OUR MAY ISSUE ENDED WITH BRO. JACKSON SPEAKING OF THE DENOMINATIONS THAT WERE FORMED FROM THE TRUTH GOD HAD REVEALED TO THE MEN WHO WERE USED OF GOD IN THE REFORMATION, AND HOW THEY HAD JUST RESTED ON THAT ONE PARTICULAR REVEALED TRUTH AND NEVER MOVED ON WITH GOD BEYOND THAT, SO WE WILL INSERT THE LAST FEW LINES OF OUR LAST ISSUE, TO PICK UP THE THOUGHT AND CONTINUE ON.

As I have said before, The truth each one of the denominations started with was beneficial for the first few decades, to get the spiritual ones out of Catholicism, but after we come into this twentieth century and the message of the hour came, (which was to give people an opportunity to come to the truth the Bride must have.) we have seen these denominational systems began to die. That is because they chose to try to exist on stale bread, rather than feast on the fresh meat of the word of God. They have just slid back and a lot went back into the world, mainly because they held to many of the same teachings their founders came out of, the old spiritual whore of Revelation 17. That is why you cannot teach them anything. (Revelation 17:6) “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, (It goes to show, that back in the ages prior to this, she had been the one that had condemned thousands upon thousands of Holy Ghost people to death.) and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” The angel saw how John looked at the scene, and how he seemed to admire that beautiful woman. I want to use my own way of describing this so I will say, If she was admired by world dictators, she must have looked like a twentieth century night club celebrity. You have seen pictures of them, how they have on a long gown with the breasts half showing and the back is bare and a slit in the skirt so the leg can be seen. Look how beautiful she looks in the eyes of the world, stripped down like this: she is a night club celebrity. She was made to look like what the world would go after. That is why she is described like that. It is the angel that tells John who she really is, so I am going to ask you, In what period of time would the angel be pointing John to? No saints, do not look back on earth in 96 A.D., because John is up here in the spirit and the angel is escorting him through time in a process of allowing him to view the development of prophecy being fulfilled; and there is no other prophecy in the Bible written like the book of Revelation. It is written like this strictly for the end time Bride of Christ to understand. The angel said to John, Come here John, “I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.” At that time, the beast has already had seven heads and ten horns; and now the angel is going to start describing the beast. He starts out, “The beast that thou sawest (that puts it in the past tense) was (past tense) and is not; (That put it in a period of time when it was not yet restored back to its original state. How many of you realize that? The angel is escorting him through time to explain this scene. I want to say this, You hear many preachers talking about the United Nations, that it is this beast. No, it is not this beast! It never was, because it did not have its origin in Rome: Its origination was in New York City, in the United States of America, by a bunch of politicians back sixty some years ago. We are the nation, or the goose that laid that egg. We somehow got all these other nations to join it. Now, through that system, has come a diabolic, dictatorial spirit that would like to control every major nation within its domain. I have to say, Somewhere in front of us God is going to hit that thing with a death stroke, because that thing cannot be allowed to take the place of the beast in these scriptures. The beast that we look for in this day and hour is not something that just originated sixty years ago: This beast in these scriptures, is a beast that was, somewhere back in time, but it was injured as unto death, so that it was not, for a time, but its deadly wound was healed and it is back in business, ready for its last day role in the windup of this age of time. Do not tell me the United Nations is the beast of Revelation 12 and 17. It is not. The beast that was, and yet there was a period of time that it was not, could not possibly be the United Nations. Well what was that period of time referring to, when the beast was not? The time of the Reformation. When those different men exposed that old Roman Catholic system of religion, that beast was wounded as unto death, but now, we are living in a time when it has been healed and the spirit of it is just as diabolical as it was before the Reformation struck it that death blow.) and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, (meaning when the head of that papacy was wounded, then that dictatorial, dominating, powerful spirit of Satan that used that little horn in that system went off the scene, back down into hell. It made it look to the world like that beast was no longer alive. That is why the beast remained more or less lifeless for many years. It was, then it was not, and yet it is, potentially it is going to be the same thing as it was before. That is why the angel described it like that to John.) and go into perdition: (That is the end of it, over here when the Lord comes. That beast and all the kings of the nations of the earth will be assembled together to make war against Him (Jesus) that sits on the white horse. Jesus will absolutely bind the spirit of that thing and cast that spirit into the lake of fire. He kills the physical side, but the spirit of it goes into the lake of fire.) 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. (That means, in the period of time when it does come back into existence to play its last day role. Now the angel explains the thing for the mind that has wisdom.) And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. (That is number one. You and I know that woman is Roman Catholicism, so I ask you, Where is her seat of authority? It is in Rome. Her capital is not in Paris or Berlin: It is in Rome. That is why she was able to come up during the power of the ancient caesars and gradually work to get the system changed. Notice now, as the angel is describing to John the seven heads, that there are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth. Naturally that has a two fold meaning. (verse 10.) And there are seven kings: (Now he is not just talking about mountains: he is also talking about kings. I have read in history, that from the death of Nero which occurred in 69 A.D., there were many men that sat in the imperial palace and were looked upon as emperor, caesar, this and that, but keep in mind, that not all of those men played the important prophetic role that some certain ones did. Some were just transitional men that never did establish any kind of stand out kind of rulership that would cause them to be numbered among the certain seven of this prophecy. I will explain what I mean by transitional. They filled a gap, a span of time, which linked time together with the ending of one notable rule and the beginning of the next. There were many different ones like that at various times

EXPLAINING THE SEVEN HEADS OF THE BEAST

Constantine made Christianity and official religion of the Roman Empire

Those emperors who filled the gap (as I referred to it) were not themselves considered as all that important. I am going to read this part; and then I am going to show you from the Bible what we are dealing with. There are seven kings, which the angel is giving John a description of.) five are fallen (That puts the five in the past as the angel is standing over here looking down at time past, so five are already fallen.) and one is, (Now the angel is pointing to the time of Constantine. He is the one that we talked about last Sunday, that had the vision he thought was from the Lord. He was going out to engage in battle with some of those of certain territories that were trying to break away from Roman rule. He saw the sign of the cross in the sky and took it that the God of the Christians was telling him, If you will accept the sign of the cross and put it on the shields of your soldiers, they will be conquerors and be victorious. Constantine was the sixth head. I have had men to say, Well Bro. Jackson, there were other kings before Constantine. Yes there were, but you are not listening to what I am saying, or you would not make a statement like that. If you would read the history between the time that the five are fallen and Constantine, it says the Roman Empire fell into decline. It just went tumbling, nothing but upheaval and political chaos. Constantine was a man that was able to take over the reigns and regain stability. Please, some people go to school, but they just read words and come out with an F, because they did not see anything. When I read history, I read it for what it says. I read every word to see how it fits into the future. So do not think I am trying to put something over on you: I am not. I am going to show you from this Bible and from this written history, how they coincide exactly, and how we are living in the day that the history written back then, was pointing to, because the Bible shows it coming back. And one is, that is Constantine.) and the other is not yet come; (He is talking about a head, another king. Isn’t he?) and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, (Now when he is talking about a beast, not a king or head, do you think he was talking about a physical thing? No brothers and sisters, He is talking about the spirit that will make the beast be what it is destined to be. The beast that was, so it at one time was.) and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” The going into perdition takes place at the coming of Christ. Now I have to say, John was standing over here where you and I are in time. The spirit of the Lord has inspired the angel to tell John, This is the way to look at this thing. Now if you will bear with me brothers and sisters, I want to show you from this history, which was written back in 1917, how to look at all of this, and let me say, They do not even use it in our schools any more. Let me read to you what this writer wrote. (Editors note: This is from Early European History, by Hutton Webster, 1917, p. 198)

“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 the temples and the public buildings, the fire was a blessing in disguise. After the death of Nero in 69 A.D. the dynasty that traced its descent from Julius and Augustus, became extinct. (Meaning there were no more kindred caesars, uncles, nephews, father to son, and so forth. That is what we must realize, in order to understand this.) There was no one who could legally claim the vacant throne. The senate, which in theory had the appointment of a successor, was to weak to exercise its powers. The imperial guard and the legions on the frontiers placed their own candidates in the field. The Roman world fell into anarchy and became once more the seat of civil war. The throne was finally seized by the able general, Flavus Vespasian.” He was the one engaged in tearing down the city of Jerusalem and conquering the Jews in 69 A.D. To continue on, I will now go to the book of Josephus the Jewish historian. He had fought the Romans in the early period, but when he began to realize it was a lost cause, he began to meditate on how he would get out of the situation he was in. When the day came that Flavus Vespasian broke through the outer walls and was penetrating the city, the Jewish historian Josephus, decided to surrender to him. Before he was able to surrender, God inspired him with a prophecy for Vespasian. (It is written in his writings.) As he came out of his quarters and approached the Roman general, he said these words to him, Oh Vespasian, knowest thou not that this day thou shalt be emperor in Rome? Vespasian thought he was trying to flatter him, but in a short order of time a messenger came with a message from the Roman senate, telling Vespasian to return to Rome and take the throne of the emperor, because Nero is dead and there is no kindred to take his place, so you are to take over the throne. From then on, Josephus, when he was captured and taken by the Romans, was given freedom and recognition in Rome. That is how he was able to write his entire history like he did. When we leave Vespasian’s hour, at his death, then his son Titus took over the throne. From Titus, it passed on to Domitian, another son of Vespasian. Then after his hour, after his death, we come on over to the year 180 A.D.. Where it says in the book of Revelation, that five are fallen, we must ask, Who was the angel pointing to? What did he mean? He was not talking about Nero. He was not talking about Vespasian, he was not talking about Titus, nor Domitian. It is the men that came on and took the position. They are referred to in history as the five good emperors. Those five rulers were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. It comes down through here and tells you of all from the natural or carnal side, what they did. It called them the good emperors. They built schools, and they built big arenas of entertainment. They did their best to try to pull the Roman Empire together. When the last one of them died, the Roman Empire fell into chaos again. I am hoping you will understand, as I read here where the angel is saying five are fallen, because that is when the five good emperors had all ruled in their particular period of time and passed from the scene. When the last one of them died, the Roman Empire fell into chaos again. As it did, there was nothing but political upheavals all the while. Then we come on over to Constantine’s hour as we look at all of this. I am sure there are some out there listening to what I am saying, that probably think I am just rattling my mouth. Well I am not, because I am giving you history that can back up everything I am saying 100 percent. It just carries right straight on through.To some, it might seem like too much time is being spent on this third seal, but remember, the beast of Revelation 13 and17, came about during this period. That is why, when we come into the era that we are now living, the time when that fourth seal, the pale (gray) horse rider is right now running in the religious world, it does not change what the scripture says about this beast that did rule the world, the old world, the European part of the world. I want to go into this tonight, in a way that will clear up your understanding, if you are not clear already. I know I read to you from the history and that nails it down, but some do not catch the picture as quick as others do, so I want to cover it thoroughly. Actually the angel was showing John just what would come about as this beast fulfills its end time role. There are some people that would say, Bro. Jackson, you talk like you know this is exactly how it is. Well saints, it is as clear to me as it needs to be, but I have read other writings of men that wrote about this beast back there before the turn of the century; and I know they did not have the revelation we have today, so naturally they were not able to fill in all the blanks like we can today. That is the part I want to try, by the grace of God, to show you in this message. When the time would come that the people that are to be the end time, living generation to make up the Bride, they have got to know what it did take to make this beast come about, and the time involved in the process. Otherwise it is just like a lot of people out in denominations today, especially those that do not even care one way or the other. I have to say, That is a very sad picture. When people get to the point they do not care about these things I just have to ask, Do they really have salvation, or do they just have religion? I think we all know the answer to that question; and I am thankful to God, that He has given me something that I can call genuine salvation. I want to esteem every brother and sister in that light and leave their destiny in the hands of a just and true God. As for the revelation of these prophetic scriptures, other men’s writings before this time ever came about, actually referred to these seven heads, as kingdom heads, like Egypt, Syria, Babylon, coming on along that line of thought, but when you read the writings of Daniel, of the three beasts that preceded the Roman beast, there are outstanding things about the bodies of each one that actually signified or identified the kings, which were within the realm of that empire. Therefore if those things were true from history’s standpoint, when we come to this Roman beast, when it comes up out of the water, it is only seen as one gigantic head, but it has iron teeth that devoured and brake in pieces.

(Notice Dan 7:7) “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.” That goes to show it was the power of the old Roman imperial government, that brought it on the scene, and nothing could stand before it, no race of people, no kingdom prior to it. But then through time, what was once just one head, began to break up and began to be established with the identity of seven heads. Yet in Revelation 17, it speaks as the angel is giving John the interpretation of it, he is actually explaining to John over here, because over here that beast had already come into existence and played its part in history, then the Reformation wounded it, but then as it is restored, and it will be restored with exactly the same likeness and characteristics as before. When we read in Revelation 17, five are fallen, one is, one is not yet come, which we know would be the seventh, when he comes he continues a little space, then he said in the 17^th chapter, And the beast, notice now, that was, because he is standing over here after it has already fulfilled itself through history. The beast that was, where will it come from? Out of the bottomless pit. No man comes out of the bottomless pit: Only a spirit does that, so it is the spirit of Satan that comes out of the bottomless pit again and enters into the eighth head, which is of the seventh head. No, you do not put eight heads on the beast? How many realize that? The angel is having to tell John this much, but you have to read in history, to learn how this eighth head, made it different in comparison to the other seven heads. My little history here, breaks it all down into the time frame. Tonight, to show you this time frame, here we are already past the year 2000, so I want to go back in history and show you how the time from Nero’s death onward, all of the identities began to change. Nero passed off the scene in 69 A.D.; and Vespasian, the Roman general, is called back to Rome to occupy the throne position. From 69 A.D. to 96 A.D. you have what is called the Flavin caesars. That is Vespasian and his two sons. They covered the period of time from 69 to 96 A.D. Where does 96 A.D. put you? It puts you on the Isle of Patmos right at the time John was told to write what he saw. (Rev 1:10) “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Rev. 1:11, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. (Rev. 1:12) And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; (Rev. 1:13) And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” That is when this letter of Revelation was started. Is it not amazing, how history backs that up? Now I want to show you, how after the death of these Flavin caesars, we come to where we start with the year 96 A.D., right when John is on the Isle of Patmos. We can say, John was still alive when the first one of these five good emperors came up to take the throne. I read their names this morning. They covered the period of time from 96 to 180 A.D.; and their names were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. They are referred to from the history standpoint, as the five good emperors. That is because they had established again a form of government that seemed to hold the empire in its proper state. They were men that led the society in building roads and various other things as well as arenas of entertainment where many were put to death. All of this was done under the reign of those five men. They were building the Roman system back again, that they might gain the confidence of the people. Each one, after the other, ruled in succession. They established a co-existence for a period of time when there was comparative peace. The Roman Empire was not trying to crumble or break up during the reign of those men. That is why history calls them the five good emperors. In the prophecy though, they are the five that are fallen, putting it in the past tense.

THE EMPIRE AFTER THE FIVE ARE FALLEN

I will now read to you what happened after the five good emperors fell. The five good emperors, which are the five heads that are fallen, covered a span of time from 96 to 180 A.D. Then when we leave 180, we cover a period of time to 284, when again the Roman government, the empire, entered into a troubled period that eventually led up to the time of Constantine. This covers a period of time from 180 that actually stretched out to 305A.D. In that period of time, the empire, or the imperial government was actually very weak because man after man, always a soldier emperor that was put on the throne, but never able to establish anything of significance in the way of a stabilized government. It says right in here, that during that troubled period many of those soldier emperors would only reign a few days and then be assassinated, or for some reason they might just resign. One of them wrote, and it is recorded right in here, One does not know the terrible feeling that goes on, being elevated to be an emperor, only to face being assassinated or dethroned, or something like that. That went on through to the period of time that we begin to reach the Constantine hour. It was Constantine, as he began to come on, (and he too was a soldier), but he was a man that seemed to have a different insight on how to go about establishing and stabilizing a form of government. When he does, he finds himself fighting some of the frontier people that were trying to break away. I have another history that tells the experiences he had. I have already quoted some of that to you. As he was heading to that eastern frontier, late in the day he went out to meditate. He was a pagan, but as he looked up into the sky all of a sudden a vision came to him. He saw the sign of the cross and heard a voice say, by this thou shalt conquer, by this thou shalt overcome. Having been a pagan all his life, he took it for granted that it was the God of the Christians telling him, if he would use the symbol of the cross, that he would succeed. The next morning he gathered all his officers and told them about this experience. Then he tells the troops. They all willingly accepted the idea of painting the cross on their shields. Sure enough, Constantine went into battle and conquered the frontier elements that were trying to break away. He had them back under the supreme imperial government of Rome. As he returned to Rome, he is thinking much about the Christian people. It did not happen the next day, but over a period of weeks and months as he thought about this, he took for granted, that the God of the Christians was with him. Therefore he made a decree, that from then on the Christian faith would no longer be persecuted as it had been by the imperial system up until his hour. He made a decree that the Christian faith would have equal rights along with the other religions of the Roman Empire. When he did this, there are other historical writers that will tell you, all because the Christian religion was a growing thing and to them it looked like the Christian faith was going to outgrow everything else, many of the officers came willingly and confessed that they wanted to belong to this group. Therefore because of his ability and willingness to build up the image of his office by his achievements, Constantine became the sixth head of the old Roman imperial system. How many understand it now? He established a consistent period improvement and consistency. After the last of the five, there was that long period of nothing but upheaval, breaking away, and everything like that. Establishing a consistency in the imperial authority of Rome lifted him to a place those before him failed to achieve. Because of him, the Roman Christians and the whole Roman Empire began to have a freedom they had not had. Actuality, whether you realize it or not this was the devil’s way of taking a carnal man, giving him a vision, and Christendom was introduced to the entire political state for recognition, which gave him (the devil) the leverage he wanted. Under this sixth regime (head) the Christian faith began to grow more rapidly. After the death of Constantine, the imperial government, as other men came to sit on the emperor’s seat, again returned to a state of chaos, because those who followed him seemed to be men without a vision to know what to do. Soon the territory began to go into a rebellious state once again. From the time of Constantine, which marks the sixth head, the head which introduced Christendom to the pagan, Roman state for courtship, you find another great span of time when there was nothing but trouble. He was the sixth head, but from his death all the way to 800 A.D., which was better than three hundred and some years, the imperial government of Rome descended into nothing but political chaos. Territories began to break away once again. Therefore by the time we do come to the eighth century in our study, we are going to find that the introduction of the seventh head has already occurred when a man by the name Charlemagne ascended to the old throne.

THE SEVENTH HEAD OF THE OLD BEAST

Charlemagne was crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III

How did Charlemagne become the seventh head on that old Roman beast? Because he was a man that stood out from all those just prior to him. He was not a Roman though: he was a German man by the name Charlemagne. He was also called “Charles the Great.” He was the founder of the first great empire after the fall of Rome. He established what became the center of a cultural rebirth in Europe. As he realized the condition of the imperial government of Rome over the vast territory, Charlemagne saw that Christendom was growing throughout the vast territories, even though the leadership of those areas was breaking away from the imperial system of Rome. This caused Charlemagne to have a vision. This was in 800 A.D.. As Charlemagne saw the opportunity, or realized what the people were after, Charlemagne took the sword, and with that sword, from Italy to the northern regions of Europe, the Roman army under his leadership, made every citizen of the entire Roman territory of Europe, become a believer in Christianity. If they did not, they died by the hands of his army. That is why I said last Sunday, that conflict that he started way down in Europe, kept growing and growing until it reached all the way into areas of Norway. It came to its end there in a certain territory of Norway. During that time though, all of Europe was brought under the sway of the Catholic faith. Charlemagne was now the seventh head, because he took the leadership at a time when the leadership from the Constantine hour had become so weak, and the Christian faith throughout all the vast areas of Europe was growing and growing and growing. We come to a time that Charlemagne has established a consistency, and has made everybody in the Roman area become a believer. After his death, again the governmental side, not the social side, began to go into chaos, while the people were being held together by the religious faith they had. Now imagine where that puts the pope. I ask you, Suppose we had a religious man in America that the American society thought more of for his advice, than they do that of President Bush. Who do you think the American people would look to? It just makes common sense that they would look to the one they trusted the most, does it not? Charlemagne was the man that made the Christian faith accepted by everybody, so he was the one that ended the courtship side and now the Christian faith has become married to the political side of the Roman empire. All are Catholics, but you still have that weakened element of the emperor sitting in his place. The pope, as a man would, just kept on exalting himself. From Charlemagne’s hour, which was the time of the seventh head, I want to show you from the scriptures how that eighth head came along and got into the picture. Keep in mind though, the eighth head does not put eight heads on the beast, because the eighth is a spiritual head, an ecclesiastical head; and the seven are political heads, so we can say church government, under the control of the bishop of the church, takes over the last form of old imperial government, which has become weakened through centuries of decay, in the political sense. Do you understand my point? After Charlemagne’s death, though he had established a consistency, things began to get shaky again. We now come to the man that was the final instrument in causing that eighth head to become what it did. The spirit that had been working from that papal office all along, was finally successful working through this man in a marriage between church and state. Here, in this book, is the man. It tells about him, Otto the Great; and the part he played. The year was 962 A.D., just a hundred and sixty two years after Charlemagne’s hour. I will read a little of this history.

Otto the Great, crowned Roman Emperor by Pope John XII in 962.

“Otto the Great is not to be remembered only as a German king, 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 of Constantinople controlled the southern extremity of the peninsula. (In the year 962, came the coronation of Otto the Great. He too was a political man, but he was a man that was so devoted to the Catholic faith, that he had a vision in his mind to do something; and I like the way this historian wrote it.) The coronation of Otto the Great seemed to be a necessary and beneficial act. They still believed that the Roman Empire was suspended, and that now one hundred and fifty years after Charlemagne, the occasion was opportune to revive the name and power associated with the golden age of the first Frankish emperor, (which was Charlemagne.) Otto’s spirit, one may well believe, was bared with his vision of imperial sway. The empire of Charlemagne, (which was the seventh head, but now under Otto the Great,) restored by Otto the Great, came to be called in later centuries, the Holy Roman Empire. (From then on, it was called the Holy Roman Empire. Why? Because it was under the influence of the Catholic Church. I want to show you how the eighth head comes over. It is the position of the pope, as the office of that pope is eventually exalted above the office of the emperor, the political side, so you then have a religious man sitting over an imperial office, when it used to be the emperor was over the pope. How many can catch the picture now?) The title points to the idea of a world monarchy, the Roman Empire, and a world religion, Roman Christianity, united in one institution. This 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 empire and papacy, but Otto succeeded in being able to bring the papacy power into a relationship where it co-existed with the imperial office. (That is the part I want you to see. Once the pope did rise to that level, from then on, according to the history, the popes, not just the one, but the popes in the oncoming years, as they saw their opportunity, manipulated themselves, at all times, above and beyond the emperor. Prior to that, it was impossible for a pope to do that. Once Otto the Great did set this in motion it remained that way. He was the man that opened the door for that spirit to come up and get on the papal office and introduce it to the political office. From then on the popes began to reign over and above all. The history I read to you, and I do not want to dull your senses with it, but it does show you how that eighth head, which is a mystical head, and does not add eight heads to the old beast, came to be called that. Do you understand that? It is church government over the last weakened form of state government. It is just like, if we had in America today, a situation where our political government was becoming so weak in political leadership, that from the religious side of America a man would began to raise up to a level that he seemed to be a man people wanted to listen to, that same situation is possible. (just an illustration) In the later years, that is exactly what the society of Rome began to do. They saw the weakness of the emperor, how political wise he did not seem to be a man capable of holding the territories together, and since Christian faith had been pushed into all the territories, the people began to look to the religious man, the pope, to do something to hold it together. That is when the office of the pope began to rise to that position. It was not long until the pope, through his religious influence over the society of the Roman Empire, was controlling the society of Europe when at the same time they would not even pay attention to the political man on the throne. It was a gradual process, but that is how those seven heads appeared to have another head added to them. Actually it was brought about through centuries of time, the old political system becoming weaker and weaker until finally the office of the pope became so anointed, that he began to speak with authority and exalt himself above the power of the caesars. You just have to realize a thing like that does not happen just suddenly. It takes a lot of lengthy planning and maneuvering by the spirit of Satan to bring it about. I will now read to you how this eighth head acted once it ascended above the power of the emperor, which actually started after 1100 A.D. I will just read what the history says. This is not me adding my two cents. The man who compiled this, wrote an accurate account of the time and history of European conditions as they were back then. Right here it says, as we come to the time when the pope began to see his position, he began to exalt himself, he began to put himself and his authority far above the emperor. He began to say these things we are going to read.

“The pope is the supreme law giver of the church. His decrees might not be set aside by any other person. (This is a man talking. Did not Daniel say that little horn that came up among the ten, had the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things? Eventually he would seek to change times, laws, and would change laws of the old Roman Empire. That is exactly what he did, but it was a slow process of that little horn gradually growing into that place of authority. As the political side of Rome began to decay, Satan used that to exalt his ecclesiastical man. It says the pope was also the supreme judge of the church, for all appeals from the lower ecclesiastical courts came before him for a decision.) Finally the pope was the supreme administration of the church. He confirmed the election of both bishops and archbishops. He relinquished them from office when necessary or transferred them from one diocese to another. The pope also exercised control over the monastic orders and called general councils of the church. For assistance in government, the pope made use of the cardinals only from the clergy of Rome and the vicinity, but in course of time the pope opened the cardinalate to prominent church men in all countries.”

After Otto the Great did what he did, this picks up the record of history from 962 to 1122. Here is what the pope began to say. “One might suppose that there could be no interference between the pope and emperor since they seemed to have separate spheres of government. It was said that God had made the pope as successor of St. Peter, supreme in spiritual matters, and the emperor as heir of the Roman caesars, supreme in temporal or political matters. (That sounds good, does it not?) The former ruled mens souls, (the pope,) the latter men’s bodies. (the politicians) 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 one ended, and the other 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 is the transition man between Charlemagne and the pope that was going to take that position. He was the one you might say, that prepared the way to take this one and put it here. Can you see that? He is the instrument that takes the eighth head and blends it with the seventh head and you then had church government over political government. 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. That was fine, but it was also the beginning of the pope seeing his hour to do what he did. Now let us listen to this little horn speak.) Otto’s successors repeatedly interfered in elections to the papacy. One strong ruler, Henry III has been called the pope maker. 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 zone by fresh appointments. (This little period did not last long.) It was clear that if the situation continued much longer the papacy would become simply an imperial office. (It would be merged in the empire.) The death of Henry III, which left the empire in weak hands, gave the papacy a chance to escape the control of the secular power. (Listen to him talk.) In 1059 a church council held at Laterne palace made the decree that henceforth the right of choosing the supreme pontiff should belong exclusively to the cardinals who represented the clergy of Rome. This arrangement tended to prevent any interference with the election of popes either by the Roman people or by foreign sovereigns.”

Now we come on down to the hour when the pope really begins to speak.”How could the church keep itself unspotted from the world when its highest officers were chosen by laymen and were compelled to perform unpriestly duties. In the act of investiture the reformers also saw the sin of simony. (That is the sale of sacred positions, because there was such a temptation between the candidates for a bishopric to buy the position with promises or more money.) The time came when a remarkable man now became pope. This was the monk Hildebrand, who on elevation to the papacy took the name of Gregory VII. Gregory devoted all his talents to the advancement and growth of the papacy. A contemporary document, which may have been of his own composition, and at any rate expressed his ideas, contained the following statements. It said he shall change times, laws, and seasons. The Roman pontiff alone is properly called universal. He alone may depose bishops and restore them to office. He is the only person whose feet are kissed by all princes. (Who are the princes? They are not the sons of bishops, they are the sons of kings. Do you catch the point? He alone is the only man whose feet can be kissed by all princes. The son of a bishop is not a prince. How many realize that? It had to be the son of a king or royalty. The pope is actually saying he is the only man from the worldly political standpoint whose feet can be kissed.) He may dethrone emperors. (Up until this time they were not saying that. This pope is saying he can dethrone the emperors of the Roman government. No wonder it said, and he will seek to change times, laws, seasons: According to this he did it. That is why you and I today are still keeping the Roman calendar, which was established by the Romans in 800 B.C., but was changed by the Catholic church three different times down through the ages.) He may be judged by no one. (That is what this pope is saying.)He may absolve from their alliances the subject to the wicked. (No matter who is in jail, what his penalty is, the pope has authority to free him.) The Roman church never has erred, (Here is the mouth that speaketh great things in that little horn that Daniel saw.) never can err. (never can do anything wrong) 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 of lay investiture. He declared that no emperor, king, duke, marquis, count, or any other lay person, (political man) should presume to grant investiture under pain of excommunication. This decree was a general one applying to all states of western Europe.” That is the territory of the old Roman Empire. That is why Constantine did what he did. That is why Charlemagne did what he did. Then we see what Otto the Great did. He was the transition man that introduced the office of the papacy to the weak position of the political state. The devil finally got in all the way. Until 1500 the pope cracked a whip and all over Europe, people jumped, because he had a mouth speaking great things.

We come now to the time spoken of by Daniel in Chapter 7, where he wrote what that little horn would eventually do. It tells you he succeeded in plucking up three horns by the roots. There are some doctors of divinity that would tell you, Well that is yet to be. No, it has already been done. It is just that they interpret it wrong in historical time. Right here, I am going to read it to you.

THE LITTLE HORN PLUCKING UP A HORN

King Henry IV begs Pope Gregory for forgiveness.

“Henry IV, the ruler of Germany, did not refuse the papal challenge. (In other words, he was not going to take orders from the pope.) He wrote a famous letter to Gregory called 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. Gregory, in reply, dethroned Henry as emperor, excommunicated him and freed his subjects from their alliance. (Germany became a paralyzed territory. You ask, Did it destroy the German nation? No. But it absolutely destroyed that king’s political power.) Henry was then compelled in the coldness of winter to cross over the Alps and to meet the pope at the castle of Canosa. It was January and the snow lay deep on the ground. The emperor stood for three days, shivering outside the castle gate. (Imagine, this pope is supposed to be the successor of St. Peter. Can you see Peter demanding a political man to do such a thing? That is why we have to watch how Satan, through time, manipulated this from stage to stage to stage until the prophecy picture was absolutely fulfilled.) He was barefoot and clad in a coarse woolen shirt, the garb of a man doing penance. At last upon the entreaties of the countess Matilda, Gregory admitted Henry and granted forgiveness. The dramatic scene at Canosa did not end the investiture conflict. It dragged on for half a century. (Fifty more years) After Gregory’s death, at length the opposing parties agreed to what is known as the Concordance of Worms . (The old German city where it was signed.)The emperor announced investiture by the ring and emblems of spiritual authority and permitted the bishops and the abbots to be elected by the clergy.”

King Fredrick kisses the feet of Pope Alexander III to ask forgiveness.

This brings us to a time between the years 1122 to 1273. “Thirty years after the signing of the Concordance of Worms, the emperor Frederick, (called Barabosa of Italy), from his red beard, succeeded to the political throne. Frederick II of the Hoffenstein 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. There is a story of his 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 pope. The pope gave 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 a severe defeat, sought reconciliation with the pope Alexander III. In the presence of a vast throne assembled before St. Mark’s cathedral in Venice, Frederick knelt before the pope and humbly kissed his feet. (So here, we see another horn plucked up. Just a century had passed since the humiliation of Henry IV of Germany at Canosa. How many can see now how the little horn plucked up another horn? It did not destroy the national identity, but it sure showed the emperor who was boss. We can move on.) The papacy reached the height of its power under Innocent III. (It keeps getting stronger, more powerful.) The eighteen years of his pontificate were one long effort, for the most part successful, to make the pope arbitrator of Europe. Innocent announced the claims of the papacy in the most uncompromising manner. (This is what he said.) As the moon, he declared, receives the light from the sun, and is inferior to the sun, so do kings receive all their glory and dignity from the Holy See. (Meaning the pope. How would you like to live in America with a religious man sitting where that pope was sitting? The political scene was very shaky, and you hear these words being spoken by that pope? We certainly would not like a situation where the pope dictates what our president must do, would we? I have my doubt if we would pay much attention to it the way it happened back then, but keep in mind, this all originated in old Europe. The prophetic picture was absolutely fulfilled precisely the way the scriptures had portrayed it. I have to say, It was already written in scripture it would be this way. We see here, how it came right along, word for word and completed the prophetic picture. Notice, As the moon receives the light from the sun and is inferior to it, so do kings receive all their glory and dignity from the Holy See. That is a lie of Satan, as pertaining to the kings.) To interfere in all secular matters and in the quarrels of rulers, God, he continued, has set the prince of the apostles over kings and kingdoms, with a mission to tear up, plant, destroy, scatter, and rebuild. (That is an absolute bare faced lie. You do not read anything like that in the scriptures.) Innocent’s claims were not idle boasts. (We have seen how two horns were plucked up, so here comes the third one.) When Philip Augustus, king of France, divorced his wife and made another marriage, the Pope Innocent declared the divorce void and ordered him to take back his discarded queen. Philip refused and Innocent put France under an edict. From that hour all religious rites ceased, the church doors were barred, the church bells were silent, the sick died uncared for, cold, the dead lay unburied. Philip, deserted by his retainers, was compelled to do what the others did, submit in humiliation and ask for forgiveness.”

King Phillip Augustus begs Pope Innocent III for forgiveness

Daniel had prophesied precisely, how this little horn would come up gradually, but would keep exalting himself until finally the day would come, that he would have power enough to reach over and tear up three of those first horns. He did it; and it is recorded in history for all to read. His actions did not destroy the existence of those German people, nor the German nation, but right at that time, it destroyed the sovereignty of the political and kept him from being able to speak against the power of the pope from then onward. This shows us how the eighth head was elevated to his position of authority, not by the Spirit of God, but by the workings of Satan. From then on, the pope was not resisted by anyone. I could read it in your hearing right here is this little history book, but I am not going to take the time right now. Nevertheless what the pope said was law. He changed laws. He changed everything to fit his own way of looking at time and governmental affairs. All other men under him were lesser. We come on through 1300, 1400, 1500; and then we come to the year 1520 A.D.. It was the time ordained of God for the Reformation to begin. When we read in the 13^th chapter of Revelation, we see this old beast being restored for the last days, but did not John describe how one of its heads was wounded as unto death? A lot of people wondered, Which head was that? It was the seventh head. It was the last form of the old Roman imperial political government, that was taken over by the power of the ecclesiastical church government, and that is the head that ruled supreme for three hundred and some years in Europe, up into 1500 when the Reformation started. No emperor dared to stand against the pope in those days. That was the darkest period of the Dark Ages throughout all of Europe. Europe went into this thing riding horse back, ox cart and burning candles; and they came out burning candles, still riding ox carts and building their buildings the same way. There was no improvements or inventions of any kind, because the church became the supreme authority and their idea was, Education is a crime. That is why it was such a dark period in history, because all education and learning of any kind was shut out. Finally the foreordained time came, that God was ready to wound that head. He wounded that head in order to be able, as I said this morning, to start the Reformation and bring out all the various movements. However those that were freed from that old Catholic dogma during that time turned right around and adopted much of what that old system had taught for centuries of time, and just look at them today: yet they call themselves Christians. Each movement served a purpose in the plan of God and they all had an opportunity to move on with God, but they chose to just stand steadfast on what they had already; and as generations came and passed on, so did the truth their founders started them out with. Now they are just systems of religion. I realize a lot of people would say, Oh but Bro. Jackson, I know a lot of good people out there in those denominations. Oh you do? Are you sure they are good? Are they only good on your standard? Have you asked God about their goodness? When we come to that fourth seal, that horse is still being ridden tonight. How many realize that? When Bro. William Branham was used by God to bring the revelation of these four seals back there in 1963, in 1964, and 1965, that gray horse rider began to ride. That gray horse rider has shut out every revelation of truth and encouraged the adherence to all those man-made doctrines, which are antichrist. What it brought forth was a disguise, because it was a misleading spirit of Satan. People in denominations went hog wild after that ecumenical gesture put forth by the Catholic Church. I am not going to say any more about that right now, because I have some documents at home that prove just exactly what that gray horse rider has done. The denominations have died, because the generations that now fill the ranks have no revelation at all. That is why there had to be a prophet messenger come upon the scene in this last age, to call the people in those systems that did have an ear to hear and say to them, Come out of her my people, and come back to the Bible. Come back to the revelation of the word of God, back to the faith of the apostles of Jesus Christ. We came out of those systems of religion, but did that tear the systems down? No. Because the rebellion toward truth that the others in those systems spewed forth only served to make the systems stronger. I have to say tonight, The Catholic Church, with Lutheranism, Baptistism, Presbyterianism, Methodism, and all the other isms of denominationalism, are all locked up under that great spirit of deception. When you see them you are looking at the bundles of tares Jesus spoke of in Matthew 13. That is why I said this morning, Do not ever think there is going to be a lot more foolish virgins than there are wise virgins. When you do that, you have misinterpreted the parable. I do not think Jesus just threw that out there haphazardly. I believe He meant exactly what the parable shows, that they will be equal in number. He said, (Mat 25:1-2) “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.” They were all virgins, but only half of them had a true love for the revelation of God’s word.

WISE VIRGINS AND FOOLISH VIRGINS

When we talk about wise and foolish virgins, we can find a wide span of opinions about them, but we must narrow it down to one truth, instead of a lot of opinions. Jesus could have said, Now you can just take this however you want to, but He did not say that. What He did say, was that five were wise and five were foolish, and He meant to fix the ratio exactly as He did. Therefore do not get the idea that the foolish virgins are going to outnumber the wise. If He had meant anything like that, He would not have expressed it like He did. The whole kingdom will be filled: some will be wise, and some will be foolish, but what makes the difference, is the fact that God sent a prophet messenger to this age to call the wise back to the word of God. The call was made, but not all the virgins were ready to give up the excitement they were experiencing and return to a place where their spiritual souls would be nourished with a pure revelation of the word of God. That condition still exists, and it will remain so right on to the end of this age of grace for Gentiles. The call of God’s messenger is what separated the wise that then began to go into the revelation, into the faith, while others went looking for oil. I hope I have not bored you with the reading I have done, but I just have to say, All of this is going to come to the forefront under this eagle head that watches over God’s people in this hour of time.

CLINCHING THE REVELATION

As we continue on in this Seals Message, as I said before, Some of you might think we have been on this a long time, but I have a purpose for it. When I began to read the history of what has happened all through the time of the fulfillment of these seals, how the spirit of antichrist, the tools of Satan, have worked, I realized it was time for someone to nail down the revelation of them and clinch it, so that is what my purpose is. I have read what different men have written, especially what they want to say about the four heads, what they are, and what they are not; and none of them even come close to the true revelation. Therefore I want to say this morning, not because I think I am so smart, but because the Lord has made it absolutely clear to me what they represent, that those heads that I have described to you are exactly in line with what is in the Bible. When we read here in the 17^th chapter of Revelation what John wrote, actually John was being given the description of this beastly system, but he ended up way over here in the ending of time as he was shown the end of that beast with seven heads, and the reason I say that, is because the revelation actually comes from the fourth of the four beasts John saw gathered around the throne of God in chapter 4, verses 6-7, and that is the beast which was represented by the head of an eagle. No revelation comes from this (the lion)or this (the calf, pointing to chart) or this (the face of a man). How many realize that? Therefore the book of Revelation was written in such a way that it could not be understood by just anybody that might pick up a Bible and read it. The revelation of what is written in this book was sealed and reserved until we come into the era of time when there would be an element of the Bride starting to be recognized as she is rising on the scene. I have read what men have wrote , but they were only calculating and presuming. They were everyone as wrong as wrong could be. That is exactly why I say today, There are preachers out there in this world, who believe that the United Nations is the beast that John saw which had seven heads. Well the U.N. only has a history of sixty years of existence, so how could it be described by the angel as the beast that was, and is not, and yet is? That is why I say this morning, I want to put an end to this thing of debating and arguing about what these four heads are and what they represent. I want to put it into your mind in a clenching way this morning, in a way that will leave no doubt. If you have your Bible, turn to the 17^th chapter of Revelation. The angel has said to John, “I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.” (Now the 8^th verse) “The beast that thou sawest was, (When he said that he was speaking of the entire geographical, political, and the social side of everything it was or ever had been, because we know this, John lived as the Roman Empire was coming into its great day. That is when it only had the one imperial head which all the caesars succeeding each other had established.) 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.” You have to realize the angel was standing over here in the ending of time when the revelation of all this that is written is to be given to the Bride, so he is saying to John, The beast that was, that proves it is nothing new. It is something that has been before, and then something happened to it. “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; (He is pointing to a time when it was not, so that would be in the time as the Reformation had begun to take place and had already wounded that head as unto death as we read in the 13^th chapter, 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.” Those Reformers had actually struck what looked like a death blow to that old beastly system that had ruled the world all through the Dark Ages, but we have seen how that old Roman Catholic system of religion has been restored and is again ruling the lives of millions of human souls, and it is by that spirit that ascends out of the bottomless pit, the spirit of Satan that has always fed that old system, so we finish that verse. and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: (What did he mean by that? You and I know the body of anything does not come out of the bottomless pit, so it has to be the spirit of something and we know what spirit it was. He is saying to John, The beast that was, (the spirit of it) is not. That spirit cannot be but one kind of spirit, not just anything, it has got to be one type of spirit. That is the spirit of Satan giving power to the papacy. We want to prove that this morning. Again I say, This is not preaching any condemnation on any ex-Catholic person, because most of us older ones came out of something that was just as anti-truth as what the Catholic Church teaches. I have a lot of things to say about denominational people before we finish this series. Notice where it goes when Jesus deals with it.) 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, (It goes to show, those who were not appointed, or foreknown of God, did not have their names written, so they are never going to know what it is: they will just wonder at it.) when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (In other words, when this end time element of the bride of Christ finishes its season and comes into its final day of glory with power to rule and reign with Christ the King, they are going to look at it.) And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, (Geographically that points to Rome: you can never change that, It cannot be New York or Chicago or Berlin: It has to be Rome.) on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: (Now this takes us to a humanistic or political side, speaking of seven kings.) five are fallen, (So the angel is pointing back down through time to a point where there had been five that stood out and were gone from the scene.) and one is, (That is pointing to the hour of Constantine.) and the other is not yet come; (That is pointing to the hour of Charlemagne.) and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, (Now he is pointing, not to a political king but to that ecclesiastical spirit.) and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” Now some people would say, Well Bro. Jackson, this is confusing, trying to figure this out. I want to say this, If you know anything about history, it is not confusing at all, and for the benefit of you who do not, I am trying my best to acquaint you with it. I am going to do my best to go back and walk through it very slowly, to give you enough history to point you in the right direction in your studies.

ABOUT THE ROMAN EMPERORS

When Nero died in 69 A.D. there was not another kindred emperor. All the ones that preceded him were related. That is why they sent to Jerusalem for Vespasian to come to Rome and take his throne. From the hour of Vespasian and his two sons, we come to 96 A.D. Then is when there were five successive emperors that rose on the scene and in history they are called the five good emperors. I know we have been over this already, but this is to refresh your memory. Well I happen to know they were not so good, because a lot of Christians were butchered during their reign. These five good emperors lifted the Roman Empire to the height of its glory days. What I mean by that is, when entertainment was the order of the day, they helped build the great arenas where a lot of Christians were slaughtered to entertain blood-thirsty human spectators. They improved the quality of education and according to the recorded history their successive reins were looked upon as good for the empire. That takes you from 96 to 180 A.D., the five good emperors. When that last one faded from the scene, it plainly tells you the incline of the imperial throne went into decline and went down, down, down as military men were again placed upon the throne, one after another. There were assassinations because of jealousy, as well as for other reasons. Therefore the power of the imperial system was falling to pieces. This went on until time came to the hour of Constantine, which by then was in the third century. Constantine, being the type of military man he was, he was able to stabilize the situation and bring about a condition that got things under control once again. He was the man that had the vision, “By this, thou shalt conquer and thou shall overcome.” That caused him to make a decision, that from then on Christians would no longer be butchered and martyred. Many of the officers became believers, for political reasons of course. So he absolutely introduced Christianity to the pagan, Roman state for courtship. That is how Christianity came to be accepted by the Roman Empire. After the death of Constantine, again the power of the imperial throne went into decline. From that part of the third century until we come to almost 800, when Charlemagne came upon the scene, the territories were again falling to pieces. The imperial power was absolutely weakened to a pitiful state. Charlemagne, being the type of military man he was, he was able to get the empire back up and running again. He was not a Roman though, he was a German. He was able to bring control into the territories. Because he loved Christianity, he set about to make everybody throughout the Roman Empire become a Christian, though he did it by the sword. However he established a rule that once again elevated the empire, so he was the man that would continue a little space, according to what the angel told John, making him the seventh head on that old beast. When he left the scene, the imperial throne again went into a lot of decline; and a little over a hundred years later, another man came to power, a man by the name Otto the Great. Why was he called that? In one history I read, it says he was the pope maker. Just as Charlemagne made society become Christians, Otto the Great, has such great love and feeling for the pope, he began to elevate the recognition of the pope. Why did he do that? Because, with all the political and social problems, the people began to realize the emperor could no longer control such things and they began looking to the pope for solutions or decisions. This absolutely gave the pope that much more opportunity to elevate himself. In process of time, after the pope had accumulated importance, he was in a place to exercise his will over things, so that moves him into a place that he is the eighth but of the seventh. Of course when we speak of the seventh head, it is that form of government established by Charlemagne that is the seventh head on the old beast; and it just carried on through time under the rule of those who followed, so that when the pope, the little horn that plucked up three of the ten horns Daniel saw on the beast, came to power it is recorded that he is the eighth, but is of the seventh. That is found in Rev 17:11. “And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” He is the eighth head, but he is not a political head: He is an ecclesiastical head, and he is just continuing on where the seventh form of government was when he came to such recognition. That is why we can say, He did not make the beast have eight heads, because the heads of the Roman imperial beast were all political heads. Nevertheless the little horn, the Roman Catholic Pope, eventually dictated all that was to be done or allowed to be done. He is the little horn that came up among the ten horns in Daniel’s vision. He is the man that had the mouth speaking great words. He is the horn that had the eyes of a man. That is why Otto the Great was successful in exalting the pope. Let us read two verses from Daniel 7. Many of you are familiar with this scripture, but some are not. Daniel said, (Dan 7:7) “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. (There, is your Roman beast, the fourth Kingdom to rule the old world.)Verse 8, I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” We have already shown how that little horn fulfilled that 8^th verse in plucking up three of the ten, so just keep that in mind as we continue on. As for Otto the Great exalting the position of the pope, that gave him favor with the people; and for a little while he was able to sustain what appeared to be a re-establishing of Charlemagne’s empire. Charlemagne was the man that later it was said of him, that he established the Holy Roman Empire by making everybody become a believer. Then when Otto the Great came along, though he was only a transition man so to speak, God used him by his political and military maneuvering, being able to persuade and lead the pope gradually into a position where society would begin to recognize him. Then when Otto the Great goes off the scene, from then on the popes really began to crack the whip. I fail to see why people cannot seem to understand what the angel was telling John. The eighth does not add another horn nor a head because it is an ecclesiastical horn. How many can see that? When Otto the Great has succeeded and established this transition where the eighth comes over and takes over the last form of imperial government, which was the seventh, for better than three hundred years Europe was brought under the darkest hour of European history. From then on until 1500, every pope got more powerful and more powerful, until finally God saw fit to wound that head. How did He do it? He raised up men like Martin Luther and anointed them to take a stand against that old Roman dogma. Actually the Reformation had already begun in a certain degree, first by Huss, then Swingley, and men like that, but the pope had all of them executed. When we come to 1520, here came Martin Luther and he was protected in a way that he escaped being slaughtered by the forces of the pope. God came upon the scene; and with the sword of the Spirit of God, those other men began to hack away at the power of the pope. That is why all of this came about under this seventh head. How many realize that? It was the wisdom that God imputed down through those men that succeeded in striking a death blow to that ecclesiastical head. Then when we come to 1800, the Reformation was well on its way. The new world had already been discovered and that brought great hopes of freedom for many. The Reformation in Europe has brought about a spiritual decay of the power of the papacy in Europe. As we have stated already, it looked like a death blow to that head, but in process of time it was healed and now it is set for its end time role in prophecy. I will call your attention once again, to the scripture in the book of Revelation that speaks of that. It is the angel speaking to John, as he tells him of the great whore that rides on the beast, which actually is Roman Catholicism; and as John viewed the splendor displayed he was impressed by it all, so that is why the angel speaks like this. You need to read the entire 17^th chapter to get the full view of this. (Rev 17:7-8) “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. (8) 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.” I am going to read to you some excerpts from a Catholic paper. The following is taken from the writings of Joseph Rickaby, found in the Catholic Truth Society of London called the Modern Papacy.

EXCERPTS FROM CATHOLIC WRITINGS

Pope Pius VI was arrested and jailed and all power was stripped from the Catholic church by Napoleon in 1793. Napoleon when on to force the Emperor to dissolve the Roman Empire in 1806.

“In 1793 on November 26, a convention of seventeen bishops and some clergy made a decree to abolish all religion. (This was under Napoleon Bonaparte.) In the year 1796 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. But the pope recovered and the peace was soon broken. General Bethier entered Rome on the 10^th of February 1798 and proclaimed a republic. The aged pontiff refused to violate the oath by recognizing it and was hurried from prison to prison in France. Broken with fatigue and sorrow, he died on the 19^th of August 1799 in the French fortress of Valance, aged 82. No wonder that half of Europe thought that the papacy was dead by what Napoleon had done.” First was the ecclesiastical sword. How many realize that? That is the Reformation. Then the military sword did certainly bring the hard blow. Another Catholic writer by the name of Cannon Trevor said the papacy was dead, and among all the Roman Catholic powers, not a single finger was lifted in defense of it. So from then until WW2, you have a period when the beast was not. I hope that much is clear to all of you. Rome still existed, but the pope was no longer in power. How many can see that? He was still head of the Catholic Church and the world was free. I have to say, From that time on, missionary-ism was very active: God anointed it and used it. America did more to send missionaries to the world than any other nation on the face of the earth. I want to go slow with this and try to make it all clear. I have a question here, that I am going to read along with the message. It asks if there were foolish virgins from the beginning of the church age. I will say this, The beginning of Christendom over here (chart two thousand years ago) did not produce foolish virgins. Christendom went through a lot of upheaval and as it began to lose revelation, they lost much of their spiritual leadership. However nobody is called foolish virgins until here at the end of the age. That is why this great multitude right here (chart, Rev.7:9) are clothed in white robes. They represent the multitudes that have come out of every kind of tribulation right on down through time. They are there from every era of believers. We have got to understand, that when Jesus said in Matthew 25, THEN, that then is a future tense word. He has already described the parables, but then, He brings this into the future tense of time. Only when we come into this last one hundred years do foolish virgins begin to appear. At the beginning of the century, what happened? You had Azuza St. God gave the new world where Christendom, from all the branches of the Reformation, have come to, a chance to see the light of the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit. Just like a lot of other people, during the same period of time, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Nazarene, and even the Catholics came out and accepted it, but the biggest percentage of the denominational world belittled it and made fun of it. I know what I am talking about, because I have had people who lived through that hour tell me about it. I knew an old man from Houston Texas years ago, that has now passed on: He was a young fellow growing up when the Azuza St. revival was going on. He knew many of the people that were involved in it though. I have heard him tell how people would act and talk about it, making fun of the entire thing. Remember saints, The Azuza St. revival brought an experience to believers and set in motion an element of people that carried right on through to the time when we had a prophet on the earth in this last Church Age. In the parable it says, (Matthew 25:6) “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.”

A CRY AND A SHOUT

The midnight cry of that parable was none other than the message of William Marrion Branham. It came at a time that it began to awaken people that were asleep, so to speak, in the denominational realm of what is referred to as Christendom. What do you think it did to me? Where was I at that time? In the Methodist Church, doing all I knew to do. When I did awake to what God was doing I wanted all I could get of what He was giving to believers. I will say also, I met Baptists, as well as folks from all the other different denominational people, that saw the light of what he was talking about. I want to say this and I want to say it so you can catch it, Please understand saints, This is a parable Jesus spoke; and no parable ever describes a situation to the exact, or precise detail: A parable only gives you a profile of a thought. How many realize that? It is important for you to understand this: No parable ever gives you the complete picture of the exact thing itself. When Paul said in 1^st Thessalonians 4, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven first with a shout, and I have had people ask, Bro. Jackson, what is the difference between the shout and the cry? Heavenly Father, please help me say these things so people can know what the truth of it is. The cry that was brought about, according to the parable, was none other than the message brought by William Branham, who was the shout according to the apostle Paul. What is the shout? It is to draw attention, Wake Up! I do not say this to be harsh, but people are in their denomination, and they get so lulled to sleep, it is a pitiful situation. If it had not been for the grace of God, that is exactly where I would be yet today. But he brought something about that put a hunger in my heart and got me out of that old dead system. This question says, It sounds like the foolish virgins are after the cry of Bro. William Branham. You have got to understand brothers and sisters, that the cry came at one particular time, and yes, there are a lot of people that have been brought on the scene since then, that are foolish virgins. Why? It is because of the way the Spirit of God deals with the mass of people that we have on the face of this earth today. They all hear the same thing, but they do not all respond the same way. Some develop a true hunger for the word of God and others just love the excitement of manifestation in a service. Each one will eventually reveal their true makeup.

WHAT PEOPLE LOOK FOR IN THIS HOUR

I saw on the TV the other morning, a preacher I had never seen on TV before. When I came to that station, I just watched and listened for a few minutes. There were thousands of people in that great auditorium; and that preacher was describing somebody that had a pain in their back. Some young man stood up and came down to the front and said he was the man. As I watched this, I said, Yes, it could be true and again it could be psychology, because you could stand before three or four thousand people and start describing any problem or situation; and you are going to hit somebody right on the dot. Just about anyone knows that. I thought, as that man began praying, Whoever he is, all he has is a revelation of praying for sick people. It brings attention to him and he enjoys it. He likes that attention, but where is his revelation of the scriptures? Come on brothers and sisters and answer me, Where is the revelation of truth? They do not care how you are baptized, what you believe nor whether you believe anything or not. They do not have a clue as to know what holiness looks like. When you see women standing there dressed in blue jeans, what kind of revelation do you think they have? This is the hour the gray horse rider is still riding. The gray horse rider is not saving people: he is blinding unsuspecting people. Just remember this, The white horse rider was deceiving people by perverting God’s word, then the red horse rider was killing them, then the black horse rider was ruling them, and eventually bringing death, so what is the gray horse rider going to do for the rest of this Laodicean Age? Deceive them with a false unity and lead them further on into the death trap that is waiting to snare all who have no love for the truth. The thing we must realize, is that there is no life in those horses. How many realize that? It is because of the way the devil has worked; and these horses portray his different ways of trying to get rid of truth believing Christians in the world. I have to say this morning, You are living in an hour when this whole thing called the kingdom of heaven is coming to a climax. Everything that has ever went on in the gospel era, is absolutely being brought to the end now. I have to say also, The wise shall understand, but the wicked shall not understand. You can go on and preach it to them, but do they understand? No. The wise (bride) will understand, so those who do understand are the Bride of Christ. I will say this morning, There is not a living person out there today, that when it is all over, that will not have to stand before God without excuse. Why? Because everything that Bro. William Branham ever stood for back there in the 1940’s and 1950’s, and on into the 1960’s, they have all heard; so do not tell me they have not heard or at least heard about it, so they have all had their opportunity. I say, They have heard it, but they do not want it. I will just say, Of the multitudes of religious people in the world today, there are only a few of them that are believers to the point they would not renounce their faith, even though they cannot understand the bride’s revelation. They are foolish virgins, but brothers and sisters, please listen to me, There is not going to be as many foolish virgins as you think. Why did Jesus say five wise and five foolish? Why did He not say five wise and ten thousand foolish? I know there are many who have the hope that their loved ones may at least be among the foolish virgins and have eternal life, but I say to all of you, Those religious characters who have heard the true revelation of God’s word and rejected it, are just a bunch of tares that are being bundled for burning. I know this is plain talk, but it is according to the word of God, from the very Bible we hold precious to our heart’s. If you are looking at the religious world like you and I would want to look at it, I have to say, A lot of that religious stuff out there, have had the same opportunity to follow truth that we have; and they closed their mind’s to it because they are not interested. I will say also, The Bride of Jesus Christ is a living element of people all over the face of this earth, that when they do hear something that is a true revelation, it opens their eyes and illuminates their souls. I have a letter here, from a man that said, Bro. Jackson, you don’t know what the Contender has done for us. He said, We are believers of William Branham’s message, and when the Contender first started coming here, people said we should leave it alone, just leave it alone and do not even touch it. Then he said, The more I read in it, the more I became enlightened to truth. Brothers and sisters, I have to say, Thank God for a few men on this earth today, that one minute they do not know anything, the next minute God is speaking to them and they are listening. Because of that, they now have a revelation. It is how God began to put some things in their hearts that made the difference. I want to say concerning foolish virgins, They are a certain category of people that begin to be awakened when Bro. William Branham came on the scene anointed of the Spirit of God, to call believers out from those denominational systems. That man preached enough to let every person that was a living foolish virgin, hear and respond to the call, Come out from among them. The truth is, as it says in the parable, While they (the foolish) went to buy oil, the Bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with Him to the marriage: and the door was shut. We used to think that was the rapture, until we received the true understanding of it. The wise going in was not the rapture at all. The wise were the people going into a true revelation of the word of God. They heard the message, and now they are going into a revelation; and the only door that is shut, is the door to understanding: The foolish virgins can hear the same words we all hear, but they cannot grasp the revelation that the bride gets from the same teaching. I could beg people, Please open up your hearts and minds: You may believe in Jesus Christ, you may believe that he is the one that died for you, but if all these other truths of the Bible do not mean anything to you, then all that you do know is not going to amount to anything when it comes to the repture of the bride. You will not go with her. Why would God allow believers back in the first age be martyred for what they believed, and then let a bunch of people here at the end of the age get by with just two cents worth of religion, so to speak? Do you understand what I mean by that? That is why this message brought by Brother Branham to turn an element of people back to the faith of the fathers was so important to true believers: It was not just to give us another religion. A true understanding of the word of God, leads us back to the faith of the apostolic fathers that preached the gospel after the crucifixion of Christ Jesus. When you have an ear to hear the true revelation of the scriptures all confessing people read and hear read, it lifts your inner being into a realm of true joy that no amount of human efforts can produce. That is why the apostle Paul could write, (Eph 2:4-6) “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” That only pertains to the true bride believers. His anointing falls on people of every nation at times, but I say to you, Just look at the mass of supposed-to-be believers out there in so many places that have no revelation of the deep things that are hidden from the wise and prudent of the world. They get together and have a good time, but they do not even want a revelation: they are not even concerned enough to investigate. They will say, I am a Baptist, I am an Episcopalian, I am this or that, but where is their spiritual soul getting any nourishment? They are not getting it where they go to partake in a lot of excitement created by carnal human instruments that are trying to make a name for themselves. Sure they can argue about what they do believe, but that is not a sign of a believer at all: If it is anything, it is more the sign of a tare. They are very religious when it is profitable to be so, but their true nature is an all-together different story. Have you ever stopped to realize what you are associating with in your every day activities out here in public places. Out there, are unbelievers who profess to be nothing, make-believers who imitate Christians, foolish virgins who believe that Jesus died for their sins, but are without the revelation of the bride of Christ; and there are also those of the bride who are out there working or conducting necessary business. That does not even touch on all the others with their own ideas about God. Saints: We are a very blessed and privileged people, so let us cherish what we have and cultivate a life of true righteousness and holiness as we wait for the time of our departure from here to be with our Lord. As we go about our daily activities, let us be aware that we are living in the era of time when the antichrist spirit is portrayed as riding a pale (or gray) horse; and the Bible says the name of the rider was, or is Death, and Hell followed with him. He has been turned loose in these last days; and the fact that the horse is not black or white, but a mixture of both, lets us know that the spirit represented is very deceptive. How does he deceive, you may ask? Well how many remember a time back in the 1960’s when you began to hear, Let us all learn to respect each other, no matter what church we belong to. We are all children of God, so we need to get together for worship and learn to understand our brethren. That is when the Catholic priests were invited to speak in protestant churches; and protestant preachers were invited to speak in some of the Catholic churches. It was a move toward ecumenicalism, with the idea of establishing or promoting unity among all churches or religions worldwide. It could not have happened at any time prior to the time it did. When we began to see in the spiritual sense, what that gray horse had begun to do, there was a man on the scene with a message of truth, that began to bring a moving of the Spirit of God among many groups. Many people began to go into a revelation. People began to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and at the same time, but very slowly, there was a small element of people that began to be spiritually awakened in the ranks of denominationalism. I remember around 1960, we began to hear of little groups of people in the basement of many homes, how they were speaking in tongues, many of which had denounced such an experience prior to that time. Anyhow that is where it started, in little house meetings. It was not long though until it came out of the basements into larger groups in various places until we come to about 1964. That is when it began to make a larger introduction or penetration into the entire society. I remember also, that around 1967 or sometime along in there, the Toronto blessing began to be talked about. Then, all over the country, these elements of people began to capture the headlines. Catholic nuns were leading some of the prayer meetings. What does all of that tell me? That the gray horse was on the move. It was not introducing real salvation and true Holy Ghost filling with a revelation. Oh yes, they were saying this is salvation; and you must be filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit; and oh how wonderful it is, but where is the revelation? According to the parable, when the wise were going in, I ask you, What were they going into? They were going into a revelation. Then when the foolish came later and said, Give us of your oil, what did the wise say? Not so. You and I know, that is how the parable brings it out, but putting that into an applicable way, what does it really mean? I have never heard of anybody from those ranks coming to anybody and saying, We want the same Holy Spirit you have. They would come and take a look, they would come and sit in a meeting or two, but if for some reason something did not sound the way they thought it ought to, you did not see them again. That is why I have to say, Do not attempt to take a parable for the literal, exact thing itself. It is only to illustrate and bring out a profile. I hope you understand that. When Bro. William Branham was on the scene and he began to hear of these episodes in these meetings, he said, See there, the gray horse rider is riding. It was taking over. In a number of months and a few short years, that gray horse went around this world with its outstanding experiences and everything. From here to Europe, I have heard of people talking about the out pouring, the manifestations and all these things, but when they came out of all that, they had no more revelation and understanding of the plan and purpose of God, than anything in the world. I have to say, Thank you my God for your grace and mercy. What has gone on during the time that gray horse rider has been riding, is His way of deceiving the world of mass religious people who are not ordained to see and hear the Bride’s message. Did God pick who He wanted and reject the rest? Definitely not, but by His infallible foreknowledge He knew exactly who would accept truth and who would reject it. That is exactly why in the last verses of the 12^th chapter of Daniel, when Daniel begged the angel of the Lord, Oh what meaneth this? He was told to shut up the book: It is sealed until the time of the end, and in the time of the end, the wise will understand. I used to read that and would have to ask, Who are these wise? Is this going to be a special educated type of people? Now we understand, that it is not how much education you have: it is the right kind of revelation that you have. That is what separates the wise from the rest. As you can plainly see, this deceptive spirit in the world is in the political realm, and even in the geographical setting. You cannot help but realize this is exactly what the prophecies have spoken of. This is exactly how the devil has taken over and deceived the masses of people. I just thought as I studied this, Here, is a people the world does not recognize, but they have a revelation the world does not have. They have an understanding and see exactly what is going on. I am so thankful to God today, for the infilling of His Spirit. When I received that, I was not only glad that I had received it, but I became especially glad when I began to see how I was being led. I realized I had something in me that wanted to teach me what is in this book. Anyone who has the Spirit of God abiding in them ought to love the pure revelation of His word.

REALITY THAT HURTS

I will say this, The gray horse rider has been riding ever since the 1960’s, through all the denominational realm. Thousands of people are in some of these big auditoriums where those Hollywood type preachers are entertaining them. They still preach divine healing and the manifestation of the Spirit, but do you ever hear any of them talking about any of the doctrines of the Bible? No. They do not have a revelation themselves, so how could they teach anything? The Spirit does not deal with them on that, because they have no love for the truth. They say, We don’t deal with doctrines, because doctrines divide and we want to bring people together. Well real Bible doctrine is supposed to divide, because that is what gives you and me the framework that we build our faith upon. I am thankful to know that God knows exactly what He is doing, and He knows exactly how He had His Word written and why He had it written like that. He is perfecting a body of true believers and He is doing it through His five fold ministry; and the way He leads them in preaching and teaching His word, allows the true bride Church to be able to dress themselves in fine linen, which the Bible says is the righteousness of saints. Now I want to mention this for the sake of the message, We have exposed the Catholic Church, by showing biblically what she is. Revelation 17: 1, calls her a whore. Then in verse 5, she is referred to as THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Well saints, if she is the mother of harlots, then who could these harlots be? My thoughts go back to the fourteenth century, in the southern regions of France, norther Spain, and through that mountain region, where you then had an element of people that became known later as Mennonites, and also the Amish. They came out of her about 1450, which was before Martin Luther’s hour started. When those people began to see the truth of their hour, they were persecuted by the societies around them, so many of the Mennonites left and went to Russia. They found freedom there. When you are traveling west, in the state of Kansas, there is a certain highway, when you cross into a certain area of Kansas, where you see a plaque on the side of the road. It tells you what year the early Mennonites had immigrated from Russia to that country, and they were the ones that brought that type of winter wheat that was sown there in Kansas, causing Kansas to became known as the wheat state. It was all because of what the Mennonites had done. They had sent their children into the wheat fields and picked the choicest grains from the heads of the wheat and collected this and that is what they brought with them when they immigrated to the new world. That is a historical fact. But now, you cannot teach those people anything else. The Amish are the same way: They do not want to own an automobile, so that is why they still drive the horse drawn buggy most everywhere they go. However if they want to take a trip to Florida to see some relatives and you have a nice van with air conditioning, they will ask you how much you would charge to take their family to Florida. They are not ashamed to ride in it, but it is against their belief to own it. My point is this, We have a lot of religious people today, that have been taught it is wrong to do this, it is wrong to do that. They cannot prove any of it by the Bible, but that is the way they live and think. Then when we leave that group we come to the Lutherans. These systems today that we now call denominationalism, spiritually speaking, in the eyes of God, those systems of religion are nothing but a bunch of spiritual harlots, because they stopped following God and formed their own man-made rules to live by. They claim to know God, they claim to have salvation, but they do not have, because they do not allow themselves to bring their experience with God up to date. When you start with the Baptists, you have a whole category of them, deep water, hard shell, northern, southern, you name it and you will find some of them somewhere, and they are all Baptists. Then the Methodists, then the Nazarene, the Christian, the Church of Christ, Assemblies of God, the Oneness, the Evangelical, the Mormans, the Seventh Day Adventists, the Jehovah Witness and many, many more, all of them having some kind of belief about God. They have religion, but do they really have salvation? No. I have to say, Those systems today are what Jesus referred to in the other parable, when He said to His servants, (Mat 13:30) “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” The wheat speaks of His true seed; and the tares are those who just have a form of religion, but love not the truth. Let me read a few more verses from Matthew 13, starting in verse 40. “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. Mat 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; Mat 13:42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” It is not a pleasant thought, to think that many of your friends and family members are locked up in a system of religion that the Lord refers to like that, but that is how it is. He will send first His angels (His true ministry) who shall gather out of His kingdom, that is the area of His Church all things that offend and He will put them in bundles. I have to say this morning, As long as you live on this earth there are going to be little churches here and little churches there: they are called churches, but are they really a house of God? No, because the people that sit in there are not willing to walk with God and seek after God. They do not want God to teach them anything. They believe the same thing Grandpa did, they believe the same thing Grandma did, so why should I believe anything different, they will say. That very attitude is the reason the world is full of small and large fellowship clubs where people meet together and think they have been to church, but the sad truth is, In many of those places you will not find anyone who has a revelation of God’s word, nor anyone who even desires to have. That is what the antichrist has succeeded in doing through two thousand years of Christianity.