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J Contenders/Rev. Raymond Jackson
The Judgement of the Great Whore
BECAUSE WE ARE LIVING IN THE HOUR OF TIME WHEN MANY PROPHECIES OF THE SCRIPTURES ARE BEING FULFILLED, I FEEL THAT WE SHOULD ONCE AGAIN CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO SOME THINGS THAT ARE SURELY JUST AHEAD. WE ARE TITLING THIS MESSAGE, "JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT WHORE," AND NATURALLY IT IS THE ONE SPOKEN OF IN REVELATION, CHAPTER 17, THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH. I HAVE READ VARIOUS ARTICLES PUBLISHED BY DENOMINATIONAL THEOLOGIANS ON SOME OF THESE PROPHECIES THAT ARE YET TO BE FULFILLED, AND A LOT OF THEM HAVE SOME POINTS THAT ARE RELATIVE, BUT NONE OF THEM EVER REALLY PUT THE WHOLE PICTURE TOGETHER CLEAR ENOUGH TO BE UNDERSTOOD. YES, SAINTS, THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT JUST SIMPLY CANNOT BE REASONED OUT BY SCHOLARLY MEN WHO BELIEVE THAT ONLY THE HIGHLY EDUCATED ARE USED OF GOD. I AM THANKFUL TO GOD TONIGHT THAT I HAVE BEEN PRIVILEGED TO UNDERSTAND BY REVELATION OF THE SPIRIT, MANY OF THE SCRIPTURES THAT THEY JUST PLAY AROUND WITH; AND THE SUBJECT WE ARE GOING TO DEAL WITH IN THIS MESSAGE IS IN THAT CATEGORY. TO ME THERE IS NO QUESTION AS TO WHO, OR WHAT THIS GREAT WHORE OF REVELATION 17:1 IS, AND NEITHER IS THERE ANY DOUBT, IN MY MIND ABOUT THE BEAST SHE IS RIDING ON. I HAVE SAID MANY TIMES, THAT THE SCRIPTURES INTERPRET THE SCRIPTURES, AND THAT IS TRUE; BUT SOME THINGS BECOME EVEN CLEARER, WHEN WE ARE ABLE TO APPROACH THEM WITH INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM SECULAR HISTORY THAT FILLS IN ALL THE MISSING PIECES. SOME PEOPLE ARE BORED HALF TO DEATH WITH HISTORY; BUT WHEN I CAN LAY IT RIGHT ALONGSIDE THE SCRIPTURES AND SEE A MORE CLEAR PICTURE, I GET EXCITED. AND I HOPE YOU WILL TOO BEFORE WE SAY VERY MUCH ABOUT THE GREAT WHORE THOUGH, I WANT TO GET THE BEAST THAT CARRIES HER ESTABLISHED IN YOUR MINDS, FOR ONCE YOU SEE WHAT THE BEAST IS, IT IS EASIER TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE GREAT WHORE THE WOMAN ARRAYED IN PURPLE AND SCARLET COLOR.
AN ANGEL SPEAKS
Open your Bibles to chapter 17, verse 1, and let us take a look at what the angel showed John in 96 A.D., when he had that most unusual experience there on the Isle of Patmos. Our ultimate goal is to understand the judgment of this great whore; but there are many things to look at, before we arrive at an acceptable understanding, so notice as we begin reading. "And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, (This is one of the seven angels sent forth to administer the wrath of God upon the ungodly inhabitants of the earth, after the great tribulation has fulfilled its allotted days of time.) and talked with me, saying unto me, (The angel says this to John,) Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. (Her wine is her doctrine.) So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. (Please notice here that the woman is carried by the beast, and I might point out at this time, that the names of blasphemy are upon the heads; not the horns.) And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, (These colors tell a lot, as you consider this picture. Purple is an imperial color, worn by kings; and bright red, or scarlet, is a color associated with prostitutes. Webster's Dictionary describes it as a whorish color, but notice what the woman is decked out with; and keep these things in your mind as we go on.) having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: (These abominations are her teachings, what she makes her subjects drink of.) And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns." The angel is going to give John a description of the beast now, so notice, "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." The bottomless pit is hell, and perdition is destruction, so total destruction is the final fate of the beast; but there is a riddle to deal with here in order to get this was, is not, and yet is, straightened out in our minds. We will look at all of that of course; but let me call your attention to another fact at this time: that is the election and predestination of the children of God, revealed in that verse. I want to get all these verses read; then we will go to chapter 13, and deal with what this terminology means. Verse 9, "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not; even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. 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. These (ten horns, kings) have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." Brothers and Sisters, I want to be one of those who are with Jesus when He comes; how about you? Those that come with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful. He does the calling and choosing; but it is up to us to be faithful. Remember, when this was written, it was a prophecy of something that did not even exist at that time. Now, we are reading it as it exists, but we need an understanding of it; and of how it plays such a role in the last days.
WHY A REVELATION IS NECESSARY
No doubt you have heard preachers speak of this beast as some ferocious animal coming up out of the sea, and scaring the life out of people; but you need to pay attention to all these verses we are reading, so you may receive a revelation of what this beast really is, and where it comes from. Verse 12 tells us that the 10 horns are ten kings, and we are about to read a verse that will tell us about the waters the great whore sits upon, so pay attention as we read. "And he (the angel) saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." I wish we could get every Catholic person to really see the picture here, and to understand exactly how God looks upon that whorish system of religion they feel so secure in. "For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Saints, do you know of more than one city that reigns over kings and potentates of the whole earth? Think about it for a minute; and you will have to agree that the Catholic Church is the only thing that could possibly fulfill that verse of scripture. Now as I said earlier, history books written years ago, reveal some things that really help put these scriptures together. This little history book I am holding in my hand was printed back around the turn of the century, and used to be one that was used in our schools; but you will not find this same subject matter dealt with in our modern day versions, so there is no way I can supply copies to people who request them. I get letters from people in foreign lands, requesting copies of the history books I get certain facts from, and there is just no way I can supply them; so I will just have to keep publishing what I have, and believe that it will be sufficient for those who really desire to know the truth. We are living in an hour of compromise and co-existence, when people are offended at the truth of what Catholicism is, and how God is going to deal with it, as this grace age runs out. They will tell you, Oh you're just old fashioned; Catholicism is not like that any more; we can all worship God together. Saints, that is a lie if ever a lie has been told; God hates idolatry, and that is an idolatrous system of man made religion, and always has been. The Church of the living God, in the world today, is made up of people of all races, from every nation under heaven, that all believe the apostolic gospel preached by those early apostles of Christ. This modern day idea that Buddhists, Moslems, Catholics, and everyone else can all worship God together, is one of the biggest lies Satan has ever told. What they call worship would turn God's stomach; if He were a person, as most of them believe He is. No, Jesus is not coming back for a church that is of a mixed conglomeration of people following manmade rituals, trying to fellowship with everyone. A true child of God cannot fellowship with everyone who calls themselves Christians. The very word Christian, was first used to designate those who followed Christ; and believe me saints, not everyone called Christians today are following Christ; for this is an hour of compromise and pacification, with little concern about what God will accept.
BEAST WITH 7 HEADS AND TEN HORNS
We are going to the 13th chapter of Revelation now, where it pictures this 7 headed, 10 horned beast, coming into existence; and then later on, another beast, referred to as the image of the first beast. I wanted to read chapter 17 first, to get the woman (the great whore that sits upon this beast) in the picture; but now we should take a look at the full description of the beast itself. Let me say this though, before I go on, I have no personal feelings of animosity toward any Catholic individual. Those that are still in those systems are victims, or prisoners held captive by spiritual ignorance; and only God Himself knows whether there are still some of them that will see the light of truth, and flee from their captors. We have several ex-Catholics in this congregation; and I thank God for them, because it goes to prove that He can reach right down in the middle of that mess; and lift out a predestined child of His. In other words, there is no such thing in the eyes of God as a Roman Catholic Christian. If that sounds hard, talk to the Father about it; I cannot change the way it is. I can only point you to the truth of God's word; I have no authority to put anyone in heaven, nor take anyone out of the picture; for that is His sovereign choice. Jesus Christ came into the world, taught mankind what God the Father would accept, and then went to Calvary where He paid the sin debt for all that would ever believe, to make it possible for us to be accepted of the Father; but do not allow yourself to be deceived into believing that He will accept anything less than what His word specifies. He made no substitute ways for people to enter into His kingdom; we all have to come to Him the same way. Now as for this beast we are looking at: you can go to the 7th chapter of Daniel and read the whole chapter later, and get what was shown to him; but for now, I will only read one verse there. Verse 23 shows that the fourth beast Daniel saw in a vision, would be the fourth kingdom upon earth, and we all know, that was the Roman Empire. "Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. The next verse tells us that the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and go forth. We will get to all of that as we go along, but now let us go to chapter 13, in the book of Revelation. John wrote, "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." Daniel saw four beasts come up out of the sea, which was four kingdoms that would rule the world, and one of them was in power when he had the visions, or dreams. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and the Roman, were the four beasts he saw. He saw 10 horns on the fourth beast; but he only saw one head. That was the old imperial head of which Nero was the last. But to Daniel it was made known that this fourth beast would be in power when the Messiah would come. He also saw another little horn rise up from within the 10 horns, which had eyes like a man, and a mouth speaking great things. We will get back to that a little later; but I will say this, There has never been 11 horns on that beast, for this little horn was not a political power like the other ten; it was an ecclesiastical power.
THE CARRY-OVER OF EMPIRES
Notice now in verse 2, John begins to describe the body of this fourth beast. "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon (the devil) gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. This description is very meaningful, for it confirms something Daniel wrote in the 12th verse of chapter 7. Let me read it to you, "As concerning the rest of the beasts, (which was Babylon the lion, Medo-Persia the bear, and Greece the leopard) they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time." That sounds strange; but here is what it points to. As ruling dominion passed from one great kingdom to another, the people of those kingdoms remained. That is how, even though their dominion was taken away, their lives were prolonged for a season and time. As rulership authority passed from Babylonian to Medo-Persian, then to Grecian, and finally to Roman, the lives of the people of those empires still remained under the next one. Therefore, when John saw this beast rise up out of the sea, it carried an identity of some sort, of the three beasts before it. It's body was like a leopard. That points back to the Grecian Empire. Its feet were like the feet of a bear, and that points back to the Medo-Persian Em-pire. and of course the mouth as a lion points back to the Babylonian Empire; all of which goes hand in hand with what Daniel wrote concerning them. Daniel saw the fourth beast as having great iron teeth, that devoured and brake in pieces, and then stamped the residue with its feet. Certainly history reveals to us that this description fit the great Roman Empire perfectly. The dragon (the old devil) empowered that empire, and used it to further his plan to defeat the purpose of God. But let us notice what John wrote in verse 3. "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." We have not yet explained fully, the seven heads of this beast, how there came to be seven; but we will before we finish. The Bible does not give all the details concerning prophecy and its fulfillment; it only gives a profile; then we have to go to history books to fill in the rest. That goes also for the wounding of this one head on the old Roman beast So just bear with me as I go back and pick up the progression of these events that took many centuries to develop. As we all know, when Daniel saw this lion beast rise up, he was already living under the influence of it; for it was the Babylonian Empire. But then he saw a bear-like beast rise up, which of course was the great Medo-Persian Empire. That beast had three ribs in its mouth, which speaks of three outstanding rulers of that empire, that made it fulfill itself in it's great day. The third beast Daniel saw rise up, was like a leopard, but it had upon it's back four wings, as the wings of a fowl, and four heads. These are symbolic of the four generals that came into command of the Grecian Empire, after the death of Alexander the great. We printed the names of these four generals in one article of the Contender some time ago. Then I received a letter from a certain sister, questioning as to where we got those names. She had gone to the encyclopedias at her disposal, searching for the names of these men; but never could find but two of them. Her question to me was, How does this bear out with the Bible? Well I have a history book that deals with the breakup of the empire of Alexander the Great; and it gives the names of all four of these men, and what each one did. Therefore let me say this to you, Do not try to prove the Bible with information from those encyclopedias; they were not written with the thought of trying to prove the scriptures. On the other hand, if you can get hold of an old history book that actually fills in details left out of the scriptures, without contradicting what is in the scriptures, you have some valuable help in understanding the prophecies. I have had old history books given to me that really give details on world events, even to the number of casualties sustained in certain battles.
FIRST- ONE HEAD -THEN SEVEN
These other beasts all had their day; but the one we need to learn all we can about, is the fourth one Daniel saw, the one that devoured and brake in pieces. He was looking at the rising of the Roman Empire; which was ruled by a long line of different emperors, called caesars. It was a beast empire for sure, and had ten horns; but when Daniel saw it, he only saw one great head, which was that imperial head, of a list of emperors all related to each other, or descendants one of another. Augustus, Tiberius, Claudius, and so forth, of which Nero was the last. This family of caesars pushed the Roman Empire to where it swallowed up all the vast areas of what was once the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, and then the Grecian Empire. I might mention also, that the city of Rome was not in Asia or the Middle East, where the other beast systems, rose; it was in a region called Europe, and on a peninsula of land called Italy; but it wasn't called Italy at that time. As Rome grew in power, and the other empires crumbled and fell, Rome began to take on a lot of the Greek culture and such like. Actually in the early period of Rome, before it ever became a great city of world pre-eminence. it's society was made up of renegades and cutthroats, slaves that fled the Grecian authorities. Rome was so far away from Athens, there was no way the Grecian authorities could track them down. Now I only mention this, to give us a little picture of the background of the Roman society. Europe was a continent of barbarians; so a lot of us would not be very proud of our ancestors, if we traced our family tree back that far. Well anyhow, when you picture this Roman beast that Daniel saw, you want to keep in mind the fact that it only had one head, symbolizing the rising of that great imperial power those emperors established. Remember this also, Rome is a city built on seven hills. That will be important to our understanding of things later on. I am just trying to get this all laid out before you first; and then we will put it all together. Rome did not become the beast with seven heads, until she had gone through seven forms of imperial rulership; but since John was allowed to see it in a twentieth century setting, naturally it had all seven heads, as well as ten horns. Well where does blasphemy come into the picture? In verse 1, of Rev. ch. 13, John saw the name of blasphemy upon the heads of the beast, and here is what it points to: That imperial title implied sovereign, universal rulership; and there is only one sovereign, universal ruler, the Lord Himself. Therefore to claim such a title is blasphemy in itself. Furthermore, Rome did not ever sovereignly rule the whole world; only the prophetic world, so to speak. She never did rule India, nor Burma, nor China, nor Japan, nor the new world. They did not even know the new world existed.
A GLIMPSE OF THE SEVEN HEADS
I want to present this in a way that will enable every serious minded person to understand how this one great head eventually became seven heads though, instead of one. In other words seven heads took the place of that one great head. When Nero died, that actually brought an end to what was pictured as one great head. Through the years and actually centuries to follow, there were seven other forms of imperial rulership established, which is what the seven heads portray. After Vespasian and his two sons Titus and Domitian, each ruled for a short time, there came to power five men in succession called the good emperors. Nerva, then Trajan, then Hadrian, then Antoninus Pius and Marcus Arelius, all made their mark in Roman history and left the scene within a span of about 84 years; from 96 AD to around 180 AD. These five men accounted for five of the seven heads John saw on the beast. But then the sixth head did not appear (come to power) until about 306 AD. His name was Constantine. He is the one that called the council meeting at Nicaea, in 325 AD and summoned all the Christian bishops; to settle the dispute over the godhead. He ruled from 306 AD to 337 AD and head number seven did not appear on the beast until around 800 AD when Charlemagne came to power. His 14 year rule established what eventually came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted about a thousand years, until Napoleon's day. That just gives you a little quick glimpse of the seven heads on that Roman beast, so you can think along that line as we read some more of the scriptures. As you look at this prophecy remember: you have to keep it in Rome. That is why I wanted to get the 17th chapter in the picture, right in the beginning; for the angel said to John, "Here is the mind which hath wisdom. (17:9) The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth." That is Rome. You may think of the other cities in the world that are built on seven hills; but Rome is the only one of them that will (it into this prophetic picture; therefore do not try to move this scene all over the face of the earth. Next the angel said, "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." Brothers and Sisters, this just literally tears divinity students all to pieces; for the answer to this riddle is not in the Bible; it is in the pages of secular history. Even there, you will not find it spelled out for you; because there were many emperors of Rome, that never did put another head on that world beast system. I remember back several years ago, when I was studying the 17th chapter of Revelation. I was riding the tractor one day, and all morning long I would just sit there thinking, There are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth, and there are seven kings. One is, and the other is not yet come, and so forth. I thought and thought, and thought, and then I said to myself, Whatever that means, I am sure of one thing: it has got to be kept inside Rome. I got that much settled in my mind then, and the Lord just allowed me to come in possession of certain history books that really put the picture all together for me. No, I did not go out and buy them; they were given to me through the years of time, by people who knew how I like to read history. To me, reading history is like reading an adventure book, especially when you come across recorded events that make Bible prophecy stand out so vividly. Like I said, Most of the writers were not even concerned with whether they wrote in harmony with Bible prophecies or not; they were just simply recording events that took place; but now and then you will find one, writing of events in the BC period, that will suggest that the reader go to the Bible and read a certain verse, or verses, it just lets you know that this certain writer was aware of how Bible prophecies were actually fulfilled in the event, or events he was writing about.
HISTORY ABOUT NERO
I want to read from a history book I have with me today so you can see just how plain some of it is written. It is of utmost importance that you see how these heads got on this beast, in order to understand the rest of this in the 13th and 17th chapters. If you do not get the beast identified, you may have trouble accepting the fact that it is Catholicism sitting upon it; so let us notice what this writer recorded here. We will plainly see that this great head of Rome came to its end by the death of Nero. Notice, During Nero's reign, half of Rome was laid in ashes." Let me refresh your memory a little before going on with this. Christianity had been introduced in the world; and had been severely persecuted, and there had been areas where they suffered much martyrdom; but they were making their mark as a peace loving people, both Jews and Gentiles. Rome, at. that time, was a city built of inferior materials, so the fire in many ways was a blessing; but it is believed by many, that because Rome was being filled with Christians, and their way of life was making such an impact, Nero had the city set on fire so he could blame it on the Christians, and have many of them arrested and executed. Nero himself was supposed to be a great violinist, that all should hear; but all he ever did was squeak, squeak, squeak. Those who escorted him in, were bored by the sound; but they were afraid to let their true feelings be known to him. He got so mad one time when the crowd got restless, that he did a terrible thing. I have forgotten what it was; but I just mention this to let you know what a hot head he was, and why it was not out of character for him to burn the city; as I continue reading from this little history book. "During Nero's reign, half of Rome was laid in ashes by a great fire which raged for a week. But a new Rome speedily arose. It was a much finer city than the old; with wide streets, instead of narrow alleys; and with houses of good stone, in place of wooden hovels. Except for the loss of temples and public buildings; the fire was a blessing in disguise. After the death of Nero, the dynasty which had been established in the kinward family back, that traced its descent from Julius and Augustus, became extinct. No more kinward flesh for the reign to pass to." Now saints, I want you all to understand that this was a marking point in Bible prophecy. It took a number of emperors to form this one great head on the beast Daniel saw; for as long as rulership passed down through family members in the lineage of Julius and Augustus. it was still just one great head. But when Nero died, there were no more sons, nephews, uncles, nor brothers to step in and take over the rulership; so it was time for this great head to evolve. The world was still ruled from Rome; but the rulership took on a great change. Notice, "There was no one who could legally claim the vacant Chrome by relationship. The senate, which in theory had the right to appoint a successor, was too weak to exercise its powers; therefore the imperial guard and the legions on the frontiers placed their own candidates, soldiers, in the vacated throne."
VESPASIAN-TITUS-DOMITIAN -ROMAN RULERS
Let me remind you of something right here. It was Nero that ordered his Roman army to go to Jerusalem, to squelch a Jewish revolt that was under way; so this fills in Daniel 9:26 for you, if you read it all correctly, and lets you know where this false prince of peace (the Antichrist) comes from. The last part of that verse says this, "And the people (Romans under the leadership of Titus) of the prince that shall come (the Antichrist) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. That destruction took place in 69 and 70 AD, after Nero's death, but it was the Roman army that destroyed the city and the sanctuary, and laid everything waste, so the prince that shall come, and make a great covenant of peace with many nations, and then break the covenant himself, (Dan. 9:27) must come from Rome. Nero ordered Vespasian to take troops to Jerusalem and put an end to the Jewish revolt that was underway; but before the job was done, Nero died; and Vespasian was ordered to return to Rome and take over the throne. His soldiers had already gained entry in the areas of the outer wall of Jerusalem, and captives were being taken. Among them was the Jewish historian Josephus, who upon surrendering to Vespasian prophesied to him saying, "Knowest thou not, O Vespasian, that this day thou shalt be emperor of Rome?" Vespasian thought he was just trying to flatter him; But before the day was over a runner came with the message: "Nero is dead. The Roman Senate orders you to return to Rome and take over the throne," He left Titus, one of his sons, in charge of the army; and it was under his leadership that the Roman army finished the siege, and brought the final destruction to Jerusalem, fulfilling Daniel 9:26. Let me read the rest of this from the history now. "The Roman world fell into anarchy; and Italy became once more the seat of civil war. The throne was finally seized by the General Flavius Vespasian." Let me explain why he had to seize the throne once he arrived back in Rome. There were no jet airplanes for him to hop on, and fly back to Rome from Jerusalem. He had to make his way to the seashore and get on a boat; and it wasn't one of these high speed ocean liners like we have today; so it took him weeks to get home. and when he got there someone else had taken the throne. Actually, in that one year of time, three other men besides Vespasian had sat on Nero's throne. The first was assassinated, the second committed suicide, and the third was assassinated, making way for Vespasian to assume rulership. Vespasian ruled from 69-79 AD, Titus his son ruled from 79-81 AD, and Domitian his other son ruled from 81-96 AD, until he was assassinated. They were called Flavian Caesars. Do you know what they were trying to do? They were trying to establish another line of imperial caesars, like those that made up the one great head; but it did not turn out that way. Let me read some more from this history book now. "During the reign of Vespasian, a revolt of the Jews was crushed; and Jerusalem was captured by Titus, Vespasian's son. It is said, doubtless with exaggeration, that one million Jews perished in that siege, the most awful that history records. The holy city together with the temple was destroyed; and a Roman camp was pitched upon the spot. We may still see in Rome the splendid arch that commemorates this tragic event. The reign of Titus is chiefly memorable for the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, two cities on the bay of Naples. After long inactivity the volcano of Vesuvius suddenly belched forth torrents of liquid lava and mud, followed by a rain of ashes. Pompeii was covered by a depth of about 15 feet of falling cinders. Herculaneum was overwhelmed in a sea of sulfuric mud and lava to a depth of 80 feet in many places. The cities were completely entombed." I am going to stop reading this secular history and go back to the 17th chapter of Revelation right now. Vespasian, Titus and Domitian, all got their names recorded in history as emperors of Rome; but none of them had anything at all to do with the heads on the beast John saw.
HOW THE BEAST WAS AND IS NOT
In verse 8, of the 17th chapter, we find a very important truth that end time saints should be aware of. Notice, "The beast that thou sawest was." Let me just stop right there and bring this up to date. We know for a fact that the beast which was, was Rome, which was looked upon as ruler of the world. What caused Rome to be seen as a beast? It was the devil. Every world empire that has ever existed, has been controlled and manipulated by him. Yet we understand that God has always (in every period of time) raised up men to fulfill His purpose, and cast down others likewise. We must realize that even though the world systems are works of the devil, God is still in control of the universe, and in perfect control of what it takes to fulfill prophecies of the Bible. He lets the devil design and rule the systems; but He never allows him to go so far as to thwart His own purpose in the earth. Well what about the strange words of this verse of scripture, was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit? As I have already stated, physically John was living on the Isle of Patmos, in 96 AD, in exile because of the revelation of God's word in his bosom. But what we need to understand is that symbolically he was transported by the Spirit into the twentieth century, and allowed to look back upon what has transpir-ed between 96 AD, and the time we are now living in. John did not see the beast as Daniel saw it, with the one great head. He saw it with seven heads and ten horns; and we know now how it came to be so. In 96 AD, when John was given this vision, the beast had not yet started to evolve; but it was on the verge of it. Actually the man that put the first head of the seven heads on the beast, came to the imperial throne in that same year. That is why we know for sure that John had to be conveyed by the Spirit into the future, in order to have these words spoken to him. "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition." Now I ask you, What is it that ascends out of the bottomless pit? It is a spirit; the spirit of the devil; so it should not be hard to transpose the picture, and see it correctly. The same spirit that was in that old imperial system down through the centuries, was also in the great papal hierarchy that ruled, in the Dark Ages. Therefore we will say this, Rome ruled the world for centuries; but for a long period of time now, she has not ruled the world; yet in the end of this Gentile age, she will once again do so, through that antichrist man that shall bring great tribulation upon the world. If you can see Rome as the beast, everything else will fit; for the Antichrist man himself, will come from Rome. In other words, his authority will come from Rome, regardless of where the actual physical man was born and raised.
SEVEN MOUNTAINS-SEVEN KINGS
Now that we have Rome in our minds as the beast, let us turn our attention to the formation of the seven heads. Most people can readily see where the ten horns come into the picture; but a lot of people have trouble with understanding how the seven heads were formed, so I want to go slow, and try to make it plain. Let us read verse 9 now. "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven HEADS are seven moun-tains, on which the woman sitteth. (The seven mountains place the setting in Rome, and the rest of the verse gets to the seven kings that make up the actual heads.) And there are SEVEN KINGS: (Seven kings in a territory identified by seven mountains.) five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." Let me go ahead and read verse 11 so we can get all of this in the same setting. "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." Let me make a point here before going back to watch the heads being formed. It is important to note that the eighth is of the seven; for the beast has never had but seven heads, and will never have more than that; what is referred to as the eighth, is actually a revival of the seventh form of Roman imperial rulership that was taken over by the papacy. That is how the woman (the Catholic Church) came to be riding the beast; the pope of the Roman Catholic Church just simply assumed that place of imperial rulership that the emperors of Rome had established. Are you with me so far? The year 96 AD when John had this vision, actually marked the beginning point for the five kings which the angel referred to as fallen. These five are called the five good emperors, because of the type of rulership they exercised, and its effect upon the Roman society. These five rulers followed the rule of Vespasian and his two sons which never could establish a consistency of governmental power, that God would look upon as a head on that old beast. However each of these five rulers did establish such a rule as to be counted in this prophetic picture; so let me again give you their names, and then we will read some more history that will show why they are in the picture as the first five of the seven heads. Here are their names, in the order of their reigns. Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius were the five and they all came to power, and left the scene in less than a hundred years, from 96 AD to 180 AD. Then came a long list of emperors between these five and the one who put the sixth head on the beast, who never did establish any kind of governmental power that could be considered a head on the beast.
HISTORY CONCERNING THE FIVE GOOD EMPERORS
As we go back to the secular history book now, please remember it is only for the sake of clarifying what we have already said. John saw all of this in a prophetic vision, in 96 AD, the very year Nerva came to the imperial throne; but the writers of these history books, just simply recorded what they considered important, of what they knew about those particular periods of time, years afterward. Yet what they chose to record in the pages of history, completely fill in the places where the scripture itself only gives us a profile; so let us see what it says about these five men. "The emperors of the second century are sometimes referred to as the Antonine caesars, because two of them bore the name Antoninus. (Marcus Aurelius was adopted by Antoninus Pius, which accounts for that.) They are better known as the good emperors; a title which well describes them. Under their just and beneficial government, the empire (the whole vast region) reached its greatest in prosperity, high taxation, and entertainment. (I have a book at home that tells all about that period) Rome lived for free handouts, and into the arena in the evening. (Saints, that is America today; welfare, ball games, who could ask for anything better? Some people's whole lives are taken up with nothing much more than welfare and entertainment. Five good rulers brought it to its greatest material prosperity. The emperor Trajan rivaled Julius Caesar in military ability. He enlarged the Roman world to the widest limits it was ever to attain. His first conquests were in Europe; and that resulted in the annexation of Dacia, an extension territory north of the Danube. Thousands of colonists settled in Dacia, and spread elsewhere the language and arts of Rome. (That means he moved north into the vast regions of the barbarians.) Its modern name Rumania, bears witness to Rome's abiding influence." Saints, are you bored with my reading history to you? If you are, you may never know what these seven heads are, nor how they came to be considered that. Your Bible will not explain that to you; and you will not find very much of it in history books available in this age we are living in. Now for you who may say, I could have stayed home and read history, I just want to remind you that the Church Jesus is perfecting and coming for, is a universal body of believers from around the world; and many of them have written to me asking that I help them obtain history books that they can study, pertaining to these fulfilled Bible prophecies. Naturally, I cannot supply them with the actual books; but we can print the message and include in it the foundation for the revelation we are presenting; so I am bound to read some more yet. "Trajan's successor Hadrian, distinguished himself as an administrator. He may be compared with Augustus. This points back to the kind of government that was known under the one great head; just like what it said about Trajan rivaling Julius Caesar. This is the kind of thing that added up to a head on the beast. In other words. rulership that is kinward in nature to that of those early caesars whose rule ended with the death of Nero. Hadrian is compared to Augustus. and it goes on to tell how. In his love of peace and his care for the interests of the provinces, Hadrian made two long journeys throughout the Roman world. On the frontiers he built fortresses, and walls in provinces. He raised baths, aqueducts, theatres and temples. Scarcely a city throughout the empire lacked some monument to his generosity. Hadrian left behind him the memory of a prince whose life was devoted to the public welfare. He was a servant of the state."
A DECLINING ERA IN ROME
As for Antoninus Pius, the fourth in succession of the five good emperors, it is written that he succeeded to the throne at the height of its peaceful, economical, and materialistic prosperity, and ruled for 23 years. But his successor Marcus Aurelius, and his co-emperor Lucius Verus, found that this peaceful, prosperous interlude was over, when they came to rule. It is written that Marcus Aurelius, who longed for a peaceful rule, had to fight constantly against invasions and misfortunes. Here is what this little book says about him. "Marcus Aurelius, the last of the five good emperors, was a thinker, and a student; but he enjoyed little opportunity for meditation. His reign was filled with an almost uninterrupted series of campaigns against the Parthians upon the Euphrates and the Germans on the Danube, and the Rhine. These wars revealed the weakness of the frontiers, and the rapidly growing strength of the barbarians. After the death of Marcus Aurelius, the empire entered into a downward course, (The old imperial power, that could order the course of world events was weakening.) and for a good long while, it just went into one state of rivalry, assassinations and such like, within the Roman government." Brothers and Sisters, be sure you understand what we have covered this for; because these five men account for the five kings that are fallen, in verse 10. Constantine was number 6; but there were many emperors that sat on that throne between Marcus Aurelius and Constantine, (close to 40) and not one of them put another head on the beast. Five are fallen, and one is, (that was Constantine) and the other is not yet come." That was Charlemagne, which was head number 7, and this head did not form on the beast until almost 500 years later. This form of Roman imperialism is what Catholic popes stepped into. This is why it did not add an eighth head to the beast.
FIVE HEADS:
NERVA; TRAJAN; HADRIAN; ANTONINUS PIUS; MARCUS AURELIUS
SIXTH HEAD:
CONSTANTINE I
SEVENTH HEAD
SOME FACTS ABOUT CONSTANTINE
We need to go back into history now, and see what it says about the rulers that occupied the throne between 180 AD and 306 AD, when Constantine came to power. The five good emperors ruled successively from 96 AD-180 AD but then it was more than one hundred years before a ruler came to power that would add head number 6 to the beast. Notice, "The rulers who occupied the throne during the first half of this troubled period, are commonly known as the soldier emperors; because so many of them owed their position to the swords of the legions. Emperor after emperor followed in quick succession, to enjoy a brief reign, and then to perish in some sudden insurrection. Within a single year, 237-238, six emperors were chosen, worshipped, and then murdered by their troops." Saints, it is very troubling to see America following the very footsteps of the Roman Empire. You may say, But Bro. Jackson, We have a democracy. Yes we do; but within that democracy there is a bureaucracy that is nothing less than a beast. They have lost the principles that this great democracy was founded upon; and more and more the nation is being dominated by those who sponsor welfare and entertainment. Well it says here, "Few know, said one of those imperial men, what a poor thing it is to be an emperor. The close of the 3rd century found the empire engaged in a struggle for existence." We should see from that, how Rome, having passed through almost a hundred years of good time, under the rulership of the five good emperors, had a spirit working within its government, designing events to lead it to destruction. However nothing could keep it from eventually fulfilling the prophecies of the Bible; so let us watch head number 6, and see how it was formed on that old beast. "No part of the Roman world had escaped the ravages of war. The fortifications of the capital city, by the emperor Aurelian, was itself a testimony to the altered conditions of affairs. The situation was desperate; yet not hopeless. Under an able ruler such as Aurelian, Rome proved to be still strong enough to repel her foes. It was the work of the even more capable Diocletian, to establish the empire, so that it endured for another hundred years." The reforms of the emperor Diocletian were meant to remedy those weaknesses in the imperial system, disclosed by the disasters of the preceding century. The reforms started by this man, were completed by the emperor Constantine, who also reached out and embraced the Christian faith. He made a decree that the Christian religion would be accepted within the Roman society as another legal religion of the Roman world. He himself was later baptized. He is proclaimed to be the only individual in history who was worshipped as a pagan god, and venerated as a Christian saint; so let us see what this writer says about him. "When Constantine, after a few years of rule, and another civil war broke out, became supreme, the Roman world again had a single master. Constantine was an able general, and a wise statesman." During his time in power, he established a new capital at Constantinople. He brought in the acceptance of the Christian faith; and determined to share his rule with his brother, in Constantinople; and then turned right around and had his brother assassinated. He is the one that called the council of Christian bishops to Nicaea, and presided at that council meeting; called to settle the dispute over the godhead. It has been said that he was the bishop of bishops; yet he was in reality a pagan, Roman emperor, who was worshipped by his subjects. Under his rule, he brought back a quietness to the empire, and established a form of imperial rule that put head number 6 on that beast John saw coming up out of the sea. The reason he accepted the Christian religion was because of a dream he had while on his way to a remote region to put down a revolt. He was very concerned about the outcome of this engagement with these revolting forces, and one night in a vision, he saw the sign of a fiery Christian cross in the sky, and the words, (according to his own testimony) "By this thou shalt conquer, and thou shall overcome." Most of your theologians will tell you that Constantine became a true Christian; but saints, listen to me, The Roman emperor Constantine did not become a true, dedicated, Holy Ghost filled Christian. That vision was a trick of the devil; designed to get tares planted solidly among those who were true Christians. Just think about it for a minute; Under the various other reigning emperors, hundreds of, or even thousands of Christians had been martyred; yet it did not put an end to Christianity. The gospel of Jesus Christ continued to capture the mind and hearts of other pagans, who stepped right in to take the place of those who were martyred. Naturally, the devil, by this time, realized that he could not rid the world of Christians by killing them; so he came upon another plan, and he had just the man to carry it out, the emperor Constantine. He designed an experience for him that would cause him to reach out and embrace Christianity; knowing full well what the results would be. Constantine, believing that the God of the Christians had shown him favor, ordered a mass baptism of his soldiers; had Christian symbols painted on their shields, and believed this was why he was so successful in the battles with those rival forces. Naturally when he made the decree accepting the Christian religion into the Roman society, the Christians who had lived in expectancy of sure martyrdom, breathed a sigh of relief. Even those who might not have believed Constantine had a true experience of salvation, still enjoyed the fact that they now had this liberty. However, there were already squabbles among them over the revelation of the godhead, that got even worse as time passed; and Constantine, being aware of the problem, took it upon himself to call a council meeting at Nicaea, and get the question settled once and for all. Strange as it may seem, when the conference ended, the majority of those bishops present had been influenced to believe in a trinity, rather than the oneness of God, that all those first century Christians had by revelation. Well naturally, Constantine being recognized as a Christian, opened the door for all the other big generals and politicians of the Roman Empire, to do what the mayors, police chiefs, and other city big shots do when Billy Graham comes to town. They all go right in with the Christians. and make themselves right at home, while the Christians squirm, knowing that there is something wrong with a picture like that. Nevertheless, all of a sudden, the Christian ranks were filled with Roman soldiers and others that professed to be Christians; and the true Christians were helpless to do anything about it. That was the devil's way of loading the Church down with a lot of carnality; and from that very point in time, the Church started down its long road of spiritual decline. We note also that at the death of Constantine, palace troops killed his relatives except for his three sons, and two nephews. The three sons divided up the empire among themselves; but the third son eventually became sole emperor, after the deaths of the other two.
ECCLESIASTICAL TAKEOVER
Here is what the history gives us concerning the empire, after Constantine's death. "After the death of Constantine, the Roman world again entered into a period of disorder. The inroads of the Germans across the Danube and Rhine threatened the European provinces of the empire with disillusion." Brothers and Sisters: It is sufficient to say, None of Constantine's sons came anywhere close to the kind of reign he enjoyed. The so-called Christian faith was generally accepted and growing steadily, and that set the stage for the Church to move into the social and the political spectrum of the Roman society. The bishops in the major metropolitan cities eventually began to compete with each other for the largest congregation, and for the most recognition from those in strategic positions. It was bishop against bishop in competition, and then finally led to a split between the bishops of Constantinople and the bishops of Rome. Doctrines and traditions came into the picture, and brought it all to a head. Constantinople is headquarters for what is known as the Greek Orthodox Church, and those bishops leaned more toward certain primitive teachings and traditions, while the bishops of Rome held certain other views, until the conflict became so great, it brought a split between the two bodies. Then the bishop of Rome eventually took the position that if the secular world is ruled from Rome, so also should the universal church be controlled from Rome. By that time, those men sitting on the imperial throne were getting weaker and weaker. Many of the outlying territories once ruled by that one great Roman head, had broken away, Germany, France, England and so forth, during the times of those weak intervals in the imperial rulership. Finally, as time moved from the period of the 6th head into the period of the 7th, the bishop of Rome had become so powerful, he began to compete against the emperor himself. It is all right here in history. The heading of one particular part is Emperor versus Pope. One by one, each pope would gain a little higher recognition; and in the weakest interval of the 7th head, when it finally was formed, the popes had become so powerful, the emperor was hardly recognized at all. Not only were they ecclesiastically strong; they were also strong politically. This is the condition that prevailed during that long period of time called The Dark Ages. The devil that once ruled the world through the imperial caesars, just slowly changed his disguise until he was able to rule the world through those Roman Catholic popes. It was still the same beast with seven heads though; because the papacy just simply moved over into that imperial seat of authority. and took over the form of imperial rulership that had added the 7th head to the beast. It was no head to the beast. It was no longer the state over the church; (the church took over the state, and all during the 9th through the 14th centuries, these popes cracked the whip, and everyone danced to their music. I do not say these things to belittle any Catholic person; it is strictly for the purpose of enlightening those who appreciate knowing the truth, in this age when the remaining prophecies in the book of Revelation are moving into fulfillment. We are seeing the wounded head on that beast being healed, and that sets the stage for the final act in this great drama pictured here.
666 — THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST
We must go back to chapter 13 now, and refresh our minds as to what John saw. Remember in chapter 4, he heard a voice from heaven saying to him, "Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter." He then describes a heavenly scene he witnessed, as he was given a panoramic view of the events of time that was yet to come. As I said earlier, We know he was projected into the twentieth century, and stood looking back upon events that had already transpired, for he saw the beast fully formed. He saw the wounded head, and then the healing of that deadly wound. Therefore in chapter 13 d where he said, "And I stood upon e the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns," he was standing on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea; right in the center of all the territory so to speak, that would make up the total picture he was being shown. The Mediterranean Sea is like a huge bowl sitting right in the center of that OLD WORLD mass of humanity. He saw the beast rise up out of the sea; and we learn from chapter 17, verse 15, that the sea IS (or waters) are people, people of those old world nations and territories. That is what this beast rose up out of, and when it was shown to John it was already fully developed. That is one reason why we know he was conveyed by the Spirit into our day, That, along with the fact that he saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and an image made of the first beast, and also the healing of the deadly wound of the first beast. You take all of that and keep it in Rome, and you will see many mysteries of the Bible cleared up. A lot of your Protestant theologians believe this old beast is communism; but the truth is, Communism only comes into the picture at the very end. That is what finally destroys Catholicism; but it will not be Marxist, nor Oriental Communism; it will be a new brand adopted by those European Common Market nations, (Rev. 17:16) which make up the ten horns. Now let me say this, As you read these scriptures, you must be mindful of certain things; lest you become confused, for some of the terminology has compound applications. The term beast is first applicable to a political rulership; but in other scriptures you will find the term used in connection with the Antichrist, (a man) and also the spirit of the system. Just like Revelation 17:9-10, reveals a compound meaning of the seven heads on the beast. When you get down to verse 18, in chapter 13, you find these words, "HERE IS WISDOM." Let him that hath UNDERSTANDING count the number of the beast: FOR IT IS THE NUMBER OF A MAN; (the pope of Rome) and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (666) Bro. Jackson: How do you attach such a number to the pope of the Roman Catholic Church? When you go back into history, and see what some of those popes have done in the name of Christianity, and you find out what the words on his crown mean, (VICARIOUS FILII DEL VICAR OF THE SON OF GOD. OR VICAR OF CHRIST) and you apply the Roman numeral value to the letters of that title, you come out with 666. No, everyone will not accept that; it is only for those that have understanding; just like 13:18 says. Of course there are other men in the world whose names would work out the same way in Roman numerals: but those men do not stand in a place that will harmonize with the scriptures in this setting. Yet you can place the pope of Rome in every setting, either by the authority of the office, or the actual man himself, as you look at the scriptures pointing to the very Antichrist man himself, in the end of the age. People who have not had proper respect for revelation truth of the word of God, cannot be expected to understand things that only the Spirit of God can reveal.
Why should God let them understand prophecies of the scriptures, when they have gone through life rejecting the simple truths of His word. Concerning some of the things we teach, a lot of people will say, Oh that is just your idea. Well they said the same thing about Jesus. Peter. Paul, and all of them. There were people living in that day that knew who these men were, and had a revelation of what they were talking about; but did Judaism recognize that they were men of God " You know they did not. They were given an opportunity to hear the truth; but no one twisted their arms, and tried to force them to receive it; and that is the way I feel today. God called me to do what I am doing; but He did not commission me to force anyone to believe and accept what I teach. That is His job.
THE BEAST'S BODY AND HORNS
We have looked at the formation of the seven heads on this beast; but we have not yet said very much about the ten horns, and the ten crowns upon them; so let us finish reading the verse and continue. He saw this beast with seven heads and ten horns, "And upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, (Now he is describing the body of the beast.) and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. It took hundreds of years for this complete picture to come into full view literally; but John was caught up in the Spirit, and saw all of it in a vision, before any of it even took place in the natural. We have seen how the seven heads were formed, so let us turn our attention to the ten horns, and the ten crowns. This, of course, is a picture of the break up of the vast territory of the old Roman Empire; which in the beginning, was ruled by the old imperial caesars. Through time, as the Roman rulership weakened, certain territories broke away from Roman dominion and became independent states, or countries; which formed governments of their own. In each one, there was a royal family; and their rulers were called kings; and kings wear crowns. Horns, scripturally, and especially in this setting, speak of power, or powers, which is what these kings were. They were powers to be reckoned with, but like I said, This did not all take place at once. It took many years for all ten of those horns to form on the beast. The average person that reads these scriptures, would never think of Germany, France, Greece, Spain and all those others that fit into this picture, as being the horns on the beast John saw; but that is exactly what they are; and that is why he saw crowns on them. I mentioned it already; but you need to take note of the fact that the names of blasphemy were on the heads, not the horns. It was those Roman imperial rulers that claimed that blasphemous title, sovereign, universal ruler. Then when the pope moved over into the chair of that seventh head, and began to exercise his papal authority over that of the emperor, where do you think that placed him, as for the way God sees it? No Roman ruler was ever any more blasphemous than those Roman Catholic popes. If you doubt what I am saying, just find you some old history books, and read what some of them did during that long period of theDark Ages. Well, John describes the body of the beast he saw, and his very description lets us know that even though it has a Roman head, or heads, the body still incorporates all those ancient territories that were once beast systems themselves. The body like a leopard. speaks of the old Medo-Persian Empire, and of course we all know Babylon was the lion beast. Therefore when you look at the heads and the horns, you are looking at the continent of Europe; but when you look at the body, you are looking even to Central Asia, and the Middle East. Babylon the lion beast, was the beginning of Satan's efforts to bring about vast empires through which he could project himself into the affairs of world orders; but remember, God has allowed him to do it; for these beasts have been instruments in the hands of God in chastening the nation of Israel. Babylon the lion beast, in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, reached its greatest peak in conquering and ruling with furious authority; but Daniel also saw a man's heart given to that beast. That of course spoke of a time when that beast would lose that furious, conquering, subduing nature, and fall into a time of living in luxury. Well what does the Bible say about it? The night Belshazzar and his wives and concubines, along with his military celebrities, were all in the great palace banquet hall drinking, dancing, and having a good time, there came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote upon the plastered wall. The king did not know what it meant; but the Bible says his countenance changed, and his knees smote together. He certainly knew there was something wrong. He called for the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, to tell him what it meant; but they were all helpless. Not one of them could tell what those words meant; and the kings's countenance changed again. So much so, that his queen intervened in the matter, saying to him, "There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the Spirit of the holy gods, (It was the Spirit of one holy God.) and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him." She said, Let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation. When they brought Daniel in, the king promised him great reward if he would only show him the interpretation of those words; but do you know what Daniel's answer was? He was not like these fame and fortune seeking preachers of our day; that will do almost anything to get on the good side of political dignitaries, and reap rewards for their services. Daniel told him to keep his gifts, and give them to someone else; but that he would read the writing to him, and make known the interpretation. He first reminded him of how Nebchadnezzar his father, had been given a kingdom by the most High God, and how all people trembled at the thought of what he might do: and how his heart was lifted up in pride and hardened, so that God was forced to cast him down, and drive him out among the wild beasts to eat grass like the oxen, and so forth, until he could be made to realize that the God of heaven ruleth in the kingdoms of men. Then he said to him, a will not read it; you can find it in the 5th chapter of Daniel; but in essence, here is what Daniel said to him.) You knew how God dealt with your father; yet you have lifted yourself up against Him, drinking wine from the vessels of His house, and praising the gods of silver and gold, and so forth, and failed to honor the God in whose hand your very breath, and existence rests; therefore He has sent forth this hand, with this writing ME-NE, ME-NE, TE-KEL, U-PHAR-SIN, and this is the interpretation of it. "Thou art Weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." Belshazzar still rewarded Daniel, as he had promised; in spite of the fact that Daniel had told him to keep his gifts; but that very night he was slain; and his kingdom was disposed exactly as God had foretold by the handwriting on the wall.
FROM BABYLONIAN TO MEDO—PERSIAN BEAST
Cyrus, at the head of the combined Medo-Persian army, had already planned his strategy weeks and even months in advance of this time. Knowing that the walls of Babylon arched the Euphrates River, they had been digging a canal to further drain the Euphrates, at a time when it was already at its lowest level; which was at this very time when Belshazzar was having this experience. (God knows how to bring things together, and tie up loose ends.) By doing this, they got the water level down to where soldiers and horsemen could come in under the wall secretly; without ever approaching the gates. By the middle of the night, the city was already filled with the armies of the next world empire; which was pictured to Daniel as a bear; among the four beasts he saw rising up from the sea, in a vision given to him by the Lord God of heaven. Belshazzar was later found with a knife in his back; and the kingdom was then in the hands of the Medes and Persians. They had conquered the city in just a few hours of time, after the actual invasion started. Some people find these scriptures such as Daniel, Nehemiah, and Ezra, very uninteresting; but let me assure you, they are very important to a complete revelation of God's dealing with mankind. Surely no reasonable thinking person could read these scriptures and still fail to see that God has every situation of the affairs of man under perfect control. He puts up whom He will; and He casts down whom He will; and therefore the devil can only do what He allows him to do. When you listen to the news, and pay attention to what carnal mankind is given over to, you may think everything is completely out of control; but that is only true from the standpoint of what man is able to do about it; nothing is ever out of God's control. He just lets man get to the point at times, that He (God) is all that man has left to look to for help. Anyhow when John was given these visions of things that would come upon the earth, and mankind, many of the visions Daniel wrote of, which were prophesy when they were written, were history in John's hour. The first three beasts Daniel saw rising up from the sea, had already fulfilled their purpose in the plan of God by the time John was shown these things, and even the fourth beast Daniel saw, was ready to evolve from a one headed beast, to a beast with seven heads. Well the last part of verse 2 says, "And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." The dragon is the devil. The same spirit that was in the Babylonian Empire, has been in all the others, right on through time, and will remain in political systems of the world until he is bound for a thousand years, and cast into the bottomless pit. That is why attention is directed to the mouth of the beast; it always has to speak. What was started in Babylon, winds up in Rome. Whatever Satan's aim was in Babylon, it reaches its peak in Rome. That is where his whole plan is eventually brought to an end. So remember, the spirit that gives life to this world order system is the devil. That is what the last part of verse 2 means.
A HEAD IS WOUNDED
Now we come to the wounding of one of the heads on this awesome looking beast, and then to the healing of that deadly wound and this is all very important, if you want to know where we are today in connection with all these prophetic events shown to John. Verse 3, "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." It was that seventh head on the beast that received the deadly wound, long after that ecclesiastical head had stepped into that imperial position. This is true, because the eighth head, or beast was blended in with the seventh, so that the beast never at any time, ever had more than seven heads. In the establishment of these heads on the beast, each one was the result of an outstanding emperor that came to the throne of the old caesars, through the centuries of time after the death of Nero; that were able to establish a governmental reign of rulership that resembled that of the one head reign of the imperial caesars. However, even though it was a certain man that inaugurated the thing, it was the form of government that actually made up the head; and not the man himself. Therefore what made up the head remained, even after the man that brought it into being had left the scene. The form of rulership that eventually put head number 7 on the old beast, is commonly attributed to the Emperor Charlemagne, who was born in 742 A.D., and named Charles. He was called Charles the Great, king of the Franks, and Lombards, emperor of the Romans, and founder of the Holy Roman Empire that managed to survive for a thousand years, until another great conqueror by the name of Napoleon came into the picture. Napoleon struck the last wounding blow to that seventh head. I believe we need to fill in a few main points concerning this seventh head; before we go too far with what struck a deadly blow to that head.
EMPEROR RECEIVING HIS CROWN
On Christmas Day, in the year 800 A.D., this Frankish king that had come to Rome to investigate certain charges that had been made against Pope Leo III by his enemies, was crowned by the Pope, and acclaimed by the people of Rome to be emperor of the Romans. Charlemagne, after his investigation, had absolved Leo of all wrongdoing and restored him to his office. Therefore on Christmas Day, when the pope was saying Mass there in what is now called St. Peter's Basilica, Charlemagne came in dressed in his royal garments, and knelt in prayer before the high altar. The pope suddenly placed a golden crown upon his head, while the people cried out with one voice, "Long life and victory to Charles Augustus, the great and pacific emperor of the Romans, crowned by God!" Charlemagne seemed to have been surprised by what the pope did; but it was known that he desired to become emperor, knowing that the imperial title would confer upon him greater honor and dignity. He was already a powerful king; but this title gave him the dignity he desired, and pleased his contemporaries, who believed the old Roman Empire had finally been revived. They had a German king now sitting on the throne once occupied by Augustus; therefore in the West was established a line of Roman emperors which lasted until the nineteenth century. Charlemagne was already a religious man; so when this sudden act made him emperor, he did much in the way of blending church and state together, he and another emperor Otto the Great, crowned by Pope John 12th in 962 A.D. Charlemagne's reign was short though; only 14 years. That is why Revelation 17:10 is worded like it is, "And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is (That was Constantine) and the other is not yet come; (Charlemagne) and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." He died in 814 A.D., but that did not do away with the head; it remained on the beast, because his form of imperial rule continued right on. The only thing was, as those old popes had more and more opportunity to exercise their voice in the political realm, they eventually became so much more powerful than the emperors, they just moved over onto the emperor's chair, and took over rulership. They did not call themselves emperors. Nevertheless, over a period of years, they managed to elevate their office to a place where they could rule mankind with that same authority the old caesars ruled with. One section in the history we have been reading from: titled, The Power of Papacy, brings out how Pope Gregory 7th claimed to have the authority to dethrone emperors. That is the authority they ruled mankind with for a thousand years. There were still emperors on the throne; but they had little more than the title; for they could not stand up against the Pope and get by with it.
COURTSHIP BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE
Let me go a little further here, and be sure you can all see what fulfilled these verses here in the 17th chapter of Revelation. First, I want to be sure none of you look at the individual man as a head on the beast. We mention the man by name, that stood out above all the rest in a certain period of time; when a certain form of imperial rule was in effect. Constantine ruled for 31 years, and Charlemagne ruled for only 14 years; but after their death, their form of imperial rulers. lt continued right on. Charlemagne loved the Catholic Church; and did everything he could for it. Not only did he love the Catholic Church, but those old popes loved him. Right on through time after the courtship between church and state got started by him, when a pope would die, and another one came for his coronation, the emperor would be right there to personally endorse him; and when an emperor would die, the pope would be on hand to place the crown on his successor. In other words, This 7th head form of imperial rulership was marked by the fact that the pope was for the emperor; and the emperor was for the pope. At first, the state was still over the church, but as time went on, the popes began to get the upper hand, and turned the whole picture right around, making the church over the state. That same form of Roman rule continued right on through centuries of time, but the Catholic popes had taken it over. Everyone, including the emperors, danced to their tune for hundreds of years. That is why it is written, that the eighth is of the seven. Satan, the old dragon, ruled men's lives through the pope, instead of through the Roman emperor as it had been in the past. The papal head, (which is not another head on the beast; because it is an ecclesiastical head, and the heads on the beast are political heads) is that little horn Daniel wrote of, (Daniel 7:8) that came up in the midst of the ten horns; and before whom three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. Daniel said, "Behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things." Horn, speaks of power; and in this case it is ecclesiastical power. That is why we have to realize the beast never did have 11 horns; for the 10 horns were political horns, representing governments of 10 nations that had broken off from what at one time was part of the total Roman Empire. I realize this may sound confusing to a lot of you; but actually it is not difficult to understand, if you will just follow what we are laying out before you. I am not trying to cram anything down anyone's throat; you are everyone free to investigate everything I am presenting to you. Just go back and read your history from the time Charlemagne came to the throne, and watch the transition of power, as those old popes began to get more and more recognition. You cannot help but see that papal office both as a horn, and a head, even though it does not change the appearance of the beast in the least bit; for those popes ruled with all the power and authority the old Roman caesars ruled with. Therefore it was in reality the papal head that received the deadly wound; but it showed up on the beast, because this head was a part of the seven; from the time the popes elevated themselves above the emperors.
HOW THE 7TH HEAD
How did the popes rule men's lives, you may say, Simply by claiming to be the infallible Vicar of Christ, and demanding complete obedience to their word. How did they enforce it? By excommunication from the church, all that failed to jump when they cracked the whip. That is, if they did not get their head cut off instead. Unrevelated people who actually do believe there is a God that is sovereign, are afraid to go against his word, for fear of their eternal destiny. That is why that man's title is just as blasphemous in sight of God as the old caesars title was; for as I have already said, God Himself is the only sovereign, universal ruler. Well it looked like Catholicism was wounded to death, as various men bega to get a revelation of the word of God, and protest that old Catholic dogma. Shortly after 1500 A.D., Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the church house door at Wittenberg Germany, protesting Catholic dogma, and declaring that man's salvation depended solely upon the grace of God through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, instead of the pope's blessing. Calvin, Knox, Wesley, and others followed later, protesting that Catholic teaching; and then Napoleon Bonaparte, in the 1800's, struck what looked like a death blow to that papal head; and it looked like Catholicism was finished; as a system that could rule men's lives. The various reformers had already wounded that papal head with the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; but it's final wounding blow was from a military sword, some 300 years after Luther's wounding blow. I want to read you a little portion of history now, titled, "The Wounding of the Papal Head by the Military Sword," from the writings of Joseph Rickaby, found in the Catholic Truth Society of London, on "The Modern Papacy." In 1793, on November 26, a convention of 17 bishops and some clergy members made a decree to abolish all religion. This was under Napoleon Bonaparte. Then in the year 1797, when Pope I Pius the 6th fell grievously ill, Napoleon gave orders that in the event of his death, no successor should be elected to his office. But the pope recovered. The peace was soon broken; General Berthier entered Rome on the 10th of February, 1798, and proclaimed a republic. The aged pontiff refused to violate his oath of office and recognize this decree by the French. He was soon taken out and hurried from prison to prison in France. Broken with fatigue and much sorrow, he died on the 19th of August, 1799, in the French for-tress of Valence, at age 82. No wonder that half of Europe thought the papacy was dead, by what Napoleon had done. Another Catholic writer, "Cannon Trevor," says, The papacy was dead, and among all the Roman Catholic powers, not a single finger was lifted in defense of it." The Reformation had started almost 300 years before this time; but Napoleon struck the blow that got the attention of various Catholic writers. When Pope Pius the 6th died, it was more than 6 months before another pope was chosen; and he was not without trouble from Napoleon. He outlived Napoleon; and managed to bring about some amount of restoration to the Catholic Church; but the old papal head had received a wounding blow, that has not been completely healed to this day. This wounding came right in behind the ministry of John Wesley; who rode horseback across England preaching holiness. He believed that those who are justified by faith in Jesus Christ, (which is what Luther taught) should also live separated, holy lives; because the scripture says, "For without peace and holiness, no man shall see the Lord." Brother! From the hour of Wesley and Napoleon, all the way up through W.W.I, the pope in Rome was little more than a figurehead; his power over human lives had been broken. During that time, those horn nations like England, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and so on, broke loose from that papal dominion, and spread their presence around the world. In history, this is called the Colonial Era. That little horn Daniel saw, that was so powerful it plucked up three of the first ten horns by the roots, was no longer a power, after Napoleon got through with it; for it had received a wound that should have been a death blow from all outward appearances. But in 96 A.D., John had seen among other things, that head healed, that had received a deadly wound; and all the world wondered after the beast. That means they literally adored him; and were delighted to give the expected recognition to him. They gladly consent to give their recognition to such a system of religion. The term beast, rightly applies to that old apostate system, and the apostate head of that system will one day soon be revealed to the world as a beast man; for in the middle of the 70th week of Daniel, which is a time of God's end time dealing with the nation of Israel, that beast man will again conduct himself like his Dark Age predecessors conducted themselves for a thousand years. Saints, I do not want to be here then; I am so thankful the little bride of Jesus Christ will be with Him at the marriage supper during that time.
HOW PEOPLE WORSHIP THE DEVIL
Continuing on, in Revelation 13:4, it says, "And they (those who wondered after the beast) worshipped the dragon (the devil) which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? We have heard of people that are called devil worshippers, and we have read how in times past, Indians worshipped devils; but this is not exactly the same thing. People worship the devil many times because he is the spirit of whatever religious system they belong to. In other words. They ignorantly worship the devil. If he came walking down the street in literal, fleshly embodiment, I have my doubts that there would be very many people bowing down and worship him. The sad truth is, that any system of religion which is not established upon the revealed truth of God's word, is an antichrist religion, and the spirit behind it is that spirit of the devil, the enemy of God and all that is righteous and holy. What did Satan say to Jesus, there in the Mt. of temptation? He said, If you will worship me, all these world kingdoms will be yours. That should be enough to let people know what spirit rules and reigns in these systems that mix politics, religion and economics together. Turn with me to the 4th chapter of Luke, and let us read verses 5-8, for there are a lot of unstable souls in the world today that are willing to sell out to the devil for some measure of fame or fortune, or both. Jesus had been fasting for forty days after His baptism by John, and He was very weak and hungry. That is when the devil will try to catch you off guard; at a time when your resistance is at a low point because of some trial or test. "And the devil, taking Him up into a high mountain, (in a vision) showed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto Him, all this power will I GIVE UNTO THEE, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." In the face of every temptation, Jesus always stood upon the word of God; and thereby defeated the old tempter. Some people are always blaming the devil for what they do; but I would just like to remind you that he cannot force a child of God to do wrong. All he can do is place the temptation before you; it is up to you as to what you will do about it. Therefore when people are without revelation, they are easy prey for the devil, for he just simply dresses everything up, to make it look like something God would do, and through it he is worshipped; though he does not often appear to people the same way he did Jesus. Worldly oriented people love to go to these beautiful temples men have built in the name of some denominational religious system, and have their ears tickled by some little sermonette designed to gain more support for their system; and they would be highly insulted if someone told them they were worshipping the devil; but what spirit do you think presents God the way they do? He cannot be bought with money; He owns everything already; and He is not interested in beauty, or He would have accepted Cain's fruit basket. No. He is after our very innermost being. He wants control over that; so He can perfect us; and make us like His only begotten Son. God's redemption plan is for people; not things made by man's hands. He has need of nothing. Oh Yes, it does take money to do what God has called us to do; but I assure you of this one thing: If God has called you to stand for truth; you will not have to spend your time begging; to get money to do what you are called to do. He always pays His bills. You only have to beg when you go beyond the point where you should have stopped.
HOW DANIEL 9:26-27 WILL BE FULFILLED
Let me get back to the beast. Unsuspecting souls will simply adore that old apostate pope, when he finally comes fully into his prophesied role of mediator and peace maker. Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? Brothers and sisters, that wounded head is almost completely healed now; you find very few people in the world today, protesting against Catholic dogma. Most of what used to be called Protestants, are now copying her ways; and God is not in any of it. After all of it serves its purpose God will destroy every bit of it; but that must await its time. Verse 5, "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months." Now saints, this is that beast man, the Antichrist himself, when he breaks the peace covenant he has mediated between many nations, and sits in the temple at Jerusalem, showing himself to be God, and demanding that human souls submit to him. Naturally the time then is in the last half of the seventieth week of Daniel, that time commonly referred to as the great tribulation, which will last for exactly 3 1/2, prophetic years which is exactly 1260 days. He will literally rule human souls, Just like those old popes did in the Dark Ages. How will he become so powerful, you may say? Daniel has already told us how he will come into such a place of recognition and high honor; it will be by peace and by flatteries. When the world is suddenly brought to the brink of sudden destruction by the Ezekiel 38 war, world leaders will all be ready to sit down and negotiate a peace plan; and who do you suppose will be the man most qualified to mediate such an agreement? The pope of the Roman Catholic Church of course. Who else would so many world leaders be willing to trust? Daniel 9:27 will be fulfilled at that time; for it says, "And he ( the pope of Rome) shall confirm the covenant with many (many nations) for one week: the covenant itself will not state that it is for one week, God will be the one that keeps time on that.) and in the midst of the week exactly in the middle) he (the Antichrist) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." How do we know it will be the pope of Rome that fulfills that? Along with all the other scriptures and history we have already presented to you, we have verse 26, the verse preceding the verse we just read; that tells us it will be a prince of the people that destroyed the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary; and we all know it was soldiers of the Roman army, under Titus, that destroyed the city and the sanctuary, and laid everything waste, in 70 A.D. Brothers and sisters, it all fits perfectly. This baby kissing, ground kissing, very charismatic pope of Rome, is fulfilling exactly what the one destined to fulfill the scriptures is supposed to be like. He is a man who talks peace and prosperity, and flatters dignitaries everywhere he goes. No, I am not putting the finger on him, as the very man of these scriptures; but the man that fulfills these prophecies will come from that office; and if we are as close to the end as it looks like we are, he could very well be the man. He is not planning to conduct himself like the very devil himself; Satan will have to anoint him for that hour, just like he did Judas who betrayed Christ. Judas did not know six months ahead of time that he was going to do what he did. Jealousy, selfishness, and greed opened the door for Satan to step in and take possession of him. He was called the son of perdition; and so is the man that will fulfill these end time prophecies. Paul brings that out in the 2nd chapter of 2nd Thessalonians, where he was writing about our gathering together unto Him, (Jesus) and says, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (the rapture, when we will all be gathered together unto Him) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the SON OF PERDITION; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he (the Antichrist) as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."
A DEMON POSSESSED MANIAC
I know it is hard to believe that a man loved and respected like the pope of Rome could turn out to be like a raging maniac; but if I know anything at all about the scriptures, that is exactly how it is going to be. A pope that is loved and respected by people around the world, and known to be a man of peace and prosperity for all, will be anointed by the devil and become so demon possessed, he will have people slaughtered by the thousands. God allows him to continue exactly 1260 days from the time he breaks the peace agreement, until God Himself intervenes, and pours out judgment upon whatever is left of wicked mankind at that time. That is why Paul could write what he did in 1st Thess. 5:3, the world will be rocked to sleep so to speak, with great promises of peace and prosperity, and all of a sudden hell is turned loose upon earth. First Satan, through his instrument the Antichrist, will try to slaughter everyone who believes in God, of all that are left on earth after the rapture takes place; and then God will intervene, and destroy what is left of wicked mankind. It is not a pretty picture; but it is sure to come; for the word of God declares it. No, it is not written out in storybook form; it is hidden in the pages of the word of God, and revealed to those that are supposed to know it, by the Holy Ghost; the same Spirit that caused John to write it. Therefore it behoves every true child of God to take heed to these things that have been revealed to us here in the end of the age, in order that we may be ready, when He (Jesus) comes for I His little bride Church. Do not look at these things as unimportant; for God considered them important enough to have them recorded both in the Old, and the New Testaments. Therefore, having laid the groundwork for you to be able to see how all seven heads were formed on this old Roman beast, I want to spend a little time on these t two men that actually stand out in that 7th head form of political government, and then follow the chain of events that allow the little horn (head number eight) to be of the 7th.
HISTORY ABOUT CHARLEMAGNE AND OTTO THE GREAT
Charlemagne was the man that introduced the last form of imperial rulership; and brought about intercourse between the state and the church. He is the one that not yet come, in Rev. 17:10. and continued a short space when he did come; and the Holy Roman Empire sort of dates back to him; but the latter form of it under Otto the Great is where it really took on significance. After Charlemagne's death, the Roman world again began to slip. He had tried his best to re-establish a rule like Augustus and Constantine had; but these horns had to have a chance to grow. Politically, they had to get complete independence, yet still have a bond with Rome in order to fulfill the scriptures. So let me read a little more history now, Otto the Great is not only to be remembered as a German king of the same race that Charlemagne was of: His reign was also noteworthy in the history of Italy. The country at this time was hopelessly divided between rival and contending peoples. The emperor at Constantinople controlled the southern extremity of the peninsula. The Mohammedians held Sicily and some cities on the mainland. The pope ruled at Rome, and in the estate of the church. (This lets you see how the pope even then, was rising in power.) Even the imperial title died out, and there was no longer a Roman emperor in the West; there was a Pope. The deplorable condition in Italy invited interference from abroad. Following the foot-steps of Charlemagne, Otto the Great led two expeditions across the Alps, assumed the iron crown of Lombardy, and then proceeded to Rome where he secured the Pope John 12th against the latest enemies in the city. Otto's reward was the same as Charlemagne's. On Candlemas Day, the year 962 A.D., the grateful pope crowned him Roman Emperor. The coronation of Otto the Great seemed to his contemporaries a necessity and beneficial act. They still believed that the Holy Roman Empire was suspended, not extinct. And that now, 150 years after Charlemagne, the occasion was opportune to revive the name and power associated with the golden age of the Francish emperor Charlemagne. Otto's ardent spirit, one may well believe, was fired with this vision of imperial sway, and the renewal of the title around which clustered so many memories of success and glory. But the outcome of Otto's restoration of the Roman Empire was not good either for Italy or Germany. It became the ruler henceforth that the man that the German nobles chose as their king, had a claim also to the Italian crown and the imperial title. The efforts of the German kings to make good this claim led to their constant interference in the affairs of Italy. They treated that country as a conquered province which had no right to a national life and an independent government under its own rulers. At the same time they neglected Germany; and failed to keep their powerful territorial lords in subjection. Neither Italy nor Germany, in consequence, could become a unified centralized state, such as was formed in France and England during the Middle Ages. The empire of Charlemagne, restored by Otto the Great, came to be called in later centuries, the Holy Roman Empire. The title points to the idea of a world monarchy, the Roman Empire, and a world religion. (Roman Christianity united in one institution, the 8th coming up, becoming part of the 7th, blending.) The magnificent idea was never fully realized. The popes and emperors, instead of being bound to each other by the closest ties, were more generally enemies than friends. A large part of medieval history was to turn on this conflict between the emperors and the popes." Charlemagne's form of imperial government was the last form of political government that any man was ever able to establish; but we can say also, It was the weakest, and brought about the intercourse between state and church, that eventually led to the church taking over. As the political side weakened more and more, Satan just took the opportunity to exercise himself more and more through his church system; and this naturally made the popes more outstanding than ever. Otto used the church to gain his purpose; but by opening that door, he allowed the devil to gain the opportunity to have the papacy take over the 7th form of political government; thereby making this 8th head (an ecclesiastical head) a part of the 7th, which fulfilled the scriptures exactly. The whole thing just simply reversed; instead of state over church as it always had been before, now it was church over the state. No, it did not happen suddenly; it took place over an extended period of time, as various popes rose more and more in power. That is why it is said that for so long in the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries, there were no unbelievers in Rome; Everyone was Catholic. The pope was a ruler; and all the political leaders of the 10 horn nations were all Catholics, and under his dominion. By this, we can understand how the beast that was, and is not, yet is. It all centers around the devil, that old spirit that ascends out of the bottomless pit. He first ruled the world through those Roman caesars, and right on through time in the old Roman imperial system until the time came for him to rule the world through the Roman Catholic Church. The pope then became what looked like the 11th horn on that beast but in reality it was not, because this horn did not establish another nation within that old Roman Empire territory. It was the most powerful horn of the whole bunch, but it did not change the image of the beast; it still had 7 heads and ten horns. Daniel saw this eleventh horn rise up, having eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, and it is written that he sought to change times, and laws, and seasons; so I want to show you from history, exactly how this came about. We will see how this papal power began to operate. "One might suppose that there could be no interference between pope and emperor, since they seem to have separate spheres of action. It was said, That God had made the pope as the successor of St. Peter, supreme in spiritual matters, and the emperor as heir of the Roman caesars, supreme in temporal matters. The former ruled men's souls; the latter men's bodies. The two sovereigns thus divided on equal terms the government of the world. The difficulty with this theory was that it did not work. No one could decide in advance where the authority of the pope ended, and where that of the emperor began. When the pope claimed certain powers which were also claimed by the emperor, a conflict between the two rulers became inevitable. Otto the Great. in 962 A.D. restored imperial rule in the west. Thus founding what in later centuries came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire. He made the pope to be completely recognized by all citizenry. There was no other religion allowed. (While Otto the Great was the emperor, he saw to it that all Europe and the East were definitely Christians.) Otto made the city of Rome the imperial capital. He deposed a pope who proved disobedient to his wishes; (This is why he is called the pope maker) and on his own authority appointed another. At the same time Otto exacted from the people of Rome an oath, that they would never recognize any pope to whose election the emperor had not consented." The emperor made sure that pope would be a man of his choice, by that decree; but let us watch the whole thing reverse. It is all right here in history. "Otto's successors repeatedly interfered in elections to the papacy. One strong ruler, Henry the 3rd, has been called, the pope maker. Early in his reign he sat aside three rival claimants to the papacy, creating a German bishop, pope, and on three subsequent occasions filled the papal throne by fresh appointments. It was clear that if this situation continued much longer, the papacy would be simply an imperial office. It would be merged into the empire. The death of Henry the 3rd, which left the empire in weak political hands, gave the papacy a chance to escape the control of the secular powers. In 1059, a church council held at the Lectern Palace decreed that henceforth, the right of choosing the supreme pontiff, (the pope) should belong exclusively to the Cardinal body, and no longer to political appointments. (Here comes the turn around.) This arrangement tended to prevent any interference with the election of popes, either by the Roman people or by foreign sovereigns." All of this was designed by the devil to get rid of any obstacles that would keep him from sitting in the papal chair being worshipped and adored through his instrument, the pope. He had ruled the world through the caesars; and now he would again rule the world through one office, the office of a man the world church looks upon as the Vicar of Christ. In ancient times, the caesars would ride through Rome in the royal chair, carried upon the shoulders of men; and their subjects would fall prostrate and worship them. Now the pope, dressed in his purple and scarlet colors, rides through the streets of Rome in the papal chair, carried upon the shoulders of men; and his followers respond basically the same way, worshipping a mortal man instead of the God who created mankind in the first place.
THE LITTLE HORN BLASPHEMES
Now let me skip down through here to a certain place and show you what that little horn did along about 1085, when it really began to speak blasphemous things. His name was Hildebrand; and he took the name Gregory the 7th, on his elevation to the papacy. He devoted all his talents to the advancement of the papacy, until the papacy could take full leadership of the Roman world. A contemporary document which may have been of his own composition, and at any rate expressed his ideas, contains the following statements, "The Roman pontiff alone is properly called universal ruler." See, a mouth speaking great things. This is that little horn Daniel saw. He is speaking blasphemous things, just like the old emperors of Rome had done. calling themselves sovereign, universal rulers, a title which belongs only to God Himself. It is easy to see why God will judge that old whore system of religion, in the windup of this age. Under the reign of these popes, it is just the opposite of what it was during the time of Charlemagne and Otto the Great. They could remove a pope and appoint another one any time they chose to do so; but now no one can touch the man who sits in that office. Do you see how Satan gradually changed his disguise, and moved from the emperor's chair, over to the papal chair? Let me finish reading. "He alone may depose a king from his throne; and may be judged by no one." Brother! That is a complete reversal of the way it used to be. Who did the apostle Paul appeal to, when he was falsely accused? Not the bishop of Rome, but to Caesar. His appeal was to the highest mortal authority at that time; but today, at least in the mind of many, that would have to be the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Also, "He may absolve from their (the emperors') allegiance." That means, no matter what kind of public document the political kings and so forth may come out with, he can end it quickly if he wants to."The Roman Church never has erred; and never can err." Gregory did not originate these doctrines; he was just the first pope who ventured to make a practical application of them. Gregory soon issued a decree against lay investiture. It declared that no emperor, king, duke, marquis, count or any other, (including all the dignitaries of royal families or governments) should presume to grant investitures. This was a general decree applying to all the states of western Europe; the ten horn nations. But circumstances were such that it mainly affected Germany, because the last political emperors, that were recognized as emperors within that political sphere, were Germans. This brings the whole thing down to the point where Daniel saw this horn pluck up three of the first horns by the roots. It did not destroy them; it just broke their will from trying to get free from papal authority. Notice now, "Henry the 4th, the ruler of Germany at this time, did not refuse the papal challenge. (Here is where you see the first horn plucked up.) He wrote a famous letter to Gregory, calling him no pope, but a false monk; telling him also that Christ had never called him to the priesthood; and bidding him, Come down from St. Peter's throne. Gregory in reply, dethroned Henry as emperor; excommunicated him from the church, and freed his political subjects from their allegiance to him. This severe sentence made a profound impression in Germany. Henry's adherence fell away, and it seemed probable that the German nobles would elect another ruler in his stead. Henry then decided on abject submission or surrender. He hastened across the Alps, and found the pope at the castle of Canossa, on the northern slopes of the Appenese. It was January, and the snow lay deep. The emperor stood for 3 days shivering outside the castle gate, barefoot, and clad in a coarse woolen shirt, the garb of a man doing penance. At last upon the entreaties of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, Gregory admitted Henry, this ruler of Germany, and granted him forgiveness." There is your first horn plucked up by the roots. The government of that royal family was not destroyed; but they sure found out in a hurry that no territorial government, nor any persons within them, was powerful enough to stand up against the power of the pope.
HOW THREE HORNS WERE PLUCKED UP
Let us look now at the next horn that was plucked up. This dramatic scene at Canosa did not end the investiture conflict: so notice now. "Thirty years after the signing of the Concordant of Worms, the emperor Frederick, called Barbarossa because of his red beard, succeeded to the throne of Italy. Frederick II, of the Hoffenstoffen Dynasty was capable, imaginative and ambitious. He took Charlemagne and Otto the Great as his models, and aspired like them, to rule Christian Europe and the church. His reign is the story of many attempts, ending at length in failure to unite all Italy into a single state under German sway. Frederick's Italian policy brought him at once into conflict with the papacy. The popes gave their support to a league of the free citizens of northern Italy, which were also threatened by Frederick's soaring ambitions. The haughty emperor, having suffered a severe defeat, sought reconciliation with the pope Alexander III. In the presence of a vast throng assembled before St. Mark's cathedral in Venice, Frederick knelt before the pope and humbly kissed his feet. Just a century had passed since the humiliation of Henry IV at Canossa." Another horn had been I plucked, fulfilling more of this prophetic picture seen in Daniel 7. So now let us go straight to the 3rd. This one was plucked up by a pope named Innocent III. History declares that the papacy reached the height of its power under him. Following some of the declarations made, you can certainly see how he spoke against the most High; for he, like Lucifer, exalted himself to a place no mortal man has any right to be. If God cast down Lucifer for that, why would he not look upon this mortal in the same way? Listen now, "Innocent announced the claims of the papacy in the most uncompromising manner. As the moon, he declared, receives its light from I the sun, and is inferior to the sun, so do kings receive all their glory and dignity from the Holy See." This meant, according to Innocent, that the pope had the right to interfere in all secular matters, and in the quarrels of rulers. "God has set the prince of the apostles over kings and kingdoms with a mission to tear up, plant, destroy, scatter, and rebuild." Brother, he tried his best to do just that; but in reality that authority belongs only to God. That was just another example of how those old popes spoke against God, comparable to what is written in the 14th chapter of Isaiah about Lucifer, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." That same old spirit was in those popes, and caused them to conduct themselves the same way. "Innocent's claims were not idle boasts. When Phillip Augustus, king of France, divorced his wife and made another marriage, Innocent declared the divorce void, and ordered him to take back his discarded queen. Phillip refused, and Pope Innocent put France under an interdict to quarantine and closed all businesses. From that hour all religious rites ceased. (No mass for births, nor burials.) There were no burials. The church bells were silent. The sick died uncared for. The dead lay unburied. Phillip deserted by his citizenry was compelled to submit." Naturally when he submitted, that was another horn plucked up. Saints can you imagine a man claiming to be the successor of the apostle Peter, conducting himself in such a way as these men conducted themselves? That is what they claim to be, successors of St. Peter, to whom Jesus gave the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
WOUNDED HEAD HEALED
Time will not allow us to get into the terrible atrocities of the Christian Crusades, and of the Spanish Inquisition, which was one of the most horrifying periods of Catholic history. Human life was cheap, where the Catholic Church was in power. Right on through the years, she has been filling that cup John saw in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. Naturally though, the cup has to be symbolic of two things: for in verse 6, of chapter 17, it says that the woman (this great whore of verse 1) is drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. But in that cup, is also represented her doctrines, which she forces her subjects to drink of. Reading the history on the Spanish Inquisition, in the 14th century and on into the next, you can see that every one of those ten horns played an important part in it. Many times when there were rebellions and so forth, they would rid their societies of those rebellious ones, by sending them off to get rid of them in the Spanish Inquisition. In that period, (I will dramatize it,) that old woman became intoxicated by killing; like an alcoholic does on booze. You could say she was a martyrholic; because for decades she just slaughtered everyone she considered a threat to her; or impure by her standards. You have heard of the Huguenots and Waldenes of southern France and northern Spain. Many of them were mountain people. But the Spirit of God began to deal with them, and allow them to see the evils of the church system. Many of them were just illiterate people, almost totally ignorant of Bible truth; but they began to band themselves together in underground assemblies, to pray and worship God. These Jesuit priests you have heard stories about, were like secret agents of the Roman laity, to spy on these families; and they would have to flee into the mountains to get away from them. During all of that, God showed them visions, and a lot of them spoke in tongues, as God vindicated His dealing with them. Coming up through the 1400's, God dealt with various groups, revealing to them the error of the Catholic Church, right on up and into what is commonly known as the Reformation years, when that one head on the old 7 headed Roman beast first began to receive what looked like a deadly wound. There were men like Huss, Swingley, Martin Luther, John Knox, John Calvin, Wesley and so on, that really struck that old papal head; which is the eighth, but part of the seventh. Then Napoleon Bonaparte struck the last wounding blow, which looked like it had finished off that old papal head. But here in the twentieth century, we have seen that wounded head almost completely healed; and projected into its end time role of the prophetic picture in the Bible. The old whore (Catholicism) and all her harlot daughters (Protestantism, which is your various denominational systems of religion,) are all coming back together in a great ecumenical move designed by the devil. Those who had their chance to see truth, and had no love of that truth, have been given over to strong delusion, just like the apostle Paul wrote in his Thessalonian epistle, that they may believe the devil's lie and be damned. Pope John the 23rd, put out a plea for all the daughters of Roman Catholicism to come home, and that spirit immediately got hold of those protestant daughters, and they ran home to mama. The European Common Market has again put all the old ten horn nations back together, while the tongue speaking daughters were returning home, and the Catholic Church is the same old whore she always was. The pope can shake hands with Kurt Waltheim, a man involved in the slaughter of millions of Jews, and also with Buddhist and Moslem monks, as he did in North Africa, all designed to project him into his end time role in scriptural prophecy, as a great peacemaker, while the world plummets toward World War 3, described in Ezekiel 38. It will be centered in the Middle East, directed toward the total destruction of Israel; but the whole Western world will be affected by it. God perfects in three's; so out of this third World War, will come the great peace agreement that will usher in the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy, concerning God's dealings with the nation of Israel. The old pope, who knows how to co-exist with Communism will mediate the peace agreement, and all the world will truly wonder after him, (be amazed by the great influence he has on so many world leaders, and simply adore him) just like it says in Revelation 13:3, and multitudes will literally worship the devil (the dragon of verse 4) through him. That condition will be allowed by God to continue for exactly 3 1/2 prophetic years, while the two Jewish prophets of Revelation 11:3-12, are prophesying to the inhabitants of the nation of Israel. But exactly in the middle of that seven year period of time, (which is the 70th week of Daniel) the old pope, in Rome, is going to get so provoked by what those two men and his apostate system of religion, including the Protestant daughters; he will take his international police force to Jerusalem, kill the two witnesses, (prophets) and take possession of the Jewish temple that will at that time already be rebuilt. He will throw out all the Jews; fulfilling Daniel 9:27; which says, "He will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease," and so forth. This marks the beginning of that 31/2 years of great tribulation, spoken of in Daniel 12:1, as a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. Thousands of Jews, and Gentile foolish virgins will be martyred during that time; but God will preserve an element of people from every nation, to carry over into the Millennium, (the thousand year rule of Jesus Christ on earth) to repopulate the earth. The revelated, washed, sanctified bride Church of the Lord Jesus Christ will be raptured prior to that dark hour of time, just like Paul described in 1st Thess. 4:13-18, and those foolish virgins of Matthew 25:1-13, along with thousands of Jews who will not accept the mark of the beast in that hour, will be martyred by that beast system; headed by the pope of the Roman Catholic Church; and at the precise moment when the old pope is ready to strike, the woman element of the nation of Israel will flee into the wilderness (another nation somewhere on earth) according to Revelation 12:6, where she will be fed and protected until that time of trouble passes over. In other words, until Jesus comes from heaven with His army of saints on white horses, and destroys all that ungodly mass of humanity, according to Revelation 19:1-21, which brings time right down to Matthew 25:31-46, the judgment of the nations, at the end of that great tribulation period, when Millennial subjects are chosen and others have judgment pronounced upon them.
Coming down to this end time round up, the old pope of Roman Catholicism, will be more taken up with politics, than he will be with religion; and in all of that, this new form of Communism, called Euro-Communism, because it will be a special brand originated among the ten horn nations of Western Europe, will literally destroy Catholicism. Christianity will have no place in what they are all involved in during that 3 1/2 years of time. The people of those ten horn nations, which for centuries have been dominated by Catholicism, will be fulfilling their part in Revelation 17:12-16, which says they will reign with the beast in that hour of time, and that they will hate the whore, (Catholicism) and will make her desolate, and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. They will take their form of communism as their religion. instead of Catholicism, and thereby destroy that old whore system of supposed-to-be Christianity once and for all. Then they will make war with Jesus and His heavenly army, as they come to earth at the end of that great tribulation time, and this heavenly army will overcome them, like verse 14 says. This takes you right on into chapter 18 where the whole thing is laid out in a little more detail. In verse 2, an angel comes down from heaven crying with a strong voice, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." The Catholic Church has always survived every kind of political system that there has ever been; because she always managed to maneuver herself into a position where she could come out on top; but at the end of this age she will finally come to her end of ruling over the souls of mankind; as God's judgment falls upon her. The 17th chapter gives you one picture of it, how it is related to the political and economic world system; and then chapter 18 fills in the rest of how God looks upon her. First she is pictured as a great whore, spiritually speaking; that has caused kings and potentates of the earth to drink of the wine of her fornication. In order to keep her favor, they had to accept her doctrines and so forth, thereby entering into this intercourse relationship with her. The true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ never even considered carrying on any such relationship with political affiliations of the world. Many of them were martyred because of it; but they knew what God had put within their hearts', so they accepted martyrdom, rather than that sort of illicit relationship with political systems of the world. Catholicism has never been anything other than just a spirit of modern paganism with a primitive Christian title attached to it. She was pictured to John as a woman. Not a poor little honky tonk, skid row type of prostitute; but a fancy call girl type, that you find with the sophisticated and rich potentates of the world. A person would have to be totally blind, spiritually, not to see her for what she is, (an apostate system of religion, that Satan has used to lead human souls to destruction) after we have presented infallible proof of her dealings; through centuries of time. Therefore verses 4 and 5, of chapter 18, are for all who will hear the voice of God in this hour of time, just before judgment strikes her. "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." You can read the rest of it later, and see the final estate of that old system; as seen through the eyes of God. Notice in particular verse 24, which says, "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." You would have to say, based upon what we read in these two chapters, that God uses this new brand of Communism to judge that old whore system, and then He in turn pours out judgment upon them. Why do these ten horns hate her, you may say? Because she has robbed them for centuries; stripping them of their wealth, and keeping their citizenry in conditions of poverty, while she committed acts of fornication with their kings and potentates. I could spend hours describing to you what that old apostate system has been like through these many centuries; but I do not feel that you who are spiritual need any more than what you already have, to know how to conduct yourselves in these last days; just before judgment strikes. I will just say this, and close; God is going to turn the political systems of Europe around, just like Revelation 17:17 says, for it says this, "For God hath put in their (the ten horn nations) heart's to fulfill His (God's) will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, (For how long?) until the words of God shall be fulfilled." But then, this Euro-Communism, or whatever they choose to call it by then, Is going to rise up, in a night's time, and take control of the wealth of that Catholic Church system, and that is going to be the beginning of how the Catholic Church, the great whore of Revelation 17:1, and the great city of chapter 18, comes to a drastic end; for the picture of how they (the ten horns) will hate her, and make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire, has to have its fulfillment somewhere right in there, just before Jesus returns to earth in person, to pour out the wrath of God upon wicked mankind that is left; and then to set up His earthly kingdom for His thousand year rule. Brothers and Sisters, let us be thankful to God that He got us out of all that mess of religious confusion, and gave to us a revelation of what redemption is all about. I love Him; Don't you? May He bless all of you abundantly in these last days. Amen.
Endtime Prophecy Contenders
God's Burdensome Stone, Tape 1