As I stated in the first posting of this series, the religious leader of the one-world church-state oligarchy that will declare war on the Lord’s “little flock” of very elect saints will be the reigning pope of the Catholic Church. Over time he will have lured into her Satanic clutches all other religions in existence–except one which will be the focus of their collective rage. An oligarchy is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as a form of government in which power is relegated to a few persons. In this case, one person will be in charge of the religious-political entity that will convince the world’s inhabitants that the cause of the horrendous conditions in which they have found themselves is a tiny group known as “God’s people.”

The oligarch directing the actions of the rest of mankind will come from a long line of men who have exercised similar levels of power over the history of religion. Such men will have been globally revered and will have exerted a level of influence experienced by no other category of men. These men will have occupied the office of Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. In this segment we will delve into the history of this succession of unofficial, unelected world leaders that began in the Roman Empire which dominated Europe before its fall in 470 which marked the beginning of the Middle Ages.

A look at what past popes had said about themselves will open truth-seeking eyes as to the way popes have characterized themselves. Leo X styled himself “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” Leo XII allowed himself to be called “the Lord our God.” Pope Martin V called himself “the most holy, the most happy, who is the arbiter of heaven and the lord of the earth, the successor of St. Peter, the anointed of the Lord, the master of the universe, the father of kings the light of the world.” AND THE CHURCH AGREED WITH THEM.

During the recent papal reign of Pope Francis I read about a family from South America who had driven over 2000 miles for the privilege of seeing the pope from a distance of about two hundred yards. The father of the family told a reporter that just being able to see him was worth everything he and his family had endured to get to the United States. This is an indication of the influence that Catholic popes have on those who believe that they are God’s earthly replacement (vicar). A vicar is one who performs the functions of another or serves as a substitute in office. I read a statement of a Catholic boy who’s priest asked him if he would like to kiss God. The boy said yes. Then the priest kissed him on the mouth. I know a man who flew from Dallas, Texas to Rome, Italy for the privilege of kissing the pope’s hand. Those examples explain how a man, with the power of Satan behind him, will be able to convince the world’s masses to follow him. And with the world’s national governments behind him, there will be few limits to what he can accomplish.

The Catholic Church came into power during the time when the Roman Empire ruled Europe. Due to the conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine who believed that the Catholic Church had enabled him to win a battle he did not expect to win, the leader of the church was elevated to near god status throughout the kingdom. The exaltation of church leadership placed it in a position of great influence over the activities of the empire. This church-state relationship will once again take shape, and soon. It is depicted in Revelation 17 as a woman (a church) sitting astride a beast (an empire). This is much like a rider on a horse–the rider controls the horse even though the horse is many times stronger and many times larger than the rider. In this way, the reigning pope will greatly influence the nations of the world.

The Roman Empire came to be called “holy” due to its association with the church. Using the empire as her enforcer, the people of the nations conquered by the empire were forced into the Catholic Church at the point of a sword. For centuries the “beast,” as the empire is depicted in Scripture, was greatly influenced by the church’s hierarchy. In this way the church came to rule much of the known world on the spiritual level. The Vatican-led Roman Empire endured for hundreds of years. The Bible tells us that the soon-coming era of Catholic rulership, though of shorter duration, will be much more dictatorial and will cover much more territory.

Jesus, looking forward into the final era of this world, spoke about the spiritual condition of the end-time church. He warned that His people would be hated and rejected by the political and religious rulers of the world (Jn. 15:17-20). He also said that there would be many false “Christian” churches and other religious organizations during those days (Mat. 7:22,23; 24:5). The anti-Christianity movement that has come to fore over the past few years is destined to grow in size and power globally. The reason for the fall of the church fills the pages of God’s Holy Bible. The reason is, in a word–SIN–THE REJECTION OF GOD’S LAW (1 JN. 3:4). Having been taken over by Satan, the church has turned her back on the Lord, just as the Apostle Paul warned in Second Thessalonians 2:3. This prophesied “apostasy” has been taking shape for several generations and will soon reach its peak.

In Revelation 17 the Scriptures describe a church symbolized by a woman. This future church is not a small, persecuted group as Jesus describes His end-time church, but is a large, powerful organization which will have rubbed shoulders with “the kings of the earth,” would be wealthy and would wield much power in the religious, political and social realms. As noted earlier, this church is pictured riding and controlling a beast which symbolizes an empire. This church has “committed (spiritual) fornication” “with the leaders of the world’s nations and their inhabitants have “been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Rev. 17:3). Remember that the entire Book of Revelation is about the final era of this world.

This brings us to the focus of the revelation the Lord has given me. We are already in the days leading up to the 3 1/2-year period of death and destruction known as the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. What lies immediately ahead for this generation is the religious civil war that will take place just before the Tribulation Period begins. Over the next few years watch for a gradual “come to mother” move on the part of the world’s religions as the Catholic Pope will succeed in drawing all religions into the embrace of his church. The union will be based on his call for a “national day of rest for mankind.” That appeal has already begun and is proving to be successful in its early stage. The concept will appeal to the masses because world peace will require a meeting of the minds of the world’s people, the vast majority of whom wish for peace and realize that world peace will require a coming together of the world’s religions. It is hard to fight against people with whom one agrees and with whom one shares a world view.

Over the years we have seen how popes have intervened in international conflicts and have been instrumental in bringing about positive results. For example, Pope Francis wrote a letter to the Cuban government and talked directly with the American president about healing the rift between the two countries. Because of his efforts, the relationship between them improved greatly and immediately.. Popes have great power and are very good at using it. This skill will prove to be vitally important in the time ahead during which their power and influence will be greatly increased. Watch for heads of governments to call upon Pope Leo over the next few years when problems between nations arise.

Notice that of late there has been a decided world movement away from the Christian religion. For example, the United Nations prohibits negative language about all religions, except one–Christianity. That is an indication that, relative to the war in which the world will turn on God’s people, THE WAR HAS BEGUN. We are experiencing the “beginning of sorrows” Jesus warned about in Matthew 24:8. L.J.