The Protestant Reformation began in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther, a teacher and a monk, published a document he called Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, or 95 Theses. The document was a series of 95 ideas about Christianity that he invited people to debate with him. These ideas were controversial because they directly contradicted the Catholic Church’s teachings.
Luther’s statements challenged the Catholic Church’s role as intermediary between people and God, specifically when it came to the indulgence system, which in part allowed people to purchase a certificate of pardon for the punishment of their sins. Luther argued against the practice of buying or earning forgiveness, believing instead that salvation is a gift God gives to those who have faith. Romans 1:17
Anti-Protestantism originated in a reaction by the Catholic Church against the Reformation of the 16th century. Protestants were denounced as heretics and subject to persecution in those territories, such as Spain, Italy and the Netherlands in which the Catholics were the dominant power. Then the council urged Hus to recant in order to save his life, but to the majority of its members he was a dangerous heretic fit only for death. When he refused to recant, he was solemnly sentenced on July 6, 1415, and burned at the stake. While alive, Huss studied well the writings of John Wycliffe and implemented on his life and the lives of his followers.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6
The evils that had overspread the land had become incurable; and upon Israel was pronounced the dread sentence: PK 285
God sent a storm to put him back on the right path. Not only did the storm affect him, but it affected others around him. If you are God’s child and you backslide God will send a storm to bring you back. Your backsliding can result in trials for other people around you as well.
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 1John 2:18
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Matt.24:22
We are approaching the end of this earth’s history, and Satan is working as never before. He is striving to act as director of the Christian world. With an intensity that is marvelous he is working with his lying wonders. Manuscript Releases 8:346 (1901).
Nearly 500 years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Castle Church door, the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S. has approved a declaration recognizing “there are no longer church dividing issues on many points with the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Tony Palmer who is conservative British-born South African evangelicals claims that the Roman Catholic Religion now preach the true gospel of Salvation and that the Protestant Reformation is now over.
Pope Francis arrived in Sweden on Monday Oct 29, 2016 for services marking the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation that split Lutherans and Catholics. He arrived in the southern city of Malmo, and is scheduled to attend an event with leaders of the Lutheran World Federation on Monday afternoon. He also lead a service at a Lutheran Cathedral in the city of Lund, and a Mass at the arena in Malmo on Tuesday.
When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with Spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and Republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near. 5T 451
Let us study the Book Rev. Chapter 13:11-18
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 deceive them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 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 a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Rev.13:11-18
Quickly look at the last description of the first beast out of the sea, Revelation 13:10 .’He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity; he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.’ Because this sea beast (Papal Church of Rome) was a persecuting power that killed God’s people, it too would receive a “deadly wound“. “He that killeth with a sword must be killed with the sword.” And this was fulfilled in 1798 when General Berthier of France marched his army into Rome, took the pope captive and locked him in prison, where he died. History shows that after this, the Papacy was thought to be dead and buried.
Half of Europe thought that with the Pope/ the Papacy was dead”. (Joseph Rickaby, The Modern Papacy, Lectures on the History of Religion, Lecture 24, London Catholic Truth Society, 1910)
So after this event, John sees another beast rising up out of the earth Revelation 13:11 ‘And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. So this kingdom would rise up around the time that the Papacy received it’s deadly wound, around 1798.
Important Note: All other beasts (kingdoms) rose up from the ‘sea’ (Daniel 7:3), meaning they rose to power from well populated areas, amongst many different nations. Daniel 7:2 also confirms that the other world powers rose through strife and conflict. Now compare this with the earth beast of Revelation 13 .
The second beast (earth beast) of Revelation 13 is a kingdom that rises out of the earth, which is an obvious opposite to the sea and denotes that it rose up peacefully, in a place of wilderness and not through war and strife. There is only one end time power that fits this description, and that is the United States of America.
America wasn’t populated until the 1700’s when people fleeing the persecuting power of the Roman Catholic Church headed for this new land, so they could practice religious freedom away from the Papacy. And America became a recognized world power by 1798, when the Papacy had received it’s ‘deadly wound’. So the timing also fits with America.
There is only one nation on earth that appears “lamb like” (‘Christian’) but “speaks as a dragon”, and has the power and influence to cause the rest of the world to take the mark of the ‘sea beast’. And that is United States of America! No other kingdom.
What about the two horns? Written into the laws of the land, America declared that church and state should never unite, and that every man would be permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. This fits the two “lamb like” horns. Now horns in prophecy normally represent kings/kingdoms. The two horns could also represent “The Constitution” and the “Bill of Rights”, which stand for Civil liberty and Religious liberty. This nation of America was based upon ‘Republicanism’ (a government without a king) and ‘Protestantism’ (a church without a pope). So either way, this country has been led by two “authorities”, which match the two horns on the beast.
Unfortunately, this nation which starts off as a ‘Christian’ nation, ends up speaking like a dragon Revelation 13:11-12 ‘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.
The dragon that represents Satan, who used Papal Rome to enforce ‘religious’ laws and persecute and kill God’s true people who would not adhere to them. use America like he used the Roman Catholic Church during the dark ages to enforce “religious” laws upon the world. America will start to “speak” the way the Roman Catholic Church spoke in the dark ages. So America will cause the world to obey the Roman Catholic Church very soon.
Does America proclaim to be a Christian nation under God? Yes! The so called ‘Protestants’ who once fled to the shores of America to escape the false teachings and persecutions of the Romish Church, have now turned their back on God’s truth and are running back to their ‘mother-BABYLON!