________________________________________________________________________________35. What are the things that the United States of America will do? Revelation 13:12,15-17Answer: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________36a. Revelation 13:11,14, and 15 say that the United States of America will speak and cause all to worship falsely under the penalty of death. How does the United States of America speak? Answer: ________________________________________________________

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“The lamblike horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of the nation thus represented. The "speaking" of the nation is the action of its legislative and judicial authorities. By such action it will give the lie to those liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation of its policy. The prediction that it will speak "as a dragon" and exercise "all the power of the first beast" plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance and persecution that was manifested by the nations represented by the dragon and the leopardlike beast. And the statement that the beast with two horns "causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast" indicates that the authority of this nation is to be exercised in enforcing some observance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy... Only in flagrant violation of these safeguards to the nation's liberty [the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution], can any religious observance be enforced by civil authority. But the inconsistency of such action is no greater than is represented in the symbol. It is the beast with lamblike horns--in profession pure, gentle, and harmless--that speaks as a dragon.” {The Great Controversy, 442.2} 36b. Note the following current events confirming the union of church and state and the influence of Roman Catholicism on American politics. Catholics in Congress: one-third of House, one-quarter of Senate http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/ catholics-in-congress-one-third-of-house-one-quarter-of-senate.cfm36c. Currently, there are five Catholics, three Jews, and one Episcopalian [raised Roman Catholic] on the US Supreme Court. https://qz.com/972686/the- religions-of-the-us-supreme-court-justices-tell-the-tale-of-a-changing-nation/ 36d. Catholic politicians should be guided by the church’s moral and social teachings when crafting legislation, Pope Francis said. Meeting with participants in the annual meeting of the International Catholic Legislators Network Aug. 27, the pope said that church teaching can contribute to a more humane and just society, but only if the church is allowed a voice in answering “the great questions of society in our time.” https://cnstopstories.com/2017/08/29/pope- catholic-social-teaching-can-contribute-to-building-just-society36e. God's word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall be-lieve and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution. {The Great Controversy, 581.2} 37. Note: While the image of the beast is being formed, we should be forming an image to Jesus. Meditate upon the followingstatement and scriptures and write down your thoughts. Genesis 1:26,27; Genesis 5:1-3; Colossians 3:5-10; 2 Corinthians 3:16-18; Romans 8:29,30 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________38. After you have read the following statement, consider the news report. Would such an event have occurred in the United States, during the 1700s when the Puritans and the Pilgrims fled the Old World which was controlled by the Papacy? Protestants have tampered with and patronized popery; they have made compromises and concessions which papists them-selves are surprised to see and fail to understand. Men are closing their eyes to the real character of Romanism and the dangers to be apprehended from her supremacy. The people need to be aroused to resist the advances of this most dangerous foe to civil and religious liberty. {The Great Controversy, 566.1}

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Pope Francis Delivers Historic Address to U.S. Congress…Making history by being the first pope ever to address a joint meeting of Congress, Pope Francis was introduced to the legislators by the House sergeant at arms as: "Mr. Speaker, the pope of the Holy See.” http://www.jesuits.org/story?TN=PROJECT-2015092410301839a. Since Pope Francis is called the first Jesuit-pope, we must consider what have been the aims of the Jesuits. The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done. {The Great Controversy, 565.4}39b. To confirm read the following: Pope Francis and his allies [Evangelicals and Protestants of America] have signed the declaration that Protestantism is dead on October 31, 2017. “Somewhere in Pope Francis’s office is a document that could alter the course of Chris-tian history. It declares an end to hostilities between Catholics and Evangelicals and says the two traditions are now ‘united in mission because we are declaring the same Gospel’. The Holy Father is thinking of signing the text in 2017 [Oct.31], the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, alongside Evangelical leaders...Francis is convinced that the Reformation is already over. He believes it ended in 1999. http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/issues/july-24th-2015/the-popes-great-evangelical-gamble/40. Consider the following statement, and discover what will usher in the enforcement of Sunday observance. While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous… It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the Sunday sabbath; that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity. {The Great Controversy, 589, 590} 41. Pope Francis states that all nations should legislate Sunday worship in order to combat Climate Change and to care for the poor. Read the following to confirm. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world…It [Sunday] protects human action from becoming empty activism; it [Sunday] also prevents that unfettered greed and sense of isolation which make us seek personal gain to the detriment of all else. The law of weekly rest forbade work on the seventh day…[See Ex 23:12]. Rest opens our eyes to the larger picture and gives us renewed sensitivity to the rights of others. And so the day of rest, centered on the Eucharist, sheds it light on the whole week, and motivates us to greater concern for nature and the poor. [para. 237]http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

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