SIXTY-SEVEN: THE LAST POPES
At the end of the Old Testament is Malachi. In these last days of the Roman Church, there is Malachi Martin, aggressive "prophet" to the Catholic people, former Jesuit professor, one who served with John XXIII. Comments from his book, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church, are revealing, though I am told that Martin needs to be listened to with discernment. In speaking of the lessening Roman membership in these days he says:
"There appears to be no reasonable hope that this decline can be arrested...what form Roman Catholicism will take - its religious spirit and faith will not die, nor a successor to St. Peter's Throne ever lack -is one of the tantalizing enigmas we moderns will not live to see solved."
Oh I don't know, Malachi. Keep your eyes open. Keys to the mystery are everywhere.
In speaking of John XXIII he says that his appeal was universal. He wanted contacts with all men. He believed that people intuitively eventually do the right thing... he later came to reject the idea of a personal Devil and original sin. Yet, this was the father of Vatican II.
He relates that John's successor, Paul VI, talked about the people of God, not the kingdom idea which so threatened people -rightly so - who knew of Rome's evil history. This same Paul, Malachi says, was used by leftist powers in Latin countries, and seemed to be unable to rein in his bishops that were Marxist leaning. He implies that Paul did not do much in the way of protesting unnatural persecution of believers in Communist countries.
So the next Pope, he says, was determined to restore the old ways of Rome:
"By any measures at our disposal the influence of this Pope and his Vatican exceeds that of most middle class powers in the world today (e.g., France, Germany) and it modifies - sometimes offsets, even upsets, the policies and influences of the two superpowers...even the Communist Politburo in Peking is beginning to feel his influence and the need to be in contact with him (Pope John Paul II)."
Malachi also talks about one who finally will dominate...the ultimate dictator, the man of Destiny... This man seems to know a lot of important things.
So, is Rome declining? Quite possibly. It seems as though Satan, since Vatican II, has been regrouping, backing off awhile. In the formation process, though, is a greater than ever world religion, still based in Rome, still identifiable as Babylon the Great. I believe the unchanging church will continue to evolve, adding elements that will at once disgust believers and amaze the world. But the world will buy those elements. Add to all of this, rising Europe, and you can begin to see the awesome spectacle viewed by John the Revelator on the isle of Patmos. Could we be about to see it in our day?
SIXTY-EIGHT: DECEIVING THE VERY ELECT
The history of Babylon, though sketchy, is mostly before you. But I would be amiss to leave out some recent [1990's] elements, things which show the fruit of Vatican II in scarier terms. The post-Vatican II world of Babylon is becoming quite confusing.
Within Rome are a myriad of confused voices. Perhaps this is a good time to conclude the "Mary" thread by returning to Samples (op.cit., pp 100 ff) and telling with him the story of Medjugorje. That's a small town in present-day Yugoslavia, where a record-setting series of apparitions are occurring, or so it is reported.
The story begins in 1981, when, once again, young people who have no particular longing for God, who in fact are going out to a hillside for a smoke, suddenly encounter a "presence."
Why has she come, this ghostly but real "blessed Virgin Mary"?
"I wish to be with you to convert and to reconcile the whole world."
She says some traditional Catholic prayers with them, and leaves them with the admonition to find peace with God, and promote peace among men. Right away we know something is wrong, as God's peace is only promised for His own, and for the rest is promised a sword, and eventual judgment.
The visions continue, and the Communist government then ruling the land reminds the would-be vision-seers that religious services are not allowed outside; the Communists needed to control religion in their regime. Seems that "Mary" would have known that from the beginning. But she, and they, all comply, and the meeting is taken indoors.
Over the weeks and months the children are visited by not only Mary, but "various angels, Jesus, the devil, and certain relatives who have died." They have also seen heaven, purgatory, and hell. By the early 90's, 2,500 appearances have been reported, carrying over 1,000 messages!
But we've got some problems here:
1. only the young people see the visions. The proof of their veracity is said to be the accompanying miracles, and changed lives. People clean up their act when they are that close to the next world.
2. "Mary" commands things Jesus never commanded: the Rosary is to be prayed, for example.
3. Many claim to have witnessed the accompanying "miracle of the sun," but frequently those looking at the sun for such a miracle are gifted instead with serious eye damage.
4. Even Rome will not say the visions are of God, but neither does she deny access to the site.
5. The Roman bishop located in the area claims that the children have been caught in pure fabrications when cross-examined about these miracles. He is caught up in a struggle with other bishops, and the local Franciscans, who swear these miracles are real.
6. Speaking of those fabrications, at first the visionaries reported that Mary was to appear three more times. This obviously changed. First there were five "secrets", now ten.
7. Doctrinal problem: The woman of Yugoslavia is now stating categorically that "all religions are good before God."
8. In Deuteronomy 18, God condemns necromancy, contacting the dead. In Yugoslavia, a dead mother appears to one of the children.
9. Horror of horrors for the Vatican, "Mary" has come against their list of banned books. In 1947 Maria Valtorta published Poem of the God Man, a supposed "special revelation" about the life of Jesus which by Catholic or Protestant standards, is bad theology, bad history, and so on. Unknown to the vision-worshippers, Pope John XXIII in 1959 placed this book on the Vatican Index of Forbidden Books. No Catholic is to read it! But one of the "special" young people, Vicka, says to Ken Samples in an interview: "Marija asked the Virgin about that book, and the Virgin said that she should read that book, because it is like a poem between God and man."
As I was saying, within Rome are a myriad of confused voices.
But they unite at least in submitting to the Pope's authority. The rest is negotiable .Outside Rome there are still many voices which must be harmonized and caused to sing, somehow, in unison with the Eternal City. If indeed we have discovered Babylon, we must recall that the woman on the beast is a whore, and must have relationships with all who become in any way powerful on earth.
Those who wield such power include well-known religious figures, even those we number among the redeemed.
The Bible is clear about "touching God's anointed," which, in Biblical context, means all the people of God, not those "in power" (an expression itself which, I believe, chills God's heart, and a concept I will deal with later). So we must enter the following ground with tears and an awe-inspired fear, the very fear of God. Away with the spirit of judgment, the delight which some seem to have in shooting down those above them.
But away also with cowardice. It is not a time to be silent. So much is at stake. Those mature enough to read this information must join others who are on their faces before God on behalf of God's special servants.
As a boy growing up in Columbus, Ohio, I had several heroes, as young boys will. Perhaps the man who meant more to me than any at this time was Billy Graham. I listened faithfully to WLW's broadcast every Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. of the "Hour of Decision." I sent for his sermons, and went out to the woods preaching them to the trees! Later in life a Billy Graham film brought me to full repentance, and another filled me with a great desire to help suffering Christians. I do not, will not, speak lightly of the man who has preached the Gospel to more people than any man in the church's history.
Many were concerned, though, when they learned that he had been pushed by the Hearst newspaper chain, run by a Roman Catholic. It stung even more to see Billy accepting an honorary degree from a Catholic university, and to see pictures of him preaching in Catholic churches, knowing that the people thus won would be taken in by Rome. Hearing of his denial of the Communist persecution in Russia, so as to have the freedom to preach there, was also disturbing.
But, lovers of this man, as most of us have been, were willing to overlook what perhaps were indiscretions, a term we use to cover multitudes of sins. Perhaps rightly so.
But I ask you to study carefully the following statements of the man, and see for yourself whether in fact he was towed into Rome's orbit, and will in fact be instrumental in calling millions back to Papa before it is over.
My excerpts are from the Rock, April, 1989 (not to be confused with Keating's publication of a similar title, a Roman Catholic work). First there is shown a 50's picture of Graham being banned by the Catholic Church for its faithful in Australia. But from Brisbane to the late 80's, one can trace a progressive evolution in the Doctor's thinking:
• In 1952:
"Many of the people who reach a decision for Christ at our meetings have joined the Catholic Church."
• 1957:
"Even if the penitents are non-Protestants they are referred to the church of their choice...anyone who makes a decision at our meeting is seen later and referred to a local clergyman, Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish...(emphasis mine)
• 1963:
"I admire Pope John tremendously. I felt he brought a new era to the world."
• 1966:
"I find myself closer to Catholics than the radical Protestants. I think the Roman Catholic Church is going through a second Reformation."
• 1967:
(upon receiving an honorary degree by the Roman Catholics at Belmont Abbey College, North Carolina) "The gospel that built this school and the gospel that brings me here tonight is still the way of salvation."
• 1973:
Billy recommends Roman Catholic literature in his "Key '73" Crusade. One book: a biography of the Pope containing hundreds of pages of devotion to Mary, the Saints, worship of the wafer at the mass and trust in the sacraments for Salvation. He advertised this book as a "classic in devotion."
• 1978:
"I've found that my beliefs are essentially the same as those of orthodox Roman Catholics...we only differ on some matters of later church tradition."
• 1981:
(upon the death of Cardinal Fulton Sheen) "A great loss to the nation and both the Catholic and Protestant churches...I mourn his death and look forward to our re-union in Heaven." (But the Cardinal considered Protestants the enemy, even the cause of World War II, as God's judgment was poured out on a Catholic-rejecting world.)
• 1982:
(the words of the archdiocesan coordinator for a New England Crusade:) "The Crusade's purpose is not proselyting - or sheep stealing - 100 priests, religious, and laity are being trained to facilitate the full reconciliation to the [Catholic] Church of those men and women who will have been moved by Dr. Graham's preaching." (For example, Weston, Massachusetts, June 9, 1992, 2,100 inquirers given to priests and nuns.)
From 1983 to the present there has been a continuous, and growing, co-operation between Dr. Billy Graham and the church of Rome, the governmental system of which we have been identifying in this book as the present-day manifestation of Satan's religious counterfeit of the true Religion of Jesus.
More pain in the pit of the stomach. More prayer. More seeking God with the whole heart to make our calling and election sure. Oh, are you saved? Can you feel even now the tug of the Holy Spirit, calling you out?
There simply is no man, no organization, no human government, that we can trust. In these confused times, only God's Word will keep us.
SIXTY-NINE: MORE DECEPTION
Jesus made it clear to us that only a few, comparatively speaking, will find the Way through the Satanic confusion of this world, and yes, the religious system that binds it. Still, most believers can spot the Enemy when he is "out there." But when he is standing next to you, hands lifted in praise, reciting Bible verses, personal discerners need to be turned up.
Yes, and when he's internationally known, and on prime time T.V., or on your local Christian station...
Consider Kenneth Copeland, dearly beloved of many, for feeding good and godly things to many, myself included. He has become one in whom many trust. Many just plain enjoy Kenneth Copeland. What do you do when this dynamic, powerful, sometimes funny man utters a prophecy purporting to be from the Holy Ghost, which states in part that Jesus never claimed to be God?
Easy. You say, "bye-bye, Ken," you curse the lying spirit, you get on your knees praying for him, then for yourself. You hope that finally you have learned your lesson.
Yes, reader. Those words came from his mouth. And just for the record, Jesus is God, and claimed it often. "Before Abraham was, I am." "I and My Father are one." "He that has seen Me has seen the Father." "I am the good shepherd." (but see Psalm 23:1)
Stranger words than Copeland's come from men we thought were from God. We thought wrongly. Perhaps confused Christians need to turn off the T.V. altogether and seek the face of God.
I recently heard the name "Moody" (as in Moody Bible Institute, Moody Radio, Moody Monthly) called a name you can trust. Wrong. With all due respect to the great man of God Dwight L. Moody, there is no other name given among men that is to be trusted but the name Jesus. Compared to him, all men are liars.
But confusion is what will eventually bring all religions back to Rome. Eventually all will see that their particular brand of Christianity is a dead-end street that is only evolving back whence it and all religions originate. Why be a part of a dead end, they will say, when you can be on Broad-Way, the source of which avenue is the City of Babylon.
Now, the people that know their God, they will be a different story. Neither the mother of abominations nor any of her daughters will appeal to them, and they will not be satisfied until God Himself has spoken every word of truth to them personally through the Spirit-inspired Scriptures.
