These are the great principles corrupted by the Papacy. Instead of the one supreme G.o.d, we find another in the temple of G.o.d, "showing himself that _he_ is G.o.d." Christ was not recognized as the supreme and only head of the church; but instead the Pope claimed the t.i.tle of universal head and legislated supreme, while his decrees and anathemas were accepted as from Jehovah himself. Christ was not regarded as the only mediator between G.o.d and man, but the virgin Mary and the saints were exalted to share the mediatorial throne, the mother being more honored than the Son. Penance, counting of beads, works of supererogation, were believed to be more effectual in obtaining forgiveness of sin than living faith in our only Redeemer. Finally, in place of the humble ministers of Christ whom he appointed to officiate in his church, there were haughty lords and rulers, making the most extravagant claims to power and authority over the minds and consciences of men. The court of the temple was the s.p.a.ce outside of the sanctuary occupied by the congregation while the worship within was conducted by the priests. John was told to leave this out and measure it not; for it was given to the Gentiles to tread under foot, or profane, for the s.p.a.ce of forty and two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days. In the estimation of a Jew, the Gentiles were all idolaters and outside of G.o.d"s covenant favor. As a symbol, then, we are to understand that the great body of worshipers thus brought to view are not the true children of G.o.d at all, but are, as it were, uncirc.u.mcised, idolatrous Gentiles, having no connection whatever with the great head of the church and no part in the covenant of his mercy. The whole city of Jerusalem was to be given over to this profane mult.i.tude and by them desecrated for forty-two months, denoting that this great company of worshipers was to const.i.tute the visible, external church during the period specified. It is as though the city of Jerusalem were occupied by the idolatrous heathen, and the Jews driven out as aliens. These Gentiles, then, were to const.i.tute the one great (so-called) universal church--the Church of Rome.
Forty and two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, are symbolic time, signifying twelve hundred and sixty years, during which time the power of apostasy was to reign supreme over the minds of men. The same period is also referred to frequently in subsequent chapters. It is necessary, then, for us to ascertain at what period of time the church was given over to a profane mult.i.tude that was not the true people of G.o.d. Some have supposed that this must refer to the time when Popery became fully established. Such, however, could not be the case (although the time-period includes that important event); for the power of apostasy was greatly developed centuries before the final supremacy of the Popes was established, and was necessary in order to prepare the way for their exaltation. The Popes obtained their authority by degrees. In A.D. 606 the emperor Phocas conferred the t.i.tle "Universal Bishop" upon the Pope of Rome. In A.D. 756 the Pope became a temporal sovereign. Yet the power of Papal usurpation did not reach the summit until the reign of the impious Hildebrand, who succeeded to the Popedom in A.D. 1073, under the t.i.tle of Gregory VII. But according to the symbols before us, we must look for a period not so much when the Popes were enabled to definitely enforce their arrogant claims, as when the ministry became corrupted and when the inhabitants of the city, or the devotees of the visible church, became a profane mult.i.tude entirely estranged from the covenant of promise. The usurpations of the ministry that accompanied this great change in the external church have been considered already under the symbols of chapter VI. This mighty transformation to a church containing nothing but uncirc.u.mcised Gentiles was fully accomplished during the latter half of the third century, from which date we must look for the true disciples of the Lord as entirely separate from the hierarchy. A few quotations from standard and ecclesiastical histories will show this important epoch in the rise of the Papacy that plunged the world into almost universal apostasy.
"The living church retiring gradually within the lonely sanctuary of a few solitary hearts, an external church was subst.i.tuted in its place, and all its forms were declared to be of divine appointment. Salvation no longer flowing from the Word, which was henceforward put out of sight, the priests affirmed that it was conveyed by means of the forms they had themselves invented, and that no one could obtain it but by these channels.... The doctrine of the church and the necessity of its visible unity, which had begun to gain ground in the _third century_, favored the pretensions of Rome." D"Aubigne"s History of the Reformation, Book I, Chap. 1.
"At the end of the third century almost half the inhabitants of the Roman empire, and of several neighboring countries, professed the faith of Christ. About this time endeavors to preserve a unity of belief, and of church discipline, occasioned numberless disputes among those of different opinions, and led to the establishment of an ecclesiastical tyranny." Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge.
Concerning the Roman diocese, the Encyclopaedia Britannica says, "Before the termination of the third century the office was held to be of such importance that its succession was a matter of interest to ecclesiastics living in distant sees." Vol. XIX, p. 488.
"Almost proportionate with the extension of Christianity was the decrease in the church of vital piety. A philosophizing spirit among the higher, and a wild monkish superst.i.tion among the lower orders, fast took the place in the third century of the faith and humility of the first Christians. Many of the clergy became very corrupt, and excessively ambitious. In consequence of this there was an awful defection of Christianity." Marsh"s Church History, p. 185.
"We have found it almost necessary to separate, and indeed widely to distinguish the events of the two first, from those of the third century, for nearly at this point we are disposed to place the FIRST CRISIS in the internal history of the church." Waddington"s Church History.
"This season of external prosperity was improved by the ministers of the church for the exertion of new claims, and the a.s.sumption of powers with which they had not been previously invested. At first these claims were modestly urged, and gradually allowed; but they laid a foundation for the encroachments which were afterwards made upon the rights of the whole Christian community, and for lofty pretensions to the right of supremacy and spiritual dominion.... Several alterations in the form of church government appear to have been introduced during the third century. Some degree of pomp was thought necessary.... The external dignity of the ministers of religion was accompanied by a still greater change in its discipline.... Many of the Jewish and Pagan proselytes ...
languished in the absence of ceremonies which were naturally adapted to the taste of the unreflecting mult.i.tude, while the insolent infidel haughtily insisted upon the inanity of a religion which was not manifested by an external symbol or decoration. In order to accommodate Christianity to these prejudices, a number of rites were inst.i.tuted; and while the dignified t.i.tles of the Jewish priesthood were through a compliance with the prejudices of that people, conferred upon the Christian teachers, many ceremonies were introduced which coincided with the genius of Paganism. The true gospels were taught by sensible images, and many of the ceremonies employed in celebrating the heathen mysteries were observed in the inst.i.tutions of Christ, which soon in their turn obtained the name of mysteries, and served as a melancholy precedent for future innovations, and as a foundation for that structure of absurdity and superst.i.tion which deformed and disgraced the church." Rutter"s History of the Church, pp. 52-56.
This "season of external prosperity" mentioned by Rutter began with the accession of Gallienus to the imperial throne in A.D. 260. Up to this time the hand of persecution had been raised against the church almost incessantly; but from 260 until the reign of Diocletian persecution almost ceased, during this s.p.a.ce of about forty years. But this period also marked the greatest decline in spiritual things and a marvelous development of the hierarchy. Speaking of the bishop of Rome in these times, Dowling says, "He far surpa.s.sed all his brethren in the magnificence and splendor of the church over which he presided; in the riches of his revenues and possessions; in the number and variety of his ministers; in his credit with the people; and in his sumptuous and splendid manner of living." History of Romanism, p. 34.
Ammia.n.u.s Marcellinus, a Roman historian, who lived during these times, adverting to this subject, says: "It was no wonder to see those who were ambitious of human greatness, contending with so much heat and animosity for that dignity, because when they had obtained it, they were sure to be enriched by the offerings of the matrons, and of appearing abroad in great splendor, of being admired for their costly coaches, and sumptuous feasts, outdoing sovereign princes in the expenses of their table." This led Proetextatus, a heathen, who was praefect of the city, to say, "Make me bishop of Rome, and I"ll be a Christian too!"
Speaking of the period now under consideration, Eusebius, "the father of church history," "mentions one Paul, who was at this time bishop of Antioch; who lived in luxury and licentiousness, and who was a teacher of erroneous doctrines, and usurped so great authority that the people feared to venture to accuse him. In the conclusion of the same chapter in which this is found, he shows that after a general council was held at Antioch, this Paul was excommunicated and robbed of his bishopric by the bishops of Rome and Italy; from this it appears that they possessed an authority still greater than that usurped by Paul." The following are his words: "Paul, therefore, having thus fallen from the episcopate, together with the true faith as already said, Domnus succeeded in administration of the church at Antioch. But Paul being unwilling to leave the building of the church, an appeal was made to the emperor Aurelian, who decided most equitably on the business, ordering the building to be given up to those whom the Christian bishops of Italy and Rome should write." Eccl. History, Book VII, Chap. 30. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says that this council at which Paul was excommunicated was held "probably in the year 268," and that "Paul continued in his office until the year 272, when the city was taken by the emperor Aurelian, who decided in person that the church-building belonged to the bishop who was in epistolary communication with the bishops of Rome and Italy."
Vol. XVIII, p. 429.
The above extracts show not only the development of error in the church, but also the great power already obtained by the hierarchy. Geo. Fisher says, "The accession of Constantine [A.D. 312] found the church so firmly organized under the hierarchy that it could not lose its ident.i.ty by being absolutely merged in the state." History of the Christian Church, p. 99.
In the year A.D. 270 Anthony, an Egyptian, the founder of the monastic inst.i.tution, fixed his abode in the deserts of Egypt and formed monks into organized bodies. "Influenced by these eminent examples [Anthony, Hilarion, et al.] immense mult.i.tudes betook themselves to the desert, and innumerable monasteries were fixed in Egypt, Ethiopia, Lybia and Syria. Some of the Egyptian abbots are spoken of as having had five, seven, or even ten thousand monks under their personal direction; and the Thebias, as well as certain spots in Arabia, are reported to have been literally crowded with solitaries. Nearly a hundred thousand of all cla.s.ses, it is said, were at one time to be found in Egypt.... Although the enthusiasm might be at a lower ebb in one country than in another, it _actually affected the church universal_, so far as the extant materials of ecclesiastical history enables us to trace its rise and progress.... The more rigid and heroic of the Christian anch.o.r.ets dispensed with all clothing except a rug, or a few palm leaves round the loins. Most of them abstained from the use of water for ablution; nor did they usually wash or change the garments they had once put on; thus _St. Anthony_ [the founder of this order] bequeathed to Athanasius a skin in which his sacred person had been wrapped for half a century.
They also allowed their beards and nails to grow, and sometimes became so hirsute, as to be actually mistaken for hyaenas or bears." Hist. of Romanism, pp. 88, 89. Reader, what was the condition of the so-called church in A.D. 270 that could make the introduction of such abominations possible? Although many more historical quotations on this point might be added, I will conclude with the two following extracts from Joseph Milner.
"We shall, for the present, leave Anthony propagating the monastic dispositions, and extending its influence not only into the next century, but for many ages after, and conclude this view of the state of the _third century_, with expressing our regret that the faith and love of the gospel received toward the close of it a dreadful blow from the encouragement of this unchristian practise." Cen. III, Chap. 20.
"Moral, and philosophical, and monastic instructions will not effect for men what is to be expected from evangelical doctrine. And if the faith of Christ was so much declined (and its decayed state _ought to be dated from about the year 270_), we need not wonder that such scenes as Eusebius hints at without any circ.u.mstantial details took place in the Christian world." Cent. IV, Chap. 1.
After reading the foregoing statements of historians, the reader will, I believe, agree with me that the year 270 is a consistent date to mark the time when the visible external church was wholly given over to the profane mult.i.tude of uncirc.u.mcised, idolatrous Gentiles to tread under foot. Measuring forward the allotted period of twelve hundred and sixty years brings us to the exact date of the first Protestant creed (_the Augsburg Confession_) in A.D. 1530. We must point to this date both for the end of Rome"s universal spiritual supremacy and for the rise of Protestantism. D"Aubigne, in his History of the Reformation, when he comes to this period, says: "The conflicts. .h.i.therto described have been only partial; we are entering upon a new period, that of general battles. Spires (1529) and Ausburg (1530) are names that shine forth with more immortal glory than Marathon, Pavia, or Marengo. Forces that up to the present time were separate, are now uniting into one energetic band." Book XVIII, Chap. 1. "The first two books of this volume contain the most important epochs of the reformation--the Protest of Spires, and the Confession of Augsburg.... I determined on bringing the reformation of Germany and German Switzerland to the _decisive epochs_ of 1530 and 1531. The history of the reformation, properly so called, is then in my opinion almost complete in those countries. The work of faith has there attained its apogee: that of conferences, of interims, of diplomacy begins.... The movement of the sixteenth century has there made its effort. I said from the very first, It is the history of the reformation and not of Protestantism that I am relating." D"Aubigne, Preface to Vol.
V.
The next important object in the vision is the "two witnesses" that prophecied in sackcloth. From the description given, it would appear at first that these witnesses were active intelligent agents; and as such, belonging to the department of human life, they would symbolize the church, the number two denoting the ministry and the people of G.o.d. But the church is already symbolized in this chapter, the angel representing the ministry, as in the preceding chapter, and John, who is clearly one of the symbolic agents in this vision, representing the church; therefore the two witnesses must be representative of something else.
Since the actions ascribed to them are drawn from the department of human life, it is evident that their interpretation is to be found in connection with the affairs of the church. By way of explanation, verse 4 represents them to be "the two olive-trees, and the two candle-sticks standing before the G.o.d of the earth," although it is not stated that any olive-trees and candle-sticks were shown in this prophetic vision.
In this reference is made to the fourth chapter of Zechariah, where two olive-trees are represented as standing one on each side of a golden candle-stick, distilling into it their oil for light. When asked for the signification of the two olive-trees and the candlestick, the angel answered, "This is the _Word_ of the Lord ... by my _Spirit_, saith the Lord." Ver. 6. That the Word of G.o.d and the Spirit of G.o.d are special witnesses is proved by many texts. Jesus said, "Search the Scriptures ... they are they which _testify_ of me." John 6:39. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a _witness_ unto all nations." Mat. 24:14. "The Holy Ghost also is a _witness_." Heb. 10:15.
"The Spirit itself beareth _witness_." Rom. 8:16. "It is the Spirit that beareth _witness_." 1 John 5:6. It is the Spirit acting in conjunction with the Word of G.o.d that gives spiritual life, through regeneration, unto men, and which opens their understanding that they may know the things of G.o.d. 2 Cor. 2:9-15.
G.o.d may have given us the explanation that these two witnesses were the same as the olive-trees and the candle-sticks to prevent our being led astray with the supposition that they were actually intelligent agents.
(I speak humanly.) Accepting this statement, the actions of these witnesses here described can be explained only by the figure of speech known as Personification, by which it is proper, under certain conditions, to attribute life, action, and intelligence to inanimate objects. Thus, the blood of Abel is said to have cried from the ground.
Gen. 4:9, 10. "The stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it." Hab. 2:11. "The hire of the laborers ...
which is of you kept back by fraud crieth: and the cries ... are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." Jas. 5:4. "The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." Isa. 55:12. I would not attempt to vary from the general order and explain these two witnesses by the figure of personification, were it not for the fact that the two olive-trees and the two candle-sticks are here given as a means of explanation; and trees and candle-sticks, we know, are not active, intelligent agents, and consequently do not necessarily symbolize such.
To "hurt" the Word and Spirit of G.o.d is to oppose, corrupt, or pervert their testimony and to turn people away from them; and the judgments of Heaven are p.r.o.nounced in that Word and by that Spirit against such as turn away from the truth unto fables. They shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. Rev. 20:15; 22:8. It is also said of them: "These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will."
This indicates the fact that these were G.o.d"s own special witnesses sent in his name and by his authority, as were the prophets of old. Elijah shut up heaven by prayer; Moses called down the plagues upon Egypt; and these were G.o.d"s attestations that they were his divinely commissioned servants. So these two witnesses had power to shut heaven and to smite the earth with plagues, not literally, but herein is symbolically set forth the fact that they were G.o.d"s appointed agents, even though despised and rejected, like Elijah in the midst of apostate Israel and Moses amid idolatrous Egypt, yet, like them, with the seal of Heaven upon their ministry.
In the beginning of this dispensation these two witnesses were the vicars of Christ in his church upon earth. The word of G.o.d and the Spirit of G.o.d were the Governors of his people. At that time they had perfect freedom of action among the children of G.o.d; but when the apostasy arose, the governing power of the Word and Spirit of G.o.d in the church was gradually usurped by the rising hierarchy, until, finally, men had entire authority in what was called the visible church. This was brought about when, to quote Mosheim"s words, the bishops grasped the power and authority "to prescribe authoritative rules of faith and manners." D"Aubigne explains it thus: "Salvation no longer flowing from the _Word_, which was henceforward put out of sight, the priests affirmed that it was conveyed by means of the forms they had themselves invented, and that no one could attain it except by these channels....
Christ communicated to the apostles, and these to the bishops, the unction of the _Holy Spirit_; and this Spirit is to be procured only in that order of succession.... Faith in the heart no longer connected the members of the church, and they were united by means of bishops, archbishops, popes, mitres, canons and ceremonies." History of the Reformation, Book I, Chap. 1. Thus, the Word and Spirit of G.o.d as the true vicars of Christ in his church were finally expelled from what was looked upon as the one visible church, and with them the true worshipers also were driven out; and nothing remained in the public view except the great company of profane idolaters already referred to. The same is referred to in a subsequent chapter as the flight of the true church into the wilderness, where, hidden from sight, she had a place prepared of G.o.d for twelve hundred and sixty days. So after all, G.o.d had a true church during the Dark Ages--a people that stood in opposition to the abounding corruption and iniquity of the church of Rome; a people that rejected the established hierarchy and gave heed to the Word and Spirit of G.o.d. But their numbers were so few, comparatively, that the operations of the two witnesses were greatly limited; hence they are represented as being clothed in sackcloth, a symbol of melancholy and mourning.
Among those who opposed the teachings of that apostate church were the Cathari, Poor Men of Lyons, Lombards, Albigenses, Waldenses, Vaudois, etc. The name Waldenses and Albigenses have frequently been loosely applied to all the bands of people that pa.s.sed under various t.i.tles in different countries and that opposed the doctrines and ecclesiastical tyranny of Rome. Speaking of the twelfth century, Bowling says: "There existed at that dark period, when "all the world wondered after the beast," a numerous body of the disciples of Christ, who took the New Testament for their guidance and direction in all the affairs of religion, rejecting the doctrines and commandments of men. Their appeal was from the decisions of councils, and the authority of popes, cardinals, and prelates, to the law and the testimony--the words of Christ and his holy apostles." History of Romanism, p. 272. Egbert, a monkish writer of that age, speaking of them, says that he had often disputed with these heretics, "a sort of people," he adds, "who are very pernicious to the Catholic faith, which, like moths, they corrupt and destroy. They are armed," says he, "_with the words of Scripture_ which in any way seem to favor their sentiments, and with these they know how to defend their errors, and to oppose the Catholic truth. They are increased to great mult.i.tudes throughout all countries, to the great danger of the church [of Rome]."
For lack of s.p.a.ce, an extensive history of these interesting people can not be given; but a few references to them by their most inveterate enemies, the Papists themselves, are of such importance that I can not pa.s.s them by unnoticed. The testimony given by Evervinus, a zealous Catholic, in a letter he wrote to the celebrated Bernard, at the beginning of the twelfth century, relative to the doctrine and manners of these so-called _heretics_, is exceedingly valuable. Says he: "There have lately been some heretics discovered among us, near Colonge [sic: Cologne], of whom some have, with satisfaction returned again to the church. One that was a bishop among them, and his companions, openly opposed us, in the a.s.sembly of the clergy and laity, the lord-archbishop himself being present, with many of the n.o.bility, maintaining their heresy from _the words of Christ and his apostles_. But, finding that they made no impression, they desired that a day might be fixed, upon which they might bring along with them men skilful in their faith, promising to return to the church, provided their teachers were unable to answer their opponents; but that otherwise, they would rather die than depart from their judgment.
"Upon this declaration, having been admonished to repent, and three days allowed them for that purpose, they were seized by the people, in their excess of zeal, _and committed to the flames_! and, what is most astonishing, they came to the stake and endured the torment not only with patience, but even with joy. In this case, O holy father, were I present with you, I should be glad to ask you, how these members of Satan could persist in their heresy with such constancy and courage as is rarely to be found among the most religious in the faith of Christ?"
He then proceeds: "Their heresy is this: They say that the church (of Christ) is only among themselves, because they alone follow the ways of Christ, and imitate the apostles, not seeking secular gains.... Whereas they say to us, "Ye join house to house, and field to field, seeking the things of this world."... They represent themselves as the poor of Christ"s flock, who have no certain abode, fleeing from one city to another, like sheep in the midst of wolves, enduring persecution with the apostles and martyrs: though strict in their manner of life--_abstemious, laborious, devoted, and holy_ ... living as men who are not of the world. But you, say they, lovers of the world, have peace with the world, because ye are in it. False apostles, who adulterate the word of G.o.d, seeking their own things, have misled you and your ancestors. Whereas, we and our fathers, having been born and brought up in the apostolic doctrine, have continued in the grace of Christ, and shall continue so to the end.... They affirm that the apostolic dignity is corrupted by indulging itself in secular affairs, while it sits [professedly] in St Peter"s chair. They do not hold with the baptism of infants, alleging that pa.s.sage of the gospel, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." They place no confidence in the intercession of saints and all things observed in the church, which have not been established by Christ himself, or his apostles, they p.r.o.nounce to be superst.i.tious. They do not admit of any purgatory fire after death, contending, that the souls of men, as soon as they depart out of the bodies, do enter into rest or punishment ... by which means they make void all the prayers and oblations of the faithful for the deceased....
I must inform you also, that those of them who have returned to our church, tell us that they had great numbers of their persuasion, scattered almost everywhere.... And as for those who were burnt, they, in defense they made of themselves, told us that this heresy had been _concealed from the time of the martyrs_ [by which is meant the early period of Christianity] and that it had existed in Greece and other countries."
Although Bernard began a strenuous opposition to these people, still he testifies: "If you ask them of their faith, nothing can be more Christian-like; and if you observe their conversation, nothing can be more blameless, and what they speak they make good by their actions....
As to life and manners, he circ.u.mvents no man, overreaches no man, does violence to no man. He fasts much and eats not the bread of idleness; but works with his hands for his support."
Claudius, archbishop of Turin, who joined in hunting and persecuting them to the death, writes, "Their heresy excepted, they generally live a purer life than other Christians." Again, "In their lives they are perfect, irreproachable, and without reproach among men, addicting themselves with all their might to the service of G.o.d."
The sum and substance of their offense is mentioned by Ca.s.sini, a Franciscan friar, where he says, "That ALL THE ERRORS of these Waldenses consisted in this, that they denied the church of Rome to be the holy mother church, and _would not obey her traditions_."
In conclusion I quote from the celebrated Roman Catholic historian Thua.n.u.s. He states their tenets as follows: "That the church of Rome, because it renounced the true faith of Christ, WAS THE Wh.o.r.e OF BABYLON ... that consequently _no obedience was to be paid to the Pope_, or to the bishops who maintain her errors; that a monastic life was the sink and dungeon of the church, the vows of which [relating to celibacy] were vain ... that the orders of the priesthood were marks of the great beast mentioned in the Apocalypse; that the fire of purgatory, the solemn ma.s.s, the consecration days of churches, the worship of saints, and propitiations for the dead, were the devices of Satan." Lib. VI, Sec.
16, Lib. XXVII. The chief offense of these so-called heretics seems to have been that they denounced the Pope as "Antichrist" and the apostate church of Rome as "the Babylonish harlot."
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from G.o.d entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
12. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
At the expiration of the twelve hundred and sixty years the scene changes. The prophecy of the witnesses in their sackcloth state, hidden away from sight in the wilderness, ends, and they are now brought out into public view--but only to be killed. Their slaughter takes place at the hands of the beast. When we come to consider chapter XIII, we shall see that the Papacy is described as a beast reigning for forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty years, after which time another beast possessing great power and authority appears on the scene. This second beast is Protestantism, and through it the murder of the two witnesses at the close of the Papal supremacy in the vision before us was effected.
It would seem, by the similarity of statement that the beast "ascendeth out of the bottomless pit," that the slaughter of the witnesses was effected by the Papal beast (chap. 17:7, 8); but the Mohammedan delusion also is said to have proceeded from "the bottomless pit." Chap. 9:1, 2.
The expression _bottomless pit_ is doubtless used merely to signify the source of certain powers in contradistinction to the heavenly source from which others proceeded. Although the Papal beast is said to have originated in the bottomless pit, the second beast also doubtless proceeded from the same source, for he possessed many of the characteristics of the former, and caused the earth to worship the first beast, as explained in chapter 13. That he was not of heavenly origin is shown by the statement that he came up "out of the earth." Chap. 13:11.
But the direct proof that it was the Protestant beast, and not the Papal beast--although the same expression as to its origin is used concerning it--that slew the two witnesses, is found in the fact that the reign of the first, or Papal, beast was limited to forty two months (chap. 13:5), corresponding to the twelve hundred and sixty years in which the witnesses prophesied in the vision before us; while it was after the _close_ of this period, at the time when the second, or Protestant, beast arose (chap. 13:11), that the witnesses were slain.
To many this may seem a hard saying; but I request that the matter be given the most careful attention in the light of prophecy and divine truth. It is true that the Sixteenth Century Reformation at first brought the witnesses out of the wilderness of seclusion where they had remained during the long night of Romanism and exhibited them to the public view; but when thus placed upon exhibition, they were soon robbed entirely of their position as the Vicars, or Governors, of G.o.d"s church.
Since creed and sect-making first began, the Word and Spirit have not possesed governing power and authority in Protestantism; but men have usurped that place and prescribed authoritative rules of faith and practise for the people. The principles of Higher Criticism have so far pervaded the realm of sectarian theology that a vast number of the clergy no longer regard the Bible as the inspired word of G.o.d to man, but simply as a remarkable piece of religious literature recording the natural development of the religious consciousness among a peculiarly sensitive race of people. Protestantism certainly has placed the Bible on the dissecting table and dismembered it in a manner wholly unknown before. While Protestants will not for a moment allow the blessed Book to be hidden out of sight--put "into graves"--still they will not grant it that place it should occupy as the sole discipline of faith, so it is a dead letter to them. That all-glorious doctrine of Bible _unity_, which fills the whole New Testament, strikes a deathblow to all the carnal divisions and inst.i.tutions of sectarianism; and so with one accord they unite in _fighting it_. "Oh, the good old blessed Bible! we could not do without it," say they; yet, as everybody knows, they are governed by the discipline and laws that they or their representatives have formulated. Thus, the Word and Spirit of G.o.d are brought under the public gaze, only to be treated with such indignity in G.o.d"s sight, and killed; while infidels look on, and tauntingly remark, "Either the religion of to-day is no Christianity, or the Word of G.o.d is a lie."
In the beginning of this dispensation the church of G.o.d not only consisted of all those who were spiritual, but const.i.tuted a visible, organic body as well, made up of numerous local congregations that were separate in the management of their internal affairs, yet interrelated with each other, and were directed by humble pastors, who were, in reference to each other, _equal_. The Word of G.o.d was their only discipline, and the Spirit of G.o.d, their great Teacher and Guide. Thus, the two witnesses were active in their official position, in the public view, as the Vicars or Governors of the church of G.o.d on earth. When, however, men usurped the place of these Vicars by ignoring the Spirit and rejecting the Word and making their own rules of faith, the effect was a national hierarchy--the church of Rome, which for twelve hundred and sixty years stood in the public view. Yet the two witnesses were still alive, though driven into obscurity and "clothed in sackcloth"; for they still acted in their official position in the congregations of the medieval Christians already referred to, who resisted the doctrines of men and clung tenaciously to the simple, primitive form of church government and allowed the Spirit and Word authority supreme.
But during the Protestant era Christians the world over became identified with the various sects, hence were representing to the world the beast power instead of the true church. Thus, during the Protestant period, the church of G.o.d, _in its organic form_, was not represented anywhere on earth; for its members were scattered among those who were "worshiping the beast and his image." Hence the two witnesses, during this era, had no place to operate in their official capacity as the Governors of G.o.d"s church and are therefore represented as slain. The government of Protestant sects is not effected by the Word and Spirit; for the inst.i.tutions themselves are of human origin, and men are their law-makers and governors.
When the two witnesses are deprived of their governing power and the rules and disciplines of men subst.i.tuted in their place, a decline into worldliness is the invariable result. This has been the case repeatedly in sectarianism. In fact, Protestantism, as a component part of that great city Babylon, has so given herself over to "revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries," that a voice from heaven has declared her to be "the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Chap. 18:2.
Witness the shows, festivals, frolics, grab-bag parties, kissing bees, cake-walk lotteries, and other abominations unnumbered, that are carried on without shame, under the guise of religion, in the high places of this modern Babylon! If the Word of G.o.d with the full power and authority of his Spirit could be turned in upon them, it would be like the torment of fire; but no, it is dead to them, and they rejoice and make merry and continue in "the same excess of riot."
In the description before us, this city of sectarianism in which the two witnesses are slain is "spiritually [or mystically] called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." It is a mystical Sodom, Egypt and Jerusalem--a Sodom for wickedness and lewdness, an Egypt for the captivity and oppression of G.o.d"s people, and a Jerusalem for the crucifying of the Son of G.o.d afresh and putting him to an open shame.