Is Aunt Mabel really in heaven with God playing on a harp and floating on a cloud in clear blue skies constantly smiling up at the Great Heavenly Father?
The subject has been brought into focus by the British program Songs of Praise which is apparently watched by millions. When the subject of the dead comes up, the Christian believer gives the hopeful comment that their loved one is with God UP THERE in the heavens.
The minister who is having to attend and deal with a grieving relative who is in a state of shock can really only give soothing words of encouragement. It is one of the most delicate of situations and one which most people simply balk at when the topic arises. So the minister who has not been trained correctly gives the standard reply because he knows no different. It is of course a lot easier to say that they are "with God" in heaven than say they are in the other place, who wants to be in the other place ---- HELL?. After all didn't Christ say when he was on the cross to the thieves:
The Catholic Church hasn't got a clue; the Church of England should know better and the Jews are puzzled by it all, and it needn't be so. To date we have found only three grammatical errors in the Bible. We do not ask you to accept our findings; all we ask you to do is check them out for yourselves.
The first is in Exodus 33:15 this should read ------ And I said unto Him --- it should be "1" and not "he". This is more fully covered in our free article What God is actually like.
The second is in 1 1 Kings 17:32 this should read ---- So they feared NOT the Lord. The word NOT should be put in to make Spiritual sense.
And the third, and we will prove this one for you.
Luke 23:43 should say:
"Verily I say unto thee today, Shalt thou be
with me in Paradise".
The comma should be after today and not after thee.
Let's make this abundantly clear. Nobody and we repeat nobody has gone to
that place to date which is a Catholic conceptual idea of HELL which is depicted
in Dante's inferno. So nobody has gone to HELL. To date nobody
of normal flesh and human concept has gone to HEAVEN.
Where everyone goes when they die, is that place which the Greeks term
"Hades"-- which basically is a "hole in the ground" Christ went there, so will
you, so have millions.
When Christ died on the cross that day, he physically spent
the next three nights and days in the tomb in a hole in the ground.
Write for our free article Did Christ lie?
So if he spent three days physically in a hole in the ground, he could
not have gone to Heaven or paradise, that day. He was basically
saying to the repentant thief; OK you have repented, you will be with me in my
Kingdom after the resurrection.
Now let's see what GOD says on the subject after all He should know.
GOD says there is only one being that has been to heaven, this is the being
that came down from there in the first place. John 3:13 points out that "--And
no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the
Son of man which is in heaven". And this was only after the
three days and nights had been accomplished. Luke 24:7.
Next, what did Christ do? He was resurrected from the dead after three days.
In other words there is going to be a resurrection.--Math 22:28; Mark 12:23;
Luke 20:33; Mat 27:30 shows this, just to give a few scriptures. There is no
point in a general resurrection if we are in heaven is there?
As you are????
Another major false doctrine that Churches teach is that God will take you
"as you are"
John the Baptist came preaching REPENT for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Math 3:2. He did not say our God is an all loving god and will take sinners as
they were. We have sinned, as Romans 3:23 and 5:12 says ALL HAVE SINNED. And as
Ezekiel 18:4-20 points out the soul that sinneth shall die. Even God's close
friend David did not go to heaven Acts 2:34.
Forgiveness.
What is wrong with the following?:
The Catholic wife has found that her husband has been knee capped by the IRA.
After the initial remorse has gone she says that she finds it in her heart to
FORGIVE THEM. This is what she has been trained to do. She then finds her
husband knee capped in the second knee. Again she says that she finds it in her
heart to FORGIVE THEM. The guy then has his left arm blown off and again she
says that she finds it in her heart to FORGIVE THEM. Finally he has his left
foot blown off and you guessed it, she says that she finds it in her heart to
FORGIVE THEM. Now is the catholic wife, being Christian in her
version of forgiveness or just plain non thinking?
Christ said on the Cross "forgive them lord for they know not what they do"
The IRA knows exactly what it is doing.
If someone changes or repents from going the wrong way ---
then we may forgive them.
Another major deception which Judah is now suffering from even though they
believe in the Old Testament, is that they feel there is no such thing as SATAN
THE DEVIL
Ezekiel 28:11-17 shows Lucifer occupying The King of Tyre and changing The
King to evil ways. He had been in Eden but was now cast to the ground. Job
1:6-8, Satan had been busy on earth. 1 Chronicles 2 1: 1 And Satan stood up
against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
Job 1: 6, 7, 12; 2:1, 2, 3, 6, 7. Psalm 109:6. Zech 3:1, 2. Matt 4: 1 0; 16:23. Mark
1: 13; 3:23; 4:15; 8:33. Luke 4:8; 10:18; 11:18; 13:16; 22:3, 31. John 13:27.
Acts 5:3; 26:18. Romans 16:20. 1 Cor 5:5; 7:5. 2 Cor 2: 11; ll:14; 12:7. 1 Thes.
2:18. 1 Tim. 1:20; 5:15. Rev. 2:9; 3:9; 12:9; 5:13, 24. Luke 10:18 And he said
unto them, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from
heaven." Hence this world has always had wars and rumours of wars death
and destruction
This earth is hell and the epicentre appears to now be in ROME.
This, and John 8:58 "Before Abraham was I AM"-
not only confirms Christ as the God of the Old Testament, but shows the
same being in the pre Adamic time repelling the rebellious Lucifer from Heaven.
So Satan is in charge of the world now and hence all are sinning.
It is of course Ezekiel 37 which shows that this God has the power not only
to bring the Kingdom of God back to the original 12 tribes of Israel but to
cover the whole earth with theKingdom. Lastly
because someone is going to pick up on it what about Luke 23:46?
GOD is pointing out to us that every human being has a spirit in them 1 Cor
2: 11 "save the spirit of man which is in him."
If all of our five senses were taken away from us then we would just be a
living vegetable with a spirit inside of us that could not hear see taste smell
etc. We would know nothing. Helen Kellar is the one that comes to mind when this
subject comes up.
Christ knew that his spirit was going to join his Father. But that he would
know nothing of the experience, after all as a human being he was going to die.
So after he had said Luke 23:46 "into thy hands I commend my spirit; that was
it. He was dead." He knew nothing else until about 80 hours later. This was the
same type of thing as going to sleep.
However after the resurrection we are not going to go
to a place called Heaven; FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT. The
great GOD is going to bring Heaven to US.
Zechariah 14:4 And his FEET in that day shall stand on the Mount of Olives,
which is before Jerusalem on the east. Rev 5: 10--and has made
us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign ON THE
EARTH.
Hong Kong, whilst this subject has received much attention
there are two points that have come to mind. One is that the world leaders past
and present said that there was nothing that could be done about the sea gate
going back to Chinese control, why not cry out to God about it; and the next is
that during that month Britain suffered its worst downpour of rain for about two
hundred years. May be some one is telling us something.
Circumcision of women (Daily Telegraph Wednesday August 20
1997 page 12) Let us be perfectly clear about this, GOD condemns as barbaric the
practice of circumcision of women. The woman's sexual organs were created for
her to enjoy throughout life. Write for our free article "Why Sex"?
5. In the Bull Unam Sanctam, Pope Boniface stated:-
"The Roman Pontiff judges all men, but is judged by none... to be subject to
the Roman Pontiff is to every creature altogether necessary for salvation. "
6. Pope Julius 1 1 was addressed as: -
"ANOTHER GOD ON EARTH."
7. Pope Pius IX declared of himself:-
"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life"
8. Pope Leo Xlll in June 1894 said: -
"The Pope is of so great authority that he can modify, explain or interpret
Divine Laws.
9. This same Pope Leo Xlll in July 1895 went on to proclaim:
"We hold upon this earth the place of Almighty God."
10. The Bishop of Bayloone called this Pope.-
"The visible personification of the Spirit of God"
11. Ireland's Roman Catholic Hierarchy in 1949 styled Pope Pius Xll as:
"A mediator between God and men. ANOTHER CHRIST. "
These are but a few samples of the wicked blasphemies of the Papal Beast
THE BEAST'S DOOM FORETOLD
Concerning the future downfall and doom of the Beast or Political Papacy we
read:-
"He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with
the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and faith of the
saints" Revelation 13:10
And since we equate this Beast with Daniel's Little Horn we also read:-
"But the judgement shall sit and they shall take away his dominion to consume
and to destroy it to the end. " Daniel 7:26
Down through the ages of Church History, all true Bible believing Protestant
Christians knew that ultimately the Papal Power is destined to doom and to
destruction. The Beast's dominion though mighty and widespread is foreordained
to pass away in violence and destruction. This knowledge was indeed the source
of the patience and faith of the saints.
Since 1789 AD which witnessed the outbreak of the French Revolution, Almighty
God has been progressively pouring out the vials of His wrath and judgement upon
the Papal Beast System, as its 1260 years of power and dominion passed away.
During the Reign of Terror in France running from 1789-1793, thousands of Roman
Catholic Churches, Convents and Monasteries were destroyed and the priests,
monks and nuns slain. In 1798 the French Revolutionary armies of Napoleon
invaded Italy, and General Berthier captured Rome itself, bringing the Pope back
to France as his prisoner together with wagons loaded with books, paintings and
other treasures from the Vatican.
Some fifty years later in 1848, known to historians as the Year of
Revolutions, a revolt resulted in the proclamation of the short lived Roman
Republic, and the Pope was once again a wretched fugitive, the proud boasts and
unchallenged political power of his predecessors was now little but a memory.
The moves to create a United Italy from 1860 onwards saw the loss of the Papal
States after a thousand years, and the territory of the Beast now shrunken to
Rome and its immediate environs, known as the Patrimony of St. Peter.
In 1870, with the withdrawal of the French troops of Napoleon Ill, who had
been guarding, Rome, the Italian armies of Victor Emmanuel occupied the city,
incorporating it as the capital of the Italian Kingdom. The Pope was now the
"Prisoner of the Vatican.' Despite the setting up of the Vatican City State in
1929, and the restoration of a semblance of temporal power to the Papacy by
Mussolini under the terms of the Lateran Treaty, the system continued to suffer
reverses. During the mid-1930's the so-called Red Terror broke over Spain, with
a violence in the same tradition as the French Revolution, destruction of
Churches, confiscation of property and killing of clergy became the order of the
day.
World War 11 was to bring no respite for Papal Rome, the Axis powers and the
puppet Catholic states eg. Croatia and Slovakia on which the Vatican had pinned
its political hopes, went down to ignominious ruin and defeat. Allied bombs were
even to fall on the city of Rome, the Seat of the Beast. Now as the 1990's draw
to a close, and we watch the cunning efforts of the Vatican to come to terms
with revolutionary Marxism by way of Liberation Theology, we have the calm
assurance that the final doom of this evil system cannot be long delayed.
THE SECOND BEAST RISES
"And I saw another Beast coming up out of the earth " Revelation 13: 1 1
As we explained earlier this is not a new Beast, it is not even literally a
different Beast, it is the same Beast System or Papacy, but in a different phase
of development and activity. As the First Beast represents predominantly the
political and temporal aspect of the Papal System and equates with Daniel's
Prophecy of the Little Horn, so this Second Beast represents predominantly the
Ecclesiastical aspect of the Papacy and as such it equates with Paul's
description of the Man of Sin in II Thessalonians Chapter 2. There are however a
number of distinct differences between the two phases or aspects of the Papal
Beast and we notice firstly that this Ecclesiastical phase arises: OUT OF THE
EARTH....
The ancient Chaldean Mysteries taught not only the worship of a Sun-god and a
Fish-god, but also a god who came forth from a hole in the earth. In Egypt he
was known as Nub, in Babylon and Assyria as Nebo, in pagan Rome as Numa
Pompilius. In Egypt the child was depicted as having two horns, significantly;
whilst the Assyrian/Babylonian name Nebo meant the 'Prophet' and suggested
magical or miraculous powers. The earth from which this Second Beast or
Ecclesiastical Papacy arises is the Roman/Latin Earth, the territory of the
Western Roman Empire, after whose political structures its hierarchy was
modelled, and after whose geographical and provincial boundaries its dioceses
were formed.
Before going on to examine various descriptions of this Beast as they were
fulfilled in history, we set forth another chart showing the parallels between
it and Paul's Man of Sin.
CHART COMPARING THE SECOND BEAST TO PAUL'S MAN OF SIN
THE SECOND, TWO-HORNED THE MAN OF SIN
BEAST
REVELATION 13:11-18 II THESSALONIANS 2:1-12
APPARENT CHRISTIANITY APPARENT CHRISTIANITY
TWO HORNS LIKE A LAMB SITS IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD
SATANIC ORIGIN
He spake like a dragon.
A FALSE GOD - Causeth the earth and them which dwell therein
to worship the First Beast
... and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the Beast should
be killed.
FALSE MIRACLES - Doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire
come down from Heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that
dwell on the earth by means of the miracles
MARK OF CONDEMNATION He causeth all both small and great to
receive a mark in their right hand or their foreheads, so 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.
THE HEAD OF THE SYSTEM Let him that hath understanding count
the Number of the Beast for it is the Number of a man and his Number is six
hundred and three score and six.
DOOM - The Beast was taken and with him the false prophet
that wrought miracles before him. These were cast alive into the lake burning
with fire an brimstone.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL PAPACY
SATANIC ORIGIN
Whose coming is after the working of Satan.
A FALSE GOD - Who opposeth and exalteth himself above
all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God
sitteth in the Temple of God showing himself that he is God
FALSE MIRACLES-with all power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish
MARK OF CONDEMNATIONThey received not the
love of the truth that they might be saved and for this cause God shall send
them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be
dammed who believed Not the truth
THE HEAD OF THE SYSTEM That man of sin, the son of perdition
DOOM -Whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of his
Mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
THE ECCLESIASTICAL PAPACY
The description given to the Second Beast states that:
"He had two horns like a lamb. " Revelations 13: 1 1
This immediately takes us in the mind's eye to the attire of the Papal
Hierarchy of Cardinals, Bishops etc. who can be divided into two distinct
groups:-
l.The Secular Clergy or the priests.
2.The Regular Clergy or the monks
Let us look briefly at their identity as given to us by their vestments. The
Archbishops, Bishops and Abbots of Rome wear the two horned mitre, which had its
origin in the worship of Dagon the Fish-god. The two rising
points of the mitre have the appearance of horns and in the Middle Ages they
were known as the Cornuti or Horned Ones. Lambs also are associated with Rome's
vestments, for every Archbishop and Bishop of the Papal system since the reign
of Pope Gregory, has received and been invested with the Pallium, a strip of
lamb's wool adorned and decorated with crosses. In reference again to the Law of
the Counterfeit in prophetic interpretation, we note that the garments of
Israel's priesthood were of linen rather than wool, whilst the word vestments is
never used in connection with the Israelite priesthood, and is only used once in
the Bible in 1 1 Kings 10: 22 in reference to the priests of
Baal.
So we see that the Second Beast is the Ecclesiastical manifestation of the
Papacy, and the two horns represent the two-fold division of the Roman Clergy.
Now let us see how their power developed in history for the Scripture states:
"He exerciseth all the power of the first Beast before him" Revelation 13:12
The expression "before him" is rendered elsewhere in the Scriptures as "in
the sight of" meaning "to be overseen by. " So the Second Beast exercised power
under the supervision of the First Beast, the ecclesiastical always taking
second place to the temporal and political ambitions of the Papacy. Any good
history of the Church will give an outline of the growth and development of the
ecclesiastical hierarchy of Rome. Persecution had kept the early Church
comparatively faithful to the New Testament pattern, but emerging from the
catacombs after Constantine's supposed conversion to Christianity and his Edict
of Toleration, the doors to error were wide open.
A powerful priesthood developed throughout the Roman Empire and the Bishop of
Rome soon climbed to primacy over the Church, claiming to be Universal Bishop.
The Papal Clergy exercised their powers and carried out their tasks in obedience
to the temporal power of the Pope and it was soon apparent that their first
loyalty was not to their own nation or monarch but to the foreign potentate who
was not merely the Head of the Church, but a Temporal Monarch as well.
Throughout the Dark Ages there grew up a host of Monastic Orders of Monks and
Nuns, including the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites, Cistercians and
Augustines, together with the Poor Friars or begging monks from the Mendicant
Orders who professing loudly their poverty travelled throughout Europe raising
money for the coffers of their master the Pope. One of their money-making
schemes was the selling of Pardons or Indulgences, and it was
the conflict over this practice which helped to launch the Protestant
Reformation of the Sixteenth Century.
The Second Beast or Ecclesiastical Papacy is rightly described in the
Apocalypse as:-
"like a lamb, and he spake like a dragon." Revelation 13: 11
Too many in these days of Ecumenism are being deceived by the lamb- like
appearance of the Church of Rome, her honeyed lips drip with
deceit as she speaks of love, peace, tolerance, justice and unity with the dear
separate brethren, who not so long ago she called heretics.
Christ warned us to: -
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves." Matthew 7:15
Paul the Apostle also cautions and admonishes us that:-
"After my departing shall grievous wolves come among you, not sparing the
flock. " Acts 20:29
Therefore heeding this advice we would do well to remember some of the
dragon-like words from the mouth of the Two-Horned Beast, let
us confine ourselves to two items which will illustrate our point. Firstly let
us quote from the Romish Pontifical:-
THE CURSE AGAINST PROTESTANTS
"May God Almighty and His saints curse them with the curse with which the
devil and his angels are cursed. Let them be destroyed of the land of the
living. Let the vilest of deaths come upon them and let them descend alive into
the pit, Let their seed be destroyed the earth by hunger and thirst, and
nakedness and all distress let them perish. May they have all misery and
pestilence and torment. Let all they have be cursed. Always and everywhere let
them be cursed Speaking and silent let them be cursed. Within and without let
them be cursed. From the crown of the head to the soles of the feet let them be
cursed. Let their eyes become blind, let their ears become deaf, let their
mouths become dumb, let their tongues cleave to their jaws, not their hands
handle, let not their feet walk. Let all members of their body be cursed. Cursed
let them be standing or lying, from this time forth forever; and thus let their
candle be extinguished in the presence of God at the day of judgement. Let their
burial be with dogs and ass'. Let hungry wolves devour their corpses. Let the
devil and his angels be their companions forever. Amen Amen. so be it. so be
Secondly let us examine the dragon-like remarks of the late Cardinal Manning
as follows:-
CARDINAL MANNING'S PRONOUNCEMENTS
1 . "If England is ever to be re-united to Christendom, it must be by
submission to the Living Authority of the Vicar of Christ. The
first step of her return must be obedience to his authority; just as rebellion
again his authority was the first step of her departure ------------ Contd on
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The Mark.
2. "Neither true peace or Christian Charity can recognise tolerance. The
Church has the right to require everyone to accept her
doctrine. The duty of the Civil Power is to enforce the Laws of the Church, to
restrain evil-doers and to punish heresy. "
3. "Even in passing laws, Parliament must defer to the
Church. The state may enact a law, but it must see that it in
no way contravenes the High Laws of the Church. "
4. If a King of a Christian nation falls into heresy, he commits an offence
against God and against his people. It is the duty of the Church... . to depose
such a Prince in punishment of his crime and to prese his subjects from being
led into heresy or spiritual rebellion. "
5 . "It is a sin and even an insanity to hold that men have
inalienable right to Liberty of Conscience and Worship, or to deny that Rome has
the right to repress by all force all religious observance save her own, to
teach that Protestants in a Catholic country should be allowed the exercise of
their religion "
6. "You have a great commission to fulfil... in the field of England the
warfare of the Faith. She is the Head of Protestantism... the stronghold of its
powers. Weakened in England, it is conquered throughout the world. Once
overthrown here the whole world is open to the Church's will.
If these are not sufficient Dragon-like words let us remember the recent
statements of Roman Catholic priests at the funerals of IRA terrorists in this
land of Ireland.
Describing one of those killed at Loughgall the officiating priest describe
him as:-
"an upright and truthful man, who loved his Irish culture, his faith and his
country. "
In the "Today" newspaper of March 15th, 1988 under a banner headline
"PRIEST HAILS IRA'S DEAD AS LAMBS TO SLAUGHTER" we read that:
"A Catholic priest yesterday prayed over the bodies of three IRA terrorists
shot down in Gibraltar and said they were LAMBS TO TH SLAUGHTER. 'Father' Piaras
O'Diull also said 'GOD HAS TESTED THEM AND FOUND THEM GOOD' after their coffins
were flown to Dublin".
Truly the voice of the dragon behind the mask of the lamb; the Papal wolf in
sheep's clothing.
to be contd.
This is a recent chilling title of an On Target magazine. Bloomfield Books at
26 Meadow Lane, Sudbury Suffolk, England, C010 6TD This is the Chip version
which fits in with THE MARK series. Serious readers will be sent one free upon
request.
The Church of God meets at Oak Farm School Saturdays 3-5 Phone for local
details.
Isaiah 14:12-17 shows Satan was originally Lucifer that was cast to the
ground for disobedience. This is pre Adamic. See Atomic War has
happened before.--cd21.
Cont. from August