One of the greatest proofs of the Church is prophecy. The Church which Jesus Christ established on earth was prophesied by Christ Himself to be a constant object of persecution by the world (John 16:33).
Search the Bible and it is not possible to find, under the most demanding analysis, any prophecy that the Church, prior to Jesus Christ’s return to this earth, would become popular and gain universal acceptance. To the contrary, prophecy foretells that the Church will be small, reduced to a mere remnant in the latter days, attacked by the great political institutions that exist in these times, constantly harried by heresies, wracked by occasional internal division, but always protected and given faith, hope and strength by the one who has overcome the world, Jesus Christ (I Cor. 11:17-19; III John 1:9; II Tim. 4:14).
In fact, following its first century of existence, the original Church, which the Son of God established, was so harassed and persecuted that it broke up into fragments. These remnant groups of the faithful scattered into the areas of Western Europe and Asia Minor to escape persecution from the Roman brand of political pseudo-Christianity.
Following his declared vision of a flaming cross in the sky (after his victorious military adventures), the Emperor Constantine converted to the religion of Rome. Most of those attracted to Christianity subsequently also became captivated. “It was not until Constantine began a process of syncretism that Christians began to understand the nature of the beast which was evolving” (Adrian Hilton, The Principality and Power of Europe).
“Syncretism” refers to Constantine’s efforts to merge Christianity with other religions. Constantine replaced the God-ordained seventh-day Sabbath with the pagan Day of the Sun (Sunday). He declared the observance of the Passover illegal under threat of death to its practitioners and replaced it with the Babylonian festival of Queen Ishtar, the pagan Queen of Heaven (Easter).
As it was from the beginning of Church history, so it is at the end of this Church age. Just as the majority of Christians fell under the spell of the universal influence of the new religious entity in Rome 1900 years ago, so history is in the process of repeating itself as the end of the current millennium approaches. Under Constantine there was one empire under one emperor, heading a singular church under one god. In those days Christians wondered about whether they had perhaps misunderstood the idea of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps it was the church itself? Or perhaps the Roman Empire in its new “Christian” guise. It was thus that the union of the Roman church and state was sealed and became the major influence on the political and socio-economic development of Europe to this day.
Repeated efforts at revival of the Roman Empire have followed its initial fall. Repeated attempts to reconstruct a unified Europe have continually impacted European history. “The vision of one empire under one emperor, belonging to one church under one God, has caused more bloodshed than anything in the history of the world” (ibid.).
Emperor Justinian, under what is now known as the “Imperial Restoration,” was first to succeed in restoring the Roman Empire to some of its former glory. In concert with the Pope of Rome, he restored both the eastern and western legs of the empirical edifice. Following a further four resurrections, the most recent and sixth revival of the Holy Roman Empire was Hitler’s Nazi regime. The seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire is now being cemented by the Christian Democrats in the European Union and Pope John Paul II’s papacy. Englishman Adrian Hilton’s book, The Principality and Power of Europe, is the clearest and best documented secular treatise on this phenomenon yet published. It is well worth reading.
Too few observers on the world scene are waking up to the sinister nature of what has occurred since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Pope John Paul II, against all prevailing political dogma at the time, held firm to his conviction that the motivation of the former USSR’s subject populations to rise and resist their communist taskmasters would prove the one significant crack in the Soviet’s armor that would lead to its total collapse. He provided the inspiration for his own home nation of Poland to provide that crack; the USSR fell with a resounding crash that ricocheted around the world, and the whole face of global politics changed in short order. The Pope has called for the eastern European countries to return to their “Common European Home.” This is but a call for them to return to the mother Catholic Church.
John Paul II has also proven undeniably and hugely successful in turning the Latin countries back to the Vatican from liberation theology. His multitudinous visits around the world have strengthened his hold on the vast network of institutions, papal offices and diplomatic connections which supply such excellent global intelligence to the Vatican on a daily basis.
Indeed, when an appropriate catalyst provides the need, no other institution on earth is so well established with a chain of “embassies, emissaries, institutions [churches, real estate, hospitals, clinics, schools, clubs, etc.] and networks around the world” to exert a consolidated, concerted and powerful influence on world affairs (ibid.).
In his insightful book, The Keys of this Blood, former Jesuit priest and Vatican resident Malachi Martin shows little doubt that the Vatican is in a prime position to lead any emerging system of imposed world order. “If tomorrow or next week, by a sudden miracle, a one-world government were established, the Roman Church would not have to undergo any essential change in order to retain its dominant position to further its global aims.”
The Roman Catholic Church is the only religious body on earth that has the right for its head to address the United Nations General Assembly, and to actually be involved in UN meetings. It is well positioned for its future role.
Your Bible reveals that two religions of influence will impact this world. One is the pure religion which God gave to the apostles and prophets of old. The other is that great false spiritual institution, founded in the first century by Simon Magus, in the ancient tradition of Babylon, which is now preparing to move her headquarters to Jerusalem. Continue to watch Pope John Paul II. Continue to watch the consolidation of Christian Democrat political dominance in Europe, as the Pope ropes in the errant eastern block children of the church to form the traditional eastern leg of the final resurrection of that ancient “Holy” Roman Empire. Watch—and pray!