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A Defense of Liberty
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By Richard Klindedinst - Religious Liberty Dept.
 
Are you like me, getting the feeling that our society is coming apart at the seams; that those who lead, whether political or economic don’t have a clue how to fix the monumental problems we face as a people? Do you fear that the economic meltdown we are experiencing is irreversible? The underlying current, which has fueled our monetary collapse, is greed and it threatens to engulf us. Do you have a “gut” feeling that the “American Dream” is fast turning into a nightmare? But Richard, what does this have to do with liberty? It has everything to do with it! Are you aware that this sets the stage for rapid fulfillment of Revelation 13? For over a century, SDA’s (Seventh-day Adventists) have warned the world of the real danger of the United States of America; Experiencing a metamorphic change from a peaceful “lamb” to a persecuting “beast”. We have taken our share of painful bruises for that position. Most Christian teachers brush aside our prophetic scenario as absurd. Such a thing could never happen to the United States of America. You Adventists are not only un-American, you are insane! The truth is that Bible Prophecy connected with world history is proving us right on every count. Revelation 13 reveals two symbolic “beasts” which clearly represent world powers. The first beast would come up among the nations of Europe during the early and Middle-Ages. She would be a controlling power for over 1000 years. She would forge a union between church and state that would become a gallying yoke of bondage on the human race which historians, both religious and secular call the “Dark-Ages’. Most main-line Protestant Churches agree with the prophetic scenario for some 300 years. We share this interpretation with some of the most renowned Protestant Reformers, such as Luther, Calvin, Knox, Wesley, etc. This beast power would rein for 1260 years. The prophecy is very exact when linked up with history. The Papacy became a controlling power in 538 AD, but after the 1260 years she would receive a deadly wound. This would happen in 1798 when Neapolitan’s General Berthiar entered Rome, took the Pope prisoner and stripped Rome of her Political Power, thus inflicting on her a “deadly wound”, which would last about 130 years. The prophecy didn’t end there. It said that the “deadly wound” would be healed. This healing happened in 1929 when the Roman Pontiff made a treaty with the Italian Government, called the “Lateran Treaty”, restoring Papal Rome’s Political Power. This amazing prophecy (Rev 13) was given over 1000 years before most of the prophecy was fulfilled, and if you include Daniel’s prophecy concerning “Little Horn” (another symbol of Papal Rome) you go back over 2000 years. Amazing!! A prophecy of pin point precision. But it doesn’t end there. After the deadly wound the papacy said, “the deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after the beast, or as some translations say followed the beast”. Any scholar who studied Rome’s history both ancient and modern, knows the amazing ascendancy of the “Holy Sea” since 1929. The prophecy predicts that the world will worship the beast. Wow! Unbelievable! Yet this is happening before our very eyes. Yet the prophecy goes on. A second beast appears, called a “lamb-like” beast. It would unite its efforts with the first beast and bring the whole world under its oppressive and dictatorial rule. Who is this “lamb-like” beast? Well, let’s look at its identifying points. 1.) It rises up as the first beast is going down. That would be around 1798. 2.) It would be a Democratic Republic, a free country- “lamb-like” nation. There is only one nation that meets this prophecy. That nation is the United States of America. But this nation would not be “lamb-like” for long, because the prophesy would speak like a dragon; from Christ-like to Devil-like. How would this drastic change come about? The prophesy says America will form an “image to the beast”, or a likeness to Papal Rome. America will forge, as Medieval Rome, a union of church and state to enforce church dogma. This will happen when the United States enforces a national Sunday law. With our nation on the verge of a financial meltdown and moral and ethical collapse the citizens will a return to God. And there is already an organized right-wing religious movement ready to take the “rod of iron” in their hand enforcing on all the “mark of the beast”. So, my brothers and sisters, let us be “minute men”, men and woman giving the warning to our fellow citizens like Paul Revere, “the enemy is coming, the enemy coming! Sound the battle cry! Defend the wall faithful Sentinels. Defend the “First Amendment”- the wall of separation of church and state. Keep the wall high and impregnable. Let freedom ring! “And knowing the time, that it is high time to awake out of sleep, for our salvation (deliverance) is nearer that we first believed. The night is nearly over, the day is almost here. So let us cast off the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light; therefore clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not gratify the lusts of the sinful nature.” (Romans 13: 11-14 KJV – NIV) Note – If you would like to get future Liberty Updates send me your email address. Let Freedom Ring! Rklinedinst@verizon.net