Tag: waldenses

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Daily Manna Devotionals

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ‘HINDUSTAN WALDENSES’?

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ‘HINDUSTAN WALDENSES’?

J.W. Massic says of these Indian [formerly called Hindustan] Sabbath-keeping Christians: ‘Remote from the busy haunts of commerce, or the popular seats of manufacturing industry, they may be regarded as the Eastern Piedmontese, the Vaudois [of Waldenses] of Hindustan, the witnesses prophesying in sack cloth [witnessing their faith in persecution] through revolving centuries, though indeed their bodies lay as dead in the streets of the city which they had once peoples.’ – ‘Continental India,’ p. 120.

Then Came Papal Persecution. “Mr. Massic further says of these Indian Sabbath-keeping Christians: ‘Separates from the Western world for a THOUSAND years, they were naturally ignorant of the many novelties introduced by the councils and decrees of the Lateran [of the Church of Rome]; and their CONFORMITY TO THE FAITH AND THE PRACTICE OF THE FIXED AGES laid them open to the GUILT OF UNPARDONABLE OF HERESY and schism, as estimated by ROME [not by Christ nor the Holy Scriptures]…..

We are Christians, and not idolaters,’ was their expressive reply when required to do homage to the IMAGE OF VIRGIN MARY…..LaCroze states them [numbers] as fifteen hundred churches and as many towns and villages.

They REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE THE POPE, and declared they had never heard of him; they asserted the purity and primitive [original apostolic] truth of their faith since they came, and their bishops had for thirteen hundred years had been sent, from the PLACE where the followers of Jesus were first called CHRISTIANS [ at Antioch at Paul’s time. Acts 11:26).” – ibid, Vol. II, pp. 116, 117.” – Facts of Faith, C. Edwardson, p. 155.

By knowing what happened to the first disciples and apostles
and all the faithful Sabbath-keepers of the past centuries, we will better understand what Revelation 13 and 14 warn of, and thus be better prepared for what lies ahead.

(To be continued). God bless, NMF

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Daily Manna Devotionals

ROME’S ANATHEMAS AND BULLS AGAINST THE GENTLE AND GODLY WALDENSES

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

ROME’S ANATHEMAS AND BULLS AGAINST THE GENTLE AND GODLY WALDENSES

They were hunted like wild beasts! “The Earl of Tholouse (in France) was finally forced to bow to Rome, and God’s people [at that time] were hunted as wild beasts everywhere. Here are some of the laws of Louis IX, King of France, A.D., 1229:

Canon 3: The lords of the different districts shall have the villas, houses, and woods diligently searched, and the hiding-places of the heretics destroyed.
Canon 4: If anyone allows a heretic to remain in his territory, he loses his possession forever, and his BODY is in the hands of the magistrates to receive due punishment.
Canon 5: But also such are liable to the law [man’s, not God’s], whose territory has been made a frequent hiding-place of heretics, not by his knowledge, but by his negligence.
Canon 6: The house in which the heretic is found, shall be torn down, and the place or land confiscated.
Canon 14: Lay members are NOT ALLOWED TO POSSESS THE BOOKS OF EITHER THE OLD OR NEW TESTAMENT.’ – ‘Hefele’s Councils,’ Vol. 5, pp. 981, 982. ‘History of the Sabbath,’ New, p. 558.

“These laws were only ECHOES of the ‘BULLS’ of the Popes. But while the Waldenses of the French side of the Alps were being EXTERMINATED, the pope had a more difficult task to destroy them in the Piedmont Alps.

“From Pope Lucius III (A.D. 1181-1185) to the Reformation of the seventeenth century the persecution of the Waldenses was the subject of many papal ‘ANATHEMAS.’ Army after army were sent against them, and, ALL MANNER OF TRICKERY was resorted to in order to destroy these HONEST, PLAIN, CHRISTIAN PEOPLE.

“In 1488 Albert Cataneo, the papal legate came with an army into the midst of Val Louise. The inhabitants fled to a cavern for shelter, and the soldiers started a fire at the mouth of the cavern and smothered the entire population of 3,000, including 400 children.”……”In 1544 the treacherous and heatless Catholic leader, D’Oppede caused the terrible butchery of thousands of Waldenses. At Cabrieres he wrote a note to the people, saying that if they would open the gates of their city he would do them no harm. They, in good faith, opened the gates, and D’Oppede cried out: ‘Kill them all.’ Men, women, and CHILDREN were massacred or burned alive.

“In 1655 there was another massacre of Waldenses. After the Catholic leaders made several vain attempts to break into the fastness of the mountains where the Waldenses lived, and were defeated, the Marquis of Piannese wrote the various Waldensian towns to entertain certain regiments of soldiers to show their good faith. These CHRISTIAN people, who always had such SACRED REGARD for their own word, NEVER SEEMED TO LEARN that it is a FUNDAMENTAL CATHOLIC DOCTRINE, that Catholics need not, and SHOULD NOT, ‘keep faith with heretics when the INTEREST OF THE CHURCH [not Christ and His truth!] IS AT STAKE. After they had sheltered the soldiers, and fed them of their SCANTY store, a signal was given at 4 AM., April 24, 1655, and the butchery began.

“LITTLE CHILDREN, Leger says, were torn from the arms of their mothers, and dashed against the rocks, and cast carelessly away. The sick or the aged, both men or women, were either burned in their houses, or hacked in pieces, of mutilated, half murdered, and flayed alive, they were exposed in a dying state to the heat of the sun, or to the flames, or to ferocious beasts.’ – ‘Israel of the Alps,’ Dr. Alexis Muston, Vol. I, pp. 349, 350.

“These people [Christlike and apostles-like] suffered tortures TOO TERRIBLE to mention, which only DEVILS in human form could have invented. The towns in the beautiful valleys were left smoldering ruins. A few people saved themselves by fleeing to the mountains.” – ‘Facts of Faith,’ C. Edwardson, pp. 131, 132, 133, Southern Publishing Asso., Nashville 8 TN: 1943.

If we claim to be part of the remnant of spiritual Israel in these last days, our profession of faith will soon be tested even as the “Israel of the Alps” were tested and tried, and passed the test in ignominy but to God’s glory! Truly indeed, “the blood of martyrs was the seed of the genuine gospel,”—-not the “peace-and-safety prosperity gospel” which is “another gospel.”
Bless all in your study, NMF

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Daily Manna Devotionals

THE DOMINICANS, THE INQUISITION, AND THE WALDENSES

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE DOMINICANS, THE INQUISITION, AND THE WALDENSES

“To destroy completely these [Waldensian] heretics Pope Innocent III sent DOMINICAN INQUISITORS into France and also the CRUSADERS, promising ‘a plenary remission of all sins, to those I who took on them the crusade….against the Albigenses [Waldenses of France]. When Raymond VI, Earl of Tholouse, shielded this innocent people, who were such an ASSET to his country, he was deposed by the pope’(Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XII, art. ‘Raymond VI,’ p. 670). Being frightened by the SAVAGE CRUSADERS Raymond submitted, and the papal legate publicly whipped till ‘he was so grievously torn by the stripes’ that he had to leave the church by a back door. (Ibid, pp. 98,100.) He later appealed to Innocent III. ‘The Pope, however, ceded the estates of Raymond to Simon de Montfort,’(1215) (Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II, art. ‘Raymond VI, p.670).

“In 1216 to 1221 Raymond reconquered his land, and after his death, his son became Earl, and ‘the INQUISITION WAS BANISHED from Tholouse. But Pope Honorius an HOLY WAR, to be called the ‘PENANCE WAR,’ against the heretics,’ and ‘to subdue the Earl of Tholouse, he sent letters to King Louis’ of France to make war on Raymond, which he did.

“But TREACHERY, which has always been one the most successful WEAPONS of the Papacy against God’s people, had to be resorted to here. When the pope’s legate saw that he could not take the city of Avignon by force, he ‘scrupled not to adopt the VILEST treachery and practiced BASEST hypocrisy.

“He offered to suspend hostilities, and pave the way for PEACE [watch out for this word in movements ahead of us], if the besieged would admit a FEW PRIESTS, only to inquire concerning the ‘faith’ of the inhabitants; and those terms being agreed upon and sealed by MUTUAL OATHS; the priests entered, but in DIRECT VIOLATION of their solemn engagement, brought the FRENCH ARMY with them, who thus fraudulently triumphed over the unsuspecting citizens; they plundered the city, killed or bound in chains the inhabitants.’ (Ibid, pp. 104-106).” – ‘Facts of Faith,’ C.Edwardson, pp. 129-30. Southern Publishing Asso., Nashville, TN: 1943.

In case Filipinos are not aware of this historical fact regarding the Dominican Order’s earliest presence in the Philippines, how, and through what means, here are excerpts from Wikipedia:

“The foundation of the University of Sto.Tomás is ascribed to Miguel de Benavides, O.P., the 3rd Bishop of Manila. He came to the Philippines on the FIRST DOMINICAN MISSION in 1587. This makes the UST as the first and only formally declared ROYAL [state] and PONTIFICAL [church] university in the Philippines….. taking its name and inspiration from Saint Thomas Aquinas, a DOMINICAN theologian…..Beginning in the 1250s, INQUISITORS were generally chosen from the DOMINICAN ORDER, replacing the earlier practice of having local clergy as judges.” (Wikipedia).

Learn well, be intellectually and spiritually discerning between the real and counterfeits and be better prepared for what is coming. Bless all, NMF

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Daily Manna Devotionals

SATAN’S ENMITY AGAINST CHRIST DEMONSTRATED BY ROME’S HATRED FOR THE WALDENSIAN CHRISTIANS.

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

SATAN’S ENMITY AGAINST CHRIST DEMONSTRATED BY ROME’S HATRED FOR THE WALDENSIAN CHRISTIANS.

Jesus told His disciples these words of immortal truth: “If the world hate you, you know it hated Me before it hated you…..Remember the word that I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will ALSO persecute you.” John 15: 18, 20, KJV. – FF 128-129: “In fact, amid the license of the Middle [and Dark] Ages, ASCETIC VIRTUE was apt to be recognized as a SiGN OF HERESY-“ ‘History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages, H. C. Lea, Vol. 1, p. 87, NY, Harper & Bros. 1888.

Professor Philippus van Limborch writes:

‘It was the entire study and endeavor of the POPES, to crush, in its infancy, any doctrine that in any way opposed their EXORBITANT power. In the year 1163, at the Synod of Tours, all the bishops and priests in the country of Tholouse, were commanded to ‘take care, and to forbid, under the pain of excommunication, every person presuming to give RECEPTION, or the least assistance to the followers of this heresy, which first began in the country of Tholouse, wherever they shall be discovered. Neither were they to have any dealings with them in BUYING OR SELLING [fast forward to Rev. 13:15-17]; that by being thus DEPRIVED of the common assistances of life, they might be COMPELLED to repent of the evil of their way.

Whoever shall DARE to contravene this order, let them be excommunicated, as a PARTNER with them in their guilt. As many as them as could be found, let them be imprisoned by the CATHOLIC PRINCES, and punished with the forfeiture of all their substance.’

‘Some of the Waldenses, coming into the neighboring kingdom of Arragon, king Ildefonsus, in the year 1194, put forth, against them, A VERY SEVERE AND BLOODY EDICT, by which he ‘banished them from his kingdom, and all his dominions, as ‘enemies of the cross of Christ [!], profaners of the CHRISTIAN RELIGION [not all Christians are true Christians], and PUBLIC ENEMIES to himself and his kingdom.’

He adds: ‘If any, from this day forwards, shall presume to receive in their houses, the aforesaid WALDENSES and INZABBATATI, or other heretics, of whatever profession they be, or to hear, in any place, their ABOMINABLE PREACHINGS, or to give them food, or to do them any kind office whatsoever; let him know, that he shall incur the indignation of Almighty God [the god of this world, not the God of heaven!] and ours [so they admit they have ‘other gods.’]; then he shall forfeit all his goods, without the benefit of appeal, and be punished as though guilty of high treason.’ ‘ — ‘History of the Inquisition,’ pp. 88, 89. London. 1816.” – C. Edwardson, Facts of Faith, pp. 128, 129.

In stark contradiction, Jesus taught His followers and disciples that in His kingdom of grace and righteousness on earth, its subjects would “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and PERSECUTE you”(Matt. 5:44). And so did Paul in Rom. 12: 19-21.
Indeed “by their fruits you shall know them!” God bless all, NMF

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Daily Manna Devotionals

WALDENSIAN CHILDREN WERE ‘TRAINED UP IN THE WAY THEY SHOULD GO’ BY GODLY PARENTS

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

WALDENSIAN CHILDREN WERE ‘TRAINED UP IN THE WAY THEY SHOULD GO’ BY GODLY PARENTS

“But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that FROM A CHILD [from childhood] thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 3: 13, 14, KJV.

The young moral heroes of the Bible represented by Joseph, Daniel and his three friends, etc. were not “overnight sensations” but were moral heroes in the making through the faithful parenting of their godly parents by precept and example. The “bountiful harvest” of their parents’ wise and faithful “sowing” that took place in distant lands where their children were totally denied the safety and comfort of godly surroundings, yet stood unflinchingly true and uncompromising even in the face of terrible death. They were the lights of truth in the midst of gross and appalling darkness in the citadels of heathenism and paganism in the ancient world. So were the Waldensian children in the beginning of the Dark Ages during the Christian Era.

“While the Waldenses regarded the feat of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom, they were not blind to the importance of contact with the world, a knowledge of men of active life, in expanding the mind and quickening the perceptions.

“From their schools in the mountains some of the youth were sent to institutions of learning in the cities of France or Italy, where it was a more extended field of study, thought, and observation than in their native Alps.

“The youth thus sent forth were exposed to temptation, they witnessed vice, they encountered Satan’s wily agents, who urged upon them the MOST SUBTLE heresies and the MOST DANGEROUS deceptions.

“But their education FROM CHILDHOOD had been of a character to PREPARE them for all this. In the schools where they went, they were not to make confidants of any. Their GARMENTS were so prepared as to conceal their GREATEST TREASURE—the precious MANUSCRIPTS of the Scriptures. These, the FRUIT of months and years of toil, they carried with them, and whenever they could do so without exciting suspicion, they cautiously placed some portion in the way of those whose hearts seemed open to receive the truth.

“From their MOTHER’S KNEE the Waldensian youth had been trained for this purpose in view; they [particularly mothers] understood their work and faithfully performed it. Converts to the true faith [of Jesus, the religion of the Bible] in these institutions of learning and frequently its principles were found to be permeating the entire school; yet the PAPAL LEADERS, could not, by the closest inquiry, trace the so-called ‘corrupting heresy’ to its source.” – Great Controversy, 1911 ed., E. G. White, pp. 69, 70. Pacific Press Publishing Asso., Mt View, CA.

No wonder the same author says that there is a great need “for old-fashioned mothers and fathers in spiritual Israel.” Both men and God have been asking the question, Where can they can be found? They are “more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir! Bless all, NMF

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Daily Manna Devotionals

ROME’S HATRED IS NOT AGAINST SIN BUT AGAINST THE SABBATH AND SABBATH-KEEPERS, AS THE WALDENSES WERE

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

ROME’S HATRED IS NOT AGAINST SIN BUT AGAINST THE SABBATH AND SABBATH-KEEPERS, AS THE WALDENSES WERE

“We have seen that the ancient apostolic church, scattered by persecution, and often in hiding, went under various names. Being peaceful, virtuous, industrious citizens, they were TOLERATED and even SHIELDED, by princes who understood their value to the country, while the Catholic Church HUNTED them down like wild beasts. After the Waldenses and Albigenses had lived quietly in France for many years, POPE INNOCENT III wrote the following instructions to his bishops:

‘Therefore by this present apostolical writing [?] we give you a STRICT COMMAND that, by WHATEVER means you can, you DESTROY all these heresies and EXPEL from your diocese all who are polluted with them. You shall exercise the RIGOR OE ECCLESIASTICAL POWER against them and all those who have made themselves suspected by ASSOCIATING with them. They may NOT appeal to your judgment, and if necessary, you may cause the princes [civil powers] and the people to SUPPRESS THEM WITH THE SWORD.’ – ‘A Source Book for Medieval History,’ Oliver J. Thatcher and E. H. McNeal, p. 210. NY Charles’ Scribner’s Sons: 1905.

“Philippus van Lindorch, Professor of Divinity of Amsterdam, speaking of the way the LIBERTY of the people was suppressed after 1050, says:

‘In the following ages the affairs of the church [of Rome] under the government of the Popes [the papacy] and all persons so strictly curbed by the SEVERITY of the laws, that they durst [dared] not even so much as WHISPER against the received opinions of the church. Besides this, so deep was the IGNORANCE that had spread itself over the WORLD, that men, without the least regard to KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING, received with a BLIND obedience everything that the ecclesiastics ordered them, HOWEVER STUPID OR SUPERSTITIOUS, WITHOUT ANY EXAMINATION; and anyone dared to the least to contradict them, he was sure immediately to be punished, whereby the most ABSURD opinions came to be established by the VIOLENCE OF THE POPES.’ – ‘History of the Inquisition.’p.79. London 1816.” – ‘Facts of Faith,’ Christian Edwardson, pp. 126, 127.

“There is nothing new under the sun. What has been that shall be.” Learn from history and be prepared for the future. Bless all, NMF

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Daily Manna Devotionals

THE WALDENSES, THEIR ‘SABBATIC’ NAMES, AND THE PAPACY

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE WALDENSES, THEIR ‘SABBATIC’ NAMES, AND THE PAPACY

David Benedict, M.A., says:
‘Robinson gives an account of some of the Waldenses of the Alps, who were called SABATI, SABBATATI, INSABBATATI, but more frequently INSABBATATI. One says they were so named from the Hebrew word Sabbath, because they kept the Saturday for the Lord’s day. Another says they were so called because they rejected all the festivals.’- ‘General History of the Baptist Denomination,’ Vol. II, p. 413: 1813.

Dr. J.L. Mosheim says: ‘PASSAGINIANS (Waldenses) had the utmost AVERSION to the dominion and discipline of the Church of Rome ….and celebrated the Jewish Sabbath.’ – ‘Ecclesiastical History.’ (2-vol. edition), Cen. 2, Part 2, Chap. 5, Sec. 14, Vol. 1, p. 333. New York: Harper & Bros., 1871.

“The papal author Bonacursus, wrote against the ‘PASAGINI’[ Waldenses/Albigenses] ‘Not a few but many know what are the ERRORS of those who are called Pasagini [what errors?]. First, they teach that we should obey the law of Moses according for the letter—-the Sabbath and circumcision, and the legal precepts still being in force….Furthermore to INCREASE their error, they condemn and reject all the church Fathers, and whole Roman Church.’ – Quoted in ‘History of the Sabbath,’ J. N. Andrews, pp. 547, 548. 1912

It must be pointed out here that papal author Bonocorsus clearly calls his church as the Church OF ROME, not the church OF CHRIST. In his own mouth and by his scholarly pen he testifies, whether he was aware or not, that the Church of Rome or the Romish church, the Roman Catholic Church, is, and of Rome, not is and of Christ! It was Rome, at the behest of the Jewish people, in essence the union of church and state, the religious and the civil powers, who crucified the Lord of the Sabbath! God bless, NMF

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Daily Manna Devotionals

WALDENSIAN PARENTS ‘TRAINED UP’ THEIR CHILDREN ‘TO ENDURE HARDNESS AS A SOLDIER’

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

WALDENSIAN PARENTS ‘TRAINED UP’ THEIR CHILDREN ‘TO ENDURE HARDNESS AS A SOLDIER’

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. . . . Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” 2 TImothy 2: 1, 3. 4, KJV.

“Pure, simple, and fervent was these followers of Christ. The principles of truth they treasured ABOVE houses and lands, friends, kindred, even life itself. These principles they earnestly sought to impress upon the hearts [and the conscience] of the YOUNG.

“From EARLIEST CHILDHOOD the youth were instructed in the SCRIPTURES, and taught to regard SACREDLY the claims of the law of God. Copies of the Bible were RARE; therefore its precious words were COMMITTED TO MEMORY. Many were able to repeat LARGE PORTIONS of both the Old and New Testaments.

“Thoughts of God were associated alike with the SUBLIME scenery of nature [not the metropolitan glitter and glamor or Disneyland’s short-lived, spiritualistic fantasies, etc.] and the HUMBLE BLESSINGS of daily life. LITTLE CHILDREN learned to look with gratitude to God as the Giver of every favor and every comfort.

“Parents, TENDER AND AFFECTIONATE as they were, loved their children TOO WISELY to accustom them to SELF-INDULGENCE. [Why?] Before them [their real ‘future’] was a life of trial and hardship, perhaps a MARTYR’S death.

“They were educated from childhood to ENDURE HARDNESS, to submit to control [to genuine godly parents]. and yet to think and act FOR THEMSELVES. Very early they were taught to BEAR responsibilities, to be GUARDED in speech, and to understand the WISDOM OF SILENCE.[Reason?] One INDISCREET word let fall in the hearing of their enemies, might imperil not only the life of the speaker, but the lives of HUNDREDS of his brethren; for as wolves hunting their prey did the ENEMIES OF TRUTH pursue those who dared TO CLAIM FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS FAITH.”- E. G. White, ‘The Great Controversy,’ 1911 ed.,p. 67.

Ask yourself, Am I an enemy of truth or an enemy of lies? There exists no “shared platforms” here for there are only two “Fathers,” the “father of darkness, “lies, and murderer from the beginning” and “the Father of lights [not lies], with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Thus there are only two kinds of spiritual children: “the children of light and obedience” and the “children of darkness and rebellion” against God’s law and authority. “Choose ye this day whom your ‘Father’ is!” Bless God’s humble family on earth, His household of faith. NMF