virgin Mary

Current Events – Pope Declared the Importance of the Virgin Mary

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Pope Francis About To Decree Virgin Mary To Be More Important Than Jesus Christ?

For most of the world, Pope Francis is the one pope that everyone seems to like. With is open mind and open attitude to other religions, as well as his more humanist approach to being Catholic, many have fallen under his spell of universal peace. The Inquisitr reported numerous times on the pope’s actions that appeal to others. This includes stating that atheists are also saved, inviting Muslims to pray Islamic prayers at the Vatican, and even stating that Evangelizing is one thing that doesn’t equate to personal happiness.

However, many Evangelical Christians are not happy with the pope. With reports such as Pope Francis saying the only way to God is through the Catholic Church (and not Jesus Christ, who said He was the way) to promoting Chrislam (a religion made by combining Christianity and Islam together), it is no wonder Christ followers are upset. Now they are getting upset again because Pope Francis is about to decree the Virgin Mary to be the fourth entity in the Trinity (which makes it a Quartet).

According to an article by Vatican Radio, it reports that Pope Francis attended the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on Monday morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta. He made a reflection on the Virgin Mary, on how she learned, obeyed, and suffered at the foot of the Cross.

“And this is our hope. We are not orphans, we have Mothers: Mother Mary. But the Church is Mother and the Mother Church is anointed when it takes the same path of Jesus and Mary: the path of obedience, the path of suffering, and when she has that attitude of continually learning the path of the Lord. These two women – Mary and the Church – carry on the hope that is Christ, they give us Christ, they bring forth Christ in us. Without Mary, there would be no Jesus Christ; without the Church, we cannot go forward.”

The argument being presented is that Jesus Christ, the one who says that the only way to the Father is through Me, has been demoted to third place. By stating that without Mary, there would be no Jesus Christ, and with no church, they cannot move forward, Pope Francis effectually placed the Virgin Mary at the Godhead level.

Now The End Begins actually followed up on this news in which they related Pope Francis promoting the Virgin Mary to the status of God by citing verses 4 to 6 in the seventeenth chapter in the Book of Revelation.

“And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.”

Another thing to take notice is that the Godhead has appeared together numerous times, even in the Old Testament, meaning that Jesus Christ has existed even before he was born from the Virgin Mary. Good example is the first chapter of Genesis in which Soldier of Christ that both the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are present during creation. And added note; the Virgin Mary – though Pope Francis has promoted her to Godhead level – is not mentioned.

www.inquisitr.com/1477428/pope-francis-about-to-decree-virgin-mary-to-be-more-important-than-jesus-christ/

Report from Denver

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It was during the summer of 1992 that I first learned that the Pope was coming to Denver, Colorado, in August of 1993. At the Printed Page Camp Meeting in September of 1992, Evan Sadler, Carey Rowlendson, Rick Breckenridge, and myself formed a task force to meet the challenge. After consulting with Elder John Osborne and others, we decided to use this occasion to spread the three angels’ messages.

Earlier, in Australia, Carey Rowlendson had printed a million copies of the Protestant newspaper. Though this publication had met with opposition by the conference office, resulting in a lawsuit, we immediately laid plans for a special printing of the paper for America, for distribution in anticipation of the papal visit.

In October of 1992, I met Danny Vierra for the first time. He shared with me his billboard evangelism project. We saw this as an important part of the Denver campaign and settled on the use of a sign that said: The Bible says…”The man of Sin shall be revealed.” II Thessalonians 2:3. A free copy of The Great Controversy was offered, and our telephone number was given.

We signed a contract with Gannett Outdoor, a large billboard company, to place twenty-one billboards in Denver, starting just ten days before the Pope ’s visit.

Because we needed a substantial amount of funds to place these boards, we circulated a fund-raising letter. The Oregon Conference, having obtained a letter, faxed a copy to the North American Division, as well as the Colorado conference and the Midwest Union. This resulted in an emergency meeting about ten days before the billboards, causing a furor in the media and resulting in myself, as well as other members of my staff, being interviewed on several talk shows and by the newspapers.

On August 2, our billboards were to go up. We had raised the necessary funds and sent a cashier’s check and the posters that were to be used to Gannett Outdoor. I called the Gannett sales person to have a copy of the location map faxed to us, and she asked me if I had heard from the Denver office. I indicated that I had not, and she inferred that they might e wanting to break their contract because of the furor caused by those opposing it. You can imagine our surprise and chagrin to discover that it was not the Catholics who mounted the opposition, but the Seventh-day Adventist Church. We have since had it confirmed that it was the combined pressure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, government officials and the Catholics that led to Gannett’s breaking the contract.

We quickly called Root Outdoor in Fort Collins, Colorado. They agreed to post the billboards, and again, we sent out a cashier’s check, only to have them notify us the following day that they had changed their minds and would no longer post them.

At this point, we know that Satan did not want us in Denver. This only worked to strengthen our conviction that this was where God would have us go. We quickly contacted our printer, and in less than fort-eight hours, we had 50,000 copies of the Protestant printed. Several volunteers from the Troy Seventh-day Adventist Church helped us label them, and by the grace of God, we were able to mail them in time to coincide with the Pope ’s arrival.

While this was taking place, Bill Grimm, our street evangelist, David Musodole from Fiji, myself, and others, were converging on Denver with 100,000 tracts and several thousand copies of the Protestant.

We applied for, and received permission to pass out literature at Stapleton Airport, and this proved to be so effective that we intend to continue with an airport ministry in the future.

Some of us were able to gain an entrance to several of the papal events to videotape and photograph them. The young people, treated to what amounted a rock concert, were wildly enthusiastic as the pope mobile made a lap around Mile High Stadium. The procession of people, including high government officials that knelt before the pope ,  kissing his ring and hugging him, sickened us.

On the streets, Catholics had been deployed to stand right beside us offering “Catholic answers” including a tract that said Ellen White’s name adds up to 666. In all this, the Lord was glorified, however, as the attention drew the media and people who were interested in what we had to offer.

If we learned anything from our experience in Denver, it was that when we are undertaking anything of this nature, it is never wise to reveal your plans ahead of the event. On Friday, August 13, we brought to bear what had been our secret weapon—an airplane pulling a large banner on which it was stated: “pope =antichrist, free book 1-800-REFORMER.” This was on local news, and resulted in a number of phone calls, with requests for our free book, The Great Controversy.

On Sabbath we attended the Renaissance Seventh-day Adventist Church, and independent church, and were able to share what we had been doing. As a result, several members joined us in the afternoon when we went back to pass out literature. We were also joined by a former Catholic priest, as well as by other brothers and sisters who were in town on their own.

Even though the number of us who participated in this project was small, we felt the Lord’s blessing as we distributed thousands of tracts and copies of the Protestant newspaper. We were able to study the Bible with several people, some of whom accepted the Sabbath.

As we reviewed the week’s events, we were encouraged to set new goals. We ate planning to start a two week training school to train people in street evangelism. We urge you to prayerfully consider whether the Lord might not have you chare in this soul-winning experience. If you feel the Lord is calling you to receive more training in evangelism, contact our office by calling 1-800-REFORMER.

The End

Image to the Beast

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We are Seventh-day Adventists and I am proud of that name. It is a name that God has given to us as a people.

I remember my first experience in attending a Seventh-day Adventist Church. A young minister was giving a study on Daniel 7. As I listened, the pastor read the various descriptions of the little horn power from Daniel 7 and Revelation 13. There are over a dozen identifying marks of the Roman Church given in these two chapters—marks that when collectively considered could not possibly apply to any other power. Just imagine being a Roman Catholic for thirty-two years, and hearing for the first time that the leader of your church was the Antichrist.

“And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8. The Roman Papacy is Satan’s crowning achievement, and through this power he hopes to bring the whole world under his control.

I make no apologies and I am deeply stirred within my soul. God has a message of stern rebuke to this church. We know that the Protestant nations will clasp hands with the Roman Church and that the papacy will use Protestant America as a puppet to bring all the world under its control.

“In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. On them is shining wonderful light form the Word of God. They have been given a work of the most solemn import—the proclamation of the first, second and third angel’s messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention. The most solemn truths ever entrusted to mortals have been given us to proclaim to the world. The proclamation of these truths is to be our work. The world is to be warned, and God’s people are to be true to the trust committed to them. They are not to engage in speculation, neither are they to enter into business enterprises with unbelievers; for this would hinder them in their God-given work.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 19,20

We have been entrusted with a work like no other people on the face of this earth. This is the time when the Seventh-day Adventist Church should be on the front line, but the leaders are retreating, waving white flags. Peace and safety messages are being preached while those who are acting as faithful watchmen, seeking to expose the man of sin with billboards, are being disfellowshipped.

“Our message is a life-and-death message, and we must let this message appear as it is—the great power of God. Then the Lord will make it effectual. We are to present it in all its telling force. The first and second angel’s messages are bound up with the third angel’s message. The power of the proclamation of the fist and second angel’s messages is to be concentrated in the third.” The Voice in Speech and Song, 329

“When men stand out in defiance against the counsel of God, they are warring against God. Is it right for those connected with such ones to treat them as if they were in perfect harmony with them, making no difference between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not? Though they be ministers or medical missionaries, they have dishonored Christ before the forces of the loyal and the disloyal. Open rebuke is necessary, to prevent others from being ensnared.” Testimonies for the Church Containing Letters to Physicians and Ministers Instruction to Seventh-day Adventists, 9

Today, God is calling eleventh hour workers to fill the ranks, to take the last message of mercy to a perishing world. “There are many souls to come out of the ranks of the world, out of the churches—even the Catholic Church—whose zeal will far exceed that of those who have stood in rank and file to proclaim the truth heretofore. For this reason the eleventh hour laborers will receive their penny. These will see the battle coming and will give the trumpet a certain sound. When the crisis is upon us, when the season of calamity shall come, they will come to the front, gird themselves with the whole armor of God, and exalt the law, adhere to the faith of Jesus, and maintain the cause of religious liberty which reformers defended with toil and for which they sacrificed their lives.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 387,388 They will receive eternal life because they went to the front, saw the enemy coming and rose up to battle—they were numbered with the cowardly and fearful.

When the Lord’s Day Alliance recently came out with a book, they praised the executive director what he had accomplished during his years of service. They said that he had made history for the Alliance when he spoke at Andrews University Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan. In spite of the differences of opinion with reference to the Sabbath question, their leader explained, “We clapsed hands across these differences.” See The Great Controversy, 588.

From the Gleaner, May 17, 1993, part one of a five part series states: “We may have less to say in some lines in regards to the Roman power and the Papacy.” Quoting Ellen G. White, it continues, using quotations that emphasize the fact that we need to speak the truth in love. But I submit to you that to warn the world, giving the three angel’s messages in its entirety and exposing the man of sin, is love.

As I read: “Billboard derides Catholics, forgets to speak the truth in love,” I am concerned for my church. Then, when I read in the fourth part of the five part series in the Gleaner, July 12, 1993, “The Great Controversy: Taming the Strong Language: Such a practical approach to inspiration is not popular with some.” I find that this article concludes that Seventh-day Adventists might need to change the language of The Great Controversy. I asked myself, “Is Adventism making an image to the beast?”

The Adventist Review is now speaking up against the billboard campaign, but the thing that troubled me the most was a picture of a Roman Catholic nun, called the “cookie nun.” “Sister Jean Thuerauf, who, in an effort to get youngsters off the streets and away from gangs, started a bakery in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has earned the affectionate title of ‘Cookie Nun.’ Profits from Sister Jean’s Cookie Cart are used for scholarships so the youngsters can attend Catholic schools.” Why are we putting this in our magazine?

I received a letter in regard to the billboards from the Catholic Campus Ministry of the Ecumenical Affairs office. To support their position, they quoted from a book by George Vandeman, What I Like About….They are using our material to support the Catholic position. I am shocked at what I see.

I take no pleasure in speaking strongly, but I see our church beginning to blend with the rest of the ecumenical world. The Sacramento Bee came out with an article entitled: “Intolerance in America still a pattern of life for many.” “Intolerance in America, a billboard says, ‘And all the world wondered after the beast.’ When religion’s love is lost. Driven by fear, ignorance, fanatics sow seeds of violence.” Do you see the handwriting on the wall when it is considered intolerant in America to speak against Rome and the Papacy? The following is a part of that article.

“On a billboard along 16th Street about a month ago, high above the traffic, a faintly smiling caricature of John Paul II waved benignly to passing motorists.

“At first glance, the cartoon image of the pope might have appeared to be an advertisement for Catholicism, but a telephone call to the 800 number on the board provides a different picture. What callers received in the mail—after leaving their address—was a booklet that calls the pope the Antichrist or ‘the beast.’

“The pope is the satanic dictator who will send the world into misery and war before Jesus Christ’s second coming to save the faithful.

“To some, the billboard is an example of religious intolerance. To the billboard proponents, it is the truth.

“‘I am exercising religious liberty,’ said Danny Vierra, the Lodi man and former Catholic leading the billboard effort locally. ‘Protestant reformation was in harmony with what I am saying. The Papacy is the Antichrist.’

“He draws that conclusion, in part, because of what is inscribed on the pope’s miter, his tall ornamented cap, which carries the title Vicarius Filii Dei, Latin for Vicar of Christ.

“The booklet by author A. Jan Marcussen assigns roman numerals to the various letters in Vicarius Filii Dei….and gets 666.

“And in chapter 13, verse 18 of Revelations, the number is linked to the beast.

“Al Menendez an Episcopalian and research director for Americans for Religious Liberty in Silver Springs, Md., said the billboards—which have sprung up all over the West—are examples of religious intolerance.

“Intolerance need not be murderous. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, representing 1.3 million reform Jews, denounce singer Sinead O’Conner for publicly defacing a photograph of the pope during a ‘Saturday Night Live’ television show.

“Roger Keller, a professor of world religion at Brigham Young University, said that there is continuous antipathy toward those who are different.

“Vierra, the ex-alter boy with the anti-papal billboards, said the doctors and business owners behind the billboards are not part of a hate group. He professed love for the Catholic people.

“‘Our goal is to get people to study the Word of God,’ he said. ‘We have had 500 phone calls. People have thanked us. They have ordered other books that expose the Papacy in detail.’

“Although the pope billboard was taken down, others have taken its place in other locations. The billboards have the ‘the phone ringing off the hook. The few calls we get against us say the pope is our holy father. The Bible says call no man father.’”

It is a sad day when Brigham Young University, the Episcopalian Church and the American Hebrew Congregations all speak out against the billboard, but shocking when officials of the Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Portland have said the ads do not represent the views of the church.

“With rapid steps we are approaching this period. When the Protestant churches shall unite with the secular power to sustain a false religion, for opposing which their ancestors endured the fiercest persecution: when the state shall use its power to enforce the decrees and sustain the insututions of the church, –then will Protestant America have formed an image to the to the Papacy, and there will be national apostasy which will end only in national ruin.” Signs of the Times, March 22, 1910

“In the very time in which we live, the Lord has called His people and has given them a message to bear. He has called them to expose the wickedness of the man of sin who has made the Sunday law a distinctive power, who has thought to change times and laws, and to oppress the people of God who stand firmly to honor Him by keeping the only true Sabbath, the Sabbath of creation, as holy unto the Lord.” Evangelism, 705

“The Lord has a controversy with His professed people in these last days. In this controversy men in responsible positions will take a course directly opposite to that pursued by Nehemiah. [They will not be trying to repair the breach, will they?] They will not only ignore and despise the Sabbath themselves, but they will try to keep it from others by burying it beneath the rubbish of custom and tradition. In churches and in large gatherings in the open air, ministers will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week. There are calamities on sea and land: and other calamities will increase, one disaster following close upon another; and the little band of conscientious Sabbath-keepers will be pointed out as the ones who are bringing the wrath of God upon the world by their disregard of Sunday.” Review and Herald, March 18, 1884

As I see our church today speaking out, denying the message of those billboards—that the man of sin shall be revealed is the view of Seventh-day Adventism—and as I see Kenneth Cox professing that, “We really don’t believe that the pope is the Antichrist,” I am confused.
“I saw the nominal church and nominal Adventists, like Judas, would betray us to the Catholics to obtain their influence to come against the truth. The saints then will be an obscure people, little known to the Catholics; but the churches and nominal Adventists who know of our faith and customs (for they hated us on account of the Sabbath for they could not refute it) will betray the saints and report them to the Catholics as those who disregard the institutions of the people; that is, that they keep the Sabbath and disregard Sunday.” Spalding-Magan Collection, 1

Once a person starts working against God’s message as given by the three angels, anything is possible, because when there is not a love of the truth, the mind will very quickly move on to accept advanced delusions.

When I read in our church paper about the cookie nun, and when I see my brethren’s names being turned in to the archdiocese, I no longer am confused. “As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light.” The Great Controversy, 608

The Episcopalians, Brigham Young University, the Baptist Church, the Ecumenical Movement, Roman Catholicism and Seventh-day Adventists are all agreed in their assertion that the billboards are not speaking the truth in love.

“Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.” Ibid.

“When Christ saw in the Jewish people a nation divorced from God, he saw also a professed Christian church united to the world and the Papacy. And as He stood upon Mount Olivet, weeping over Jerusalem till the sun sank behind the western hill, so He is watching over and pleading with sinners in these last moments of time. Soon He will say to the angels who are holding the four winds, ‘Let the plagues loose; let darkness, destruction, and death come upon the transgressors of My law.’ Will He be obliged to say to those who have had great light and great knowledge, as He said to the Jews, ‘O that thou hadst known, even thou in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace. But now they are hid from thine eyes.’?” Kress Collection, 153. Who do you think is the people spoken of in this prophecy?

“All unite in heaping their bitterest condemnation upon the ministers. Unfaithful pastors have prophesied smooth messages;…Now, in their despair, these teachers confess before the world their work of deception. The multitudes are filled with fury. ‘We are lost!’ they cry, ‘and you are the cause of our ruin;’ and they turn upon the false shepherds….Now the angel of death goes forth, represented in Ezekiel’s vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons, to whom the command is given: ‘Slay utterly old and young, both maid, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.’ Says the prophet, ‘They began at the ancient men which were before the house.’ Ezekiel 9:1-6. The work of destruction begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual guardians of the people. The false watchmen are the first to fall. There are none to pity or to spare. Men, women, maidens, and little children perish together.” The Great Controversy, 655, 656

The End

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 20

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 20 – Epilogue– The Three Angels’ Messages

Before I conclude this book, I would like to say that I love Catholics. In fact, most of my family are Roman Catholic. My message is not, therefore, an attack on Catholic people, but an unmasking of the Roman Catholic system as antichrist. There are many people connected with this religious denomination that are indeed true Christians. It is not my intention, in any way, to judge the hearts of these individuals, but to expose the system in which they worship, especially at a time in which it seeks to impose its Babylonian system worldwide in a New World Order. At such a time as this, the following Scripture applies: “For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” (Rev. 18: 5).

Many times my own parents have asked me the question: “Why must you write about another person’s beliefs; why knock their church?” Believe me, friends, I take no pleasure in exposing the sins of Babylon, but consider it a mandate from God, since Antichrist has attempted to usurp His throne and authority, and the multitudes that follow it will be lost as a result. Others will say, “This is not love, and you profess to be a Christian!” Always remember the following: “True love seeks first the honor of God and the salvation of souls. Those who have this love will not evade the truth to save themselves from the unpleasant results of plain speaking. When souls are in peril, God’s ministers will not consider self, but will speak the word given to speak, refusing to excuse or palliate evil.” (Prophets and Kings, pp. 141, 142). On the battlefield of Good vs. Evil, Right vs. Wrong, and Truth vs. Error, with eternal destiny at stake, does anyone dare to claim immunity from critical examination of false beliefs simply because they are part of a religion? After all, this is at the very heart of what “the great controversy between Christ and Satan” is all about!

Friends, the war between Christ and Satan is ages old. Revelation 12: 7 says: “There was war in heaven: Michael [Christ— see Jude 9, I Thess. 4: 16, and John 5: 26- 29] and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.” Thus, the great controversy between good and evil, which had its beginning in Heaven when Satan was the beautiful cherub, Lucifer, has continued on this earth since the time of Adam and Eve. Satan will use any medium necessary, not excluding religious or political organizations, or even a false apparition of the Virgin Mary in his efforts to destroy God’s people. Just as the master deceiver used the serpent, he has used Pharaoh of Egypt, Nebucchadnezzer of Babylon, Herod of Rome, certain kings of Israel, and the Scribes and the Pharisees. And today he is using the Roman papacy to further accomplish his purposes, which will reach their climax in the near future. Since Roman Catholicism has intoxicated nearly every religious organization with her false doctrines, as well as the kings and the inhabitants of the earth, Satan is ready to strike at any moment, and for the last time.

According to Bible prophecies and the marshaling of events all about us that are obviously related to the fulfillment of those prophecies, we are now standing but a short distance from the full- blown fulfillment of the “mark of the beast” vs. “the seal of God” issue portrayed so graphically in Revelation 13 and 14. The New World Order and its One World Religion (which will demand the worship of Sunday by every human being on this planet) is ready to be implemented. And is God ready for the crisis? Absolutely! And His answer is contained in Revelation 14: 6- 12— the Three Angels’ Messages! “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven [the urgency with which this vital message must be given], having the everlasting gospel [the one and only gospel of the Holy Scriptures] to preach [the message must be heard] unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice [it is a life- or- death message], fear God [get your lives in harmony with His commandments], and give glory to Him [reflect His character or law in your life]; for the hour of His judgment is [not ‘will’] come [the hour of final accountability is here]; and worship Him [not the beast (Rome) or its image (apostate Protestantism) when Sunday observance is enforced by law] that made [for He is the Creator] heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water [the words contained in the fourth commandment— the Sabbath ; in other words, “Observe My holy day ”]. And there followed another angel [the message is important enough to command special attention], saying, Babylon [Protestant Churches have begun to reject the 1st Angel’s message for Babylonish traditions], is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations [the whole world] drink of the wine [they have swallowed, among others, her false doctrines of Sunday sacredness and the immortality of the soul] of the wrath of her fornication [spiritual adultery]. And the third angel followed them [backing up the first two angels’ messages with the most terrible warning in the Bible], saying with a loud voice [the message is most urgent], If any man worship the beast or his image, and receive his mark [Sunday— a commandment of man] in his forehead [he believes it], or in his hand [he meekly goes along with it], The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone [Eternal Fire will consume the wicked and is eternal in its effects (see Malachi 4: 1, 3; Jude 7)] in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: [In the Greek, aion, an indefinite period of time. It could be anything from a moment to an extensive period of time, depending on the ingredients of what is being discussed. The wicked are punished according to their works. Obviously, their lengths of punishment will vary. Satan will suffer longest. But, all the wicked will be entirely consumed. (See Rev. 20: 12- 14; II Thess. 1: 8, 9; and again Mal. 4: 1, 3)]… who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God [not Rome], and the faith of Jesus [for it is only by faith in Christ and through His grace that we can obey His commandments].”

The most solemn message in the whole of Scripture is the Three Angels’ Messages, for it is the last warning to the world before probation closes once and for all! It really is not that difficult to understand the prophecies of Revelation when you learn what the signs and symbols mean. I remember the first time I read the Three Angels’ Messages after receiving wisdom and understanding from God. Not only did I fall in love with them, I wanted to share them with the whole world; and I pray you will, too, for it is a message of salvation! Share this book with whomever you can. Send it to your friends and family, maybe to a whole city! But whatever you do, do something now! And God will reward you greatly. The promise is “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (Rev 1: 3). May the grace of Almighty God be with you, brothers and sisters, and, remember, you have nothing to fear, for the Lord of hosts and His truth will triumph in the end.

“And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven [a fourth angel joins with the Three Angels of Rev. 14: 6- 12 and gives added power to the message], having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird . For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. [Is God wrong here to speak so negatively of a worldwide ‘religious’ combine which rejects Heaven’s final warning of mercy— the Three Angels’ Messages? Which enforces life- threatening penalties against those who faithfully bear God’s last warning appeals under the mighty power of the Holy Spirit? and which willingly submits itself to ‘the power of darkness’ in the form of spiritualism? Because its work bears the label ‘religion, ’ does it legally merit immunity from exposure of its falsity by the truth of God’s Word? Or are the laws now being stealthily set in place forbidding ‘attacks’ on other religious beliefs actually selfserving devices of the ‘father of lies’ to prevent the disclosure of his artful deceptions and deadly masquerades to lead multitudes to perdition?] And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people , that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. [it is not heartwarming that God´s last endeavor in the ‘heat controversy’ between Christ and Satan before probation ends once and forever for fallen mankind is to rescue Hist true followers from doomed Babylong before the Seven Last PLagues begin! God truly cares for His Own. Not a single honest soul will be lost! Praise God! From first to last, the ‘great controversy’ is primarily a spiritual battle!] For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen [for all the world was her seat, but soon the wicked of this world will turn on her because they have been the victims of her deceptions], and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” (Revelation 18: 1- 8)!

End

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 19

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 19 – The Crowning Act in the Drama of Deception– Satan’s Personation of Christ

Friends, I believe the demon-originated, counterfeit Virgin Mary will soon make her bodily appearance to the world, and by this masterpiece of Satan’s, thousands, yea, millions of innocent people will be deceived! And perhaps, the Virgin herself, a very familiar spirit, will present her son, the counterfeit Jesus, to the world, who, in reality, is Satan himself . If so, this will be the crowning act of Satan’s deceptions! But even before this, we may see demons in the form of the apostles, such as Peter and Paul, contradict what they wrote at the dictation of the Holy Spirit when on earth. Here is one such prediction: “After three days of darkness, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, having come down from Heaven, shall preach in the whole world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and will settle upon the cardinal who is to become Pope. Christianity, then, will spread throughout the world. He is the Holy Pontiff, chosen by God to withstand the storm. At the end, he will have the gift of miracles, and his name shall be praised over the whole earth. Whole nations will come back to the Church and the face of the earth will be renewed.” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 353). It is perilous to conclude that “seeing is believing.” Satan is counting on this human fallacy in order to delude earth’s inhabitants.

Dear friends, I can not say that Satan, through his hellish arts, will, or will not, enact the above scene in exactly the way it has been described, but this I do know— that the Scriptures warn us that “such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ . And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light . Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (II Cor. 11: 13- 15)

“Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle- working demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven. By these agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be Christ Himself, and claiming the title and worship which belong to the world’s Redeemer. They will perform wonderful miracles of healing and will profess to have revelations from heaven contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures.

“As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1: 13- 15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air: ‘Christ has come! Christ has come!’ The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday , and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give heed to these sorceries, saying: This is ‘the great power of God. ’ Acts 8: 10.

“But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false christ are not in accordance with the Scriptures. His blessing is pronounced upon the worshipers of the beast and his image, the very class upon whom the Bible declares that God’s unmingled wrath shall be poured out.

“And, furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s advent. The Saviour has warned His people against deception upon this point, and has clearly foretold the manner of His second coming. ‘There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect…. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ’ Matthew 24: 24- 27, 31; 25: 31; Revelation 1: 7; 1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17. This coming there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will be universally known— witnessed by the whole world.

“Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive . By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. To all the testing time will come. By the sifting of temptation the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible and the Bible only?” (The Great Controversy, pp. 624, 625).

Oh, friends, I know that it is not a question of whether these supernatural deceptions will happen or not, but of when they will happen! By their own admission, the authors of The Thunder of Justice believe that since Mary, in giving birth to Jesus, brought Him into the world for His first coming, she will be the one who will usher in His second coming to the world . After all, the book continues: “As John the Baptist prepared the way for the first coming of Jesus, Mary prepares the way for His Second Coming. Mary proclaims that a new world and era is upon us, and the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart and the Second Pentecost (the outpouring of the Holy Spirit) will usher in the Reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Blessed Mother spoke through Father Gobbi on October 13, 1990, about the glorious reign of Jesus and His Second Coming: ‘The glorious reign of Christ, which will be established in your midst with the Second Coming of Jesus in the world is close at hand… This is His glorious return, to establish His reign in your midst and to bring all humanity, redeemed by His most precious blood, back to the state of His new terrestrial paradise. That which is being prepared is so great that its equal has never existed since the creation of the world .” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 12).

The authors conclude, according to their expectations and predictions, that Mary will not only make more grand appearances very soon (perhaps in full bodily form this time for millions to see), but many supernatural things will also take place in the near future— like a permanent pagan red cross for all the world to see in the sky (with its “T” for Tammuz). Also, “she has promised to leave a visible sign for all humanity at the site of the apparitions of Medjugorje [‘ the new Fatima ’ (Newsweek, August 25, 1997, p. 52)].” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 207). Others say that Mary will leave a prominent sign for the world to see by the year 2000. I guess we will just have to wait and see. And will the counterfeit “Mother of God,” together with the ecumenical efforts of the pope, be the one to tip the scales of public opinion in favor of uniting the churches of the world and of bringing the harlot “daughters” back to their mother? Not only is this possible, friends, but Mary, since she “never saw corruption, but was assumed into heaven” according to the Catholic belief, or, as most Christians and non-Christians believe, is a “living spirit” after death, could be the one who will unite the churches of the land in a common goal under spiritualism in its modern form— the New Age movement! A three- fold union consisting of Catholicism, apostate Protestantism, and spiritualism will thus be formed by the beliefs they hold in common— Sunday sacredness [or the worship of the Babylonian sun- god, which New Agers call their “father”] and the doctrine of the immortality of the soul [which the New Agers simply call “reincarnation”]. God has prophesied that this three- fold union will be formed, and He revealed it to John in the following symbolic language: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon [pagan spiritualism], and out of the mouth of the beast [Roman Catholicism], and out of the mouth of the false prophet [apostate Protestantism]. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles , which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” (Rev. 16: 13- 15). The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which is the basic reason behind image worship and the adoration of the Virgin Mary, in whatever form one accepts it, sets the stage for the worship of demons! If you believe that a spirit from the dead can communicate with the living, you are a sitting- duck, just waiting for the over- powering delusion of the New (Age) Eve— the Queen of the Coming (New) Age .

And could the Virgin Mary be the one to sway the Moslems to join with the other religions on common points of faith? Interestingly enough, Fatima, the famed city in Portugal where the Virgin Mary has appeared many times, was named after Muhammad’s daughter, Fatimah. Furthermore, one of the books of the Koran is entitled Maryam or Marium (the Virgin Mary). She is respected by Moslems all over the world as the ”the pious woman of the Word,” who, some Moslems have told me, is already in Heaven!

Go to Chapter 20 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 18

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 18 – The New Eve of the Coming New Age

Friends, the final events will be rapid ones because God “will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness.” (Rom. 9: 28). Satan, therefore, knowing his time is running out, is working diligently to deceive the world through his lying sophistries, in which the Marian Movement is a key pawn. This player continues its assaults against the truths of the Bible by making the claim that Mary is the “Second or New Eve,” because as our so- called “CoRedeemer, Mediatrix, and Advocate,” she plays a major role in our salvation. In fact, in the August 25, 1997, issue of Newsweek , which portrayed the Virgin Mary on its cover, it stated in their feature article entitled “Hail Mary,” that “a growing movement in the Roman Catholic Church wants the pope to proclaim a new, controversial dogma: that Mary is Co- Redeemer . Will he do it… in time for the millenium?” “In the last four years, the pope has received 4,340,429 signatures from 157 countries— an average of 100,000 a month— supporting the proposed doctrine,” added Newsweek.

Friends, does the Bible tell us in John 3: 16, that: “God so loved the world, that he gave the Virgin Mary, that whosoever believeth in her should not perish, but have everlasting life”? Of course it doesn’t! It was Christ who bore the sins of the whole world. He is called the second Adam, because He took upon Himself human nature and passed over the ground where the first Adam fell. “For verily he took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham.… like unto His brethren… a merciful and faithful high priest… to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” (Heb. 2: 16, 17). Yet, the authors of The Thunder of Justice have the audacity to argue that since Christ was conceived in Mary by the Holy Ghost [see Matt. 1: 18, 20], Mary, therefore, is the Holy Spirit’s wife or spouse— she is the bride of the Holy Spirit, and together they will give the call: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come, And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Rev. 22: 17). But that is not what the verse implies at all! The “bride” in this verse refers to the holy city, the New Jerusalem. The Bible clearly states: “And I John saw the holy city , new Jerusalem , coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues… saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife . And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem , descending out of heaven from God.” (Rev. 21: 2, 9, 10). Friends, it is not the Virgin Mary, but the still small voice of the Holy Spirit and the wooing appeal of the Holy City, the bride, that are calling every human being, every sinner, to heed the invitation to come Home to her— the “house” of “many mansions,” prepared for those who choose to be among God’s Redeemed. We should all “desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city [the New Jerusalem].” (Hebrews 11: 16).

My home is not this earth, and I hope it is not yours either. My home is the New Jerusalem which will come down out of Heaven to this earth after the thousand- year period of Satan’s imprisonment on a desolate planet and forever plant itself on the soil of the Earth Made New (Rev. 21: 1, 2)! So was John the Revelator wrong when he wrote the words above— words that never once identify the Virgin Mary as the “bride” referred to in the Book of Revelation? Had he received a false vision from God in regard to these last- day events? Or are the appearances, apparitions, bleeding icons, and the words of this purported Mary themselves that which is wrong, indeed? Once again, the counterfeit Mary’s words contradict the Holy Scriptures!!!

The counterfeit Mary, last but not least, identifies herself as the “Queen of the Coming Age.” Where in the Bible are we told that a “Queen” will rule the Earth Made New? The Bible, to the contrary, tells us that the “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19: 16) will reign in the Earth Made New, and that “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,” proceeded “out of the throne of God and of the Lamb .” (Rev. 22: 1).

The time is short, oh, so short! On Saturday, December 21, 1996, one of the stories in The Denver Post read: “Virgin Mary sightings rise as millennium nears . Hundreds flock to Virgin apparition on office tower.” The story reported that an estimated 250,000 people have come to the Seminole Finance Corporation building in Clearwater, Florida, to see the reflection on its windows that looks like the Virgin Mary. “In these times of sin and confusion, in these days of the approaching millennium, believers say the Mother of God is visiting Earth with increased regularity ,” the Post reported. “Seeing is believing,” they said. But is it? Can we trust our senses in this day and age? Should we? What does the Bible say? “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isa. 8: 20).

Go to Chapter 19 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 17

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 17 – The Mark of the Beast and the United States’ Role in Bible Prophecy

Revelation 13 begins with a description of a beast rising out of the sea. The first thing we notice about this beast is that it is a composite beast: it “was like unto a leopard , and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion : and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” It is referred to as the leopard- bodied beast, which we have already seen to be the Roman Papacy. The four beasts used to make up the composite beast are the same four beasts, —which symbolized Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome —that Daniel saw in vision in Daniel 7 . As a matter of record, papal Rome inherited from each of these pagan empires some of their basic identifying characteristics that we still see being practiced in this contemporary false system of religion— the Roman Catholic Church. From Babylon, the papacy inherited a pagan priesthood; from Medo-Persia, sun worship; from Greece, human philosophies; and from the dragon, Pagan Rome, its power, seat and great authority [Pagan Rome even gave the high priest’s title—“ Pontifex Maximus,” usurped by the Caesars— to the papacy, as well as Latin, formerly the language of pagan Rome and even till this day the official language of the papal seat of power]. It is, then, accurately and appropriately, depicted as “a beast rising out of the sea [or populated areas (See Rev. 17: 15)]” that has borrowed parts, or characteristics, of other beasts or kingdoms. (See Daniel 7: 23). Since it is the first of two beasts to appear in this chapter, the Roman papacy is referred to as the first beast of Revelation, chapter 13.

But, “says the prophet: ‘I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb. ’ Verse 11. Both the appearance of this beast and the manner of its rise indicate that the nation which it represents is unlike those presented under the preceding symbols. The great kingdoms that have ruled the world were presented to the prophet Daniel as beasts of prey, rising when ‘the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. ’ Daniel 7: 2. In Revelation 17 an angel explained that waters represent ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. ’ Revelation 17: 15. Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds of heaven striving upon the great sea represent the terrible scenes of conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have attained to power.

“But the beast with lamblike horns was seen ‘coming up out of the earth. ’ Instead of overthrowing other powers to establish itself, the nation thus represented must arise in territory previously unoccupied and grow up gradually and peacefully. It could not, then, arise among the crowded and struggling nationalities of the Old World— that turbulent sea of ‘peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. ’ It must be sought in the Western Continent.

“What nation of the New World was in 1798 [the end of the 1260- year prophecy] rising into power, giving promise of strength and greatness, and attracting the attention of the world? The application of the symbol admits of no question. One nation, and only one, meets the specifications of this prophecy; it points unmistakably to the United States of America . Again and again the thought, almost the exact words, of the sacred writer has been unconsciously employed by the orator and the historian in describing the rise and growth of this nation. The beast was seen ‘coming up out of the earth; ’ and, according to the translators, the word here rendered ‘coming up’ literally signifies ‘to grow or spring up as a plant. ’ And, as we have seen, the nation must arise in territory previously unoccupied. A prominent writer, describing the rise of the United States, speaks of ‘the mystery of her coming forth from vacancy, ’ and says: ‘Like a silent seed we grew into empire. ’— G. A. Townsend, The New World Compared With the Old, page 462. A European journal in 1850 spoke of the United States as a wonderful empire, which was ‘emerging, ’ and ‘amid the silence of the earth daily adding to its power and pride. ’— The Dublin Nation….

“‘And he had two horns like a lamb. ’ The lamblike horns indicate youth, innocence, and gentleness, fitly representing the character of the United States when presented to the prophets as ‘coming up’ in 1798. Among the Christian exiles who first fled to America and sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance were many who determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. Their views found place in the Declaration of Independence, which sets forth the great truth that ‘all men are created equal’ and endowed with the inalienable right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ’ And the Constitution guarantees to the people the right of self- government, providing that representatives elected by the popular vote shall enact and administer the laws. Freedom of religious faith was also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. Republicanism and Protestantism [the two horns of the lamb] became the fundamental principles of the nation . These principles are the secret of its power and prosperity. The oppressed and downtrodden throughout Christendom have turned to this land with interest and hope. Millions have sought its shores, and the United States has risen to a place among the most powerful nations of the earth.

“But the beast with lamblike horns ‘spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed;… saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. ’ Revelation 13: 11- 14.

“The lamblike horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to a striking contradiction between the professions and the practice of the nation thus represented. The ‘speaking’ of the nation is the action of its legislative and judicial authorities. By such action it will give the lie to those liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation of its policy. The prediction that it will speak ‘as a dragon’ and exercise ‘all the power of the first beast’ plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance and persecution that was manifested by the nations represented by the dragon and the leopardlike beast. And the statement that the beast with two horns ‘causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast’ indicates that the authority of this nation is to be exercised in enforcing some observance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy.

“Such action would be directly contrary to the principles of this government, to the genius of its free institutions, to the direct and solemn avowals of the Declaration of Independence, and to the Constitution. The founders of the nation wisely sought to guard against the employment of secular power on the part of the church, with its inevitable result— intolerance and persecution. The Constitution provides that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, ’ and that ‘no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States. ’ Only in flagrant violation of these safeguards to the nation’s liberty, can any religious observance be enforced by civil authority. But the inconsistency of such action is no greater than is represented in the symbol. It is the beast with lamblike horns— in profession pure, gentle, and harmless— that speaks as a dragon.

“‘Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast. ’ Here is clearly presented a form of government in which the legislative power rests with the people, a most striking evidence that the United States is the nation denoted in the prophecy.

“But what is the ‘image to the beast’? and how is it to be formed? The image is made by the two- horned beast, and is an image to the beast. It is also called an image of the beast. Then to learn what the image is like and how it is to be formed we must study the characteristics of the beast itself— the papacy.

“When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people, she sought the support of the secular power. The result was the papacy , a church that controlled the power of the state and employed it to further her own ends, especially for the punishment of ‘heresy. ’ In order for the United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so control the civil government that the authority of the state will also be employed by the church to accomplish her own ends.

“Whenever the church has obtained secular power, she has employed it to punish dissent from her doctrines. Protestant churches that have followed in the steps of Rome by forming alliance with worldly powers have manifested a similar desire to restrict liberty of conscience. An example of this is given in the long- continued persecution of dissenters by the Church of England. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, thousands of nonconformist ministers were forced to flee from their churches, and many, both of pastors and people, were subjected to fine, imprisonment, torture, and martyrdom.

“It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aid of the civil government, and this prepared the way for the development of the papacy— the beast. Said Paul: ‘There’ shall ‘come a falling away,… and that man of sin be revealed. ’ 2 Thessalonians 2: 3. So apostasy in the church will prepare the way for the image to the beast.

“The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord there will exist a state of religious declension similar to that in the first centuries. ‘In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high- minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness , but denying the power thereof. ’ 2 Timothy 3: 1- 5. ‘Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils .’ 1 Timothy 4: 1. Satan will work ‘with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. ’ And all that ‘received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, ’ will be left to accept ‘strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. ’ 2 Thessalonians 2: 9- 11. When this state of ungodliness shall be reached, the same results will follow as in the first centuries.

“The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded by many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can ever be made. But there has been for years, in churches of the Protestant faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon common points of doctrine . To secure such a union, the discussion of subjects upon which all were not agreed— however important they might be from a Bible standpoint— must necessarily be waived .

“Charles Beecher, in a sermon in the year 1846, declared that the min- istry of ‘the evangelical Protestant denominations’ is ‘not only formed all the way up under a tremendous pressure of merely human fear, but they live, and move, and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and ap- pealing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush up the truth, and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was not this the way things went with Rome? Are we not living her life over again? And what do we see just ahead? Another general council! A world’s convention [New World Order]! Evangelical alliance, and universal creed [One World Religion]! ’— Sermon on ‘The Bible a Sufficient Creed, ’ delivered at Fort Wayne, Indiana, Feb. 22, 1846. When this shall be gained, then, in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only a step to the resort to force.

“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common [remember Life maga- zine stated that Mary could be the one to unify the churches of America, and her crowning appearance may pull it off], shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.

“The beast with two horns ‘causeth [commands] all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ’ Revelation 13: 16, 17. The third angel’s warning is: ‘If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. ’ ‘The beast’ mentioned in this message, whose worship is enforced by the twohorned beast, is the first, or leopardlike beast of Revelation 13— the papacy. The ‘image to the beast’ represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their dogmas. The ‘mark of the beast’ still remains to be defined.

“After the warning against the worship of the beast and his image the prophecy declares: ‘Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. ’ Since those who keep God’s commandments are thus placed in contrast with those that worship the beast and his image and receive his mark, it follows that the keeping of God’s law, on the one hand, and its violation, on the other, will make the distinction between the worshipers of God and the worshipers of the beast.

“The special characteristic of the beast, and therefore of his image, is the breaking of God’s commandments. Says Daniel, of the little horn, the papacy: ‘He shall think to change times and the law. ’ Daniel 7: 25, R. V. And Paul styled the same power the ‘man of sin, ’ who was to exalt himself above God. One prophecy is a complement of the other. Only by changing God’s law could the papacy exalt itself above God; whoever should understandingly keep the law as thus changed would be giving supreme honor to that power by which the change was made. Such an act of obedience to papal laws would be a mark of allegiance to the pope in the place of God.

“The papacy has attempted to change the law of God. The second commandment, forbidding image worship , has been dropped from the law, and the fourth commandment has been so changed as to authorize the observance of the first instead of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But papists urge, as a reason for omitting the second commandment, that it is unnecessary, being included in the first, and that they are giving the law exactly as God designed it to be understood. This cannot be the change foretold by the prophet. An intentional, deliberate change is presented: ‘He shall think to change the times and the law. ’ The change in the fourth commandment exactly fulfills the prophecy. For this the only authority claimed is that of the church. Here the papal power openly sets itself above God. [Remember, according to ‘Papa II, ’ ‘The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man but of God. ’ Pure Blasphemy!]

“While the worshipers of God will be especially distinguished by their regard for the fourth commandment,— since this is the sign of His creative power and the witness to His claim upon man’s reverence and homage,— the worshipers of the beast will be distinguished by their efforts to tear down the Creator’s memorial, to exalt the institution of Rome . It was in behalf of the Sunday that popery first asserted its arrogant claims; and its first resort to the power of the state was to compel the observance of Sunday as ‘the Lord’s day. ’ But the Bible points to the seventh day, and not to the first, as the Lord’s day. Said Christ: ‘The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. ’ The fourth commandment declares: ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord .’ And by the prophet Isaiah the Lord designates it: ‘My holy day. ’ Mark 2: 28; Isaiah 58.13.

“The claim so often put forth that Christ changed the Sabbath is disproved by His own words. In His Sermon on the Mount He said: ‘Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ’ Matthew 5: 17- 19.

“…. Roman Catholics acknowledge that the change of the Sabbath was made by their church, and declare that Protestants by observing the Sunday are recognizing her power. In the Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion, in answer to a question as to the day to be observed in obedience to the fourth commandment, this statement is made: ‘During the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified; but the church, instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the Spirit of God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now we sanctify the first, not the seventh day. Sunday means, and now is, the day of the Lord. ’

“As the sign of the authority of the Catholic Church, papist writers cite ‘the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of;… because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin. ’— Henry Tuberville, An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, page 58. What then is the change of the Sabbath, but the sign, or mark, of the authority of the Roman Church—‘ the mark of the beast’ ? [One Catholic authority put it this way: ‘Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act…. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious things. ’ (Letter, written on November 11, 1895, by chancellor to Cardinal Gibbons in reply to the inquiry on whether or not the Catholic Church claims to have changed the Sabbath)].

“The Roman Church has not relinquished her claim to supremacy; and when the world and the Protestant churches accept a sabbath of her creating, while they reject the Bible Sabbath, they virtually admit this assumption. They may claim the authority of tradition and of the Fathers for the change; but in so doing they ignore the very principle which separates them from Rome— that ‘the Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants. ’ The papist can see that they are deceiving themselves, willingly closing their eyes to the facts in the case. As the movement for Sunday enforcement [a National Sunday Law to be set up first in the U. S. A.] gains favor, he rejoices, feeling assured that it will eventually bring the whole Protestant world under the banner of Rome.

“Romanists declare that ‘the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] Church. ’— Mgr. Segur, Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today, page 213. The enforcement of Sundaykeeping on the part of Protestant churches is an enforcement of the worship of the papacy— of the beast. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment, choose to observe the false instead of the true Sabbath are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. But in the very act of enforcing a religious duty by secular power, the churches would themselves form an image to the beast; hence the enforcement of Sundaykeeping in the United States would be an enforcement of the worship of the beast and his image.

“But Christians of past generations observed the Sunday, supposing that in so doing they were keeping the Bible Sabbath; and there are now true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion, who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appointment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before Him. But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law , and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshiping the beast and his image . As men then reject the institution which God has declared to be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome—‘ the mark of the beast.’ And it is not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, that those who continue in transgression will receive ‘the mark of the beast. ’

“The most fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is contained in the third angel’s message. That must be a terrible sin which calls down the wrath of God unmingled with mercy. Men are not to be left in darkness concerning this important matter; the warning against this sin is to be given to the world before the visitation of God’s judgments, that all may know why they are to be inflicted, and have opportunity to escape them. Prophecy declares that the first angel would make his announcement to ‘every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. ’ The warning of the third angel, which forms a part of the same threefold message, is to be no less widespread. It is represented in the prophecy as being proclaimed with a loud voice, by an angel flying in the midst of heaven; and it will command the attention of the world.

“In the issue of the contest all Christendom will be divided into two great classes— those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark. Although church and state will unite their power to compel ‘all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond’ (Revelation 13: 16), to receive ‘the mark of the beast, ’ yet the people of God will not receive it. The prophet of Patmos beholds ‘them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God’ and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Revelation 15: 2, 3.” (The Great Controversy, pp. 439- 450).

Beware, dear friends, the prophecies you have just read will shortly come to pass, for the beast is making her move. On July 7, 1998, the Vatican released Pope John Paul II’s 104- page Apostolic Letter entitled Dies Domini— On Keeping the Lord’s Day Holy. The letter is a blatant attack on the Fourth Commandment, the Seventh- day Sabbath, and the Creator Himself! Point 67 of Dies Domini actually states: “Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy… Sunday must be sanctified.” On the same day, The Denver Post quoted Rome as saying: “A violator should be punished as a heretic.” Indeed, the end times are upon us!

Go to Chapter 18 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 16

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 16 – The Madonna of Rome Is the Madonna of Ancient Babylon

In The Thunder of Justice, these idolaters boldly state that the world is “witnessing the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and true beacon for all Christians.” (The Thunder of Justice, p. 5). But Mary is dead— dead and in the grave! And the people that claim to have seen the Virgin Mary are actually being duped by an evil spirit. And the statues of Mary are nothing more than mere clumps of cement shaped like the Babylonian Madonna from whom she originated. Strong words, but are they true? Take another look at the picture on the cover of this book, if you doubt my word! No wonder the language used in the Second Commandment prohibiting image worship, which was written with God’s own finger, by the way (see Ex. 31: 18), was so strong! No wonder the Pope of Rome, steeped in paganism, removed the Second Commandment from the Ten, for it pronounces judgment from a jealous God not only upon all violators, but also upon their children and their children’s children! “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” (Ex. 20: 4- 6). Oh, dear reader, nowhere in the law of God do we find stronger words than these!—“ them that hate me”! God is truly offended and rightly called “a jealous God,” Who will also visit the iniquity of their predecessors upon the descendants of these idolaters who continue the pagan practices of their parents, unless they repent! God, in mercy, may overlook their ignorance and do everything He can to win their hearts; but as they continue to transgress His laws after receiving light on the matter, just how long will God hold back His hand? That no one knows! Hosea 4: 6 says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

I find it immensely interesting that the prophet Jeremiah also had something to say about Israel’s worship of images of false gods, and was quite specific in his address. While dwelling in Egypt as forlorn exiles, instead of being witnesses for God against the heathenism around them, the Israelites were as much devoted to this form of idolatry as the Egyptians themselves. Jeremiah was sent of God to denounce wrath against his own people, if they continued to worship the “queen of heaven,” but his warnings were in vain. “Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken unto thee . But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.” (Jer. 44: 15- 17).

Alexander Hislop, the author of The Two Babylons, remarks: “The worship of the goddessmother with the child in her arms continued to be observed in Egypt till Christianity entered. If the Gospel had come in power among the mass of people, the worship of this goddess- queen would have been overthrown. With the generality it came only in name. Instead, therefore, of the Babylonian goddess being cast out, in too many cases her name only was changed . She was called the Virgin Mary, and, with her child, was worshipped with the same idolatrous feeling by professing Christians, as formerly by open and avowed Pagans …. It just amounts to this, that if Christ be admitted to be truly and properly God, and worthy of Divine honours, His mother, from whom He derived merely His humanity , must be admitted to be the same, must be raised far above the level of all creatures, and be worshipped as a partaker of the Godhead . The divinity of Christ is made to stand or fall with the divinity of His mother. Such is Popery…. This, however, is just the exact reproduction of the doctrine of ancient Babylon in regard to the great goddess- mother. The Madonna of Rome, then, is just the Madonna of Babylon. The ‘Queen of Heaven’ in the one system is the same as the ‘Queen of Heaven’ in the other…. The Roman and Babylonian Madonnas are the same .” (The Two Babylons, pp. 82, 83, 85). No wonder Alexander Hislop named his book The Two Babylons , for the New Testament Babylon is nothing more than a modernized Old Testament Babylon! In many cases, only the names have been changed! For example, the statues of the gods from the Pantheon are now found in the Vatican Museum, with the exception of the great statue of Jupiter, which has been modified, retitled, and seated on a throne in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome as St. Peter. Thousands of pilgrims kiss the foot of Jupiter, while thinking it is the statue of Peter.

Hislop brings out yet another remarkable characteristic between the Madonna of Babylon and the Madonna of Rome, and that is the nimbus or peculiar circle of light (the halo) that frequently encompasses their heads, as well as the heads of the Saints and Christ. Where could such a device have originated? Where in the whole compass of Scripture, do we ever read that Christ’s head was surrounded with a disk, or circle of light? What you will never find in the Word of God is found in the artistic representations of the great gods and goddesses of Babylon. The disk or halo, and particularly the circle, “were the well- known symbols of the Sundivinity , and figured largely in the symbolism of the East. With the circle or the disk the head of the Sun- divinity was encompassed. The same was the case in Pagan Rome. Apollo, as the child of the Sun, was often thus represented. The goddesses that claimed kindred with the Sun were equally entitled to be adorned with the nimbus or luminous circle,…. in the very same way as the head of The Roman Madonna is at this day surrounded.” (Ibid., p. 87).

Friends, let me now quote the last verses of Ezekiel eight: “Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north [remember, Satan, according to Isaiah 14, wanted to set himself up ‘in the sides of the north’— where God’s throne is in Heaven]; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz . Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these [greater than ‘the image of jealousy’]. And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces to the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east …. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” (Ezek. 8: 14- 16, 18).

Dear reader, there are two points that can immediately be drawn from these verses, in addition to the many points we have already discussed. First, “Women,” and not one woman, “sat weeping for Tammuz”— the god of Babylon. Do you remember the words on the forehead of the whore of Revelation 17— “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth”? Notice that the “Mother” has “Harlots,” or harlot daughters. Apparently, there are a number of other apostate churches that are following the ways or dogmas of their mother, Rome. Who are these daughters? And second, the “greater abominations” involve sun- worship! Somehow, Babylonian- style sun worship has been set up in the church. Does this have anything to do with the churches in the United States of America? How are they worshipping the sun? Does it have anything to do with Sunday— a day that is worshipped throughout America and the world, but is contrary to the day that the Lord instructed that we worship Him? All these questions will be answered in the next chapter on the “mark of the beast.”

Go to Chapter 17 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 14

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 14 – Mother and Child – the Grand Object of Worship

In further comparing the similarities between ancient Babylon and the “Babylon” of the New Testament, Hislop next refers to the objects of worship by both Babylon and Rome. He writes: “In those countries of Europe where the Papal system is most completely developed…all appearances of worshipping the King Eternal and Invisible is almost extinct, while the Mother and Child are the grand objects of worship. Exactly so, in this latter respect, also was it in ancient Babylon. The Babylonians, in their popular religion, supremely worshipped a Goddess Mother and a Son, who was represented in pictures and images as an infant or child in his mother’s arms. From Babylon, this worship of the Mother and the Child spread to the ends of the earth. In Egypt, the Mother and the Child were worshipped under the names Isis and Osiris [called most frequently Horus]…in Pagan Rome, as Fortuna and Jupiter…the boy; in Greece, as Ceres the Great Mother, with the babe at her breast…and even in Thibet [Tibet], China, and Japan, the Jesuit missionaries were astonished to find the counterpart of Madonna and her child as devoutly worshipped as in Papal Rome itself.

“….That son, though represented as a child in his mother’s arms, was a person of great stature and immense bodily powers, as well as most fascinating manners. In Scripture he is referred to (Ezek. 8:14) under the name of Tammuz…’The Lamented One.’ ” (The Two Babylons, pp. 14, 20, 21). Now let us turn to Ezekiel 8:12-14 and see this information applied to Israel in Scripture: “Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? For they say, The Lord seeth us not…He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.” Friends, Ezekiel’s prophetic words have a dual application, and apply not only to what had taken place in God’s sanctuary during ancient times, but also to what will take place in the church at the end of time when “Babylon the Great” will cause “the inhabitants of the earth” to be “made drunk with the wine of her fornication [false doctrines].” (Rev. 17: 5, 2). Since a woman represents a church, then the church here is “the house of Israel,” weeping for the god of Babylon in shameless apostasy; but this sad 67 course is to be repeated again, worldwide, at the end of time. In other words, such blatant idolatry is in the church today in the form of objects of worship — Saints, Baby Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. Had I been praying to Semiramis and Tammuz all those early years of my life? It sickens me today to think that I had been praying to the dead! And what about the reports of the weeping statues of the Virgin Mary? Is Semiramis still “lamenting” for her son Tammuz?

Hislop tells us that “the lamented one,” who was adored as a child, “seems, in point of fact, to have been the husband of Semiramis, whose name Ninus, by which he is commonly known in classical history, literally signified ‘The Son’….Now, this Ninus, or ‘Son,’ borne in the arms of the Babylonian Madonna, is so described as very clearly to identify him with Nimrod….of whom the Scriptural account is, that he first ‘began to be mighty on the earth,’ and that the ‘beginning of his kingdom was Babylon’ [See Genesis 10.8-10, see margin for verse 10].” (Ibid., p. 23). As to how Nimrod died, Scripture is silent. Hislop continues: “His wife Semiramis, who from an originally humble position, had been raised to share with him the throne of Babylon. What, in this emergency, shall she do? Shall she quietly forego the pomp and pride to which she has been raised? No. Though the death of her husband has given a rude shock to her power, yet her resolution and unbounded ambition were in no wise checked. On the contrary, her ambition took a still higher flight. In life her husband had been honoured as a hero; in death she will have him worshipped as a god, yea, as the woman’s promised seed, ‘Zero-ashta,’ who was destined to bruise the serpent’s head, and who, in doing so, was to have his own heel bruised.” (Ibid., pp. 58, 59). Utterly amazing! The counterfeit of Genesis 3.15 began in Babylon.

Hislop proceeds to show how this blatant idolatry has spread all over the world. Another feature of these “Mysteries” was magic, which Hislop calls the “twin sister of idolatry.” It was through the magical arts, and their “various tricks” and “strange and amazing objects” that Tammuz, the great god, the central object of their worship, was “revealed to them in the way most fitted to soothe their feelings and engage their blind affections…Tammuz, who had been slain, and for whom such lamentations had been made, was still alive, and encompassed with divine and heavenly glory….Thus the whole system of the secret Mysteries of Babylon was intended to glorify a dead man; 68 and when once the worship of one dead man was established, the worship of many more was sure to follow.

“….The scheme, thus skillfully formed, took effect. Semiramis gained glory from her dead and deified husband; and in course of time both of them, under the names Rhea and Nin, or ‘Goddess-Mother and Son,’ were worshipped with an enthusiasm that was incredible, and their images were everywhere set up and adored….This son, thus worshipped in his mother’s arms, was looked upon as invested with all the attributes, and called by almost all the names of the promised Messiah. As Christ, in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, was called Adonai, The Lord, so Tammuz was called Adonis. Under the name of Mithras, he was worshipped as the ‘Mediator.’ As Mediator and head of the covenant of grace, he was styled Baal-berith, Lord of the Covenant (Judges 8:33)….Thus daringly and directly was a mere mortal set up in Babylon [as has been the Virgin Mary in spiritual Babylon] in opposition to the ‘Son of the Blessed.’ ” (Ibid., 67-70, 73, 74).

Friends, can you not plainly see how popery is baptized paganism? Hislop continues: “If the child was to be adored, much more the mother. The mother, in point of fact, became the favorite object of worship. To justify this worship, the mother was raised to divinity as well as her son, and she was looked upon as destined to complete that bruising of the serpent’s head….The Roman church maintains that it was not so much the seed of the woman, as the woman herself, that was to bruise the head of the serpent. In defiance of all grammar, she renders the Divine denunciation against the serpent thus: ‘She shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise her heel.’ The same was held by the ancient Babylonians, and symbolically represented in their temples [and in the book The Thunder of Justice].

“…As time wore away, and the facts of Semiramis’s history became obscured, her son’s birth was boldly declared to be miraculous: and therefore she was called ‘Alma Mater’ [explained in Hislop’s footnote, page 76, from its ancient meanings to have the meaning of ‘the Virgin Mother’].” (Ibid., 75, 76).

Go to Chapter 15 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive? Chapter 13

by Danny Vierra

Is the Virgin Mary Dead or Alive booklChapter 13 – A Personal Testimony in Regard to the Sacraments

It is interesting that the word “Sacrament,” which is a Roman Catholic term for “a visible, tangible sign through which God approaches us, enters into our lives, and draws us to Himself through his grace…. comes from a Latin translation of the Greek ‘mysterion’ or ‘mystery. ’ ” (Basics of the Faith: A Catholic Catechism, p. 151). Three of the seven sacraments, or “mysteries,” are these: infant baptism, which is non- Biblical; the Eucharist Presence of Christ, which is certainly a mystery unlike any other; and the Holy Orders, the priesthood, in which priests are sworn to celibacy as a discipline of the Roman Catholic Church, even though the Bible says: “It is not good that the man should be alone” and “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior… Not given to wine.” (Gen. 2: 18; I Tim 3: 2, 3).

One only needs to look in the newspapers to see the fruit of this “Holy Sacrament,” for they are filled with reports of the lewd and promiscuous practices of celibate priests. Some of the headlines include: “Priests and Pedophelia: A Silence That Needs Breaking”; “Sex abuse cases sap church budget”; “Sex abuse lawsuits”; and “40% of U. S. Roman Catholic Priests Reported To Be Gay.” Not surprising is the fact that homosexual priests are dying from AIDS worldwide. In fact, in the past few years the Roman Catholic Church has spent one billion dollars in outof- court costs involving the sex affairs of priests. Did not the prophecy of the Apostle Paul hit the mark when he wrote the following: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” (I Tim. 4: 1- 3). With all the sexual exploits of celibate priests coming out in the open, Paul’s words are very apropos: “Speaking lies in hypocrisy [their messages on moral purity, anti- homosexualism, abortion, and taking an oath of celibacy while practicing sexual perversion are certainly ‘lies in hypocrisy’], having their conscience seared with a hot iron [insensitive, scarred, non- functional]. (Verse 2). May we all pray that they repent of such deeds. Also, to add to the testimony that the prophecy of I Timothy 4 applies to the Roman Catholic Church, I, while growing up in our Catholic home, was not allowed to eat meat on Fridays. My mother would serve me fish. Later the Church changed the rule and made it applicable only to Lent. But it still fulfils the prophecy.

Friends, not only had I, as a young Catholic boy, confessed my sins to the priests (many of whom were committing grievous sins), I also had offered prayers to and lit candles for my departed loved ones, prayed to dead saints and the Virgin Mary while kneeling in front of their images, and said, literally, thousands of Hail Marys. As I look back, I see even more Babylonian practices in which I unknowingly participated. For instance, here are a few: my baptism as an infant (because of my family’s belief in original sin); my participation in the Sacrifice of the Mass, which I attended hundreds of times and which is a celebration of the Eucharist (Holy Communion); and my belief in purgatory, a place where I could still be purified from sin even after death. To redeem my past, I feel I need to expose the origin of these other Roman Catholic practices and their pagan roots, as being further identifying characteristics of “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots” and to help others meet God’s approval in the coming contest.

First, let us look at infant baptism. Nowhere in the Bible will you find one instance of the baptism of an infant. But if one believes the Roman Catholic Doctrine of original sin— which means that every person born into this world inherits Adam’s sin, guilt, and condemnation— then should a person die, whether as an infant or not, before baptism, that person would be lost for eternity. Therefore, Roman Catholicism advocates infant baptism as a means of cleansing, or purifying, that child from original sin. Today, I realize that I had no choice, as is the case with millions of babies, in deciding whether or not to be a Roman Catholic. I became a member of that denomination before I could even speak or think for myself. Had I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior at just a few months of age? Of course not. But the Catholic Church substitutes the church’s faith for that of the child. Furthermore, baptism, which is to be by immersion [the whole body being covered by water (see Matt. 3: 16), and never simply by the sprinkling of water on the person’s head], is a public declaration of the baptismal candidate’s acceptance of Christ both as his personal Savior from sin and for His substitutionary death on that person’s behalf. It is a declaration that the “old man (the carnal man)” is being buried in the watery grave, “that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin [which an infant knows nothing about].” (Romans 6: 6). So with baptism, it is “a seal of the righteousness of the faith” (Rom. 4: 11) which the man has before he is baptized; for it is said, “He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved.” (Mark 16: 16). Where faith exists, if it be genuine, it is the evidence of a new heart, of a regenerated nature. (See Gal. 2: 20). All these aforementioned things are impossible for a babe.

Friends, this doctrine and discipline of the Roman papacy, as it is with many of its doctrines, was never derived from the Bible. Therefore “regeneration by baptism” —the belief that your sins, including “original sin,” are actually washed away by the water used, and not by your faith in the cleansing blood of Christ that preceded the ceremony —is fundamentally an article of Rome. It is as if baptism, or works, and not faith, justifies or pardons us from sin. In contrast, the Bible says: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood [not baptism, which is the statement a person makes after he has accepted Christ and His atoning sacrifice, and has repented and confessed his sins to His Savior, for it is called ‘the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins’ (Mark 1: 4)], we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5: 9; see also Romans 3: 24, 28; 4: 2; 5: 1). By Rome, baptism is pronounced as absolutely necessary for salvation, insomuch that infants dying without it (unless, according to Catholic Doctrine, they have received the baptism of blood, or martyrdom, such as in the case of the babies murdered by King Herod) cannot be admitted to glory; and its virtues are so great, that it is declared in all other cases to “regenerate us by a new spiritual birth, making us children of God.” It is to be “the first door by which we enter the fold of Jesus Christ; therefore the merits of His death are by baptism applied to our souls…. to satisfy Divine justice for all demands against us whether for original or actual sin.” (Bishop Hay, Sincere Christianity, pp. 363, 358). This is antiScriptural! What if the child, John the Baptist, had died in his mother’s womb? What would have happened to him? Would he, according to the doctrine of Rome, never be admitted into heaven? Such a belief gives birth to such questions. Friends, as this doctrine never came from the Bible, from what source did it originate?

It came from heathenism— from Babylon! In the Chaldean mysteries, before any instruction could be received, it was required, first of all, that the person to be initiated submit to baptism in token of blind and implicit obedience [such as with a child who has no choice]. Pagans would baptize their children “by sprinkling them with water or by plunging them, as soon as they were born, into lakes or rivers.” (Antiquities, Vol. 1, p. 335).

Second, I want to address the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharist Presence of Christ, and the wafer used in that ceremony. According to Roman Catholic teaching, each Mass is a true sacrifice, in which the risen Christ becomes bodily present, under the appearance of bread and wine, on the altar as a victim who is offered anew by the church to God the Father as expiation for the sins of the people. The Mass is considered to be a renewal, an unbloody sacrifice (or in an unbloody manner), by the mandate of Christ, of the one universally effective sacrifice freely offered by Christ Himself in His crucifixion, for the redemption of the world. How can an unbloody sacrifice redeem anyone from sin when the Bible explicitly states: “Without shedding of blood [there] is no remission [of sin]” (Heb. 9: 22),” and “In whom [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1: 7)? Yet according to Catholic doctrine, “The Holy Mass is one and the same Sacrifice with that of the Cross, inasmuch as Christ, who offered Himself to His Heavenly Father, continues to offer Himself in an unbloody manner on the altar, through the ministry of the priests.” (A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, p. 47). The Mass is the means of applying the merits of Calvary which is done over and over again. It is not difficult for one to see that the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church contradict the Scriptures when the Bible says, “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor… that He should offer Himself often…. but now once … to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” (Heb. 9: 24- 28). “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” (I Pet. 3: 18). Besides, what did Jesus mean when He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19: 30) just before he died?

The Mass is a celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The priest who performs the Mass, or celebrant, reads or sings in Latin. But the ceremony is translated into various languages, so that all present may understand. The Mass, which includes two basic parts— the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, “re- enacts the greatest event of history and of Christian faith: the paschal mystery— the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…. In the Eucharistic Prayer during which the solemn Consecration of bread and wine takes place…. Catholics believe that at this point, by God’s sovereign power and will, the bread and wine truly become the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” “This was no symbolic reception,… but was actually eating the body of Christ and drinking His blood even if this body and blood still appears to our senses as bread and wine…. Catholic Christians believe that when they receive the bread and wine of the Eucharist, they are actually partaking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.” (Basics of the Faith: A Catholic Catechism, pp. 195, 196, 164, 165). Blasphemy! The priest, or the celebrant— the creature— has the audacity to create, as it were the Creator! With all the Masses offered every week throughout the world, are the millions of tiny wafers used simultaneously, the literal body of Christ?

The other day I called a Catholic bookstore to verify what I am telling you, and it so happened that the clerk handed the phone to a priest who was in their store. She felt he could better answer my questions. I asked him if the breaking of the wafer portrayed the breaking of Christ’s body— his sacrifice for us. To this he answered, “Yes.” I then asked him how many times the Eucharist wafer is lifted above the altar. To this he answered, “Twice.” Then he added: “The second time the Host— Christ’s body— and the chalice of His blood are raised, the priest says ‘through Him, with Him, and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory are yours almighty Father, forever and ever! ’” I then asked him if the Eucharist bread actually becomes Christ’s body, and the wine his blood? He continued, “The philosophical term used for this is transubstantiation, which means that the substance of the bread and wine becomes the substance of the Godhead, which is Christ.” He then said, “The Lutheran will say that it is bread, but to a Catholic, it is Christ!” “The Mass,” he emphasized, “is a reenactment of what happened 2,000 years ago, and is for us today.” He then asked me if I understood what he had said, to which I answered, “Perfectly!” He responded, “Very good. I have students in my classes who cannot understand what you grasped so quickly.”

From historians we learn that no blood was allowed to be offered on the altars of the Assyrian Venus— the great goddess of Babylon. The very shape of the unbloody sacrifice of Rome may also indicate its origin. The Eucharist wafer, which is broken as was the body of Christ, is a small thin round wafer, and it is on its roundness that the Church of Rome lays so much stress. What could have induced the papacy to insist so much on the roundness of its unbloody sacrifice? Clearly not from the Bible, for there is no reference of a round wafer at the Lord’s supper, but to the contrary, the Lord took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to His disciples saying, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me.” (1 Cor. 11: 24). But if we look at the altars of Egypt, we will find the thin, round cake. The round disk, so frequent in the sacred emblems of Egypt, symbolized the sun, in honor of Osiris, the sun- divinity. “In Egypt, the disk of the Sun was represented in the temples…. In the great temple of Babylon, the golden image of the Sun was exhibited for the worship of the Babylonians. In every respect, then, we see how justly Rome bears on its forehead the name, ‘Mystery, Babylon the Great. ’ It is striking to find that the image of the sun , which apostate Israel worshipped , was also erected above their altars. When the good king Josiah set about the work of reformation, we read that his servants in carrying out the work, proceeded thus: ‘And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence, and the images (margin, sun- images) that were on high above them, he cut down. ’ ” [II Chron. 34: 4] (The Two Babylons, pp. 162, 163). The Eucharist is a term of Roman Catholic usage, but we are seeing it employed more and more frequently in some of the Protestant churches today. In fact, when John Paul II came to America, the Protestants flocked to see him, as well as the Catholics. I heard that Protestant ministers, as well as their members, were seen kissing the pope’s ring. Evidently, John Paul’s ecumenical efforts to organize all the churches under his leadership is working! The deadly wound has been healing spectacularly. In fact, it may already have healed completely!

Third, though not a sacrament, as a Roman Catholic I had believed in the doctrine of purgatory. Purgatory, according to the Catholic Church, is a place or state following death in which “God purges or purifies any remaining sin or the effects of sin that prevented the person from entering into full communion with God in heaven.” (Basics of the Faith: A Catholic Catechism, p. 306). This doctrine, which has no foundation in the Bible, I had blindly believed in as a security for salvation. I remember purgatory as “that other place,” other than heaven or hell, where I might end up if I were not good enough. There I would be punished by fire until I was purified from all sin, at which point, I would finally be admitted into heaven. “The Catholic tradition concerning purgatory includes the notion of purgation from sin by the fire of God’s love and holiness. Fire implies pain, and thus it should not surprise us if purgatory is painful.” (Ibid., p. 307). This is utterly ridiculous! As if God would literally burn people for a while to purify them! But had I not been taught that prayer, good works, and penance do foster God’s work of purification of ourselves, others living on earth, and those in purgatory? “Prayer and sacrifice for each other that we may be freed from sin are among the primary ways that the saints— members of the body of Christ whether on earth, in heaven, or in purgatory— can aid each other.” (Ibid., pp. 307, 308). Thank God, that today I believe in righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ, and not in righteousness by works, to merit salvation. Not in penances and the “Sacraments” of Rome, but in the mercy and power of God and His grace! “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” (Titus 3: 5, 6). Yet, The Thunder of Justice claims that the visionaries at Medjugorje had reported seeing purgatory, and claim “there are many different levels, some close to Heaven and some close to hell.” They also say: “Mary has recommended praying at least seven each of the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, plus the Apostles’ Creed, for the souls in purgatory and for their intentions. Souls there are waiting for your prayers and sacrifices, Mary has emphasized.” (The Thunder of Justice, pp. 203, 204). Again, friends, it is plain to see that the one promoting this error is not the Virgin Mary, but a demon in disguise!

Go to Chapter 14 ⇒

All emphases in this article are mine.
Published by Modern Manna Ministries