About Our Cover ...
Our cover shows a scale model of the new headquarters building of the European Economic Community (EEC) in Brussels, Belgium.
The stated goal of EEC is that of promoting full economic and POLITICAL unity in Europe. It is helping to bring about a "United States of Europe" -- the prophesied end-time REVIVAL of the "Holy Roman Empire"! This lesson tells HOW it is being done.
WHAT the "beast" did before, it is to do again. Prophecy WARNS that the "Mark of the Beast" will soon be enforced by a REVIVAL of the "Holy Roman Empire"!
Only this time the MODERN "Holy Roman Empire" will masquerade as a "peace-loving" power. You've been reading about its gradual formation in newspapers and news magazines almost every day.
It will be "The United States of Europe"! And this great church-state revival will once again DESTROY all who dare to refuse its "Mark"!
Where will this last revival of the Holy Roman Empire occur? The answer is crystal clear! Each of the successive revivals of the Roman Empire has ALWAYS been within the general areas ruled by that ANCIENT kingdom.
This empire has ALWAYS existed in Central Europe. And it is in Continental Europe that this system WILL RISE AGAIN!
All prophecies about this occurrence clearly point to that fact!
This frankenstein monster -- this modern Roman Empire of the atomic and space age -- is the very thing which billions of U.S. tax dollars have helped to finance.
It is to be some form of a "United States of Europe" which will be dominated by a revival of FASCISM in conjunction with a great CHURCH!
The world DOES NOT RECOGNIZE that religion is being used as a means of ultimately gaining political control over society -- first through education, then finally by economics and government.
The Church's basic policy is to establish her order -- her RULE -- over the world. Her goal is to become the "universal" church -- the one and ONLY church -- to RULE the whole world POLITICALLY!
Just as the Church once imposed HER ORDER upon nations and peoples, she is again seeking to establish a "Christian order which (she says) alone is able to guarantee peace. To this goal the resources of the church are now directed!" So said the late Pope Pius XII in his Christmas broadcast on December 24, 1951.
"The furtherance of peace" will be the slogan used to HIDE the REAL REASON for the existence of this church-state organization which will soon enforce the DEADLY "MARK of the Beast" -- Sunday observance -- upon the unsuspecting peoples of the earth!
That goal is now nearing completion. All that remains is CONCRETE REALIZATION!
And to this end the strategy will be to unite, to amalgamate, to unify, and weld together the combined manpower of Europe into one preponderant military organization!
Does Germany have any plans for helping the Church to achieve world domination?
The fascist "Madrid Circular Letter," which reflects the thinking of some of those in authority in Germany, states, "The German people, well trained and steeled under national socialist leadership, are dominated by two sovereign ideas: The concept of a German Reich and Germany's mission of leadership in the world ... the RELIGIOUS tradition embodied in the concept of the Reich, sparks our POLITICAL mission and IS ESPECIALLY attractive within the Catholic world."
The German idea of the achievement of world rule PLEASES the CATHOLIC world greatly! Now let's see why this is so. It affects our lives -- your life much more than you probably realize!
On February 10, 1952, in his pontifical exhortation, the late Pope Pius XII said, "THE WHOLE WORLD MUST BE REBUILT FROM ITS FOUNDATIONS."
Secretly, plans are being made which are laying the foundations of a program that will remake Western civilization! It has to be PLANNED SECRETLY SO it will not be discovered until it is too late to stop it!
There are those who contend that "peace" can be maintained only by a Catholic-dominated international organization which has iron teeth to CRUSH OPPOSITION!
"This organization," said Pope Pius in his Christmas message of 1944, "will be vested ... with supreme authority and POWER TO SMOTHER ... aggression."
Note that the organization invested with this power will possess enough MILITARY MIGHT to quell resistance. Prophecy shows THIS IS WHERE GERMAN MILITARY MIGHT WILL COME IN TO CRUSH OPPOSITION TO THE CHURCH AND ITS SUNDAY OBSERVANCE! This coming world-ruling organization would therefore be a UNION OF CHURCH AND MILITARY STATE with the Church ruling over all!
The Church cannot plan with the GODLESS Russians, and the United States is not fired with a desire to rule the world. But the Germans have ALL the qualifications desired. It is with the fascist German underground and the fascist European leaders that the Church is now SECRETLY PLANNING!
Yes, Germany needs the MANPOWER of the millions of people that the Church can throw to her support, and the Church needs the power of German MILITARY might to carry out its will!
The Church wants more power in world affairs. But to have more power, its hierarchy first wants to revive and more solidly unite its own church body. That is why the Church is presently stepping up a program of world evangelism, and is striving to bring Protestants back into the "fold."
In his written message to the 37th Eucharistic World Congress of the Roman Catholic Church held in Munich, Germany, in 1960; the late Pope John XXIII said that Catholics must pray "that Christ's religion (supposedly Catholicism), after the OBSTACLES are removed, can spread TO THE ENTIRE ROUND EARTH."
One of these obstacles preventing world evangelism of Catholicism is Protestantism! The Protestants are now being increasingly encouraged by the Catholics to voluntarily unite with the Church. And if this fails, the Catholic Church will later resort to OTHER MEANS!
Another obstacle to world domination is Western democracy! Western democracy, especially the United States of America with its Constitution which prevents a union of church and state, hinders the Church from realizing its goals.
In a mild rebuke of Western democracy, the late Pope Pius said: "Its (democracy's) strength is not based upon true freedom. This is a new danger which threatens the peace, and which, in the light of Christian social order, we must deprecate (SPEAK against -- at least for now). It is because of this that not a few highly placed persons in what is called the free world are hostile to the Church" (from the pope's Christmas broadcast, 1951).
The Western democratic world, by its political structure, is contrary to the world-ruling designs of the Church. It cannot be used as an instrument to establish the Church's supremacy over the world! Therefore, the two cannot coexist! Western democracy must, and will be eliminated for the modern Holy Roman Empire to reign supreme over the Western world.
Yes, prophecy reveals the papal hierarchy is out to rule the world -- both religiously and politically! The Bible shows every means at its disposal will be used to this end!
Ironically, the United States and Britain have helped to build the MONSTER that will devastate and enslave them!
Prophecy reveals that the German nation is to unite in a political and military, as well as economic and religious union, with NINE other EUROPEAN NATIONS to form the last revival of the Church-dominated Holy Roman Empire -- though prophecy does not specifically NAME all of the ten.
When the Germans inevitably sit in the military driver's seat of this resurrected "beastial" Holy Roman Empire, they will, under German generals, command a tremendous military force from a population greater than that of either the United States or Russia! Then, Germany, having risen to a position of dominant strength and power, TOGETHER with these nine other nations in Europe, will comprise the FINAL "BEAST" of biblical prophecy!
This religion-dominated "United States of Europe" will be a third major world power bloc, sitting in the center!
Bible prophecy says they will attack Britain and America and take the surviving population as slaves into Europe and other foreign countries where they will be FORCED to receive the "Mark of the Beast" -- or be mercilessly TORTURED TO DEATH by the military police!
The strict enforcement of the "Mark of the Beast" is dreadfully near at hand!
The Catholic Church-dominated "Holy" Roman Empire existed for 1260 years as God had prophesied. Then it went into an "abyss" (Rev. 17:8) -- a state of non-existence.
But recall that God has clearly shown through prophecy that it will be in existence at the second coming of Christ -- as pictured by the 10 consecutive "horns," or kingdoms, of the Beast in Daniel 7:7 and Revelation 13:1.
God's word of prophecy is sure and will come to pass! Prophecy reveals that the last revival, or SEVENTH resurrection, of the Catholic Church-dominated "Holy" Roman Empire is imminent -- even at our very doors now!
1. Does the "Beast" of Revelation 17 plainly picture the "HOLY" Roman Empire -- the "healed" Beast of Revelation 13? Rev. 17:3. Notice the "woman" -- the great false church -- riding the "Beast."
2. What are the "seven heads" of this Beast called? Verse 9. 3. Is "mountain" another Bible SYMBOL which pictures a nation or kingdom? Isa. 2:2-3 and Dan. 2:35.
4. What does the text clearly state these "seven heads" represent? Rev. 17:10. (Remember that the word "king" stands for the kingdom he rules.) Does this same verse also prove that these revivals were to be SUCCESSIVE kingdoms that ruled the Roman Empire AFTER the fall of the old original Roman Empire? Note the words "one is, and the other is not yet come."
COMMENT: The "Beast" of Revelation 17 stands positively identified as the "HEALED" Beast of Revelation 13, OVER WHICH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH RULED! For the "seven HEADS" of the chapter 17 Beast are the last seven successive "HORNS," or kingdoms, of the chapter 13 CHURCH-RULED "healed" Beast! Here's why this is true:
The "woman" in Revelation 17, the great false Church, is shown as sitting on -- ruling over -- all seven of these kingdoms. Furthermore, they are SUCCESSIVE, because at the time to which John was carried forward in this vision, "five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come." These five "heads" are the five successive revivals of the empire which were ruled for 1260 years by the Catholic Papacy.
Very plainly, these "seven heads" are seven successive restorations -- RESURRECTIONS -- of the "HOLY" Roman Empire, of which Emperor Justinian's government (beginning in 554 A.D.,) was the FIRST "head" -- the FIRST RESURRECTION!
5. What kingdom, or restoration, of the "Holy" Roman Empire, did the SIXTH "head" -- the SIXTH RESURRECTION -- of the Beast in Revelation 17 represent? Rev. 17:8, 10. Notice the words "yet is" in verse 8 and "one is" in verse 10.
COMMENT: After Napoleon's fall in 1814, the Holy Roman Empire split up. The Italian peninsula, in particular, was broken up into 12 separate little states.
But in 1870, Garibaldi united these 12 into the one nation of Italy.
Then in 1935, Mussolini conquered Ethiopia. Adding this to Italian Somaliland, Eritrea, and Libya, HE ENTERED INTO A CONCORDAT WITH THE PAPACY -- SIGNED THE LATIN ACCORD ACKNOWLEDGING PAPAL SUPREMACY -- and officially proclaimed it a resurrection of the Roman Empire! (A CONCORDAT offers the protection of religion to political rulers who will defend the Church and leave her free to dictate her own will. Under such an agreement, the Church, defended by the international armed might of the several nations, guarantees the supreme authority of the government over the people by means of her teaching.)
This was the insignificant, FEEBLE, short-lived SIXTH RESURRECTION of the empire described in verse 8 as "the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." It was so unimportant that, as the Roman Empire it "was not" -- and yet it was -- at least in NAME!
So the 6th "head," pictured as existing WHEN the prophecy WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD, was the Mussolini-Hitler dynasty which began with Garibaldi (1870-1945).
6. Is one more "head" of the Catholic-dominated bestial "Holy Roman Empire" to rise up? Is a SEVENTH revival or resurrection of this church-state system to TAKE PLACE SHORTLY? Rev. 17:8, 10. Notice the words "the OTHER (the SEVENTH) is not yet come" in verse 10. (Be sure to write for the FREE booklets, "Who Is the Beast?" and "The Mark of the Beast".)
1. Do the 10 "horns" on the seventh head -- the only REMAINING head of the Revelation 17 Beast represent 10 kingdoms, that is, ten nations? Rev. 17:12.
2. Will these 10 "horns" -- ten kings, ten nations -- together comprise the seventh, or LAST, resurrection of the Roman Empire? Rev. 17:12.
COMMENT: Notice that each will receive power as a king to rule "one hour" -- a short time. These 10 "home" obviously are CONTEMPORANEOUS existing at the SAME time!
3. Are the 10 nations to come under the rule and authority of a supreme civil-political and military leader called the "Beast"? Verse 13.
COMMENT: Notice that the "ten horns" pictured on the seventh "head" of the Beast of Rev. 17 "are ten kings" who have no kingdom as yet -- therefore they are political and military rulers who will receive ruling power "one hour (a very short time) with the Beast."
They will all be of one mind, one purpose -- for the ten national dictators will give their COMBINED armies, air forces, navies, and all military power over to the control of this supreme dictator.
Whether he calls himself "Fuehrer," or "Emperor," "King," or what, he shall be "THE BEAST"!
4. Is this seventh revival of the "beastial" Holy Roman Empire plainly to occur in our time just BEFORE the second coming of Christ? Rev. 17:14.
COMMENT: These ten nations, or groups of nations, comprising the modern revived Beast, are to fight Christ at His coming. This shows the time for the fulfillment of this prophecy. This points out that these remarkable scriptures are to be fulfilled in OUR time in the IMMEDIATE FUTURE!
5. Does the Bible also picture these same 10 kingdoms as 10 toes? Dan. 2:41-42. Are these 10 kingdoms to unite? Verse 43. Notice the words "mingle themselves."
COMMENT: King Nebuchadnezzar's dream-image, as we already know, represented the four great world-ruling Gentile kingdoms -- the fourth being the Roman Empire. And the image's feet, of course, had TEN toes!
The ten toes (nations) "mingle" -- unite -- themselves, but only for a SHORT TIME. They can't stay together very long since iron and clay do not stick together!
6. When is the approximate time for the fulfillment of this union of 10 nations? Dan. 2:28. Will Christ destroy these 10 nations at His second coming? Verses 34 and 44.
COMMENT: Notice the vision was concerned with things to occur in the "latter days;" for the stone, clearly representing Christ, is to strike the image on the feet -- on the ten toes!
Notice again! It is precisely DURING the time these ten nations are enjoying their brief union together that Jesus Christ is to return to this earth to "break in pieces" and consume all these kingdoms!
It can plainly be seen that the Bible shows Jesus Christ is going to arrive on this earth at a time when there will be ten nations united together, thus comprising the end-time resurrection of the ancient "Holy Roman Empire" -- again to be ruled by the great fallen woman, the great false church that has made those nations spiritually drunk.
We are now living in the "LATTER DAYS" -- the time of the resurrection of this Beast of Revelation 17 and its ENFORCEMENT of Sunday observance!
We need to understand how this "United States of Europe" -- the BEAST the Church will soon "MOUNT" and "RIDE" (Rev. 17:3) -- has been taking shape since the end of World War II.
After the war, most of Western Europe was in ruins. Nearly 40 million people had died. Another 100 million were living at or near starvation level. Europe was impoverished. Each nation felt helpless by itself. They began to feel the need of unity. So the United States rushed to Europe's aid with both the suggestion of a United States of Europe and American tax dollars!
It was also at this time that America and Britain awakened to the fact that Russia was not their trusted ally -- not the brave, noble "comrades-in-arms" which American national propaganda had painted them to be during the war -- but our mortal enemy!
It was then the American and British governments began to look upon GERMANY as our newfound friend and ally. They began to actively promote the idea of a "United States of Europe." They even began to talk about REARMING Germany to PROTECT EUROPE from the Communist hordes.
American aid, with the Marshall Plan, brought about phenomenal reconstruction in Europe, especially in West Germany. This beginning of an economic boom encouraged various steps toward economic integration.
One of these was the formation of "Benelux" -- a joint customs union formed by the three nations of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg -- which actually began operation on January 1, 1948. The purpose of Benelux was to gradually reduce duties and tariffs on commerce between the three member nations to promote increased trade among themselves.
In 1951, the European Coal and Steel Community was set up which comprised six nations -- the "Benelux" nations with the addition of West Germany, France, and Italy. In four years, combined steel production soared 36%, and next to the United States, they became the largest steel producer in the world!
Then, finally in 1957, these six nations signed "The Treaty of Rome," setting up the European "Common Market." OFFICIALLY IT IS CALLED EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, or EEC. It went INTO FORCE on January 1, 1958.
The "Common Market" BINDS THESE NATIONS TOGETHER ECONOMICALLY. The ultimate aim of the plan is to create one solid economy between the present member nations.
But it has been made plain that the plan is NOT LIMITED only to the PRESENT SIX NATIONS. Now other nations want to join the European Economic Community. (Remember that there must be TEN NATIONS or groups of nations to comprise the final resurrection of the modern "Holy Roman Empire"!)
Today it comprises truly the strongest INDUSTRIAL AND TRADING combine on the face of the earth! The "United States of Europe" -- an eccelesiastical-political union that is destined to become the greatest commercial power ever known in the world -- is JUST AHEAD!
Paradoxically, THE VERY FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER that PROPHECY WARNS IS TO DESTROY US has been proposed, encouraged, aided and abetted by both the United States and Great Britain!
Literally dozens of news releases have emphasized in recent years and months that the ultimate aims of the European Federation are POLITICAL, not simply economic!
As the Christian Science Monitor said in 1960, "Professor Walter Hallstein (former German president of the European Economic Community) ... and his colleagues are not (just) building a comfortable trading area. They are building a new EMPIRE, a new political power, a new federation, a new political force big enough to challenge the United States and Canada ...."
One writer editorialized: "FASCISM in Europe is about to be reborn in respectable business attire."
IN EUROPE, almost EVERYBODY TAKES IT FOR GRANTED that the Common Market is merely the economic start that will develop into a UNITED government of European nations.
But Europe is like a "crazy-quilt" -- a conglomeration of many nations speaking different languages, having different customs and aspirations. How could they be joined together? Only by some SUPREME AUTHORITY which all Europe would accept and look to with respect and submission.
The AGE-LONG ENEMIES, FRANCE AND GERMANY, are NOW FUSED TOGETHER -- but only IN ECONOMIC TRADE that profits both. France would never trust a German to head a united government! And Germany would never accept a French ruler over them! Because of this factor, no single nation could have this SUPREME AUTHORITY.
It must be a NEUTRAL authority and figurehead which all the nations will recognize!
As we have already seen, prophecy clearly shows that all seven revivals of the Roman Empire were to be dominated by RELIGION. And A POPE HAS HEADED EVERY ONE OF THE SIX RESURRECTIONS THAT HAVE COME AND GONE!
The pope is THE ONLY "SUPREME AUTHORITY" THAT CAN BE ACCEPTABLE TO ALL! No military or political leader could thus unite Europe. Only the influence of the pope could do it!
When this resurrected Roman Empire becomes a world-staggering reality, the pope will step into the picture as the supreme unifying authority -- the only one who can finally unite the differing nations of Europe. WHEN the POPE GIVES the WORD, every devout ROMAN Catholic will FOLLOW HIS ORDERS!
The jurisdiction over both schools and religion WILL BE TURNED OVER TO the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. Europe will go ROMAN Catholic! PROTESTANTISM will BE ABSORBED into the "mother" church -- and totally abolished. ROMAN CATHOLICISM WILL BECOME THE ONLY ACCEPTED FORM OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP!
Yes, the pope alone can provide the leadership, the unifying, solidifying element, to make this "United States of Europe" -- this resurrected Roman Empire -- a reality! These nations will more trustingly surrender to, and unite under, the "benevolent RELIGIOUS" leadership of a church -- the Roman Catholic Church!
Listen!! Here is one of the most shocking, one of the most startling news releases of recent times! It brings into sharp focus the ultimate goal of the Roman Catholic Church in world affairs.
From England's weekly news magazine, "Topic", of March 24, 1962, comes this amazing statement concerning the emergence of the powerful force shaping up in Central Europe: "The Vatican ... considers the Common Market the work of divine providence. Not since the times of Spain's Charles V., has a Roman Catholic political force been so strongly welded. Not since the end of the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE has the Holy See been offered a Catholic rallying point like the Common Market. If the 'Pact of Rome,' which created the Common Market, had been signed within the Vatican walls, it could not have favored the church more."
Continuing, the article says: "Small wonder then that the Roman Church is smiling benignly over the formation of what Vatican officials defined as the greatest Catholic super-state the world has ever known!"
There it is!
Soon the Vatican will MOUNT and RIDE the resurrected "beastial" Roman Empire!
The time for doubt and scoffing is past! THESE prophecies ARE REAL -- they are already unfolding and happening before your very eyes! And in the months and years ahead you are going to see these prophecies literally leaping to life!
Truly GIGANTIC HAPPENINGS are UNDER WAY in Europe today which will drastically alter the course of your private life!
The Church cannot attain world rulership by herself. She needs Germany's help! She needs Germany's military might to be able to defend herself and have the authoritarian state through which she will be able to impose her will and her dreadful Sunday Mark of THE BEAST!
The Church needs Germany now, just as much as it did when Germany previously militarily led the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages for Rome guided, while Germany and her allies furnished the MILITARY MIGHT! Yes, the Church needs Germany, and Germany is gladly giving her help. Understand!
The German people formerly called their Reich the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. This "Holy Roman Empire of the German people" was officially designated BY THE CHURCH in the Middle Ages as "The Kingdom of God" on earth. Its citizens, the Germans, felt themselves true Romans and bearers of the CHRISTIAN Reich or Christian Kingdom. They therefore believed themselves to be the CHOSEN PEOPLE of the Christian era, entrusted with a world-mission to be THE PROTECTORS OF "CHRISTIANITY."
The German leaders and philosophers have never forgotten this notion of the Middle Ages that the German has a special mission from God. It is the German people who, by THE SWORD, brought the pagans of Europe into the fold of THE CATHOLIC CHURCH!
THEY ARE GOING TO DO IT AGAIN!!
But the former conquered countries of Europe will not tolerate German superiority again. Then how can she regain their complete confidence so they will cooperate with her in military ventures?
BY SUBMITTING TO THE TEACHING OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH as most of the other nations of Europe do!
It might have been impossible for the more rabid Nazis who perished in the last war to repent of their racial superiority doctrines, but for today's practical German businessman who realizes that Germany must cooperate with equal nations in order to dominate the world, it is a far easier matter to acknowledge the Catholic Church's teaching. By doing so, the Germans would dispel the fear their neighbors hold of them.
Concerning German collaboration with the Catholic Church, the fascist Madrid Circular Letter says: "It must therefore be our (Germany's) supreme duty to place ourselves in the vanguard of the struggle to keep Europe out of any future war. If we succeed in this, we will surely gain the trust of the people .... The world is longing today for the MILLENNIUM ... In the (PRETENDED) ROLE of champion for peace, we (Germans) would gain stature in world public opinion ... Europe would then be willing to follow German leadership. Such a policy can be pursued successfully, especially in view of the present attitude of the Vatican."
THIS LETTER CLEARLY INDICATES THE GERMAN UNDERGROUND AND THE VATICAN ARE IN COLLABORATION WITH EACH OTHER!
Once again the Church is secretly WORKING with the Germans in order to gain world rule -- toward the purpose that Germany will be the Church's MILITARY ARM in carrying out her orders -- just as the Germans did during the Middle Ages when the Church ruled supreme!
1. Will there be a supreme church over the ten nations which will make their union possible? Rev. 17:3, 5.
COMMENT: A woman is God's symbol for a church. Here we see a fallen woman -- a church -- riding, DOMINATING, the "beastial" Roman Empire now arising!
When the bestial Roman Empire fully emerges from the "bottomless pit" for this last time, it will require affiliation with the Roman Catholic CHURCH -- the "woman," represented also by the pope -- the "supreme authority" which alone shall be able to weld together in political, military, and religious union these ten nations, or groups of nations.
These ten end-time national leaders, through their supreme political-military leader, the "Beast," will not only make a political deal with the pope -- but the Bible indicates that the entire plan will be initiated by the pope himself! For he shall SIT ASTRIDE this last "head" -- the 7th head (Rev. 17:3) -- of the Roman Empire, even as the Papacy sat upon the former six "heads," or resurrections, of "The Holy Roman Empire"!
Remember the VATICAN'S LONG RANGE PLAN IS to create A UNITED EUROPE -- an international organization DOMINATED BY THE PAPACY and VERBALLY dedicated to the enforcement of "peace" to HIDE ITS TRUE INTENTIONS OF WORLD rule by which enforcement of the Mark of the Beast will be possible!
This guise of "world peace" is the open declaration of recent popes! It is their acknowledged plan!
When Catholic nations are all finally dominated by "strong men," or dictators, the pope will step forth with his plan for "world peace" -- a revived "Holy Roman Empire."
The dictators will all join in an international union, supposedly to secure the "peace" of the world. This union will, "by common consent," give its united strength into the hands of the political and military leader -- the Beast, a "Hitler" -- who will be APPROVED BY THE POPE! (Rev. 17:13.)
2. Is the supreme religious head who will accomplish all this plainly the "Man of Sin" who will exalt himself above all -- even above God? II Thes. 2:3-4. Who is the only one that deserves the title "Holy Father"? Mat. 23:9.
COMMENT: God is our HOLY Father! But this "Man of SIN" will claim the same title and finally even claim that he is very God on earth, in God's own temple! Everyone knows that the pope in Rome is presently called the "Holy Father" -- a title which should refer only to God!
3. Will this "False Prophet" perform great and wondrous miracles and LYING wonders? II Thes. 2:9. By whose power will he perform them? Same verse. For what purpose will he perform them? Is it to be a deliberate attempt to deceive people? Verse 10.
COMMENT: Here is the head of a vast ecclesiastical empire who will perform deceptive miracles and lying wonders through SATAN'S power! NOTE WELL THE ORIGIN OF THE MOTIVATING POWER!
This final pope is to be a miracle worker -- a FALSE "proof" that he is "God" -- that he's the one to be followed in all his edicts, including Sunday worship! Millions will be swept off their feet by his mighty signs.
This "false prophet" will even be WORSHIPPED "as (very) God," because of these deceptive miracles, and will therefore claim rule over all world governments!
Satan, who has always desired to be God, ruling over all, will for a brief flash of time attempt to show that he IS God by placing his human counterpart in the very seat of authority from which Christ is soon to rule this earth -- in Jerusalem, Palestine.
Don't you be deceived!
1. Will the deceiving religious ruler -- the "False Prophet," the "Man of Sin" -- continue to be motivated by the Devil until the "Battle of Armageddon" -- until the second coming of Christ? Rev. 16:13, 16. What are these three "foul spirits"? Verse 14.
COMMENT: The three "foul spirits" are demons who come from the "dragon" -- the Devil; and from the "Beast" -- the civil Roman ruler; and from the mouth of the "False Prophet" -- the pope, who is associated with the Beast!
So notice that when the Roman Empire is again restored, the civil Roman ruler and the pope will both be in the power and influence of the Devil, SPEAKING as Satan inspires them to speak. They will probably even be demon POSSESSED, as Hitler undoubtedly was at times!
2. Will the "False Prophet" soon be responsible for CAUSING people to receive the Sunday "Mark of the Beast," and to worship the "Image of the Beast" -- the Catholic Church Papacy -- as the popes caused people to do during the Middle Ages? Rev. 19:20 and Rev. 13:16.
COMMENT: Notice how the modern False Prophet -- the "Man of Sin" -- compares with the two-horned, lamb-dragon Beast of Revelation 13:11-17, and what both do: (1) Both perform miracles. (2) Both perform them before -- in the sight of -- the "Beast." (3) With these miracles, both the False Prophet and the two-horned Beast are responsible for CAUSING the people to receive that bestial Mark!
The two-horned, lamb-dragon Beast, the "False Prophet," or "Man of Sin," and the "woman" that rode the Beast, all concern one and the same thing -- THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH with its pope, its bishops, its priests, and its deacons, comprising its hierarchy!
Certainly, then, the prophecy concerning the two-horned Beast of Revelation 13:11-17 is DUAL in fulfillment! That is, what the Church dominated beast -- The "Holy" Roman Empire of the Middle Ages -- once did, it WILL DO AGAIN when revived very shortly.
The satanic, destroying, "Mark of the Beast" -- Sunday observance -- will soon be enforced again by the civil government by ORDER OF the lamb-appearing pope!
The United States of America and Great Britain will be powerless to interfere. For the rearming of Germany, which our leaders call a "calculated risk," will, indeed, have proved to be just that -- it will be OUR DESTRUCTION!
God reveals that the modern revived "Holy Roman Empire" of Europe will first destroy the United States and Britain and then take most of their surviving population CAPTIVE to Europe.
1. Will a SECOND martyrdom of spirit-begotten saints occur soon? Rev. 6:9-11. Will the Catholic Church be RESPONSIBLE for causing their martyrdom? Rev. 17:6.
COMMENT: Here are shown TWO different universal martyrdoms! The first martyrs (Rev. 6:9-11), already dead at the time of this vision, are pictured as crying out "how long" before the coming of Christ who will avenge their martyrdom.
They were told that Christ will not come to take vengeance on this great false church that caused their death until ANOTHER great universal PERSECUTION and MARTYRDOM OF SAINTS will have taken place (Rev. 17:6) -- the martyrdom which is now just ahead!
Yes, once again the "daughter" of old Babylon, is soon to perpetrate another martyrdom of saints -- and the MILITARY of the United States of Europe will ENFORCE her orders!
2. Is this coming time of European captivity for the United States and Great Britain and martyrdom of saints, called the "Great Tribulation"? Mat. 24:9, 21-22. Is it therefore the wrath of Satan? Rev. 12:12.
COMMENT: This "Great TRIBULATION" is the wrath of Satan! It will be more gruesome than anything rebellious HUMANITY has ever devised, for it will be under the sway of a fiendish SUPERNATURAL DEVIL! THIS TIME Satan will REALLY BE STIRRED UP, knowing he has but a SHORT TIME remaining in which to try to DESTROY God's Holy People before being deposed by Christ at His coming!
3. Exactly WHY are these true Christians to be so brutally tortured and killed in the very near future -- in our very lifetime? Is it because they will have turned to God and been spiritually converted AFTER already having been deported to Europe as captive slaves and then REFUSING to worship the Catholic Church and the Empire, and REFUSING to take the "Mark of the Beast"? Rev. 13:15 and 20:4. Note the word "KILLED" in Rev. 13:15 and "BEHEADED" in 20:4.
COMMENT: Catholicism will then have become the religion of Europe. No other religion will be tolerated! Those who PROTEST (whether they be true Christians or not) and REBEL against papal authority -- those who REFUSE to join in the worship of the Catholic Church and the Empire and refuse to receive the "Mark of the Beast" -- will be thrown into concentration camps such as the one at Dachau, Germany, during World War II.
Some of the captives will be imprisoned. Others will be used to do the flogging, operate the gas chambers, stoke the ovens, and to bury the ashes of those who refused to keep Sunday.
It is often too easy to think that it could never happen again especially to you!
The slogan of Dachau is "never again!" But those in charge WILL be instrumental in DESTROYING nations and KILLING those who do NOT SUBMIT to their rule and domination!
The gruesome torture and murder of millions of helpless prisoners in German concentration camps during World War II, clearly illustrates why God pictures these human Gentile governments as devouring, wild beasts! Dachau is a stark witness of what men can and WILL DO again when they reject God and are given over to the bloodthirsty minds of wild beasts (Isa. 10:5-7) -- minds which will enforce the satanically inspired Mark of the Beast.
The shocking, FULL meaning of Revelation 13:15, and the verses allied with it, are extremely IMPORTANT for you to understand -- for these perilous days are now JUST AHEAD!
Satan, the DRAGON (Rev. 12:9), RULES the two-horned "LAMB" that spoke as a "dragon" (Rev. 13:11). This second Beast is the present day Roman Catholic Church that masquerades as Christ's -- the Lamb's -- Church.
Satan knows that he has but a short time to do his fiendish work. A short time in which to force the future captive true Christians, and the rest of mankind, to worship the "Image" of the ancient Roman Empire (the Beast) which is the PAPACY.
This Devil-"inspired" system will try TO FORCE these captive Christians to admit and believe that all it does and COMMANDS IS DIVINE -- that they should therefore WORSHIP the Catholic Papacy. It will force them to do this or have them KILLED! (Verse 15.)
Satan will also know that he has but a short time in which to FORCE the captive Christians, and mankind, to actually worship the "Beast" (Rev. 20:4) -- United Europe's CIVIL government (Rev. 17:12) -- which will carry out the commands of the Church.
The Church will order the people to worship the civil government (Rev. 13:12) because it is carrying out "divinely" inspired orders. That it therefore can "do no wrong" in executing those who rebel against the Church and its commands!
Finally, Satan will know that he has but a short time in which to diabolically "inspire" his Church to compel all to take the "Mark of the Beast" (Rev. 13:16). To force them, by means of the military might of the "BEASTIAL" civil government, to wrongly observe Sunday as "God's" day of rest!
But the captive true Christians will NOT comply in any of these three things! They will rather die because they will know that if they obey the Devil, THEY WON'T BE BORN AS SONS OF GOD at Christ's return! (Rev. 20:4.)
Because Satan hates God's plan -- hates the very thought of more Sons of God being born into God's Family -- he will attempt to prevent this at ALL costs! That's why he will push man even to the brink of death in an attempt to DISQUALIFY him!
SO REMEMBER ALWAYS, IT'S SO MUCH EASIER TO TURN TO GOD NOW -- and STAY turned -- AND AVOID THIS SATANICALLY INSPIRED FIENDISH TORTURE AND DEATH SOON TO BEFALL MANKIND!
1. What horrible fate will befall those who, under this great pressure, give in and worship the Beast and his Image and receive his Mark? Rev. 14:9-10; 15:6, and 16:2.
COMMENT: The time is at hand! Within a matter of a few short years, the world will be plunged into the most frantic, frenzied state of anguish ever known! The plagues of God's wrath will soon be poured out, unmixed and undiluted -- full strength -- upon a heedless, God-defying world!
It is those who are worshipping this "Beast" and its "Image," or have its "Mark," who will suffer the unspeakable tortures of the Seven Last Plagues of God! (Before you forget, send immediately for Mr. Armstrong's FREE booklet, "The Book of Revelation Unveiled at Last!")
2. What is to be their ultimate end if they will NOT REPENT? Rev. 20:15; 21:8 and II Peter 3:10-11.
COMMENT: Those who will not repent of their sins of disobedience toward God. even after suffering God's terrible plagues, will receive the reward which Satan's day of rest ironically portrays for the INCORRIGIBLY DISOBEDIENT of mankind -- a FIERY DEATH IN THE LAKE OF FIRE that shall consume the incorrigible wicked with the entire surface of the earth!
The apostle Peter was inspired to vividly describe this horrible fate. So don't be caught observing a day which points to a destiny other than the one you really desire -- the horrible destiny of being burned up -- DESTROYED FOREVER -- on this earth when it melts with "fervent heat," becoming a literal lake of all-devouring fire!
Rather, keep the true Sabbath Day of rest NOW! BEGIN TO manifest the proper Godly attitude NOW -- SO YOU may be born of God in a few short years -- born into the very Kingdom of God with a glorified spirit body that will live forever!
ESCAPE POSSIBLE FOR YOU! A monstrous religio-political system is now rearing its ugly head in Europe! Satan the Devil is cleverly forming this gigantic structure in a last-ditch effort to rid himself forever of all mankind -- all the POTENTIAL Sons of God!
Through this system, the Devil will deceive the many by great deceptive miracles. They will take his Sunday-Mark. Those who refuse will be CRUELLY TORTURED into embracing Sunday -- the "brand" by which one can become Satan's to eternal death -- or be KILLED!
Even now the Devil has deceived the vast majority of professing "Christianity" into observing Sunday to the utter disregard of God's key test commandment -- Sabbath keeping -- the day picturing eternal life in God's Kingdom -- the Family of God!
These hideously gruesome and extremely dangerous days are JUST ABOUT HERE! But have you thought about how you're going to ESCAPE?
Or IS it true that whatever course you may take will be WRONG -- that is, if you obey SATAN and observe his Sunday you will experience the terrible wrath of GOD -- and if you keep God's Sabbath, you'll suffer the horrible wrath of the DEVIL?
Is there NO way out of this SEEMING PARADOX?
THERE IS REALLY NO PARADOX AT ALL! Here is the good news. If you begin to obey God now -- keep His Sabbath AND OTHER COMMANDMENTS -- you will ESCAPE ALL WRATH. But -- if you wait until the Great Tribulation begins, you WILL have to suffer either the wrath of God or the fiendish torture and death of the Devil!
Now is the time to turn to God -- before it's TOO LATE!
1. How did Jesus say you can be accounted "worthy" to ESCAPE the dreadful days ahead? Luke 21:36.
COMMENT: IT'S HIGH TIME YOU BEGIN TO REALLY HEED THE WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST who promised there is a way to escape the horrifying, fiendish torture of "the Great Tribulation"!
But only by understanding the prophecies of the Bible can you diligently watch. And Jesus meant watch world events through various news media so you can SEE the prophecies being fulfilled!
Yes, if Christ finds you watching, praying to your Heavenly Father, obedient to God, with the love of God in your heart, and His Holy Spirit changing your life He says you can be WORTHY TO ESCAPE these monstrous times of tribulation that are to come!
2. Does Christ promise that He will take His very own BAPTIZED and spirit-begotten children to a SPECIAL PEACE OF PROTECTION in order to escape the future time of Satan's wrath? Rev. 3:10.
COMMENT: No matter in what nation one lives, God promises protection for those who do repent of their sinful ways. Jesus Christ promises that His own people, the OBEDIENT MEMBERS of His one True Church performing His work on this earth, will be taken to a secret place of hiding -- a place of protection and safety -- to keep them from the Great Tribulation Satan will bring upon the earth!
3. But what is Christ's WARNING to those who actually are his obedient, baptized, spirit-begotten children who become SPIRITUALLY "LUKEWARM" and lazy over a period of time? Rev. 3:14-19.
COMMENT: Those who truly rend their hearts in sincere repentance can be spared from these appalling times ahead!
But God exhorts His true children to continually REMAIN zealous Christians. He will NOT grant His special protection to those who become spiritually "lukewarm." God will allow them to be taken into captivity to suffer the "fiery trial" of torture and martyrdom at the hands of the "Beast" to prove themselves worthy of entering God's Kingdom!
May God help you to heed, to truly repent and remain zealously obedient to Him -- always keeping holy God's SABBATH Day and obeying all of God's commands. This is the only way for you to escape the coming tribulation!
Grasp this wisdom while you can -- ACT on it NOW -- and make your physical and SPIRITUAL SALVATION CERTAIN!