Bible Prophecy Speaks Of The Papacy, Part I

Popery vs. Other False Religions

Bible Prophecy Speaks of the Papacy Part One, PDF format

Various false religions, cults, and antichristian movements are exposed in books, DVDs, seminars, on the internet, etc.  The professing “Christian” world is awash in information regarding the New Age Movement, Freemasonry, Satanism, Witchcraft, Islam, etc.  A glance through the materials available on these subjects will soon reveal that much of this “information” is deliberately designed to be sensationalistic, churned out by men of dubious spiritual qualifications and peculiar doctrinal persuasions, but evidently with enough business sense to recognise a bandwagon when they see one, and to waste no time in jumping aboard! There are, of course, materials written by truly concerned Christians whose laudable desire is to expose these works of darkness.

Certainly, cults and false religions must be exposed. For one thing, their adherents need to be evangelised; they need to hear the glorious Gospel of the Son of God. And Christians must be aware of what these groups believe, so as to be able to expose their false beliefs in the light of Scripture. For another thing, these evil organisations would, if possible, persecute the Church of Christ – and do when they have the power – or seek to destroy it by various other means.  Thus an exposure of the enemies of the Church of Christ is very important.

But the Christian who is sound in his understanding of prophetic Scripture, and who knows which organisation is the greatest of them all, and the only one which fulfills the prophecies of the Word of God, will be able to place any exposés of the others in the right perspective. Sadly, very few are doing this today.

The Bible speaks, at length and in detail, of only one false religious system: the Roman Catholic institution. In the prophecies of Daniel, 2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation and elsewhere, the Holy Spirit has shown God’s people where to focus the most attention. The Roman Catholic institution is set before the people of God as the greatest enemy the Christian Church has ever had, or will ever have. Thus while other evil institutions must be exposed, because of their false doctrines and evil deeds, so that their adherents may, by the grace of God, be brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and so that the Christian Church may be aware of Satan’s many devices, Christians need to understand that many of these systems are merely “daughters,” but not the “Mother”(see Rev.17:5); that they do not, and never will, fulfil Bible prophecy; and that the Papacy, above all, must be exposed.

As concern about the Papacy waned within the professing Church, Freemasonry, Satanism, witchcraft, and some of the cults became for a long time the focus of the attention of many.  These things were later overshadowed by a stampede to expose the New Age Movement.  Then this, in turn, was eventually overshadowed by the huge interest in understanding and exposing Islam, as that religion rose to greater prominence in the world.  But again: a sound understanding of biblical prophecy will keep these matters in perspective. Bible prophecy speaks of Rome. This is a truth so plain that even enemies of the Gospel have recognised it. Her works and doctrines, more than any others, must be exposed. There was a time when this was almost universally understood. While other false systems were exposed as well, the blasphemous doctrines and dark deeds of the Papacy were exposed far more. But two things, in particular, have combined to alter that once-common state of affairs.

Firstly, a false interpretation of biblical prophecy (deliberately initiated by the Jesuits) that led to speculation and resulted in massive confusion. This is the prophetic interpretation known as Futurism.[1]  In a nutshell, it is the theory that almost all the events in Revelation, and in other prophetic portions of Scripture, are still to be fulfilled some time in the future; that the Antichrist is some unknown individual yet to arise; that the Great Whore is yet to develop fully; etc. Before this Jesuit interpretation of prophecy became widespread, Christians recognised the fulfilment of most of the prophecies in various historical occurrences; they saw, in each pope of Rome, the Antichrist of Scripture; and they had no trouble in identifying the Papal system as the Great Whore.

Secondly, the present-day ecumenical movement (spawned by the Roman Catholic institution) has convinced multitudes of professing Christians that Roman Catholicism, far from being the greatest enemy of biblical Christianity in existence, is a part of the Body of Christ – just another Christian denomination! Given the appalling state of what goes by the name of “Christianity” these days, no true Christian should be surprised. But that, in summary, is why various other abominations are readily exposed, and Romanism is ignored altogether – let alone shown to be the worst of them all!

And let us not fail to discern the slimy trail of the serpent behind this state of affairs. Satan loves it when everyone’s eyes are off Rome, and focused elsewhere! If the seven-hilled city (Rev.17:9) is the place to which the Holy Spirit directs us, the devil will do all he can to point everyone in another direction. Why? It is because he has his seat there (cf. Rev.2:13 with Rev.13:2); it is the habitation of devils (Rev.18:2). It is his masterpiece. No institution on earth is doing his work as well, or on such a scale, as Romanism. For it is a diabolical counterfeit of the truth; and that makes it all the more deadly. Satan, transformed into an angel of light, is far more deadly than when he appears as he really is; and his ministers, when they are transformed into the appearance of ministers of righteousness, are far more deadly than when they appear as Masons, or Satanists, or Muslims (2 Cor.11:13-15).

The Christian who knows what the Word of God really says about these matters will not be sidetracked. By all means, expose the works of darkness wherever they are found. But maintain a biblical perspective at all times. The Holy Spirit has given us an inspired revelation of the Papal system. That system, more than any other, needs to be exposed for what it really is. And yet in our times, that system, more than any other, is the most neglected of all. Indeed, it is not even recognised as an enemy, let alone as the enemy, of the Gospel of Christ, and of the Church of Christ, by the majority of professing Christians. And while other wicked systems are exposed, Popery continues to take giant steps towards its ultimate goal. Christians awake! The soldiers are most needed at that point on the battlefield which many have assumed is not part of the battlefield at all.

Shaun Willcock is a minister, author and researcher.  He runs Bible Based Ministries.  This pamphlet was first published in 1993, and revised in 2018.  For other pamphlets (which may be downloaded and printed), as well as details about his books, audio messages, articles, etc., please visit the Bible Based Ministries website; or write to the address below.  If you would like to be on Bible Based Ministries’ email list, please send your details.

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[1] See Praeterism and Futurism, by Shaun Willcock (pamphlet).  Bible Based Ministries.  Available on our website as Part Nine of the Trappings of Popery set of pamphlets.