April 14, 1999

During the course of the Protestant Reformation there were many circumstances which prevented Satan, through the Papacy, from destroying it in it's infancy. The Reformation was especially vulnerable in those early years.

The major factor which assisted in the ultimate success of the Protestant Reformation was the constant agitation of the Roman Catholic empire by the Muslim world.

"....Again and again the immediate destruction of all who dared to oppose themselves to Rome appeared inevitable; but at the critical moment the armies of the Turk appeared on the eastern frontier, or the king of France,....and thus, amid the strife and tumult of nations, the Reformation had been left to strengthen and extend." The Great Controversy, pg. 197.

This agitation continued for approximately two centuries until the Protestant Reformation became strong enough that it could not be destroyed from without.

It was during the early development of the Protestant Reformation that an organization called the Jesuit Order was formed. This order has historically been dedicated to the destruction of the Protestant Reformation and all others who oppose the move of the Roman Catholic Church for total control of the world. It was this order which instituted the Office of the Inquisition.

Does history repeat itself? Is there a reason why the Muslim people are being targeted for violence and possible annihilation?

If you had tried to take over the world (the Old World Order) and a certain religious group had been greatly instrumental in your not achieving your goal, and if you were now ready to take over the world again (the New World Order), would you want to put first things first this time?

It is the belief of some, that when we see the Muslim world brought to its knees or at least into a cooperative state of mind to the Beast of Revelation 13 (the Roman Catholic Church), or it's image (the United States of America), the closing events from that point on will indeed be rapid ones.

Does history repeat itself? The Roman Catholic Church of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries tried to take over the world with force and violence. When they failed with force and violence to destroy the reformation, they resorted to using subterfuge and deception. Could it be that as they attempt to implement their goal of taking control of the world at this time that they will use subterfuge and deception, as well as violence, at the same time to complete their task?

"The Roman Catholic Church, uniting the forms of paganism and Christianity, and, like paganism, misrepresenting the character of God, has resorted to practices no less cruel and revolting. In the days of Rome's supremacy there were instruments of torture to compel assent to her doctrines. There was the stake for those who would not concede to her claims. There were massacres on a scale that will never be known until revealed in the judgment. Dignitaries of the church studied, under Satan their master, to invent means to cause the greatest possible torture and not end the life of the victim. In many cases the infernal process was repeated to the utmost limit of human endurance, until nature gave up the struggle, and the sufferer hailed death as a sweet release." The Great Controversy, pg: 569.

"And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome that she never changes. The principles of Gregory VII and Innocent III are still the principles of the Roman Catholic Church. And had she but the power, she would put them in practice with as much vigor now as in past centuries. Protestants little know what they are doing when they propose to accept the aid of Rome in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent upon the accomplishment of their purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power, to recover her lost supremacy. Let the principle once be established in the United States that the church may employ or control the power of the state; that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in short, that the authority of church and state is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured." The Great Controversy, pg: 581.

NOTE:

The Crusades (between 1096 and 1254) were also part of the same ongoing attempt of the Roman Catholic church to rule the world by destroying the Muslim people.

What follows is a tribute to the people to whom we as Protestants, in a large degree, owe our present religious freedom, the Muslims.

All dates and references were taken from one of the following sources.

The Encyclopedia of World Facts and Dates, Harper Collins Publisher

Pictorial History of the World, by the Editors of YEAR.

An Encyclopedia of World History, Houghton Mifflin Company Boston (The Riverside Press Cambridge).

The Timetables of History of People and Events, A Touchtone Book, Simon & Schuster, New York.

1521-1526 Charles V, having ascended to the throne of Germany was a stanch ally to the Roman Catholic Church and an enemy against Luther and the reformation.

Because of the war against Francis I of France, and the frequent attacks by the Turks, the speed of the Reformation was favored by the fact that Charles V could not give his full attention to suppressing it.

1526-1532 (War with the Turks) Enters another savior of the fledgling Protestant reformation, the Turks.

1527-1529 The second war between Charles V and Francis I began.

1529 Suleiman I attacks and lay siege to Vienna. Charles V attention is once again diverted from the suppressing of the Reformation.

1529 Second Diet at Speyer- The strict execution of the Decree of Worms was resolved. (Luther was to be excommunicated, his writings were to be consigned to the flames and those who sympathize with his position would receive the same fate).

1530 The pressure was increasing upon the Papacy to suppress the Reformation. It was under these circumstances that Pope Clement VII crowned Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor.

1532 Suleiman The Magnificent, the Ottoman sultan, invades Hungary in support of John I [John Zapolya], and marched toward Vienna, while his fleet, led by Barbarossa II and supported by Francis I, king of France, raided the Italian and Spanish coast. Already alarmed by the Ottoman siege of Vienna, Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor, and the Protestant Schmalkaldic League agreed to a truce by the Peace of Nuremberg.

1535 Charles V, Holy Roman emperor, with a fleet led by Andrea Doria, a Genoese admiral, took Tunis form the Turkish pirate Barbarossa II.

1538 The Venetian-Spanish fleet, commanded by Andrea Doria, a Genoese admiral, was defeated off Preveza, Greece, by the Ottoman fleet, under Barbarossa II.

1547 The Schmalkaldic League, organized in 1531 to protect independent Protestant states, was defeated at Muhlberg by the Catholic forces of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.

1551 Sinan Pasha, a Turkish admiral, attacked but failed to captured Malta but did capture Tripoli, in present Libya, from the Knights Hospitallers.

1555 At Brussels Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, announced his resignation and retired to a Spanish monastery where he died in 1558.

1558 Ferdinand I assumes the title of Holy Roman Emperor.

1556-1564 Ferdinand I, husband of Anna, sister to Louis II, King of Bohemia and Hungary, after whose death he was elected king of these countries by their estates. Constant warfare over the latter country, which he was obliged to abandon, in great part, to the Turks.

1560 Turkish galleys rout Spanish fleet under the Duke of Medina off Tripoli.

1564-1576 Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, succeeded by his son Maximilian II. War with Zapolya, Prince of Transylvania, and the Turks.

1565 Knights of St. John, under Jean de La Valette, defend Malta from the Turks; with the arrival of Spanish troops the Turks are obliged to abandon the siege.

1566 Turko-Hungarian wars renewed in spite of truce of 1562.

1568 Peace between Selim II and Maximilain II.

1570 Turks sack Nicosia, Cyprus. Turks declare war on Venice.

1573 Peace of Constantinople ends war between Turks and Venice.

1574 Spain loses Tunis to Turks.

The list of dates and events goes on for nearly another hundred years. The point has been made. The time for faithful service is now. Now, while there is still time.

As you consider your personal position in the climactic event about to take place in the history of this world, please consider the following point.

When in the history of the plan of salvation, where spiritual matters are concerned, has the majority ever been right? As these climactic events present themselves to you, it is a safe assumption that as you view the opposing positions, the minority position would be the side which the Creator would want you to choose.