Well, as we all know by now, three weeks ago history was made with the election of the first American pope who was born in Chicago, Illinois. And one might ask, “Can any good thing come out of Chicago?” But be that as it may, Pope Leo XIV is said to be a more conservative pope than Francis, and when he came out on the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City after the white smoke billowed out of the chimney, he gave a short speech in Italian to the cheering and adoring multitude, and at least in their eyes, he was as it where, God on earth. Many people didn’t notice this about him, but he was dressed in the garb of popes in bygone days, indicating that he’s going to be more traditional than progressive, at least that’s the theory.

Before we go any further I suppose I should apologize to you for bringing this subject up, because that’s all people have been talking about for several weeks now, and I don’t know about you, but I’m a little tired of all the attention this new pope is getting, but at the same time I would be remiss if I didn’t make a couple important observations as to how these latest events fit in with Bible prophecy.

First of all, have you ever wondered why newly elected popes change their names to that of previous popes? Popes do this when they admire, or wish to emulate a particular predecessor, or when they have a desire to carry on the legacy of the one they most appreciate and desire to follow in their footsteps and to further their agenda.

I did a little research from Catholic sources to try to get an idea of what previous Pope Leos were like, and I found a few interesting facts. I didn’t find all that much that was significant about Pope Leo I through IX, but when you get to Pope Leo X and onward there are a few significant things to consider.

Pope Leo X was the pope who excommunicated Martin Luther and tried hunting him down in order to kill him, so that gives you some idea of where this new pope is coming from, despite the papacy covering over with apologies her former cruelties toward those they considered heretics. Today the papacy has clothed herself in Christlike garments, but she is unchanged, because every principle the papacy held in past ages still exists today. The doctrines held in the dark ages are still held. The papacy that Protestants now honor is the same that ruled in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up at the peril of their lives to expose her iniquity. (The Great Controversy 571)

Then there’s Pope Leo XI who is known as the counterreformation pope who tried to stop the bleeding of Catholics leaving their church and uniting with the Protestants, but the Lord put a stop to his agenda rather quickly in order to give the Protestant Reformation some breathing room, because he died only 3 weeks after he became pope.

Pope Leo XII condemned Bible societies which distributed unauthorized editions of God’s word, at least in his view, i.e., the King James Bible. And then there’s Pope Leo XIII who was probably the most interesting character. He was the first pope to appear in films in the late 1800s and is said to have had a vision where he heard a verbal exchange between Christ and Satan, and that was the first time he became aware that there was a cosmic war, or a spiritual battle going on between good and evil, which we know is certainly true, and you don’t have to have a vision to realize that. All you have to do is read Revelation 12.

By the way, Pope Leo XIII was the pope in 1888 when the Blair amendment was being urged in Congress, which of course had to do with bringing in a National Sunday law, and thanks to a man by the name of A. T. Jones it didn’t pass. But I think we would be naive to think that Pope Leo XIII had nothing to do with encouraging Senator Blair during that time since it’s the goal of the papacy to promote Sunday as a holy day in spite of the fact that God never changed the day He blessed and sanctified on the seventh day of creation week.

Again, according to Catholic sources, this vision Pope Leo XIII had, or at least the fulfillment of the vision, they say began in 1917, which was the 400^th anniversary of Martin Luther’s revolt against the Catholic church by nailing his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenburg Castle Church in Germany, and that was also the year atheism took hold in Russia. In this vision Satan told Christ that he would destroy the Catholic church in 100 years, which ended in 2017, but it’s still here, isn’t it? And stronger than ever it appears.

Now, I don’t know why the devil would try to destroy the church he raised up, but it seems to me, this was a way to startle Pope Leo XIII so he would implement things to make it difficult for that to happen, and as a result of that vision Pope Leo XIII introduced changes into his church to safeguard it by insisting on religious instruction using the studies of Thomas Aquanis who was a top theologian that was instrumental in the formation of Catholic teaching back in the 1200s, and was canonized, or officially declared a saint, about 50 years after his death. Thomas Aquanis was a very important and influential figure that came up with teachings like his version of the trinity, which is not Biblical, transubstantiation, which is not Biblical, erroneous views of justification and God’s grace, which are not Biblical, and a few other cardinal doctrines that came from his fertile mind, but not from the Scriptures.

And so, when Robert Francis Prevost took the name of Pope Leo XIV on May 8, 2025, he did not do it by accident, he did it because he wants to continue the goals of the previous popes that took that name before him for the purpose of restoring the Catholic church to its former glory, and to restore its place in mainstream culture worldwide.

Maybe this would be a good time to read what it says in a book titled The Great Controversy, page 565 about where all this is headed. And keep in mind that these words were penned in 1888, and it’s remarkable how accurate they are when you consider how the Catholic church has persecuted those who differed from her throughout history. “The pacific tone (or the peace-loving tone) of Rome in the United States does not imply a change of heart. (In other words friends, just because Pope Leo XIV stood on the balcony in the Vatican and said he wants love and fairness and peace in the world, does not change the fact that he wants Catholicism to dominate, and once that happens, just as in the past, Katie bar the door, because it goes on to say) She (the Catholic church) is tolerant where she is helpless. Says Bishop O’Connor: ‘Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world.’ . . . (And) The archbishop of St. Louis once said: ‘Heresy and unbelief are crimes; and in Christian countries, as in Italy and Spain, for instance, where all the people are Catholics, and where the Catholic religion is an essential part of the law of the land, they are punished as other crimes.’” And we don’t have to guess about what she’ll do when the goal of dominance is achieved on the world stage, because Revelation 13 is very specific regarding a death decree for all decenters.

Pope Leo XIII was also the pope who elevated James Gibbons to Cardinal statis in America. Cardinal Gibbons served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872 and has been quoted through the years by many Seventh-day Adventists in order to show the Catholic position regarding the Sabbath/Sunday issue.

In his book The Faith of Our Fathers, 88th edition, page 89, Gibbons makes the case that church tradition is more important than the Scriptures by writing the following: “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we (the Catholic church) never sanctify.” That’s quite an admission, isn’t it? And so again, tradition above the Bible; that’s the way it is in the Catholic church. When the Protestant says, “The Bible and the Bible only is our rule of faith and practice,” this is a foreign thought to the papacy.

In his book “The Christian Sabbath” page, 29 Gibbons also writes, “The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her Divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.” And that’s true, because the first Sunday law was instituted by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 321 AD by calling it “the venerable day of the sun,” which was a significant step in the shift from the Bible Sabbath on the seventh day to Sunday the first day of the week as the day of rest and worship.

And in The Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893, Gibbons writes, “Reason and sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.” And to me it’s a little strange that he would say Saturday is a day that comes from Protestantism, because nearly all so called Protestant churches were keeping Sunday when this was written. So he must have been thinking of the few Protestants who were still keeping the true Sabbath. Anyway, I totally agree with him, “Compromise is impossible.” And this we will soon see played out on the world stage as Bible prophecy reaches its climax.

Cardinal Gibbons was also a big supporter of labor unions, as is Pope Leo XIV, and as you may recall, Selected Messages, book 2, page 142 tells us, “The trades unions will be one of the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been since the world began.”

Cardinal Gibbons was also invited to speak at many Protestant churches during his day, winning many of them to the Catholic faith, and I have to wonder whether or not Pope Leo XIV or someone else from his papacy will be invited to speak at any Adventist churches and institutions in the near future, like when in April of 2008 two Jesuit priests were invited to speak at Andrews University Seminary for eight hours extolling the virtues of the Catholic church and its mission. Sometimes Protestants can be so dumb, and they’re dumb because they’ve forgotten what they were protesting about.

So, when you put all these facts together it becomes clear that the new Pope Leo XIV, just like his Leo predecessors, would like to punish heretics when he gets the power to do so, to undo all that Protestantism has done by continuing the counterreformation, get rid of the Protestant Bible, reintroduce and extol the religious instruction and studies of Thomas Aquanis, appoint new Cardinals that will be strong proponents of church tradition over the Scriptures, and to choose able defenders of Sunday sacredness just like Pope Leo XIII when he appointed Cardinal Gibbons back in the day.

When you blow away all the fluff, that’s what choosing the name Pope Leo XIV stands for. And he can stand on the balcony with folded prayer hands and an angelic look on his face and bless the crowd below, but something is going on under this saintly appearance. Because the papacy is just what 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4 declared that she would be, the apostasy of the latter times. It’s a part of her policy to assume the character which will best accomplish her purpose; but beneath the unassuming character of the chameleon she conceals the venom of the serpent.

Revelation 13:3 says, “and all the world wondered after (or admired) the beast,” which prophecy declares is the papacy, and this admiration has recently become abundantly clear as we have seen the media, both liberal and conservative, bend over backwards calling Pope Leo XIV “our holy father,” even though Matthew 23:9 says not to do that, and how they have fawned over the papacy in the last few weeks in ad nauseum.

By the way, the Catholic church claims that the apostle Peter was the first pope and that they are the true church because of apostolic succession. In other words, they claim that there has been an unbroken chain of popes from Peter’s day to the present time. But as you study the history of the papacy, you will find that there were some very wicked popes, or bishops of Rome as they called themselves, and that fact alone broke the succession if there ever was one, because you can’t claim that these evil popes who persecuted the saints for 1260 years during the dark ages were Christians of any kind when compared to the Bible standard of a bishop.

For instance, notice what it says in 1 Timothy 3:1-3, “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desires a good work. (Now listen) A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, (that alone would disqualify all the popes because of their commitment to celibacy and is the reason we hear so much about pedophilia within the priesthood) vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous.” And Titus 1:8 says a bishop must be “just, holy, temperate.” When you consider the fact that many Catholic bishops are given to alcohol and tobacco, that hardly seems temperate, does it?

So as you can plainly see, the evil popes, especially, that were responsible for torturing the saints and burning people at the stake and sawing them asunder, as it says in Hebrews 11, fail on several points mentioned in these verses. So their whole argument of apostolic succession falls apart when applying the Scriptures to the type of character a bishop must possess. Unbroken apostolic succession? I don’t think so.

Now, no doubt you have heard by now that there are many different voices out there speaking about how Pope Leo XIV will be the last pope; that he will be the one to fulfill Bible prophecy in these last days; that he will be the one to reestablish the Catholic church’s lost supremacy and bring in a Sunday law, but dear friends, we can’t prove that, so be careful what you say and what you hear.

Jesus made it clear that we are not going to know when He is coming, therefore we are not to say that He will come in one, two, or five years; neither are we to put off His coming for ten or twenty years; neither are we to try to calculate a specific date. I wish Christians would stop doing this, because when it doesn’t happen, and so far it hasn’t in spite of all the predictions over the years that have failed, it only causes discouragement and unbelief. It’s clear that some pope will have his hand in bringing to fruition the testimony of the Scriptures regarding these things, but we just don’t know if Pope Leo XIV will be the one. We have to be careful not to put forth our ideas with too much positiveness, otherwise we may end up being a false prophet, because that always discourages people when our predictions don’t come to pass. Certainly, Pope Leo XIV fits the description of a pope who could be the last pope, and the current atmosphere in the world says the end of all things is at hand, but there’s always that but, isn’t there?

Sixty-four years ago, in 1961, John Kennedy became the first Catholic President, and people were just sure at that time that he would do the bidding of the papacy and bring in a national Sunday law, but it didn’t happen, did it? In fact, some suspect that he was assassinated because he didn’t do as he was told. Then 23 years later we have Ronald Reagan convincing Congress to change a law that was enacted in 1867 prohibiting formal diplomatic relations between the United States and the Vatican, and Reagan convinced Congress to repeal that law, and we had our first ambassador to Rome. And again, people were saying that this is it! And I agree that that was not a good thing to do, because it was an unholy alliance, and Congress back in 1867 knew that, but how things changed in 1984 when Bill Wilson became that first ambassador to the Vatican.

Now, I’m not trying to throw cold water on these happenings and saying that they didn’t mean anything important, and I’m not trying to imply, “My Lord delayeth His coming,” but I have learned through the years that these things are stepping stones to the fulfillment of prophecy and that there may be more to come before the Lord comes. All I’m saying is that the appointment of Pope Leo the XIV might be another one of those steppingstones and not the end, and only time will tell.

You see, it was never God’s intention that Bible prophecy is given so we can predict the future, but it is given so that when the prophecy is fulfilled we might have faith to believe what God says.

I want you to notice a couple verses of Scripture before we move on. In John 14:29 Jesus said to His disciples,  “And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might (what?) believe.”

And in John 20:31 John says, “These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

You see, the prophecies are given that we might believe when they come to pass, and that by believing we might have eternal life! That’s what’s important! Bible prophecy is not given that we might be able to know in minute detail when and how certain things are going to happen, because Jesus said we’re not going to know. We can know when it’s at the doors, and certainly it is, but beyond that it’s simply speculation. In the meantime Jesus said, “Occupy till I come.” That is, keep busy working, doing business, improving yourself, and carrying on with life.

Notice what the servant of the Lord says in Last Day Events, page 76 and take it to heart, “It is not God’s will that His elect shall abandon life’s duties and responsibilities and give themselves up to idle contemplation, living in a religious dream.”

A good example of a faith building fulfillment of prophecy is what it says in Revelation 13:3 when John wrote about the “beast,” or the papacy, receiving a deadly wound, and that that deadly wound would be healed. We know from history the papacy received it’s deadly wound in 1798 when Napoleon’s general Berthier took the pope captive and he died in exile the following year. At that time it looked like the papacy would never recover, but low and behold, 131 years later in 1929 the prophecy became true when another pope was restored to his position by Benito Mussolini. God said it was going to happen, and it happened in a way that no one could foresee. Do things like this help us to believe when we see the fulfillment? Absolutely, but it wasn’t given so a person could try to predict when and how it would happen, and it’s the same way with the fulfillment of last day events.

When the apostle John wrote that the papacy would receive a deadly wound, and that it would be healed, what did he say next? He said, “and all the world wondered after the beast.” The word “wondered” means “to admire.” When the pope was restored to his place in 1929, did the whole world begin to wonder after the beast? Did the world begin to admire the papacy in 1929 for coming back from the dead as it were? Yes indeed, but just like any wound, the healing process takes time to heal completely. And certainly that process has about reached its completion by the way the papacy is admired, or wondered at today, as has been demonstrated over the last few weeks with the admiration of Pope Leo XIV.

Now, just in case you’re wondering; beasts in Bible prophecy symbolize various nations, or political powers, and especially religiopolitical powers, or the interaction and influence between religious beliefs and political systems. According to the book of Daniel chapters 7 & 8 that’s what beasts represent, study it out for yourself, and that’s why the beast mentioned in Revelation 13:1-10 represents the papacy, because it fits the description of the papacy and no other.

And so yes, it’s an historical fact that the papacy received a deadly wound when Napoleon took Pope Pius VI captive on February 15, 1798, and it looked like the papacy would never recover after that pope died in exile on August 29, 1799, but it has recovered, and today you can hardly tell that there’s a scar after 227 years. Again, these things are facts of history, and we’re seeing the healing of the deadly wound take place right before our eyes today.

And here’s another thing: some people are giving the papacy way too much credit as the one and only entity that will fulfill the prophecies we’ve been talking about, because God’s word declares that there is a second beast power that arises that will actually be the one to implement the agenda of the papacy. In Revelation 13:11-18 it says that second beast power, which is America, starts out as a gentle lamb, but ends up speaking as a dragon, and thereby becomes the image of the first beast, which is the papacy.

“Oh, come on Brother Jones! Are you telling me that the papacy and America are mentioned in the Bible?” Absolutely they are! Revelation is largely a book of symbols, and it takes comparing Scripture with Scripture to see that this is true. Why should it be so surprising that America is mentioned in the Bible? After all, other nations are mentioned. The United States is the most powerful and influential nation on earth in these last days just before the appearing of the Lord, and it would be even more surprising if it wasn’t mentioned.

We don’t have time to go into detail about these things today, but if you’re interested please go to BitChute.com and look for the sermons titled “Identifying Antichrist” and “America Divided” and you will see, from the Bible, that the papacy and America are both referred to as the first and second beasts respectively in Revelation 13, and the second becomes the spitting image of the first, and both will be in corrupt harmony to rid the earth of all those that don’t agree with their agenda.

And so, we need to realize that the first beast mentioned in Revelation 13:1-10 is the papacy, there is no doubt about that, even the Protestant Reformers understood this hundreds of years ago, and she had her day in the limelight back then. Now she sits back as the mother of harlots, and watches her daughters in the apostate Protestant churches, which she has trained well and continues to influence, replicate what she did in ages past by uniting religion with government, or better yet, religion controlling the government to accomplish her own ends. In other words, you might think of America, the second beast, as being a “clone” that will duplicate what the first beast, the papacy, did. This is the union of church and State that so many religious leaders are now saying is not even a part of the United States Constitution. Even Ben Carson, who has been selected as vice-chair of the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission on the first of May 2025 says the separation of church and state is not in the Constitution. Evidently, he hasn’t read The Great Controversy or the First Amendment. The Religious Liberty Commission sounds good on the surface, but it will actually lead to religious persecution in the end. Much more could be said about this commission, but you can do your own research. But it’s this American image, says Revelation 13:12, that will exercise “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.”

And so, we should not be looking at the first beast, the papacy, to be the one to do the exercising, (or the one to perform or execute the devil’s agenda) if that makes sense, but rather the papacy will be the influencer that sets the example for the second beast to follow.

You see, the papacy is a church/state entity, because Vatican City is a country all its own, and for America to become its image, it will also have to become a union of church and state, that’s very plain! And even now we see our Constitution being ignored and even shredded for political gain, and soon corrupted religion will be in full control of the state to persecute those who refuse to conform to its false and fanatical teachings. Will these things come to pass under the current administration and under the leadership of Pope Leo XIV? That’s what we don’t know, but it’s looking more and more like it could be.

After the prophecies of Revelation 13 are given, they are followed by three angels’ messages in chapter 14, and in verse 9 the third angel’s warning is as follows, “If any man worship the beast and his image, (you see, it’s all about worship, and in this case false worship) 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 the third angel’s message, whose worship is enforced by the two-horned beast, is the papacy, and the “image to the beast” represents that form of apostate Protestantism in America first and foremost, and around the world, which will be developed when the Protestant churches pursue the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their teachings.

“Oh Brother Jones, that will never happen.” Are you kidding me, friend? It’s well on its way already, and if we’re keeping our spiritual eyes open, it’s not hard to see.

And here’s the important point that brings it all together. After the warning against the worship of the beast and his image the prophecy in Revelation 14:12 says: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Now listen carefully, because here comes the punchline. Since those who keep God’s Ten Commandments are placed in contrast with those that worship the beast and his image and receive his mark, it’s plain to see 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. Do you see that? If not, replay what I just said. And what commandment in particular does the papacy and apostate Protestantism want you to ignore and replace with one of their own creation? They want you to ignore the fourth commandment, the seventh-day Sabbath, and replace it with the papal Sunday sabbath, which is not a sabbath at all, but one of the six working days as it has been designated from the creation of this world.

Remember what Cardinal Gibbons admitted? He said, “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”

He also said, “The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her Divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.”

And here’s one last quote I didn’t mention earlier. It’s from someone who inquired about this Sunday Sabbath issue back on October 28, 1895, and they were answered in a Letter from C. F. Thomas, who was Chancellor (or chief secretary) of, guess who? Cardinal Gibbons. Notice what he writes under Gibbons’ direction, “Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change (from Sabbath to Sunday) was her act. It could not have been otherwise, as none in those days would have dreamed of doing anything, in matters spiritual, ecclesiastical and religious without her. (That is, without the permission of the Catholic church) This act (the change of the Sabbath) is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.” In other words, this act is the most important thing the Catholic church has ever done! Let that sink in for a minute. It “is a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.” Nothing else the Catholic church has done is more important than the change of the Sabbath by her own admission. Nothing!

Interesting, isn’t it? The Catholic church admits that Sunday is the mark of the beast. It’s not a tattoo, or a chip implant, or some physical characteristic that one can see, but it’s a sign of allegiance to the beast power he chooses to obey instead of God. Received in the right hand symbolizes the ability to make a living. If you don’t receive the mark, you won’t be able to work to be able to buy and sell, and receiving it in the forehead is mental assent. According to the fulfillment of the prophecies of Revelation 13, not only are men not going to be allowed to work with their hands on Sunday, but with their minds are they to acknowledge Sunday as the Sabbath and conduct themselves accordingly.

While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, will be an admission of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God’s law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. And so, while one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other, choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God.

You see, earthly seals, like the Presidential seal for example, have three ingredients, the President’s name, his authority, and the territory over which he presides. Currently his name is Donald J. Trump, his authority is President, and the territory he presides over is The United States of America. God’s seal is the same: His name is the Lord Jehovah, the self-existent One, His authority is that of Creator, and His territory is heaven and earth. And friends, that seal is right there in the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8-11, and you won’t find it in any of the other nine. And so, when the Sabbath was changed by the papacy, the seal was taken away from the law.

Now think about this for a minute. If you were the devil, which one of the commandments would you attack and try to change? Wouldn’t it be the one that identifies who the true God is?

Notice what it says in Isaiah 8:16, “Bind up the testimony, seal the law (the ten commandment law) among my disciples.”

And Revelation 9:4, speaks of a time when all who “have not the seal of God in their foreheads” will be destroyed.

Notice also what it says in Exodus 31:12, 13,  “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is (what?) a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.” The sign, or seal of God is clearly revealed in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, the Lord’s memorial of creation.

Remember, in Isaiah 14:14 Satan stated his goal when he said, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” That’s his goal, and he’s trying to achieve that goal by usurping God’s position as the true God who is Creator of heaven and earth, and it’s the Sabbath that identifies Him as such.

And so, we’ve been warned ahead of time about these things, we just don’t know exactly when and how it’s going to come about, but we know it’s soon, “even at the doors.” The word of God declares that Protestant America will become an image of the papal beast and will cause the whole world  to honor Sunday sacredness or be killed, that’s what it says in Revelation 13:15.

2 Timothy 3:12 says, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution,” and this will be especially true regarding Satan’s last effort to exalt a day that God never made holy. If you are determined to defend the truth by refusing to honor the Sunday-sabbath in the upcoming storm, you are going to be treated very badly, until finally a death decree will go forth to slay those who refuse to bow to the image, much like what happened to Daniel’s three friends who were cast into the fiery furnace. To human wisdom all this seems impossible right now, I know; but as the Holy Spirit is withdrawn from the wicked, they will come under the full control of the devil who hates the Ten Commandments, especially number four, and there will be strange developments, because the human heart can be very cruel when God’s fear and love are removed as has been demonstrated many times in the past.

So what are we to do in light of these things, make predictions about when and how it’s all going to happen? No! We are instead to become one with Christ by putting on the whole armour of God. I’d like to close by reading about this in Ephesians 6:10-19, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, (put your own name in there) that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.” Which Colossians 1:27 says, “is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

And All the World Wondered After the Beast