Enemy at the Gate
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear Friends of Truth,
Our little CD preachers are making quite an impact. We receive letters from all over the world thanking us for the timely and compelling messages that they bring. The apostle Paul or even Ellen White never envisioned CD preachers perhaps, but these little messengers can go anywhere the angels of God send them. We send them in the post, but God sends them further. I hope you are sharing these important messages with others. Though I attempt to verify all information from publically available sources, for certain aspects of this study I am indebted to my friends at the Eternal Gospel Church in West Palm Beach, FL for their excellent research, some of which is incorporated into this message.
As we steadily march toward the final climactic events of the last moments of earth’s history, it is important that we look at the astonishing growth of the influence of the most powerful religious organization in history. The Roman Catholic Church has made tremendous strides in its quest to achieve great power and influence on the United States of America and in many other western nations of the world. A dramatic shift has taken place in political alignment in recent times. What we learn about Rome’s agenda and methods in America, can most certainly be applied to other western nations. Rome’s influence has steadily increased for decades as prophecy predicts, until it has become perhaps the most important religious influence in our times. Listen carefully as we look more closely at what is taking place.
God’s end-time prophet has some timely counsel for us. “Let the watchmen now lift up their voice, and give the message which is present truth for this time. Let us show people where we are in prophetic history, and seek to arouse the spirit of true Protestantism, awakening the world to a sense of the value of the privileges of religious liberty so long enjoyed.” That is from the 5th volume of the Testimonies, p. 716.
My friends, has Rome changed? Where is Rome’s influence leading our free peoples? Is she now friendly to our free institutions and our liberties, or is she the enemy at the gate?
As we begin, let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we look to you for guidance and understanding. As we open your Word and look at the movements that have increasingly become more powerful in our times, we pray that you will give us wisdom and spiritual grace in these increasingly dangerous times. As one prophecy after another is fulfilled before our eyes, help us to see how important it is to prepare for the end, and to live with Jesus forever. And most importantly, help us recognize our place in these last days to give the warning message. Send your Holy Spirit to teach us as we study today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Here is another statement from the book Great Controversy, page 566. “The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done.”
Revelation 13 tells us that the United States will work to cause all to obey Rome’s authority by causing all to worship in her prescribed way. Let us look at it, beginning with vs. 16. Speaking of the second beast, or the United States, the Bible says, “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
Here is a text from Psalms 94:20-21 that refers to the coming unjust religious laws. Here we also see that there is a coalition gathering together to enact oppressive legislation. “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.”
These verses reveal the secret agenda behind the movements that we see publicized in the press. There is a law that is being framed against the righteous, or those that obey all of God’s Ten Commandments, particularly the Sabbath commandment. There is a gathering together of religious and secular powers in a coalition that is working toward the fulfillment of these verses in Revelation and the Psalms. Whether it is America’s bid for world power, Rome’s ecumenical movement, or the interaction between government and religious leaders, the motivating principle behind them, according to scripture, is the forced worship of Rome’s authority by insisting that all observe her Sunday. That’s why Rome wants to become more influential.
There was a very interesting article in the National Catholic Register, a Catholic newspaper in the United States. The February 12 edition of the Register told about the appointment of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. It is obvious from reading the article and other Catholic material that the appointment of the 5th Roman Catholic Supreme Court Justice was a defining moment for the Church.
Listen to what the article said. “Alito’s confirmation, along with that of Chief Justice Roberts, also gives the Supreme Court the first Catholic majority in American history.” Rome recognizes that with a Catholic majority on the Supreme Court, she will perhaps have the power to overcome one of the most hotly debated and strongly defended laws in the United States; the law that gives women the right to an abortion. To overturn that law would mean a lot to the Catholic Church. But more importantly, behind the scenes, which the press does not report, but which every priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal and pope would know, is the fact that a Supreme Court with a majority of Roman Catholics provides a much stronger opportunity for Rome to press her ultimate prophetic agenda to require all to obey or worship Rome by establishing a Sunday law in America. While it hasn’t happened yet, it is clearly on track.
I will continue reading from the Register. “Catholics have suddenly achieved an unprecedented level of ascendancy in Washington,” the Register gloated. “Two day’s after Alito’s confirmation, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, was elected House Majority Leader in an upset [victory] over acting Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo,” continued the Register. “Boehner is believed to be the highest-ranking Catholic Republican lawmaker in American History.” So within a few months, Rome has gained a majority in the Supreme Court, and a major political player in Congress. The defeated Roy Blunt, incidentally, is a Baptist.
This is not as “sudden” as the article suggests. It has been developing for a long period of time. Yes, the fruit appears to have been sudden, but let us keep in mind that Rome has worked behind the scenes for decades to develop a friendly climate so that these things can happen. As Rome has gained much popularity during the pontificate of John Paul II, and as the ecumenical movement has influenced most of the churches in the United States including the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the American voters have become more and more willing to appoint Roman Catholics to all levels of government, including and especially to the federal government. Furthermore, Rome continues to encourage Roman Catholic adherents to run for public office.
As more and more Catholics have run for office, it is natural that more and more of them will be elected. Also as the Catholic leadership in America has stayed very close to the Presidents and other key government leaders, there has been a greater likelihood that a president, such as George W. Bush, in order to gain votes, would court their support by appointing nominees to key government positions and to the judiciary, including the Supreme Court that would be to their liking. The President continues to court the Catholic vote by meeting with Catholic leaders on a weekly and sometimes daily basis, often complete with photo-ops.
Now, with the appointment of two successive Roman Catholics to America’s highest court, the court that established the loose abortion law in the first place, overturning it is within sight, and it is hard not to miss the jubilation and hope in the Catholic press. Overturning abortion ruling called Roe vs. Wade would mark a significant turning point in American law, engineered by a Catholic majority on the court and a very strong Catholic voice in Congress. The Roman Catholic hierarchy has long desired to be in a position to have a controlling influence on U.S. politics. Rome despises the U.S. Constitution, even though she professes to respect it. Yet, year after year, with each succeeding generation, Rome continues to work for political ascendancy so that her will can be imposed on the United States and all other nations not under her control. She works quietly and stealthily behind the scenes.
To understand the effect of a conservative Catholic majority on the Supreme Court you only need to look at what happened on the first day of Samuel Alito’s new job. The court agreed to hear a case on “partial birth” abortion, a gruesome procedure performed on a fetus usually after the 20th week of pregnancy. Congress had enacted a law banning the “partial birth” abortion procedure. Six times various appeals courts have ruled the ban unconstitutional and invalidated the law passed by Congress. The Washington Post on February 22, 2006 pointed out that the Supreme Court did something very unusual in agreeing to hear this case. “Arguing that an appeals court’s invalidation of an act of Congress was worthy of the court’s attention, the Bush administration persuaded the justices to take the case without one usual criterion for doing so — a division among lower courts.” In other words, the court was willing to break with its normal processes and hear a case that did not have conflicting rulings in lower courts. The Post said that this hearing was granted “without comment or recorded dissent.” It makes you wonder if there is a realization among the liberals on the court that they can no longer do anything about the conservative agenda of the administration or the conservative members of the court. Perhaps this is a harbinger of other dramatic movements soon to come.
The New York Times, on February 22 pointed out that Congress and the President had made political moves designed to defy the lower courts’ rulings, including enacting a nearly exact copy of the law that was declared unconstitutional by those courts. Bush is clearly acting so that he can capture the religious vote of Catholics and Evangelicals for the Republican party.
While “partial birth” abortion is a terrible procedure and probably needs to be banned, there is a larger issue here. A Supreme Court that is a majority of conservative Roman Catholics will likely hear more cases that clearly involve Roman Catholic principles or doctrines. Because a majority of Americans think that the law should prohibit such abortions, this is an easy one for the court to address and begin to set its new, far more conservative agenda, and perhaps establish some precedents that will come in handy later. But to reverse these lower court rulings so quickly, when there has been obvious political maneuverings, will signal an aggressiveness that is underlying the court’s new religious point of view. Could this aggressiveness one day likely be used to support objectives that are not so honorable, such as a Sunday law, or other oppressive religious laws in the United States? Rome’s influence on the court, is in itself, now going to dramatically change the American political scenery.
But there is much more. It isn’t just that there is a Catholic majority on the Supreme Court, or that the highest ranking republican in congress is a Roman Catholic. The influence of Rome goes much deeper. At the moment 130 out of 435 members of the House of Representatives are Roman Catholic. That is essentially 29%. 24 out of 100 Senators are Roman Catholic, or 24% which is about the same as the Catholic population of the United States. Of the 50 state governors however, 22 are Roman Catholic or 44%. Incidentally, Virginia’s new governor is also a Jesuit. Virginia just happens to be the state (or rather commonwealth) that was the critical influence in early America in support of religious liberty. After all, Virginia was the home of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, the two most important leaders who developed the thinking that led to religious liberty. Imagine what they would have thought if they knew that one day, their beloved commonwealth, center of religious liberty, would have a Jesuit governor.
Consider this. There are over 300 Protestant Sunday keepers in Congress if you combine all the various Christian denominations together as “Protestants,” but excluding those that are not Protestant or Catholic. If there was a national crisis and they have been working together with Catholic leaders to effect the moral agenda of Rome in other laws of the land, it will be only too natural thing for them to work together for a Sunday law since they are virtually all Sunday keepers. There are 39 Sabbath keepers in congress, two of them are Seventh-day Adventists and 37 of them are Jews. They won’t have much clout when passion and momentum creates the environment for such a change.
But there is more. The New York Observer wrote the following in its April 3, 2006 edition. “Even as some recent polling shows the [Republican party] losing its edge with Catholics, Republicans will counter with their accomplishments and positions. Mr. Bush elevated two Catholics to the Supreme Court — in part on a bet that abortion will remain a helpful issue for Republicans. He named the first Hispanic U.S. attorney General” (Alberto Gonzalez is a Roman Catholic whose legal philosophy happens to be more like the Inquisition than the U.S. Constitution.) “[Republican] positions against embryonic stem cell research closely track Catholic church stands,” the Observer continued. “The gay-marriage issue… [which is also a strong Catholic issue] could be reinvigorated” to assist the Republican party.” President Bush seems to have quite an interest in appointing Roman Catholics to key positions. Recently he successfully nominated General Michael Hayden to head the CIA, a Roman Catholic from Pittsburg, PA. General Hayden was involved in the National Security Agency as Deputy Director. He had headed the Bush administration’s secret wire tapping program on U.S. citizens to search for terrorists. The secret intelligence program is the first step in developing a broader, more comprehensive spying program on U.S. citizens and tracks historical Roman Catholic principles developed during the Inquisition. General Hayden was intellectually trained at Duquesne, a strong Catholic university, and will likely bring his Roman Catholic philosophy with him to the CIA.
Historically the democratic party has been the most closely aligned with Catholic voters. But this has changed, and now it is becoming obvious that the Republican party is steadily appealing to more and more Roman Catholics because of their conservative positions on issues that matter to them.
From these facts it is easy to see that the Bishops have concentrated on the power centers, so that there is a disproportionate percentage of leaders that are Roman Catholic compared to the general population. Because the Vatican is a nation state as well as a church, it has far more political influence therefore, than any other church. When practicing Catholics are elected or appointed to public office, they are expected by their church to act and vote in certain ways, consistent with church teaching. This gives the church considerable political advantage.
Back in 2004 Supreme Court Justice Scalia “denounced the separation of church and state at a Knights of Columbus rally,” reported the Observer. The Knights of Columbus are a Roman Catholic secret society. Scalia’s remarks indicate his willingness to support his Catholic heritage in contradiction to the Constitution which he was sworn to uphold and defend. Will Alito, Roberts, Boehner and Hayden have the same legal philosophy? No doubt the bishops are quite happy with the way things are going.
Even as more Catholics are elected or appointed to positions of large responsibility in U.S. politics, non-Catholic high-profile people are beating a path to Rome. As recent as February 9, Laura Bush, wife of President George W. Bush had a private meeting with Benedict XVI in the Vatican Library. President Bush has made several trips to the Vatican. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State has also made a number of visits to the Vatican in the last couple of years, as have other leaders of the United States. No doubt these consultations will reap tremendous benefits for Rome and will open the way for Rome to have even more influence in America and other nations of the world as time progresses. Remember that America leads the world in worshipping the beast and erecting the image to the beast, according to the scriptures.
Britain is also greatly influenced by Roman Catholics in key positions. “Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC is the most influential Roman Catholic lay person in Britain, according to an analysis by the Catholic weekly, The Tablet, reported the Telegraph on March 17, 2006. This man may not be involved in politics, but he is in a most influential position. But there are quite a few others as well.
The Tablet, wrote the Telegraph, “which publishes its list of the 100 top Catholics today, said its analysis demonstrated how accepted Catholics had become in the life of the nation and the establishment. Most of those on the list, which aims to identify those who had the greatest impact on public life by wielding the most influence or power, practice their faith.
“The Duchess of Kent, the first senior Royal to convert since 1701 is ranked 13th, while Michael Martin, as working class Glaswegian (that’s someone from Glasgow) who became the first Catholic speaker of the House of Commons since the Reformation is sixth.
“Sir Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary, is at number five, just out ranked by sir Peter Sutherland, the chairman of BP and Goldman Sacks International, and founding director of the Word Trade Organization. [He is fourth.] John Reid, the defense secretary is placed 15th … and Terry Leahy, the chief executive of Tesco [a huge British company] is eighth.
Similar analysis could be done for Australia, which is also greatly influenced by Roman Catholics, and Canada and other traditional Protestant nations like Germany and the Netherlands.
Roman Catholicism has become more popular and influential then ever before in the United States and in other nations. It is ruled by the Vatican in Rome. World leaders from around the globe including, prime ministers, presidents, dictators, monarchs and even non-Catholic religious leaders, make visits for consultation with the bishop of Rome on a regular basis.
Because the Pope claims to be the representative of Christ the son of God in the world, he claims supreme, universal primacy in both honor and in jurisdiction. It should not surprise us then that the Vatican has become an enormous, international bureaucracy that seeks to exert ever increasing pressure on national leaders and through them, on their people.
The Vatican is a nation among the nation states of the world. But what nation has over 1 billion adherents living in every nation of the globe, most of whom are willing to do the Pope’s bidding? The church has now developed considerable political clout. As this power grows, expect to see a good deal of political developments that reflect Roman Catholic viewpoint or even Canon law. For example, Rome is urging nearly unfettered immigration to the United States of Roman Catholic citizens of other nations, especially from Mexico and other Latin American countries. This creates circumstances that may not be in the best interests of the United States, but certainly play into the hands of Rome. Rome is also attempting to reduce the economic power of the U.S. and other rich nations by urging them to forgive the debt of the poor nations. This will strengthen her influence on American politics as it always does in countries that are poor.
Rome recently created a public controversy by encouraging Hispanic Catholics, to demonstrate in the streets of many major cities against laws restricting the free flow of immigrant workers into the United States from Mexico and other Latin countries. Rome wants more Catholics in America. So the priests, bishops and some cardinals got involved in the demonstrations to oppose measures that would make the border with Mexico much more difficult to cross. All the priests had to do was to make a few public statements about the brewing congressional controversy in the press and the demonstrations were on all over the nation. But that wasn’t all. In Oakland, CA, a priest named Antonio Valdivia, of St. Louis Bertrand Catholic Church, “gripped a palm frond like a walking stick and led a procession of 5,000” people down the middle of International Boulevard, reported the American Free Press on May 22, 2006. “Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick gave the opening speech at the massive demonstrations” on the mall, the paper said. The Catholic Church strongly supports an amnesty program for illegal immigrants. Perhaps that is why President Bush is so favorable to the idea.
So the church works in two ways. On one hand she is working to influence the national leaders of nation states concerning laws that are favorable to her, or that support her political and religious viewpoint, while on the other, she encourages the people, particularly Catholic people and all those that will join with them, to develop grass roots movements in support of her agenda. On one hand Rome uses the immigration issue to strengthen Roman Catholic voters in America by pressing for amnesty for undocumented workers in America. The National Catholic Register for May 14-20, 2006 said “Our prescription is… [to create] legal avenues for migration and the extension of legal status and a path to citizenship.” Obviously the Church stands to gain by having more Catholic citizens in the U.S.
On April 11, 2006 ZENIT reported that 55 Catholic democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives released a statement concerning the responsibilities of Catholic politicians. “The signatories of the letter stated that “we seek the Church’s guidance and assistance but believe also in the primacy of conscience.” They were basically saying that they didn’t agree with the church on certain issues, such as abortion, or euthanasia, and would not vote in harmony with church teaching on the basis that they had a right to vote according to their consciences.
“But, according to Jesuit Father Joseph Koterski, professor of philosophy at Fordham University, the Catholic understanding of conscience requires a distinction. The crucial factor is not fidelity to one’s chosen moral principles, but rather fidelity to moral principles given to us by God…as mediated by the magisterium of the Church.” In other words, conscience must be educated by church teaching.
Jesuit Koterski continued… “the Church has long recognized the primacy of conscience, so long as one understands the term properly. …One must form one’s conscience correctly,” that is, in harmony with church teaching. John Paul wrote in “Veritatis Splendor” that since the conscience is subject to error, “we must constantly work to form the conscience truthfully. The magisterium of the Church is at the service of this formation,” Koterski said.
On December 18, 2005 ZENIT reported that Benedict XVI, said “Christian politicians cannot remain without the help of the Church.” In essence, Rome claims to be the supreme moral voice in the world and in any nation. When Rome claims the authoritative primacy in a nation, this teaching will eventually effect the way the nation views those that dissent from Rome.
In other words, Catholic politicians and officials have the right to act according to their conscience, but their conscience must be molded by church dogma, as authoritatively defined by the bishops, and in particular, the Bishop of Rome.
During his recent trip to Poland, reported the New York Times, “I am above all a Catholic,” [Benedict XVI] said. “I would say that this is the most important part that we must always learn, that we are Catholic.”
Now, think about the implications. In an environment in which Catholic politicians are in the ascendancy, this teaching will one day soon, greatly influence the direction of western nations where they are in power. When Sunday laws are pressed and openly debated, Catholic politicians will be pressured to conform to church teachings, by legislating and enforcing Sunday laws.
Rome has always defined the primacy of conscience only in terms of its own teaching. In other words, those who hold other views than those approved authoritatively by the church magisterium (that’s its ruling body), are not properly Catholic. Rome recognizes that society often has many different understandings about moral questions, but when Canon law controls the laws of the land, dissent is marginalized at best, and often persecuted.
This may not be so critical in the normal matters that come before legislative bodies. But what we are seeing is that the present political climate is being shaped by Rome, who has used the ecumenical movement to unite most Protestant churches with her around key moral issues upon which they can agree. This gives tremendous political momentum to government leaders that align themselves with Catholics and evangelicals on their agendas. And it brings much more than the Catholic vote to the negotiating table. It brings the evangelicals too. Keep in mind, the ecumenical movement is not just about uniting the churches together in a warm friendly gesture. The ecumenical movement has also offered Protestants a seat at the negotiating table for national policies, which they have readily accepted. Rome knew that by getting Protestants and Catholics together, they could combine with enough political force to greatly influence the direction of the nation. The ecumenical movement has paved the way for this and now it is bearing fruit.
This teaching is also the basis of Roman Catholic meddling in politics. The American founding fathers knew that if the national conscience was guided or dictated by Rome, it would lead to oppression and persecution. Therefore they separated church and state in the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. They knew that there were important moral principles in the law of God, particularly in the last six commandments. But they were careful to prevent any meddling in that which involves personal conscience in the worship of God. Rome is working to unite the churches into a political block that will influence the last six commandments. They are working out their relationships, and refining their tactics so that the same principles, once matured and effective, can be used to pressure enactment of laws related to the first four commandments, particularly a Sunday law.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the USCCB is a very powerful organization politically, and is strategically located in Washington DC near the White House, Supreme Court and Congress. It has almost unfettered access to the highest levels of the U.S. government. The USCCB does not represent the voice of American Catholics in Washington. It represents the voice of the Vatican. The General Secretary of this organization, Monsignor William P. Fay wrote, “The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” That’s from Catholics in Political Life, June 2004. Again we see the pressure applied to Roman Catholic politicians. And don’t forget, to Rome, “moral principles” refer to its tradition, its custom, doctrines and religion.
The USCCB (and presumably their counterparts in other countries) also has a special office just to systematically track legislation through congress and to influence lawmakers. It is called the Office of Government Liaison. This office is responsible for lobbying lawmakers concerning public policies that especially concern them. Every year the director of this office prepares a report for congress petitioning all of its members to support the USCCB’s positions and reminding them of the Church’s clear teaching.
From Great Controversy page 565-566 we read, “[Rome] is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done.” Do you think that the various Conferences of Catholic Bishops are employing every devise including lobbying legislative bodies? What devices are being used? There are many as we have noted throughout this message. This is not a power that is friendly to America’s constitution and principles, my friends. The enemy is at the gate.
Catholic bishops know that when an emotional crisis arises such as the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the long developed relationships with national leaders and lawmakers will pay off. The people are generally emotionalized and more religious. They want reassurance. They look to the leaders for advise. If Rome can influence the national leaders, the people will follow along. This is exactly what happened after September 11 in the U.S. President Bush and the leaders of nations like Britain, Australia and Canada were able to dismantle or reinterpret constitutional legal protections of their citizens rights, all in the name of fighting terrorism. Much of the new formulation of law tracks Roman Catholic legal philosophy, and even some elements of the old inquisition.
The bishops know that the national leaders will inevitably come to them for counsel in a national crisis. This is what Rome desires. National crises play into Rome’s hand, especially and particularly when Rome has been faithful to develop close relationships with national leaders behind the scenes for many years. One thing is certain. Sooner or later, when there is a suitable major crisis, the Catholic bishops will lobby for a Sunday law, and it will very quickly become a matter of public debate. Evangelicals and other Sunday keeping churches will link with Rome and pressure the United States to do the very thing prophecy has foretold. We are in the run up to this amazing development right now.
Another point to consider here is that President Bush, since 9/11 has greatly increased presidential power through various maneuvers that have limited the power of the Congress and the Courts. He has a core of legal advisers around him, reported U.S. News and World Report, May 29, 2006, that have helped him develop a “radical redefinition of Presidential power,” and give the office of the President vast powers to over-ride the Constitution, all in the name of fighting terrorism. Since September 11, the power of the President has increased on every front, and has most of the earmarks of a government on the road to dictatorship. Rome will find this very useful. With a strong and influential Catholic vote across America, the Bishops will only need to concentrate on the President and a few key power players. The more power is concentrated in the hands of those few people, the more effective the bishops can be, especially when the Catholic vote can tip elections one way or the other. We are reaching a critical moment in American history, a tipping point, from which there will be no return.
Rome’s method of threatening lawmakers with religious penalties for not reflecting church teaching in their lawmaking, is perhaps the most insidious means of influencing government, because it carries an influence that goes way beyond church doctrine, and will have an enormous influence when Sunday laws are agitated. While any church has the right to discipline its members for unfaithfulness to its doctrines, the Roman Catholic Church is much different. It is a nation state as well as a church. It carries diplomatic relationships with nations all over the world. This admixture of church and nation state gives the Roman Catholic Church special status and creates a much more intrusive mechanism into the affairs of nations. The greater the influence that Rome has, the greater is the effectiveness of those penalties on its lay members in public life. Any nation that has a strong Roman Catholic influence among its leadership is therefore being influenced by a foreign power. Rome has its adherents in every nation influencing and gradually increasing the pressure on them to conform to church teaching. Though the Vatican is the world’s smallest nation, it has become the most influential and revered. What other nation has over a billion people scattered almost everywhere, willing to work in its behalf.
The church is even ready to discipline those that don’t go along with church teaching in public life. Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became pope Benedict XVI wrote an English memo just for use at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting in Denver June 2004 as a guideline. In that memorandum he wrote “that there is a “grave and clear obligation for Christians to oppose judicial decisions or civil laws that authorize or promote abortion or euthanasia,” and that “the minister of Holy Communion… must refuse to distribute Holy Communion to someone… [who is in] obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin.” Specifically, he said, “Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him in the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.
Furthermore, Ratzinger emphasized the pressure that is placed on the average Catholic voter in a final note in the memo. “A Catholic,” he said, “would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia.” So, Catholic voters can be refused communion if they vote in ways that the church views as wrong or in support of evil. Denial of communion to a Catholic is a very serious, forceful and manipulating threat. This also puts enormous pressure on liberal politicians who need the Catholic vote for their election, to act in accordance with Catholic teaching. Think where this is taking the nation! Now we see very liberal politicians restructuring their positions on these hotly debated issues, to align more with Catholic voters. The more voters Rome has, the more pressure she can apply. Can you see why it has been so important to Rome for the United States to have had so many Catholic immigrants come to the U.S.? This will help her one day influence the overthrow of the Protestant principles of the U.S. Constitution.
Why does the Catholic leadership want Catholic politicians to only represent their church teachings instead of the constituency that voted them into office? It is because their main goal is to remove the separation of church and state, so that the church can pressure the state to enact laws in harmony with its teaching.
In order to limit religious freedom in America and other nations with similar constitutional guarantees, which is Rome’s ultimate goal, the clause which prevents Congress from establishing or supporting religion must be eliminated, or redefined so that it no longer prevents the state from supporting church activities or prevents churches from political activity. As organized religion becomes more political and influential, leaders listen more carefully to their concerns. As the government restraint is gradually removed so that these churches can receive government funding and other benefits, they become even more involved in politics, and in the process, pressure their elected leaders to enact laws that relate to their beliefs. Rome stands to gain the most. She is always at hand building relationships with elected leaders, whoever they are, so that they can influence them in their deliberations in government. No church has as much political clout as the Roman Catholic Church.
In the United States, there is developing an image to the beast. This means that church and state will eventually co-mingle similar to the way Rome was commingled with the state during the dark ages when she controlled the old world. This principle is presently in rapid development again. Rome always has her men at hand, steadily encouraging the development of this image to herself. Tragically, the recent Presidents of the United States have been all too accommodating. President Clinton was a Baptist, but that didn’t stop the bishops from getting very close to him. President Bush is a Methodist. But he is openly courting the bishops and the Catholic vote.
Listen to what John Wesley wrote in his journal. After showing that because of the Pope’s power to forgive sins, Roman Catholics cannot be trusted to be loyal to a nation or its laws, he said: “Setting then religion aside, it is plain, that upon principles of reason, no government ought to tolerate men, who cannot give any security to that government for their allegiance and peaceable behaviour. But this no Romanist can do, not only while he holds, that ‘No faith is to be kept with Heretics,’ but so long as he acknowledges either priestly absolution, or the spiritual power of the Pope.” You see through priestly pardon, Catholics are in a position to freely bear false witness concerning Rome’s true objectives. They can profess to revere and support the Constitution, and even swear to uphold it, while at the same time seeking to undermine and destroy it. They can commit perjury, murder or even treason, if it is for the good of the Church. John Wesley did not believe in persecution of any man for his religious beliefs. His comments were about the loyalty of Catholics to their Church instead of their country, which is in direct conflict with the sovereignty and principles of any non-Catholic nation.
John Wesley would be horrified if he saw a Methodist president of the United States working so closely with the church of Rome and its leaders. President Bush, under the counsel of Rome’s leaders, is carrying out the gradual destruction of the Constitution and the removal of the distinctive freedoms granted to Americans.
From Great Controversy page 564 we read, “Let the restraints now imposed by secular governments be removed and Rome be reinstated in her former power, and there would speedily be a revival of her tyranny and persecution.” The restraint in the United States is the separation of church and state. In Britain and Australia and some other nations, there are similar elements in their constitutions. When these are removed or reinterpreted through the political processes, presidential order, or judicial activism, there will be surprising and shocking developments.
You see my friends, Jesus tells us plainly what is coming in the future. So many of us have buried our heads in the sand for so many years that it hard for us to discern the times. We have been blind. But the good news is that Jesus is trying to wake us up and help us understand the truths that He has been so gracious to give us. He gave His life for us, that we might be saved. He has opened heaven’s gates for all who want to enter in.
My friends, prophecy is being fulfilled right now. The enemy is at the gate. We have been expecting it for a long time, but perhaps we have not been able to see it so clearly. It is only a matter of time before the angel’s holding back the winds of strife will be instructed to let them loose. Let us give ourselves to Jesus so He can become the master of our lives. You can live for Him if you want to. All you have to do is invite Him to come into your heart and give you a hatred for sin. Follow His counsel to make no provision for the flesh. Then live in the confidence that He has given you power to overcome them. Resist the devil. He will flee from you. We don’t have time to waste. Things in this world are wrapping up at an unprecedented pace. May God help you to take hold of His righteousness and make your peace with him.
Let us pray. Our Father in Heaven. Thank you for your goodness and mercy. It is so wonderful to have your Word which gives us light for our times. Thank you for your forgiving power that can take away sin and its guilt. Oh God, help us to be ready for the coming spiritual challenges in these last days. Help us to stand for truth though the heavens fall. And at last, save us in thy kingdom of peace and righteousness. In Jesus name, Amen.
Music
For those of you receiving the CD version of this message, the following is a current events update of interest to those that love the appearing of Jesus Christ and are watching the fulfilling prophecies. This part of the program is only available on CD and on our website. We can see the signs of the times telling us that we are nearing the world’s great crisis. May the Lord find us faithful.
Bird Flu Takes the Next Step
Recently Avian Flu advanced a step toward a human-to-human form of the virus. The Wall Street Journal for May 25, 2006 reported that “an unusual cluster of human cases of bird flu in Indonesia has raised the possibility that the virus has for the first time sparked a small human chain of transmission…”
The deadly Bird flu, which is considered to be a disease that is largely limited to those that work very closely with poultry, is being carefully watched by health authorities around the world because of its potential to mutate to a human-to-human form that could spark a deadly pandemic that would kill millions of people. Bird flock-to-bird flock infections are the most notorious, followed by bird-to-human infections. “It wouldn’t be the first time bird flu may have passed from one human to another,” reported the Journal, “but it would be the first instance of such a secondary, or chain transmission.”
Here’s what happened. In a small village in Karo district in northern Sumatra (the island that was rocked by the earthquake and swamped by the Tsunami in December of 2004), “eight members of an extended family fell ill after a recent gathering,” reported the Journal. “Seven of the eight have died, all but one of whom have tested positive for bird flu. The surviving member also tested positive for bird flu. Authorities haven’t found any obvious source of infection in birds in the area — the usual means by which a human would become infected by avian influenza,” said the Journal. This “was not only the largest bird flu cluster in the world,” said the Washington Post the same day, “but also the first in which the investigators believe the virus passed from one person to another and then to a third.”
So far, there is no evidence that the deadly H5N1 strain of the virus has spread beyond the family. But the capabilities of the virus to spread from one human to another is apparently growing. This particular family got it from somewhere. Since there is no obvious bird source, health authorities cannot rule out a human-to-human strain with pandemic potential. The World Health Organization (WHO) is organizing a meeting to consider whether to increase its world threat rating, said the Post.
While there is a lot of controversial talk that the bird flu scare is a lot of hype, I’m not ready to write it off on the basis that Jesus himself said that there would be serious pestilences in the last days.
Free Speech took a licking
When President Bush hosted Chinese President Hu Jintao recently his press conference on the White House grounds was interrupted by a journalist. Wenyi Wang, a naturalized U.S. citizen who emigrated from China, shouted out protests against the head of the world’s largest totalitarian state. Wang had a press pass as a reporter for The Epoch Times. Wang was escorted off the grounds by uniformed Secret Service agents, and, according to ABC was charged with “knowingly and willfully intimidating, coercing, threatening or harassing… a foreign official performing his duties.”
Ironically, during his speech, President Bush called for more freedom in China to “assemble, speak freely and to worship.” Obviously, the Bush Administration is willing to limit that constitutional freedom in America even as he calls for the same freedoms in other nations.
And Freedom of the Press is taking a licking too
Something extraordinary is going on in America regarding its core constitutional freedoms. There is a controversy developing over freedom of the press. World Magazine, in its May 13 issue reported that legal scholars are now asking if the New York Times violated the law by reporting on a leaked story about the National Security Agency’s spying on Americans in an effort to track Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
The story, published last year, created quite a controversy over whether or not the Bush Administration has the right to wire tap phones without a court order. The law requires a court approved warrant to spy on Americans. There is a secret court set up to issue warrants for such wiretaps, with easy access to government investigators, and with a history of granting almost all requests for search warrants. President Bush argues that he is not bound to use this court and that warrants aren’t necessary in a state of war.
The New York Times editor Bill Keller complained that “Some officials in this administration, and their more vociferous cheerleaders, seem to have a special animus towards reporters doing their jobs. There’s sometimes a vindictive tone in the way they talk about dragging reporters before grand juries and in the hints that reporters who look too hard into the public’s business risk being branded traitors. I don’t know how far action will follow rhetoric, but some days it sounds like the administration is declaring war at home on the values” (such as freedom of the press), “they profess to be promoting abroad.”
Obviously Mr. Keller is under pressure from Government threats. But for the government to threaten reporters for reporting on things that the government is doing in the public interest is tantamount to muzzling the press.
There is a law, that was enacted long ago that makes it illegal for government workers, intelligence officers, and others to leak sensitive information to the press. But apparently, the government is now attempting to reinterpret this law and apply it to those in the press who publish sensitive material. Journalists and editors may or may not be aware of the sensitive nature of their stories. Will it come to the place where they will have to ask permission to publish their stories?
And Speaking of the Constitution,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, gave a speech in South Africa, February 7, 2006. In that speech she said, “The notion that it is improper to look beyond the borders of the United States in grappling with hard questions,… is in line with the view of the U.S. Constitution as a document essentially frozen in time as of the date of its ratification. I am not a partisan of that view.”
Justice Ginsburg obviously doesn’t respect her oath to honor the Constitution. Apparently she believes that even though the Constitution can be amended at any time if necessary, and therefore is not frozen in time, it nevertheless needs the Supreme Court justices to make certain that the Constitution or its interpretation is kept up to date with the jurisprudence of other nations.
Justice Ginsburg revealed her distain for the founding legal document of the United States of America. Evidently, the Justice believes that the Supreme Court can reinterpret the Constitution at will – or at least any five justices thereof. Use of legal cases from other nations as precedent or guidance in legal decisions in the U.S. is in reality in line with the some of the most important goals of the United Nations, in particular eliminating national sovereignty.
While justices are free to consider all manner of legal commentary or case law, it does seem strange that courts in other nations, whose laws are quite different from the United States, would have much to offer, unless it would be used with the intent to reinterpret or rewrite U.S. constitutional law. There is an ominous back side to considering foreign law in dealing with cases in the U.S. The view that the U.S. constitution is a “living document” that can be revised or reinterpreted by the court at any time, is a view held by Justice Ginsburg and one or two of the other justices. What they are really saying is that they can bypass the public process of amending the Constitution and do it themselves. The integrity of the U.S. Constitution is a key issue at stake in prophecy and the Great Controversy. Keep your eye on it.
Don’t forget that the Spirit of Prophecy makes it very clear that, “When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp
hands with Spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and Republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near.—Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 451.
Is it possible that Justice Ginsburg, a Jew, is being used to set up a legal opportunity for the principles of the U.S. Constitution to be repudiated, perhaps by judicial ruling?
I would think Satan rejoices with fiendish satisfaction when he can get nominal or secular Sabbath-keepers to cooperate in tearing down the very document that established the freedom-based nation that the United States has been for over 200 years.
Next, Is Canterbury on the Road to Rome?
For nearly 50 years, there has been an ongoing dialog between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church. The most recent document, published last summer, entitled Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ, reported Good News, in the May/June 2006 issue, “actually stated that ‘the Roman Catholic Church teaching on the immaculate conception and the assumption of Mary were consonant with Anglican reading of the Bible.” The Times in London also reported that there are “increasing numbers of Anglican and Catholic parishes that share church buildings and non-Eucharistic services.”
In spite of the ordination of women being a major impediment to full unity with Rome, Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams is planning “to visit the new pope this year in yet another attempt to make major progress in healing centuries-old rifts,” reported Good News.
It makes one wonder what the Anglican church must do to pervert the scriptures to the point that it can agree with the most unbiblical and diabolical doctrine of the immaculate conception and Assumption of Mary. Obviously the Anglican church is so committed to finding unity with Rome, that it is willing to sacrifice loyalty to the Bible. What other compromises will Rome require in order that the Anglican church can experience full, sacramental union?
Next: Free Trade doesn’t even help poor countries.
Former U.S. labor secretary Robert Reich recently commented that ten years after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect, “Mexico’s real wages are lower than they were before [NAFTA].” NAFTA was a treaty between the U.S. and Mexico that was supposed to help Mexico’s economy as well as the economy of the U.S. Instead it has hurt both nations.
David Sirota of The San Francisco Chronicle wrote on April 9, 2006 that “a decade after NAFTA’s passage, America is still hemorrhaging the good-paying jobs that NAFTA was supposed to create. As for Mexico, the Washington Post’s report on the 10-year anniversary of NAFTA told the story: 19 million more Mexicans now live in poverty than before the pact was signed… And because NAFTA included no provisions to force companies to improve Mexican working conditions, jobs that were created in Mexico still pay near-slave wages. For instance, the Associated Press noted this week that “many young [Mexicans] have manual jobs on minimum wage of $5 a day.
“Time Magazine recently shed further light on the situation, reporting that, “even when new jobs do appear, [Mexico’s] unforgiving low-wage business culture… makes sure that they still often pay in a day what similar work would pay in an hour in the United States.”
NAFTA was supposed to help equalize the economy. It has resulted in the loss of American jobs because it opened up the cheap labor market to American businesses, but hasn’t help Mexico’s poverty because these companies still pay the going wage locally.
NAFTA was imposed on the U.S. because of internationalists who want to remove national sovereignty and regionalize the economy of the Americas. This global strategy effectively undermines the Constitution and makes the United States more subject to economic depressing mechanisms of internationalism. It also helps to regionalize the culture and creates a wider pool of influence on American policy from mostly Catholic countries.
That is all we have time for today my friends. I pray that you have gained much from what you have heard. Thank you for your prayers and support for Keep The Faith Ministry. It means a lot to us. Good bye for now.
Rome’s influence has steadily increased for decades as prophecy predicts, until it has become perhaps the most important religious influence in our times.