The Roman Catholic Socialist Agenda

By Richard Bennett
At the present time, it is becoming more apparent that the Roman Catholic Church is first and foremost a socialist system. For example, on February 10, 2012, Dr. Paul A. Rahe, a practicing Catholic, vehemently criticized its socialist agenda in a widely read article entitled “American Catholicism’s Pact with the Devil.” He stated,
“In my lifetime, to my increasing regret, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States has lost much of its moral authority. It has done so largely because it has subordinated its teaching of Catholic moral doctrine to its ambitions regarding an expansion of the administrative entitlements state. In 1973, when the Supreme Court made its decision in Roe v. Wade, had the bishops, priests, and nuns screamed bloody murder and declared war, as they have recently done, the decision would have been reversed. Instead, under the leadership of Joseph Bernardin, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Chicago, they asserted that the social teaching of the Church was a “seamless garment,” and they treated abortion as one concern among many.”1
Rahe is exactly right in his estimation that the Catholic Church has “subordinated its teaching of Catholic moral doctrine to its ambitions regarding an expansion of the administrative entitlements state.” However, Cardinal Bernardin was acting in accord with the major thrust of the Vatican. The Catholic agenda has not changed since Cardinal Bernardin’s time. Indeed, the Catholic Church subordinates not only its moral teaching but also the very Gospel of grace to its social teaching. Furthermore, official Vatican dogma declares that Catholic social doctrine is a valid instrument of evangelization,
“The Church’s social doctrine ‘is itself a valid instrument of evangelization’ and is born of the always new meeting of the Gospel message and social life. Understood in this way, this social doctrine is a distinctive way for the Church to carry out her ministry of the Word and her prophetic role…This is not a marginal interest or activity, or one that is tacked on to the Church’s mission, rather it is at the very heart of the Church’s ministry of service: with her social doctrine the Church ‘proclaims God and his mystery of salvation in Christ to every human being, and for that very reason reveals man to himself.’”2

Purpose of Vatican’s Social Doctrine

The purpose of the Vatican’s social doctrine is officially stated, “With her social doctrine, the Church aims ‘at helping man on the path of salvation.’ This is her primary and sole purpose.”3 Thus, the Vatican is unambiguous in defining the intent of its social doctrine. It focuses on the good social works that people do. It assumes that these social deeds proclaim “God and his mystery of salvation in Christ.” However, salvation in Christ is totally separate from human deeds, as it is exclusively by the power and in the authority of His name. As the Apostle Peter proclaimed, “neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Likewise, the Apostle Paul proclaimed, “For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”4 Every converted sinner is a sinner saved by grace alone. The grace that saves them is the free, undeserved favor of God. The Lord God saves sinners, not through doing social works, but through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Both grace and believing faith in Jesus Christ alone are essential gifts from God, for without them none can be saved. This true Gospel is given to mankind by divine revelation in Scripture. It stands in total contrast to the official dogma of the Vatican that “The Church’s social doctrine ‘is itself a valid instrument of evangelization.’” Rome’s latest scheme to evangelize starts, as always, with the attempt to replace the true Gospel with its counterfeit gospel. In an age when Marxism, statism, and socialism are on the rise, the Catholic Church’s social doctrine, which is socialist to the core, has been added to its false gospel. Once again, the Catholic Church is able to blend itself in with whatever are prevalent trends in the society it wishes to draw into itself.

Foundation of Catholic Social Doctrine

The Catholic Church states that its “primary and sole mission” is to “help men on the path to salvation.” Starting with a false gospel, the Vatican then teaches a social doctrine based in standard anti-biblical Catholic dogma. For example, it states,
“In fact, the roots of human rights are to be found in the dignity that belongs to each human being. This dignity, inherent in human life and equal in every person, is perceived and understood first of all by reason. The natural foundation of rights appears all the more solid when, in light of the supernatural, it is considered that human dignity, after having been given by God and having been profoundly wounded by sin, was taken on and redeemed by Jesus Christ in his incarnation, death and resurrection.”5

By speaking of “human dignity” having been “wounded by sin” and “redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ in His incarnation, death and resurrection,” the Catholic Church has simply retrofitted its old dogma that “It [original sin] is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted….”6 With this new tool, “human dignity…wounded by sin…redeemed,” the Vatican is now able to accommodate the socialist-statist trends so prevalent in modern, secular thinking

However, the fall of man from grace was total. Since then, man is born spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins.”7 The Fall corrupted every aspect of who man is, including his ability to reason. Therefore, the Bible does not talk about human dignity but rather about man’s sin nature. The sin of Adam brought spiritual death to the whole human race. Consequently, before Holy God, all men are born possessed of inherent pride, selfishness, idolatry, and hostility to God and the truth of His Word. It is not surprising, therefore, to see that the Catholic Church states, “This dignity, inherent in human life and equal in every person, is perceived and understood first of all by reason.” Their statement is simply a demonstration of corrupted reasoning. Rather, what is demonstrably “inherent in human life and equal in every person” is this: every one of us is born spiritually dead. The sin nature, with which every individual is born, shows itself by the personal sins each person commits.

The Catholic teaching is contradictory to Scripture because the Bible portrays unregenerate human beings as dead in trespasses and sins; thus, before God, lacking all dignity. Sinners are cut off from God, the Fountain of life, and therefore spiritually dead, even as a condemned criminal is said to be a dead man. This is the reason we need to be in right standing before God on the terms He prescribes. We have a spiritual debt of infinite proportions that we are unable to repay. However, by His grace alone we can be turned to Him in faith alone for the salvation that He alone gives. Then by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, based on Christ’s death and resurrection, we believe on Him alone. As the Scripture states, “you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.”9 All the vain glory of speaking about “human dignity” ought to alert one to the fact that the Papacy is promoting its social works agenda with an ulterior motive beyond the proffered “helping man to salvation.” For centuries, the Vatican’s false gospel has deceived souls to their detriment. The new agenda is simply the latest device added to their false gospel. It cannot save from destruction. It cannot deliver life in Jesus Christ.

Human Rights as Defined by Catholic Social Dogma

Having stated that the roots of human rights are in human dignity, the Vatican defines what it means by human rights. “In Catholic teaching, human rights include not only civil and political rights but also economic rights …‘all people have a right to life, food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, education, and employment.’”10 However, the Bible does not speak in terms of rights. From cover to cover, the words “rights” and “privileges” are never found in the Bible. The Bible speaks rather about what is fitting for man as when it states, “to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”11 Thus, it is that God looks to the one who recognizes he is poor in spirit, whose heart is contrite for sin, and who trembles at His Word. By God’s grace, men can repent of the arrogance of standing on one’s so-called rights and accept the truth of His Word that states “There is none righteous, no, not
one".

Vatican Aligns with Socialist Theories of Government
Catholic social doctrine continues to be honed for accumulating power to the Papacy. In its claimed status of spiritual moral authority, the Catholo
arding the duties of civil government when it states, “Society as a whole, acting through public and private institutions, has the moral responsibility to enhance human dignity and protect human rights. In addition to the clear responsibility of private institutions, government has an essential responsibility in this area [because]...Human rights are the minimum conditions for life in community. In Catholic church makes known its opinion regarding the duties of civil government when it states.

“Society as a whole, acting through public and private institutions, has the moral responsibility to enhance human dignity and protect human rights. In addition to the clear responsibility of private institutions, government has an essential responsibility in this area [because]...Human rights are the minimum conditions for life in community.
In Catholic teaching human rights not only include civil  and political rights but also economic rights.

As Pope John XXIII declared, ‘all people have a right to life, food, clothing, shelter, rest, medical care, education, and employment.’”

The Catholic Church teaches a role for civil government that is beyond the purpose designated to it by Scripture. The civil government is meant to constrain evil behavior.14 Thus, people are to obey their civil government in order to avoid anarchy and chaos. It is the individual’s responsibility to provide food, clothing, shelter, education, medical care, etc., for his own family. As Scripture states, “if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”15 The Papal Church contradicts this by asserting that individuals have a “right” to such things. Moreover, the Vatican insists emphatically that private institutions and civil governments have an essential duty to provide such things. The Papal Church teaches a socialist policy regarding the duties of civil governments. In so doing, the Vatican hopes to set itself up as the moral watchdog for society, both within nations and internationally.

Vatican Promotes “The Common Good” to Attain a Collectivist State
The concept of “the common good” is an integral part of the Catholic social doctrine. They define “the common good” as follows,
  “The common good does not consist in the simple sum of the particular goods of each subject of a social entity. Belonging to everyone and to each person, it is and remains ‘common,’ because it is indivisible and because only together is it possible to attain it, increase it and safeguard its effectiveness…The common good, in fact, can be understood as the social and community dimension of the moral good.”

Implicit in this statement is the idea that all property, wealth, and goods are never fully privately owned. Elsewhere, it is officially stated that private property and all goods are always subject to regulation so that “the common good” will the foremost beneficiary.17 Further, the Catechism of the Catholic Church declares,
“It is the role of the state to defend and promote the common good of civil society. The common good of the whole human family calls for an organization of society on the international level.”18
By aligning itself with current socialist trends, the Vatican hopes to gain an increasing position of relevance in secular political, economic, and social circles. Their ambition focuses on gaining power at every level, but particularly at the international level. Pope Paul VI in a section of his encyclical entitled, “Toward an Effective World Authority,’’ proclaimed,

“This international collaboration on a worldwide scale requires institutions that will prepare, coordinate, and direct it until finally there is established an order of justice which is universally recognized…”19
Catholic social doctrine aims at a Marxist-type collectivism in which each person has an equal portion of “the common good” based on his so-called claimed human dignity and rights. Such a concept teaches people to depend on civil government rather than taking responsibility for their own lives and choices, as the Bible requires. Nowhere does the Bible call on believers to depend on government for their livelihood, but rather they are to look to God who will provide for His own.20 If, however, the Bible can be made to be irrelevant21 and the Gospel perverted, then the Catholic Church will once again have an opportunity to be the international moral authority that it claims to be primarily in secular nations.

The Modus Operandi of the Vatican Socialist System
The Roman Church seeks to implement her socialist ideas by using her power as a religious system working through her own status as a civil state. As a religious system, she is able to command a “fifth column” within many nations. By her influence as a civil power, Papal Rome is also able to substantially influence civil rulers and civil policy in many nations and international bodies. The Church of Rome has 179 legal agreements with nations across the world. These “concordats,” as they are called, guarantee that the Catholic Church has the right to define religion and worship for Catholics within that sovereign nation. They also secure for the Vatican the right to define doctrine, establish Catholic education, and negotiate laws regarding property, appointing bishops, and Catholic laws of marriage and annulments. Thus, the Vatican is able to make use of civil governments to implement its own agenda.

Catholics are Obliged to Promote the Socialist System
Dr. Rahe also noted that for some time he has heard no moral teaching from his priest when he goes to church, but rather he hears socialism; and, he is right. The central authority of the Catholic Church has declared that all Catholics are to be taught this social doctrine, and they are to promote it everywhere in every situation—both personal and political.22 This, says the Catholic Church, is the duty of the lay Catholics in particular; hence, they must be taught it. Since the social doctrine has been designated as part of the theology of the Catholic Church, it must be believed on pain of excommunication.
Decidedly, the Vatican has on its agenda for the United States a change from constitutionalism to socialism. This the U.S. Bishops made clear in 1995 when they stated,
“In the pastoral letter we suggest that the time has come for a ‘New American Experiment’—to implement economic rights, to broaden the sharing of economic power, and to make economic decisions more accountable to the common good. This new experiment can create new structures of economic partnership and participation within firms at the regional level, for the whole nation, and across borders.”23
God, in His providence, saved Europe and England during the Reformation of the sixteenth century by the spread of the Gospel and the proliferation of the Bible. In the seventeenth century, thousands of Bible believers, under threat of persecution from the Papacy’s murderous Inquisition, fled to the new land of America where they had freedom to worship God according to their belief and to set up a civil government that would be greatly influenced by the Bible. In our own day, if the authority of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ can be removed from the Western world, the Catholic Church, which is both a religion and a nation state, will have an opportunity to again enslave the West. Conclusion It is from the biblical perspective that we must view the machinations of the Roman Catholic social teaching and practice. The Catholic Church formally went apostate at the Council of Trent in 1546 when they denied the Gospel.24 Nonetheless, the Gospel remains “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…for therein is the righteousness of God revealed.”25 The central message of the Gospel remains unaltered, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”26 The Lord God speaks to us again through His written Word, “Oh that my people had hearkened unto me…and had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.”27 He will give us victory over the enemies of the Gospel and Christian life as we listen to Him and walk in His ways. Our Lord God delights in our serving Him. We are utterly blessed as we hold to Him and His biblical truth. In addition, we see the Lord's fruitfulness and providence in our days, to the praise of the glory of His name! ♦

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1 http://ricochet.com/main-feed/American-Catholicism-s-Pact-With-the-Devil 2/15/2012
2 “Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church” Para. 67 www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html 2/25/2012
3 Ibid, Para. 69
4 Ephesians 2:8, 9
5www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html See Chapter Three The Human Person and Human Rights, IV. Human Rights, a. The value of human rights, Para. 153 2/25/12
6 Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994), Para. 405
7 Ephesians 2:1
8 “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
9 Ephesians 2:1
10 US Bishops 1995 Pastoral Letter, “Economic Justice for All: Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy,” Sect. 17 http://www.usccb.org/upload/economic_justice_for_all.pdf 2/17/2012 (Bolding in any quotation indicates emphasis added in this paper.)
11 Isaiah 66:2
12 Romans 3:10
13 “Economic Justice for All,” Para. 18 http://www.osjspm.org/document.doc?id=94
14 Romans13:3, 4 “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”
15 I Timothy 5:8
16 Compendium, Sect. 164
17 Compendium, Sect. 177, 178
18 Catechism, Para. 1927
19 Paul VI, “Populorum Progressio” (1967), Para. 78
20 Matthew 6:31-32 “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? ... for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” Hebrews 13:5-7 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
21 This agenda has been taught ubiquitously in Western colleges and universities at least since the 1960’s.
22 Compendium, Sect. 80

23 “Economic Justice for All,” Para. 21
24 “If anyone shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ's sake, or that it is this confidence alone by which we are justified: let him be anathema [cursed].” Henry Denzinger, The Sources of Catholic Dogma (Herder Book Co., 1957) # 822, Can. 12
25 Romans 1:16
26 John 6:29
27 Psalm 81:13-14

F

New translation of Catholic Bible nullifies ‘virgin birth’ They say (Mary was not a virgin)

New translation of Catholic Bible nullifies ‘virgin birth’ dogma

On Ash Wednesday (March 9th, 2011), a new translation of the English-language New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE) was published by St. Benedict Press in the USA, and it replaced the earlier edition that had been updated in 1970. The latest Bible involved a team of 50 theologians and translators, linguistics experts, and five bishops, and took 17 years to complete. Commissioned in 1994 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the new translation is said to be more accessible and more poetic. ‘We needed a new translation because English is a living language’ (USA Today), says retired auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee Richard Sklba, who was part of the review and editing team. Conor Gallagher, vice president of publishing for St. Benedict Press, added that, ‘We wanted this Bible to be Catholic all the way through. We really wanted it to be different from a Protestant Bible’. ‘St. Benedict Press publishes more than 40 different editions of the Bible, printed in a variety of formats and customized for any occasion. The NABRE is the latest in its collection, which also includes the New American Bible, the Revised Standard Version and the Douai-Rheims. St. Benedict Press is the only U.S. publisher to print all four Catholic versions of the Bible, Gallagher said’ (Catholic News Service, Patricia L. Guilfoyle, 10th March, 2011) Gallagher said they wanted the new Bible printing to include information that is clearly Catholic, and that doesn’t mean that it is truthful.

The New Edition includes an updated version of the Book of Psalms, which was revised between 1991 and 2010 and has been included in versions of the New American Bible published since 1991. Noticeably, one change in the NABRE was the alteration of the original word, ‘holocaust’, now associated with World War II genocide, to that of ‘burnt offering’, and another was the narrative of ‘the ideal wife’ being replaced with ‘a woman of worth’ (Proverbs 31:10).



A change of major significance, if honestly presented by the Church, would have a major impact on Christian preaching. The 1970 version of Isaiah 7:14 narrates that ‘a virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel’. The new 2011 edition has removed the word ‘virgin’ and reinstated the English translation of the original Hebrew word, ‘almah’ which means ‘young woman’. Christians believe that this Old Testament passage in Isaiah (7:14) foreshadows the coming of Christ and his birth to a virgin that appears in a narrative in the Gospel of Matthew (1:23). However, this Gospel passage was originally plagiarized from Isaiah (7:14) and replaced verbatim into the Gospel of Matthew to create the ‘virgin birth’ story.

The Vatican freely admits that the Old Testament ‘virgin birth’ narrative in the Gospel of Matthew is literary theft and not a prediction of a future special birth. In relation to the Isaiah passage, the exact quotation certified by hundreds of Christian experts at Catholic Universities and sanctioned by Archbishop Farley to be published in the 15th Volume of its Encyclopedia (page 451) reads:

Modern theology does not grant that Isaiah 7:14 contains a real prophecy fulfilled in the virgin birth of Christ; It must maintain therefore that St. Matthew misunderstood the passage.

Confirming that all virgin birth narratives in the Gospels are not based on the conclusion of fact, the Church added: ‘There seems to be no doubt that the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke were later additions to the original body of the apostolic catechesis’ (New Catholic Encyclopedia, xiv, 693). Those ‘later additions’ reveal a doctrinal forgery perpetrated in the development of the New Testament, and provide additional and ongoing evidence that the Gospels are wholly fallacious. Despite its inclusion in the Gospel of Matthew, Isaiah’s Emmanuel was simply a reference to a son born to Isaiah some centuries before New Testament times, and not a prediction of a future ‘divine’ birth for Jesus that the Church made it become. Thus, the word ‘virgin’ in the Gospel of Matthew should also be changed to ‘young woman’ now that the source passage in the Old Testament has been amended. That nullifies the Christian preaching of a ‘virgin’ birth of Jesus Christ (For more detailed information about the ‘virgin’ birth narratives, see page 69 of the ‘The Christ Scandal’).

Sklba, however, said that he expects no change in Catholic teaching, and Mary Elizabeth Sperry of the Bishops Conference added, ‘Some people will be gravely distressed and others will be absolutely ecstatic, and some will just say, ‘I liked it the old way’ (USA Today). The Church is constantly rewriting the Bible in an attempt to make it say what it never originally said, and if one compares the text of the world’s oldest Bible, the Sinaiticus, with any modern-day version, a staggering 14,800 later editorial alterations can be identified in newer versions.

Since the first publication of the Bible in the English language in 1563, the Church confessed that it has undergone so many revisions that ‘scarcely any verse remains as it was originally published’ (Catholic Encyclopedia, Pecci Ed., Vol. ii, p. 202). A similar comment was made about the first English-language version of the King James Bible: ‘Even after its publication in 1611 deliberate changes were introduced silently and without authority by men whose very names are unknown’ (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913, ‘Bibles’). Dr. Tischendorf (d. 1874) noted that during that time, the Gospels ‘underwent such serious modification of meaning as to leave us in painful uncertainty as to what had been originally written’ (Codex Sinaiticus, 8th Ed., The Letterworth Press). Interestingly, surveys reveal that amidst centuries of ongoing restructuring, it is little-known that most Catholics don’t read or even know what is in the Bible.

With the constant alterations being made to the Bible, can one imagine what it will read in 2080?

The sunday law is on its way for sure although it moves in darkness.

Its is necessary that coming up to the close of probation your heart is totally wrapped up in putting away sin,by sending them before-hand by prayer so that they would be blotted out. Acts 3:19. The wise would understand,those who dont know will seek the truth as for hidden treasure.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him : for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

When Sight Matters by Jimmy Vilmen

Replacement gods are setting us up to deny the true God and accept Lucifer unknowingly

2Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Every culture since the dawn of time has told fantastical tales of heroes that have saved humanity from some unspeakable evil.  The effect these mythological tales had on humanity when the true Savior Jesus Christ arrived on Earth was devastating, many didn’t recognize Him because they were seeking a much different hero.  Did the Devil blind us from Christ’s first coming by flooding the world with counterfeits of God’s prophesies?   Since Super Heroes in comics are based on classical myths, is the Devil blinding us again from the greatest supernatural event the world will ever witness, Christ’s second coming?
Superman, Batman, Thor, and many more make their appearances and unmask their true colors in this ever so clear evidentiary documentary.  This should be the last Super Hero movie you ever watch!
The Replacement gods - Official Trailer from Little Light Studios on Vimeo.

Westcott and Hort's Magic Marker / Deletions made in the bible.

Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Matthew
1:25	And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
5:44	But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
6:13	And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
6:33	But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
8:29	And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
9:13	But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
12:35	A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
13:51	Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
15:8	This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
16:3	And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
16:20	Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
17:21	Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
18:11	For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
19:9	And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
19:17	And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
20:7	They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
20:16	So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
20:22	But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
23:14	Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
25:13	Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
27:35	And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
28:9	And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
Mark
1:14	Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
1:31	And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.
2:17	When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
6:11	And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
6:16	But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.
7:8	For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
7:16	If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
9:24	And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
9:42	And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
9:44	Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
9:46	Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
9:49	For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
10:21	Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
11:10	Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
13:14	But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
13:33	Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
14:68	But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.
15:28	And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.
16:9-20	Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (typically marginalized or set in brackets. Footnotes in NIV are patently false.)
Luke
1:28	And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
4:4	And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
4:8	And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
4:41	And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.
7:31	And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
9:54-56	And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
11:2-4	And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
11:29	And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
17:36	Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
21:4	For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
22:31	And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
22:64	And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?
23:17	(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.)
23:38	And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
23:42	And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
24:6	He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
24:40	And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
24:49	And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
24:51	And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
John
1:14	And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
1:27	He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
3:13	And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
3:15	That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
4:42	And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
5:3-4	In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
6:47	Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
6:69	And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
11:41	Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
16:16	A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
17:12	While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

For real or just fantasy

The biggest challenge that will suddenly confront every single individual alive on the planet in these latter times is whether the events worldwide all of these crisis really points to the end of all things as we know it.

At some point in the human mind of a believers,atheist,or agnostics there would be a moment where that which is real seems to be caught up in events that looks so unreal as the closing scenes of Earths history begin to play out.


I wonder how the Jews felt when Christ was performing all these miracles, I wonder how the disciples felt after the resurrection and Christ reveal much to them showing his divinity. I wonder as they gazed at the Saviour ascending up to heaven what was on their minds.

My mind goes back further in the past when the bloodless hand wrote on the the palace walls of Belshazzar "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN."
The Bible description of his reaction shows  this must be fear of severest kind. Holy writ describes the foreboding scenes in Daniel 5: "6 Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spoke, and said to the wise men of Babylon,

There are instances when Rulers with terror have witness the moving of omnipotence.The reactions recorded shows the frailty of human emotions when confronted with frightful scenes outside of those imagine or seen before.

FEARFUL SCENES BEFORE US.
The Earth is to witness event after event fearful in nature that will melt the hearts of the most hardened men.
Many believe only that these scenes are spoken about in revelation only.
Allow me to point to a few Old Testament  scriptures

Zephaniah 1: 14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.


Malachi 4
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Psalms 110:6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.

James5
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
4 Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

2Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

But those who fear the Lord and follow His counsel will find them selves under his shelter in the time of these storms .
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

 Hope and assurance
Malachi 3:16 16 Then they that feared the LORD spoke often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it , and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.
17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

Give your hearts to the redeemer now and He will point you to Bible truth.

"fiscal union"= Lost of sovereignty,Total controle=Revelation 13:16,17

Before you read on what the BBC has to say about a FISCAL UNION it would prudent to understand what this term really mean. 

Wikki Says :

Fiscal union is the integration of the fiscal policy of nations or states. Under fiscal union decisions about the collection and expenditure of taxes are taken by common institutions, shared by the participating governments. For example, in federal nations such as the United States, fiscal policy is determined to a large extent by the central government, which is empowered to raise taxes, borrow and spend. It is often proposed that the European Union adopt a form of fiscal union. Most member states of the EU participate in economic and monetary union (EMU), based on the euro currency, but most decisions about taxes and spending remain at the national level.
Control over fiscal policy is a traditionally considered central to national sovereignty, and today there is no substantial fiscal union between independent nations. However the EU has certain limited fiscal powers. It has a role in deciding the level of VAT (consumption taxes) and tariffs on external trade. It also spends a budget of many billions of euro. There is furthermore a Stability and Growth Pact among members of the Eurozone (common currency area) intended to co-ordinate the fiscal policies of member states.

Today's BBC news says:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Europe is working towards setting up a "fiscal union", in a bid to resolve the eurozone's debt crisis.

She told the Bundestag that a new EU treaty was needed to set up such a union and impose budget discipline.
On Monday she is to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has also called for EU treaty changes.
EU leaders have been under pressure to do more to tackle the debt crisis, amid concern about the survival of the euro.
In her speech, Mrs Merkel promised "concrete steps towards a fiscal union" - in effect close integration of the tax-and-spend polices of individual eurozone countries, with Brussels imposing penalties on members that break the rules.

"We need budget discipline and effective crisis management mechanism," she said. "So we need to change the treaties or create new treaties."

not included in the article is the definition of the word "TREATY" :

A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an (international) agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms. Regardless of terminology, all of these forms of agreements are, under international law, equally considered treaties and the rules are the same.^[1]

Treaties can be loosely compared to contracts: both are means of willing parties assuming obligations among themselves, and a party to either that fails to live up to their obligations can be held liable under international law.

Article continues  : The German government has been pressing for changes to establish powers to veto national budgets in the eurozone that breach agreed rules.
"We have started a new phase in European integration," Mrs Merkel said.

But she made it clear that this was a long-term process that would take years.

On Thursday, Mr Sarkozy said a new European treaty governing relations between members was necessary to protect Europe's place in the world.
"We must confront those who doubt the stability of the euro and speculate on its break-up with total solidarity," Mr Sarkozy said.
Mr Sarkozy said the euro could not continue to exist unless eurozone economies pulled together, with France and Germany playing a key role to ensure "a zone of stability".
However Mr Sarkozy rejected suggestions that national budgets could be approved and regulated in Brussels, and said France would not give up its sovereignty.
No 'joint liability' In her speech on Friday, Mrs Merkel also reiterated her opposition to the European Central Bank (ECB) issuing "eurobonds" backed by all eurozone members.
"A joint liability for others' debts is not acceptable," she said. "Eurobonds are not a rescue measure in this crisis."
She added: "National responsibility and European solidarity serve each other."
Many in Germany argue that eurobonds would penalise countries with a high credit rating, and reduce the incentive of indebted governments to reform.

Analysts also say Berlin is opposed to wholesale intervention by the ECB because of the country's experience of hyperinflation in the 1920s.

However Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily said Mrs Merkel was willing to see the ECB step up its buying of bonds from indebted eurozone countries, as a bridging solution until budget controls took hold.
During their meeting in Paris on Monday, Mr Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel are to agree on joint proposals to be put to a meeting of European leaders next week.
Many analysts see that summit as a crucial moment in efforts to tackle the debt crisis.
European stock markets rose early on Friday, as Europe's leaders call for closer economic integration as the way to resolve the debt crisis
Meanwhile Mr Sarkozy is discussing the eurozone crisis with UK Prime Minister David Cameron in Paris.
Britain is concerned about the possible impact of a two-speed Europe, in which it could be left on the margins along with other countries outside the euro.


Royalblood: Now if the Eurozone challenge is solved or if the European Union succeed then many nations will see light in adopting such methods or may be forced to unite with others to remain competitive while giving up sovereignty . The Bible shows a world united by Zones  controle by 10 kings see here http://thetruthandthetruthalone.blogspot.com/2010/09/who-are-3-entities-that-make-up-modern.html
We know a United, a grouped of nations are easier to control rather than all these nations doing there own thing.  Thus the stage will be set for Revelation 13:16:17. The control of buying and selling One of the bases in which the Papacy will sit as queen on the throne of the earth for a short time hence bringing in the hidden agenda of persecuting Bible believing Christian like in the dark ages. This time is mentioned in Daniel 11:40-45 in detail and .Then Michael shall stand up Daniel 12:1.Christ Will stand up putting and end to all Evil and sin in the World.
Give your life to Jesus now, And he will bring more light(truth) He is the way the truth and the Light.John 14:6

Perfect peace to you as we see on the horizon a perfect storm.
Royalblood

"The enemy has used the chain of dependence to draw men together. They have united to destroy God's image in man, to counterwork the gospel by perverting its principles. They are represented in God's word as being bound in bundles to be burned. Satan is uniting his forces for perdition."{{Vol 6 Testimonies to the church  241.5}  written in 1901

Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution? We are entering into solemn times.

 Royalblood: The words being pen now by many seems to be a mirror image of what was penned some 100 years ago by a little Lady name Ellen G White Of whom there is a blistering none ending attack on. Many of her Critics some former Seventh Day Adventist and most anti Seventh Day Adventist make up the enemy of her messages. But when reading the news of authors none religious the the most,We see striking similarity of commentaries being chronicled now of What Ellen White wrote almost a century ago. One proof among many is that which you would read below.

Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution? link : http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=22963&context=va

For the first time in human history almost all of humanity is politically activated, politically conscious and politically interactive... The resulting global political activism is generating a surge in the quest for personal dignity, cultural respect and economic opportunity in a world painfully scarred by memories of centuries-long alien colonial or imperial domination... The worldwide yearning for human dignity is the central challenge inherent in the phenomenon of global political awakening... That awakening is socially massive and politically radicalizing... The nearly universal access to radio, television and increasingly the Internet is creating a community of shared perceptions and envy that can be galvanized and channeled by demagogic political or religious passions. These energies transcend sovereign borders and pose a challenge both to existing states as well as to the existing global hierarchy, on top of which America still perches...



The youth of the Third World are particularly restless and resentful. The demographic revolution they embody is thus a political time-bomb, as well... Their potential revolutionary spearhead is likely to emerge from among the scores of millions of students concentrated in the often intellectually dubious "tertiary level" educational institutions of developing countries. Depending on the definition of the tertiary educational level, there are currently worldwide between 80 and 130 million "college" students. Typically originating from the socially insecure lower middle class and inflamed by a sense of social outrage, these millions of students are revolutionaries-in-waiting, already semi-mobilized in large congregations, connected by the Internet and pre-positioned for a replay on a larger scale of what transpired years earlier in Mexico City or in Tiananmen Square. Their physical energy and emotional frustration is just waiting to be triggered by a cause, or a faith, or a hatred...



[The] major world powers, new and old, also face a novel reality: while the lethality of their military might is greater than ever, their capacity to impose control over the politically awakened masses of the world is at a historic low. To put it bluntly: in earlier times, it was easier to control one million people than to physically kill one million people; today, it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people.[1]



- Zbigniew Brzezinski

Former U.S. National Security Advisor

Co-Founder of the Trilateral Commission

Member, Board of Trustees, Center for Strategic and International Studies





An uprising in Tunisia led to the overthrow of the country’s 23-year long dictatorship of President Ben Ali. A new ‘transitional’ government was formed, but the protests continued demanding a totally new government without the relics of the previous tyranny. Protests in Algeria have continued for weeks, as rage mounts against rising food prices, corruption and state oppression. Protests in Jordan forced the King to call on the military to surround cities with tanks and set up checkpoints. Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Cairo demanding an end to the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of activists, opposition leaders and students rallied in the capitol of Yemen against the corrupt dictatorship of President Saleh, in power since 1978. Saleh has been, with U.S. military assistance, attempting to crush a rebel movement in the north and a massive secessionist movement growing in the south, called the “Southern Movement.” Protests in Bolivia against rising food prices forced the populist government of Evo Morales to backtrack on plans to cut subsidies. Chile erupted in protests as demonstrators railed against rising fuel prices. Anti-government demonstrations broke out in Albania, resulting in the deaths of several protesters.



It seems as if the world is entering the beginnings of a new revolutionary era: the era of the ‘Global Political Awakening.’ While this ‘awakening’ is materializing in different regions, different nations and under different circumstances, it is being largely influenced by global conditions. The global domination by the major Western powers, principally the United States, over the past 65 years, and more broadly, centuries, is reaching a turning point. The people of the world are restless, resentful, and enraged. Change, it seems, is in the air. As the above quotes from Brzezinski indicate, this development on the world scene is the most radical and potentially dangerous threat to global power structures and empire. It is not a threat simply to the nations in which the protests arise or seek change, but perhaps to a greater degree, it is a threat to the imperial Western powers, international institutions, multinational corporations and banks that prop up, arm, support and profit from these oppressive regimes around the world. Thus, America and the West are faced with a monumental strategic challenge: what can be done to stem the Global Political Awakening? Zbigniew Brzezinski is one of the chief architects of American foreign policy, and arguably one of the intellectual pioneers of the system of globalization. Thus, his warnings about the 'Global Political Awakening' are directly in reference to its nature as a threat to the prevailing global hierarchy. As such, we must view the 'Awakening' as the greatest hope for humanity. Certainly, there will be mainy failures, problems, and regressions; but the 'Awakening' has begun, it is underway, and it cannot be so easily co-opted or controlled as many might assume.

The reflex action of the imperial powers is to further arm and support the oppressive regimes, as well as the potential to organize a destabilization through covert operations or open warfare (as is being done in Yemen). The alterantive is to undertake a strategy of "democratization" in which Western NGOs, aid agencies and civil society organizations establish strong contacts and relationships with the domestic civil society in these regions and nations. The objective of this strategy is to organize, fund and help direct the domestic civil society to produce a democratic system made in the image of the West, and thus maintain continuity in the international hierarchy. Essentially, the project of "democratization" implies creating the outward visible constructs of a democratic state (multi-party elections, active civil society, "independent" media, etc) and yet maintain continuity in subservience to the World Bank, IMF, multinational corporations and Western powers.


It appears that both of these strategies are being simultaneously imposed in the Arab world: enforcing and supporting state oppression and building ties with civil society organizations. The problem for the West, however, is that they have not had the ability to yet establish strong and dependent ties with civil society groups in much of the region, as ironically, the oppressive regimes they propped up were and are unsurprisingly resistant to such measures. In this sense, we must not cast aside these protests and uprisings as being instigated by the West, but rather that they emerged organically, and the West is subsequently attempting to co-opt and control the emerging movements.

Part 1 of this essay focuses on the emergence of these protest movements and uprisings, placing it in the context of the Global Political Awakening. Part 2 will examine the West's strategy of "democratic imperialism" as a method of co-opting the 'Awakening' and installing "friendly" governments.

Read the rest here : http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=22963&context=va

Ellen White said "Danger of Commercialism
There is danger of entering into commercialism and becoming so engrossed in worldly business that the truths of the word of God in their purity and power will not be brought into the life. The love of trade and gain is becoming more and more prevalent. My brethren, let your souls be truly converted. If ever there was a time when we needed to understand our responsibilities, it is now, when truth is fallen in the streets and equity cannot enter. Satan has come down with great power to work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; and everything that can be shaken will be shaken, and those things that cannot be shaken will remain. The Lord is coming very soon, and we are entering into scenes of calamity. Satanic agencies, though unseen, are working to destroy human life. But if our life is hid with Christ in God, we shall see of His grace and salvation. Christ is coming to establish His kingdom on the earth. Let our tongues be sanctified and used to glorify Him. Let us work now as we have never worked before. We are exhorted to “be instant in season, out of season.” 2 Timothy 4:2. We are to make openings for the presentation of the truth. We are to improve every opportunity of drawing souls to Christ. {Colporteur Evangelism  page101.3, 1950}

The close of human probation

We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the typical service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their souls by repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people. In like manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life, should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin, and true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many of professed Christians must be put away. There is earnest warfare before all who would subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not saved in groups. The purity and devotion of one will not offset the want of these qualities in another. Though all nations are to pass in judgment before God, yet he will examine the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth. Every one must be tested, and found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Solemn are the scenes connected with the closing work of the atonement. Momentous are the interests involved therein. The Judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above. For more than forty years this work has been in progress. Soon—none know how soon—it will pass to the cases of the living. In the awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review. At this time above all others it behooves every soul to heed the Saviour's admonition, “Watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is.” [Mark 13:33.] “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” [Revelation 3:3.]

When the work of the investigative Judgment closes, the destiny of all will have been decided for life or death. Probation is ended a short time before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven. Christ in the Revelation, looking forward to that time, declares: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” [Revelation 22:11, 12.] {GC88 491.1}
The righteous and the wicked will still be living upon the earth in their mortal state—men will be planting and building, eating and drinking, all unconscious that the final, irrevocable decision has been pronounced in the sanctuary above. Before the flood, after Noah entered the ark, God shut him in, and shut the ungodly out; but for seven days the people, knowing not that their doom was fixed, continued their careless, pleasure-loving life, and mocked the warnings of impending judgment. “So,” says the Saviour, “shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” [Matthew 24:39.] Silently, unnoticed as the midnight thief, will come the decisive hour which marks the fixing of every man's destiny, the final withdrawal of mercy's offer to guilty men.
“Watch ye therefore; . . . lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping.” [Mark 13:35, 36.] Perilous is the condition of those who, growing weary of their watch, turn to the attractions of the world. While the man of business is absorbed in the pursuit of gain, while the pleasure-lover is seeking indulgence, while the daughter of fashion is arranging her adornments,—it may be in that hour the Judge of all the earth will pronounce the sentence, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” [Daniel 5:27.]

The Papacy’s Exploitation of Pentecostalism

Dear Brother,
The Papacy is ever looking for ways to implement its ecumenical agenda. Its goal is to draw all Evangelicals into the folds of the Roman Catholic Church. Vatican Council II officially pro-claimed this objective in its documents in the mid 1960’s. However, the Papacy’s problem was how to find entry points into Evangelical circles to begin implementing their new ecumenical policy. In 1967, a major event occurred among some of the Catholic students of Duquesne Uni-versity as they attended a retreat. That event was dubbed by some of the professors as “baptism in the Holy Spirit.” The news of such a “move of God” quickly spread to the Notre Dame Uni-versity in nearby Indiana. Cardinal Suenens was sent by the Papacy to estimate the rapidly growing movement. With Cardinal Suenens’ favorable report, the Papacy had a major entry point into Evangelical circles, which they exploited.
This newsletter documents the sinister power behind the Papal outreach to the Evangelicals of the modern Pentecostal movement. It also shows that what the Catholics mean by “baptism in the Holy Spirit” is utterly different from what the Evangelical Pentecostals mean by that same term. Factual knowledge of the power behind the Catholic experiences shows the snare that is hidden in the Catholic ecumenical outreach to the Evangelical Pentecostals.
Please make the article below known to others, and kindly link to it from your website or email, if possible.

Yours for the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel,
Richard Bennett



By Richard Bennett


The modern Pentecostal movement was derived from the holiness movement of the late 19th century. As part of that movement, there was an outbreak of what was called the “baptism in the Spirit” at Charles Parham’s Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas on January 1, 1901. In 1906, similar events began occurring at the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles. The Pentecostal movement generated great excitement from those claiming that God was moving in the signs and wonders that were taking place at these gatherings. As news of these hap-penings spread, the excitement of all this increasingly drew people out of various settled denominations to join with those who desired “baptism in the Spirit” and the signs and won-ders that were associated with the movement.
Nearly simultaneously, in 1897, Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical on the Holy Spirit. The occasion was to dedicate the work of his pontificate to the Holy Spirit, “that He [the Holy Spirit] may bring it to maturity and fruitfulness.” In his encyclical, the Pope stated that the two chief goals of his pontificate had been,
“…in the first place, towards the restoration, both in rulers and peoples, of the principles of the Christian life in civil and domestic society…and, secondly, to promote the reunion of those who have fallen away from the Catholic Church either by heresy or by schism, since it is most undoubtedly the will of Christ that all should be united in one flock under one Shep-herd.”
Here then, in 1897, Pope Leo XIII has stated officially the ecumenical agenda behind what would become the policy of Vatican Council II of 1963-1965. Pope Leo’s conclusion was,
“We decree and command that throughout the whole Catholic Church, this year and in every subsequent year, a Novena shall take place before Whit-Sunday, in all parish churches…[to] duly pray for Our intention.”
Thus, the main thrust of the Pope’s encyclical was his decree that an annual series of Novena rote prayers were to be recited for nine days straight in all Catholic churches. The intention of these novena rote prayers was to pray to Mary that the Holy Spirit would unify Christen-dom under the Catholic Church in a new outpouring of His power. Consequently, the encyc-lical finished with this call,
“Unite, then, Venerable Brethren, your prayers with Ours, and at your exhortation let all Christian peoples add their prayers also, invoking the powerful and ever-acceptable intercession of the Blessed Virgin….”

While purporting to call upon the Holy Spirit to unite all Christendom under the Catholic Church, the Pope was in fact commanding Catholics to invoke through novena rote prayers the one they call “the Queen of Heaven,” in order to obtain the success of his ecumenical agenda.

The Vatican’s 20th Century Ecumenical Agenda
The objective of Pope Leo XIII’s ecumenical agenda of 1897 was officially and more fully degreed in the documents of Vatican Council II in 1964. At the time, implementation of the Papacy’s agenda meant finding the necessary entry points into the Evangelical world. A major one soon presented itself.
In 1967, two years after the close of Vatican Council II, an event occurred at Du-quesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, initiating claimed Pentecostal happenings within the Catholic Church. These claimed “baptisms in the Holy Spirit” at Duquesne caused a great stir in Catholic circles. News of that event quickly spread to students and professors at Notre Dame University in Lansing, Michigan, where similar spiritually powered events occurred in rapid succession. The Vatican then sent Cardinal Leon Suenens to the U.S. to analyze the movement. The Cardinal approved and enthusiastically advocated the U.S. Renewal movement, as it was called. With the advent of the Catholic Renewal movement, the Papacy found that it had been given a major entry point by which to implement its ecu-menical agenda within a growing group of non-Catholics. The organization and infrastruc-ture of these non-Catholic groups were nothing compared to that of the Papacy. Thus, it was seen by the Papacy that the Pentecostals could easily be used as a liaison to make the Catho-lic Church more acceptable to Evangelicals in general. The spiritually powered events at the universities of Duquesne and Notre Dame were apparently the beginning of such events happening in many countries across the world. Different Popes authenticated the movement. For example, in 1975, as Pope Paul VI greeted 10,000 Catholics at the 9th International Re-newal Conference, he stated, “The Church and the world need more than ever that ‘the mira-cle of Pentecost should continue in history’...How could this ‘spiritual renewal’ not be ‘good fortune’ for the Church and the world?” And soon after becoming Pope, John Paul II de-clared, “I am convinced that this movement is a sign of the Spirit’s action…a very important component in the total renewal of the Church.” Later, in 1984, he stated, “Because of the Spirit, the church preserves a continual youthful vitality, and the Charismatic Renewal is an eloquent manifestation of this vitality today, a bold statement of what ‘the Spirit is saying to the churches’ (Rev. 2:7) as we approach the close of the second millennium.”

An Analysis of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Experience
In 1967, there is a first-hand description of the events at Duquesne given by Catholic Patti Gallagher Mansfield in her book, As By A New Pentecost. The book is quite unique because it is endorsed by Cardinal Leon Suenens in the Foreword and by Catholic Bishop Sam Jacobs in the Epilogue. Ms. Mansfield, like others in the book, participated in the activities of that February weekend in Duquesne. In her book, she outlines in detail what happened and what the participants perceived was the meaning of the events. She also outlines many of the basic traditions of the Papacy and includes the testimonies of seventeen Charismatic Catholics. Of her own experience, she recounts,
“Before each presentation we sang “Veni Creator Spiritus in English, using the Gregor-ian chant melody. One of our professors told us…it was a prayer. He wanted us to sing it repeatedly as an invocation to the Holy Spirit. It was as if he were saying, ‘We’re going to keep on praying this until the Holy Spirit comes.’
“Friday night in the chapel, our other faculty advisor held up a statue of Our Lady which depicted her with her hands lifted up in prayer…In God’s plan, it was necessary for Mary to be ‘with us’ in an explicit way as we experienced a sovereign move of the Holy Spirit that Weekend. The Fathers of the Church call Mary ‘the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.’ How can she fail to be present when the Holy Spirit is at work? ...After the meditation on Mary I experienced my first communal Penance Service, and I was quite moved… (p. 35)
“[Later] with expectations high, I wrote on a sheet of paper: ‘I WANT A MIRACLE!’ and tacked it up for everyone to see. I didn’t know exactly what the miracle would be; I just wanted God to act with power.” (p. 38)
Thus Ms. Mansfield testifies that she was thoroughly engaged in Catholic religious ritual and seeking a demonstration of spiritual power. However, without seeking truth primarily, one is not in a position to discern the source of the desired demonstration of spiritual power. This is precisely what Ms. Mansfield’s testimony shows,
“When I entered the chapel I saw a few people sitting on the floor praying…I’d always believed by the gift of faith that Jesus is really present in the Blessed Sacrament, but I had never experienced His glory before… As I knelt there before the Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, for the first time in my life, I prayed what I would call ‘a prayer of unconditional surrender.’…When I prayed that prayer, I was kneeling before the altar. The next moment I found myself prostrate, flat on my face, stretched out be-fore the tabernacle. No one had laid hands on me. I had never seen such a thing hap-pen before. I don’t know exactly what took place….” (p. 39)

Ms. Mansfield had bowed down before an idol and prayed “a prayer of unconditional surren-der.” She sincerely thought her surrender was to the Lord Jesus Christ, who she thinks is in the communion bread. However, the message to which her book plainly testifies is that she surrendered to a strange spirit, which answered by showing its power in laying her out pros-trate before the communion bread that she worshipped as God. Of this experience, she says,
“Although I just wanted to remain and bask in the presence of the Lord, I knew that I needed to share this experience with others. Like the apostles after Pentecost, I wanted to ‘proclaim His marvelous deeds,’ to give witness to the Living God…[o]ne of the professors entered the chapel and commented, ‘What’s the bishop going to say when he finds out that all these kids have been baptized in the Holy Spirit?’”

Fruits of Desiring to See Power Rather than to Seek Truth
Ms. Mansfield states that she “wanted to ‘proclaim His marvelous deeds,’ to give witness to the Living God.” But in fact, she did the exact opposite. While she does give an historically valuable first-hand account of the Duquesne Weekend, the book simply teaches traditional Catholic doctrine. For instance, it teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the communion bread, which is gross idolatry. How does such idolatry align with her desire to “proclaim His marvelous deeds?” Then how could one of the professors conclude that the event regarding her prostration before the communion bread be deemed “baptism in the Holy Spirit?” What is missing in all this is the love of the truth and the desire for it at all costs – which in this case would mean giving up the apostate Catholic Church with its false gospel and unbiblical doctrines. Instead, Ms. Mansfield states,
“Immediately after the Weekend Fran told me she didn’t like ‘the whole operation,’ and was afraid that we were leaving the Church. Quite the contrary, I felt that I was discovering the Church in a wonderful new way. One of the first things I did after the Weekend was to take The Documents of Vatican II and look up every reference to ‘Holy Spirit,’ ‘charisms’ and ‘spiritual gifts.’ As intense as my experience of the Holy Sprit on the Weekend was, if the Church tells me this is not authentic, I would rather renounce my own experience than ever leave the Catholic Church.”

Sadly, twenty-five years later Ms. Mansfield still did not know what happened to her in the recounted experience nor did she know the source of the power by which she was struck. Rather than turning to the Bible as her sole authority to interpret this event, she bowed with-out question to the teaching authority of the Catholic Church. And the whole sordid event is labeled by the Papacy as “baptism in the Holy Spirit.”

Catholic Charismatic Activity Invested with Papal Dogma
The interpretation, of what the book endorsed by the Papacy, described as “Baptism in the Spirit” is poles apart from what Pentecostals believe is the interpretation of such events. Ms. Mansfield explains, “The most common understanding of the Baptism in the Spirit among Catholics is that it is ‘a release’ of the graces already received in Baptism and Confirmation.” Such an interpretation of the “Baptism in the Spirit” works nicely with traditional Catholic doctrine and has readily been accepted as such, according to Ms. Mansfield and the other Catholics whose testimonies are in the book.

Another major Catholic doctrinal teaching from the account of the Duquesne Weekend falls under the heading, “Mary, Spouse of the Holy Spirit.” That section of the book states,
“Mary has a continuing role as Mother of all God’s children, Mother of the Church. And her spiritual motherhood is intimately linked to the work of the Holy Spirit….As we entrust ourselves to the heart of Mary, she will lead us faithfully to the heart of Je-sus her Son.”
Jesus Himself, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, are in essence one God, the trinity of Persons in one nature. The nature of God is totally separate from all persons and things that He has created. Thus, the teaching that the person of Mary has an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit as His spouse is utter blasphemy. It is a sacrilegious deception of Satan. While the Scriptures states, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light,” it still comes as a shock to see the Prince of Darkness, the one most alien to the light, misuse Mary until he has her appearing like a goddess married to the Holy Spirit. In fact, the book mani-fests what Scripture calls “another spirit,” a spirit that is utterly opposed to God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads lost sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ; it is “another spirit” that leads souls to hell. It is the same demonic deception that is seen in the official Papal adora-tion of Mary as, “the All Holy One, and worship of the communion bread with “the worship which is due to the true God.” Indeed, these facts demonstrate that a demonic spirit trans-mits these neo-pagan doctrines. In this scenario, true believers must “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Satan is the chief deceiver, and the Papacy’s ecumenical ploy to use Pentecostal-ism as a vehicle into the broader Evangelical camp is sinisterly evil and, yet sadly, has been highly successful.

Acceptance of the Catholic Charismatic Movement
From the late 1960’s, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal was presented as a movement that from the outside looked like Evangelical Pentecostal spiritual power events. The terminol-ogy, “baptism in the Holy Spirit,” used by the Catholic authorities to describe these new power events in the Catholic Church was borrowed directly from the Evangelical Pentecos-tals. However, the interpretation of those same events was advanced by the Catholic Church with a very different message than that which the same terminology carried within Evangeli-cal Pentecostal circles. The Catholic Pope, cardinals and bishops who before Vatican Coun-cil II arrogantly disdained Evangelicals as heretics, after the Council spoke softly concerning them. Evangelicals were no longer called “heretics” but rather “separated brethren.” Further, after Vatican Council II, Catholics were allowed to go to Evangelical Bible studies, churches, and other events. Most of these people had no understanding other than what the Catholic Church had taught them. Consequently, many Catholics, suffering under dead religious rituals, were excited to take part in a movement that seemed to be from God through the gatherings held outside Catholic authorized places.

David du Plessis, known as “Mr. Pentecost,” was a key figure in ecumenizing with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and played a leading role in developing ecumenical ties with the Roman Catholic Church. Dennis Bennett, an Episcopal priest, was a leading advocate for the charismatic renewal within the Episcopal Church and also with accepting Catholics who were believed to be “filled with the Spirit.” The movement had great influence through “The Positive Confession” teachings propagated by Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Charles Capps, and others. More Charismatics surfaced in the 1980s and 1990s. Indeed, outside the Catholic Church the “Latter Rain” movement saw itself as a returning to the “full gospel” of the early days of the Christian church. However, what was being taught was the falsehood that a person could directly experience God. Scripture states, “for there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” This means that there is no person who can directly experience God. Nevertheless, pious experiences that looked and felt so mysteriously spiritual were like a net cast over the unwary and the unbiblical. In this sce-nario of feelings, the Papal ecumenical overture was quite successful with some “Word of Faith” leaders, among whom were Paul Crouch, David Mainse, John Arnott, C. Peter Wag-ner, Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and Benny Hinn.



Papal Ecumenical Participation Documented
An example of a Pentecostal leader reaching out to the Catholic Church happened on May 25, 2011. The headline, “Pelle, Pentecost and the Pope,” on the front page of the May 25, 2011 edition of the Swedish newspaper Dagen was followed by this report,
“The director of the Swedish Pentecostal Churches was one of the selected to shake hands with the Pope during a Pentecostal delegation study tour to Rome and the Vatican together with a delegation from the Catholic Church in Sweden. The visit was part of the dialogue between the two churches which started in 2003. During the audience, which gathered up to 50,000 persons, the Pope talked about prayer and delivered a special salutation to Sweden, a gesture which gives expression to the interest in the ecumenical process in Sweden by the highest leader of the Catholic Church.”

The Word of Faith leaders in the Pentecostal movement also continually endorse the Catholic Church. The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) is one of the most powerful and persistent of the TV ministries in the USA. It promotes almost exclusively the Word of Faith Pentecos-tal leaders. Paul Crouch, the director of TBN, has been closely associated with the Papacy for many years. On his Website, one finds such announcements as,
“Pope Honors Fr. Michael Manning of ‘The Word in the World’ on TBN” and “Cele-brate Easter with TBN’s Premiere of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.”
His Website explicitly states that its programs have an appeal to those in the Catholic Church. TBN, in fact, promotes Catholic doctrine and offers a wide range of Catholic books and other literature for sale. Furthermore, in Canada, the radical Pentecostal David Mainse welcomes Catholics on his “100 Huntley Street” television show. Also, John Arnott of the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship shared with his followers the news that videos of the Toronto Blessing meetings have been taken to the Vatican. Moreover, C. Peter Wagner, a self-proclaimed founder of the New Apostolic Church and the New Apostolic Reformation, is a key figure in Word of Faith circles. He was at one time a close associate of Vineyard founder, John Wimber. Wagner and Wimber created a course called “Signs and Wonders and Church Growth,” which has impacted churches all over the world. Wagner endorsed the Catholic charismatic movement when he wrote,
“Traditionally, the message of the Gospel in Latin America has appealed to the work-ing class. But changes have begun to take place, and many middle and upper-class people are now opening their hearts to Jesus Christ. Some of this is happening through the Catholic charismatic movement.”
Wagner does not differentiate between the false gospel of Catholic Charismatic movement and the true biblical Gospel.

Another Pentecostal, Benny Hinn, is a well-known Word of Faith leader. In Christianity Today magazine, he emphasized his Catholic state of mind saying,
“My upbringing, of course, was Catholic in that I attended the Catholic school in Jaffa, Israel. And so my mentality basically is a Catholic mentality. When I was born again, I was Catholic in my ways. I was very Catholic in my ideas, in my behavior.”

Papal Difficulties Arise within Catholic Ecumenical Outreach
In 1967, the Papacy began to implement their ecumenical agenda through the Catholic Char-ismatic Renewal; however, ecumenism with Evangelicals had its problems. In the opening years, a number of the Renewal’s Catholic Charismatics accepted the Evangelical teaching on the supremacy of Scripture as the only source for Christian faith and practice. This was noticeable to some former Catholic priests, including the author of this article. Bob Bush, also a former Catholic priest, wrote in his testimony,
“It was August 1970 when God’s grace truly touched me. I began working in the char-ismatic movement, which was a fresh movement in the Catholic Church. While there were all kinds of decrees and dogmas coming out of Rome, the movement at the be-ginning tried to have just one manual, the Bible…We were stressing praise and wor-shiping and glorifying God.
At the time, as priests we did not fully realize that this position directly challenged the Catho-lic Church on the basis of truth. Papal Rome’s position is that,
“The Church does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.”
Thus, quite soon in the opening years, the Papacy imposed its strict dogma that,
“Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture then are bound closely together and communi-cate one with the other.”

Thus, while some Catholic Charismatics had a correct biblical position in the opening years, most did not. The Papacy vigorously upheld its traditions, and those of us who were priests and leaders within the Renewal were told to remain faithful to the Church and to avoid expo-sure to non-Catholic teachers and evangelists. Nonetheless, some of us who were ardent Catholic Charismatics discovered that the teachings of the Catholic Church were unbiblical when we had the opportunity to hear the teachings of Evangelical Pentecostals. While we realized that there were some difficulties in doctrine within Pentecostalism, by the Lord’s truth and grace, each of us came to biblical faith; and while several of us have gone to be with the Lord, most of us are alive today rejoicing in our salvation.

Unsuccessful Attempts to Stem Catholic Exodus
The Papacy has tried to overturn this exodus out of the Roman Church by different means. For example, eighteen years ago the Vatican set up the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Thus, its website states,
“September 14th is a milestone for the life of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the world. Eighteen years ago the Pontifical Council for the Laity of the Holy See enacted the recognition of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service (ICCRS) as an entity for the promotion of CCR.”
While the Institute is supposed to be a liaison between Charismatic affairs and the Vatican, in fact it is but one more level of dictatorial Papal authority. It is mostly a disenfranchised movement not having any meaningful influence in the Catholic Church’s hierarchical system. Consequently, some Catholic Charismatics are beginning to wake up.

Conclusion
Every person’s greatest problem is that he is dead in trespasses and sin. This is the reason we need to be in right standing before God on the terms He prescribes. We have a spiritual debt of infinite proportions that we are unable to repay. The Gospel, however, is that by His grace we can turn to Him in faith alone for the salvation that He alone gives, by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, based on Christ’s death and resurrection for His own, and believe on Him alone. As the Scripture states, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Therefore, the Catholic Charismatic or otherwise, must recognize that the Papacy’s sacramental system is “another gospel,” which is no gospel at all. Rather, a person must have personal faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. This faith is given to him by God’s grace alone. Thus, while the Papacy has attempted to exploit Pentecostalism, it has in many cases backfired. Quite a few Catho-lics, who have awakened to some things biblical and met genuine Christians, have prayed and sought the Lord and have come to Him—by grace and faith alone.
We are all as human beings are initially cut off from God and are spiritually dead, as a con-demned malefactor is said to be a dead man. Water cannot flow uphill, nor can the natural man act contrary to his corrupt nature. What then can you do, just how can you be made right with God? You must first acknowledge that you are spiritually, “dead in trespasses and sins” and cry out to the Lord God for help. It is the Holy Spirit that awakens within the human heart a sense of need. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that overcomes the pride of the natural man, so that one is ready to come to the Lord Jesus Christ to receive life. In the Lord’s own words, “the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” As the Lord also explained, “It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” ♦

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