The Good News of the Judgment
| The Mark of the Beast in the Judgment Hour William Diehl The Protestant churches of today are in the process of abandoning the principles of Biblical truth which gave birth to the Protestant Reformation. As a result of this forsaking of belief in the Bible as their only objective rule of faith, the leaders of the Protestant denominations see no further need to continue to urge the distinctive truths for which the founders of Protestantism were willing to risk the loss of all their earthly possessions and even life and limb. Because the leaders of these Protestant groups no longer view the Bible as the sole source of Christian doctrine and morality, the distinctive Biblical teachings which these groups once felt important enough to separate over are now no longer important or sufficiently relevant to justify this division and separation from the Roman Catholic community. Protestants once correctly believed that the Bible clearly pointed to Catholicism as "another gospel" (see Galatians 1:6), and thus an apostate "Anti-Christ" form of Christianity which taught justification and eternal life by works of righteousness and holy living which the believer performed in receiving and partaking of the Seven Sacraments at the hand of the ordained clergy called "Priests". Even though the Protestants were divided upon various issues of faith, they all were united upon the common Protestant teachings of the Bible. The Ecumenical unity which is taking place in churches today is a unity not on the basis of a seeking after Biblical truth which proclaims the true Gospel, but rather on the basis of a desire for united political and social unity and power. These compromises are made in the belief that if only the churches will set aside their doctrinal disagreements, then they will be able to work together in a united world-wide effort to end all war, to bring about world peace, feed the starving peoples of the world, provide medical care for the suffering masses, and foster world brotherhood among the peoples of the world. Thus the Kingdom of God is no longer viewed as a Heavenly Kingdom, but now in the minds of these New World Order advocates, the Kingdom of God is to become an Earthly Kingdom which brings about the long hoped for "Millennial" rule of Christ and the church of God on Earth which has been the aim of the Roman Catholic Church since Augustine proposed this goal in his famous discourse, "The City of God". This proposed unity of the false, Satanic religions of the world has been prophesied and identified in the Bible as "Babylon". The Pseudo-Christian organization which has always sought to unite these "Babylonian" religions into one world-wide religion is identified as the "false prophet" or "lamb-like" beast of Revelation 13:11-15. This false prophet is the Roman Church headed by the Bishop of Rome. The "image to the beast" is the final manifestation of the New World Order which unites the nations of the world (the ten horns) and the false religions of the world, namely Roman Catholicism, Apostate Protestantism, and all the other world religions (called the "great Harlot"), under the one head, the Bishop of Rome. This Apostasy will be thought to be the long awaited Millennium and the final hope of the world for peace, brotherhood, and the rule of Law. The mark of this evil confederacy will be the false Sunday Sabbath which all will be forced to obey. In spiritual opposition to this "Image to the Beast" will be the true remnant church of God which will give the final proclamation: 1.) of the Everlasting Gospel of Justification by faith in the imputed perfect righteousness and atoning death of our sinless Savior and Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ—the Lord of the Sabbath, who created the world in six days and rested upon the seventh day as an eternal witness to His creative power and authority. 2.) of the impending judgments of God upon this counterfeit amalgamation of Satanic New Age Spiritualism, Apostate Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism called "Babylon". This system is "Babylon" and an "Image to the Beast" because it rejects justification by grace alone, through faith in the sinless life and atoning death of Christ alone, and revealed in the word of God, the Bible, alone. 3.) of the warning to receive not the final end-time mark of the Beast in the false Sunday Sabbath. This message will go to the ends of the Earth and then the final 7 last plagues will fall upon the unrepentant unbelieving world. This "time of Jacob's trouble" will end when the remnant of God see the sign of the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven. The people of God will look up and say "Lo, this is our God. We have waited for Him and He will save us." Amen
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