WE ARE CONTINUING ON WITH THE THOUGHT WE WERE ON AT THE END OF OUR MAY ISSUE. WE WERE ILLUSTRATING TO YOU HOW THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPIRE LEADERSHIP JUST GREW WEAKER AND WEAKER UNTIL THE ROMAN CATHOLIC POPE WAS ABLE TO EXERCISE HIS AUTHORITY ABOVE THE POLITICAL LEADERS, SO THAT IT WAS NO LONGER STATE OVER CHURCH: IT BECAME CHURCH OVER STATE. THE POPE, THE LITTLE HORN THAT PLUCKED UP THREE OF THE FIRST TEN HORNS BECAME THE VOICE OF AUTHORITY OVER THE ROMAN EMPIRE. WE WILL PICK UP WHERE OUR LAST ISSUE ENDED.

As the authority of that ancient Roman throne began to weaken more and more, the gospel of Jesus Christ has already been proclaimed in many areas throughout the geographical area of that Empire. Therefore when people in those various territories were converted to so called Christianity, it became a known fact that as vast hordes of barbarians out of Europe would unite to make their attacks against Rome, political men in Rome would go to the bishop in Rome and beg him to do his utmost to contact people in those countries or territories and prevail upon them not to play the part in coming against Rome. This is why you have to accept the fact the pope gained his position, not by public election, but by being in the right place at the right time. It was brought about by a gradual process, climbing every issue, and looking the situation in the face, then using that to vie against the temporal power. In so doing, that office finally prevailed over all state government. I have here, an article written in 1835 by a man John Marsham, who compiled his writing from the writings of older men. The power of the papacy began to slowly be identified approximately around 500 A.D. He was referred to as bishop at first, but later, somewhere around 500 A.D., certain dignitaries began to look upon this bishop as pope or father. About two hundred hears later conditions had promoted, or brought about the situation for this horn to take advantage of the circumstances and begin to elevate his position in power, so at this time, please allow me to read to you what this historian says.

READING

“In the year 755, the pope became a temporal (which means political) prince, (He should have been only an ecclesiastical leader of the church.) horn. (That is the way this historian refers to him.) For countenancing the dethronement of Childeric III, king of France, and crowning Pepin, Pepin gave to the Roman See, (That is the Vatican.) the exarchate of Ravenna, Pentapolis, and twenty one cities and castles. (All that was included in this grant. This all eventually becomes what is known as the territory which today is the Vatican.) Charlemagne, his son and successor, aimed at the empire of the West. He accomplished his purpose, went to Rome and was crowned; and in return for services, ceded to the papal See several cities and provinces, and gave it a subordinate jurisdiction over Rome and the annexed territory, enabling it to become the seat of wealth and magnificence.” (Charlemagne was ruler, but here he is giving in to certain authorities and recognition of the papal position.)

This shows you how eventually, within a certain territory of the Roman province area a certain sector was set aside, given to the church, the pope, the papacy. This in return begins to be the base where there is competition between the throne that the bishop will set on, as well as the throne that the emperor will sit on, which was political. Here is the conflict. Here is the beginning, how a little horn which was mystical, became so powerful.

READING

But the temporal power of the Roman Pontiff was never to be compared with its spiritual. For a long time, bishops and councils endeavored to maintain some authority and influence, but they were ultimately all trodden in the dust. (Listen to what this historian says now.) The Man of Sin came, as Paul said he would, “after the working of Satan with all power, and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.” He arrogated to himself god-like titles and attributes, (This is blasphemy.) King of kings, Universal Father, Master of the world; (That is blasphemy to the highest degree.) set himself above all laws, human and divine; (Is that not what Daniel 7 said he would do? Once this horn, and there was a man seen in it with the eyes of a man, keep in mind we are not talking about one man within it, but the succession of many men, who once the devil, through carnality, or Satanic means, using carnal minded people blinded to reality, and they give themselves over to the tricks of the devil, you might say they give their heart and their position to Satan. Let us continue on.) by taxes and massacres, he oppressed a 2^nd wore out the saints; he changed times and laws, (That is exactly what Daniel said he would do.) appointing innumerable fasts and feasts, new modes of worship and new articles of faith, and supporting himself by the most infamous frauds and barefaced pretensions to miracles. The most powerful monarchs were powerless before him. (Meaning the most powerful kings of these horns were literally powerless before the rise, as this papal crown took over.) Emperors (this means kings of these horns) led his horse and held his stirrup. Kings were stripped by him of their honor and power, and whole realms were deprived of every religious privilege. For refusing to surrender to him the right of investiture, the right ever claimed by the princes of Europe, of conferring the most important places in the churches and monasteries upon him they pleased, by the ceremony of presenting the ring and crozier; Hildebrand Gregory VII, a pope haughty and arrogant in extreme, drove Henry, emperor of Germany, from his throne, and compelled him in the winter of 1077, to cross the Alps and stand three days in the open air at the entrance of the pontiff’s palace, with his feet bare, his head uncovered, and no other garment but a course woolen cloth thrown around his naked body, and implore forgiveness and a restoration to his dominions.” (That is what this historian says. This is the beginning how one of the horns was plucked up by the roots. Notice it did not destroy the territorial identity of that horn geographically. Germany remained Germany. You are dealing with a territory. So we can say none of these horns were swallowed up or done away with by the papacy. The plucking up had to be something that pertains to the temporal head of the horn. Now I am going to close this particular reading.)

We can see from articles like this what history declares, how this horn, in a certain period of time between 700 and something and the 11^th century, the pope used his position to gradually climb, using every situation to his advantage. This shows how he began to exalt himself above his fellows, his predecessors, the temporal horn. These things cannot be denied by historians. Yet I say today, no doubt, I have not seen a modern day history book on European history, but I have my doubts that the writers indulge but very little in the conflict that went on between church and state. With these things in mind, I want to resort to this book and read some more. I want to show you how there came a time, once this little horn had exalted itself above his fellows, coming into the era of time between the 11^th century and 1520, where all of this applies. When we reach the point of the 11^th century, which shows this little horn plucking up one of the other horns, which is actually referring to the temporal head, it was followed by Barabosa of Italy. Then came Philip of France. It was in this period of time in the 11^th, 12^th, and 13^th century that we hear of what historically what is referred to as the Catholic Crusades. The Catholic Church looked upon the holy city Jerusalem. It was in the hands of Moslem people, Arabs. Over a period of about two hundred and some odd years there were three crusades set in motion and designed by the papal church to change the picture. Everything from priests to Catholic families, entire portions of them, volunteered for this endeavor. I was just reading a history the other day, how all over Europe, families, sons, princes from different royal families of these nations volunteered to go to the holy land to free it. That was the way Roman Catholicism looked upon Mohammadism, as it was in power in the holy city. The conflicts, the hardships, all the way from Europe around through the ancient territory of Greece, through Turkey, down through Syria, many times as they had to fight Moslem people in these various areas, they left their dead, buried, to eventually be forgotten about. As these crusades went into motion, and as they eventually reached the holy land, it was usually followed by a big fight for the city. I am not going to go into a long explanation of what went on. I only bring that in to try and show you a little picture of the Catholic Church in that period of time between 1000 and something, until 1520, how what the pope said in Europe became law and order. All political temporal heads of these European nations and the royal families become subject unto this horn power. I have to say, in the light of modern times, A preacher who will not preach that the pope fulfills every portion of identity that the Bible pictures as being the antichrist, it has to be because he is afraid of his position. He is afraid of his position, he is afraid of his following, that they will become offended and leave him. Nevertheless the hour will come he will stare reality in the face, just before God completes this great picture and it all folds up and comes tumbling down upon him. Many of these preachers are going to have to bow their head in the face of what they have proclaimed to humanity and admit that through selfish means, they have hid the truth, because that is exactly what has been motivating them, just plain greed. They try to paint a modern day picture of the development of prophecy that is appealing. It appeals to modern society. That is why they keep projecting, that the man of sin, the son of perdition, the antichrist, will come from somewhere in the world, making it appear he has never been in any previous era of time. Well it is an established fact, the final man who does fulfill what Biblically is called the false prince, (Daniel 9:27, and that evil king, Daniel 11, as well as the son of perdition, St. John 17, as well as the man of sin of Paul’s revelation, recorded in Thessalonians,) will sit in a position in an office that has already been established long ago. I am talking about the office of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church. It has already established its full identity. History declares what it has done in times past, and Bible prophecy tells what it will do the last 3 ½ years of this present era of time, and how to recognize it. First it includes an office that we can say, is ecclesiastical church government taking authority over state government. Time will not last long enough for the world to write another meaning to all of this and give it off to something else. His office has already been established. He has already fulfilled certain characteristics that definitely pertain to this little horn Daniel saw coming up in the midst of the ten horns. When we come to 1520 when the Reformation started, that was God’s way of taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and placing it in the hands of men who knew what the Catholic Church was like and what it was already guilty of. God did not use every Tom, Dick, and Harry that might have wanted to preach, in the Reformation. If you do not know what I mean by that, I mean He did not call back woods, uneducated preachers who did not hardly know how to write their name. He called on men who had been schooled by this same religious system that were going to protest against, men who had been trained in the monasteries of this powerful, ecclesiastical religious system, men who wanted to make their lives into something God could use. When the hour of time came, when God was ready to begin taking the wraps off of this monster, off of the development of this spiritual beast, this office, this mystical horn, He began to deal with the heart’s of men like we are going to read about. That is why as we pick up right here in this history, God began to speak to men like Martin Luther, Calvin and Knox. I want to remind you, Martin Luther, Calvin and Knox were men who were almost contemporaries of each other. They were not ignorant of what the Catholic Church had done to the Huguenots and Waldenses and all those type of people, just shortly before their hour in 1400 and something. When Martin Luther, Calvin, and Knox began to pick up the sword of the Spirit, the gospel of Jesus Christ, God dealt with them on a personal basis to show them the need for them becoming so dedicated to the gospel, that through them God was going to restore something, that through the system they had been part of had been lost. He was going to restore, through a gradual process, all that the apostles of Jesus Christ had taught. That is why Martin Luther was dealt with in such a way that he came out proclaiming, The just shall live by faith! Then when we come to Knox, and Calvin, we find them teaching the doctrine of eternal security, as well as the doctrine of predestination. Those are two Biblical doctrines that when they are applied to the believers faith with the proper understanding, you will find that forms a framework of what faith in God is all about. They make up the support beams in your soul. I know the modern preachers of today will go back into history and pick out the extremes of those men, and other men of their same hour. In order to get by without preaching that the pope will be the antichrist, and to avoid talking about the power of the papacy, they condemn other men for their fanaticism. They will say, Just look at the extremes some of those men went to. As for the pope they say, How can you say he was such and such, Look at all the good he has done. Well I just have to say, Let us take a good look at you in this day and hour: Look what you are doing. You are modern interpreters, trying through an ecclesiastical, intellectual way, to whitewash everything that is distasteful to some of your following. While you claim to know so much, you have absolutely cut off the limb that the source of revelation can feed through. You magnify a fault in one, in order to condemn the whole thing, regardless of the truth you have to walk over. On the basis of all that is going on, I feel that we have a right to condemn you for your short sightedness, your lack of revelation, and your cowardice in refusing to accept certain things that are known as Biblical and also historical facts. Therefore as we come closer to the end of time, and the modern religious world of our day refuses to accept the fact that the Catholic Church is guilty of diabolical behavior in their dealings with people who disagree with them, many will be trapped like a rabbit in a cage, with no way to escape what is ahead of them.

HOW A HORN BECAME A HEAD

At this time, I want to go to this history and read something to you. In the book of Revelation, we are given an interpretation of how to interpret the reviving of the Roman beast which we see coming back up over here. Our modern interpreters of prophecy are saying things that bypass this whole thing completely. Well it is a fact, that what was referred to as a little horn in Daniel 7:8, is referred to in Revelation 13:3, as a head. There are preachers today, when they try to interpret what these heads are, they will say they are territories. They cannot possibly be territories! History is too clearly written, for any man who claims to be called of God to proclaim truth, too just ignore the obvious. I just received a letter from a man that put together an abstract picture of this very thing, according to his own interpretation of this things we are looking at. He says these heads are carry overs of the previous empires. He mentions the Grecian Empire, how that beast wound up with four heads, and how that pointed to the four generals. When Alexander the Great died, then this leopard beast became an animal that had four heads, which means his four main generals took over the government of the ancient Grecian Empire. That is exactly where the Grecian Empire began to dwindle and fall away, and then die. Nevertheless, though some may think so, those four heads on the Grecian Empire have nothing to do with the heads on this restored Roman Empire that still had a fulfillment for these last days. Those four heads that were in the ancient Grecian Empire did not carry the title of blasphemy. Do not forget that, or you will not be able to see the picture correctly. This blasphemy has to come from a previously existing office. That is why when time did exist, that the Roman imperial system of government was by emperors, they were known as sovereign, imperial, universal rulers, naturally when the pope took that same title and applied it to his office, you can see how he took over the last framework of that political government and it all went right on the same way in the same city. We can say then, that there is such a thing as political evolution. How many know what I mean by political evolution? It simply means, that as the first form of it began to decay and fall away, the life of it did not die, it just ceased to exist in its previous form. It went through those major changes as each one of the seven endeavored to establish his own form of political rule. Then we come to the eighth, which yet is of the seven, so as we look at this, we are talking in mystical terminology. We are talking in the manner of what Otto the Great did with the last form of Charlemagne’s Holy Roman Empire. You might say he is the one that made the pope equal with the emperors, which is why the historian wrote him up as the pope maker. From Otto the Great’s period and onward, the popes were on top and the emperors were no longer looked upon as sovereign over anything. Some have a hard time with this terminology. THE EIGHTH IS OF THE SEVENTH, BUT IF YOU WILL JUST STOP TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT IT, YOU WILL REALIZE THAT THE SEVEN KINGS WERE POLITICAL RULERS, AND WHAT WE CALL THE EIGHTH, WAS AN ECCLESIASTICAL RULER THAT STEPPED INTO THE PLACE OF THE SEVENTH FORM OF POLITICAL RULE. In other words, it was the same form of rulership, but it was by an ecclesiastical head instead of a political head. Therefore the beast remains to have just seven heads, because the seventh form of Roman Government established by Charlemagne still remained in effect even though the pope was the one cracking the whip. We can see now, how the eighth head, which did not put an eighth political head on the beast because it was a religious head, can be referred to as the eighth which is of the seventh. The eighth head is a mystical head, because it is an ecclesiastical head. This is the spirit that came out of the bottomless pit. It manifested itself this way, and then it was church over state, instead of state over church as it was in prior generations. These seven heads have to be understood in this way, because that is how politics, emperor worship, has evolved from one political system to an ecclesiastical religious system. That is as plain as the nose on your face, if you have a desire to understand the truth. With that in mind, let me take you to certain historical readings I have here about this particular pope. We are in the 11^th century. The reason I am emphasizing this, is to show the true believer of today, that there is no way this little horn, as it existed back there in the Dark Age period, is to be seen any longer as the same mystical horn it was back there. He is now over here in a head. What was just a little horn back there, is in a head over here. In the head, is where the brains of that thing is. That is what we have to see. It is the brains from out of this that project itself through the horn, which is symbolic of power, so let us read here, how history was written up about this. The writer says that popes and emperors were more or less on equal footing.

READING

“One might suppose there could be no interference between pope and emperor, since they seemed to have separate spheres of action. It was said that God had made the pope as the successor of St. Peter, (I want to say this, I am not making these remarks to point the finger at any Catholic person. I feel sorry for Catholic people who succumbed to the constant bombardment of the power and authority and sovereignty of the Catholic Church. They themselves, not being hungry enough to investigate anything, just go along with the system. I will say this in respect to Catholic people, they can be your neighbor and be as good to you as any Protestant, but spiritually they are blind. That kind of goodness is not what determines their standing with God. There are Catholic people in our day and hour, when it comes to being your neighbor, you could call upon them for anything: They are just as good as any Methodist or Baptist you could live close to. In fact you will hear Methodists today say things, and go about doing things that many Catholic’s will not do. It is sad to think of it in that way, but as I continue on here, it shows the writer is looking at the level of the two contemporary powers, political and ecclesiastical, and the ecclesiastical was Catholicism. It was said that God had made the pope as the successor of St. Peter. Common sense would tell you that this is a lie of the devil, because the popes of our day and through the period of ancient time did not live or teach what the apostle Peter taught in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.) supreme in spiritual matters, and the emperor as heir of the Roman caesars, I(Can you see the tie?) supreme in temporal matters. (Which is political) The former (the popes) ruled men’s souls, the latter, ruled men’s bodies. The two sovereigns thus divided on equal terms the government of the world. (That is referring to the Roman world of that hour.) The difficulty with this theory was that it did not work. (Here comes the deception of the devil. Here comes how he begins to exalt this man, because he has already got him in a position of equal authority.) 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. Otto made the city of Rome the imperial capital, deposed a pope who proved disobedient to his wishes, 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. (Now as I read that, it goes to show there is the platform, and though blinded to reality, the devil still used it.) Otto’s successors repeatedly interfered in elections to the Papacy. One strong ruler, Henry III, has been called the pope maker. (Watch it now. See, emperors were more or less giving their recognition to the pope, helping him to stay in office, to stay in power and recognition. As long as it is that way we can see that competition between the temporal and spiritual, but here, we come to a junction, so notice as we read.) Early in his reign he set 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 become simply an imperial office, it would be merged in the Empire. (In other words, it would die right there at that level.) The death of Henry III, which left the Empire in weak hands, gave the Papacy a chance to escape the control of the secular (which means political) power. In 1059 A.D. a church council held at the Lateran Palace decreed that henceforth the right of choosing the supreme pontiff should belong exclusively to the cardinals, who represented the clergy of Rome (and not to the emperors). This arrangement tended to prevent any interference with the elections of popes, (This got the emperors out of the picture, when up until this period, they had been very involved in it.) either by Roman people or by foreign sovereigns. The papacy now began to deal with a grave problem which affected the church at large. (We know historically what they did. They bought positions to be such and such in certain cities and lands.) I am going to skip that part and get to the point where the pope, somehow very cunningly through this transition period wherein he has been able to climb above the authority of the temporal emperor, kings and rulers really began to stand out, so we watch this man who can now be looked upon by Christians as the man of sin. He is eventually going to be the son of perdition. We can say this, Not all of the ancient popes were to be looked upon as the major antichrist, but they everyone were antichrist in the minor sense. They were all instruments and agents of Satan, that he used to further his purpose, first to establish an office, a position, and then to exalt his power. Then when that power becomes recognized in the world, it would be hard to remove it from the scene without a great conflict, so there it remains. We now come to the years from 1073 to 1085, so let us read this, at this time.

READING

“A remarkable man now became pope. This was the monk Hildebrand, who upon elevation to the Papacy took the name of Gregory VII. Gregory devoted all his talents (notice, talents in this respect means his political and ecclesiastical influence) to advancement of the Papacy. (Advance means put forth, magnify, decorate, make it become the supreme attraction.) A contemporary document, which may have been of his own composition and at any rate expresses his ideas, contains the following statements: (I want to say this to the modernists of today who are trying to tell us what all this horn will surely do. They have it all yet in the future, but I have to say to them, What the man of sin will do in the future is only a re-enactment of what has already been established in identity, in actuality, and according to history, already taken place literally.) “The Roman pontiff alone is properly called universal. (Now we are touching blasphemy.) He alone may depose bishops and restore them to office. He is the only person whose feet are kissed by all princes.” (That means somewhere in their lifetime these young men, princes, kings sons, who will travel from the capital cities of these horns, and since a prince of royalty is usually sent forth by the kind of royalty as being an ambassador of peace, imagine these young princes of these royalties going to Rome to pay homage to a man that is recognized as being sovereign above him. A man whose feet are kissed by princes. God forbid.) I have to say to Jack Van Impe, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson and all of their kind, Shame on every one of you men who claim to be called of God to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you willingly ignore the reality of what those old popes have done in the past. You know the apostle Peter or the apostle Paul would never have done such things. They would not allow men to come and kiss their feet. When Peter was led to the house of Cornelius, a Greek, look how he conducted himself. God had spoken to him in a vision and instructed him to go with the men who were seeking him. Then when Peter and the men with him, entered into the house of Cornelius, we find it recorded in the book of Acts, that Cornelius fell prostrate on his face before Peter. What do we hear Peter say? Stand up, I am just a man like unto you! He refused to be treated like those old popes demand to be treated. You find that in Acts 10:25-26. “And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshiped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.” In other words he could have said this, Stop this nonsense: We are men just like you. How can our modern preachers try to brainwash and blind people by saying the things they say and just simply ignoring the reality of all of this? For any pope to claim such supremacy and authority, demanding that all princes bow down and kiss his feet, proves that he was inspired by the devil. I saw an article stating that Castro of Cuba has finally made his way, after almost thirty years, to see the pope. It did not say he kissed the pope’s feet, but it does say Castro finally gave in and has promised the pope he will give the church more recognition from now on. It all goes to show, if you as a politician, as a ruler of some nature, ever reach an hour that you have something in a conflicting way, political wise, that involves the Catholic Church, you will find yourself making your way to Rome to see the pope. Is that not what happened to the last Russian leader Gorbachev? Did he not go to the Vatican? When he and President George Bush sat down on one of our ships of war out in the sea, and talked about certain things in the negotiating process, Gorbachev came through the Vatican. It does not tell you exactly everything that went on, but just think, he was Communist. Whatever he told the Vatican, and whatever he and Bush said, the main point is, Look what followed it! The collapse of the Russian perimeter of her glorious kingdom. Now we can look back and see what has happened. We must take all of this into consideration as we endeavor to deal with end time prophecies that are to be fulfilled. I want to bring all of it on over into the last day setting and show you how we are living in the hour when this thing is going to come together, and stress the fact that we must be people sensible enough to recognize how it is coming about, so try to stay with me through it all. I want to deal with a certain thing when I get to that point, but right now we are in the part where we are doing our best to show from history how that little horn magnified itself, and how it plucked up three of the ten horns by the roots. We have already explained what the plucking up really implies. It is not destroying the separate identity of the geographical part, which is a country. You cannot just pluck that up. Therefore it is actually dealing with that source of authority that rules over that country. We are in that part where it is showing how the power of the papacy, this little horn Daniel spoke of, by the time it has come to the centuries about which we are reading, it has exalted itself above all its predecessors. It was in the middle ages, that he first began to carry out what Daniel write about. I cannot understand how modern preachers want to close their eyes to the history of the Catholic Church through the Dark Ages. They surely must think they have a ministry to minister to the Catholics and the Protestants, to bring all of them together in unity. Well they have done that to some extent, but it is not God’s unity. It is the false unity God is using to get all that kind ready for judgment. I already read to you how this horn, which is the power of the pope, dealt with Henry IV of Germany. When Henry claimed the pope was a false monk, his troubles began to multiply. In Daniel, it says that in this horn was the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. I want to read this, to let you see how the pope talked in that hour of time. Just pay attention to what it says here in this history.

READING HISTORY

“Gregory VII devoted all his talents to the advancement of the Papacy. (This is after the period of Otto the Great. He is the transition man that takes it from the temporal, the secular, to the ecclesiastical, which is the religious. It does not put eight heads on it, it still leaves seven. In other words, The ecclesiastical takes over the last form of the political government.) A contemporary document which may have been of his own composition and at any rate expresses his ideas, contains the following statements: The Roman pontiff alone is properly called universal. (You will not find Paul, Peter, or any of those men talking like that. It absolutely surprises me that modern day preachers would ever ignore this kind of statements, because this is what this mouth speaking great things is saying here.) He alone may depose bishops and restore them to office. He is the only person whose feet is kissed by all princes. He may dethrone emperors. (Imagine Paul trying to do that. I have to say to you modern preachers, Try to imagine the apostles you read about in the Bible doing such things as this. You do not find in the gospels anywhere, that Jesus ever said, God ye into all the world and upset the kingdoms. This shows you this horn is speaking great things.) He may absolve from their (meaning the emperors) allegiance the subjects of the wicked. The Roman Church never has erred and never can err. (The Roman Church itself is an error. It never has done the right thing.) Gregory did not originate these doctrines, but he was 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 lay person, should presume to grant investiture, under pain of excommunication. This decree was a general one, applying to all states of western Europe, (the ten horns) but circumstances were such that it mainly affected Germany. Henry IV, ruler of Germany at this time, did not refuse the papal challenge. (Keep in mind, up until this time the rulers, which are the emperors, or the kings, still exercised independent authority apart from the church, but here, it is the church coming against them and their position.) He wrote a famous letter to Gregory, calling him no pope but a false monk, telling him Christ had never called him to the priesthood and bidding him “come down, come down” from St. Peter’s throne. (St. Peter never had a throne: HE will not have one until we get into the Millennium. Oral Roberts, you ought to know better than that. Pat Robertson and all the rest of you ought to know St. Peter never did have a throne on this earth.) Gregory, in reply, deposed Henry as emperor, excommunicated him, and freed his subjects from their allegiance.” (Now we see how that horn is plucked up by the roots, one of the ten horns. He is not destroying the geographical area of it at all. He is dealing with the source of authority that lays outside his. Here, it shows the authority those popes began to exercise over the political rulers. When he did this, look what it did. It brought a complete shut down within a separate nation. We will see what happens. It goes to show the citizens were no longer subject to being loyal to their king.) This severe sentence made a profound impression in Germany. Henry’s adherents (citizens) fell away and it seemed probable that the German nobles, (Back then they had nobles, lords, counts, and such as that.) would elect another ruler in his stead. Henry then decided on abject submission. He hastened across the Alps (This is where I stopped reading earlier, because this writer was talking about the same incident.) and found the pope at the castle of Canossa on the northern slopes of the Apennines. It was January, and the snow lay deep on the ground. The emperor stood for three days, shivering, outside the castle gate, barefoot, (I want to remind these modern preachers of this and challenge them, Just try to imagine the apostle Paul or Peter, telling Nero, Come off your throne! You know what would have happened. They would have had their heads cut off a lot quicker than it took to utter such words.) and clad in a course woolen shirt, the garb of a penitent. At last, upon the entreaties of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, Gregory admitted Henry and granted absolution.” (Meaning forgiveness) There, is where the first horn was plucked up by the roots. Did that destroy the nation of Germany? No. It goes to show you, that here, for the first time, an ancient pope exercised his authority over a political ruler and got by with it. This is written in history, that the pope has the right to take a king and wrest him from his throne of power. This is why these preachers today, are not able to see a clear picture of many of these prophecies, they refuse to face the reality of what has taken place in the past. Of course I realize it is only by the grace of God that I have been allowed to see these things, so I have nothing to boast about, but rather, just to be thankful. Now we come to the second horn that was plucked up by the roots, so let us read that.

READING HISTORY

“Thirty years after the signing of the Concordat of Worms, the emperor Frederick I, called Barabossa from his red beard, succeeded to the throne. Frederick, the second of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was capable, imaginative and ambitious. He took Charlemagne and Otto the Great as his models and planned 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. (Here you have a ruler in Italy, wanting to bring these two nations together in unity, but his ambitions were not pleasing to the pope so notice what happened.) Frederick’s Italian policy brought him at once into conflict with the papacy. The popes gave their support to a league of the free cities of northern Italy, which were also threatened by Frederick’s soaring ambitions. The haughty emperor, having suffered severe defeat, sought reconciliation with the pope, Alexander III. In the presence of a vast throne assembled before St. Marks’ Cathedral in Venice, Frederick knelt before the pope and humbly kissed his feet. Just a century had passed since the humiliation of Henry IV of Germany.”

Another horn has been plucked up, showing that the rulers of these ten nations in Europe, could not be sovereign in their own right. Their power was limited to what the ecclesiastical power (the church, or the pope) would allow. Now we will take a look at the historical account of the plucking up of the third horn. I know this historian points to a king in England, but I have also read what happened here between the king in England and the king in France. Because of the two incidents, I chose the king of France to be the most outstanding of the two, and the one that fulfills this prophecy.

READING HISTORY

“Innocent’s claims were not idle boasts. When Philip Augustus, king of France, divorced his wife and made another marriage, Innocent declared the divorce void (Well we all know it is wrong, but we have to understand this is a conflict between a political king and an ecclesiastical church leader.) and ordered him to take back his discarded queen. (How many know what happened to John the Baptist when he contested Herod for taking his brother’s wife? This is how we have to look at these things.) Philip refused, and Innocent put France under an interdict. From that hour all religious rights ceased. The church doors were barred; church bells were silent, the sick died unshriven, the dead lay unburied. Philip, deserted by his citizens, was compelled to submit.”

Another horn is plucked up. I have to say, That is as plain as the nose on your face, what that little horn did. Furthermore it was all done within three centuries of time. Still we are far away from the beginning of the Reformation when we are looking at these instances. You can get many writings of independent authors that show the bloodshed that took place. Here, we come along with Joan of Arc and that era. I have read much about it. When we come to this, from this hour on, that little horn, that papal power that set in Rome was supreme. He was head of universal Christian authority. He was both head over state and church. That brings us back to the beginning. We will say, approximately two hundred years passed, and then we come to the beginning of the Reformation. As the Reformation starts, here comes Martin Luther, Calvin, Knox, then Wesley. This was God’s way of saying, It is time to wound this spirit, to wound this ecclesiastical power that is being projected from Rome, yet not from the old political throne of the caesars, but from another throne that has been established by the popes. That is why years ago we printed in the Contender, a message called “From Rome to the Vatican.” You only go from one part of Rome to another part. You go from the political side to the ecclesiastical side. With this in mind, I want to explain something I want you to see what head was being wounded. It all happened in the Reformation. This is why these preachers that bypass all we have talked about and leave everything void, and try to bring it all over here to interpret everything, when they have not yet explained these heads, really have nothing to use as facts. They put it all in the future. My main point is, There is only one head on this thing, according to Revelation 13, that has a scar. That is that portion of that head that symbolized the power of the Catholic Church. When the Reformation started, it was not kings rising to take a whack at the Vatican. It was men from within the system. When God began to anoint Marth Luther, then Calvin, then Knox, and then from across the English Channel picked up a man by the name of John Wesley, He was anointing men to use the Sword of the Spirit to wound that head so severely it was presumed to be dead. By this, these men using the sword of the Spirit to hack away at the very system they came out of, the power of the pope was absolutely brought to an end. I have a writing if I can find it here, what a historian states about the wounding of the Catholic Church in that hour of time. Here it is. This is the writings from a book by Joseph Rickaby. Following men of the Reformation, men like Luther, Calvin, and Knox, we come to the era of 1793. This is taken from the writings of the Catholic Truth Society of London, called the Modern Day Papacy. Modern day of course, meant at that time.

READING HISTORY

“In 1793 on November 26^th, a convention of seventeen bishops and some clergy which were members, made a decree to abolish all religion. (Keep in mind, in 1700 and something, you have to understand what had developed in Europe. The Reformation had wounded this religious system. Many people had come out. They made up the Protestant groups scattered all over Europe. This gave those clergymen a different feeling about the system.) This was under Napoleon Bonaparte. Then in the year 1797, Pope Pius VI fell grievously ill. Napoleon gave orders that in the event of his death no successor should be elected to his office, and that the papacy should be discontinued. (I want you to know, for men to make a statement like that back then, you have to understand how they viewed the societies of Europe after it had been affected by the Reformation, knowing prior to that how the power of the papacy had ruled all of this. Therefore for a man to make a statement like that, you have to realize he sees something that looks like it is dying and becoming a worthless system. Therefore it was his idea to discontinue the papacy.) But the pope recovered and the peace was soon broken. General Berthier entered Rome on the 10^th February 1798. (Here is where that wounded head, that has been wounded by the sword of the spirit, the word of God, the Reformation, now receives a military wound.) He removed the pope and proclaimed a republic. The aged pontiff refused to violate his oath of office and was hurried from prison to prison in France. Broken with fatigue and sorrows, he died on the 19^th of August 1799, in the French fortress o f Valence, at the age of 82. (Look how Europe reacts now.) No wonder that half of Europe thought that the papacy was dead by what Napoleon had done.” (What Napoleon had done was only to finish up what the men with the sword of the spirit had already accomplished.)

Another Catholic writer, Canon Trevor, says: “The papacy was dead (Does it not say in Revelation 13, when John saw this thing coming up for our day and hour, that it had a head that looked as though it had been wounded unto death, but its deadly wound was healed? I have to say, Where are the preachers of modern day prophecy getting their revelation? Much of what they are speaking of in future tense, has already taken place. They would have to admit it, if you pinned them down.) and among all the Roman Catholic powers, not a single finger was lifted in defense of it.” That is hwy to these preachers, I must sound like a naive, narrow minded fellow, but I base my teachings on what men, before I got here, had to say about it, not from these modern ones.

END OF READING

Before we leave this, let me say, This is how Daniel saw it go off in time, so this head has actually evolved into this. Therefore I want to explain how to understand these seven heads. The first portion of this prophecy of Daniel is to symbolize the power of the ancient caesars as they ruled from this city Rome. They ruled all over vast territories, both the Middle East as well as Europe. Keep in mind it is a city empire, just like ancient Babylon. That means it had a single head. Every caesar, from the beginning of caesars to the death of Nero, is represented in that one head and that head is not one of the seven heads on the beast later on. The seven heads materialized after the last element of the one big head left the scene. That of course was Nero. Then in order for this thing to go through these periods of political evolution, as the writer of this history that I referred to earlier brought out so beautifully, there had to be a weakening of the system of government. Through the ancient writings of men watching the imperial system begin to decay away, you are made to understand the imperial system which this one head symbolized, and see how Satan was behind that whole process. In order for all those horns to get their geographical identity, separate and apart from the caesar system of Rome, it required that something from inside the system begin to be weakened. When you take that and go to the histories that cover those periods, it goes to show how Satan’s governmental system began to be weakened. As that weakening came about through a process of time, here would come a man that would be able to stabilize it for a short period of time. That is why it went through that first period of time and there were the five different men that stabilized the thing enough that they could be looked upon as a head. That accounts for the first five of the seven heads the prophet saw on that old Roman beast. That is what John was told by the angel, as the angel was showing John how to interpret these seven heads. This is something else that is important. As I was reading from this Jewish writing, he said there is more than one city that has seven heads. I will have to say in return, there is only one city that is set on seven hills, that ever ruled all Europe. That is the important thing to consider. As this Satanic spirit begins to weaken in this original form, then we can see how it is able to regain its hold through that of another instrument. Between each evolutionary change was those horns, which were the territories of Gaul, coming at Rome with vast hordes of pagan soldiers. It took this onslaught of the various pagan peoples of Europe to keep harassing the government of Rome, because they had to destroy the power of Rome over all this territory. Therefore those heads are symbols of an era of time that the spirit of Rome wrestled with itself and the Roman senate. When they would reach a settled period, we would find a man at the head of it that is able to stabilize the government for a period of time. That man himself is what signifies in this prophecy that there has been another head added. When that head shows itself, that marks precisely in history a form of government of what he has had to do, in order to stabilize it. Nevertheless the spirit of it just kept diminishing all the time. I bring this out like this in order to show you those first five heads, and then show you how it went from five to the sixth, which was Constantine that followed many years later. Then when we go from Constantine to the seventh, which Charlemagne, his hour was many centuries later. I am not going to stand here and quote you a lot of history about Charlemagne, but he is the man that loved the pope and the Catholic Church. With the point of the sword and spear, he went through the pagan countries forcing every person to become a Christian. That is what they tried to do in Norway many years after Charlemagne’s hour. Where Bro. Strommen lives today, right there is where the mountain men of Norway were able to defeat the Catholic advancement: They killed the king of Norway and brought that to an end. When we come to Charlemagne’s hour, Charlemagne established the last form of Roman imperial government of its type that was ever able to hold any sway over all this vast territory. That is why Charlemagne, with the sword, was compelling the pagan nations to become Christians. If you can see what the seventh head was back then, then listen carefully to me as we go on. When he goes off the scene, between him and Otto, that form of Charlemagne’s government began to crumble. That does not mean there were no other emperors, but those that followed were not emperors that successfully exercised any authority. Their authority was constantly crumbling. When we come on over almost a hundred years later, we come to Otto. He was the man that is referred to in history as the pope maker. If you can see and understand the trick the devil is going to pull on people, here he has a temporal, political emperor, that envisions the pope’s position so great that he (the devil) causes him to crown the pope, instead of the pope crowning him as it had been prior to that. This gesture alone sets a trend that after Ottos’ hour, every emperor that was elected from that hour on had his limitations: He could not rise above the power of the papacy. I just got through reading about that very thing. The spirit that was once in the old imperial system, now has come in deceptively, using a man to set the trend to begin to exalt the office of the pope. Once that little horn begins to exalt itself, it is the pope who establishes Christian or religious government over political government. Now it is the same devil using a different appearance and dress, a different office, but all to his own advantage. That is why it is common sense, he who used to sit in the caesars throne, which was the devil incarnate, is not sitting in the popes throne, which again is the devil incarnate. That is just plain and simple. You have to deal with history to come to this understanding though. Time itself brought about seven major developments in the Roman political government, and that is what put seven heads on that old beast. One system of Roman government was decaying, and once it reached that seventh stage, then that spirit that comes up out of the bottomless put just ordained a turn around. Now it is no longer emperor over the church, but it is the pope and church over the emperors. This remains that way and this is how this head looked when we come to 1520. From 1520 to what I read about Napoleon, it took that long for the power of that ecclesiastical head to be wounded to the point it was, to try to destroy its hold over the European continent. It is very strange, you will not find a writer today that will write it in that fashion, or not very many. Back a few weeks ago, there was an article given to me that said more than most. I believe it was in Virginia, some authority in the Seventh Day Adventist Church wrote an article calling the Catholic Church the whore of Revelation 17, and the pope the antichrist. It brought a conflict between News media in Virginia. Some officials said it has been a long time since anyone has spoken out against the religion of the Catholic Church, and calling all others as though they were naive and fanatics. I thought then, Yes, the hour will be that you will call me one of them. I will say this, I do not approve or in any way agree with the Seventh Day Adventist’s teaching on the Sabbath, but they are like many other older foundations, they will still hold to the fact that the Catholic Church is the mother of harlots in Revelation 17 and that the papal office is the seat of the antichrist that is to come on the scene at the end of this age. You have to give them credit for that much, but that does not make them right in other things they teach. Anyhow if we can understand these heads, it was the seventh head that the Reformation hacked at, starting with Luther, Calvin and Knox; and while John Wesley was not of the European origin, he still came along and fought against and stringently contested the ecclesiastical Church of England, which was a sister to the Catholic system. That then shows you the sword of the spirit, but when Napoleon did what he did, this wounded the powers of the church so much that it then went into hiding. It was still a religious order, but she no longer interfered in the affairs of government. I have a tract here, which is about a monk. Not as you or I would think of it, but it is called Maria Monk. It is a nun of the Catholic Church in Montreal many years ago. After she had lived as a nun in the nunnery, which was not far from a certain Catholic cathedral, (This is back in 1833) they found out later that there was a tunnel between the cathedral and the nunnery. She told the story publicly. She was used by these priests who would come over there from the Cathedral, not passing on the streets but through the tunnel. They used her like a concubine. When she did come out publicly with her testimony, naturally the area of Montreal is predominantly Catholic, so she found it very difficult to make her testimony convincing to the Catholic society. The church in Montreal rose up and contested it and said she never was a nun, and that she did not know a thing about the interiors, yet she described it all very explicitly. It says here, that later on, some investigators went to check her testimony against the interior and found it to be just exactly as she had said it was. I just put this in here to say this, In former years, many times we have had nuns that have escaped, that have given their testimony of how they were treated by the priests. It went on years ago here in New Albany. (New Albany, Indiana) Have you notice, all of a sudden these individuals just shut up. Somebody tell me, when was the last time you heard the testimony of a nun or someone of that nature that knows all about the Catholic church, giving a public testimony? It has been several years now. What does that tell me? The Catholic Church has had to put up a lot of money and use a lot of political ties to shut up every voice. I have to say along with other things we have said, Shame on these preachers today that shut up likewise. They tell the public they are trying their best to win the world for Jesus, but the truth is, THEY ARE ONLY DECEIVING THE WORLD.

THE WOMAN WHORE OF REVELATION 17

Now we can go to Revelation 17 and finish taking a look at what the apostle John was shown in the vision. This head part, one of these heads which was the seventh one, is the same one the Reformation back here, succeeded in wounding as unto death, but had that thing been totally destroyed and never allowed to show itself again, there never would have been the rising of the thing in Revelation 13. It would have died just the way Daniel saw it in the 7^th chapter. Once it went down dead, it never would have risen again. This is why preachers in years gone by have said, Rome will be revived, and will be restored back to her position of authority. Now these modernists are saying, No it is not Rome literally: It is only certain characteristics of Rome: This is going to be a universal thing. That is why they take these ten horns and symbolize it by saying that under the one world government, the new world order, the world will be divided into ten territories, with ten rulers or governors over this thing, and that actually the antichrist will be the little horn that will come up against that. That is nothing but pure foolishness. I say that, because we all know the New World Order is something new. We are going to read this, and I remind you, as that head comes up here in our century, this is how we have to understand the prophecy. This is rising up just to fulfill a short era of time, which is basically the week of Daniel, but in order for it to be in a position to fulfill the week of Daniel, then all this that is on here has to be restored. It is showing the body, describing it, what it is, before it actually goes into position of authority through the week of Daniel. This is all associated with what we have been dealing with on the seven heads, and we are reading here, from the 17^th chapter of Revelation, in order to show you that this New World Order is a decoy, and only modern mankind void of revelation will accept it. We are starting with verse 7, “And the angel said unto me, (the apostle John) Wherefore didst thou marvel? (meaning he took a meaningful look at this woman which the angel has already identified as a whore. I ask you at this time, Since this is for our day, who is this woman? It is none other than the revived Roman Catholic Church, how she has out rode all other governments, systems of royalty and such. She is the oldest system there is on the face of the earth today. As he saw her dressed like she was, the angel said, wherefore didst thou marvel? Then he said this.) I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.” As we read this, I want all of you to take a good look at it, because you and I are looking right straight at it today. Are we not looking at Europe, a territory of ten nations bound together, restored back into a geographical working, functioning system of combined unity. We brought in how the lamb beast helped restore it for this last day episode. We see how also as she has risen, being an economic monetary system for trade, how that certain areas of the world, and Greece is one of them, causes people to ask questions. The minute Greece joined the European Common Market, people began to say, I thought there was only supposed to be ten: Now there are twelve. I am going to try to explain something that is very simply understood. The horns that came out of the head were geographically Europe. That points to Europe alone, but since Europe is being restored back into a powerful economic industrial area of the world, she has become the number one competitor. That means that areas of the old world are eventually having to align themselves with some source of industry for economic reasons. It was Russia competing for a period of time, but Russia is no longer in that. We just saw the other night, some interesting news. It shows in Russia how some of the men that are working with scientific research for launching rockets have not been paid for three months. Then they shows some things going on in the agricultural realm. It showed where some of those people on communal farms had not been paid for a long period of time. It is the same in their colleges that are teaching science: They have not been paid for so long that in the education portion there is unrest. What does this tell you? Russia, economically, is in an unstable position. That is all because God allowed that system to suddenly be struck, to bring it to its end. This forces this part of the world, the Middle East, Greece, Turkey and all that, to eventually turn their attention elsewhere for trade. That is why Greece joined the Common Market Community of Europe. If and whenever they do get the Bosnia situation in hand, which was Yugoslavia being broken up, if, and whenever they do, that area will have to align itself with some other power source that can give them trade. Do you know what that does? That only begins to unite portions of this Middle East with this. Whether you understand it or not, all of that over here is what this body is made up of. The ancient territories of the Grecian Empire, which was the leopard, the feet of the bear, the Medes and Persians, so as this thing is slowly coming together, geographically, economically, you can see exactly what is happening. That does not make those other nations part of the body that is being made up as this thing is being restored. Now let us take a look at the power of the Catholic Church. When I said earlier, Look what Gorbachev did: He came to the pope of Rome. There are a lot of things that went on, that I do not know anything ab out, but I will say this much, The world has yet to see the power that this last day pope, whenever he comes on the scene, will have. That devilish man, what God will allow him to execute and do once he comes on the scene, will stagger your imagination. With this in mind, this is why the angel told John, “The beast that thou sawest was.” You do not have to go to college to learn how to understand such a simple English word. WAS, is past tense. That goes to show that is what it was, right here, when the Reformation struck it, was the beast with seven heads. It was Rome from beginning to end. Then he said, concerning this beast that WAS. “And is not.” How do we read that? That is what the Reformation did to it. We have come four hundred and some years since that head, that power of that ecclesiastical church was not the dominating factor of this scene. Look what has happened since that head was wounded. You have to go back tot he beginning of the Reformation, 1520. The new world has been discovered. Two new continents have been completely populated. Look what is going on in the world today. When we see this, how the world has passed through an era of time when the church of Rome was not in full authority, so just pay attention to what it says here. “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; (That meant, right now, as John was being shown this, it is not, but notice what it says following that.) and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit.” Now we all know, no human being comes out of the bottomless pit. No living, mortal person comes out of the bottomless pit. What is this that is coming out of the bottomless pit then? It is the spirit of Satan that left that seventh head when the Reformation struck it and made it look like it was going to die. The spirit does not die, it only goes back to its origin. It went back to the bottomless pit, which is hell, knowing when it went there, that one day, a hundred years, two hundred years, three, or whenever, his time would come again. Hundreds of years have com and gone, and look what has happened: This modern generation of brain washed people have forgotten about God: They do not want to believe in God. Those that do, want to accept some modern, philosophical teaching about prophecy, rather than take it literally. I cannot help but notice, in the last so many years, the importance the popes play in modern day politics around the world. There was a time we did not have an ambassador from America to the Vatican. I think it was under President Johnson, that an ambassador was appointed to the Vatican. All these little incidentals are showing you that this spirit is slowly beginning to rise. As this country was used to rebuild Europe, Satan knew the hour would be, when he would be allowed to come right back out of that bottomless pit and incarnate himself in that restored system of Europe. Yes saints, he comes up out of the bottomless pit and takes up right where he was before, but the end of it is, he goes into perdition. Notice the complete verse. (Rev 17:8) “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, (Then what?) 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.” Only the true bride saints will understand what is going on. They will know that set up is just for a short duration of time. The next time this thing is hit, it is going to be eternal judgment. This is why as he comes up out of the waters and is fully restored, that seventh head is going to be given that life back for a short period. You read about it in the 13^th chapter of Revelation. When it says in the 13^th chapter, that deadly wound was healed, it also says that in this head was a mouth speaking great things. The same mouth that was here in the horn, now is in the head. I have to say, It is the same instrument, the same agent. It is all motivated and brought about by the spirit of antichrist in the horn, which is a symbol of power. There were many antichrists, but they were not THE antichrist. In this head, when it is restored, there is where the antichrist will sit, and there is a short period of time given to him, forty two months to be exact. That means he will exercise himself just exactly like he did over here before the head was wounded. We know this, The system will be alive, and there will be seven years appointed to it. That is why in Daniel 9:27, that prince, which is absolutely that man that speaks evil things, will make a covenant with many for one week. (A week of years) Now here is the way modern preachers are preaching the antichrist. They are saying this covenant that the antichrist will make with Israel for one week will be like this: The antichrist will give Israel permission to rebuild their temple. That is not so. If you paid attention to everything when we dealt with the countdown message, you know Israel will be building their temple long before that, because until Israel is given the opportunity to knock the socks off the Arab world, Saudi Arabia is not going to contribute one dime toward that project. Do not let any modern preacher tell you that the antichrist is going to come along one day and say, Now Israel, we know you want a temple so we will allow you to build your temple, just sign your little name right here on the dotted line and then I will tell Saudi Arabia to be sure to contribute their little part, and also the Bedouin Arabs in Jordan to be sure to bring their contributions. What a laugh. What a carnal picture. Imagine the antichrist being able to tell those people to fulfill their lot. I have to say, When the hour finally comes, that god turns Israel loose, it is going to shock this world. I have a report that came off the internet this morning, saying, Netanyahu of Israel has told Arafat, Don’t proclaim a Palestinian state at all. He had made a speech in France just a few days ago when he was asked, When are you going to proclaim yourself a Palestinian state? He said, We will do it within two years. Then when he got back home, Netanyahu said, Don’t you do it at all. All of these things tell you, that somewhere in the near future, and I cannot help but believe it will be very soon, God is going to startle this world by what He turns Israel loose to do. You can be sure of this one thing though, as we see this spirit come up out of the bottomless pit, it is not the spirit of Satan coming up in a New World Order, to build this into a new world government, and then divide all the global territories into ten separate states, making them horns. No saints, that spirit is waiting to come right back up in that restored system of old Europe.

RESTORATION OF SOMETHING OLD

Let us read the rest of verse 8, in Revelation 17, again. The end of the restoration of this thing we have been looking at, is, that it goes into perdition. “And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, (Some of these preachers are going to be startled when the very thing they have ignored and refused to look at, comes alive one of these days, right before their eyes.) whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, (Here, it is, but notice how it reads) and is not, and yet it is.” Here, it is coming up. That it is for this last day fulfillment. “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” The interpretation is two fold. Geographically, that gives you Rome. Do not try to take it anywhere else. “And there are seven kings.” This means there are seven separate kingdoms of politics, that is really what it is talking about. If you study the history of Rome, she had many rulers, but through the period of time that she did, there were certain rulers that stood out so vividly in their period as to be counted as a head on that beast. They are the ones that established a system of government that resembled that of the old caesars. I realize, that if these preachers of today are not going to look at history, they have to put all this in the future, and that is sad, because true saints of God already see the picture. I see it. No one has to explain it to me. Some people say, How did you know that Bro. Jackson? I have read history, I looked at church history, I looked for some kind of clue that would let me know what those seven heads were? The Seventh Day Adventists teach that it is territorial. I just could not accept that. One day, while sitting on my tractor, getting ready to plant corn, having read and read and read this, there was something going over and over in my mind, these seven heads are seven periods of ancient government that the Roman imperial system went through. I could hardly wait to get off my tractor that evening so I could sit down and start reading the history. I have to say, Thank God! He gave me a history book that cleared up the whole thing. It is not a Bible, but I thank God for historians who will write things that correlate with Bible prophecy. Now, when I read, Five are fallen, I know what that pertains to: That is the five good emperors that ruled from 96 A.D. to 180 A.D. They covered the second century. How many know that during the second century, one of the greatest blood baths of Christians took place throughout the old world, in the Roman period. That is why you see that red horse when Bro. William Branham taught the seals. Death followed that red horse rider. Not a one of these modern preachers will accept what Bro. William Branham taught on that. They are just like Billy Graham: They want to put these four horse riders on out in the future somewhere. I want you to realize that three of those horse riders have already finished their ride: They have already fulfilled their purpose; and we are living in the hour when the fourth one is riding, the gray horse rider, that counterfeit is still riding. HE is galloping right on through this last hour of time, carrying his message of universal unity between the Catholic mother system and that of the Protestants. So, as we look at this scripture. Five are fallen, and one is. That is pointing directly to Constantine. He is the man that introduced Christianity to the Roman state for courtship. The other is not yet come. Charlemagne was that one. “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, (The eighth, is Satan incarnate in that papal office.) and goeth into perdition.” (We must realize it is the spirit of Satan in the caesars, and now he is coming up to establish this takeover. He is the eighth, (the papal head) and is of the seven. That is what Otto the Great did. He is the eighth, and is of the seven, and the end of it is, That spirit goes into perdition. The part I like, when this thing was in the early days of its rising, no one could see or understand what it all meant. But it is all right here, and you and I are actually looking right at the thing, and we are now able to see how that spirit has been working its way out of hell. As the body of this thing, geographically begins to take its position, soon the spirit of Satan will enter that thing and for a little short time that beast is going to absolutely act just like it did before that head was wounded. As we prepare to close this part out, let us look again at verse 12. “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.” It goes to show up until this hour of time the ten horns have always been in disarray, warring with one another, but when the hour comes for it to play its last day rule, then they stop warring among themselves as a complete geographical area in full cooperation, to the power of the antichrist. Let us go back to the 13^th chapter for just a moment. As John saw it rising out of the sea he said, “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; (That is the ancient wound the Reformation inflicted as well as what Napoleon did.) and his deadly wound was healed: (Time brought about the healing.) and all the world (the ancient prophetic world) wondered after the beast. And they (the people) worshiped the dragon (which is the devil) which gave power (or life) unto the beast: the beast which has been revived) and they worshiped the beast.” Take for instance, if Bill Clinton had been running for president one hundred years ago, very few would have voted for a man like that. Common sense would tell you he does not portray the image one has the right to expect from the man they would elect as their President, but when you get a society in America that all they are looking for is an era of monetary prosperity, thinking of nothing but the dollar, they go for a man like him. This modern society in the world today is not looking for the coming of Jesus Christ. They are looking for some super man to come on the scene, a man (or maybe a woman) that will promise them all kinds of diamonds, rubies, pearls and beautiful clothing, nice houses and beautiful cars, plenty to eat, and no restraints on morality. That is just about what they have. In a continent that has food running over the top of the baskets, now the government says you have to put all these stipulations on there, no fat here, no fat there, but cross the water to a place like Zaire or Rwanda, and they are not interested in whether it has fat or no fat. They are hungry people. What a mixed up, confused world we live in. It is simply a picture of end time conditions. Well the world wondered (prophetically speaking) after this thing. They were taken in, awed, and filled with admiration. (John was looking at what is just ahead of where we are right now.) If they will vote for a man like Bill Clinton, a man that promises to build them a bridge to the 21^st century, then you can see how the modern world will go for a system like we see coming into focus. “And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? 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.” That is not a new month, but the same old month he had here, before the Reformation wounded that head as unto death. It all goes to show: Here it is a horn, here it is a head, and the spirit of the whole thing makes up the modern beast, with Rome, the “imperial city,” being the center of attraction. “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints.” Naturally that is looking toward the great tribulation, and the saints that do not go in the rapture, both Gentile and Jew that are left here to face that terrible hour of time while the Bride Church is at the wedding supper. “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” That is what the modern world is getting ready to do, because listening to all these modern preachers is getting them set up for it. I hope you can see, by what has been put together, how we must look at this thing. Conditions are just about ready for it to spring into action. Just a little more time, and then she is going to go to work. According to the countdown, I have to believe we do not have many more years to go. I am thankful to God. When I look out over this little crowd here, I say to myself, In the eyes of the public, we are bound to look very small, but in the eyes of God we are a special people. Why do I say that? Because we are a people that believe His word the way He meant for the Bride Saints to believe it. It is not because we merit it, but because of His grace and mercy, and because He saw us like this before the foundation of the world. I believe the day will come when this little body of people is going to be known far and wide as a people very set apart from the liberal, “professing Christians” of the world. Somewhere out in the world, and I am not talking about the man that rides on the back of the garbage truck: I am talking about some of those in high places: When this thing begins to really zero in, and things begin to close down, and it becomes evident that the end is not going to be the way these modern preachers have said, there will no doubt be some people begin to investigate more earnestly what we have stood for through the years. I have said all this to try to help you. You do not have to understand it all immediately, but do not just carelessly reject it. I know it is impossible for you to grasp all of it at the same moment it is presented to you, but in your free time, when you are thinking about all of this, just reminisce on these things and let the Spirit of God have control of your thinking. I promise you, the picture will come to you. If one day somebody asks you about certain things, God will not just let you stand there dumbfounded, if your desire is to know the truth. When they ask you about something, you will have something down in your soul that you will be able to say, and it will be something that will confound the gainsayers. I am not going out here and publicly challenge these men who are teaching this antichrist version of these scriptures, but if any of them ever correspond with me and say, Bro. Jackson, how can you do this and that? I will just say to them, Where do you want to meet me? Bring your Bible and we will see what the Lord will do. I have a letter at home I have not answered yet. It has been my prayer, that when we put out a Contender on any subject, that we have been able to answer and put together a framework of scriptures that will give the believer, the one that seriously reads it, a picture of what we are talking about. In one of the Contenders we put out this year, in which we spoke of prophetic time and solar time, a certain man wondered about it, so I received a letter from him, in which he spoke of how much he enjoys what he reads in our papers, but that he has some questions he must ask. He said, I ask you to please correspond, and let me know what formula you used in order to arrive at the results you gave? What did you use to determine what is prophetic time and what is solar time? I cannot take the time now, to answer those kinds of questions, but they are answered in other messages we have put out. I realize, that in some of the countries of the world they have limited access to sources of information, but if they could get the Contenders that have dealt with those areas of prophecy, they would see the formula we used. You cannot read just one Contender and say that is it, because we might bring out certain details in one Contender, which we are not dealing with so much in other aspects of it. However, in those Contenders that are dealing with prophecy, somewhere it touches the whole scope of all of it. I just have to say, Lord, I am not responsible to try to explain myself into a corner, just for the sake of one person that writes a letter like this. I thank God often, for the way He has supplied me with what I needed through the years of my ministry. I have never bought a history book in my life. All of those I use, have all been given to me. I know from now until the end, if there is something God wants me to see, someone, somewhere will come along and drop it into my hands. That is a lot better than having to go to some college or seminary somewhere and waste years studying theories. May God bless everyone of you who love the true revelation of His word, and may He continue to supply. Amen.