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duction of Himself, through
MAN.
God created man in His image–
form and shape- for a special rela–
tionship with God. But Satan got to
Adam through Eve his wife. Adam
followed Satan in rejecting the gov–
ernment of God. Adam had been
made, as had Lucifer and the an–
gels, a free moral agent- with inde–
pendent
MINO
and ability of free
choice.
On Adam's fateful decision and
rebellion, Adam's world, descended
from him, was sentenced to being
c uT OFF
from God for 6,000 years,
after which God decreed Christ
shouJd COme to
RESTORE
the
GOV·
ERNMENT OF
Goo
lO
earth, estab–
lishing the
KINGDOM OF
Goo with
worldwide
RULE.
Satan is an immortal spirit being,
next to God in supernatural power.
When Adam failed to reject Satan's
WAY,
but followed it in defiance of
his Maker, it remained for Jesus
Christ, the "second Adam," to reject
Satan's way, defeat him, and qualify
to restore God's government. Those
IN
Christ, who have received the gift
of His Holy Spirit and overcome
Satan , shall qualify to sít with Christ
on earth's throne- by a soon-coming
resurrection- at Christ's imminent
return as
KING
ofkings.
God, in sentencing Adam and his
world, had said, in effect , "Go, form
your own governments, your own
religions, your own civilization."
Satan has remained to deceive and
thus sway all mankind-save only
those few whom God has specially
called to a unique mission, in prepa–
ration for the Kingdom of God.
I n this world , soon after the
Flood, a human despot , Nimrod,
formed the world's first city-states.
His mother-wife, Semiramis, started
a pagan, Satan-inftuenced religion,
from which many world religions
have sprung- deceived-with Satan
the god of this world.
Sorne six centuries before Christ,
one Nebuchadnezzar conquered
other nations and established the
Chaldean Empire (Babylon) as the
world's first empire.
Meanwhile God had called the
descendents of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob out of Egyptian slavery. 430
years after Abraham, to become
The
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1979
God's nation on earth. Spiritual sal–
vation was not offered them. Their
God-established government was
based on God's spiritual 1aw. But
they rebelled, and were successively
conquered and taken as captive
slaves- first by Assyria, and 1ater Ju–
dah was taken by Nebuchadnezzar
to Babylon.
Through the prophet Daniel, God
revealed Himself to Nebuchadnez–
zar as sup reme Ruler over all.
Nebuchadnezzar had a chance to
come under God's rule. But as Israel
had rejected that, so did Nebuchad–
nezzar. His émpire was following
the Babylonian mystery religion.
God gave prophecies of world
events from ·the time of Daniel until
our time and immediately beyond.
The Persi.an Empire succeeded the
Chaldean, then the Greco-Macedo–
nian of Alexander the Great, fol-
1owed in 27 B.C. by the Roman
Empire. The Roman Empire held
world sway during the time of
Christ 's ministry.
Jesus Christ founded His Church
A.D. 31 at Jerusalem. He had
trained His original apostles, whom
He sent forth with His
GOSPEL MES·
SAGE
of the
KINGDOM OF
Goo,
backed up by the Church of God,
imbued with God's Holy Spirit.
Counterfeit Christianity
By A.D. 33 the Pater-leader of the
Babylonian mystery religion, one
Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:9-24),
falsely claimed Christianüy and ap–
plied that name to his religion.
lt
entered into fierce opposition and
persecution of the Church of God,
and by A.D. 58 a counterfeit gospel
was being accepted, and the gospel
of Christ was suppressed by Roman
power by A.D. 70.
The Babylonian mystery religion
(Rev. 17:5) became a Rome-based
religion, persecuting true Christian
believers. The Roman Empire was
overthrown by northern barbarians
in 476. There was a semi-Roman
rule by the Vandals, Ostrogoths and
the Heru1i for nearly 200 years- but
all three disappeared eventually as
if the earth had swallowed them.
Meanwhile the Roman Church,
still claiming Christianity, now
known primarily as the Roman
Catholic Church, had gained promi–
nence and power. In 554, its pope
brought Justinian, who ruled the
Roman Empire of the east at Con–
stantinople, to Rome, for a resurrec–
tion of the Roman Empire- then
known as the Holy Roman Em–
pire- with the popes claiming infal–
lible divine rule over the state.
Church and state were united-the
Roman religion was enforced.
There were ups and downs in the
continuing Holy Roman Empire–
reaching peaks in A.D. 800 under
the French King Charlemagne, then
later another upsurge under the
German Otto the Great, still later
the Hapsburg Austrian dynasty ris–
ing toa peak under Charles V, and
finally the Holy Roman Empire
coming to its end under Napoleon,
who "met his Waterloo" in 1814.
Thus, as prophesied (Rev. 13:5), the
medieval Holy Roman Empire con–
tinued for 1260 years (a day for a
year in prophecy).
In !935 Mussolini had conquered
Ethiopia, with Eritrea, ltalian So–
maliland and Libya. Mussolini–
having arranged a concordat with
the Vatican- proclaimed the resur–
rection of the Roman Empire.
It
was
an insignificant "empire," hardly
making front-page news. This was
the kingdom that "was, and is not,
and yet is" of Revela tion 17:8.
Verse 10 (Rev. 17) says: "And
there are seven kings [kingdoms]:
five are fallen [as of 1935), and one
is, and the other is not yet come."
Prophesied United Europe
1 have been proclaiming and writ–
ing, ever since 1935 , that the final
one of the seven eras of the Holy
Roman Empire is coming in our
generation- a "United States of Eu–
rope," combining ten nations or
groups of nations in Europe- with
A
UN ION OF CHURCH ANO STATE!
The nations of Europe have been
striving to become reunited. They
desire a common currency, a single
combined military force, a single
united
GOVERNMENT.
They have
made a start in the Common Mar–
ket. They are now working toward a
common currency. Yet, on a purely
política! basis. they have been to–
tally
UNABLE
to unite.
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