Ezekiel Warning Series Many Shall Come In My Name

Many shall come

IN MY NAME

Other reports in the Series:

And there shall be

PESTILENCES

And there shall be

FAMINES

Why the SPECIAL WARNING Series?

The purpose of this series is to show what is prophesied in God’s Word to come upon the The modern-day descendants of ancient Israel at SPECIAL the end of the age. In Matthew 24:5-7, Christ WARNING described the world conditions of our time. Series The responsibility of God’s true Church is given in Ezekiel 33:6-11: “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. So you, O son of man, I have set you a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die; if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Therefore, O you son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; thus you speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

This four-part series describes these conditions in detail, demonstrating how 6,000 years of human history have seen them escalate, to the point that “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]” (Matt. 24:22).

And you shall hear of

This publication is provided free of charge and in the public interest by The Restored Church of God. It is made possible by the voluntary, freely given

WARS

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The Restored Church of God is not responsible for the return of unsolicited articles and photos. Scriptures are quoted from either the King James or the New King James version, unless otherwise noted.

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Many shall come

IN MY NAME

RELIGIOUS DECEPTION is the first in a series of events foretold to occur before Christ returns. This booklet makes plain the true meaning of the FIRST SEAL of Revelation 6:12. It is a grave warning for all who will take heed.

The apostle John described this vision: “And I saw, and behold a WHITE HORSE: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” The identity of this first horseman is almost universally misunderstood. To the casual observer, this looks like true Christianity. But this booklet will take you behind its mask and expose this counterfeit movement for what it really is!

Matthew 24:4-5 warns, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ [that Jesus is the Messiah]; and shall deceive many.” The many are the overwhelming majority—chances are great that this includes you! This booklet warns of a soon-coming, powerful religious leader who will perform miracles—and what will happen next!

T

HE WORLD BELIEVES that the Apocalypse is a mysterious, cryptic message of doom. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are also viewed as a mysterious, unexplained horror to be unleashed upon the world.

To clearly understand the First Seal of Revelation 6:2, we must clear up these misconceptions. The Greek term apocalypse simply means “revelation,” which is defined as “The act of revealing or disclosing; something revealed, especially a dramatic disclosure of something not previously known or realized.”

Revelation 1:1 states, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.” If anyone carefully examines this verse,

they can plainly see that the Revelation originated with God (the Father), who gave it to Jesus Christ. Christ then sent and signified the Revelation by His angel, who then gave it to the apostle John. It was John, according to verse 2, “Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.”

John recorded these events, preserving them for the servants of Jesus Christ— His end-time Church.

As soon as the book was copied and canonized (circa A.D. 100), the founders of the developing universal church at Rome denied its origin.

“Instead of this [referring to Rev. 1:1] the Church substituted the name of the disciple through whom the message was delivered for that of his Master, and designated our Apocalypse ‘The Apocalypse of John.’ This title was familiar before the end of the 2nd century” (The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, vol. 23, p. 212).

If the best minds of this world (hav-

ing been confounded at the outset by false religion) cannot discern the correct title of this book, how can they discern its message?

Who Rides the White Horse?

As John was in vision before God’s throne, one of the twenty-four elders assured him that “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof” (Rev. 5:5).

Later, John described what he beheld as Christ began to remove the seals: “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

And I saw, and behold a WHITE HORSE: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Rev. 6:1-2).

Just about everyone understands that the identities of the next three horses represent war, famine and 1

pestilence. By contrast, the first horseman’s identity is universally misunderstood. There is a reason for this, and it will be made plain to any who want to understand the plain truth from the Word of God. The rider of the white horse is not who most think he is. Many refer to Revelation 19, which portrays Jesus Christ returning on a white horse, leading the armies of heaven. They associate this horseman with the one in Revelation 6:2, and hastily conclude that they must be one and the same.

Some think that the white horse of the First Seal represents the Church.

But God’s true Church never went forth to conquer and subdue nations.

Rather, it is represented by a woman who nurtures those who are called by God (John 6:44). Mankind has invented all sorts of eccentric ideas about what the rider of Revelation 6:2 pictures—those ideas represent man’s utter confusion. In fact, most Bible commentary writers attempt to identify that rider as Jesus Christ, or as His servants announcing His Second Coming.

Christ prophesied all the confusion and misunderstanding that would surround this rider’s identity! He disclosed the events that would occur prior to His Second Coming. The first event was the First Seal, represented by the first horse. Answering His disciples’ question pertaining to the sign of His coming and the end of the world, Christ said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matt. 24:4-5). Only after this did He proceed to mention war, famine and pestilence.

It is crucial to make a vital distinction about the source of this deception.

The rider of the white horse does NOT represent all false religions. What he DOES represent is a counterfeit Christianity—a counterfeit Christ. To any carnal mind not opened to God’s truth—not yet called out of this world (Rev. 18:4)—this counterfeit church appears “spiritual” and well-organized.

It seems to be well-established, with centuries-old roots supposedly going back to the original apostles.

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Anything that passes as a counterfeit has to seem genuine. This counterfeit has to look convincingly orthodox to the average onlooker and, in fact, does—until one bothers to look behind the façade. But most never investigate.

This booklet will take you behind the mask and expose this counterfeit movement, symbolized by the rider of the white horse.

Not only does this rider represent a counterfeit of true Christianity—he has also deceived the world of his own true identity. The following quote underscores this fact: “There is no greater sign of this universal ignorance about God than the misunderstanding of who the first horseman of Revelation 6 actually represents…It is true that the white horse represents a Christ, but it is a false Christ. It is true that the first horseman represents a gospel and a church, but it is a false gospel and a false church—all in the name of Jesus Christ, but in truth a deception and a counterfeit” (The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, p. 15, Worldwide Church of God, 1973).

Also, notice how the following scriptures warn of a subtle counter movement that attempts to pass itself off as bearer of the original truth, but is shrouded in mystery and deceit. Most have been snared by this clever fraud: “For the mystery of iniquity does already work...” (II Thes. 2:7).

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (I John 4:1).

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 3-4).

The apostle Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians defines how effectively the false teachers of this subtle

movement ensnared the unsuspecting: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

For if he that comes preaching another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him” (II Cor. 11:3-4).

In verses 13-15, Paul identifies those who appear to represent the truth, but are actually led by “another spirit”: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Who the Rider in Revelation 6:2 is NOT

Before proceeding, we need to understand that the rider of the white horse in Revelation 6 is considerably different from the one in Revelation 19.

Since the first rider is a counterfeit of the second, some obvious similarities have to exist.

Let’s begin with another quote from the booklet cited above: “Notice first that the returning Christ of Revelation 19 brandishes a sword out of His mouth, not a bow in his hand, as in Revelation 6. The sword is His Word the Bible. The Word of God is called, in symbol, a ‘two-edged sword’ (Heb. 4:12). Christ comes reproving nations with His Word, while the counterfeit horseman of Revelation 6 comes with another source of power.

Regardless of the precise meaning of the ‘bow,’ it is clearly not the Word of God—the two-edged sword” (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, p.

16).

Let’s review Revelation 19:11-13: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and

make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.

And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.” This obviously describes the real Christ. The main similarities between the counterfeit and genuine Christ are the white horse, the crown, and that they both conquer and rule. The counterfeit Christ wears “a crown,” whereas the real Christ wears “many crowns.” The real Christ conquers those who try to repel and resist His Return. He will establish His government on earth and rule the world with righteousness and equity. But prior to this, the counterfeit Christ goes out to conquer. As we will see, he persecutes the true Church of God and destroys millions of people through the ages.

This unsuspecting world does not realize how incredibly sinister this counterfeit movement is.

The sequence of events is also revealing. As the First Seal is opened, this white horse is unleashed as the beginning of a series of end-time events. It is followed by the remaining seals that carry through the Great Tribulation. Then, as the Day of the Lord ends (fulfilling the Seventh Seal), the second white horse and its rider appear (at the sound of the last trumpet of the seven trumpet plagues). This is the Return of Christ and His victory over those who attempt to oppose His triumph. The horsemen of Revelation 6 and 19 represent opposite ends of this spectrum of time. These could never describe the same event.

Recall that, in Matthew 24, the religious deception occurs first, beginning in the first century A.D., before the remaining three seals (war, famine and pestilence) that were to escalate over time. These four conditions have increased in scope and intensity as the world’s population and technological weaponry have increased. They will mushroom near the end of this age, climaxing in the Great Tribulation. Only toward the end of the chapter (vs. 2731) is the dramatic Return of Christ

described—the same sequence prophesied in the book of Revelation.

Clearly, we are reading of two different riders on two different horses at distinctly different points in time.

Matthew 24 Tells More

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ [that Jesus is the Messiah]; and shall deceive many” (Matt. 24:4-5). Christ expanded upon these verses later in the same chapter.

Review verses 11-12: “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax [grow] cold.” According to this prophecy, not only would false prophets arise to deceive many, but they would also infiltrate the true Church, causing many to fall away.

Toward the end of the age, and especially during the time of the prophesied false religious leader of Revelation 13, false prophets will increase, performing great signs and wonders. Matthew 24:23-26 reads, “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not.”

People are always impressed by miracles and will attribute the power of those who perform them as being from God. But here Christ shows that false prophets will also work miracles.

Matthew 24 also confirms the time sequence of the two riders of the white horses. The real Christ does not return (as shown in Revelation 19) until the time of the seventh and last trumpet— at the end of the last seven plagues.

Beginning in the first century, false religion made its move, followed by wars, famine and pestilence. It became more firmly entrenched in the third and fourth centuries. These trends

have continued for the last two millennia, building up to the greatly intensified end-time events—the era of world wars.

Origins of the Counterfeit Movement

The first biblical account of religious deception (counterfeiting the truth) is recorded in Genesis 3. Paul summarizes it in II Corinthians 11:3: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Religious deception first occurred in the Garden of Eden, with the serpent (Satan) deceiving Eve. Adam and Eve’s first child (Cain) was the next to be swayed, which led him to murder his brother (Abel). This same influence has, in turn, swayed the course of civilization. Cain’s offspring followed his rebellion against God. This attitude spread dramatically among all the descendants of Adam and Eve during the pre-Flood era. Of the many billions who existed then, the Bible records only eight preachers of righteousness—incredibly few, but God has always worked with small numbers of people.

Soon after the Flood, a giant in the annals of counterfeit deception made his mark. His name was Nimrod, which literally means “to rebel.”

Notice Genesis 10:8-10: “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” The term “mighty one” comes from the Hebrew word gibbor, meaning “tyrant” or “despot.”

The term “before” comes from the Hebrew word paniym, which means “against.” Thus, Nimrod was against the Lord—in rebellion, along with his mother-wife, Semiramis.

Josephus gives us more insight into Nimrod’s great power and his defiance against God: “Nimrod…was…a bold man, and of great strength of hand.

He…gradually changed the govern3

ment into tyranny—seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers!

“Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower…It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them diverse languages; and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, that they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon; because of the confusion of that language…”

(Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus, bk.

I, ch. IV, pp. 2-3).

So profoundly powerful was Nimrod’s persuasiveness to rebel against God, that God came down and divided the languages, halting the tower of Babel project. Nimrod and Semiramis introduced the Babylonian Mystery religion during that time. The name “Babylon” was appropriate for their religion—Babel means “confusion” in Hebrew. The original Babylon was followed many centuries later by the Babylonian Empire—the seat of the Babylonian Mystery religion.

Prophecy warns of one last great rise of Babylon the Great. This system’s final appearance will represent its greatest attempt to conquer the entire world.

It is not our purpose to attack or slander churches or individuals. The Bible and history directly identify a great false system and its offshoots (or “daughters”). There is no escaping directly identifying this system.

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Counterfeit Movement Parallels True Church

The ancient Assyrians had placed some Babylonian peoples (later called Samaritans) in Samaria, named after the royal city of the northern ten tribes of Israel (whom the Assyrians had exiled).

For centuries, these Samaritans rigorously practiced the Babylonian Mystery religion. By the time of Christ, they had successfully spread their religion. Although a few Samaritans became true converts in the early Church, most would generally prove to be active in the rise of this counterfeit religion.

As the original growth and excitement of the first century Church began to subside due to persecution and infiltration, a sinister movement slowly diminished it and eventually gained the upper hand.

The Lutheran historian Mosheim expressed what could be one of the most profound observations regarding the early Church apostasies: “Christian churches had scarcely been organized when men rose up, who, not being contented with the simplicity and purity of that religion which the Apostles taught, attempted innovations, and fashioned religion according to their own liking” (Ecclesiastical History, Mosheim, Vol. 1.).

Historian Jesse Hurlbut called this period after the time covered by the book of Acts, the “Age of Shadows.”

He stated, “...of all periods in the [church’s] history, it is the one about which we know the least…For fifty years after St. Paul’s life a curtain hangs over the church, through which we strive vainly to look; and when at last it rises about 120 A.D. with the writings of the earliest church fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul” (The Story of the Christian Church, p. 41).

The first of seven Church eras (Revelation 2 and 3) began on the Day of Pentecost in A.D. 31 (Acts 2).

Church history confirms how false religion appeared on the scene shortly thereafter, with such conspirators as

Simon Magus—then leader of the Samaritan Babylonian Mysteries religion. Simon the Sorcerer (the word magus means “sorcerer” or “magician”) is considered by experts to be the founder of the heretical movement.

Ironically, many who brand him for his heretical practices are writers and historians who unwittingly followed this movement. Among them were Justin Martyr, Jerome, and other writers of the second and following centuries.

To say that this Simon was the founder of today’s universal church system would not be fully correct. He died in A.D. 68. It took nearly three centuries for that system to amass power and evolve, through all the stages of modifying and counterfeiting doctrine, to what it is today. But the real architect of this system is none other than the “god of this world”— Satan.

Simon’s constant companion, while delivering his message, was his mistress, Helen. Justin Martyr writes of her: “A certain Helen, also, is of this class, who had before been a public prostitute in Tyre of Phoenicia, and at that time attached herself to Simon, and was called, the first idea that proceeded from him.” Here, Eusebius also references the second century writer Irenaeus about this relationship: “…they [those deceived by Simon]…falling down before the pictures and statues of this selfsame Simon and the aforesaid Helen with him, venturing to offer them worship by incense, sacrifices, and libations…they [Simon and Helen] happen in truth to be full of amazement, folly, and madness…on account of their excessive baseness and obscenity” (The Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius, book 2, ch. 13, sec. 6, 7).

Starting with a large population of his fellow Samaritans in Rome, Simon Magus managed to attract a significant following. Here, many people honored him as a god and erected a statue of him on the Tiber River. Much of his success could be attributed to his magic demonstrations, such as levitation, as assisted by demons (Ecclesiastical History).

These

demonstrations later earned him several audiences with Nero, in the A.D. 60s (Encyclopedia Britannica 11th edition, vol. 25, p. 129).

Catholics have always claimed that the apostle Peter was not only the first Roman bishop, but that he was also martyred in Rome. But Peter’s commission was to serve the lost tribes of Israel. In neither his nor Paul’s letters is there any indication that Peter was ever in Rome. Even if he was brought there for execution, the fact remains that he never served there. The false claim that Peter was the first pope is appropriately labeled, “Fiction, pure and simple” (Halley’s Bible Handbook, p. 768).

The person of great “distinction” who bore the title of “Peter” at Rome was, in fact, Simon Magus. The title of “Peter” or “Pater” or “Patre” was one of religious primacy. Thus, Simon Magus carried the title Simon “Peter.”

“Papa,” “Father” and “Pope” are derived from the word Pater.

Notice Christ’s COMMAND, in Matthew 23:9, pertaining to such titles: “And call no man your father upon the earth: for One is your Father, which is in heaven.” This verse forbids the use of “Father” as a religious title, as was done by the Babylonian Mysteries.

Hegesippus, an apostate from the true Church, was responsible for designating Peter as the first Pope. He must have known that Peter, a married man, was not a celibate priest and was the antithesis of what the pope represented. Hegesippus “originally drew up the list of Roman bishops, on which Anicetus and his successors—down to the Pope today—based their claim to be the successor of a Peter [claimed by Simon Magus]” (Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course [ACBCC], lesson 49, p. 15).

Simon Magus’s successors were equally zealous in sowing the seeds of heresy to counter the true apostles’ work where possible. Some of his more noted followers were Menander, Nicholas, Cerinthus and Marcion. The following quote gives an example of their heresy.

Eusebius referenced Irenaeus, who had written about Simon Magus’s immediate successor, a fellow Samaritan named Menander, who “exhibited himself in his conduct an instrument of diabolical wickedness, not inferior to the former…He said that he was in truth the Savior sent from the invisible worlds for the salvation of men...Those who were deemed worthy would obtain perpetual immortality in this very life” (Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius, bk. 3, ch. 26).

This immortal soul doctrine was an integral part of the Babylon Mysteries, and was carried over into the counterfeit movement. Nicholas of Antioch is identified in Hastings Dictionary of the Bible as a bishop, Nicholas of Samaria. Unrestrained indulgence and promiscuity were the hallmarks of the Nicolaitanes, as his followers were called. Christ mentioned them as He commended the Ephesus Era in Revelation 2:6: “But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.”

Another false leader was Marcion, a contemporary of Polycarp. Irenaeus recorded that when Marcion approached Polycarp with the words, “Recognize us,” Polycarp “displayed the same uncompromising attitude which his master John had shown towards Cerinthus and answered, ‘I recognize you as the first-born of Satan’” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., vol. 22, p. 22).

By the beginning of the second century, the churches advocating hybrid Christianity were gaining strength. Although it would take another two centuries before they would be given substantial authority (A.D. 325), their mission accelerated during the 100s A.D. Two of the first five Roman bishops, later designated in the papal lineage, were once part of the true Church. These were Clement of Rome and Linus, both ordained by Paul. They appeared to have been influenced by the false movement, if not fully caught up in it.

The emerging church at Rome substituted the true doctrines taught by Christ and the apostles with false doc-

trines of the Babylon Mysteries and the Philosophies. The doctrines of the Sabbath and Holy Days were dismissed as “Judaizing.” The traditional doctrines of the immortal soul, “going to heaven,” and “burning in hell” were adopted. The doctrine of the millennial rule of the kingdom of God was gradually phased out. The strange doctrine of the trinity was gradually accepted, as presented by demented pagan philosophers-turned-theologians. Idolatry (including image and Mary worship) was “in” and the Second Commandment was “out.”

Adherence to the Holy Scriptures to do God’s will was replaced by following the precepts of the church at Rome.

The following list comes from our book The History of God’s TRUE CHURCH. It shows various other writers, philosophers and theologians who contributed to the counterfeit movement: Clement (A.D. 91-100): Advocated submission to duly-appointed bishops in his epistle, rather than emphasis of scriptural authority. First Roman bishop to exercise authority beyond Rome.

Ordained by Paul, yet associated with changing theology (Part 3 of History of C.O.G., Kelly).

Ignatius (67-110): A pupil of John; bishop of Antioch; apostate from the truth; was anti-Semitic; encouraged full separation from Judaism and from “Judaizing” on the Sabbath (From Sabbath to Sunday, Bacchiocchi, p.

214).

Justin Martyr (100-167): A Greek philosopher and Samaritan; had associated with the Church but retained all Platonist leanings during that association. Was anti-Semitic; advocated complete disassociation from Jews; deemed law of God as unimportant; critic of Simon Magus yet essentially a follower (From Sabbath to Sunday, Bacchiocchi, p. 224; lectures by Kelly).

Barnabus of Alexandria (130-138): A Jewish scholar (not the Apostle Barnabus); advocated abandonment of Jewish Sabbath and acceptance of Sunday to represent the new world [order]. Allegorized meaning of the 5

scriptures as did the Gnostics (From Sabbath to Sunday, Bacchiocchi, pp.

219, 221).

Irenaeus (130-200): A pupil of Polycarp and Papias; raised in Smyrna; apostate from the truth; ventured to Rome; influenced by Justin Martyr; Attempted to conciliate between false church and true Church. Did document much of second century history; bishop of Lyons (Ency. Brit., 11th ed., vol.

14, p. 791; vol. 22, p. 21).

Tertullian (150-220): Philosopher and lawyer from Carthage; was deeply into the Platonic philosophy as well as Stoicism and Asceticism; developed monastic orders and solidified the trinity doctrine; given title of “the father of Latin Christianity” (Ency. Brit., 11th ed., vol. 26, p. 661; lectures by Kelly).

Origen (185-254): Philosopher from Alexandria; prolific writer (authored over 6,000 different works); steeped in Asceticism; slept on cold stone floors; made himself a eunuch while lecturing to his pupils; blended thoughts of Plato into “Christianity”; instrumental in “refinement” of trinity doctrine. Given title as “the founder of Biblical Criticism” (Ency. Brit., 11th ed., vol.20, p. 270; lectures by Kelly).

Eusebius (260-340): A main historian who documented the first three centuries of the true and false church; compiled and documented from other historians, mainly Hegesippus. His chief theme was to justify and eulogize Constantine and the church of Emperor Constantine’s choice (ACBCC, lesson 49, p. 15).

A host of later writers, theologians and scholars also contributed to the ongoing development of Catholic doctrines through the centuries. Some of them were Jerome (340-420), Augustine (354-430), and Erasmus (1466-1536). Jerome translated the Bible into the Latin language, called the Vulgate. Augustine molded such distorted doctrines as the Catholic Church fulfilling the prophecy of the kingdom of God on earth (Request our free article “SEVEN PROOFS God’s Kingdom is Not Here Yet”).

Erasmus, who followed one thousand years later, was a true scholar and 6

reformer who encouraged critical examination of the source of one’s beliefs. He was critical of the hypocrisy of the Roman Catholic Church and the priests, in particular.

Now examine the mindset of these original pioneers. Justin Martyr, a prodigious writer, served as a typical framer of Catholic thought. His vehement opposition to the Sabbath exposes their prejudice and ignorance: “The Sabbath is a temporary ordinance derived from Moses, which God did not intend to be kept literally, for He Himself does not stop controlling the movements of the universe on that day.

He imposed it solely on the Jews as a mark to single them out for punishment that they so well deserve for their infidelities” (John Kaye, Bishop of Lincoln, The Writings and Opinions of Justin Martyr).

Justin Martyr’s rank anti-Semitism was almost humorous, were it not for the deadly persecution of both Jews and true Christians, to which it led. Yet his bias was not unlike that of his colleagues. Their most ardent passion— bitter anti-Semitism—was shared throughout the movement.

Notice that many are deceived, not few: “For MANY shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive MANY” (Matt. 24:5). The “many” are the overwhelming majority—up to 95%—as demonstrated by Church history. By the middle of the second century, we find that the true believers were a distinct minority.

Leaders such as Polycarp and Polycrates found themselves to be the sole proprietors of the full truth in the Greco-Roman world.

The former Nazarenes of Syria and other scattered remnants were the only other true believers accounted for in the entire eastern Mediterranean area.

The vast majority had turned away, mesmerized by false prophets who had infiltrated the true Church. Recall II Corinthians 4:4: “In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” Also, Revelation 12:9: “And

the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world.”

False prophets and their deception played a profound role, not only in molding the beliefs of this world, but also in perverting the truth in the Church. (Refer to our booklet Where is God’s True Church? and our book The History of God’s TRUE CHURCH for an overview of the true Church.)

Constantine Speeds Catholicism to Power

During the second century, the counterfeit movement openly denounced those who remained loyal to the teachings of the original apostles. Then, the movement gained control of the empire during the time of Constantine.

In the early 300s, during the time of the most severe persecution against all professing Christians, the Roman armies proclaimed their favorite general, Constantine, as Caesar. He had claimed victory after subduing the opposition in the Battle of Mulvian Bridge outside Rome.

Prior to that battle, he was said to have had a vision of the first two letters of the name of Christ—in Greek, chi (X) and rho (P)—and heard a voice say, “By this sign you will conquer.”

(Notice this unmistakable symbolism, relating to Constantine as a rider of the white horse.) The meaning of the letters was symbolic of Christ and thus, Constantine felt indebted to Christianity for his victory, in spite of being a devout sun-worshiper.

One of Constantine’s first acts as emperor was to issue the Edict of Toleration. It legalized Christianity in the empire, ending ten years of severe persecution against the true Church.

However, it paved the way for false Christianity’s rise to prominence (The History of C.O.G, Kelly, part 4).

Constantine recognized the benefit of aligning with the counterfeit movement (disguised as true Christianity).

Not only did he feel indebted to this power, but he also saw this movement as a potential means of unifying the empire. Yet, the Christianity of the Western empire was significantly dif-

ferent from that in the east and from that of other sects in North Africa. Thus, Constantine took measures to standardize his newfound ally—Christianity.

Constantine convened the ecumenical council of Nicea in 325 to resolve the doctrinal differences between various Christian divisions.

Before this, Constantine had already decreed that the day of the sun would be kept throughout the empire. This “day of the sun” was pivotal in unifying pagan sun-worshipers with nominal “Christians.”

These “Christians” had already accepted Sunday and had never observed God’s seventh-day Sabbath to begin with—except for apostates who had joined them. This was a marriage of convenience between Constantine and the church at Rome.

The council of Nicea condemned the practice of true Christianity. All of the precepts of the emerging church at Rome were now decreed as part of the new state religion. As its protector, Constantine forced everyone, pagan or Christian, into either conformity or exile.

With the enforcement of a false religion upon them, the true Church had no choice but to flee. This flight was prophesied in Revelation 12:6: “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” From 325, the Church would be in the wilderness for the next 1,260 years.

The Counterfeit Church in Perspective

Before the time of Constantine, the largest professing church—founded by Simon Magus—suffered persecution by the state, much as the true Church of God had. But now in their elevated position of power, the “persecuted” became the “persecutors.” This counterfeit religion’s goal had now been achieved, and the true Church was sought out in a more vengeful and merciless way than before. History reveals that this church has been the chief cause of war within its jurisdiction, either directly or indirectly. As

the author of crusades, inquisitions and every other insidious form of destruction, the counterfeit movement has amounted to the world’s most dreadful killing machine. Tens of millions have died due to the decree of the church at Rome in its quest for power and dominance. The true Church may have been its main target, but it constituted only a fraction of its victims.

Christ’s admonition in Matthew 24:9 warned of such persecution: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you.” Daniel 7 gives a prophetic picture of one of the horns (the false church) of the fourth beast (the Roman Empire). Verse 8 reads, “I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.”

Continuing in verses 20-21: “And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.”

Finally, verses 24-25 read, “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” (The 3½ times equals 1,260 years in Revelation 12:6.

In Revelation 12:14, 3½ times equals 1,260 days.)

This system “made war with the saints,” “prevailed against them,” “spoke great words against the Most High,” and was to “wear out the saints of the Most High.” This “little horn” is precisely the same counterfeit movement whose rise to power we have just

summarized from Church history. As we proceed, it will become evident how deadly this “little horn speaking great things” would become in regard to the true Church—and to all civilization.

Most have assumed that the church at Rome, having developed into a large and powerful organization, has constituted a stabilizing influence on the world. Most believe that this church has injected a sense of morality and responsibility into mankind’s collective conscience to help make this world a better place. Behind the façade—its huge Romanesque or Gothic cathedrals with elaborate edifices, their interiors echoing unintelligible Latin incantations—is a counterfeit religion. The rider of this white horse has called down numerous wars in the name of religion.

In the wake of wars have followed famine and disease. Revelation 6:8 summarizes this: “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death [disease], and with the beasts of the earth.” This counterfeit rider of the white horse, along with the other three horsemen, has killed or will kill a fourth of all humanity.

This has indeed happened on various occasions. In the second century (c. 167 to 185), all of the four conditions followed in succession and “a quarter of the human race perished during this short period…” (History of Epidemic Diseases, Webster, p. 74).

From 250 to 265, the same four conditions preceded the plagues and “pestilence…DESOLATED the Roman Empire” (p. 79). This is also described

by Gibbon in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: “…above half the people of Alexandria had perished, and…we might suspect that WAR, PESTILENCE, and FAMINE had consumed…the MOIETY [half] of the human species” (ch. 10, p. 111).

Often fought in the name of religion, wars have resulted in the subse7

quent scourges of famines, followed by devastating pestilences. (To learn more, read our booklets And there shall be FAMINES and And there shall be PESTILENCES.) Even “the beasts of the earth” (Rev. 6:8) caused more death because of the false church, as noted in the following example. The black plague caused the deaths of millions during the 1300s— about one fourth of Europe’s population. The lack of sanitation resulted in an explosion of the rat population that carried the fleas that spread the plague.

In Europe, the Jewish populations who practiced the biblical admonition of sanitation were spared the brunt of this plague. Ironically, many of them were accused of conspiring to spread it (resulting in the torture and death of thousands of Jews), when they were merely practicing what was in the Bible.

Of course, the false church opposed the Bible and usually condemned anyone found in possession of one to death. This church’s domination led to one of the most chaotic periods in history—the Dark Ages. Note John 1:5 and 3:19: “And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” The false church knew nothing about the true light. Under the inspiration of the god of this world, they proceeded to twist, pervert and counterfeit every single doctrine of truth. Yet the world received them, because it was also in darkness.

Church at Rome Persecutes the True Church In the Wilderness

As the universal church system reasserts its great power, it will not be to the benefit of humanity. Instead, it will yet again bring danger, destruction and death for many! Consider a few examples of the merciless destruction it has carried out through the centuries.

Not content with merely driving the Church of God into the wilderness, the counterfeit church pursued it, intending to destroy it completely.

8

Moving forward in time to the Thyatira Era (circa 1200), the Church of God was unrelenting in its determination to carry on its work.

The following account is typical of the counterfeit church’s heartless brutality: “In 1290 a Catholic-led army sacked the town of Beziers with disastrous results. Crusaders forced open doors of churches and then proceeded to hack to pieces those who had sought refuge inside. Corpses were stacked up by the thousands as men and women, babies and invalids were butchered outright. Over two hundred staunch ‘heretics’ in the neighboring city of Montsegur had their trial by fire. They were dragged from the city and incinerated in one massive funeral pyre. In Toulouse, an old bedridden woman thought to be a heretic was hauled out of bed to meet her fiery death.

According to one account of the incident: ‘This done,’ Pehlhisson tells us, ‘the Bishop, together with the monks and their attendants, returned to the refectory and, after giving thanks to God and St. Dominic, fell cheerfully upon the food set before them’” (Massacre at Montsegur, p. 291).

The following quote by Dr. Henry M. Halley shows how particular popes elevated their position above what they perceived God to be (Halley capitalized the first letter of certain words for emphasis): “Innocent III (1198-1216).

Most Powerful of all the Popes.

Claimed to be ‘Vicar of Christ,’ ‘Vicar of God,’ ‘Supreme Sovereign over the Church and the World.’ Claimed the right to Depose Kings and Princes; and that ‘All things on earth and in heaven and in hell are subject to the Vicar of Christ.’

“He brought the Church into Supreme Control of the State. The Kings of Germany, France, England, and practically all the Monarchs of Europe obeyed his will. He even brought the Byzantine Empire under his control. Never in history has any one man exerted more power.

“He ordered Two Crusades.

Decreed Transubstantiation. Confirmed Auricular Confession. Declared that Peter’s successor ‘can never in any way

depart from the Catholic faith,’ Papal Infallibility. Condemned the Magna Charta. Forbade the Reading of the Bible in vernacular. Ordered the Extermination of Heretics. Instituted the Inquisition. Ordered the Massacre of the Albigenses. More Blood was Shed under his direction, and that of his immediate successors, than in any other period of Church History, except in the Papacy’s effort to Crush the Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries. One would think Nero, the Beast, had come to life in Name of the Lamb.

“The Inquisition, called the ‘Holy Office,’ was instituted by Pope Innocent III, and perfected under the second following Pope, Gregory IX. It was the Church Court for Detection and Punishment of Heretics. Under it everyone was required to inform against Heretics. Anyone suspected was liable to Torture, without knowing the name of his accuser. The proceedings were secret. The Inquisitor pronounced sentence, and the victim was turned over to Civil Authorities to be Imprisoned for Life, or to be Burned.

The victim’s property was confiscated, and divided between the Church and the State” (Halley’s Bible Handbook, Zondervan, pp. 776-777).

Characteristic of all totalitarian regimes, the Catholic inquisitors used the following tactics: “The sudden knock on the door in the middle of the night was one ploy they used very effectively. Like the Nazis of World War II, they too had a special penchant for persecuting members of the Jewish race. Communities were constantly under surveillance in order to turn up any telltale signs of Jewish activities.

Sharp-eyed clerics were always on the lookout for even the slightest hint of Sabbath-keeping.

“The inquisitors had sterner measures in store for those few stubborn souls who would not recant. The excruciating pain of the rack, water torture or suspension by the wrists often worked wonders on these hardto-crack cases. For those incorrigible wretches who persisted in their free thinking, there was only one remedy—

the stake…” (The Rise of the Spanish Inquisition, Jean Plaidy, p. 158).

Consider this quote: “The same brutal methods were tried in the Spanish Netherlands with much the same results. During the height of the Inquisition in that country, the Emperor Maximillian asked the head of Spain, Phillip II, to put an end to the brutality. Phillip’s reply bears repeating: ‘What I have done has been for the repose of the Provinces, and for the defense of the Catholic Faith. Nor would I do otherwise than I have done, though I should risk the sovereignty of the Netherlands—no, though the world should fall around me in ruins’” (The End of the Spanish Inquisition, Plaidy, p. 21).

This was a typical obsession of the universal church—to be willing to leave the whole world in ruins in defense of the “Catholic Faith.” By contrast, God’s true servants follow Christ’s example, as depicted in John 10:10-13: “The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf catches them, and scatters the sheep.

The hireling flees, because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep.”

As opposed to a hireling, Christ put His life on the line for the sheep, as a good shepherd should do. Impulsive executioners such as Phillip II and popes Innocent III and Gregory IX did not even measure up to the level of a hireling, much less that of a good shepherd. More appropriately, they were wolves who devoured the sheep, or thieves who came to kill and destroy. These executioners, and many others like them, have placed the defense of their religion before the lives and welfare of their unfortunate subjects. Though there yet remains one more terrible onslaught before Christ’s Return, their successors will not reign much longer.

To summarize, note this profound assessment by Halley: “In the period immediately following Pope Innocent III the Inquisition did its most deadly work against the Albigenses…but also claimed vast multitudes of victims in Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

“Later on the Inquisition was the main agency in the Papacy’s effort to Crush the Reformation. It is stated that in the 30 years between 1540 and 1570 no fewer than 900,000…were put to death in the Pope’s war for the extermination of the Waldenses…

“Think of Monks and Priests, in holy garments, directing, with Heartless Cruelty and Inhuman Brutality, the work of Torturing and Burning alive Innocent Men and Women, and doing it in the Name of Christ, by the direct order of the ‘Vicar of Christ.’

“The Inquisition was the Most Infamous and Devilish Thing in Human History. It was devised by Popes, and used by them for 500 years, to Maintain their Power” (Halley’s Bible Handbook, p. 777).

Another insightful comment by Halley shows why the Roman Catholics reacted so brutally. He stated that the Papacy “by Armed Force and bloodshed has maintained itself in power.” Without this consistent, strong show of force, which effectively amounted to a reign of terror for many centuries (1,260 years for the Church), the nations would have revolted long before the Protestant Reformation and the resulting Thirty Years’ War. Can you imagine a church, professing to represent Christ’s government on earth, maintaining control through a reign of terror? It could be none other than the counterfeit rider of the white horse!

The Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation followed in the wake of such dedicated scholars as Erasmus in the early 1500s. By diligently editing a number of Greek manuscripts, he compiled the most accurate Greek New Testament to that date.

His work exposed what appeared to be

a significant number of deliberate mistranslations in the official Latin Vulgate. As a result, scholars throughout Europe became suspicious of what the Catholics called sacred. The criticism that Erasmus brought upon his own religion—Roman Catholicism— was unrelenting. He was motivated to reform from within. His criticisms were not heeded within, but they did make an impact outside the controlling hierarchy of the church.

In contrast to the Waldenses, whose unquestionable conduct impressed friend and foe alike, the Catholic Church was corrupt and scandalous at every level. The practices of simony (offices and positions for sale) and indulgences (remission of sin—past present and future—for a price) proved too much for some Catholics, such as Martin Luther. Erasmus was the catalyst, but Martin Luther proved to be the force driving the Reformation.

Even before the 16th century, many European monarchies were drifting away from silent submission to papal authority. In Germany, there existed a rising tide of indignation that manifested itself in the form of anti-Catholic and anti-papal sentiment. Meanwhile, Martin Luther entered this complex equation. The following pages are summarized from A History of Europe from the Reformation to the Present Day by Dr. Ferdinand Scheville (Former Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago), chapters 5-7.

Martin Luther Spearheads the Reformation

While studying law at the University of Erfurt, he was marooned in a severe, threatening thunderstorm. Filled with great terror, he vowed to become a monk. Luther joined the Augustine order of friars. In 1507, he became a priest, and in due time became a doctor of theology. To crown his labors, he was called to a professorship at the University of Wittenberg. Some of his own theology had developed before any open confrontation with the church. What initially began with rejecting the Catholic definition of “works” (keeping the sacraments) 9

eventually carried to excess, as he rejected the concept of works of any sort (including obedience). He concluded that faith alone was required for salvation.

In 1517, Luther was thrust into the center of world attention as he unwittingly inaugurated the Protestant Reformation. A Dominican friar, Tetzel, arrived on the confines of Saxony, near Luther’s domain at Wittenberg, selling indulgences. He promoted his product by a special “two for one sale.” He certified that, not only would the penalty be remitted, but the sin itself. Most German citizens had come to view these indulgences as financial schemes to underwrite the scandalous luxury of the Roman Church. Luther vigorously protested against Tetzel and his “sales”—and against the practice in general.

His protest took the form of 95 theses, which, because of their anti-papal approach, appealed to the current sentiment in Germany. Luther did not intend to cause a revolt. His argument was strictly theological. He was furious and stubbornly unyielding in defending his position. The Catholics who confronted him were as unrestrained as he was.

Thus, as with flint striking steel, sparks flew in every direction. A debate that soon followed at the University of Leipzig with a Dr. Eck in 1519 proved to be decisive in the revolutionary development of events. In the heated debate, Luther insisted that the papacy was instituted in a political process rather than being instituted by Jesus Christ. Pope Leo X, an aloft Renaissance pope, was somewhat out of touch with the intense, growing hostility against the Roman Church by many in Germany.

After three years of bitter disagreement, the debates and other confrontations led Luther to condemn the pope, the clergy and the sacraments. Pope Leo X declared Luther a heretic. Amid applauding Wittenbergers, he countered by delivering the pope’s documents to the flames. In keeping with his impetuous nature, he also burned the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, in case anyone had any doubt as to his 10

determination. In 1521, Luther was put on trial at Worms. His judge was none other than the emperor, young Charles V of Hapsburg, along with a brilliant gathering of ambassadors, princes and bishops. This entourage did not impress Luther. He took the traditionally non-Catholic position of elevating the authority of the Bible above the authority of the pope and the church.

He adamantly held his ground on this issue, much like the Waldenses, whom he secretly admired.

Upon departing from Worms, Luther was escorted by the servants of his prince, the Elector Fredrick of Saxony, to the castle at Wortburg for protection from imperial forces. By then, most of his countrymen held Luther in the highest esteem. Various princes of adjoining territories promised allegiance to his cause, effectively leaving the Roman Catholic Church to follow Luther—the Lutheran Church.

In 1525, to emphasize removing the shackles of Catholicism, Luther, who was a friar (monk), renounced his vows and married a former nun who had followed his lead. As various monasteries came under Lutheran control, the monks and nuns were free to resume their civic duties. In many instances, they married. Other Catholic rites that were abolished included the adoration of the Virgin Mary and the saints and, of course, indulgences.

Church mass was recognized as idolatrous and abandoned. Religious services were reduced to prayer, song and sermon. Luther and his followers dropped Latin from services in favor of German, the language of the people.

Although Luther’s main goal was limited religious or doctrinal reform, the resulting spirit of freedom spilled over into political spheres, as well as the philosophical and social. Various religious remedies abounded. (Such sweeping radicalism has attended every great upheaval in history—and has usually been the greatest enemy of reform.)

Sensing a general social uprising, Luther insisted that his only concern was religion. He cautioned the people to be moderate in their reactions. But

the spirit of revolution was contagious, resulting in a peasant uprising in 1525.

Fanatics posing as prophets stirred them to action, teaching that an unprecedented era of social justice was about to dawn. Resolving to hasten this, the peasants rebelled. Although widespread, the revolt was quickly quelled—their hopes were dashed.

One reason why Luther was allowed to question, and successfully resist, the dictates of the universal church at Rome was that German emperor Charles V was bogged down in a ten-year war with France. Without the emperor’s active participation, the clergy was powerless to enforce its decrees upon Luther, who was protected by an increasing number of the princes of northern Germany. The German Reichstag issued a concession in 1526. It gave the princes and free cities of Germany the right to act in matters of faith, as each could answer to God and to the emperor. This amounted to a qualified recognition of the new Lutheran Church. The emperor demanded that this concession be repealed. The Reichstag complied and Lutheranism was again outlawed.

But the decade of liberty enjoyed by the Lutherans had solidified their resolve. They retaliated with their own declaration, avowing that their duty to God and conscience took precedence over their duty to their earthly overlord.

The reformers united into a party— Protestants. This name would come to apply to all the groups that rebelled against the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1530, the emperor summoned Luther to the Reichstag in Augsburg to state his position. Luther and a close associate documented the strict essentials of the new faith, and presented them before the emperor. It became known as the Confession of Augsburg.

So greatly did it appeal to Lutherans that it became (and has remained to this day) the creed of the Lutheran Church. The emperor gave the Lutherans six months before they would be taken back into the Catholic fold.

Stirred to action, the Protestant princes called for a meeting, which

resulted in the league for mutual protection of 1531. They had resolved to stand by the Protestant cause, with force if necessary. Because of the threat from the Turks, a certain reconciliation took place. Emperor Charles V signed a truce with the Protestants to enlist their help. Facing the strength of a Germany united behind the emperor, the Turks quickly retreated.

Not until 1545 was the emperor in a position to re-address the Lutheran issue. The Catholics convened the general Council at the Alpine city of Trent.

By then, the Protestants had completely broken with their past and were unwilling to submit to the Roman church under any terms. This Council only confirmed the Catholic position, with no concessions for the Protestants. The emperor now knew that the final decision would be made on the battlefield. Luther died in 1546, just before the outbreak of hostilities.

The initial skirmishes were not conclusive. A number of events bought precious time for the Protestants to combine their resources. Emperor Charles V abdicated in favor of his younger brother, and died two years later at a secluded monastery in Spain. The next two emperors were unusually conciliatory with the Protestants—affording them more time and space.

Other Leaders of the Reformation Movement

The Swiss reformer, Ulrich Zwingli, was another driving force behind the Protestant Reformation. Like Luther, he was greatly influenced by Erasmus.

Unlike Luther, he had an even temper and was far more diplomatic in dealing with political and religious opponents.

In his disdain for the abuses of the Catholic hierarchical government, Zwingli went to the opposite extreme.

He adopted a form of government that most Protestants would opt to follow in the future course of events. Zwingli thought church government should be democratic, ensuring that its followers would disband into a multitude of fragments, in continual disarray (Read our free booklet Should Christians VOTE?).

An interesting encounter then occurred with the intent of bringing the followers of Luther and Zwingli together. Their discussion went smoothly until the issue of transubstantiation (the belief that the wine and bread of the “Eucharist” were transformed into the blood and flesh of Christ) was brought up. Luther still held to this Catholic invention, but relabeled it “consubstantiation.”

Zwingli recognized it as unbiblical.

Due to their disagreement, their plan to consolidate their movements came to nothing. Zwingli was killed by Catholic forces in 1531. In the long run, his movement actually influenced Protestantism more than did Luther’s.

Another important reformer was John Calvin. While studying at a French university, he became a Reformation advocate. He fled the country because the king of France, in cooperation with the Catholic Church, was condemning Protestants to the stake. Calvin took up residence in Bern, Switzerland in 1536, where he followed the teachings of Zwingli.

Later, while he traveled through Geneva, a free republic that had adopted Protestantism, the citizens solicited his help. By this time, Calvin’s works had already become well known, and the Genevans were honored when he made their city his base of operations.

The Catholic Church was not alone in persecuting other faiths.

Protestantism also had its hand in it.

For example, members of small Protestant groups, such as the Anabaptist Church, were tortured and murdered because, in the eyes of many Protestants and Catholics, they were viewed as a heretical movement. Also, Unitarians, who fled from Roman Catholic persecution, thought they had found safety in Geneva. However, John Calvin personally had their leader burned at the stake for denying the trinity.

Calvin’s brand of Protestantism was primarily Puritanism. He taught that a true Christian should turn away from frivolity and self-indulgence, while adopting a plain and morally strict way of life. Calvin was unwilling

to trust exhortation alone to keep his believers on the straight and narrow path. In Geneva, he was compelled to establish a board of ministers, the equivalent of a moral police force, called the “consistory.”

Some of their sentences included having children whipped for being disrespectful to their parents; having men pilloried (locked onto a wooden framework with their heads and hands held through holes) for blasphemy. Fines and imprisonment were imposed for: dancing, card playing, singing “profane” (non-religious) songs, and nonattendance of church.

Calvin’s version of predestination was of the strictest sort and extremely fatalistic. He felt that God could know from one’s birth whether he would be saved or lost (Read our booklet Does the Bible Teach PREDESTINATION? to learn more).

Calvinism eventually came to be far more influential outside of Germany than did Lutheranism. The Puritan movement was prominent in England for over a century. Scotland (home of John Knox, reformer and devoted pupil of Calvin) and the Dutch section of the Netherlands were strongholds of Calvinism. In Scotland, it gave rise to the Presbyterian denomination.

All of the Protestant reformers were pragmatic in their efforts to gain support. They were attempting to exit what they knew to be a church of corrupt practices with a plethora of false and counterfeit doctrines. These reformers depended on alliances with various civil leaders, who had similar distaste for the corruption of the Catholic Church. Thus the reformers had to moderate their position so that they could enlist the support of these civil leaders. The understanding of the Catholic Church’s unbiblical stance was widespread, not so much by the Protestants as by the Waldenses, who preceded them. It was the Waldenses (later called Lollards) who widely distributed the Bible in the common languages, both before and after the invention of printing.

Luther had admired the Waldenses for quite some time. Their effect upon 11

him was much greater than most history books acknowledge. Notice this quote from A History of the True Religion, chapter 20: “Luther himself, while it is said believed in and practiced the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, did not prescribe it in his articles of faith for his followers, in the copies that we now have access to. However, it has been said that in his original thesis, Luther advocated the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, but that his colleagues objected on the grounds that it was an unpopular doctrine, which would have a tendency to repulse supporters of the Reformation who were not as pious as they should have been, but were of great assistance against the usurpations of the papacy.”

Also notice this quote pertaining to Luther’s commentary on Exodus 16:4, 22-30, regarding the Sabbath: “Hence you can see that the Sabbath was before the Law of Moses came, and has existed from the beginning of the world. Especially have the devout, who have preserved the true faith, met together and called upon God on this day.”—Translated from Auslegung des Alten Testaments (Commentary on the Old Testament), in Sämmtliche Schriften (Collected Writings), edited by J.G. Walch, Vol. 3, col. 950 [St. Louis edition of Luther's Works, 1880]).

“Luther said of the Waldenses, ‘…that among them he had found one thing [in particular] worthy of admiration, a thing unheard of in the popish church, that, laying aside the doctrines of men, they meditated in the law of God day and night, and that they were expert, and even well versed, in the knowledge of the Scriptures’” (Jones’ Church History, p. 263). “‘The Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Knox, and others), with all their zeal and learning, were babes in spiritual knowledge when compared with the Waldenses, particularly in regard to the nature of the kingdom of Christ, and its institutions, laws, and worship in general’” (p. 326).

The main difference between the Waldenses and the reformers is that the 12

Waldenses, as the true Church (Thyatira Era), were led by God’s Spirit. The reformers were as carnal as the civil and military leaders with whom they had to cooperate. In spite of Luther’s understanding of the Sabbath, he readily put it aside in order not to “rock the boat” in solidifying support for his movement. Notice this interesting quote from an article entitled, “Can the U.S. Constitution Enforce Sunday?” (The Good News, March 1961): “From the beginning Protestants were not interested in obedience to God, or in the gospel of the kingdom.

Exactly as the early Catholics, they were seeking to convert the kingdoms of this world to their religions. The truth that was open to them passed through their fingers!

“This is why Protestants observe Sunday today! They have voluntarily adopted the MARK of the Beast—the ROMAN EMPIRE’S national holiday!”

The Thirty Years’ War Validates the Reformation

The Peace of Augsburg of 1555 was a victory for Protestantism. But it recognized only Lutheranism—not Calvinism or any other movement. A confrontation between the Protestants and the Catholics was assured, since the Catholics could not willingly give up their power over so many. They also charged the Protestants with illegal land seizures.

While Protestantism grew, Catholicism declined. The Jesuit movement of Loyola of Spain turned such trends around. The Jesuits focused on missionary work (including Protestants), teaching (and reforming Catholic corruption—with some success), and education (virtual brainwashing) of youth. This movement enlivened the ranks. The Jesuits were also extremely political and evolved into spy networks.

As the official spies of the Catholic Church, they condemned many to death merely by their accusations.

They became the central force in executing a reign of terror during the inquisitions. The Jesuits also organized

and trained an army in service of the Catholics.

The first outbreak of hostilities occurred in Prague in 1618, when a Protestant force, supported by the Calvinists of the German province of Palatinate, set up a revolutionary government ruling over much of Bohemia.

Initially, the Lutherans to the north did not get involved. The Catholics successfully intervened, easily defeating the isolated Protestants. Ferdinand II, the emperor during the outbreak of the war, was raised as a devout Jesuit.

The Catholics, under the forces of Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria (another Jesuit), also overran Palatinate. Upon having been promised financial help from James I of England (which the English Parliament soon rejected), the Danes entered the war to save the Protestants in 1625. Having defeated the Catholic army of Bavaria, the Danes were surprised and out-flanked by another Catholic army from Bohemia, led by Wallenstein. With the Danish retreat, the Catholics had won the first three phases of the Thirty Years’ War. The outcry was great from Catholic and Protestant civilians alike, because of their brutal treatment from the Wallenstein army. The emperor disbanded this army and retired Wallenstein. The emperor felt confident in so doing, since the Catholic tide was strong at that time.

The tide turned in favor of the Protestants when the Swedes entered the war in 1630, under King Gustavus Adolphus. For the next five years, the Swedes were victorious over the Catholics. Only by calling the Wallenstein army back into action were the emperor and Vienna rescued.

One costly “victory” by the Swedes proved to be the turning point of the war. One morning, before engaging the enemy, the Swedish trumpeters sounded the hymn of Luther, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and the whole army knelt in prayer. After King Gustavus ordered the attack, the combat was long and furious. The Swedes won the day—but at a terrible cost. In one of the cavalry charges, Gustavus impetu-

ously advanced too far into the ranks of the enemy. He was surrounded and slain.

After the death of their king, the Swedes diminished their activity in the war. In retrospect, the Swedes had single-handedly rescued Protestantism from certain defeat. France entered the final phase of the war.

Ironically, France’s strategy was engineered by Cardinal Richelieu, one of the most brilliant strategists in the annals of French leadership. Although he was a Catholic fighting against other Catholics, he was first and foremost a Frenchman—politics always came before religion.

France was determined to follow the Swedish victories and confront their mortal enemy, the Hapsburg Emperor (of the Holy Roman Empire) at Vienna.

The French momentum brought the new Hapsburg Emperor, Ferdinand III, to terms. The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 gave the Protestants the territorial concessions they desired—an abundance of Catholic real estate, which was originally confiscated by the Catholics, largely from those whom they condemned as heretics. Sweden and France also won territorial concessions. France won the contested region of Alsace, including Verdun, Metz and surrounding territory. Another concession was the recognition of Calvinism as well as Lutheranism. This peace concordant also granted the Netherlands independence from Spain and recognized the new Swiss Confederation. In the end, the Protestant Reformation was established.

Concerning the devastating effects of the Thirty Years’ War, the following quotes are enlightening: “The cities fell into decay, the country became a desert. In view of the certainty that the product of labor would become the booty of marauders, nobody cared to work. The only profession which afforded a semblance of security was that of the soldier, and soldier signified robber and murderer.

Armies became loose bands organized for pillage and marched up and down the country, followed by immense hordes of starved camp-followers,

women and children, who hoped, in this way, to get the sustenance which was no longer obtainable at home…The generation which survived the war grew up without schools…and to its mental and material degradation it added, owing to the prolonged rule of force, a disdain for all simple and honest occupations. Although reliable statistics are not available, it is probably safe to assume that the population declined to half its pre-war size” (A History of Europe, Scheville, chap. 12, pp. 230, 232).

This extended war was initiated by the Catholic Church in an effort to maintain control over its subjects. It was then followed by famines and pestilences.

Mother Rome and Her Daughters

Erasmus, in his book, In Praise of Folly (1509), portrayed the Roman Catholic Church as a woman adorned with pomp and royalty. The Bible also portrays an end-time church system in the same way: “And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration [awe]” (Rev. 17:4-6).

The extent of her domain and rulership is given in verse 1: “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come here; I will show unto you the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters.” The symbol “many waters” is defined in verse 15: “And he said unto me, The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

History shows that no other universal church system has reigned over “peoples, and multitudes, and nations

and tongues.” History shows that no other universal church system has been “drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” except the Roman Catholic Church.

The Bible describes this end-time church system as a great whore, dressed with elaborate pomp and royalty, reigning over vast multitudes.

Verse 2 continues, “With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

In His message to the Thyatira Church Era, Christ referenced the Protestant Reformation, which occurred toward the end of the true Church’s 1,260 years in the wilderness (Rev. 12:6), about the year 1585.

Meanwhile, the initial thrust of the Protestant Reformation occurred from the 1520s through the 1540s.

Revelation 2:20-23, which pertains to the Thyatira Era, puts this event into God’s perspective. “Notwithstanding I have a few things against you, because you suffer that woman Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He which searches the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”

The above verses personify the universal church system as the woman named Jezebel, the wicked wife of King Ahab (I Kings 16-22). She represents this counterfeit church, which appropriately bears her name.

Remember, Revelation 17:5 describes this church a the “mother of harlots.”

Chapter two, verse 23 refers to “her children.” These children retain the same characteristics of harlotry as their mother. Likewise, the churches that emerged from this system maintained 13

the same idolatrous observances nurtured by their mother church, such as Sunday and Easter observance, etc.— more than 90% of their doctrines. The Bible clearly labels these dissidents as “her children,” who separate from their mother church for a time, but never turn from all of her idolatrous false doctrines.

Notice some other important parallels between Jezebel and this mother church: (1) Queen Jezebel was a Gentile practicing a Gentile religion, just as this mother church. By contrast, the true Church is called spiritual Israel.

(2) Jezebel used the charms and prowess of sex to lead, rather than submit to her husband (I Kings 21:7, 25).

Likewise, the mother church rules over her partners—the kings of the earth— in spiritual fornication (Rev. 17:2). For God’s definition of spiritual harlotry, adultery and fornication, see Ezekiel 16:31-34 and 23:1-21.

(3) Jezebel martyred God’s true servants. I Kings 18:4 reveals: “For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them bread and water.” She also attempted to kill the prophet Elijah (19:2-3). The record of this mother church is summarized in Revelation 17:6: “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.”

The following describes this “Jezebel” in greater detail: “While the whole world was drunk on her false doctrine and ‘Jezebel’ herself drunk on the blood of God’s servants…the persecuted, suffering true Church in the ‘wilderness’ saw her clearly revealed in all her filthiness.

“In the Middle Ages, this church sank to its lowest depths (Rev. 2:24).

Careful, reputable, scholarly historians bear unanimous witness of her scandal and sin which blasphemed God’s name. Her ‘celibate’ priests begot numerous offspring. Popes filled their palaces with harlots and thieves.

Vicious females actually ruled that church, elevating their lovers to the 14

papal throne—murdering them later to elevate others!

“We strongly recommend you read the short, unemotional, easy-to-read summary in Halley’s Pocket Bible Handbook, the section on popes. Note especially the periods 900-1050 and 1200-1550. You will be shocked!”

(ACBCC, les. 51, p. 13.)

Besides Queen Jezebel, there was another type representing this mother church that existed around the city of Thyatira, apparently during the Thyatiran Era. She was a prophetess in a famous Chaldean sanctuary. Like Simon Magus, she pretended to be converted and tried to persuade members of the true Church to attend with them and to commit both physical and spiritual fornication.

rior to Jesus Christ, whom they portray as either a baby or one hanging helplessly on a cross.

The adoration of Mary—Mary worship—originated with Semiramis, the mother-wife of Nimrod. This religious symbolism was then passed down through the Babylon Mysteries and revitalized through the counterfeit church. Simon Magus applied parts of this symbolism to represent himself and his mistress Helen. Evidently, Satan, anticipating the birth of Christ, tried to mimic and pervert—counterfeit—this truth, before and after its fulfillment.

The false doctrines that abound from the “great whore” have caused “the inhabitants of the earth to be made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

A Woman Also Typifies the True Church

Tradition vs. Scriptural Authority

Revelation 12:1, 5-6 depicts the true Church as a woman of a different character: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she brought forth a man Child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her Child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”

In a previous section, we observed how vigorously Satan attacked the woman in the wilderness to destroy her: “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man Child” (vs. 13). The next verses picture the true Church being taken to a place of refuge for literally 1,260 days (three and one half years) at the end of the age.

There are numerous examples in Scripture of righteous women whose character symbolized the true Church: Sarah, Ruth, Hannah (mother of Samuel), and Mary (mother of Jesus).

But the counterfeit church has taken Mary and deified her as equal or supe-

Sunday and Easter observances constitute vital centerpieces of Catholic dogma. To highlight their continuing importance to the Catholics, Pope John Paul II, in his “Sunday Letter” (July 7, 1998), made the current position clear: “Therefore, in commemorating the day of Christ’s Resurrection not just once a year but every Sunday, the Church seeks to indicate to every generation the true fulcrum of history, to which the mystery of the world’s origin and its final destiny leads. It is right, therefore, to claim, in the words of a fourth century homily, that ‘the Lord’s Day’ is ‘the lord of days.’

“Those who have received the grace of faith in the Risen Lord cannot fail to grasp the significance of this day of the week with the same deep emotion which led Saint Jerome to say: ‘Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, it is the day of Christians, it is our day.’

“For Christians, Sunday is ‘the fundamental feastday,’ established not only to mark the succession of time but to reveal time’s deeper meaning. The fundamental importance of Sunday has been recognized through two thousand years of history and was emphatically restated by the Second Vatican Council: ‘Every seven days the Church

celebrates the Easter mystery’…The coming of the Third Millennium, which calls believers to reflect upon the course of history in the light of Christ, also invites them to rediscover with new intensity the meaning of Sunday: its ‘mystery,’ its celebration, its significance…”

Now let’s examine how Sunday worship and its connection to Easter originated. There was a meeting between Polycarp, the leader of the true Church of God at the beginning of the Smyrna Era (about 154), and the Bishop of Rome, regarding the Roman church’s erroneous actions of changing the time of Passover observance to a Sunday.

The tactics that the Catholics used to establish precedent were scandalous and unscrupulous, as the following account reveals. An unusual letter appeared after Polycarp had left, considered by most scholars to have been a deliberate forgery. It read: “Pope Pius, who lived about 147, had made a decree, that the annual solemnity of the Pascha [this Greek word is derived from the Hebrew word pesach] should be kept on the Lord’s day [Sunday] and in confirmation of this he pretended, that Hermes [Hermas] his brother, who was then an eminent teacher among them, had received instruction from an angel, who commanded that all men should keep the Pasch on the Lord’s day” (Antiquities of the Christian Church, Joseph Bingham, pp. 1148-1149).

“One of the letters forged in the name of Pius, where one Hermas [Hermes] is mentioned as the author; and it is stated that in his book a commandment was given through an angel to observe the Passover on a Sunday” (Apostolical Fathers, James Donaldson, p. 324). If this letter was invented after Polycarp’s time, then it was a deliberate forgery. Otherwise, Pius himself was the author of this deceptive letter. Pius died just before Polycarp’s visit to Rome.

Suppose this incident was not a forgery and Hermes did receive instructions from an angel. Would instructions from an angel carry prece-

dence over God’s instructions through His apostles or prophets (Eph. 2:20)?

Notice Galatians 1:8: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” Paul repeats this in verse 9 and declares a double curse on any who violate this!

Plainly, no angel or man has any authority to override God’s instructions. The Roman church appropriated to themselves the power to supersede and change the laws of God: “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws” (Dan. 7:25).

They did this—and continue to do it—under the guise of tradition. This was well expressed by Tertullian (in about 200), with his classic assertion: “…if for these and other such rules [for Sunday observance] you insist upon having positive scriptural injunction, you will find NONE. TRADITION will be held forth to you as the originator of them—CUSTOM as their strengthener and FAITH as their preserver. That reason will support tradition, and custom, and faith, you will either yourself perceive, or learn from some one who has” (De Corona, sect.

4).

Tertullian, in true Catholic tradition, was saying that people would learn this by their own efforts. If not, then it would be “crammed down their throats” by Catholic zealots. History shows that the only option among those subject to the Roman pontiff was submission or flight.

In view of this, read the following quote: “A rule of faith, or a competent guide to heaven, must be able to instruct all the truths necessary for salvation. Now the Scriptures alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin all the duties which he is obliged to practice. Not to mention other examples, is not every Christian obliged to sanctify Sunday and to abstain on that day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the observance of this law among the most

promising of our sacred duties? But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify” (Faith of Our Fathers, Cardinal Gibbons, p. 89, 1917 ed.)

The Catholic leadership does not hide their claim that tradition outweighs Scripture. In theory, the Council of Trent of 1545 supposedly gave “tradition” equal authority to the Bible. In order to justify their overt heresies, they have to look somewhere other than Scripture. The scriptures to which they do occasionally refer are sadly watered down and altered from the original texts, clouding almost every issue. Whether by hoax or fraud, as with the letter presented by Anicetus, once tradition is established, it is exalted and untouchable. When deceit and scandal are used as reasons to establish traditions, one has to wonder how committed the followers of such traditions could possibly be. Only those who are seduced and drunken with the wine of this church’s fornication (Rev. 17:2) could possibly buy into such blatant deception.

The Ecumenical Movement

Rome’s Protestant daughters, who came out of her “in protest,” have now been separated from her for more than four centuries. Today there exists an ecumenical movement to return to mother Rome.

In 1993, an incredible book, All Roads Lead to Rome? The Ecumenical Movement, was written by Michael de Semlyen, a prominent Protestant.

Although he saw the trend of the Ecumenical Movement as growing and apparently irreversible, his purpose was to warn fellow Protestants of the folly of reverting to Rome. Most of the facts provided in this section originated from his book.

Semlyen pointed out that since the Church’s inception, the martyrs possessed an uncompromising love for the truth that is alien to people today.

Martyrs chose to please God rather 15

than man. Truth and principle came before “unity.”

Today, avoiding controversy at all costs is considered more admirable than standing up for deeply held convictions—today sometimes interpreted as “bigotry.” (Throughout the course of Church history, those who liberalized true doctrines have always held extreme contempt for those who held fast to the truth they all once commonly believed.)

Semlyen observed that today’s Roman Catholic Church, so aware of man’s spineless state, freely dictates their terms of unity without fear of protest. Without apology, the Catholic Church asserts that only it possesses the wealth of God’s truth and the only means of grace. It openly declares itself to be the “one true Church founded on St. Peter, the rock.” People today know little, and could care less, about such issues as doctrine. A modern slogan of Protestant thinking is: “Doctrine divides, service unites.”

Slogans like these were echoed in the ecumenical gatherings of the 1990s. They applied to the liberal Protestants giving in to Rome. But Rome has not budged on doctrine, as echoed in this official statement from the Catholic Register (1961): “‘There can be no change in any dogma or basic teaching of the Catholic Church, for such a change would be a denial that the Church is the true Church founded by Christ’” (All Roads Lead to Rome?, p. 22).

The current Ecumenical Movement started in the 1960s, originating from the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement. The Catholics readily accepted their proposals, because these groups emphasized religious experience and emotion rather than doctrine. This “truce” was called the Charismatic Renewal movement and led to warmer relations with many in these Evangelical groups. This led to the Second Vatican Council of 1965. The Catholics made a few concessions toward the Protestants for the sake of unity. Instead of “heretics,” the Protestants were officially deemed “separated brethren.”

16

It is interesting that the Catholics had initially allied with the Charismatic movement. With this in mind, an official statement by the Vatican City News (Jan. 26, 1999) updated their rules for exorcism. The following quote reveals the Catholic understanding of demon possession: “Among the widely accepted signs of possession by the devil are speaking in unknown tongues and demonstrating physical force beyond one’s natural capacity.”

The issue of unknown tongues referred to by Paul in I Corinthians 14 dealt specifically with the gift of being able to communicate in a foreign language unfamiliar to the speaker—but words that benefit the listeners.

However, the gibberish of speaking meaningless words or “unknown tongues” (usually accompanied by falling backward in convulsive motions) is unmistakably indicative of demon possession. This is a centerpiece of the Charismatic movement, yet it posed no barrier as far as the Catholics were concerned. Some Catholics also practice this. The Catholic Church and the Vatican, in particular, are no strangers to demonism. Startling insight into this topic was disclosed in Windswept House, by Professor Malachi Martin, a former Jesuit.

Since its beginnings with the Charismatic groups, the Ecumenical movement has gained significant momentum. More prominent and larger Protestant groups have caught on to this spirit, such as the Anglican Church (Church of England) and the Episcopal branch of churches. A much closer association with the Greek Orthodox Church, whose main doctrinal difference is the issue of submission to the pope at Rome, has been reached. As the movement continues to gain momentum, any alarms sounded within the ranks of Protestantism have less and less impact. Those who persist in warning about what they see as a dangerous trend proclaim that the entire Protestant Reformation is being reversed. Vital differences in belief have become blurred.

Today, unity and avoiding controversy weigh heavier on modern minds that are conditioned by secular and liberal thinking—devoid of true biblical understanding or the lessons of history.

In contrast to today’s view, “‘The Reformers saw the whole Catholic system as anti-Christian. Luther and Calvin went so far as to identify the Papacy with the Antichrist and they like Wycliffe, Tyndale…and many others saw the Roman Catholic Institution as Mystery Babylon, the Mother of Harlots, vividly described in Revelation chapter 17’” (All Roads Lead to Rome?, p. 33).

The church of Rome has also added additional dogma that would seem to make reconciliation with Protestants even more objectionable. These include: Papal Infallibility (1870), the Immaculate Conception (1854) and the Assumption into heaven of Mary, Mother of God (1950). In 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed “infallibly” that “Mary’s body was raised from the grave shortly after she died, and she was taken up and enthroned as Queen of Heaven” (p. 48).

In 1988, Pope John Paul II included a prayer in his Easter message in which he called upon the Queen of Heaven for protection and peace in the world. The term “queen of heaven” appears only in Jeremiah 44:17-25, 7:18; here, Judah was strongly indicted for worshiping her. Many scholars, including Alexander Hislop (author of The Two Babylons), identify this queen of heaven as Semiramis. She, along with Nimrod, inaugurated the mother and child and virgin mother accounts that are prominent (under related names) in numerous ancient religions.

The book The Keys of This Blood,

by Malachi Martin (1990), provides revealing insight on the significance of the “deified” Mary in the person of “Our Lady of Fatima.” The Fatima revelations occurred in 1917 in Portugal, in which Mary supposedly appeared to three children. On October 13, some astonishing “miracles” took place, as over 70,000 witnessed what appeared to be the sun spinning wildly on its axis like a gigantic wheel of fire.

Prophetic revelations supposedly were revealed to the children over a period of months before this.

According to Martin’s book, Pope John Paul II is thoroughly convinced that he has been called to be the moral and spiritual leader of a world government, based on understandings stemming from the Fatima revelations. He is also convinced that Our Lady of Fatima spared his life in the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981. As he bent over to inspect an “Our Lady of Fatima” medal worn by a little girl, the two gunshots aimed specifically at his head passed over him. Hospitalized shortly after, the Pope had a vision, essentially a replication of what happened on October 13, 1917. The “Virgin Mother” told him that she would soon intervene with signs and wonders that will “authenticate” John Paul’s reign over the world for a short time of peace and prosperity BEFORE the Return of Christ.

Considering the Pope’s advancing age and ill health, will this vision be carried out by his successor?

Behind the Vatican’s Façade

Certain Protestants that oppose the Ecumenical Movement point out that the face of Rome changes, depending on her location. In Britain and North America, she adopts a high moral tone and is represented in the media as a staunch defender of morality.

But there is another side to the coin: “In countries where Roman Catholicism’s grip is surer, standards do not rise so high. In Uganda, Haiti and the Philippines, to name but three in different parts of the world, Roman Catholicism is fully integrated into local paganism and the Gospel totally obscured within it. In the Philippines, missionaries regularly have a glimpse of the other face of Catholicism which is not to be seen in England. At Easter time young Filipinos do penance for ‘serious’ sins by being nailed to crosses and left to hang for several hours at a time…in this way the penitents believe that they obtain forgiveness from their god via his priest.

“In a number of countries in Africa and in Haiti, the local power of the priest is equated to that of the witch doctor or the voodoo ‘god.’ In primitive and superstitious cultures the church exerts a stranglehold over all aspects of life, not dissimilar to that of the feudal system of medieval days…Haiti is said to be ‘85% Catholic and 110% Voudun [religion practicing voodoo, essentially a practice of ritualized demon possession].

Every voodoo ceremony begins with Catholic prayers’” (All Roads Lead to Rome?, Semlyen, p.60).

“In Protestant countries such as Britain and the USA, the Roman Church appears moderate and tolerant, but in Catholic countries such as Peru, Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, and countries in Africa like Uganda and Zambia, also short on experience with democracy but where the Catholic Church is strong, Rome’s other side has shown itself in intolerance and cruelties towards Protestants” (p. 64).

“In Colombia, in 1948, a reactionary government attained power with the help of the Roman Catholic Church. A concordat was signed with the Vatican under which severe restrictions were placed on Protestants. From 1948 to 1959, 116 Protestants were killed, 66 Protestant churches or chapels were burned or bombed, and over 200 schools closed” (“Report on the Evangelical Conf. of Colombia,” Bulletin 50, June 26, 1959).

“The Vatican appeared to approve these things, for the Archbishop of Bogota was promoted to Cardinal by Pope John XXIII in 1960” (Roman Catholicism, Lorraine Boettner, Banner of Truth Trust, 1962).

“It was only a quarter of century ago in 1964 that in Spain a warehouse containing bibles of the British and Foreign Bible Society was burned down by the government authorities.

At that time Protestants were debarred from holding any public office and the professions such as medicine, nursing, law, teaching and banking, were for the most part closed to them.

Protestant schools were banned, as

were Protestant marriage services and funeral services in many towns. No Protestant literature could be published or distributed without a license” (All Roads Lead to Rome?, p. 67).

“The continuing persecution of tiny minorities of evangelicals by state Catholicism contrasts sharply with the benevolent tolerance extended to Catholics in Western Protestant countries. It was in Spain that the Inquisition carried out its worst excesses, but in many other parts of the world it has been extremely effective in controlling peoples and nations.

Its Tribunal has never been abolished, nor has the Roman Church ever renounced physical force to obtain spiritual ends. There has never been any repentance or apology for the Inquisition. Where there is ‘infallibility,’ real repentance is impossible” (p.

69).

The Vatican—Bastion of Power and Wealth

Let’s now address the newly united Europe under Catholic domination.

Under a picture of the Tower of Babel, a Council of Europe advertisement depicts Europe: “Many tongues, one voice.” Many people see the European community, rapidly developing into a United States of Europe, as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy as well as a revival of the Holy Roman Empire.

“The British Post Office produced a special stamp for the 1984 European Elections which displayed a picture of a loosely clad woman, resembling a harlot riding on a beast like a bull.

Europe’s flag has a circle of twelve stars and is colored blue, a configuration and color very closely resembling countless Catholic pictures of The Virgin Mary” (All Roads Lead to Rome?, p. 89).

“A well-orchestrated publicity drive has pushed the Hapsburg family back into the limelight in Austrian political circles. The last Crown Prince, Otto, a Euro MP for the right wing Christian Social Union in his adopted Bavaria, is convinced that the day of the European ‘Reich’ will dawn.

The campaign to annul the so-called 17

Hapsburg laws (barring the revival of the Empire) has the support of a large circulation newspaper and many conservative politicians. Otto and his son, Karl, are both working for the family’s ideals—transnational ideals—in a modern political form” (Sunday Telegraph, Nov. 22, 1992).

As a church, Roman Catholicism is entirely unique. It includes a plethora of organizations within it for functions seemingly unrelated to what a church would be expected to employ. Today, their influence permeates virtually every major agency, government and organization, wherever power is brokered.

Obviously, the Roman Catholic Church is much more than just a church—it is a global political power.

The following quotes testify to this: “Although without armies, navies and super hydrogen bombs, the Vatican has more power at its disposal than if it had the greatest military capability. The Pope’s government is as important as that of the USA, of Russia or of China except that territorially and spiritually it is far larger and it exerts more influence than the three combined” (Vatican Imperialism, A. Manhattan, 1965). “…Is it realized for instance that one third of the land of Spain is hers [Rome’s]?—and that in South America she owns vast expanses? And this does not include innumerable other properties spread over the rest of the globe.

Already Peter’s pence from 400 million faithful legacies, offerings and Masses (all geared to helping loved ones through the pains of purgatory), ensure the Holy See a revenue that may be termed astronomical…” (All Roads Lead to Rome?, p. 124).

Vatican opposition to abortion, birth control and homosexuality has little to do with any biblical ordinances or the sanctity of human life. The Vatican realizes that each new life contributes to the funding of the church. The fact that they only respond with token opposition to birth control in major Protestant countries confirms this obvious façade.

While on the subject of Rome’s acquisition of wealth, it is interesting 18

to note that their holdings in the United States alone are greater than that of the five wealthiest U.S. corporations. (See Vatican Billions by Arvo Manhattan.)

“Such wealth and a matchless organizational structure has enabled the Vatican’s influence and will to be exercised invisibly and variously by Orders, such as the Jesuits and Opus Dei, the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, the Knights Templar, the Legionaires of Christ and the Prieure de Sion (a Templar Order involved with hermetic Freemasonry and with close ties to the House of Hapsburg) and the Blue Army [Catholics loyal to the requirements of Our Lady of Fatima]…In common one with another and with Freemasonry too, they possess a very acceptable public image, a secret oath, and higher echelons which are kept secret often even from their own lower levels. At the highest levels there is participation in other secret organizations such as the Rosicrucians and the Illuminati” (All Roads Lead to Rome?, pp. 125126).

Of the orders listed above, the Jesuits have historically made the most significant impact, with their everpresent pursuit of those they perceive as opponents to Rome. They have been expelled from every country in Europe and are described as the “secret army of the Papacy.”

The following information may be difficult to believe, but it did, in fact, happen: “According to the French writer Adolphe Michel, Voltaire estimated the number of books written about the Jesuits over the years to be around 6000 at the end of the 18th century. In the 19th century books and sermons countering the Jesuits and their activities were published in profusion.

Nowadays they are few and far between. It seems that innumerable such works have gone out of print and disappeared from the bookshelves. In theological colleges and public libraries, it is now hard to find any history of the Jesuits beyond the beginning of the 17th century. Most books on the counter-reformation are written

by Roman Catholics, many by the Jesuits themselves. Given that the Society of Jesus, today possibly more than ever, is the leading wing of the Roman Church, all of this needs explanation and attention. Protestant watchmen believe that the Jesuits have accomplished a remarkable feat in a relatively short time span in ridding schools, universities and theological colleges of almost all historical literature written from a Protestant [or nonCatholic] viewpoint” (p. 130).

A Woman Rides the Beast

The following are quotes and admissions from various Catholics and former Catholics. They originate from an incredible book, A Woman Rides the Beast, by Dave Hunt.

Pope Innocent III (1198-1216): “Thus, as the moon receives its light from the sun…so the royal power [state] derives from the Pontifical authority the splendor of its dignity…The state of the world…will be restored by our diligence and care…for the pontifical authority and the royal power…fully suffice for this purpose…” (p. 50).

Pope Innocent III: “Every cleric must obey the Pope, even if he commands what is evil; for no one may judge the Pope” ( p. 86).

From today’s Code of Cannon Law: “The First See [Rome/papacy] is judged by no one. It is the right of the Roman Pontiff himself alone to judge…those who hold the highest civil office in a state…There is neither appeal nor recourse against a decision or decree of the Roman Pontiff” (p.

86).

Pope Pius IX: “These false and perverse opinions [of democracy and individual freedom] are so much the more detestable, by as much as they…hinder and banish that salutary influence which the Catholic Church, by the institution and command of her Divine Author, ought freely to exercise, even to the consummation of the world, not only over individual men, but [over] nations, [over] peoples, and [over] sovereigns” (p. 120).

“The history of celibacy makes for

reading so black…A large part [of it] is the story of the degradation of women…” (Peter de Rosa, Vicars of Christ.)

“The recent disclosures of widespread sexual misconduct on the part of certain members of the Roman Catholic clergy come as no surprise to most of us who were once priests or nuns.” Ex-nun Patricia Nolan Savas in USA Today (p. 160).

“The Church…condemns with anathema those who say that indulgences are useless or that the Church does not have the power to grant them” Vatican II (p. 178).

“Fear, then, our wrath and the thunders of our vengeance; for Jesus Christ has appointed us [the popes] with his own mouth absolute judges of all men; and kings themselves are submitted to our authority” Pope Nicholas I (858867) (p. 228).

“There is no one, O most holy Mary…who can be saved or redeemed but through thee…”St. Germanus (p.

434).

“As we have access to the Eternal Father only through Jesus Christ, so have we access to Jesus Christ only through Mary. By thee we have access to the Son, O blessed finder of grace, bearer of life, and mother of salvation…” St. Bernard (p. 434).

“Rome has spoken, the dispute is at an end” St. Augustine (p. 502).

Babylon the Great

In Revelation 17, the beast that the woman rides has seven heads. These seven heads represent seven kingdoms or resurrections of the empire, which she reigns. One final resurrection of this empire is to shortly be fulfilled.

The ten horns represent the ten final kings, who give their strength to the beast—the leader of this final resurrected empire. This is the resurrected Holy Roman Empire, and the great whore who rides the beast is the prophesied universal church system.

This future religious leader will lead the final resurrection along with a military leader. This religious leader will be a worker of miracles, showing great signs and wonders. Notice this

incredible prophecy in Revelation 13:11-15: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast…and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” This last point has been typical of this Babylonish church throughout the course of history. Millions have been put to death for not worshipping according to their dogma.

What is more unique from these verses is the power to bring fire down from heaven and to perform miracles— events which will win over the vast majority of peoples as worshippers of the beast power. The series of wars that follow are explained in detail in our booklet And you shall hear of WARS. The religious leader in Revelation 13 appears as a lamb, but speaks like a dragon—another prime counterfeit by the rider of the white horse of Revelation 6:2. In II Thessalonians 2:3, this same leader is called the “man of sin.” Revelation 19:20 refers to him as a “false prophet.” This false prophet embodies all that counterfeit Christianity has represented through the centuries. In the near future, when the modern-day descendants of Israel are taken into captivity, many will see the bitter reality of his killing machine firsthand. The misery resulting from the rider of the white horse will stun the world. We must know what is coming and be able to recognize this Babylon the Great when it emerges in full power. God warns us of this system.

We will continue to publish and broadcast this warning as His watchmen (see Ezekiel 33).

Concerning Babylon the Great, God warns us, “Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues” (Rev. 18:4). This is reflected in greater detail in Jeremiah 51:6-9: “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD’S vengeance; He will render unto her a recompense. Babylon has been a golden cup…that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed…forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reaches unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”

To Where Can We Turn?

The Catholic Church has “revised” many of the more prominent translations to water down and obscure certain scriptures that apply to events pertaining to the Return of Christ. The following quote shows how this was done: “The Third Edition of the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament, published in 1975, is a complete revision of the text produced previously, incorporating MORE THAN FIVE HUNDRED CHANGES which were made by Cardinal Carlo Martini and his four colleagues…The New Testament of the New International Version is based on the UBS/Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament [the same edition revised by Martini], as are the majority of modern translations, including The New Revised Standard Version, The New American Standard Version, The Revised English Bible and The Good News Bible…Some Christians have suggested that the NIV could be called the ‘New Catholic Version,’ given that the word ‘catholic’ means ‘universal’ or ‘international,’ and many evangelicals see the wide distribution of these ‘Ecumenical’ Bibles, based on a ‘common text’ authorized by the Vatican, as an essential step towards union with 19

Rome” (All Roads Lead to Rome, pp.

200-201).

(Note: Bible translations exist which have escaped recent revision by the Catholics, such as the King James Version, also known as the Authorized Version. But even with the KJV, Roman Catholic scribes managed to insert their false beliefs, such as in I John 5:7 and Acts 12:4—here, the word Easter is a deliberate mistranslation for the Greek word pascha [which is derived from the Hebrew word pesach] or “Passover”—and omissions such as the latter part of Matthew 27:49.)

Some might ask, what do the commentaries say about these various prophecies? Would they help in proving the statements found in this booklet?

The commentaries have rejected the historical point of view—seeing the prophecies of Daniel and the other prophets (as well as the prophetic writings of Paul or John) as laying out and applying to the entire course of history.

The historical method identifies the Roman system.

The Great False Church and Its Demise

British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once recognized the real nature of the Roman Catholic Church and the danger it posed. In 1878 he addressed his nation about the threat of Rome: “Your empire and your liberties are more in danger at this moment than when Napoleon’s army of observation was encamped at Boulogne” (All Roads Lead to Rome?, p. 167). Disraeli was referring to the time (around 1803) when Napoleon, at the height of his power, had set up operations at Boulogne, France, directly across the English Channel from the cliffs of Dover. Disraeli correctly compared Napoleon’s grand designs and the danger he posed with the Roman Catholic Church’s quest for world domination.

This same warning is echoed in this booklet. Your life—and all that you hold dear—are more in danger than you could possibly realize.

Prophecy makes it clear that this 20

great false church has grand designs of dominating all nations, and will destroy any that stand in its way. Again, it is not our purpose to attack or slander churches or individuals. The Bible and history directly identify a great false system and its offshoots. There is no escaping directly identifying this system. God commands His true servants to “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins” (Isa. 58:1). The believers of this world’s varying religions—other than God’s one true Church—are spiritually blind. They may be sincere, but they are sincerely wrong.

Yet all minds will be open to the truth in the future, according to God’s master plan of salvation.

Time is crucial. Recognize that the soon-coming events will be extremely turbulent. The Restored Church of God is currently restoring these vital truths.

Economist Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776) warned, “The constitution of the Church of Rome may be considered the most formidable combination that was ever formed against…the liberty, reason and happiness of mankind” (All Roads Lead to Rome?, p. 168). Strong words—and ringing with truth!

This powerful, political church has infiltrated every aspect of life. Any network or organization with the power and influence to alter bibles and commentaries, and to destroy literature that exposes its dangers, indeed wields incredible power. No national government has nearly as much wealth, or as many spies infiltrating every level of most of the world’s governments.

Just as the removal of Satan will bring relief to this world, so will the demise of this sinister system. The following scriptures foretell this cleansing event: “And he said unto me, The waters which you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfil His will,

and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which you saw is that great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth” (Rev. 17:1518).

Revelation 18:9-10 adds, “And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is your judgment come.”

When Jesus Christ restores the government of God on earth, it will replace Satan and his counterfeit system. Only after this will real peace become a reality.

Satan has his own brand of religion.

He uses it to deceive the world in order to put himself in place of the true God. This deception has produced all kinds of problems. Cut off from God, mankind has been manipulated, swayed and influenced in every conceivable way.

The rider of the white horse is the false counterfeit system, led by Satan.

From the serpent in the garden, to Nimrod and the Babylonian Mysteries, to the empowerment of the great universal church, and other shades of false religion, Satan has enslaved and blinded humanity.

Now contrast this with the coming kingdom of God, in which Christ and His saints will reign during the millennium: “Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness unto the king’s son. He shall judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, He shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. For He shall deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and him that has no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in His sight” (Psa. 72:1-4, 12-14).

Also read Ezekiel 28:26: “And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yes, they shall dwell with confidence…”

Notice that nothing is mentioned about persecuting, torturing or murdering others in the name of religion. The world shall be at peace—without this system—during Christ’s Reign on earth. All of these wiles and contrivances will be put away along with Satan, who inspires and motivates such perpetrators.

Will You Take Heed?

The end-time universal church system prophesied in the Bible will soon appear on the world scene. Upon allying with the beast power, this killing machine will be unleashed, leading to the most horrific global war this world has ever seen.

The following is a profound quote from Herbert W. Armstrong. It appeared in the Plain Truth, April 1956:

“Yes, MILLIONS are hearing God’s last solemn, frantic WARNING! Would you suppose that fact would fill me with joy, sweep my being with elation? IT DOESN’T! Instead, I feel defeated— FRUSTRATED! “Do you know WHY? Because I see, as Christ said of HIS preaching to the people, that ‘they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, NEITHER DO THEY UNDERSTAND.’ Only at Nineveh did the people ever heed a warning…

“I, personally, SEE what lies ahead! It fills me with frantic TERROR—for the safety of all the people whom I love—people who could be spared and protected from the catastrophes they are bringing on themselves—even as I fully expect to be spared thru God’s supernatural protection—BUT THEY WON’T… “WILL YOU UNDERSTAND? Will you HEED—and spare your own precious life from the things to come? WILL you take warning?

“God says that if we ourselves SEE these things coming, and WARN you, we have acquitted ourselves—your blood is not on our hands. But that is not enough to satisfy me—just to save my own skin. I WANT TO SEE YOU SAVED [alive], TOO!!”

The Restored Church of God is continuing the commission, as defined

by Mr. Armstrong, to warn the world of the time of “Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7) and the Ezekiel warning (Ezek.

33), in addition to spreading the good news of the soon-coming kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15).

The Bible says that a soon-coming false prophet will perform miracles and deceive hundreds of millions of people. Will you heed God’s warning and refuse to allow yourself to be deceived by this counterfeit Christianity?

The Bible promises a way of escape for those who are willing to yield to God’s government—will you take it? F

Read the following booklets to get a better perspective of what will happen next. Your physical life and spiritual life depend on it.

• REVELATION Explained at last!

• Are these the LAST DAYS? • Where is God’s TRUE CHURCH? • The History of God’s TRUE CHURCH • How WORLD PEACE Will Come • A WORLD IN CAPTIVITY • TOMORROW’S WONDERFUL WORLD – An Inside View!

• AMERICA AND BRITAIN IN BIBLE PROPHECY • God’s Promised Protection – PLACE OF SAFETY or Secret Rapture?

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Copyright Š 2003, 2004 The Restored Church of God Printed in the USA. All rights reserved EW004/041014