From October 31, 2016, until October 31, 2017, the Protestant Church is celebrating the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation through Martin Luther. This commemoration of the Reformation is not only held in Germany but worldwide. Even the Catholic Church is joining the celebration: The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, and the chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Bishop Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, have come to the agreement that both churches should celebrate the anniversary in a joint series of events. Thereby, the “unity of faith” is to be made visible.

On the global level, the celebrations of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation started in the Swedish cities Lund and Malmö – in the country where the Lutheran World Federation was founded 70 years ago. The president of the Lutheran World Federation, Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, and the head of the Catholic Church celebrated along with 10,000 partici-pants in the stadium in Malmö. On the occasion of the joint ecumenical prayer service in the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund, Pope Francis held a brief speech, which he started off with the text from Jn 15:4: “Abide in me, and I in you.” In the city of Lund, on October 31, 2016, Pope Francis and Bishop Younan also signed an agreed statement calling for a move from conflict to joint communion. The joint declaration likewise begins with the Scripture from Jn 15:4: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” It deals with reconciliation and the healing of the wounds, which they have inflicted upon one another, and the recognition “that what unites them is greater than what divides.” Both sides commit themselves to remove the obstacles in order to attain full ecumenical unity. The goal is the shared communion. Through their joint efforts, they open themselves “to the power of the Triune God,” as they call it.

The concrete and full unity shall find expression in the Catholic Eucharist celebration together with the Protestant communion. However, they are fundamentally different, as made evident in the Heidelberg Catechism (the most widely used of the Catechisms of the Reformed churches) under question 80: memorial meal (1 Cor 11:25), not renewed sacrifice.

Do the Lutheran spokesmen actually believe what Luther has taught? Has one of them read the foreword to the Prophet Daniel, edition 1545? Has anyone realized what kind of prophetic insight and foresight Luther had at that time? In his preamble, he clearly described the four consecutive world empires that are mentioned in the Prophet Daniel: the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, and the Roman Empire, which began in the year 63 before Christ.

All religious publications, even daily newspapers and weekly magazines are dealing with the Reformation. Is the final goal not the unification of all world religions under Rome, the city on seven hills – the Vatican?Was the Roman Treaty not signed in the Vatican on March 25, 1957? Is the long-desired New World Order already close at hand? All of this must be said because it is biblical prophecy in its fulfillment. We have arrived in the end time, and everything is coming to pass as it was foretold in Bible prophecy.

In His prayer of intercession in Jn 17, the Redeemer most certainly did not pray for the unification of two churches or of all religions, but for the unity of the redeemed: “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. … I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one …” (Jn 17:14+23). He is the vine, and all true born-again believers are the branches in which the divine life is manifested as the fruit of the vine. The unity of the redeemed takes place under Christ, the Head of the Church, which was founded 2,000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, according to Acts, chapter 2. The state church in the Roman Empire was established by the First Council of Nicaea ad 325. The Reformation through Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, Calvin, and their predecessors Wycliff and Hus was then the breakthrough of a spiritual renewing. Also in the subsequent revivals among the Methodists, Baptists, and right up to the Pentecostal revival in our time, the Spirit of God was at work. The Bible believers do not go back to Rome or Nicaea but to Jerusalem. The concern is the return to God and His Word. Through the last message before the Return of Christ, the believers are brought back to the original Christianity. We have arrived in the time period of the calling-out, the restoration, and preparation. We may take part in what God is presently doing and are expecting the imminent Return of Christ.

From October 31, 2016, until October 31, 2017, the Protestant Church is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation through Martin Luther. This commemoration of the Reformation is not only held in Germany but worldwide. Even the Catholic Church is joining the celebration: The chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, and the chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Bishop Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, have come to the agreement that both churches should celebrate the anniversary in a joint series of events. Thereby, the “unity of faith” is to be made visible.

On the global level, the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation started in the Swedish cities Lund and Malmö – in the country where the Lutheran World Federation was founded 70 years ago. The president of the Lutheran World Federation, Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan, and the head of the Catholic Church celebrated along with 10,000 partici-pants in the stadium in Malmö. On the occasion of the joint ecumenical prayer service in the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund, Pope Francis held a brief speech, which he started off with the text from Jn 15:4: “Abide in me, and I in you.” In the city of Lund, on October 31, 2016, Pope Francis and Bishop Younan also signed an agreed statement calling for a move from conflict to joint communion. The joint declaration likewise begins with the Scripture from Jn 15:4: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” It deals with reconciliation and the healing of the wounds, which they have inflicted upon one another, and the recognition “that what unites them is greater than what divides.” Both sides commit themselves to remove the obstacles in order to attain full ecumenical unity. The goal is the shared communion. Through their joint efforts, they open themselves “to the power of the Triune God,” as they call it.

The concrete and full unity shall find expression in the Catholic Eucharist celebration together with the Protestant communion. However, they are fundamentally different, as made evident in the Heidelberg Catechism (the most widely used of the Catechisms of the Reformed churches) under question 80: memorial meal (1 Cor 11:25), not renewed sacrifice.

Do the Lutheran spokesmen actually believe what Luther has taught? Has one of them read the foreword to the Prophet Daniel, edition 1545? Has anyone realized what kind of prophetic insight and foresight Luther had at that time? In his preamble, he clearly described the four consecutive world empires that are mentioned in the Prophet Daniel: the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, and the Roman Empire, which began in the year 63 before Christ.

All religious publications, even daily newspapers and weekly magazines are dealing with the Reformation. Is the final goal not the unification of all world religions under Rome, the city on seven hills – the Vatican?  Was the Roman Treaty not signed in the Vatican on March 25, 1957? Is the long-desired New World Order already close at hand? All of this must be said because it is biblical prophecy in its fulfillment. We have arrived in the end time, and everything is coming to pass as it was foretold in Bible prophecy.

In His prayer of intercession in Jn 17, the Redeemer most certainly did not pray for the unification of two churches or of all religions, but for the unity of the redeemed: “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. … I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one …” (Jn 17:14+23). He is the vine, and all true born-again believers are the branches in which the divine life is manifested as the fruit of the vine. The unity of the redeemed takes place under Christ, the Head of the Church, which was founded 2,000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, according to Acts, chapter 2. The state church in the Roman Empire was established by the First Council of Nicaea ad 325. The Reformation through Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, Calvin, and their predecessors Wycliff and Hus was then the breakthrough of a spiritual renewing. Also in the subsequent revivals among the Methodists, Baptists, and right up to the Pentecostal revival in our time, the Spirit of God was at work. The Bible believers do not go back to Rome or Nicaea but to Jerusalem. The concern is the return to God and His Word. Through the last message before the Return of Christ, the believers are brought back to the original Christianity. We have arrived in the time period of the calling-out, the restoration, and preparation. We may take part in what God is presently doing and are expecting the imminent Return of Christ.