Revelation 13 Rome rises on American power -2

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Protestant America rises but falls for Catholic ideas

Another great Beast, another great natural power had to rise up to assist the spiritual power of the Pope in his bid for world domination.

The great missionary age of Philadelphia, meaning brotherly love, of the 1800s stopped the killing of Christians by the Roman Catholic church.

Satan introduced a more subtle plan to enslave Christians in denominational non-Catholic churches, and then unite these denominations and churches in a great merger.

Three essential points were necessary to trap the non-Catholic church members into error.

First, they must believe in the unscriptural word Trinity. Having accepted one unscriptural word it was then easy to accept more unscriptural words like Christmas, 25 December, Good Friday, and God the Son, the pastor is the head of the church, etc.

Secondly, having added in these extra words to Scripture, they no longer believed that the King James Bible was perfect. They were then free to ignore, contradict, or change any other parts of Scripture that did not suit them. They thus had no absolute foundation for their faith and have finally spawned 45,000 different kinds of churches and denominations.

Thirdly, each church has to have a human head. A priest, or vicar, or minister, or pastor, etc.

Local New Testament churches were run by a group of local elders. Not by one man, or worse still, a woman.

The three trends would enable churches with many different views to form links.

Then it will be possible for the superman son of perdition (child of hell), once he has usurped the papacy, and taken control of the world's money to force an ecumenical movement that will be under his control as well.

In the next half of Chapter 13 we witness the rise to power of the greatest single nation on Earth,  North America.

America’s role is to bring the Protestant churches into the ecumenical movement so that denominational religion can eventually be brought under the control of the antichrist spirit that is elevating the Pope to world leadership.

Organized religion aims for big money and big numbers.

America’s wealthy superchurches or megachurches lead the way.

Glitz, worldly glamour, and slick showbiz combine with disco beat music. The impressive showmanship of their services and their charismatic preachers who offer a prosperity gospel.

One-man pastor-dominated churches are the trend. Impressive woman preachers.

Divorce and remarry, who cares. Sexual license. Same-sex marriage. Gender change.

All this is the spin-off of competitive 'Churchianity': my church is bigger and better than yours. My church is more comfortable and has a cleverer compromise with popular opinions.

American fashions lead the world. Jeans, T-shirts, Nike sports shoes, caps back to front. MacDonalds, KFC, and Coke. Shopping malls. Supermarkets. The internet. Google. Space exploration. Iphones. Ipads. Ipods. The atomic bomb was first exploded by the Americans at Alamagordo (almost sounds like Armageddon because 6 of the 10 letters are the same).

About 9 out of 10 full-time preachers worldwide are in America or are paid by the mighty American dollar. So American ideas, thanks to her dollar strength, ripple around the world.  America does things in a big way and the rest of the world just keeps following.

America is both loved and hated, but is always impressive. Their huge economy drives the world.

Half the wheat that feeds the world is grown in America. They won the two world wars. They pursued a policy of nuclear armament and space exploration that Russia followed. But Russia went bankrupt in the process.

They re-invented their military after the Vietnam fiasco to use smart bombs and stealth aircraft. Now the rest of the world scrambles to follow the American military model. This amazing American nation pulls the world after itself.

But we need to know where they are going.

The recent fiasco of their hasty and chaotic retreat from Afghanistan means that their military power is starting to slip. Bungled leadership undermined their military strength.

Leadership is also the weak point of our modern church systems.

REVELATION 13:11

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Another beast, an animal unique to America: the bison or buffalo. The front half of the bison is covered in wool just like a sheep.

John had never seen such an animal, so he compared it to a lamb.

John could have compared it to a sheep. His choice of a lamb had a spiritual significance. Christ is the Lamb of God, so this powerful nation that was rising up had a godly beginning. George Washington, the first President of the United States of America had the reputation that "he never let a lie cross his lips". Abraham Lincoln was known as "honest Abe". A French visitor to America just after they became independent in 1776, described America as a land where the pulpits were aflame with righteousness.

A lamb is a young animal. America is a young nation, not yet 250 years old.

The American Declaration of Independence remains one of the greatest constitutional documents that were ever written. From this godly beginning, America rose quietly and unnoticed to become a world power. After two world wars, they were the western world's superpower.  But things were changing. Violence and broken treaties with the original Native Americans stained their flag. President Roosevelt allowed diplomatic planes to take the secrets of the atomic bomb to Russia during the Second World war. He allowed Russia to take over eastern Europe. He was unfaithful to his wife. President John Kennedy was endlessly unfaithful to his wife. President Clinton was called "Slick Willy" and got involved with a young woman working in the White House. The calibre had deteriorated. Nelson Rockefeller could not run for President because he was divorced and re-married. Then Ronald Reagan, divorced and remarried, became President in 1980. Standards were slipping.

President Obama refused to veto the United Nations condemnation of Israel, just before his term of office ended.

America had become far stronger, but not better. The Dragon, Satan, took political control to lead America away from what is written in the Bible. The Bible was banned in American schools in 1963. That was the year that William Branham revealed the mysteries of six of the Seven Seals in the Book of Revelation. In that year the Pope and the Catholic President of America, John Kennedy, both died.

The American superpower was needed to so impress the rest of the world that they would follow where America led. And America took the lead in developing denominational 'Churchianity' based on the Roman Catholic Trinity and a love of money.

This American beast rose from the sparsely populated land. The Roman beast arose from crowded western Europe with 70 million people in 1620 when the Pilgrim Fathers landed in America. Western Europe was represented as the sea.  So, the land represents a few people. Historians claim that North America was once inhabited by about 100 million Native Americans. Then the Spanish conquered Mexico and brought with them the dreaded disease smallpox. The Native Americans had no immunity to this, and it spread to wipe out their population. Thus there were probably about 10 million Native Americans spread out over the vast continent of North America when the Pilgrim Fathers landed in AD 1620. The population density was very small as America is much bigger than western Europe. The Pilgrim Fathers fled to America to escape the Catholic persecution in Europe.

Now there are about 330 million North Americans, so they are no longer symbolized by the land. They also represent a crowded, restless sea of polarized political factions with their many strong undercurrents.

The Dragon is Satan.

In 2020 America handed over power to the Catholic church that they once fled from.

In 2020 the Americans voted in two Roman Catholics to rule them. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi.

The original Temple on the Capitol or Capitoline Hill was for the trinity of a male god Jupiter and two goddesses, Juno and Minerva.

With Kamala Harris as Vice President, America was also ruled by a trinity of one male and two females.

They rule from the Capitol.

The stage is getting set for the sixth of brother Branham's seven prophecies.
60-1113 CONDEMNATION  BY  REPRESENTATION
Then when these women help elect the wrong person, then I seen a great woman rise up in the United States, well-dressed and beautiful, but cruel in heart. She will either guide or lead this nation to ruination. (I've got in parenthesis "perhaps Catholic church.")

REVELATION 13:12

And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

Rome is the Mother of denominational religion. America has the most churches and the most wealth. Thus she exerts a tremendous influence on denominational thinking. Denominational thinking is based on human wisdom and tradition. The Roman Catholics have the oldest traditions which are copied by the other churches. Catholic doctrines involve the concept of Trinity and water baptism in three titles instead of the Name of Jesus Christ. The Protestants, with America in the lead, also subscribe to this idea. Christmas was invented by the Catholics around AD 350 as a rival celebration to the widespread pagan belief that 25 December was the birthday of the sun god. Today that pagan belief has largely died out, but American churches, building on the gospel of materialism and big business profits, lead the world in celebrating Christmas (which is an unscriptural word for an unscriptural date of 25 December).

The Bible does not ask us to celebrate the Lord's birth.

Thus the world churches follow America who establishes Catholic beliefs.

American science wonders dazzled the world

REVELATION 13:13

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

13  is a special number. This is chapter 13, verse 13.

13 is very much America's number.

The "wonders" that are done here are scientific or technological wonders.

The marvels of modern science that America achieved, gave her great prestige and admiration in the eyes of people.

America became a nation in 1776 when  13  states on the east coast united to form a Union.

Their original flag thus had 13 stars and 13 stripes.

Today, the flag still has  13  stripes but 50 stars as all the other states like Kentucky, Louisiana, and Arizona, etc. joined the Union.

The American seal shows an eagle (symbolic of America's dominance in airpower) grasping an olive branch with  13  leaves (symbolic of peace) as well as 13 olive berries. The other claw holds 13  arrows (symbolic of war). The seal has 13 stars in what is called the Field of Glory, and 13 stripes in a flag. The motto has 13 letters in Latin, "E Pluribus Unum",  meaning "unity in diversity" (out of many, one).

This seal represents America's dominance in war (the arrows) and peace (the olive branch).

The two greatest scientific achievements of the last century, when America rose to world dominance, were the making of the atomic bomb which exploded over Hiroshima in 1945, and the landing of Neil Armstrong on the moon in 1969.

The atom bomb was probably the biggest shock to hit the world in the last century.

The atomic bomb was dropped from a height of 10 kilometers (6 miles) and exploded about 600 metres above the ground. Then a fireball, brighter than the sun, rushed down to the ground and consumed and destroyed everything below it for a few miles.

The American beast, bringing down fire from the sky during a time of war.

This shock and horror hastened the surrender of Japan to end World war II.  Only America had an atomic bomb and everyone realized that they were now a dominant superpower. American prestige soared.

The photograph shows the awful fireball and shockwave of a nuclear bomb.

America was the first nation to develop this frightening technology and is, so far, the only nation to have dropped two atomic bombs during a war.  Both bombs fell on cities in Japan.

Fire falling from the sky in the presence of people.

The first man to land on the moon did so in a lunar lander called Eagle (same name as the American Seal symbol).

A very difficult part of the mission was in the re-entry into earth's atmosphere as the moon rocket rushed back to Earth at about  40,000 kilometers per hour. This high speed caused severe friction and plasma compression as the rocket entered the Earth's atmosphere. The heat shield would heat up to over sixteen hundred degrees Celsius and this red-hot heat shield would then ablate (give off tiny red-hot particles that carried the excess heat away), leaving the men in the rocket at a comfortable temperature. The capsule descended like a flaming meteor for about three and a half minutes. Then the denser air slowed the rocket down and the flames subsided so that the parachutes could open. This flaming ball of fire, as it descended, was the last stage of the moon journey as they returned to the sailors and airmen who were waiting for them. Only America had landed men on the moon. No other nation managed this so far, by 2024. So, America won the space race against Russia and her international prestige soared.

A close-up view of the descent of a moon rocket at it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere at high speed.

Photographed from a distance, the fiery re-entry trail that was about 125 miles long, of the returning moon rocket in the upper atmosphere.

The American beast, bringing down fire from the sky in a time of peace.

These two events demonstrated America's technological prowess and her financial power that she was able to find the money for these hugely costly scientific adventures. Thus, the world looked up to America for leadership. Russia challenged America in the space race and failed to get to the moon. Russia challenged America in the arms race of the Cold War and went bankrupt. Russia's image was dented, America's boosted.

Now Russia is focused on developing nuclear missiles. One day they will be used to bomb America to destruction.

Update:

Apollo 13 blasted off for the third moon mission on 11 April 1970.

On 13 April 1970 at 13:13 military time (13 minutes past 1 o'clock in the afternoon) an aluminium coil in the liquid oxygen tank exploded. Aluminium is element 13 in the Periodic Table of elements.

Apollo 8, Apollo 10, Apollo 11, and Apollo 12 had all gone to the moon carrying 3 men. That makes 12 men. So Apollo 13 was carrying the 13th man to the moon.

The first rocket launched by America was in 1958. Thus, 1970 was the 13th year of America's moon mission.

God was trying to tell us something when the oxygen tank exploded in the side of the rocket.

The moon symbolizes the church as it reflects the sunlight to a world that is in darkness.

This event makes it very clear that America will not reach the moon spiritually as they will not be ready for the Coming of the Lord.

An explosion in the side of the rocket?

Imagine the explosion in the side of America that plunges Los Angeles into the sea and causes the world's biggest tidal wave. Scientists have predicted this "Big One" for many decades. They are convinced that it will happen someday.

When that earthquake happens, America will be crippled and only the Roman Catholic church will have the money to rescue the economy. Then Rome will rule America.

Uniting the churches is a modern day miracle

REVELATION 13:14

And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Only God can perform supernatural miracles like healing the sick or raising the dead.

The "miracles" referred to here are the uniting of the churches.

Protestants separated from Catholics and called the Pope the antichrist. Now they refer to each other as separated brothers.

It is "a miracle of denominational fuzzy thinking" that enables different beliefs to get together and pretend that they believe the same thing.

As long as the emphasis is on numbers present and worship, then doctrine is forgotten and anyone can believe whatever they want to. The main doctrine that binds the churches together is the Trinity. It involves so many unscriptural statements that people no longer rely on Scripture to establish their beliefs.

'First Person of the Godhead', 'Second Person of the Godhead,' 'Third Person of the Godhead', 'One God in Three Persons',  'Christ in the Godhead',  'God the Son', 'God the Holy Spirit' - none of these expressions appear in the Bible. In this blur of human opinion, people are not even aware that they have lost the Name of God. There is no one Name for the Trinitarian God. In the end people become used to fuzzy, unclear beliefs and thus accept other errors too, like getting baptized in three Titles, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and thinking that that is the Name of God.

Roman Catholicism is the oldest denomination. Roman Catholicism survived the breakup of the Roman empire and then acquired spiritual power over the barbarian tribes by crowning their kings and converting the tribes to Catholicism. Rome tried to revive the Roman Empire in the Dark Ages but that failed due to insufficient military strength to conquer territory and then defend that territory. Then, shrewdly, they forgot about owning territory and began to focus on being a church, a political power, and a financial power. That was the path to denominational success. Now the other denominations are following her example with the great wealth of America leading the way. The Catholic church is the wealthiest organization in America.

The Vatican is the wealthiest organization on Earth.

Rome is the beast and Protestants are the killer image

REVELATION 13:15

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

The image of the beast is the ecumenical movement that is gathering all the denominations together into a unified fellowship.

There is no emphasis on doctrine as that causes separation.

People can believe what they want to, as long as they are not too insistent on being Scriptural.

There are more than ten different types of water baptism that are tolerated just as long as no-one gets baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. That is not allowed.

Denominational religion will become compulsory.

You have to belong to a certain denomination. Only the accredited ecumenical churches or denominations will be allowed to speak or preach. Outsiders will be stopped from preaching and their influence killed.

When great Tribulation starts, all those saved Christians who did not get caught up to meet the Lord in the air will be physically killed as well if they disagree with the non-Catholic churches.

The recognized denominational churches will be backed by the political powers so that when they speak they will have authority and people will have to obey the churches.

People in churches are very self-satisfied. They believe they are safe and reject the idea that they need correction. They have need of nothing, they certainly do not need anyone to tell them that they are wrong. As long as they are rich enough to live in comfort, they will not budge from their denominational beliefs. Yet there are over 45,000 different types of denominational and non-denominational churches. Each one believes they are right. But they are all different. So, they cannot all be right. But no-one is concerned. They believe their safety lies in loyalty to their specific church.

Regular church attendance and conformity to what the pastor preaches is the modern definition of being ready for the Coming of the Lord.

The whole trend is to get everyone into some denominational system of unscriptural beliefs. America leads the way as they have the majority of preachers compared to the rest of the world. Just look at how praise and worship music has changed to reflect this. Beat music has replaced reverence. Entertainment is the key to church popularity.

The image of the beast is the ecumenical uniting of the Protestant churches into a worldwide religious and political organization.

The lifeblood of any organization is money.

To establish a one-world religious leader, the final Pope, each church must first fall under the domination of one man, the pastor.

"Pastor" is only mentioned once in the New Testament but somehow he or she has usurped power over the church.

The church is in submission to the pastor and that is the first step to getting the church in submission to the denomination.

There is no Scripture that says a pastor is a shepherd. That is just a human opinion.

No church is meant to be in submission to one person.

That is the Roman Catholic system of having a priest in charge of the congregation.

One man in charge is a good business model.

That is how organizations grow, so the Protestants follow the Catholic example. The American denominations then only have to finance a Pastor overseas as he will keep that congregation in submission to the American beliefs. For example, Mormons come from America to make their converts into Mormons. That is the mindset of all denominations.

"Father and Son" is a good business model. That is why so often the son takes over as Pastor from the father. After all, it keeps the money in the family.

America has more money than anyone else. Her money spreads around the world and the people to whom she gives it have to agree with the beliefs of the donor. Thus, preachers all around the world are sold out and have to be in submission to the rich American denominations, and therefore these denominations spread around the world. Thanks to the American dollar financing "church growth", the various denominational beliefs keep spreading around the world and all of these local churches are financially advantaged if they keep in line with the American churches that finance them. The one who supplies the money is always the boss.

American televangelists have the money for big worldwide television broadcasting.

A half-hour program has a break to ask for donations. It is all about money and Hollywood showmanship. A mug is often seen on a table to make it look homely. Even if the mug is never touched. Clever tricks to keep people's attention. A pretty woman will often be briefly involved to say something. Beauty attracts attention but does not hold attention. Shifting backgrounds are another innovation from Hollywood that maintain interest. All this is very artificial.

The mark of the beast is religious mind control

REVELATION 13:16

And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

America will bring the world into a form of financial bondage. Easy credit has allowed most people to accumulate large debts.

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has caused havoc with world finances. Debt has soared. American debt is now bigger than their GDP. What America does not need is a massive national disaster like Los Angeles sinking into the sea that will cripple their economy. Then, the only country that could pay off their debt would be the Vatican if they did fundraising amongst their 1.4 billion Catholic members. Then the Pope will own America.

Remember, the American economy drives the world economy.

There are two options for how people think of the mark of the beast. One is a physical mark of some sort which is very superficial and virtually impossible to enforce on such a huge population of almost eight billion that currently inhabits the Earth. Christians are waiting for a 666 tattoo or the implanting of a microchip in the forehead. But that will not sweep the world. At the moment doctors are not even able to vaccinate all children.

But what is sweeping the world is the far more deadly spiritual mark in our minds.

The brain lies just behind the forehead. You must go in the forehead if you want to find the brain. The brain is where our minds are.

Mind control (or 'brainwashing') is what the mark of the beast is all about.
REVELATION 7:3
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have

sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
REVELATION 9:4
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men

which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
REVELATION 14:1
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand,

having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

God does not write on people's physical foreheads. God writes His laws into our minds to make us believe in Him. The physical forehead just represents the spiritual mind that is in our brains.

HEBREWS 8:10   For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord;

I will put my laws into their mind,

and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
EPHESIANS 1:13
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed,

ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

The Holy Ghost baptism is the seal of God in an individual's life. It represents God's indwelling Spirit taking control of a person's ability to think and act. God seals our brains by means of His Holy Spirit taking control of our thoughts.

Satan is not original, he always wants to imitate God.

The mark of the beast is a spirit of error that takes control of the person's mind and makes them believe unscriptural doctrines and traditions.

Any denominational belief or non-Christian belief will have this effect, as long as it is contrary to Scripture.

We are brainwashed into believing things that are not in the Bible.

The mark in their right hands represents their actions that are guided by their beliefs. Your brain controls your hands. Your beliefs determine your actions. Your right hand represents your serious works when you really believe in what you are doing. Your left hand represents your works when you are doing something just because you have to. This is often called lip-service. You do not really mean what you say and do. It is just a pretence.

REVELATION 13:17

And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

The mark represents that human minds are controlled by the thinking and doctrines of the denominations.

"Buy or sell" represents financial control.

The Roman church rises to power as a religious power and financial power that gives her great political influence.

America with her huge economy plays a key role in establishing the church domination of the financial world.

America invented the Internet which plays a major role in generating wealth through our information age and keeping a check on people's finances. If the computer system does not recognize a person's credit card, it will be very difficult for that person to take part in financial transactions.

What happens when credit cards or bank accounts are only issued to members of a registered denominational name? You must be a Lutheran or a Methodist or a Baptist or a Pentecostal, etc.

Then it is going to be difficult for anyone who is not identified by a church name to be part of the financial global network. Taking on our church name makes us a denomination, like a person saying, "I am a Baptist".

These denominational names are an idea that started with Christians in Corinth in the first church age, and developed in all the later church ages as people took on the names of charismatic leaders (Priscillianists) or other names that represented ways of thinking, like Gnostics (those who understand the mysteries).

In the New Testament, true believers only called themselves Christians or believers or disciples.
ACTS 11:26
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people.

And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

Paul opposed those who tried to associate themselves with the name of some great Christian.

We should never call ourselves anything else than Christian.

"I am in the Message" is as unscriptural as saying "I am an Anglican" or "I am a Calvinist".
I CORINTHIANS 1:11
For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

:12   Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

Cephas means Peter.

:13   Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Divisions arise because we are carnal, misled by the flesh and the material benefits and efficiency of a church organization, rather than being spiritual and striving for God's kingdom.
I CORINTHIANS 3:4
 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Becoming an exclusive group by following some man is not the way forward.

The internet produced Televangelism which is now Big Business.

"The number of his name". This refers to a man.

Christians have thought up countless names to describe the proliferation of 'Churchianity' into more than 45,000 different denominations. All these denominational names represent human thinking and human opinions. For example, Baptists, who form the fifth largest Christian group in the world with over 105 million members.  But even that is not enough. Are Baptists  Calvinists (believing in predestination) or Arminians (believing in free will)? But even that is not enough. There are Baptists who are Reformed Arminians and Wesleyan Arminians and traditional Arminians. But even that is not enough. There are First Baptist, Second Baptist, American Baptist, Southern Baptist, General Baptist, Independent Baptist, Primitive Baptist – the list goes on and on. The Anabaptists were the first to practice baptism by immersion after the Reformation and many of them got drowned by other Protestant groups that believed in sprinkling babies.

The important point is that Jesus said we must get baptized, but He never said that we must call ourselves Baptists.

So where do we find one name, where we can get a number from?

One person, whose name has been used to build up the original Roman Catholic denomination.

Once that denomination spread its influence and power over Europe, the Protestants copied the Roman methods as their denominations competed with the Catholics for world dominion. The Catholic denominations set the pace and showed the world how to get a church to grow and survive. Non-Catholics imitate them, just like daughters will imitate their mother.

Individually, in terms of numbers, the Protestant denominations have been outperformed by the Catholics. But if all the Protestants could pull together, they would be a large bloc, about two-thirds the size of the Catholic church.

If the Protestants and Catholics merged then they would be close to one-quarter of mankind.

Thirty-three percent of religious people are Christians (Catholics have 1,4 thousand million and non-Catholics have 0.8 thousand million converts ).

The second biggest religious group is twenty-one percent of the world's religious people that are Muslims.

The Catholics claim that the number of Peter is 666

Let us now consider the one name of a man that the Popes used in their rise to power over the barbarians which established them as the head of the most powerful church in Europe.

REVELATION 13:18

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Here is a subtle meaning to the sand of the sea that John was standing on.

Look at one of God's promises to Abraham.

GENESIS 32:12
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed

as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered

for multitude.

No one can number the sand grains of the sea. Obviously, because there are too many of them.

But look at four keywords: "which cannot be numbered".

In other words, they cannot take on the number of the beast.

This is a glorious quality of true believers. Because they stay with Scripture, they are immune to the number or mark of the beast. They will not be numbered in the membership registers of the denominational churches.

It was not until the eighth centurythat the Roman Church proclaimed authority over all of God's church

through the succession of Peter's bishopric. This was done with a forged document called "Donation of Constantine." 

It first appeared around the year 752 AD, four centuries after Constantine's death (337 AD). Bearing the forged name of the fourth century emperor, Constantine the Great,

it originated the doctrine of apostolic succession and first coined the name "vicarius filii dei".

Although you are probably not fluent in Latin, we will quote one sentence from the Latin of the Donation of Constantine. This paper was confirmed by church council, incorporated in Roman Catholic canon law by Gratian, later endorsed by Pope Gregory XIII; (the Pope who changed the calendar) and cited by the Catholic scholar and historian Lucius Ferraris, who proved that it is a forged document.
"Ut sicut Beatus Petrus in terris Vicarius Filii Dei fuit constitutus,"

Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Biblietheca, (edition of 1890), art, "Papa," II, Vol. VI, p. 43.
The translation reads :
As the blessed Peter is seen to have been constituted Vicar of the Son of God on the earth,

This is the only historic document which speaks of "Vicarius Filii Dei" and refers to Peter.

Christopher B. Coleman, The Treatise of Lorenzo Valla on the Donation of Constantine, p. 13, writes :

If Constantine had, in fact, penned the former document, it would still not be authority to exalt the Bishopric of one church over all others; yet this forged document actually became a "tool" to implement the

doctrine of Papal supremacy and infallibility through Peter.

The Pope claimed that Peter has the keys to Heaven so you must please Peter if you want to get into Heaven.
What you do for the Popes, you think you do for Peter.
The Popes gain their prestige by promoting Peter to be the chief apostle, called him the Prince of the Apostles, and then claimed to be his successors.

Peter himself never claimed to be a Pope, nor was he interested in the wealth and territorial ambitions that have characterized the rise of the Roman Catholic church.

This emphasis on one man, Peter,  and this claim that Peter was "Vicarius Filii Dei" opens an interesting possibility.

"Vicarivs urbis Romae"  meant "in place of the city of Rome".

This was a title given to the emperor's representative in Rome when the emperor was away.

There is no capital "U" in Latin. A "V" is used in place of  "U".

It is easier to carve straight lines in granite in a V rather than a curved U.

VV became W and is called "double U".

Latin uses certain letters for numbers.

(D = 500    C = 100   L = 50    V = 5   I = 1)

IN  PLACE  OF                THE SON         OF GOD
V  I   C  A  R  I  V  S         F  I   L   I  I         D  E  I          (Latin uses a  V  for our U)
5  1  100         1  5                  1  50  1  1       500    1
All these numbers add up to 666 which is the mark of the beast.
Thus this specific title that the Roman Catholic church claims for Peter (which Peter himself never ever claimed) identifies the Roman Catholic church with the Scripture concerning the mark of the beast.

REVELATION 13:18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

A "score" means 20.  "Threescore" means  3 x 20 = 60.  The mark of the beast is linked to a man. The Roman Catholic Church has corrupted the ministry of the Apostle Peter to such an extent, that their whole system can now be linked to the mark of the beast.

Peter himself cannot be blamed for this as he never made these claims.

Was Peter ever an apostle to the non-Jewish churches? Was he ever an apostle to the Gentiles? No.

Scripture is plain on this subject where we will learn some interesting facts about his apostleship.
First, we will discover that Peter was not the Bishop of Rome, but was an apostle to the Jews as Paul plainly states:

On the contrary, when they saw that to me [Paul] was committed [by God] the gospel for the uncircumcised [Gentiles],

as to Peter that for the circumcised [Jews]

(for he [God] who worked in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcised [Jews] worked also in me among the Gentiles--and when they recognized the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas [Peter] and John, who were considered the pillars [of the Jerusalem church], gave to me and to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles,

and they [Peter, James and John] to the circumcised [Jews]....

Galatians 2:7-9,

Douay (A Catholic Bible translation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pepin (or Pippin) (died 24 September 768), called the Younger, was the first King of the Franks (752–768) of the Carolingian dynasty. In 741 he and his brother Carloman succeeded their father, Charles Martel, as mayors of the palace and de facto rulers of the kingdom during an interregnum (737–743).

After the retirement of Carloman (747),

Pepin obtained the permission of Pope Zachary to depose the last of the Merovingian kings, Childeric III, and assume the throne (752).
(Unquote: Pepin needed the backing of the Pope to become the recognised king of the barbarian Franks.
The Pope needed Pepin to get rid of the barbarian Lombards who were invading Italy.

If Pepin defeated the Lombards, the Pope would recognize him as king of the Franks)
Pepin's first major act as king was to go to war against the Lombard king Aistulf, who had expanded into the territory of Rome. Victorious, he forced the Lombard king to return property seized from the Church. He confirmed the Papacy in possession of Ravenna and the Pentapolis (five cities), the so-called Donation of Pepin, whereby the Papal States were established and the temporal (political) reign of the Papacy began.
Pepin helped the Pope so that Peter would let him into Heaven.
The Catholic church gained a strip of territory running from Rome across Italy, called the Papal states. The red portion on the map was Pepin's donation after the Pope went to Paris to beg him for help, with his forged Donation of Constantine.

The yellow portion was ruled by the Pope. That is the territory that the Lombards were threatening to take.

The Pope crowned the barbarian Pepin king of the Franks in AD 752 as well as his son Charlemagne in AD 800 (the most famous king of the barbarian tribes).

Thus the Pope became a kingmaker amongst the barbarians.

As the barbarians converted to Catholicism, so the Pope became their spiritual head as well. The Pope was picking up the power that the Roman Caesars had lost.

REVELATION 17:2
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
The papacy gained enough power and prestige to interact with kings and world leaders.

"Thou art the Christ the son of the living God" [Μatthew Chapter 16 verse 16]
Of all the disciples, only Peter had a clear revelation of who Jesus was.
Jesus said ,

"Thou art Peter, and upon this rock [the rock of revelation of Who Jesus is] Ι will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" [Matthew Chapter 16 verse 18].

I CORINTHIANS 10:4   And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:

and that Rock was Christ.

The Pope changed this by claiming Peter was the rock. The same Peter who would deny Jesus three times.
MATTHEW 26:33
Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

:34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

Peter (petros in Greek) only means a stone or pebble, not a rock.
GALATIANS 2:11
But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
:12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

So, Peter wanted Gentiles to live by Jewish law.

Paul corrected Peter, proving that Peter was not the chief apostle as the Roman Church claims.

He had that doctrine wrong, so he certainly was not infallible!

Something to remember for those who try to make him the first Pope.
MARK 1:29
And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
:30 But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.
MARK 3:16
And Simon he surnamed Peter;

Popes are known by their first name. But Peter was his surname.
So Simon Peter had a wife. Thus he certainly was not the first Pope as the Roman Catholic church forbids their hierarchy from priests to popes from getting married.
I TIMOTHY 4:1
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; …
:3 Forbidding to marry,
So the rule that priests and Popes cannot marry is certainly not Scriptural.
MATTHEW 16.19
And Ι will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bοund in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven
On the day of Pentecost, Peter bound up the baptism of John the Baptist so that it was no longer valid.

John only baptized for repentance but did not mention the Name of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, the sacrificial Lamb, Whose Blood had made repentance possible.
ACTS 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent,

[that is how we are loosed from sin]

and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ

[evidence that we understand who God is and have not been fooled by human opinions.

Upon this Rock, the revelation of Who Jesus is. He is God the Father, that great Holy Spirit dwelling within the Man Jesus Christ. As the Father, God was above His people the Jews. As the Son, God walked around in the Man Jesus who was Emmanuel, God with us. As the Holy Spirit, God returned to live in the hearts of His people, the church.

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  God above us, God with us, and God in us.

Peter knew that the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost was Jesus Christ.

Christ is a title that means The Anointed One.

Many men have the name Jesus. But there is only one Jesus Christ.

You must mention at least one title with the name of Jesus.  Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ.

for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
So the early church was saved through repentance and washed by the Blood of the Lamb.

They also knew that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

This baptism loosed the understanding of Who God is.

The Jehovah of the Old Testament was none other than the Jesus of the New Testament.

That is why the name Jehovah is never used in the New Testament.

Once God took on the new name of Jesus, He stopped using His old name of Jehovah.
If Peter was the first Pope and as such was infallible, then notice that he baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. Why do his successors, the long line of Popes, not do the same thing? They all baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, even though they cannot tell us what that name is.

But “binding and loosing” was claimed by the Pope as the power of withholding or granting forgiveness for sin, which the Popes used in their contests with the political authorities during the Middle Ages.
MATTHEW 16:22Then Peter took him [Jesus], and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee,Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

Having been given the keys, Peter went straight off into error, contradicting Jesus.
:23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence

unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
A significant statement. The keys did not prevent Peter’s opinion from being satanic. So what about the Popes who claimed to have Peter’s authority.
Apostolic tradition means that the Popes claimed to be the successors of Peter,

and as such they could forgive sin or withhold forgiveness as they chose.
Pope Boniface Ι (418-22) claimed that the government and essence of the universal Church, which Christ entrusted to Peter, descended to his successors, the bishops of Rome, and that the rulings of the Popes were irreversible. No one, Boniface declared, who disobeyed them could remain a member of the Christian community or hope for salvation.
(What about Paul who corrected Peter?)
Pope Gelasius Ι (492-96) was the first to refer to the Pope as Vicarius Petri (vicar of Peter) and even Vicarius Christi (vicar of Christ).
“Vicarius Petri” means in place of Peter. The Pope is Peter’s representative on Earth.
II THESSALONIANS 2:4
Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God

[Catholics think that the rich and beautiful Vatican is God's temple today]

 shewing himself that he is God 

[being able to forgive sin or withhold forgiveness as the Pope claims that he can bind or loose sins.]

The bishop of Rome, in the days of the Roman Empire, had been the Roman emperor’s representative when the Roman emperor was away from Rome.
In other words, the Roman Bishop had been “Vicarius urbis Romae” (in place of the city of Rome)
When barbarian tribes threatened the Empire, the Roman Bishop emerged as the leader and representative of the Emperor in Italy.
Then the Pope claimed to be Peter’s representative - Vicarius Petri.
Then the Pope claimed that Peter was representative of the Son of God - Vicarius Filii Dei.
This title was only applied to Peter. There is no obvious evidence today that any Pope applied it to himself.

Yet Peter never ever claimed such a title.
Thus Vicarius Filii Dei (666) has, as far as can be proven, only been applied by the Roman Catholic church to one man, Peter.

Peter is not in any way to blame for this, as he never made any such claims.

It is the Roman Catholic church that has attempted to elevate and corrupt the position of Peter.

The Roman church has actually put Peter in the place of Christ.

Christ is the Door, but Peter has the keys to the Door. This implies that it is more important to keep in with Peter because the Pope claims that Peter has the authority to open Heaven's Door for you. As far as the Catholics were concerned, Peter actually decided who made it into Heaven.

Wanting to get into Heaven, the barbarians helped Rome because they thought that by doing that, they would gain the favour of Peter who would then let them into Heaven.

Worshipping a holy man is a sad human weakness.

Nebuchadnezzar built a statue of the holy man Daniel which is why Daniel did not have to bow down to the image of himself. Daniel was not to blame for this statue.
John twice fell down to worship an angel who was a prophet.
REVELATION 19:10
And I fell at his feet to worship him.

And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
REVELATION 22:8
And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, 

I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
We humans easily elevate a holy person. Even John, a very spiritual person, fell down to worship an angel.
REVELATION 13:18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast:

for it is the number of a man;

and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Peter never claimed this title. Peter never gave any authority to any bishop in Rome.
When Peter advised how the church should be managed he wrote to the elders, not to any bishop or any pastor.
I PETER 5:1
The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, 

not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre,

[not to get rich]

but of a ready mind;
:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage,

[an elevated Pope or pastor]

but being ensamples to the flock.

It is clear that Peter never agreed with the idea of one man dominating a church.

The Popes wanted a priest to control each church. When the Pope controlled the priests, he automatically controlled all the churches.

Protestants have followed this Catholic tradition by allowing a pastor to dominate each church.

God wanted a group of elders to guide each church.

Paul wrote to the Romans and greeted a whole group of about 26 of them by name in the last chapter of the Book of Romans, never mentioning Peter. It is obvious that Peter was not in Rome when Paul wrote.

There is no historical evidence that Peter was ever in Rome.

Paul spoke of ordaining married elders into positions of responsibility and called them bishops. Thus bishops can be married, which is not what the Roman Catholic church allows.
TITUS 1:5

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and 

ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife,

having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
7 For a bishop must be blameless,

as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

Bishops are simply blameless elders. An elder is a man, bishop is his title.

Elders are always spoken of in the plural.

There was more than one bishop in the city of Philippi.
PHILIPPIANS 1:1
Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Peter was the apostle to the Jews.
The word “interpreter” comes from the Chaldean “petr roma” which means the “great interpreter’. The pagans believed this great man would interpret the will of their gods to them. To get power over the pagans the Popes had to invent a trinity like the Babylonians and Egyptians had.
When the barbarians came to Rome it was easy to convince them that the “petr roma” was none other than “Peter of Rome”. So Catholicism was built on Peter’s reputation.

Hence Jesus called Peter "Satan" to show that a succession based on Peter is dodgy from the start.
Peter never claimed to be a Pope. He was married and baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. He preached repentance. He once said “ Silver and gold have I none” and then healed a beggar instead.
ACTS 3:6
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Popes are rich, unmarried, and invented “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost" as the “name” of God. How can 3 titles be one name? They invented the Trinity where Jesus is shrunk down to be the unscriptural "second Person in the Godhead".

Paul did the opposite. He put the fullness of the Godhead in Christ.
COLOSSIANS 2:9
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

We are told to call no man our spiritual father. If we are born-again, only God can be our spiritual Father.
MATTHEW 23:9
And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
Catholic priests are called 'father'.
Pope comes from the Greek word Pappas which means father.
I CORINTHIANS 11:4
Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
Have you ever seen a picture of the Pope without his head being covered? He always wears, in public, some form of head covering.

Why? Pontifex Maximus or Pontiff was the High Priest of the Babylonian mysteries, and he always had his head covered for his priestly duties. The Popes took over the title and as such have to have their heads covered.

The photograph shows the first Roman emperor Augustus, acting as Pontiff, with his head covered. A statue of the emperor Augustus who as Pontifex Maximus or Pontiff (High priest of the Babylonian mysteries) shows him with part of his robe over his head.

A modern Pope acting as Pontiff wears a white "skull cap" to cover his head.

The Popes wore the triple crown for over 600 years.

Jesus wore a crown of thorns.

Choose your leader.