April 29, 2005 I am ever mindful of how desperately I need God-given wisdom, like Solomon received, as I watch and try to understand what is going on in this world.  The passing of the Pope with the mind-boggling attention he has received and the election of Joseph Ratzinger just being the latest events that need to be understood.  For the kingdoms of this world now have a new Pope to help guide them toward a unity in diversity that will finally bring peace on Earth..  His chosen name is Benedict XVI, which means...the blessed one.
 
As with my previous letters, I want to focus on another prophetic sign that points to the return of Jesus Christ in the flesh to this planet.  The Pope's death has highlighted this sign more clearly than ever before. The sign is....the great "falling away" from the true gospel within the ranks of Christendom around the world, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12.  This departure from the truth, which got its traction with the lies of Augustine and Constantine in the fourth century, has picked up tremendous speed with John Paul II.  Let me make it very clear and simple....the passing of the Pope and all the swelling words of praise coming from all the world is a road you don't want to travel.  Its end is destruction and eternal death in Hell, Philippians 3:17-21.  I say this because in the Lord I love all people, and want them to go to Heaven and not Hell.  It is not "hate speech" to compassionately tell someone you love they are racing down a road that leads to eternal death. 
 
As I said in my last Solomon letter, none of us possess Godly wisdom in and of ourselves.  For we all suffer from the fallen sin nature that Adam and Eve received from the satanic serpent in the Garden of Eden, and if left alone, can only produce the wisdom of fools.  However, by the grace and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells all that have a personal, one on one relationship with the Lord.  Then, and only then, can we accurately see or comprehend what is happening around this demon controlled political-religious world, which the Apostle John and Daniel refer to as Babylon or the final phase of the Roman Empire. 
 
I have written many times that Babylon/Rome consists of three components....political, economic, religious.  And it has two "seats" of power.  America is Babylon the Great, the nation which leads the political and military component of Satan's Kingdom.  The final President will sit in the seat of the Antichrist/Beast.  The Papacy is the seat of the False Prophet of the Great Harlot, who steers and guides all religious aspects of Babylon/Rome.  The final Pope will be the one who establishes the Mark of the Beast, which compels all people to worship the President as the Messiah, after he is assassinated and then miraculously brought back to life, Revelation 13, 17.  The world-wide attention now given to the Papacy is convincing evidence that the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is at the door.  The funeral itself, attended by most world leaders, reflects what John saw in his vision concerning the Papacy's power among the nations....with whom the kings of the Earth committed fornication..., Revelation 17:2. 
     
There is nothing more evil and sinister that to "participate" in the doctrines of demons that keep people on the road to Hell.  This will enrage many who read this, but I must say it...all the office holders of the Papacy, including John Paul II, are responsible for all their followers who died while on that road. All of the Popes were told the truth about salvation in Jesus Christ and deliberately rejected it.  Men who deny and twist the truth are not given entry into Heaven!  And unless they repented at the end of their journey they all joined their blind followers in Hell.  For the Papacy represents a false gospel, another Jesus, just as Paul warned first century believers in the true Lord Jesus Christ, Galatians 1:6-10, 2 Corinthians 11.  Paul loved the false teachers of his day as people in need of genuine salvation, and cried out to them to change their ways, but said of those men who refused correction....let him be accursed, Galatians 1:8.  Sounds pretty clear and heavy does it not?  
 
Again, I beg you to study the scriptures for yourself and compare them to the distortions in the Catholic catechism book.  For instance, the idolatrous sacramental system used by the clergy to control the laity (Nicolaitans), and the biblically forbidden prayers to and communication with the dead, especially to the precious mother of Jesus, Mary, are just two of the delusions that will keep people out of Heaven, Revelation 2:6, 20-25, Jeremiah 7:18, 44:19, 1 John 2:1, 1 Timothy 2:5, Leviticus 19:31, 20:6, 27, Deuteronomy 18:10-14, 1 Chronicles 10:13.  In these false doctrines, a personal relationship directly with the "only" mediator and advocate between God the Father and men, the Lord Jesus Christ, is replaced by a system of man-made religious traditions.  What's even more appalling, the Catholic clergymen assure their flocks that the laity's acts of participation in the sacraments and their prayers to Mary for her intercession and mediation to Jesus...is their direct relationship with the Lord.  There is no clearer example and fulfillment of what Paul warned Timothy concerning the last days of Christendom...having a "form" of godliness, but "denying the power" thereof: from such turn away, 2 Timothy 3:5.  This is the counterfeit gospel of the Great Harlot, a different Jesus than the one the Holy Spirit reveals in the scriptures.    
 
Today it would be difficult to find one person in America who has not watched the endless praising of the late Pope, and who has not heard how certain everyone seems to be that the Pope's soul is now with God in Heaven.  Below I have included a sampling of comments from those who were interviewed or who have written things concerning the Pope and Catholicism:
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George Bush said:
 
"Laura and I join people across the Earth in mourning the passing of Pope John Paul II. The Catholic Church has lost its shepherd, the world has lost a champion of human freedom, and a good and faithful servant of God has been called home.  Pope John Paul II left the throne of St. Peter in the same way he ascended to it -- as a witness to the dignity of human life......"

Pat Robertson said:

"I am deeply grieved as a great man passes from this world to his much deserved eternal reward. John Paul II has been the most beloved religious leader of our age – far surpassing in popular admiration the leader of any faith.  He has been a man of great warmth, profound understanding, deep spirituality, and indefatigable vigor.....I pray for the Cardinals of the Catholic Church that they might have God-given wisdom in selecting the successor to this great man. Their task will not be easy, but with God all things are possible."

Rick Warren said:

[Warren is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, and all his senior staff sign on to the SBC's doctrines, such as the literal and infallible Bible and exclusion of women as senior pastors. Yet Warren's pastor-training programs welcome Catholics, Methodists, Mormons, Jews and ordained women.]

"I'm not going to get into a debate over the non-essentials. I won't try to change other denominations. Why be divisive?" he asks, citing as his model Billy Graham, "a statesman for Christ ministering across barriers."

Kim Clement said: [prophesying as though the Lord was speaking]

"This day I have received a servant.  This day you call him a Pope.  This day I call him my son.  This day you said a Pope has died.  This day I say a servant has won.  And some would say, What about the gatekeeper of this nation? What about him?  He prays, and he took the mantle of Ronald Reagan so that this nation may experience great revival.  Great breakthrough....great, great, great, great breakthrough.....And in the White House you have a prophet, a man that shall call into being things that are not existing yet.  Why? Because he is not just a President.  He is a shepherd and a prophet that shall deal with the Eastern powers.  He shall deal with the Eastern gods, and Babylon the Great shall fall.  Babylon the Great shall fall, shall fall, shall fall."

Saint Peter said:

"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in damnable heresies....many shall follow their pernicious ways...and through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you...knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his [Jesus] coming."

Saint Paul said:

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.....This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud....despisers of those that are good....lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.  Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof, from such turn away....For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables....I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ."

Saint John said:

"And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns.....and all the world wondered after the beast....And I beheld another beast coming up out of the Earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon....Come here, I will show unto thee the judgment of the Great Harlot that sitteth upon many waters.  With whom the Kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the Earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.....And I saw the beast and the kings of the Earth and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet.....these both were cast alive into a Lake of Fire burning with brimstone.  And I saw an angel come down....and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit....that he should deceive the nations no more......"

Jesus Christ said:

"Verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God....hereafter ye shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man....Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come....be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh....Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves....Many shall say unto me in that day, Lord. Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?  And in thy name have cast out devils?  And in thy name done many wonderful works?  And I will profess unto them, I never knew you , depart from me, you that work iniquity....Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ, and the time draweth near.  Go ye not therefore after them....and many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many....He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

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Can you imagine how Peter and John would react to the comments of President Bush and Kim Clement?  Why is it when John Paul II ascended to what Catholics call the throne of St. Peter in Rome, he ends up being heralded as a great man of God?  Has Christendom forgotten the Catholic's own legend, that when Peter ascended into Rome he ended up upon an ugly upside down cross from which he was crucified?  Have Rome and one billion plus people been converted to Jesus, as some would have us to believe?  Has Satan been chained in the pit with his demonic army to deceive the nations no more?  No, Rome has not been truly converted and Satan is still running loose with all of his lies and deception, including the lie that the Papacy is the office which Peter first started.  You should know that if Peter went to Rome today preaching the true gospel, the religious pagans in the Vatican would again want him dead.  Think about that for a moment.  What do you really believe?  Who on the list above do you find yourself agreeing with...George, Pat, Rick, Kim, or Peter, Paul, John, Jesus?  Do you agree with the grand delusions of Kim Clement that the Pope and President are two of God's greatest generals or gatekeepers, or John who describes them as the Beasts of Babylon?  Was it really God who was speaking to you through Kim?  Does it matter and do you care?  

How can anyone say they love the God of Israel and all men for whom Jesus shed his blood, including the Pope, and not tell them the truth about the lies that are condemning them?  This is not the love of God, but the fear and pride of man masquerading as and pretending to be the love of God.  This superficial, shallow love that refuses to stand and contend for the truth of Jesus Christ, reflects how men would rather have the favor of other men, than the God of Israel, Galatians 1:10.  This attitude is carnal at best, and as Paul said...to be carnally minded is death, Romans 8:6.    
Jesus warns over and over again not to be deceived as the last days draw near.  His warning is being ignored by most in Christendom, most likely because they have not truly been born again.  Remember, as Paul said above, it is possible to have an outward verbal form of Godliness and yet not be born again.  Much of what we are seeing displayed by Evangelicals who say the Pope was a man of God, proves they have not yet understood the power and truth of God in their own hearts.  For a man who knows Jesus personally is one who has received the Spirit of God through true repentance of sin and faith in Jesus and his precious blood.  If his salvation is genuine he also knows the Holy Spirit is giving him a desire for truth, and a desire to understand what the old religious sin nature consists of, so that he can avoid the practice of sin by the Spirit's power and the cleansing of the blood of Jesus.  A true believer, because he loves the Lord with all of his heart, does not want to ever be deceived again, nor does he want anyone else to be either.
 
Watching this world-wide exaltation of the Papacy and how quickly it happened is stunning.  It amazes me how fast information travels form one nation to another.  This is a sign of the last days all by itself, for Daniel said of the time of the end....knowledge shall be increased, and many shall run to and fro, Daniel 12:4.
 
It is not surprising that most in Christendom are making their way back under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church.  Even the billion plus Catholics are becoming more zealous in their false doctrines.  Today, when confronted with the truth by the faithful remnant still holding to the true gospel, they "fall" deeper into their delusions, as they see how great the Pope was in the world's eyes.  Many of them are becoming quite irritated at anyone who would suggest the Pope was teaching falsehoods about Jesus.  His death and the incredible idolatry of this "man" around the world on TV, is paving the way for the bonding of the "final" Pope with the "final" President, the two Beasts of Revelation 13, who will bring peace to Jerusalem.  John said above that the entire world would "wonder" after them!  Listen my friends, this is not a forced worship, but a spontaneous explosion of support and admiration.  It is in full swing on Fox News as I write this letter.  This is the plan of the dragon, the very serpent that deceived a "perfect and pure" Adam and Eve.  How much more then do we, who are peppered with "imperfections and impurities", need the power of the Holy Spirit to show us all truth?
 
Our Lord Jesus Christ is returning in wrath and judgment upon this world system led by the two Beasts of Revelation, which ironically begins with his permitting the President and Pope to channel all of their demonic power and influence to establishing peace in the Middle East.  Israel will fall under the spell of these men because their leaders reject the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  Please read on my web site the last two articles, "The Wise Man" and "Moved with Compassion", for more details concerning all the signs of the times. 
 
Until the day the Lord Jesus Christ comes for his remnant, we are to speak the truth in love and honest compassion to all the lost souls in this world, always remembering that before Jesus created a new pure heart within us by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit and his shed blood, we also walked daily in the powerful delusions of this demonic world system.  We should also remember that as followers of the Lord Jesus our new hearts are still engaged in a major battle in our minds with the remnants of our sin nature that yet reside in our unsaved bodies.  As I have said before many times, our sin nature thrives on political-religious pride, love of self and carnal pleasures, and the love of money, and sadly, it is this sin nature which dominates in Christendom today.  The pride of patriotism, the love of money taught by the prosperity prophets, the acceptance of the sacramental system, the prayers to the dead, and the psycho-babble of the purpose driven life and possibility thinking movements prove this to be true!  
 
Knowing this about our body's sin nature, we long for Jesus to come when he then will change our sinful bodies into the likeness of his glorified immortal body, Philippians 3:17-21.  The writers of the New Testament were all filled with this desire.  Those people who do not have this desire and long for his return, are still blinded by the deceitfulness of sin in their hearts.  They have yet to be saved.  It is imperative that you understand that all of us were created as three-part beings....spirit (heart), soul (mind), and body (flesh).  The sin nature rules in all three parts.  The Lord Jesus Christ saves us from the inside out by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit and his cleansing blood sacrifice for sin.  Salvation begins with the creation of a new heart, thoroughly cleansed of the sin nature, the very moment we are born again of the Spirit....it continues by the Holy Spirit's renewing of our mind in truth day by day....and salvation concludes with the resurrection of our bodies when Jesus returns.  It is that simple! 
 
Even though our new hearts or spirits are pure and free from sin, the sins of our mind and body we are to confess in Godly sorrow that leads to repentance and renewal, 2 Corinthians 7:8-12, Romans 6-8, Galatians 5:16-26.  Don't listen to those who teach Christians that once we have been born again, we no longer have to ask God for forgiveness, or even tell him how sorry we are.  These teachers are wolves in sheepskin suits, who will come up with any excuse to ease the conviction of their sins, rather than just plain old brokenness before a holy and righteous God.  If they refuse to do this with the sins of their minds and bodies, I wonder if they really confessed and repented when they say they were born again?
 
Finally, we who know these truths are to be filled with love and compassion for all people, including our worst enemies.  We are to cry out to people that our Lord is coming to rule this Earth, and the only way for them to be part of this coming Kingdom is to understand and confess his first coming to shed his precious blood for our sins.  God the Father wants to free us from the power of the sin nature that sends us all to Hell.  Make that decision in your heart right now! 
 
Your eternal friend.  Jack
Babylon the Great is Falling
http://www.babylonthegreatisfalling.net
jdhook@cox.net
 
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