SEEKS ARBITERSHIP OF WORLD
We should never lose sight of the fact that the Master has uttered some very clear prophecies in regard to what the church will do in a strong political way just at the close of time. One wing of this church power is designated in the Apocalypse as the "beast," and another is termed an "image to the beast." The two join in producing a world despotism that will be the worst, the most tyrannical, that has ever appeared in all the history of mankind. The one encouraging feature is that it will be of short duration. Every student of the Bible should carefully study the prophecies which foretell this great religious, tyrannical combine. They should also be careful observers of the events of the day that are marking the fulfillment of the prophecies so clearly given. Every few days — and this is especially true since the11European war started — we see dispatches telling of the activities of the papal power. It is seeking to become the arbiter of the world's destiny. A recent dispatch tells of "a movement in favor of reëstablishment of the temporal power of the pope." This movement, so the dispatch states, was inaugurated by Roman Catholic newspapers of Germany, "with the idea of drawing the Vatican wholly away from Italian influence." The "deadly wound" of the papacy, mentioned in the thirteenth chapter of Revelation, according to that prophecy, is to be healed. All the world is to "wonder after the beast." This great power is to become, in the broadest sense, a world power. It will promise great things. But no person, be he Catholic or Protestant, can afford to be deceived.