However, I enjoy you letters, even
better than Shaun Wilcocks' article.
I was a Catholic when
the gospel came to me, and I got saved.
I immediately saw many things that
were wrong: the 7 sacraments, idolatry, the queen of
heaven, and the mass itself.
However, I held back any
condemnation towards the pope, at least initially.
I told the man who brought me the
gospel, and the other believers that he fellowshipped
with, that they were wrong about the pope.
The pope was soon to make a special
speech, so I told them to watch & listen, as I was
convinced that the pope would glorify Jesus.
Well, as soon as he had
opportunity, the pope, instead, began to glorify the queen
of heaven.
I was horrified & devastated.
I realized that the darkness of
idolatry and false doctrine, was a top-down problem, with
idolatry coming from the pope, himself.
Then I began to consider some
strong anti-catholic teaching, that Babylon was the
vatican, and that the antichrist the pope.
As I began to study that, and
reading other people's works, I found out that many of the
great reformers thought exactly that way.
If Jesus would have returned in the
mid to late 1500s, that would certainly have fit
everything.
However, they didn't behead most of
their martyrs, like in London, many were burned at the
stake.
Also, the popes never denied that
Jesus is the Christ, and they never denied the "Father and
the Son".
For quite awhile, I believed
exactly that.
However, it has been 450 years, and
things have changed greatly, for one, the vatican longer
rules over nations as it used to do.
Also, Israel has come back to his
land, and all the ancient foes of Israel are raving mad
against him, armed by oil money.
However, even back during the
Reformation, some of the great reformers, believed that
Islam was antichrist in its foundation.
I John
2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the
Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the
Son.
Also, it is a
major tenant of Islam, that Jesus is not
the Christ, and that their god did not have a son.
They deny "the Father and the Son"
that the Christians worship.
They also behead the martyrs whom
they call infidels.
If the Tribulation is to be focused
around Israel, and the kingdom and forces that come
against him, then that is to be looked at.
All the ancient & prophesied
enemies of Israel, which surround him, are now Muslim
nations, they all worship the same one, false god.
They used to be heathen, with many
gods, but now they only worship one god, the dragon,
himself.
Soon, the dragon's man will come on
the scene, the Mahdi, whom the Islamic world will follow
to destruction.
He will bring the nations of Islam
against Israel.
But Islam's god & Islam's man
will soon face Israel's LORD, and be defeated by Israel's
Messiah.
Anyway, that is how I see things
now.
But this is only my opinion or
interpretation, maybe others think the same way.
However, I cannot be dogmatic about
it.
Gino