The Revelation of Jesus Christ - The Herald

"The extent and the character of Papal dominion during the Dark Ages is in our days, little
realized. . . . The world can smile now at the puerility of the proud and preposterous
pretensions, of the poor old man who occupies the chair of St. Peter in his Vatican prison
in Rome. It listens to his loud claim to infallibility with a laugh of contempt. . . . But of yore
it was quite another thing. Every utterance of the tiara-crowned monarch was heard with
awe, every command was implicitly obeyed. Men trembled under his curse, and gloried in
his benediction, as if they had been those of Deity. . . . Already in the eighth century,
Gregory II boasted to the Greek Emperor, 'all the kings of the West reverence the Pope as a
God on earth,' and facts fully justify the assertion. Pepin, for example, when aspiring to the
crown of France, prayed the Pope to authorize his usurpation; and as soon as he had done
so, the Franks, and indeed the whole Western World, recognized his title. Even the great
Emperor Charlemagne, was willing to receive from the Roman Pontiff his crown and
dominion. 'The Lord John, apostolic and universal Pope,' says the council of Pavia, 'hath at
Rome elected, and anointed with the holy oil, Charlemagne, as emperor.' The western
kings of Europe accepted the position of subserviency to the Sovereign Pontiff, by
admitting into their coronation oaths a promise, 'to be faithful and submissive to the
Popes, and the Roman Church.' . . . 'Under the sacerdotal monarchy of St. Peter,' says
Gibbon, 'the nations began to resume the practice of seeking on the banks of the Tiber,
their kings, their laws, and the oracles of their fate.' . . . If kings and emperors bowed thus
before the Pope, it will easily be believed that the reverence of the common people for his
person and office, and their submission to his arrogant and blasphemous pretensions, was
complete."
It needs no comment concerning who are represented by the excepted ones--those whose
names have been written from the foundation of the world in the scroll of the life of that
Lamb who was killed. (Diaglott.) They are seen in the visions of the Revelation under
various symbols and are always recognized as the true and faithful followers of Christ,
who, although they may be deceived for a time, preserve their loyalty to their one Head
under all circumstances.
"If any man have an ear, let him hear."--Ver. 9.
"This expression occurs at the close of each of the epistles addressed to the seven
Churches, and is substantially a mode of address often employed by the Savior, in His
personal ministry, and quite characteristic of Him. . . . The idea here is that what is said
respecting the 'beast' was worthy of special attention, as it pertained to most important
events in the history of the Church."
"He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity; he that killeth with the sword must
be killed with the sword. Here is the patient endurance and the faith of the saints."--Ver.
10.
These words as applied to the saints seem to refer to a general principle of God's dealings
in His providence. The Savior said, "all they that take the sword shall perish with the
sword." The thought seems to be that the Lord's true people would be strongly tempted to