Source Book for Bible Students

“L” Entries

Laodicea, Council of.—See Sabbath, Change of, 471. SBBS 280.2

Law, Ceremonial, Lesson of Levitical System.—It represented strikingly the infinite holiness of God, and the necessity of purity in all who would come into his presence or enjoy his favor. It pointed to the Great Provision, which God intended to reveal in its proper time, for the taking away of sin, and directed the eye of faith and hope to the perfect salvation that was to come. By signs it foretold the sufferings and death of Christ, and the whole work of redemption which he was to accomplish.—“Biblical Antiquities,” John W. Nevin, Vol. II, pp. 16, 17. Utica, N. Y.: Western Sunday School Union, 1828. SBBS 280.3

Law, Ceremonial, Witness That a Higher Law was Broken.—The ceermonial law taught of the holiness of God and of a coming Saviour, and was designed to provide for restored obedience to the moral law.—“The Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer,” Ferdinand S. Schenck, p. 11. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1902. SBBS 280.4

Law, Ceremonial, Abrogated at the Cross.—God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it; and endued him with power and ability to keep it. SBBS 280.5

This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mt. Sinai in ten commandments, and written in two tables; the four first commandments containing our duty towards God; and the other six, our duty to man. SBBS 280.6

Beside this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the New Testament.—“The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, as ratified by the General Assemblies of 1836 and 1833,” chap. 19, pars. 1-3, pp. 88-90. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Publication Committee. SBBS 280.7

Law, Ceremonial, Ended with the Death of Christ.—The moral law revealed the disease for which he [Christ] brought the remedy. Its precepts were designed to convince of sin. On the other hand, the ceremonial law was suited to typify the remedy for sin. It contained a shadow of the “good things” of the gospel. It pictured the way of salvation. SBBS 280.8

What the ceremonial law obscurely typified, the prophets more plainly predicted. Both pointed to the coming Messiah. The daily sacrifices of the one, and the successive utterances of the other, pointed to “the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world,“ SBBS 280.9

The fulfilment of the moral law, the ceremonial law, and the prophets, in the character and work of Christ, is a threefold cord of evidence which cannot be broken. He, and he alone, perfectly fulfilled the precepts of the moral law. He, and he alone, fulfilled the types of the ceremonial law. He, and he alone, fulfilled the predictions of the prophets. By his fulfilment of the moral law he became a law. He translated its written precepts into living deeds. With his death the ceremonial system came to an end.—“Creation Centred in Christ,” H. Grattan Guinness, D. D., pp. 31, 32. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1896. SBBS 281.1

Law of God, One Perfect Code.—In the Epistle of James is found a word of deep significance. “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is become guilty of all” (2:10).... Herein lies the explanation of the apparent severity of James’s utterance. Men are apt to think that if there be ten commandments, of which they obey nine, such obedience will be put to their credit, even though they break the tenth.—“The Ten Commandments,” Rev. G. Campbell Morgan, p. 11. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1901. SBBS 281.2

These ten commandments are not ten different laws; they are one law. If I am being held up in the air by a chain with ten links, and I break one of them, down I come, just as surely as if I break the whole ten. If I am forbidden to go out of an inclosure, it makes no difference at what point I break through the fence. “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” “The golden chain of obedience is broken if one link is missing.”-“Weighed and Wanting,” Dwight L. Moody, p. 119. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1898. SBBS 281.3

Law of God, The End of All Perfection.—Now men may cavil as much as they like about other parts of the Bible, but I have never met an honest man that found fault with the ten commandments. Infidels may mock the Lawgiver and reject Him who has delivered us from the curse of the law, but they can’t help admitting that the commandments are right. Renan said that they are for all nations, and will remain the commandments of God during all the centuries. SBBS 281.4

If God created this world, he must make some laws to govern it. In order to make life safe, we must have good laws; there is not a country the sun shines upon that does not possess laws. Now this is God’s law. It has come from on high, and infidels and skeptics have to admit that it is pure.—Id., p. 11. SBBS 281.5

Law of God, Reveals the Glory of God.—A great philosopher has said that the mind must be filled with awe when one contemplates either the universe or the moral law. The psalmist saw the glory of God alike in the heavens and in the law. Given in the early dawn of civilization, this law of the ten commandments has not been left behind in the advance of the race, but still stands far ahead, beckoning on the centuries. Its perfection is a sufficient evidence of its divine origin. Each commandment is an authoritative statement of a fundamental principle of human nature.—“The Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer,” Ferdinand S. Schenck, Preface to new edition, par. 1. New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1902. SBBS 281.6

Law of God, The Rule of Love.—If you love God with all your heart, you must keep the first table; and if you love your neighbor as yourself, you must keep the second table.—“The Perpetuity of the Law,” C. H. Spurgeon, p. 5.* SBBS 281.7

Law of God, “By the Law is the Knowledge of Sin.”—Thus it appears that man cannot have a true notion of sin, but by means of the law of God.... And let it be observed that the law did not answer this end merely among the Jews, in the days of the apostle; it is just as necesary to the Gentiles, to the present hour. Nor do we find that true repentance takes place where the moral law is not preached and enforced. Those who preach only the gospel to sinners, at best, only heal the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly. The law, therefore, is the grand instrument in the hands of a faithful minister, to alarm and awaken sinners: and he may safely show that every sinner is under the law, and consequently under the curse, who has not fled for refuge to the hope held out by the gospel: for in this sense also Jesus Christ is the end of the law for justification to them that believe.—Adam Clarke’s Commentary, on Romans 7:13, Vol. IV, p. 82. New York: Waugh and Mason, 1833. SBBS 282.1

Law of God, Only the Obedient by Faith Free.—There is a sense in which Christians are not “free from the law.” It is only when grace enables men to keep the law, that they are free from it; just as a moral man who lives according to the laws of the country is free from arrest. God has not set aside law, but he has found a way by which man can fulfil law, and so be free from it.—“The Ten Commandments,” Rev. G. Campbell Morgan, p. 23. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1901. SBBS 282.2

Law of God, Bishop Simpson’s Word to Preachers.—The law of God, in its great and solemn injunctions, should be distinctly set forth. Our congregations should be gathered as around the base of Mt. Sinai, while from its summit is heard the voice of God in those commandments which are unalterable and eternal in their character.... SBBS 282.3

Some will object to the sternness of the law, and say, “Prophesy smooth things;” but still the law must be preached. It brings the sinner to a recognition of his sins; in having transgressed God’s holy law, and shown him the fearfulness of the doom which is impending over him. The law must be followed by the gospel; the awakened sinner must be pointed to the Saviour, that he may see that, deep as are the stains of his transgressions, the blood of Christ can wash them all away.—“Lectures on Preaching,” Matthew Simpson (Bishop M. E. Church), Lecture 4, p. 128. New York: Eaton and Mains, 1906. SBBS 282.4

Law of God, Moody on the Ministeb’s Duty.—The people must be made to understand that the ten commandments are still binding, and that there is a penalty attached to their violation.—“Weighed and Wanting,” Dwight L. Moody, p: 16. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1898. SBBS 282.5

Law of God, When the Pulpit Ignores It.—There are many preachers who love to dwell on the gospel alone. They talk sweetly and beautifully of the fatherhood of God. This is well. It is more than well, it is essential. But sometimes they go beyond this, and declaim against the preaching of the law,-intimate that it belongs to a past age. a less civilized society.... SBBS 282.6

Such a gospel may rear a beautiful structure; but its foundation is on the sand. No true edifice can be raised without its foundations being dug deep by repentance toward God, and then shall the rock be reached, and the building shall be through faith in Jesus Christ. The law without the gospel is dark and hopeless; the gospel without the law is inefficient and powerless.—“Lectures on Preaching,” Rev. Matthew Simpson, Lecture 4, p. 129. New York: Eaton & Mains, 1906. SBBS 282.7

Law of God, Exalted by Christ’s Death.—Through the atonement of Christ more honor is done to the law, and consequently the law is more established, than if the law had been literally executed, and all mankind had been condemned. Whatever tends most to the honor of the law, tends most to establish its authority.—“The Works of Jonathan Edwards,” (2 vols.) Vol. II, p. 369. Andover: Allen, Morrill, and Wardwell, 1842. SBBS 283.1

Law of God, Universal, Magnified by Christ.—The commandments of God given to Moses in the mount at Horeb are as binding today as ever they have been since the time when they were proclaimed in the hearing of the people. The Jews said the law was not given in Palestine (which belonged to Israel), but in the wilderness, because the law was for all nations. SBBS 283.2

Jesus never condemned the law and the prophets, but he did condemn those who did not obey them. Because he gave new commandments, it does not follow that he abolished the old. Christ’s explanation of them made them all the more searching. In his Sermon on the Mount he carried the principles of the commandments beyond the mere letter. He unfolded them and showed that they embraced more, that they are positive as well as prohibitive.—“Weighed and Wanting,” Dwight L. Moody, p. 15. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1898. SBBS 283.3

Law of God, Enforced in the Sermon on the Mount.—We learn hence: 1. That all the law of God is binding on Christians. Compare James 2:10. 2. That all the commands of God should be preached, in their proper place, by Christian ministers. 3. That they who pretend that there are any laws of God so small that they need not obey them, are unworthy of his kingdom. And 4. That true piety has respect to all the commandments of God. Compare Psalm 119:6.—“Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels,” Albert Barnes (revised edition), note on Matthew 5:19. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1868. SBBS 283.4

Law of God, John Wesley on Christ’s “Sermon on the Mount.”—In the highest rank of the enemies of the gospel of Christ, are they who, openly and explicitly, “judge the law,” itself, and “speak evil of the law;” who teach men to break (lusai, to dissolve, to loose, to untie the obligation of) not one only, whether of the least or of the greatest, but all the commandments at a stroke; who teach, without any cover, in so many words, “What did our Lord do with the law? He abolished it. There is but one duty, which is that of believing....” This is indeed carrying matters with a high hand; this is withstanding our Lord to the face, and telling him that he understood not how to deliver the message on which he was sent. O Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do! [p. 226] SBBS 283.5

The most surprising of all the circumstances that attend this strong delusion is, that they who are given up to it really believe that they honor Christ by overthrowing his law, and that they are magnifying his office while they are destroying his doctrine! Yea, they honor him just as Judas did, when he said, “Hail, Master, and kissed him.” And he may as justly say to every one of them, “Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” It is no other than betraying him with a kiss to talk of his blood and take away his crown; to set light by any part of his law, under pretense of advancing his gospel. Nor indeed can any one escape this charge who preaches faith in any such a manner as either directly or indirectly tends to set aside any branch of obedience; who preaches Christ so as to disannul, or weaken in any wise, the least of the commandments of God.—“Works of Wesley,” Sermon XXV, (7 vol. ed.) Vol. I, pp. 225, 226. New York: Waugh and Mason, 1833. SBBS 283.6

Law of God, Cannot be Abrogated.—While God remains God, his moral law will be binding upon all who would have any part in his life. God’s moral law is eternal; it is an expression of his very being. As such it can no more be abrogated than can God himself.—Editorial in Sunday School Times, Jan. 3. 1914.* SBBS 284.1

Law of God, John Calvin on Its Perpetuity.—We must not imagine that the coming of Christ has freed us from the authority of the law; for it is the eternal rule of a devout and holy life, and must, therefore, be as unchangeable as the justice of God, which it embraced, is constant and uniform.—Calvin’s Comment on Matthew 5:17 and Luke 16:17, in “Commentary on a Harmony of the Gospels,” Vol. I, p. 277. Printed in Edinburgh, 1845, for the Calvin Translation Society. SBBS 284.2

Law of God, Doctrine of Methodist “Discipline.”—Although the law given from God by Moses as touching ceremonies and rites, doth not bind Christians, nor ought the civil precepts thereof of necessity [to] be receiyed in any commonwealth; yet, notwithstanding, no Christian whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral.—“Methodist Episcopal Church Doctrines and Discipline,” edited by Bishop Andrews, p. 23. New York: Eaton & Mains, 1904. SBBS 284.3

Law of God, The Moral and the Ceremonial Code.—Ceremonial law is that which prescribes the rites of worship used under the Old Testament. These rites were typical of Christ, and were obligatory only till Christ had finished his work, and began to erect his gospel church. Hebrews 7:9, 11; 10:1; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 2:14; Galatians 5:2, 3.... SBBS 284.4

Moral law is that declaration of God’s will which directs and binds all men, in every age and place, to their whole duty to him. It was most solemnly proclaimed by God himself at Sinai.... It is denominated perfect (Psalm 19:7), perpetual (Matthew 5:17, 18), holy (Romans 7:12), good (Romans 7:12), spiritual (Romans 7:14), exceeding broad (Psalm 119:96).—A Theological Dictionary, Rev. Charles Buck, art. “Law,” p. 230, corrected edition. Philadelphia: Crissy and Markley, 1851. SBBS 284.5

Law of God, How the Moral Code Differed from the Ceremonial in Nature.—One was founded on obligations growing out of the nature of men, and their relations to God and one another; obligations binding before they were written, and which will continue to be binding upon all who shall know them, to the end of time. Such are the laws which were written by the finger of God on the tables of stone, and are called moral laws. SBBS 284.6

The other kind, called ceremonial laws, related to various outward observances, which were not obligatory till they were commanded, and then were binding only on the Jews till the death of Christ.—“The Sabbath Manual,” Justin Edwards, p. 133. New York: American Tract Society. SBBS 284.7

Law of God, Not Part of Ritual System.—The commandments did not originate with Moses, nor were they done away with when the Mosaic law was fulfilled in Christ, and many of its ceremonies and regulations abolished.—“Weighed and Wanting,” Dwight L. Moody, p. 14. Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1898. SBBS 284.8

Law of God, Wesley on Difference Between Moral and Ceremonial Laws.—The ritual or ceremonial law, delivered by Moses to the children of Israel, containing all the injunctions and ordinances which related to the old sacrifices and service of the temple, our Lord indeed did come to destroy, to dissolve, and utterly abolish. To this bear all the apostles witness.... This “handwriting of ordinances” our Lord did blot out, take away, and nail to his cross. [Colossians 2:14.] SBBS 285.1

But the moral law contained in the ten commandments, and enforced by the prophets, he did not take away. It was not the design of his coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken, which “stands fast as the faithful witness in heaven.” The moral stands on an entirely different foundation from the ceremonial or ritual law.... Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and in all ages; as not depending either on time, or place, or any other circumstance liable to change; but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other.—“Sermons on Several Occasions,” John Wesley, Sermon XXV, “On the Sermon on the Mount,” (2 vol. ed.) Vol. I, pp. 221, 222. New York: Waugh & Mason, 1836. SBBS 285.2

Leo I.—See Papacy, Builders of, 344-347. SBBS 285.3

Leo XIII.—See Pope, 377. SBBS 285.4

Libraries, Semitic, at Babylon.—See Babylon, 49. SBBS 285.5

Lisbon Earthquake.—See Earthquakes, 145, 146. SBBS 285.6

Little Horn, Geographical Location of.—Antichrist, then (as the Fathers delight to call him), or the little horn, is to be sought among the ten kingdoms of the western Roman Empire. I say of the western Roman Empire, because that was properly the body of the fourth beast; Greece, and the countries which lay eastward of Italy, belonged to the third beast; for the former beasts were still subsisting, though their dominion was taken away. “As concerning the rest of the beasts,” saith Daniel, “they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.” Daniel 7:12. “And therefore,” as Sir Isaac Newton rightly infers, “all the four beasts are still alive, though the dominion of the three first be taken away. The nations of Chaldea and Assyria are still the first beast. Those of Media and Persia are still the second beast. Those of Macedon, Greece, and Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt, are still the third. And those of Europe, on this side Greece, are still the fourth. Seeing therefore the body of the third beast is confined to the nations on this side the river Euphrates, and the body of the fourth beast is confined to the nations on this side Greece; we are to look for all the four heads of the third beast among the nations on this side the river Euphrates; and for all the eleven horns of the fourth beast, among the nations on this side of Greece.—“Dissertations on the Prophecies,” Thomas Newton, D. D., pp. 239, 240. London: B. Blake, 1840. SBBS 285.7

Little Horn, Identification of, with the Papacy.—The main points in the nature, character, and actings of this “little horn,” which we must note in order to discover the power intended, are these: SBBS 285.8

1. Its place: within the body of the fourth empire. SBBS 285.9

2. The period of its origin: soon after the division of the Roman territory into ten kingdoms. SBBS 285.10

3. Its nature: different from the other kingdoms, though in some respects like them. It was a horn, but with eyes and mouth. It would be a kingdom like the rest, a monarchy; but its kings would be overseers or bishops and prophets. SBBS 286.1

4. Its moral character: boastful and blasphemous; great words spoken against the Most High. SBBS 286.2

5. Its lawlessness: it would claim authority over times and laws. SBBS 286.3

6. Its opposition to the saints: it would be a persecuting power, and that for so long a period that it would wear out the saints of the Most High, who would be given into its hand for a time. SBBS 286.4

7. Its duration: “time, times, and a half,” or 1,260 years. SBBS 286.5

8. Its doom: it would suffer the loss of its dominion before it was itself destroyed. “They shall take away its dominion, to consume and destroy it to the end.” SBBS 286.6

Here are eight distinct and perfectly tangible features. If they all meet in one great reality, if we find them all characterizing one and the same power, can we question that that is the power intended? They do all meet in the Roman Papacy, ... and we are therefore bold to say it is the great and evil reality predicted.—“Romanism and the Reformation,” H. Grattan Guinness, D. D., F. R. A. S., p. 26. London: J. Nisbet & Co., 1891. SBBS 286.7

Let me inquire, can any one suggest any other power in which all these marks, or the majority of them, meet? They are eight in number, and definite in character. The prophecy lays its finger on the place where we are to find the great enemy-Rome; on the point of time in the course of history at which we may expect to see him arise-the division of the Roman territory into a commonwealth of kingdoms; it specifies the nature of the power-politico-ecclesiastical; its character-blasphemously self-exalting, lawless, and persecuting; it measures its duration-1,260 years; and specifies its doom-to have its dominion gradually consumed and taken away, and then to be suddenly destroyed forever, because of its blasphemous assumptions, by the epiphany in glory of the Son of man, introducing the kingdom of God on earth. SBBS 286.8

The proof that the Papacy is the power intended is strictly cumulative. If it answered to one of these indications, there would be a slight presumption against it; if to several, a strong one; if to the majority, an overwhelming one; while if it answer to all, then the proof that it is the power intended becomes to candid minds irresistible. There is not a single clause in the prophecy that cannot be proved to fit the Roman Papacy exactly, except the last, which is not yet fulfilled.—Id., pp. 42, 43. SBBS 286.9

Little Horn, Fourteen Marks of.—Popery is here found [in the seventh chapter of Daniel] completely described by thirteen or fourteen marks. I will try to make you understand how, at each of these marks, we are forced to exclaim, not only, “This is indeed the Pope!” but, “There is nothing under the sun, nor in the history of all ages, to which these divine descriptions can be applied, unless to the Pope! It can be nothing else than the Pope!” SBBS 286.10

First Mark.-The nature itself of the power prefigured by the little horn. Plainly, according to the prophecy, this must be a priest-king. It is a king; for it is written: The little horn came up among the other ten; and another king shall arise after the ten. It is a priest-king; for it is written that it shall be diverse from the other kings; and all that follows is designed to tell us in what it shall be diverse, and to show it to us at once in a political and a religious character.... Where will you find, in the whole history of the world, unless in popery, a priest-king who has pretended to change times and laws, who has reigned with power, and who has made war upon the saints? SBBS 286.11

Second Mark.-You have here, too, the geography of this power. Where must we seek for the little horn? Where is its “Holy See”? Where its lands, its patrimony, the “domain of the church”? Where must we place the theater of its baleful operations? SBBS 287.1

No point is clearer in this prophecy. The prophecy is given on purpose to point you to the Roman monarchy; to locate this Holy See in Rome; these lands of the church in Italy; and this theater of a wicked power in the vast empire of the ten Latin kingdoms.... SBBS 287.2

Third Mark.-The origin of this power, and the nature of its growth. How did it come into the world?-Slowly, little by little, by constant increase, as the horn grows on the head of a bullock.... And now inquire of all historians if this is not an exact description of the origin of the papal tyranny.... SBBS 287.3

Fourth Mark.-The chronology of this apostasy; by which I mean to say the time of its commencement and of its end. When ought it to commence, according to Daniel? This is a striking mark. According to the vision it is immediately after the division of the Latin Empire into its ten Gothic kingdoms; that is to say, toward the sixth or seventh century; and, according to the same vision, this divided state must continue till the coming of Christ. Now I ask if it is possible to find anywhere but in the Papacy the least solution to so clear and distinct a problem.... SBBS 287.4

Fifth Mark.-The territorial acquisitions of this power. Here is something marvelous. Three of the first horns, says Daniel (verse 8), were plucked up before the little horn; and these horns John represents to us as each wearing a crown. Take now a map of Italy; look for the Pope’s domains, and nnd how many of the ten kingdoms the pontifical territory now occupies. You will see that it has supplanted three.... SBBS 287.5

Sixth Mark.-The extraordinary sagacity, consummate skill, incomparable policy, constant vigilance of this power.... What has given Rome her power for twelve hundred years is the superhuman sagacity, that perpetual policy, of which the eye is emblematical.... SBBS 287.6

Seventh Mark.-Its deceivableness, its falsehoods and lying wonders. This is a striking mark, and without a parallel in history.... To this head we must refer the false legends, false books, false relics, the wonder-working medals, false cures, and more especially the false decretals.... SBBS 287.7

Eighth Mark.-Its more than royal pomp. Daniel tells us (verse 20) that although this horn was “the least,” his “look was more stout than his fellows.” The pomps of Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis XIV, and Bonaparte were very great; but were they comparable to that of the Roman Pontiff? The greatest kings were obliged to hold his stirrup, to serve him at table,-what do I say?-to prostrate themselves before him, and to kiss his feet; he was even seen to put upon their necks his arrogant foot! ... SBBS 287.8

Ninth Mark.-Its language, its great, swelling words. The little horn had “a mouth” (says Daniel), and this mouth spake very great things.... Let the most superficial scholar in history, in one of our schools, be asked to search, in the whole course of the nine hundred years of the Dark Ages and the four hundred years of modern history, for the power which has unceasingly filled the world with the noise of his great, swelling words,-words of threatening, words of pride, words of command, words of cursing, and also words of fire, sending the nations obedient to him on remote expeditions and exterminating wars. Is there a schoolboy who would not at once reply, It is the Pope; it can only be the Pope? In this respect, then, the Pope is without his like in history.... SBBS 287.9

Tenth Mark.-The duration of this language. According to Daniel, it must last till the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven; and you see, gentlemen, it lasts still! Who could have believed beforehand that in Europe, after so much civilization, after the blessed Reformation, after twelve hundred years of scandals, a priest-king in Rome could continue with impunity such language among the nations? God is great! SBBS 288.1

Eleventh Mark.-Its blasphemies. Daniel says (verse 25) he shall utter blasphemies against the Most High; but where is there anything more blasphemous than the pretensions of the Roman Pontiff? To call himself “the Holy Father,” the name which Jesus gives to his Father; “the Most Holy Father;” “the church’s Spouse;” “the Head of the universal church,” the incommunicable name of the only Son of God; to call himself “His Holiness;” to declare himself infallible; to dare to put his decrees above even the word of his God; to pretend to release men from the commands of their Creator; to maintain that he alone creates priests, who alone, in their turn, create their God in a bit of bread, by four Latin words, that he may be eaten by the people; to pardon sins committed against the Lord of lords; to open to men at his pleasure the gates of heaven,-are these blasphemies enough on the part of a worm of the dust? Was there ever under heaven any power which, in this respect, is comparable to the Pope? ... SBBS 288.2

Twelfth Mark.-His homicidal hatred and his persecutions of true Christians. Daniel tells us (verse 21): “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;” and he adds (verse 25), He “shall wear out the saints of the Most High.” Alas! here the voice of history responds loudly to that of prophecy. All its pages, even to that of the last century, when it speaks of the popes, show them to you as persecuting men who would live according to the word of God, and putting them to death like sheep for the slaughter.... SBBS 288.3

Thirteenth Mark.-His audacious heresies. This perhaps is the most striking mark of all; and one in which the Roman Pontiff has never had his equal. Daniel says of the little horn, that the king diverse from the other ten shall “think to change times and laws.” This denotes the unparalleled attempt which the Pope has made upon the law of his God. He pretended to change it in its sovereignty, in its sanction, in its use, in its contents, in its morals, and in its doctrine.... SBBS 288.4

Fourteenth and Last Mark.-The exact duration of his persecutions against the people of God. Daniel and John declare several times that it shall be until “a time and times and the dividing of time,” or twelve hundred and sixty prophetic days, which are taken, with strong reason, for so many years. Who would have believed beforehand that a priest-king so violent, so proud, so cruel, so blasphemous, so contrary to the Scriptures and so well described by them, so outrageous against nations and kings, would last twelve years? But the Holy Spirit tells us that it shall last twelve hundred and sixty! and this was so! ... SBBS 288.5

Lastly, gentlemen, the same prophecies have also foretold its judgment and its overthrow. I do not mean to go into this subject; but I love to call it to your minds in conclusion, for your encouragement. Read the words of Daniel: “The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” SBBS 288.6

Gentlemen, this sketch of the seventh chapter of Daniel will suffice, I trust, to let you see with what abundant evidence the Scriptures establish the doctrine which I desired to bring before you.—Extracts from a lecture by L. Gaussen, D. D., Professor of Theology, delivered in the School of Theology at Geneva at the opening of the school year, Oct. 3, 1843. SBBS 289.1

Little Horn, Historical Evidence Concerning.—Let us now, finally, review the historical evidence, and compare it with those features of the little horn which the prophecy unfolds: SBBS 289.2

And first, the little horn was to arise on the body of the fourth beast, in contrast with the first, second, or third. The Papacy has had its permanent seat among the western kingdoms of Europe, and within that territory which belongs exclusively to the fourth or Roman Empire. SBBS 289.3

The little horn appears in the vision, when the separation of the fourth empire has begun, and next in order after the mention of those ten kingdoms or horns which were to obtain the chief power in the broken monarchy. The rise of the Papacy, in like manner, followed close upon the fall of the Western Empire and the rise of the barbarian kingdoms. SBBS 289.4

The dominion of the little horn, in the prophecy, is the one main event which marks the history of the fourth empire, after its division. By the confession of all the best historians, the rise, the supremacy, and the decline of the Papacy, is the one center around which we have to arrange, for twelve centuries, the history of the European kingdoms. SBBS 289.5

To prepare the way of the little horn, three of the horns before it are uprooted. After the fall of the empire, exactly three dynasties, and no more, were uprooted to make way for the temporal sovereignty of the Bishop of Rome. SBBS 289.6

The eleventh horn, though vast in its claims and pretensions, was to be small in size. The popedom has in like manner, in its outward form, been always one of the least among the European kingdoms; while its sovereigns have claimed and exercised a supreme dominion over the whole. SBBS 289.7

The little horn is diverse from all the rest; for it has eyes like those of a man, and an articulate voice. The Papacy by its own laws claims “a princedom more perfect than every human princedom,” and surpassing them as far as the light of the sun exceeds the light of the moon. It claims the office of a seer, who has full insight into divine mysteries; and of a prophet, an infallible interpreter of the divine will. All its decisions “are to be so received, as if they were confirmed by the voice of the divine Peter himself.” Its decrees are given, “auctoritate, scientiâ, ac plenitudine,” with the fulness of divine knowledge, and the fulness also of apostolic power. SBBS 289.8

The mouth of the little horn was to speak great words against the Most High. The Pope declares, in his own solemn and authorized decrees, that it is certain that he is styled God, and it is manifest that God cannot be judged by man. He further pronounces concerning himself, that he is received into the fellowship of Christ’s undivided unity. SBBS 289.9

The little horn is further to wear out the saints of the Most High. The words will apply either to delusion or oppression. Now Pelagius, and his successors ever since, have laid down these three maxims: That it is schism to deny the supremacy or disobey the mandates of the Roman See; that schism ought to be punished by the secular power; and that these powers ought to be urged and compelled to exterminate and root out all such schismatics from their dominions. From that time onward the only alternative allowed by the Papacy to the saints has been sin or suffering; the submission to an impious claim, wearing out the conscience and wasting the spiritual life; or the open penalties of con fiscation, imprisonment, torture, and death.... SBBS 289.10

The little horn, further, shall think to change times. The description applies, in all its force, to the systematic perversion of God’s words by which all the promises of millennial glory are wrested from their true sense, and referred to the dominion and grandeur of the Church of Rome.... SBBS 290.1

Finally, the little horn thinks to change laws.... SBBS 290.2

Thus every feature of the prophecy finds its full counterpart in the constitution, decrees, and history of the Roman popedom. And hence we may gather, with a firm and assured conviction, that this is the true meaning of the vision, designed from the very first by the all-seeing Spirit of God.—“The Four Prophetic Empires; the First Two Visions of Daniel,” Rev. T. R. Birks, M. A., pp. 253-259. London: Seeley, Burnside, and Seeley, 1845. SBBS 290.3

Little Horn.—See Antichrist, 29, 32. SBBS 290.4

Locusts.—See Seven Trumpets, Fifth, 508-510, 512. SBBS 290.5

Lombards.—See Papacy, Builders of, 348; Rome, Its Barbarian Invaders, 452-455; Temporal Power of the Pope; Ten Kingdoms. SBBS 290.6

Longobards.—See Lombards. SBBS 290.7

Loyola, St. Ignatius.—See Jesuits, 264, 265. SBBS 290.8