WILL PREDICTIONS BE FULFILLED?
By: Elder Lawrence Nelson

This sermon is part of a series entitled Spiritualism
Since we are dealing with the end-time masterpiece of Satan I do not speak, and you dare not listen, unless we ask God to surround us with His protecting Holy Spirit; opening our understanding to the wonders of Satan's mystery and shielding us from his satanic power and deception.
Ellen White has warned, "If the signs that are thickening on every hand, that testify that the end of all things is at hand, are not sufficient to arouse the sleeping energy of those who profess to know the truth, the darkness proportionate to the light which has been shining will overtake these souls." Review and Herald, July 21, 1896
Please join me now in this prayer. Oh loving Father, grant us Thy Holy Spirit to awaken us in our lukewarm condition. And open our eyesight to the reality that the greatest supernatural events ever to be witnessed in this world are soon to take place in our day. Help us to prepare to meet these wonders and miracles of Satan with the armor of God's Word, divinely imprinted within our hearts that we may be ready for the soon-coming crisis. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
Now let us open God's Word where we read in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-11, "And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."
What is Paul trying to say here? - If you don't believe the truth, the Lord will allow you to believe a lie and be totally deceived, for there is no middle ground. There can be no "sitting on the fence" and saying, "Let us wait and see." For in doing such, we deceive ourselves and believe a lie. This is a matter of life and death.
Malachi Martin, in his book, The Keys of This Blood, wrote that the present pope, John Paul II, "had been acquainted for as long as he could remember with most of the facts of Fatima. The Virgin Mary had appeared several times to three peasant children she had confided to them certain admonitions, including a detailed set of instructions and predictions that were intended for papal action at a certain time in the future; and she had ended her visit in October with a miracle that recalled for many the Bible verse which tells of a 'Woman Clothed with the Sun, and giving birth to a Son who will rule the Nations with a scepter of iron.'" p. 47,48.
Please follow me closely. I'm quoting again from the book, The Keys of This Blood p. 48. "Once elected Pope in 1978, John Paul II had become privy to the papal instructions and predictions Mary had entrusted in confidence to the children at Fatima." But this all changed. In the book, The Keys of This Blood I read, "At a certain moment on May 13, 1981, during an open-air papal audience in St. Peter's Square, in the presence of some 75,000 people and before the eyes of an estimated 11 million television viewers, Pope John Paul spied a little girl wearing a small picture of Christ's mother as Our Lady of Fatima. Just as he bent from his slow-moving "popemoble" in a spontaneous gesture toward the child, the hired assassin Mehmet Ali Agca squeezed off two bullets, aimed precisely where his head had been. As two pilgrims fell wounded to the ground, two more shots rang out, and this time John Paul's blood stained his white papal cassock." p. 46.
And on p. 48 Malachi Martin continues, "Now, however – after what were arguably the very pointed events that had taken place in St. Peter's Square; after exhaustive examination of the documents and living witnesses and participants connected with the Fatima events themselves; and after nothing less than a personal communication (or vision) from Heaven...[Pope John Paul II]...came face-to-face with the realization that, far from pointing to some distant future time, the contents of the now famous Fatima message – and, specifically, the (third) secret contents directed to papal attention – amounted to a geopolitical agenda attached to an immediate timetable."
Thus Pope John Paul II began to carry out a program that would fulfill the commands of Mary. We are told by Malachi Martin that Pope John Paul II began to see the necessity for the event to develop quickly. He therefore doubled his activities on the political scene - what Malachi Martin calls his "geopolitical vision".
He began his travel to the whole world from one country to another. And for what purpose? - To prepare the world for the New World Order in which the church of Rome would be the supreme ruler. This pope had a vision while in the hospital recuperating that was identical to the vision that was given to the children of Fatima on October 13, 1917 of a woman, clothed with the sun, giving birth to a son who will rule all nations with a rod of iron. Malachi Martin says this was a, "communication from heaven." (p. 48)
Because of this supposed manifestation from God, the pope now claims that he received a heaven-planned agenda for the world - "The Great Design of God for the New World Order." (p. 50) Are you listening? Pope John Paul II sees himself as the last pope because Mary, in one of her apparitions, stated that after Pope Paul IV became pope, "Now there will be but two more popes and then it will be the end of times but not the end of the world." Thunder of Justice p. 171.
It is interesting to note that most Catholics believe that when Christ comes the world will not be destroyed but rather enter into a long age of millennial peace. As most readers well know, one of the two popes, John Paul I reigned only a short time according to the prediction. He reigned from August 26, 1978 to September 28 of the same year. That's only 33 days. And the current pope, John Paul II, is getting old and feeble and he is the third - the last pope – since John XXIII. (You will find that in Sunday's Coming p. 130). This is why John Paul II has such a conviction that Mary's apparitions are true. And also, "In a vision during his convalescence Mary told him that she had spared his life for a special mission he must fulfill in bringing peace." Sunday's Coming 130.
I'm quoting again from p. 131, "No one is more convinced of the validity of Fatima visitations than the present pope nor is anyone more devoted to Mary. Pope John Paul II, who has dedicated himself and his pontificate to Our Lady, bears the 'M' for Mary in his coat of arms. His personal motto embroidered on the side of his robes in Latin is, 'Mary, I'm all yours.'"
Reading from John Januik in his book The Great Controversy End Game p 15-19, Pope John Paul II has called our century "the Marion times." What does this mean – "Marion times"? Ted Flynn in his book The Thunder of Justice explains, 'In the Old Testament God the Father spoke to us through the prophets. In the New Testament God the Son spoke to us directly during His public life on earth. Today, God appears speaking to us through Mary, the mother of God." p. 171.
Do you see how Satan is deceiving the people of this world? Today, by the Marion apparitions and her messages, we are told by the Spirit of Prophecy, "Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world.... Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; (that was meaning in the time of Ellen White) but it will be reached in the last remnant of time." Great Controversy p. 561. In reality we are living in the last remnant of time in which spiritism, mainly through the Marion apparitions, has become the masterpiece of Satan's deceptions.
Now let us go back to John Paul II. We will let Malachi Martin describe what he sees in the pope's present attitude. I quote from Keys of This Blood, Pope John Paul II, "is waiting, rather, for an event that will fission human history, splitting the immediate past from the oncoming future. It will be an event on public view in the skies, in the oceans, and on the continental landmasses of this planet.... [Then] his ministry as Servant of the Grand Design will then begin....This is why John Paul is waiting. God must first intervene before John Paul's major ministry to all man can start." p. 639, 656.
From this we can see that the plan and the program will start for the New World Order when the big event appears in the heavens and on the whole earth. The question arises, "What will be the supernatural event that will give Pope John Paul his signal to begin his major ministry for the world?" Could this be Satan's counterfeit of the Second Coming of Christ?
We read in the book The Keys of This Blood, "It will particularly involved our human sun, which every day lights up and shines upon the valleys, the mountains and the plains of this earth for our eyes. But on the day of this event, it will not appear merely as the master star of our so-called solar system. Rather, it will be seen as the...glory of the Woman whom the apostle describes as 'clothed with the sun' and giving birth to a child who will rule with a scepter of iron.' Fissioning it will be as an event, in John Paul's conviction of faith, for it will immediately nullify all the grand designs of the nations now forming and will introduce the Grand Design of man's Maker. John Paul's waiting and watching will then be over. His ministry as the Servant of the Grand Design will then begin....John Paul is and will be the sole possessor to the Keys of this Blood on that day." p. 639.
I ask, "Which day?" - The day when Satan counterfeits the Second Coming of Christ. The Catholic Church has a prophecy which says, "When Jesus Christ comes then the pope will give Him his tiara and throne. Jesus will give him the keys and also Jesus will bless the pope."
In Rene Noorbergens' book, The Fatima Factor in the Final Hour, he states on page 3, "I have been assured by the Roman Catholic scholars that the Bible text in Revelation 12:1, 'Now a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a garland of twelve stars,' refers to the appearance of the Virgin Mary of Fatima. The man child referred to in Revelation 12:5 'and she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron,' this is who Pope John Paul II is supposed to be."
So, "John Paul II is waiting for the moment when the greatest apparition of Mary will take place in which she will announce the day and the hour of the Second Coming of Jesus as she appears as, 'the woman clothed with the sun, giving birth to a child who will rule the nations with a rod of iron.'" The Keys of This Blood 639.
In contrast, the Spirit of Prophecy tells us that just before the Second Coming of Christ, "The voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and hour of Jesus' coming." Great Controversy p. 640 So you can see Satan will counterfeit even this announcement of God through the apparitions of Mary.
Have you ever wondered why God will announce the day and the hour of Jesus coming? We must remember that God's people will have seen a lot of miracles and marvelous workings of Satan. "Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons." Great Controversy p. 624.
We know that Satan will counterfeit every truth and end-time event which is found in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. Why will he do this? - Because every truth in the Bible is absolutely perfect, and every end-time event is part of God's perfect order. This is why Satan has no choice but to counterfeit. Unless Satan, through Mary, announces the day and the hour of the counterfeit Second Coming of Jesus most of the people of the world would not know that this is the coming of Jesus. Some would think that Superman had come from outer space. Others would think it was a UFO or an invasion from the cosmos.
There would be confusion and consternation among Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and the New Age movement. Even those who have previously been informed of this event through the Marion apparitions would not be sure. In other words there would be a lot of uncertainty, so this is why when Mary appears as the woman clothed with the sun most will recognize her as the Lady of Fatima as she announces the day and the hour of the coming of Jesus to the whole world.
She will make an appeal to all religions of the world, to everybody according to their belief. She will tell them, "This is the One whom you most need. He will solve all of your problems and will bring to the world love, unity, peace, justice and prosperity." After this most subtle delusion and startling introduction, all the people of the world will wait with great expectation, hope and joy and happiness. Then Satan counterfeits the Second Coming of Jesus. They will all welcome him as the savior. In this way Satan will deceive the whole world except the very elect.
Ellen White states, "As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ.... Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come.... The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air: 'Christ has come! Christ has come!' The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Savior uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character as Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name.... This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion." Great Controversy p. 624.
What will be the reaction of the entire Muslim world when Mary, as the woman clothed with the sun, makes the announcement of Christ's coming? We will answer this important question with another question. Why did Satan personate Mary in the insignificant little village of Fatima?
Fatima was the beloved daughter of Mohammed. When you read about Fatima in the Koran (that's the Muslim bible) Fatima says about herself, "I surpass all the women except Mary." On p. 46,47 of the Koran Mohammed writes very favorably about Mary. She is declared to be above all women. Mohammed said that Fatima would be second only to Mary in the kingdom of God. The message of the Koran will powerfully influence Muslims to accept Mary and believe her message. This teaching of the Koran prepares the entire Muslim world for the acceptance of Mary.
According to Catholic Bishop Fulton Sheen, the principal spokesman in America for many years has stated, "When North African Catholics hold the yearly procession of the celebration of the vision of Fatima, they carry the statue of Mary as the Lady of Fatima through the streets." Do you know what Mohammedans do during this procession? - They fall down and worship. Bishop Fulton Sheen says that the statue of Mary of Fatima has converted a lot of Muslims to Catholicism. Let me tell you, it was a clever move of Satan to have Mary appear in that village.
Bishop Fulton Sheen asks, "Why the Blessed Mother in the twentieth century should have revealed herself in the insignificant little village of Fatima so that to all future generations she would be known as "Our Lady of Fatima." And he answers, "I believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary chose to be known as Our Lady of Fatima as a pledge, and as a sign of hope to the Muslim people, and as an assurance that they who show her so much respect will one day accept her divine Son, too." That's taken from Fulton Sheen in his news notes perspective called, "The Mary's People" of January 31, 1993.
Keep in mind the Islamic religion is familiar with the sun, for in their worship they bow down toward the sunrise every morning. At Mary's announcement of the day and the hour of the coming of Jesus, when Satan counterfeits Jesus' Second Coming, the entire Muslim world will accept him as their savior.
The heathen religions will also accept Mary when she appears as the woman clothed with the sun. Remember that most of the heathen religions are based on sun worship. You can see the symbol of the sun circle in many of the images they worship. She will introduce the Second Coming of Jesus for the Jews as their Messiah, for the Christians as Jesus Christ, for Muslims their Iman Mahdi, for Buddhists as their Buddha in his fifth incarnation, for Hindus as their Krishna, for the New Age Movement as their Maitreya, the Cosmic Christ.
It is plain to see that when Satan counterfeits the Second Coming of Christ they will all welcome him as their savior. In this way Satan will deceive the whole world except the very elect. Mary's appearance as the glory of the woman clothed with the sun has great significance for Pope John Paul II because he too had this same vision as shown at Fatima on October 13, 1917.
When this false christ comes and proclaims an era of peace, the millennium of peace, he will hand over the keys to the pope, according to the author of The Keys of This Blood. John Paul II (the present pope) will be that pope and he will take the keys. Since he is not a young man and is getting old and feeble, could this indicate that we are very near to the end? It will appear that John Paul II has won the millennium end game. Thus the predictions of Fatima would be completely fulfilled as Pope John Paul II becomes the leader of the New World Order. But never forget, Satan is behind all of these Marion apparitions. This is why Ellen White has said, "Spiritualism is the masterpiece of [Satan's] deceptions." Signs of the Times, August 26, 1889.
Now let us again read Revelation 16:13-16 and Revelation 17:12-14, "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief, Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And he gathered them to gather into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."
From these verses we can see that the end is just upon us. And for a very brief time Satan will appear to have achieved success. But God will interpose. The Spirit of Prophecy says, "Fallen angels upon earth form confederations (that's unions) with evil men. In this age antichrist (who is actually Satan) will appear as the true Christ, and then the law of God will be fully made void in the nations of the world. Rebellion against God's holy law will be fully ripe. But the true leader of all this rebellion is Satan clothed as an angel of light. Men will be deceived and will exalt him to the place of God, and deify him. But Omnipotence will interpose, and to the apostate churches that unite in the exaltation of Satan, the sentence will go forth, 'Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.'" Testimonies to Ministers p. 62.
Now if you have been following closely you have become aware of two prophetic time lines. The first is God's timetable and the other Satan's timetable. But remember, God is the one that is in control, not Satan. For God determines the true end-time events. In Testimonies for the Church, Volume 5, p. 753 I read, "The world is not without a ruler. The program of coming events is in the hand of the Lord. The Majesty of heaven has the destiny of nations, as well as the concerns of His church, in His own charge." Satan is a student of God's Word. He knows prophecy. He knows that his time is short. This is why he needs to deceive the people of the world in preparing for his counterfeit of the Second Coming of Christ.
How can I describe in a few words what we have studied in this tape concerning spiritualism? I believe Malachi Martin, the author of The Keys of This Blood , who wrote the forward to The Thunder of Justice will summarize this for us. "Humanity as a whole, and the Roman church in particular, have reached a fateful threshold beyond which lies a new condition of human affairs. Visions, appearances, messages, predictions, warnings, interpretations, weeping statues, bleeding icons, miraculous spring waters, spontaneous cures, spinning dances of the sun and eclipses of the moon, little children telling the future, uneducated men and women instructing popes and presidents, nation-wide publicity tours by bearers of special revelations throughout all this an obvious emphasis on the singular role of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Nazareth and the queen of heaven; the Mediatrix of all graces is pervasive. It is as if the word of the prophet Joel were being fulfilled. In these times, God said, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions."
Now if you have been awake, and you are thinking, you will be able to realize that this is nothing more than a false latter rain. Again may I remind you that the counterfeit always precedes the true. My dear listeners, the end is right upon us. What should be our attitude to these predictions at Fatima and the Marion apparitions? We know that Satan is not able to tell the future as God can. However, from Inspiration we read that Satan is "a very intellectual being, one who occupied a high position among the angelic throng." Testimonies for the Church, Volume 4, p. 422. Also that Satan is a diligent Bible student: "Satan can quote scriptures now as in the days of Christ." Great Controversy p. 559. So never forget that his knowledge far surpasses our human abilities. He knows God's prophecies.
Now we have the answers to why Satan originated the mystery of Fatima, of Mary's apparitions, and her messages and predications. We now understand why Satan orchestrated the attempted assassination of the present pope on the very day of the feast of Our Lady of Fatima on May 13, 1981. Now we can see why Satan then gave the pope a vision that he was to take control of the New World Order. This all fits perfectly into the prophecies of Revelation 13 in which the deadly wound is healed and all the world wondered after the beast.
Now we can comprehend the rest of the great prophecies of Revelation and Daniel. From here on I am using information from John Januik's book The Great Controversy Endgame p. 22-24. Perhaps I should remind you that the author of this book is an ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister now doing research at the E.G. White Library at our Avondale College in Australia.
If we consider the worldwide Marion apparitions in the contemporary world we cannot ignore them. If we do so then we will become willingly ignorant. God says in the Bible; "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because thou hast rejected knowledge I also reject thee." Hosea 4:6. From this we can see that from lack of knowledge, or rejection of the knowledge, we will lose eternal life, because finally we will be deceived.
Why are the books The Evangelicals and Catholics Together, The Thunder of Justice and The Keys of This Blood so interesting for Seventh-day Adventists? Because the alarming issues raised in these books closely parallels the end-time prophecies written in the Bible over two thousand years ago. Therefore, when we read these books and compare the end-time prophecies, to them we clearly see and understand the time in which we are living; where we are today, where we are going, and how near the end is, and what the great controversy end game will be.
Fatima and the contemporary Marion apparitions are a worldwide spiritualistic movement today. This spiritualism is the masterpiece of Satan's deceptions. Little by little, Satan has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. "He has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his design (that was during the time of Ellen White) but it will be reached in the last remnant of time." Great Controversy p. 561.
Since 1981, both the pope and the Catholic Church have been totally convinced of the authority of Fatima. This is why Pope John Paul II began his journeys around the world to fulfill the prophecies of Fatima and his vision about himself. And this is why Malachi Martin began gathering material and information for his book, The Keys of This Blood, in order to proclaim the Fatima messages and the vision that Pope John Paul would become the leader of the New World Order.
And this is why Ted Flynn began his search about Fatima and Marion apparitions in our contemporary world. He met with every visionary who had Marion apparitions, to gather information for his book, The Thunder of Justice, in order to reveal these messages and prophecies to the whole world. From this we can see that Pope John Paul, and the Catholic Church, base their future role in the world on the Fatima messages and her prophecies, and on other Marion apparitions of today.
But we as Seventh-day Adventists, we base our existence on Bible prophecies such as Revelation 10-18, Daniel 7,8,9 and Isaiah 58. God also gave us the Three Angels' Messages in Revelation 14:6-12 to proclaim to the world. Can you not see the diametrical opposed differences between the Catholic Church and the Seventh-day Adventist Church?
We must clearly see and understand this now, because soon, and very soon, we will see the clever, deceptive workings of Satan before our very eyes. We must base our faith on the Bible only, not on our senses such as spiritualistic apparitions and Satan's miracles.
In the Great Controversy p. 625 we have been counseled, "Only those (did you notice that? Only those...) who have been diligent students of the scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise."
And in Great Controversy p. 593,594 we are told, "The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist (that's Satan) is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.... None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict."
Let us pray, Oh God, our hearts have been deeply moved by the Holy Spirit, that the final crisis is near, even knocking at the door. Please, please God, we feel so unready. Fill our minds with heavenly oil, that when this masterpiece of Satan breaks upon us, that we will be able to trim our lamps. Cover us totally with Thy holy armor, that we may be ready to die, rather than sin in worshiping the antichrist. Amen.
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