The Great Prostitute

Revelation 17:1-2 says this ... "One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, 'I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.  2) With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.' "

Two quick points before we move to the crux of this writing .... first, the Great Prostitute represents the world church which will exist in the last days and will be the 'partner' of the anti-christ. ... and second, the 'many waters' referred to stands for the masses of humanity which currently inhabit the earth.

Now, let's get to it! ... Anybody watching this new Pope closely? .. Well, I am! ... This guy is taking the world 'by storm' it would seem. ... People by the millions are flocking to him with great adoration and submission! .... So here's my question? .. Is Pope Francis taking steps that are laying the groundwork for the emergence of the world church .. a one-world religion? .. Is he to be the leader of the 'Great Prostitute' prophesied in Revelation 17? .... Many signs seem to be pointing in that direction. ...

Certainly worldly 'conditions' would seem to enhance this possibility. .. We are living at a time when globalization is advancing rapidly. .. The global economy is more integrated than it has ever been before, and with each passing day new economic treaties tie us even more closely together.  ... And 'global governance' (as the elite like to call it) is also steadily gaining ground. .. Through a whole host of global institutions such as the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, and the Bank of International Settlements, global governments are working together at a level that is unprecedented. ...

So, what about religion? .. Is there any evidence that we are currently witnessing that it is 'globalizing' as well? ... The answer to that is a resounding YES! ... And this new Pope is clearly leading the way! ....

Since he has become Pope, Francis has expressed a desire for unity with Eastern Orthodox, the Anglicans, and many other major protestant denominations. ... Get this! .. He recently sent a video message to Kenneth Copeland and his congregation. ... At the time it was presented, one speaker declared aloud,  'Luther's protest is over' .... Here's a comment from this event ...  

" 'The Catholic and Charismatic renewal is the hope of the Church,' exclaims Anglican Bishop Tony Palmer, before a group of cheering followers at the Kenneth Copeland Ministries. .. Palmer said those words are from the Vatican. .. Before playing the video message from Pope Francis to Kenneth Copeland, Palmer told the crowd, 'When my wife saw that she could be Catholic, and Charismatic, and Evangelical, and Pentecostal, and it was absolutely accepted in the Catholic Church, she said she would like to reconnect her roots with the Catholic culture. .. So she did.' ..

The crowd cheered, as he continued ,  'Brothers and sisters, Luther's protest is over.  Is yours?' ..

Even Kenneth Copeland finds this development incredible:  said Copeland, 'Heaven is thrilled over this. .. You know what is so thrilling to me? .. When we went into the ministry 47 years ago, this was impossible.' " 

So, is Luther's protest really over? .. Let's look for a moment .... During the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the Catholics condemned to hell anyone that believes in salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone. ... The following is a direct quote from the Council of Trent ...

"If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified;  in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will;  let him be anathema."  ... (anathema meaning accursed, damned, and devoted to evil) ....

In short, no one can get to heaven without Jesus -  AND THE CHURCH! .. And, the Catholics have never renounced that stand. .. Instead, it has been reaffirmed many times over the years. ... If Pope Francis really wanted to reach out to Protestants, he should start by reversing the Council of Trent on this. .. As it stands, it is official Catholic doctrine that all Protestants are anathema. ... But what's nuts? .. It apparently hasn't stopped many Protestants from reuniting with Rome and declaring Francis to be 'their Pope.'

Adding to this, Pope Francis has also been aggressively courting Muslims. .. The following quote from Francis comes from remarks he made during his very first ecumenical meeting .... "I then greet and cordially thank you all, dear friends belonging to other religious traditions;  first of all the Muslims, who worship the one God, living and merciful, and call upon Him in prayer, and all of you.  I really appreciate your presence:  In it I see a tangible sign of the will to grow in mutual esteem and cooperation for the common good of humanity. .... The Catholic Church is aware of the importance of promoting friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions - it also attests the valuable work that the Pontifical Council for interreligious dialogue performs." ......... Now did you catch that? ... Apparently Pope Francis believes the Catholics and Muslims worship the same God!

More recently, Francis made the following statement about Muslims .....  "We must never forget that they 'profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, who will judge humanity on the last day."

Now by making these kinds of statements, Pope Francis is rejecting another of the most fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith ... and that is, we Christians believe that Jesus is God.

..... Muslims hate this doctrine and say that there is no god but Allah. ... So how in the world can Christians and Muslims worship the same God? .. The only way one could say this is to deny the deity of Jesus Christ!

When it comes to other religions, Francis is not just reaching out to the Muslims. .. During the same ecumenical meeting I previously referred to, he made it a point to say that he feels 'close' to those that belong 'to any religious tradition.' ... and I quote,  "In this, we feel close even to all those men and women who, whilst not recognizing themselves belonging to any religious tradition, feel themselves nevertheless to be in search of truth, goodness and beauty, this truth, goodness and beauty of God, and who are our precious allies in efforts to defend the dignity of man, in building a peaceful coexistence among peoples and in guarding Creation carefully."   .....

Then he really raised some eyebrows when he made the following statement about atheists ... "The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart:  do good and do not do evil. .. All of us. .. 'But Father, this is not Catholic!  He cannot do good.' .. Yes he can .. The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ:  all of us, not just Catholics.  Everyone!  'Father, the atheists?' .. Even the atheists.  Everyone! .. We must meet one another doing good.  'But I don't believe, Father, I am an atheist!' .. But do good:  we will meet one another there."

Needless to say, there was a ton of debate about what Francis meant by that, and the Vatican issued a statement declaring that Catholic doctrine on these matters has not changed, but without a doubt a lot of people were troubled by this. ... And there were a lot more troubled when the Vatican offered 'indulgences' to those that would follow Pope Francis on twitter. ... Here's an excerpt from an article that appeared in the Telegraph  ... "Salvation - or at least a shorter stay in Purgatory - might now be only a tweet away with news that Pope Francis is to offer 'indulgences' - remissions for temporary punishment - to the faithful who follow him on the social media site."

So what does this guy - Pope Francis - really believe? ... That is a very good question. ... Certainly his beliefs do not appear to be very consistent at all. .. He just seems to want to say what everyone wants to hear - an overwhelming desire to 'unite' with everyone out there, regardless of the religious connections. .... But when we look a bit deeper, we do find one group of people he doesn't like ... and that is 'ideological Christians - those of us who take our faith very seriously ... and trust that the Bible is literal in ALL its teachings!  .... Allow me to share just one more quote from the Pope ... "In ideologies there is not Jesus:  In His tenderness, His love, His meekness. .. And ideologies are rigid, always. .. Of every sign: rigid. .. And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost his faith:  he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought .. For this reason Jesus said to them, 'You have taken away the key of knowledge.' .. The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also a moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements. .. The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people. .. But it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians. .. It is an illness, but it is not new, eh?"   

Wow! ... In all my days of following any religious leader's thinking, I don't believe I've encountered one like this ... one of complete compromise and deception so as to woo any and all comers .... amazing!

So what is going to come of all this? ... It will be very interesting to watch! ... It is also interesting to note that there is a 900-year-old prophecy (St. Malachy - 12th century) that seems to indicate that Pope Francis could be the last Pope. .. If that prophecy is accurate, then we could very well be living at a time when we will see the emergence of the coming one-world religion. ...

Short of setting a date, the emergence of the one-world religion fits perfectly into most all of the other prophetic signs of our day ... and with this current Pope's compromising of the faith coupled with his apparent charisma, he well could be the perfect candidate to lead the 'Great Prostitute' that is about to appear in this world .....

Until next time,

Red