quote:
Originally posted by DavidTBattler:
Good point DanThe Pope has been a busy guy these last few years.
My boys and I have decided we'd like to take his Popemobile for a spin through the hay fields around our place. 
But; I think he has other plans. He is coming on a lot stronger with his Sunday-keeping thing.
I thank God for the assurance that "where sin abounds; grace doth much more abound." (Rom.5:20).
The following is primarily some quotes from the Great Controversy with a few current events attached:
“The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done. Catholicism is gaining ground upon every side.” The Great Controversy, 565–566.
In 1870 Garabaldi stripped the Papacy of all the temporal power which she still possessed. In protest, the Pope went into a self-imposed exhile until the Concordant in 1929 between the Papacy and Mussalini.
In other words at the lowest point of the Papacy's history Sister White made the predictions of its return to power in our day.
COURTS ARE CORRUPT
“Already the doctrine that men are released from obedience to God’s requirements has weakened the force of moral obligation and opened the floodgates of iniquity upon the world. Lawlessness, dissipation, and corruption are sweeping in upon us like an overwhelming tide. In the family, Satan is at work. His banner waves, even in professedly Christian households. There is envy, evil surmising, hypocrisy, estrangement, emulation, strife, betrayal of sacred trusts, indulgence of lust. The whole system of religious principles and doctrines, which should form the foundation and framework of social life, seems to be a tottering mass, ready to fall to ruin. The vilest of criminals, when thrown into prison for their offenses, are often made the recipients of gifts and attentions as if they had attained an enviable distinction. Great publicity is given to their character and crimes. The press publishes the revolting details of vice, thus initiating others into the practice of fraud, robbery, and murder; and Satan exults in the success of his hellish schemes. The infatuation of vice, the wanton taking of life, the terrible increase of intemperance and iniquity of every order and degree, should arouse all who fear God, to inquire what can be done to stay the tide of evil.
“Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated by desire for gain and love of sensual pleasure. Intemperance has beclouded the faculties of many so that Satan has almost complete control of them. Jurists are perverted, bribed, deluded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy, dishonesty of every sort, are represented among those who administer the laws. ‘Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.’ Isaiah 59:14.” The Great Controversy, 585–586.
OJ Simpson, the Menendez Brothers, Bill Clinton, ect.
In March we passed a significant milestone; two million Americans in prisons and jails, that’s one out of every 125 people, at an annual cost to taxpayers of $41 Billion, and over two-thirds of released inmates return to prison as repeat-offenders. Chuck Colson’s Justice Report newsletter, April, 2000.
PROTESTANTISM THAT WILL CHANGE
“The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves.” The Great Controversy, 571.
Rebutting a belief widely shared by Protestants and a growing number of Roman Catholics, Pope John Paul II dismissed Tuesday “the widespread idea that one can obtain foregiveness direclty from God, and exhorted Catholics to confess more often to their priests.” Los Angeles Times, December 12, 1984.
In respecting religious liberty and the common good of all, Christians should seek recognition of Sunday and the Church’s Holy Days as legal holidays. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994 edition, 528.
FAR GREATER FAVOR
“Romanism is now regarded by Protestants with far greater favor than in former years. In those countries where Catholicism is not in the ascendancy, and the papists are taking a conciliatory course in order to gain influence, there is an increasing indifference concerning the doctrines that separate the reformed churches from the papal hierarchy; the opinion is gaining ground that, after all, we do not differ so widely upon vital points as has been supposed, and that a little concession on our part will bring us into a better understanding with Rome. The time was when Protestants placed a high value upon the liberty of conscience which had been so dearly purchased. they taught their children to abhor popery and held that to seek harmony with Rome would be disloyalty to God. But how widely different are the sentiments now expressed!” The Great Controversy, 563.
US Senator Sam Brownback, has introduced legislation that would award a $32,000 congressional gold medal to Pope John Paul II. 66 senators have co-sponsored the bill. In an April 13 speech from the Senate floor, Brownback, a non-Catholic, said the Pope, “as spiritual leader to the world’s 1 billion Catholics . . . has commenced a great dialogue with modern culture, one that transcends the boundaries of political or economic ideology.” National Catholic Register, April 30, 2000.
A recent meeting of Pentecostal scholars turned out to be the site of impromptu confessions of sins and pleas for forgiveness regarding Catholic-Pentecostal relations. National Catholic Register, April 2–8, 2000.
Billy Graham picks pope for man of the century. National Catholic Register, January, 2000.
“The pope is not just a religious pilgrim. He is one of the world’s great moral authorities, whose support or very presence (or even the brush of his lips on a proffered pot of soil as he visits a new land) can lend validity to states, policies and causes.” Time magazine April 3, 2000.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid called for Christians and Muslims to recognize tolerate and respect the differences between Christianity and Islam at the 11th General Assembly of the Christian Conference of Asia on June 3.
The president cited the Second Vatican Council in urging all to practice inter-religious tolerance. The council “gave us ideas on how we should exercise in concrete ways mutual understanding and tolerance,” he said.
“On one side the Catholic Church maintains that in the Catholic Church there is truth, but on the other side the Catholic Church also appreciates truth in other religions,” explained the president, an Islamic scholar. National Catholic Register, June 18–24, 2000.
When the pope visited St. Louis there was a picture on the front pages of the newspapers with the following caption: President Clinton welcomed the frail pope John Paul II with steadying hand Tuesday and said, “He hoped the pope would find in the seventh pilgrimage to the United States an America working harder to be what you have asked us to be.”
“God’s word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.” The Great Controversy, 581.
COVERING WITH APOLOGIES
“The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves. The papacy that Protestants are now so ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives, to expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human liberty and slew the saints of the Most High.” The Great Controversy, 571.
In a message to Pope John Paul II, the United Methodist Church has asked forgiveness for “instances of misunderstanding, insensitivities and harm” against Catholics that were caused by Methodists. The action was adopted at the church’s recent general conference. National Catholic Register, May 21, 2000.
Holy Office Still Exists
Pope John Paul II Revives Inquisition By Kathleen R. Hayes February 1991, NRI Trumpet, Page 3.
The thought of a revived Holy Office of the Inquisition would pacify some and offend others. Nevertheless, the Holy Office still exists. Only its name has been changed. Pope John Paul II has been instrumental in its revival. One may argue that this Ratzinger run agency is merely an attempt by the Catholic Church to root out communism or backslidden priests and their practices. However, with John Paul II’s objective to implement “God’s mandate” by creating a global church-state, which will administer from traditional Roman Catholic theology, is enough cause for alarm. Malachi Martin has already stated in his book, The Keys of this Blood, that the pope will not tolerate any belief systems that oppose his, not on a civil or church level. In John Paul II the world will behold a tyrant who will coldly execute direct orders against those whom he deems are heretics or immoral. Moreover, like his papal predecessors, John Paul II will carry out his “Godly mandate” in the name of Christ, or perhaps Mary.
“Persecution always follows religious favoritism on the part of secular governments.” The Spirit of Prophecy, volume 4, 279.
THE THREAT OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Whereas: The mass media has captivated the world with the activities of Pope John Paul II during his visit to the Holy Land in March 2000; and,
Whereas: The Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation have signed, in October, 1999 a joint declaration of accord on the doctrine of justification (only the synods of Wisconsin and Missouri dissented); and,
Whereas: In the middle of February, 200, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat met with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican to sign an agreement regarding the future of Jerusalem that warned Israel against any unilateral decision affecting Jerusalem; and,
Whereas: Bob Jones University has been unjustly slandered for anti-Catholic bias by Senators McCain, Torricelli, Hollings and the liberal mass media; and,
Whereas: The House of Representatives of the US Congress has just appointed a Roman Catholic priest as its chaplain for the first time, March 23, 2000; and
Whereas: Pope John Paul II has declared the year 2000 a “Great Jubilee Year” for Roman Catholics that establishes the restoration of indulgences, THE VERY ISSUE THAT PROMPTED MARTIN LUTHER TO DRAFT THE 95 THESES IN OCTOBER OF 1517: papal spokesman Timothy Shugrue states, “The indulgence is one of the spiritual privileges extended during Jubilee. It is a way of applying the merits of the good deeds of the saints and the Virgin Mary and Christ Himself to the rest of us.”;
Therefore: The South Atlantic Presbytery of the Bible Presbyterian Church, at its spring meeting in the Bible Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, North Carolina, March 25, 2000, resolves and warns that the Roman Catholic Church, Mystery, Babylon the Great, Mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth (Revelation 17:5) constitutes the greatest threat to fundamental Christianity in the 21st century! The Roman Catholic Church has long since forsaken the Bible alone, Grace alone, faith alone and Christ alone. The Bible Presbyterian Church of Charlotte, North Carolina, March 25, 2000.
Scarlet Women: The Roman Catholic Church. An ephitah, an illusion to Revelation 17:1-6. Webster’s Dictionary, 5th Edition, 1947.
Times have changed.
LIBERAL IDEAS
“And this is the religion which Protestants are beginning to look upon with so much favor, and which will eventually be united with Protestantism. This union will not, however, be effected by a change in Catholicism; for Rome never changes. She claims infallibility. It is Protestantism that will change. The adoption of liberal ideas on its part will bring it where it can clasp the hand of Catholicism.” Review and Herald, June 1, 1886.
Quotation: “I would look for justices of the Supreme Court who understand that our Constitution is a living breathing document, that it was intended by our Founders to be interpreted in the light of the constantly evolving experience of the American people.” Vice President Al Gore.
ALLEGIANCE TO THE POPE
“The Roman Catholic Church, with all its ramifications throughout the world, forms one vast organization under the control, and designed to serve the interests, of the papal see. Its millions of communicants, in every country on the globe, are instructed to hold themselves as bound in allegiance to the pope. Whatever their nationality or their government, they are to regard the authority of the church as above all other. Though they may take the oath pledging their loyalty to the state, yet back of this lies the vow of obedience to Rome, absolving them from every pledge inimical to her interests.” The Great Controversy, 580.
1995 the Supreme Court became a majority of Catholics.
A Roman Catholic bishop has urged six members of the US Supreme Court and top government officials to allow greater cooperation between church and state.
Speaking at the annual “Red Mass” at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, DC, October 3, Bishop Raymond Boland of Kansas City, said, “Is it possible to hope that, as we enter a new millennium, church and state in our land, and even the international world, may subscribe to a synthesis of basic principles which guarantee freedom for all while equally protecting the rights of believers and unbelievers?”
Continued Boland, “Do secular symbols enjoy more protection than religious symbols?” Then he asserted, “The First Amendment was adopted by Congress as protection for religion not protection from religion.”
Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn criticized his sermon as an obvious attempt to apply pressure to the court.
“The judges are lured in, and then they are lobbied on the church’s view of the Constitution,” Lynn told USA Today. “It’s a blatant effort to influence the Court.”
Washington’s Red Mass occurs every year the Sunday before the Supreme Court reconvenes on the first Monday in October. The worship service is named for the red vestments traditionally worn by the officiating clergy. Church & State, November, 1999.
Court Upholds Public Aid to Religious Schools
NEW YORK (US Newswire) The American Jewish Committee today expressed deep disappointment over the Supreme Court decision supporting public funding of computers and other equipment for religious schools.
WASHINGTON (BP) Reactions to the US Supreme Court’s ruling in a church-state case on the final day of its term varied from describing it as “a momentous day in the history of education in America” to calling it “a sledgehammer to the wall of separation.”
THE MOVEMENTS
“In the movements now in progress in the United States to secure for the institutions and usages of the church the support of the state, Protestants are following in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are opening the door for the papacy to regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old World. And that which gives greater significance to this movement is the fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance—a custom which originated with Rome, and which she claims as the sign of her authority. It is the spirit of the papacy—the spirit of conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above the commandments of God—that is permeating the Protestant churches and leading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltation which the papacy has done before them.” The Great Controversy, 573.
Christian Coalition, Promise Keepers, Holy laughter. . .
1995 the Christian Coalition took control of the Congress, thus creating a voting block with the Catholics in Congress that has the potential to pass any law and over ride any veto, at any time.
Religious Right groups have significant power in US politics, says scholar William Martin, a Rice University sociologist and author, not because most Americans agree with them, but because voter turnout in presidential and congressional elections hovers at around 50 percent and is even lower in state and local races.
“The religious-political movement accounts for only about 17 percent of the American electorate,” Martin said, “but because most Americans don’t go to the polls, Religious Right activists play a large role in political life.” Church & State, November, 1999.
According to Surveying the Religious Landscape (Gallup, 1999): 15 percent of Americans describe themselves as evangelical. 25 percent say they are fundamentalist. 39 percent say they are born-again.
Of the self-described born-again/evangelical Christians: 16 percent have visited a fortune-teller. 20 percent believe in reincarnation. 26 percent believe in astrology. 33 percent are “pro-choice”.
In surveying born-again Christians, the Barna Research Group (www.barna.org) found that: 34 percent believe that Jesus “committed sins like other people”. 35 percent do not believe that Jesus physically resurrectd from the dead. 45 percent believe that if people are good enough they can earn a place in heaven. 45 percent believe that Satan is “not a living being, but is a symbol of evil”. Prison Fellowship Ministries’ Jubilee magazine, Spring 2000.
“In rejecting truth, men reject its Author. In trampling upon the law of God, they deny the authority of the Lawgiver. It is as easy to make an idol of false doctrines and theories as to fashion an idol of wood or stone. . . . With many a philosophical idol is enthroned in the place of Jehovah; while the living God, as He is revealed in His word, in Christ, and in the works of creation, is worshipped by but few. Thousands deify nature while they deny the God of nature. Though in a different form, idolatry exists in the Christian world today as verily as it existed among ancient Israel in the days of Elijah. The god of many professedly wise men, of philosophers, poets, politicians, journalists—the god of polished fashionable circles, of many colleges and universities, even of some theological institutions—is little better than Baal, the sun-god of Phoenicia.” The Great Controversy, 583.
A UNION BASED UPON COMMON POINTS OF DOCTRINE
“The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made. But there has been for years, in churches of the Protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine. To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed—however important they might be from a Bible standpoint—must necessarily be waived.” The Great Controversy, 444.
AUGSBURG, Germany (AP)—Putting aside five centuries of differences in theology, Roman Catholic and Lutheran church leaders embraced at a service Sunday where they signed a declaration ending a dispute over salvation that sparked the Protestant Reformation and led to the Thirty Years War.
The 700 guests at Augsburg’s Lutheran Church of St. Anna’s and more than 2,000 observers in a tent nearby watched, applauded and hugged each other as officials from the two bodies stated that both churches believe the salvation of individual Christians is “justified” by God’s love alone, not by human efforts.
From the Vatican, Pope John Paul II welcomed the signing as a “milestone along a difficult path full of joy, union, and communion among Christians.”
During the Augsburg service, Bishop Christian Krause, president of the Lutheran World Federation, also spoke of the agreement’s importance. “For the first time in centuries we are walking on common ground together,” Krause said.
Martin Luther set in motion the Protestant Reformation on the same date 482 years ago, when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, protesting the practice of selling indulgences to help believers gain forgiveness for their sins.
The dispute centered on the question of how to get to heaven. Catholics believe that people’s actions can make a difference, while Lutherans believe salvation is based on faith alone. After 30 years of consultation among theologians, the two sides announced in June that they would sign the agreement to unite their beliefs on justification.
Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops concluded a week of prayer and dialogue May 19 by announcing plans for a joint commission to further explore the possibility of reunification. The closed-door meeting was chaired by Anglicanism’s spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, and Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical council for Promoting Christian Unity. National Catholic Register, May 28–June 3, 2000.
THE LEADING CHURCHES
“When the leading churches of the United States, . . . shall influence the state . . . to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” The Great Controversy, 445.
1995 the Christian Coalition took control of the Congress, thus creating a voting block with the Catholics in Congress that has the potential to pass any law and over ride any veto, at any time.
The Republican National Committee’s [RNC] decision to host a Mass and reception for the new House chaplain yesterday sparked conflict yet again, prompting Democrats to accuse Republicans of politicizing the already sensitive religious post.
RNC officials decided to honor Coughlin, a conservative priest from Chicago, with a Mass and reception at St. Peters Church on Capitol Hill last night. The RNC, which launched a Catholic task force last September, has intensified it’s outreach to Catholics since the disputes over the House chaplain choice and GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush’s visit to Bob Jones University, a South Carolina school known for it’s anti-Catholic teachings
“We are communicating the way we’ve been voting for the past five years,” Paulitz said. (Paulitz is RNC spokesman) “SINCE WE TOOK THE MAJORITY IN 1995, WE’VE HAD A 100% CATHOLIC VOTING RECORD AND [DEMOCRATS] HAVE BEEN ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ISSUE.”
Representative Timothy J. Roemer suggested that Republicans were trying to counter the negative publicity surrounding their initial decision to pick a Presbyterian instead of a Catholic.
“It’s becoming more and more obvious they are admitting they made a mistake and they are overreaching, doing Catholic resolutions and Catholic Masses and Catholic legislation almost on a daily basis,” Roemer said. But Thomas P. Melady, who chairs the RNC’s Catholic task force and is hosting the Mass with RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson, said there were no political motives behind the event. “It’s a very appropriate, traditional Catholic thing to do.” Said Melady, who served as ambassador to the Vatican. Washington Post, April 12 & May 5, 2000.
House Majority Whip Tom DeLay predicted yesterday that once George W. Bush is elected president, Congressional majority, lawmakers would be able to launch “a very aggressive counter attack”.
As part of that counterattack, DeLay proposed that Congress attach two anti-religious discrimination measures to spending bills. One would allow religious groups and institutions to receive federal funds, which he said would ease the way for Catholic schools to receive government money . . . The second would prohibit states and school districts receiving public funds from debarring private voluntary prayer and religious activity.”
“When religion is good I can see that it will support itself. And when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support it, so that it’s professors are obliged to call for the help of the civil power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of it’s being a bad one.” Benjamin Franklin.
“But what is the ‘image to the beast’? and how is it to be formed? . . . When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel, and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people she sought the support of the secular power. The result was the papacy, a church that controlled the power of the State, and employed it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of ‘heresy.’ In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the State will also be employed by the church to accomplish her own ends.” The Great Controversy, 443.
Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey, at a Christian Coalition “Road to Victory” meeting held October 1 in Washington DC, called for, among other things, school vouchers, defunding the National Endowment for the Arts, and a constitutional amendment to guarantee “our right to practice our faith.” Church & State, November, 1999.
21 states are considering legislation that would establish vouchers, tuition tax credits or other form of taxpayer aid to private religious schools.
12 states are trying to pass school prayer laws.
12 states are considering legislation allowing them to display the Ten Commandments in public schools and government offices. Indiana, South Dakota, and Virginia have bills already approved.
8 states are considering “charitable choice” programs that would award tax dollars to sectarian groups to use as they please with virtually no significant government oversight.
6 states are considering restricting teaching evolution in the public school science classes and promoting “creation science.” Americans United for the Separation of Church & State newsletter. March 31, 2000.
Republican presidential contender George W. Bush promised in a July 22 speech in Indianapolis that the federal government should “rally the armies of compassion in our communities” and provide tax incentives and federal funds to houses of worship to spur their social service work. He promised to spend $8 billion during his first year in office on tax incentives for charitable donations and to support charities and religious groups. Church & State, September, 1999.
Quotation: “To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical.” Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, 1786.
“The founders of the nation wisely sought to guard against the employment of secular power on the part of the church, with its inevitable result—intolerance and persecution. The Constitution provides that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ and that ‘no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States.’ Only in flagrant violation of these safeguards to the nation’s liberty, can any religious observance be enforced by civil authority.” The Great Controversy, 442.
TO SECURE PUBLIC FAVOR
“The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected.” The Great Controversy, 592.
Clinton impeachment, Ten Commandment laws.
ROYAL EDICTS, GENERAL COUNCILS, AND CHURCH ORDINANCES
“If the reader would understand the agencies to be employed in the soon-coming contest, he has but to trace the record of the means which Rome employed for the same object in ages past. If he would know how papists and Protestants united will deal with those who reject their dogmas, let him see the spirit which Rome manifested toward the Sabbath and its defenders.
“Royal edicts, general councils, and church ordinances sustained by secular power were the steps by which the pagan festival attained its position of honor in the Christian world. The first public measure enforcing Sunday observance was the law enacted by Constantine. (A. D. 321) This edict required townspeople to rest on ‘the venerable day of the sun,’ but permitted countrymen to continue their agricultural pursuits. Though virtually a heathen statute, it was enforced by the emperor after his nominal acceptance of Christianity.” The Great Controversy, 573–574.
Dies Domini in 1995.
In his letter, the pope goes on to say, “In obedience to the third commandment, Sunday musy be sanctified above all. In his letter, the pope goes on to say, ‘A violater should be punished as a heritic,’” said Macanelli. Jay Macanelli is an official representative of the Catholic Church. The Detroit News.
UN Summit in August 2000.
The UN Plans Summit of Religious Leaders
In one of the world boby’s most ambitious projects, more than 1,000 clerics, from Cardinals and rabbis to imams and patriarchs, will join gurus and ministers at the body’s New York headquarters in August. Ted Turner said to the Secretary General of the United Nations, “If you want peace in the world you have to bring together religious leaders at the UN and get them to sign a declaration.” Washington Times.
A GRAND MOVEMENT
“The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism. Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.” The Great Controversy, 588–589.
UN Summit in September 2000.
On Appendix pages A34 and A35 of the US Congressional Record dated Thursday, 10 January 1963, you will find listed 45 Current Goals in America. Goal number eleven reads as follows:
“Promote the United Nations as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces.”
In September 2000, the United Nations intends to convene a Special Millennium Assembly as a global summit on the future of the world. A Charter to achieve global governance has been developed for presentation then. It is called the Charter for Global Democracy, and has already been signed by many nations of the world. You can see the complete document at www.vvm.com/~ctomlin/a87.htm. There are twelve principles set forth in the document:
1. Consolidation of all international agencies under the UN.
2. UN regulation of all transnational corporations and financial institutions, under an “international code of conduct” concerning the environment and labor.
3. Establish independent source of revenue for UN, such as taxes of aircraft, fuel, licensing of global commons. Global commons are: outer space, the atmosphere, non-territorial seas, and the environment.
4. Eliminate veto power and permanent status on the UN Security Council.
5. Authorize a standing UN army.
6. UN registration of all arms; the reduction of national armies, as part of a multilateral security system under the authority of the UN.
7. Individual and national compliance with UN established human right treaties and declarations.
8. Activation of International Criminal Court, making it compulsory for all nations.
9. Creates a new institution to establish economic and environmental security by insuring sustainable development.
10. Establish an International Environmental Court.
11. Creates an Action Team to monitor and control carbon emission based on per-capita rights.
12. Cancellation of all debt to third world nations.
“And the worshiped the dragon who gave power unto the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast: Who is able to make war with him?” Revelation 13:4.
“As we approach the last crisis, it is of vital moment that harmony and unity exist among the Lord’s instrumentalities. The world is filled with storm and war and variance. Yet under one head—the papal power—the people will unite to oppose God in the person of His witnesses.
“What is it that gives its kingdom to this power? Protestantism, a power which, while professing to have the temper and spirit of a lamb and to be allied to Heaven, speaks with the voice of a dragon. It is moved by a power from beneath.
“‘These have one mind.’ There will be a universal bond of union, one great harmony, a confederacy of Satan’s forces. ‘And shall give their power and strength unto the beast.’ Thus is manifested the same arbitrary, oppressive power against religious liberty, freedom to worship God according to the dictates of conscience, as was manifested by the papacy, when in the past it persecuted those who dared to refuse to conform with the religious rites and ceremonies of Romanism.” Maranatha, 187.
In a document titled The Gift of Authority, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a joint Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission call upon all Anglicans to recognize the Pope as the supreme authority if a new global church were created. The document describes the Pope as a “gift to be received by all the churches.” The statement (not currently binding), released by Lambeth Palace in May, accepts that in a new united church it would be the Bishop of Rome who would exercise a universal primacy. Christian News, July 26, 1999.
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. Revelation 17:12.
“Kings and rulers and governors have placed upon themselves the brand of antichrist, and are represented as the dragon who goes to make war with the saints—with those who keep the commandments of God and who have the faith of Jesus. In their enmity against the people of God, they show themselves guilty also of the choice of Barabbas instead of Christ.” Testimonies to Ministers, 38.
Globalists have become more brazen in their shameless promotion of one world government. . . President Clinton praises efforts to achieve a world government. . . Walter Cronkite calls for a world government in a speech, which he followed with an interview with the BBC calling for, “an international rule of law.” . . The Wolrd Affairs Association recently honored deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott for advocating world government in Time magazine. He wrote—“Nationhood as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single global authority.” . . .Former editor of Time magazine Henry Grumwald writes in the Wall Street Journal, “The idea of the nation-state is in for some profound changes. The nation-state will undergo sharp limitations of its sovereignty. Just as the old, petty principalities had to dissolve into wider structures. [It] will be increasingly difficult for the future nation-state to argue that its treatment of its own citizens is a purely internal matter.” Spotlight, 3-10-00, adapted.
In an audience May 2 with some 200 labor and business leaders in Rome for the Jubilee for Workers, Pope John Paul II said that globalization’s potential consequences, good and evil, “depend on certain fundamental decisions: whether globalization will be placed at the service of humans, and of every human, or exclusively at the profit of a development severed from principles of solidarity, of participation, and external to a responsible subsidiarity."
“It is important to keep in mind that the more global the market becomes, the more it must be balanced by a culture of solidarity, attentive to the needs of the weakest”, requiring “a new culture, new rules and new institutions at the world level.”
The Pope concluded by saying that globalization has started the nations down “a commendable road of co-responsibility . . . that must be reinforced, globalized, so that all countries feel involved.” National Catholic Register, May 20, 2000.
In his editorial column, the editor of the National Catholic Register exulted:
“The [pro-abortion forces’] campaign to have the Vatican removed as a player in the United Nations had gathered 498 signatures from groups in more than a year, but a counter-campaign to support the Vatican received 2,000 signatures from groups in just four months. This sent a strong signal to UN-related [pro-abortion] organizations that the Vatican remains a force in the world—one that will not go away.
“Catholics have a tremendous advantage at international conferences like this, or at least we should. In merely human terms, the Church is an unequaled international force with 1 billion members and a strong organization. It possesses a wealth of scholarship that is head and shoulders above the intellectual resources of those who attack the family.” National Catholic Register, June 18–24, 2000.
Bush On The Vatican
Texas Governor George W. Bush endorsed continued permanent observer status for the Holy See at the United Nations.
August 2000 George W. Bush was asked if would feel obligated to the Christian Coalition, or the Religious Right if he was elected. He replied that his "only obligation would be to the Holy See."
Pope’s Birthday
UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan joined in praising Pope John Paul’s 80th birthday by calling him “a champion of dignity” at a UN-sponsored birthday event.
On May 23rd, the US House of Representatives voted 416-1 to award the Pope the $30,000 Congressional Gold Medal and said that he is recognized the world over as a “pre-eminent moral authority.” Representative John LaFalce, noted that when the Pope speaks, people all over the world listen. “The world listens because he is the most powerful moral force on our lifetime,” he said. The single—typical—dissenting vote was cast by Representative Ron Paul.
The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow. Earlier this year, Congress approved, and President Clinton signed into law, a bill granting the medal to New York Cardinal John O’Connor shortly before his death. The medal was also awarded to Mother Teresa in 1997. National Catholic Register, June 4–10, 2000.
TEMPORAL PROSPERITY
“It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the Sunday sabbath; that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity.” The Great Controversy, 590.
“There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis. If men would give more heed to the teaching of God’s word, they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them.” Testimonies, volume 9, 13.
“Good times are predicted for this year. The capital has made economic progress. The capital city will enjoy economic prosperity equal to last year, bankers say. Business and capital have been highly prosperous.” Washington Post, January 1, 1929.
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. James 5:1–3.
THE ‘SPEAKING’ OF THE NATION
“The lamb-like horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of the nation thus represented. The ‘speaking’ of the nation is the action of its legislative and judicial authorities. By such action it will give the lie to those liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation of its policy. The prediction that it will speak ‘as a dragon,’ and exercise ‘all the power of the first beast,’ plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance and persecution that was manifested by the nations represented by the dragon and the leopard-like beast. And the statement that the beast with two horns ‘causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,’ indicates that the authority of this nation is to be exercised in enforcing some observance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy.
“Such action would be directly contrary to the principles of this government, to the genius of its free institutions, to the direct and solemn avowals of the Declaration of Independence, and to the Constitution. The founders of the nation wisely sought to guard against the employment of secular power on the part of the church, with its inevitable result--intolerance and persecution. The Constitution provides that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ and that ‘no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States.’ Only in flagrant violation of these safeguards to the nation’s liberty, can any religious observance be enforced by civil authority. But the inconsistency of such action is no greater than is represented in the symbol. It is the beast with lamb-like horns—in profession pure, gentle, and harmless—that speaks as a dragon.” The Great Controversy, 442.
For the first time in History:
Resolution passed by the Congress: “Whereas: Officials of Bob Jones University routinely disparage those of other religious faiths with intolerant and derogatory remarks. Whereas: Officials of Bob Jones University have likened the pope of the Roman Catholic Church to a demon and branded Catholicism as the satanic system of the religion of antichrist. Resolved: The Senate condemns practices such as those prevelant at Bob Jones University that seek to discriminate and divide Americans on the basis of race, ethnicity, and religion and strongly denounces individuals who seek to pervert the American ideals of inclusion, equality, and social justice.” June, 2000.
The Interfaith Alliance Group: “On behalf of the concerned people of faith I urge members of the Senate and House to denounce any association of bigotry, discrimination, and intolerance with religious faiths. For Bob Jones University to foment bigotry in the name of Christianity is the height of hypocracy, if not heresy.” Barry W. Lynn, head of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Heresy: Adherance to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma. An opinion or docrine contrary to the church doctrine. An opinion or doctrine contrary to the truth or to generally accepted beliefs. Websters Dictionary.
In his letter, the pope goes on to say, “In obedience to the third commandment, Sunday musy be sanctified above all. In his letter, the pope goes on to say, ‘A violater should be punished as a heritic,’” said Macanelli. Jay Macanelli is an official representative of the Catholic Church. The Detroit News.
THE POWER OF MIRACLE-WORKING DEMONS
“Through the two great errors the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome.” The Great Controversy, 588.
“Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world. The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in Eden, ‘ye shall not surely die, in the day that you eat there of then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’ Genesis 3:4,5 Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs, but it will be reached in the last remnant of time.” The Great Controversy, 561.
“Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons.” The Great Controversy, 624.
“The twentieth century is witnessing a phenomenon that has simply grown too big for any reasonable person to ignore. The supernatural exploits in our midst on a near daily basis. Reported apparitions of Mary at a frequency never seen before in all of recorded history.” The Thunder of Justice, 34, Ted Flynn.
In the United States alone there have been some seven thousand Mary apparitions. John Jenuks, The Great Controversy End Game, 3. John Jenuk is an ordained Seventh day Adventist minister doing research at the E.G. White library in Avondale College Australia. “These manifestations of spiritism are having a tremendous effect in preparing Protestant America to lead the world into this false worship as foretold in Revelation 13:11–12”
“Now, however—after what was arguably the very pointed events that had taken place in Saint Peter’s square; after exhaustive examination of the documents and living witnesses and participants connected with Fatima events themselves, and after nothing less than a personal communication from heaven during his long convalescence—Pope John Paul II . . . came face-to-face with the realization that, far from pointing to some distant future time, the contents of the famous Fatima message—and, specifically, the secret contents directed to papal attention—amounted to a geopolitical agenda attached to an immediate time table. . . .
“Clearly, the new agenda—heaven’s agenda; the Grand Design of God for the new world order—had begun.” The Keys of This Blood, Malachi Martin, 48, 50.
“Pope John Paul II is waiting, rather for the event that will fission human history splitting the immediate past from the oncoming future. It will be an event on public view in the skies, in the oceans, and on the continental land masses of this planet. It will particularly involve our human sun, which every day lights up and shine upon the valleys, the mountains and the plains of this earth for our eyes. But on the day of this event, it will not appear merely as the master star of our so-called solar system, rather it will be seen as the glory of the woman whom the apostle describes as ‘clothed with the sun’ and giving birth to ‘a child who will rule the nations with a rod of iron.’
“Fissioning it will be as an event, in John Paul’s conviction of faith, for it will immediately nullify all the grand designs the nations which are now forming and will introduce the Grand Design of man’s maker. John Paul’s waiting and watching time will then be over. His ministry as the Servant of a Grand Design will then begin. . . . John Paul is and will be the soul possessor of the keys of this blood on that day.
“John Paul’s second reason—the more cogent one for him, personally—is drawn from the Fatima message. That message that a catastrophic change will shortly shatter any plans or designs that men may have established. This is the era of the Fatima ‘or.’ Men have abandoned religion. God does not intend for human affairs to go on for a long time in that fashion, because this is his world. . . .
“This is why John Paul is waiting. God must first intervene before John Paul’s ministry to all men may start.” The Keys of This Blood, Malachi Martin, 639, 656.
“In any event by the year 2000, or thereabouts, we will have the second Pentecost, the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the return of Jesus in glory as we enter the New Era of Peace, sin will be no more, an era when heaven and earth will be joined and we have a new heaven and a new earth.” Larry Flynn, Catholic Prophecy Update, page 2, January–February, 1997.
To Christians as Jesus Christ, to Moslems as their Iman Maddi, to the Hindus he will be Kristna, to Buddhist he is there Buddha in his 5th incarnation, to the Jews as the Messaiah, to the New Age as Miatria—the cosmic christ. Koran, 46–47—Mohammed writes favorably about Mary and later states that his daughter Fatima is second in womanhood only to Mary.
A COUNTERFEIT
“Notwithstanding the widespread declension of faith and piety, there are true followers of Christ in these churches. Before the final visitation of God's judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people for the Lord's second coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world.” The Great Controversy, 464.
Promise Keepers. Holy Laughter.
THE TIME OF VISITATION
“Such is the sure result of neglect to appreciate and improve the light and privileges which God bestows. Unless the church will follow on in His opening providence, accepting every ray of light, performing every duty which may be revealed, religion will inevitably degenerate into the observance of forms, and the spirit of vital godliness will disappear. This truth has been repeatedly illustrated in the history of the church. God requires of His people works of faith and obedience corresponding to the blessings and privileges bestowed. Obedience requires a sacrifice and involves a cross; and this is why so many of the professed followers of Christ refused to receive the light from heaven, and, like the Jews of old, knew not the time of their visitation. Luke 19:44. Because of their pride and unbelief the Lord passed them by and revealed His truth to those who, like the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Eastern Magi, had given heed to all the light they had received.” The Great Controversy, 361.
“The Lord will not be trifled with. Those who neglect His mercies and blessings in this day of opportunities will bring impenetrable darkness upon themselves and will be candidates for the wrath of God. Sodom and Gomorrah were visited with the curse of the Almighty for their sins and iniquities. There are those in our day who have equally abused the mercies of God and slighted His warnings. It will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for those who bear the name of Christ, yet dishonor Him by their unconsecrated lives. This class are laying up for themselves a fearful retribution when God in His wrath shall visit them with His judgments.
“Sinners who have not had the light and privileges that Seventh-day Adventists have enjoyed will, in their ignorance, be in a more favorable position before God than those who have been unfaithful while in close connection with His work and professing to love and serve Him. The tears of Christ upon the mount came from an anguished, breaking heart because of His unrequited love and the ingratitude of His chosen people. He had labored untiringly to save them from the fate that they seemed determined to bring upon themselves, but they refused His mercy and knew not the time of their visitation. Their day of privilege was ending, yet they were so blinded by sin that they knew it not.
“Jesus looked down through the centuries even to the close of time, and, taking in the cases of all who had repaid His love and admonitions with selfishness and neglect, and all who would thus repay Him, He addressed to them those solemn words, declaring that they knew not the time of their visitation. The Jews were gathering about themselves the dark clouds of retribution, and many today, in like manner, are drawing upon themselves the wrath of God, because of opportunities unimproved, the counsels and love of Jesus scorned, and His servants despised and hated for speaking the truth.” Testimonies, volume 4, 191–192.
THE QUESTION AGITATED
“Heretofore those who presented the third angel’s message have often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that religious intolerance would gain control in the United States, that church and state would unite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God, have been pronounced groundless and absurd. . . . But as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce an effect which it could not have had before.” The Great Controversy, 605–606.
Dies Domini letter 1998.
Pat Robertson, president of the Christian Coalition, wrote a letter to Coalition members in August, 1998, saying, “Concerning Pope John Paul’s July Encyclical ‘Sunday (Lord’s Day),’ I too heartily agree with this world’s great spiritual leader, ‘it is time to give Sunday the Day of Worship the recognition it demands. It is time to pass our legislated agenda and stop profaning’ The Lord’s Day. Revelation 1:10. Somebody-some people, who do care about the moral crisis of our nation must act to save our nation before it is forever late.” (from Xerox copy of undated letter written on Christian Coalition stationery, August 17, 1998 opening with the words, “It was a very good day for America.”)
“If our people continue in the listless attitude in which they have been, God cannot pour upon them His Spirit. They are unprepared to co-operate with Him. They are not awake to the situation and do not realize the threatened danger. They should feel now, as never before, their need of vigilance and concerted action.
“The peculiar work of the third angel has not been seen in its importance. God meant that His people should be far in advance of the position which they occupy today. But now, when the time has come for them to spring into action, they have the preparation to make. When the National Reformers began to urge measures to restrict religious liberty, our leading men should have been alive to the situation and should have labored earnestly to counteract these efforts. It is not in the order of God that light has been kept from our people--the very present truth which they needed for this time. Not all our ministers who are giving the third angel’s message really understand what constitutes that message. The National Reform movement has been regarded by some as of so little importance that they have not thought it necessary to give much attention to it and have even felt that in so doing they would be giving time to questions distinct from the third angel's message. May the Lord forgive our brethren for thus interpreting the very message for this time.
“The people need to be aroused in regard to the dangers of the present time. The watchmen are asleep. We are years behind. Let the chief watchmen feel the urgent necessity of taking heed to themselves, lest they lose the opportunities given them to see the dangers.
“If the leading men in our conferences do not now accept the message sent them by God, and fall into line for action, the churches will suffer great loss. When the watchman, seeing the sword coming, gives the trumpet a certain sound, the people along the line will echo the warning, and all will have opportunity to make ready for the conflict. But too often the leader has stood hesitating, seeming to say: ‘Let us not be in too great haste. There may be a mistake. We must be careful not to raise a false alarm.’ The very hesitancy and uncertainty on his part is crying: ‘“Peace and safety.” Do not get excited. Be not alarmed. There is a great deal more made of this religious amendment question than is demanded. This agitation will all die down.’ Thus he virtually denies the message sent from God, and the warning which was designed to stir the churches fails to do its work. The trumpet of the watchman gives no certain sound, and the people do not prepare for the battle. Let the watchman beware lest, through his hesitancy and delay, souls shall be left to perish, and their blood shall be required at his hand.
“We have been looking many years for a Sunday law to be enacted in our land; and, now that the movement is right upon us, we ask: Will our people do their duty in the matter? Can we not assist in lifting the standard and in calling to the front those who have a regard for their religious rights and privileges? The time is fast approaching when those who choose to obey God rather than man will be made to feel the hand of oppression. Shall we then dishonor God by keeping silent while His holy commandments are trodden underfoot?
“While the Protestant world is by her attitude making concessions to Rome, let us arouse to comprehend the situation and view the contest before us in its true bearings. Let the watchmen now lift up their voice and give the message which is present truth for this time. Let us show the people where we are in prophetic history and seek to arouse the spirit of true Protestantism, awaking the world to a sense of the value of the privileges of religious liberty so long enjoyed.
“God calls upon us to awake, for the end is near. Every passing hour is one of activity in the heavenly courts to make ready a people upon the earth to act a part in the great scenes that are soon to open upon us. These passing moments, that seem of so little value to us, are weighty with eternal interests. They are molding the destiny of souls for everlasting life or eternal death. The words we utter today in the ears of the people, the works we are doing, the spirit of the message we are bearing, will be a savor of life unto life or of death unto death.
“My brethren, do you realize that your own salvation, as well as the destiny of other souls, depends upon the preparation you now make for the trial before us? Have you that intensity of zeal, that piety and devotion, which will enable you to stand when opposition shall be brought against you? If God has ever spoken by me, the time will come when you will be brought before councils, and every position of truth which you hold will be severely criticized. The time that so many are now allowing to go to waste should be devoted to the charge that God has given us of preparing for the approaching crisis.” Testimonies, volume 5, 713–716.
Time is running out Brethren. Jeff Pippenger
