Reading in II Thessalonians 2:1-12, let us realize that Paul’s words to this disturbed church are true. Therefore, we need to plant these words deep into our spiritual minds and digest them properly. Since Paul absolutely knew what he was talking about, it behooves us also to understand what he was actually saying to these believers. There are many varieties of ideas people hold in regard to what they think Paul was actually saying, therefore, let us prayerfully examine his words in their true setting, and we too may greatly be surprised to learn that we also have been influenced by some of these preconceived notions.
PART 1
CORRECTING THOUGHTS CONCERNING RAPTURE
PAUL’S REVELATION
Earlier Paul had written unto the Thessalonian believers declaring that we shall not all sleep (I Thessalonians 4:13-18). And recall, he clearly stated in making such a statement it was strictly inspired by the word of the Lord. Where from the Old Testament could Paul possibly have arrived at such a statement? The Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout and the voice of the arch angel and the trump of God and the dead in Christ would rise first. And we which remain alive would be changed and caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Being caught up here is the climax of our faith as well as our hope.
Theologically, we call this event the rapture-meaning the catching away, translation, or being changed. However, to Paul it simply was a gathering together of all the true believers, both dead and alive, those to be resurrected, and those to be changed and caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
RAPTURE NOT DIMENSION
No, the rapture is certainly not merely a certain dimension a believer enters into, it is actually a literal catching up in the air.
Since the scriptures refer to us as being translated (spiritually) into the kingdom of his dear son (Colossians 1:13), many today have formed the conclusion that we have already been caught up (as much as we’ll ever be). Then why are you still here? Why do you continually get more wrinkles in your face than what you had ten years ago! Why are you losing your teeth and why is more of the top of your head showing than ten years ago? It certainly doesn’t appear to me as if you have been bodily or fleshly caught up as yet! I grant you, you can be caught up out of all this religious confusion. You can be caught up into a new realm of thinking and so forth – Caught up into something glorious. However, as far as your flesh is concerned, it’s still here. Even Paul declared, (Ephesians 1:3), spiritual speaking, as believers we are sitting together in heavenly places in Christ. Please don’t ever confuse that with the rapture of the fleshly body, because physically your flesh hasn’t gone anywhere, you’re still here on earth! But concerning spiritual things, yes, in the spirit of Jesus Christ, in the spiritual atmosphere of God absolutely your inner man can be caught up in glorious things. Things that make the earthly surrounding seem dim and unimportant. But always remember, fleshly, you’re still here! And if Jesus tarries His coming you’re going to die. That flesh is going into the ground and back to dust from whence it came, and then and only then will your spirit being literally depart this planet and go somewhere into the presence of the Lord. I’m not saying that somewhere in 500 miles away, nor ten million light years away, No that’s not the point! Within the spirit world I grant you there are dimensions, yet bear in mind there are too many people who are simply jumping to conclusions and assumptions who absolutely have no scriptural connections whatsoever!
JONAH’S EXPERIENCE WAS REALITY
Remember when Jesus declared, as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of a whale (great fish), Jonah was not in some kind of a dimension! Instead, he was absolutely inside the stomach of a large fish where literal seedweeds and slick gastric juices were present. When Jonah’s body sank into the water where God had ordained that huge fish to be swimming and swallow him, that was no dimension. It was a reality! Thinking no doubt as he swallowed Jonah, what a delicious meal I’m about to have. Nevertheless, as Jonah hit his digestive tract something went wrong. The whale no doubt thought as he became nauseated, surely I’ve swallowed the wrong thing! God didn’t allow him to vomit Jonah up in the sea, instead he swam with him to a distant shore where he vomited him up. No, that was no dimension. It was very much a realty! And being gathered together in II Thessalonians 2:1 unto the Lord is also far more than a mere dimension. It too is a reality!
Let’s carefully examine Paul’s statement here because schools of theology have been guilty of making the Bible say things it had no intentions of saying. When people desire a certain thing to be a certain way all they have to do is think of it in that light long enough and whenever they read their Bible they can almost read it making it sound the way they are thinking. But you can’t do the Bible that way!
DISCUSSING TRANSLATION TO GLORY
Paul says in II Thessalonians 2:1, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.” Now settle it once and for all, Paul is definitely not discussing your individual death, which will also take you out of this world wherein your soul is carried to glory to rest and wait unto the day of the resurrection of the body. No beloved, that’s not the kind of gathering together unto the Lord Paul has in mind here. Instead, he is discussing that glorious appearing of Christ for His saints. He’s discussing a revelation of Jesus from heaven wherein He will appear in the clouds and gather first the dead saints and secondly the living saints unto Himself.
BELIEVERS CONFUSED
(2) “That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand.”, (because it is not, and I will tell you why). 1900 years ago, a group of believers was becoming frustrated, enthused and all anxious, getting ready to leave here. Paul knew by the revelation God had given him that when that hour would actually arrive, it would first be preceded by certain world conditions and events that would definitely acquaint the believer with the so-called world conditions, and through that and that alone would the believer in that hour recognize the appearing of Christ was at hand. And that in turn would cause them to shake themselves and prepare for departure.
FRUITLESS TO ASSUME COMING ANY TIME
Saying this should not destroy any man’s enthusiasm to believe Christ could come in his life span, because Paul turns around and declared to the Corinthian church (I Corinthians 7:29), that because of the shortness of time and so forth, they should not do a certain thing. And even James stated the coming of the Lord draweth nigh (James 5:8). Therefore, did not these very men themselves believe that it was possible the Lord’s coming could be in their life span? However, when Paul stated here what he did in II Thessalonians 2, he knew it was fruitless to assume that Jesus is coming for our gathering together unto Him at just any old time. Evangelists through the years, using all kinds of psychology to shake up people to their need of God, (and I realize to a certain extent people do need to be shook to reality), have shouted Jesus may come tonight! Paul is setting these Thessalonian Christians straight concerning the coming of Jesus for them at just any ole time of day or night. Because he is fully aware of their enthusiasm and zeal in believing that the coming of the Lord was very soon, Paul knew unless their thoughts were checked, sooner or later these thoughts were going to lead them into fanaticism!
LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU
Continuing on in his thought Paul says, let no man deceive you by any means. Doesn’t matter whether that person lived in Paul’s hour, a 100 years later, 500, or even after 1900 years. Church, don’t let any man deceive you concerning this! For that day spoken of in verse 1 of Jesus gathering His saints unto Himself will positively not come except…..See how positive Paul is on that, no hope so, no maybe so, no perhaps so. No matter what anyone says or how much they would try to make it happen, or how enthusiastic someone might feel about the subject, there is definitely certain conditions God says that must first be.
EXCEPT – WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Did you know the word except is a provisional word? The word except appears in insurance policies, and around that word except you better be careful and read the entire contents. Be sure to read and understand what the exceptions of the provisions are in the policies following the word except. Because, here Paul says that day won’t come except there first come a “falling away”. The first thing any believer is to look for before that day appears is a “falling away”. Later we will examine what they are to fall away from.
PART 2
TWO WORLD SHAKING EVENTS BEFORE RAPTURE
SATAN’S OBJECTIVE
However, first let us establish what is on the agenda before that day comes. First, we see a great “falling away”, and second that man of sin, the son of perdition, is to be revealed. There is your climax to what it’s all about. That’s the objective of Satan to allow the man of sin to be revealed. Verse 4 describes him as one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped.
DIABOLICAL MAKEUP
Here we see the man of sin, not only in his physical and psychological makeup, but we also see his philosophy. Showing his motive and objective is to be so demon possessed that his very outlook on life, his purpose of functions and so forth will be strictly so satanic that he is diabolically inspired. Careful now, that does not mean you’ll be looking for such a demon possessed creature that he should be in an insane mental institution. Oh no, quiet the contrary! It’s his philosophy of religion of life that is so satanic and deceptive. Having the personality to persuade, mislead, and deceive. It takes one like this to mislead and deceive the prophetic world. Nobody would follow a person ready for a mental institution, but someone with an opposite nature they surely would follow. Continuing on Paul says that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God shewing himself that he is God. That’s the final end or objective! It’s the devil’s business to see that it happens.
JOHN’S REVELATION LINKED WITH PAUL’S
Does not Revelation 13 declare the whole prophetic world will worship the beast and also worship the devil who gave power unto the beast. Again it says all those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will worship the devil when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. These statements shown in Revelation coincide perfectly with Paul’s revelation in II Thessalonians 2, concerning this man of sin. However, in Revelation 13 we see the day has already arrived when this man of sin, who is the son of perdition or destruction, is already fully manifested on the scene. The world in that hour, as it will be then, will definitely worship the devil because that’s the devil’s objective. Satan desires to be adored and worshiped, and through a certain world system in Europe, through certain world politics and world unity, all this admiration will be achieved. Through satanic miracles, through the political, scientific, and economic field, yes, all of that, Satan through that world beast system and man of sin who heads that government of the beast system will have deceived the entire prophetic world! And because the world is deceived they in turn worship and adore the devil. Not in the sense that they fall upon their knees thanking Lucifer for bringing about such a glorious hour, no, that’s not Satan’s way of projecting it. It’s simply the fact he will have so seduced them that they will literally give praise to this world system. The spirit of false peace is the spirit of that hour. Satan is behind it all and has allowed it to be brought in.
CHURCH HAD FORGOTTEN
Apparently the church had forgotten all about Paul having told them this earlier, because continuing on in verse 5, he reminds them that somewhere earlier he had previously informed them concerning this thing. In verse 6 he reminds them he also told them how this “falling away” must first come about, and secondly the “falling away” would definitely lead to the manifestation of the man of sin. As he reminds them again, it should be a reminder to us the “falling away” did not occur a thousand or 500 years ago, but instead it is going on today! Furthermore, we believe as we look upon the world in general, it shows us we are definitely living in that time, shortly before the coming of Christ. Is what we are seeing today not the very thing that should be sharpening our minds and opening our spiritual eyes! By what we are seeing today should it not behoove us to put on the whole armour of God and prepare ourselves through every means possible through the grace of God that we might be able to withstand the powers of the adversary within the evil day as we see this evil now coming upon the scene.
WITHHELD OR HINDERED – WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
And now, Paul says (II Thessalonians 2:6), “Ye know what withholdeth, that he (the antichrist) should be revealed in his time.” Two words particularly stand out here. First, withholdeth and you know what withholdeth; meaning to hinder, or hold back something. Paul reminds the Thessalonian believers that there was something definitely hindering or holding back this man of sin from actually coming on the scene.
HOLY GHOST HINDERING POWER
Are you aware what is doing the hindering? It’s none other than the Holy Ghost sent to the gentiles through the preaching of the gospel of truth in the dispensation of grace. Once God turned the gospel over to the gentiles, the Holy Ghost was working and is working among the gentiles to take out of them a gentile people (bride) to bear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And while that Holy Ghost is working among the gentiles, He is also hindering or holding back this man of sin from coming on the scene. Doesn’t matter who preaches he could come, he simply could not! Sure, all of this has been preceded by many minor antichrists. According to Apostle John (I John 2:18) there were even (minor) antichrist appearing in the apostle days. However, it certainly wasn’t the one who appears at the end of the age called the man of sin, the son of perdition, not him! That man positively can not come on the scene as long as the Holy Ghost is working to take out a people for his name among the gentiles. That was His hindering force or power keeping him back. While the Holy Ghost was withholding or hindering, Daniel and Revelation both verifies there was to be a definite appointed time for this man, and it would be God’s will to permit it to be so, that the Antichrist should have his hour. Therefore, if it would be true that as long as the Holy Ghost is present working and convicting the gentile world of sin then that man of sin can by no means come to the forefront, take over, and rule because it is not yet his appointed hour.
SPIRIT OF INIQUITY ALREADY WORKING
Paul, writing around 54 A.D., called something here (the spirit of) the mystery of iniquity. The mystery of iniquity is only a contemporary name given to something already in existence in Paul’s hour. Remember, Paul, who stated this declared also in Ephesians 3:2-6, how God had made known unto him the mystery of his will concerning things which had been hidden from prophets in other ages! Isn’t it strange when Paul wrote the Colossian letter he stated the mystery of God is none other than Christ in you the hope of glory.
TWO SEPARATE MYSTERIES RUNNING PARALLEL IN KINGDOM
Therefore, the word mystery in the scriptures occurs on the basis of two separate identities. (1) The Mystery of God while (2) the second mystery is referred to as the mystery of iniquity. And don’t forget that both mysteries were running parallel. They were contemporaries (mysteries) onto the other. Wasn’t it strange in the opening of the first seal of Revelation 6 as God opened up the dispensation of grace giving it to the gentiles around 53 A.D., the spirit of Antichrist (represented by the white horse rider), also came out and began to ride parallel with the truth presented by the Holy Ghost! Why had Satan done this? His hope was to eventually gain an entrance or foothold into the mystery of God, that in doing so he would, up to a point, be able to succeed in destroying or confusing the mystery of God in its true scriptural identity from the world – by implanting something else erroneous within the structure of the kingdom of heaven. His mystery of iniquity which, in a sense, is still religious, would also still use the name of Jesus and continue to hold to certain things in the scriptures. Yet, through it all it would be a trick of Satan to establish a mystery of all his own in order to eventually deceive the world.
Thus, in the day of early Christianity around the beginning of the second church age, these two spirits finally became mixed. Such an event fits perfectly the second parable that Jesus presented in Matthew 13:24-30, where He spoke concerning the mystery of the kingdom of heaven being as tares planted in the field and so forth. The tares were sown by the devil among the good seed, which was the born again children of God; and was from then on allowed to grow together in the same field. Therefore, we can say that coming down through the other five church ages among the gentiles the mystery of God, as well as Satan’s mystery of iniquity, has continually run parallel through the ages until we reach the end of the age where at that time the Spirit of the Lord will no longer be working in deep Holy Ghost conviction among the gentiles – that conviction shall be lifted and the Antichrist come in like a flood!
TWO SPIRITS ENTWINED
Both spirits throughout the church ages have been so entwined that it has been difficult to determine or distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. Satan’s approach was through deception that someday he would be able to succeed, as God permitted him to bring to the forefront his mystery of iniquity and set in motion or introduce to the world a Christ who, of course, would be none other than a false Christ, a prince who was supposed to be a peace maker or ambassador of peace who will deceive the entire prophetic world.
IN GRACE AGE SPIRIT OF INIQUITY RESTRAINED
According to Paul’s statement we realize the mystery of iniquity, to a certain degree, was already at work in his hour within the body of believers. The reason it could not gain a foothold to become the predominant thing as it will do in the end of the age was because the Holy Ghost, who is the predominant figure throughout the grace age, was withholding or restraining that spirit of the mystery of iniquity, never permitting it to triumph over the mystery of God. Because if you remember, Jesus declared earlier (Matthew 16:18) no matter what this mystery of iniquity would ever be permitted to do, it will never prevail over His church! True, it might be permitted to gain far more in number than the true church, but Jesus declared it would never be permitted to triumph over the mystery of God – the true church, and that is final!
TRUE CHURCH NEVER CONQUERED
The true church would never fall before its final onslaught (at the end of the age). Moreover, since there was to be a mystery of iniquity, and it is already seen working back in Paul’s hour trying to establish a foothold in the kingdom of heaven, this very same mystery of iniquity would eventually lead to the introduction of a “falling away” period, and that “falling away” would bring about such a wholesale sellout to Satan, it in turn would set the stage for the man of sin to come on the scene, at which time Christ comes for His own. Thus, before there can be an Antichrist, before there can be an actual catching away of the true church to meet Christ in the air, the world must first go through a “falling away” period. Now to get a clearer understanding of what that period of “falling away” will be like, we need to first re-examine briefly what the immoral and corrupt nature of the gentiles were like before the gospel came to them in the first century, because what they were before the gospel came, will give us some idea of what to expect they will be like once the Holy Ghost begins lifting His convicting power from them.
GENTILES’ NATURE AT 1ST CENTURY
As the gentiles in the first century began to hear the gospel, may I ask, what shape, religiously, were they in? Religious wise, our gentile ancestors worshiped deities of every description. For instance, had your ancestors been Greek, no doubt they were philosophers who, according to the scriptures, enjoyed the study of all manmade philosophies and theories. Had you walked through Athens in Paul’s day, you would have found the marketplaces and public gathering areas filled with Greek philosophers. It was their nature, according to the scripture, to ever be listening to some new philosophy. All this came under the heading of wisdom. Greeks enjoyed boasting about how much they knew. That is why Paul declared the Greeks seek after wisdom, but the Jews require a sign.
GENTILES DEPRAVED, IMMORAL
None of our gentile ancestral background can be bragged upon. Morally, the scripture declares the gentiles to a low, degenerate element of people. That is why for centuries the Jews looked upon gentiles as dogs or unclean creatures. God knew it would require far more than a ceremonial law to straighten us out, therefore, what would it require – it would require nothing short of a sovereign act of God’s grace to deal with our immoral ancestral background. Had God dealt with the gentiles on the basis of what we actually were in that hour, He would have destroyed us! By no means; according to I Corinthians 6:9-11, could He have accepted us into His kingdom, who were so guilty of such things. Those who did such-and-such could not inherit the kingdom of God, declared Paul. However, he continues by saying, but such were some of your (verse 11). But you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified – HOW? In the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. How were we cleansed – through the keeping of the law? Absolutely not!! Immoral gentiles were absolutely ignorant of the law of God which had been given to Israel. Gentiles were alienated from the grace of God. Then what would be the means whereby God would deal with the gentiles? Seeing they were so degenerate the law could not help them, it would be of necessity He would deal with them strictly through grace and grace alone. And on that basis of the unmerited favor of God, He sent the Holy Ghost unto the gentiles which began convicting them of the sin of unbelief.
BLOOD AND WATER – JOHN 3:5
The Spirit convicted them and they truly repented, and act which by-passed all the outward observances of the moral or ritual law the Jew had observed. The gentiles were able to step out of their filth and immoral way of life into the grace of God through true repentance of sin and accepting Jesus Christ and His shed blood. The blood of Christ, God’s son, cleansed our hearts or nature from the sin of unbelief, while the sins (plural) which were the sins committed in our flesh, or those evil deeds done in the flesh, were remitted or washed away through water baptism in His lovely name and gentiles received the same gift of the Holy Ghost that God had given to the Jewish nation.
MIDDLE WALL OF PARTITION BROKEN DOWN
According to Paul, Jews who now believed in Christ, were able to sit in the same assembly with the gentile believers. No longer looking upon the gentiles as dogs or something of a filthy unclean nature as the had in days gone by, for Paul declared in Ephesians 2, you gentile believers who were sometime afar off, have now been made nigh through the blood of Christ. The Spirit God, through the flesh body of Christ, has now broken down or tore away that middle wall of partition separating the two groups. The wall itself had made such a difference between Jew and Gentile, although in actuality both groups had been degenerate but now God has made out of the two groups, one new man, making peace through Christ. The Holy Ghost eventually completely left the Jewish nation, and in 70 A.D., scattered them to the four winds of the earth among the Gentiles.
CONVERTED DIGNITARIES CHANGE LAWS AFFECTING MORALS
For 1900 years we Gentiles have heard the gospel preached, and as the Holy Ghost has moved among the Gentiles, He has been watching over that gospel. As the gospel began moving among the nations like a growing forest fire, the Christian faith rapidly spread. Gentile nations, filthy and polluted as they were, began to be converted. Kings and dignitaries were also converted, though I grant you some kings were converted to a philosophy of Christianity, yet through the true conversion of dignitaries God used this as a means whereby He began to stem the onslaught of Satan among the Gentiles as He unloosed the cords of Satan which were holding the Gentiles in darkness, ignorance and superstition. God moved back those satanic powers of darkness whereby He could deal with the Gentiles on the basis of the gospel. And never forget, for 1900 years wherever this gospel of Christ had gone among the nations it had greatly changed and affected the morals of that nation. Beloved, it was not until after God had taken His toll of the predestinated and elected seed from among the Gentiles as it was in the day before the gospel came unto them. Like a sweeping tidal wave around this world, wherever the gospel has gone and was accepted into those nations, I repeat, it began to greatly affect their morals as well as their social and judicial laws of that country.
MOVING BACK IN
Now, all this immorality that once ruled the Gentile’s life is slowly moving back in once again to take over Gentiles’ lives as it did before! Why? How is this possible? Because it had been God’s way of holding back the tide of satanic powers which had imprisoned and ensnared the lives of the Gentile people, and as long as the Holy Ghost was working, or was present in convicting power, the Spirit was present for one purpose, and that was to see that the gospel message was declared to the ends of the earth. During this time the Holy Ghost would delay, hinder or hold back this one thing Paul referred to already working in his day which is called the spirit of the mystery of iniquity. While the spirit of God was holding back Satan’s power, He was busy gathering in the predestinated, elected seed of God chosen before the foundation of the world who were to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. However, one of these days, Paul declares, when God has gathered out the bulk of His seed making up the bride of Christ, this hindering presence of the Holy Spirit is going to cease, and when it does, God have mercy! The demon power which has been suppressed among Gentiles for centuries will then be unleashed to come back in among the Gentiles as they were before the First Century. This simply means the day is coming the Holy Ghost will no longer be hindering that spirit, however, He will hinder until time has arrived to withdraw His convicting power among the Gentiles.
RESTRAINING POWER LIFTED BEFORE RAPTURE
Yet we still hear people say, what Paul was actually saying here is, the Holy Ghost power which has been withholding this spirit will be lifted only after the church has left the scene and then the enemy comes in like a tidal wave. Just you remember, the enemy comes in like a tidal wave whenever the spirit of conviction is lifted off the gentiles, and don’t forget that lifting could well be before the church leaves the scene! Paul said the “falling away” and the manifestation of the man of sin would be revealed before God came for his church! Therefore, if you have been by one of those holding that opinion also that the Holy Ghost power restraining this spirit is not lifted until after the church is gone, I encourage you to reread Paul’s statement. Beloved, had the Bible meant it in that way Paul would have recorded it that way – this is exactly the way it would have read! Instead, it reads just the opposite, showing as concerning the coming of the Lord and our gathering together unto Him, that day will not arrive until or except the “falling away” come first, and that “falling away” sets the stage for the man of sin to be revealed. AFTER THE CHURCH IS GONE, THAT IS BEFORE THE CHURCH IS GONE!
TRUE BELIEVER DOES NOT ENTER TRIBULATION
Are you telling me I am going through the tribulation, someone may ask? No, I am not, although I might add, if people don’t forsake these outlandish revelations they have dreamed up, somewhere some of these things are going to lead you off into the tribulation if you aren’t careful! Many have listened to every kind of interpretation concerning the seventy weeks of Daniel, and are still just as confused as ever. There can only be one true interpretation to Daniel’s 70 weeks. It can’t be just anyone’s idea or interpretation. What Paul wrote here is just as essential for the church as what Daniel wrote in Daniel 9:27, because somewhere through it all both sections of scripture deal with the Antichrist, that false prince, etc. It is basically important that we get these scriptures set in their proper setting whereby we may understand what each word means. If you believe there is only 3½ years left, sooner or later all this will lead you into such drastic confusion, just like people who want to say by 1977 the Lord will come. Are you aware if you believe the Lord will come in 1977, and that Jesus’ coming is to fulfill what Paul is discussing here, then face it, you have already lived through the majority of the tribulation! See, such ideas as this teaching concerning 1977, is what has led certain people to go off on these other wild revelations – such as the one I recently heard, that the rapture had already passed, therefore, in order for the living to make it now they must go to Jerusalem to get in the Hebrew bride as some have already done for that purpose! HOGWASH! The end of this age is going to produce some of the wildest and weirdest teachings Satan ever brought out of the pit. Why? Because he is after YOU!
MUST SEE PROFILE
Some will say, I don’t think it’s necessary to understand all these things. Well, it is strange to me, if I laid down a one dollar bill, you would know exactly what it was worth or what it could buy. You know it could buy so much bread or drink or help pay your light bill. But suppose I told you it didn’t really matter if you understand the buying power of a dollar! You would say, wait a minute Bro. Jackson, you might lay down your whole wallet of money for a certain item, wouldn’t you? That is right, so I am saying there are some things which are absolutely, basically important about this Bible that we do get digested in our soul. That is why they are placed in the Bible. Am I to understand every little detail? Beloved, you may never understand every little detail, yet at least for your soul’s sake, try to understand the profile of it. The profile alone will tell you what the object looks like. If you can understand a profile of something as you walk closer toward the profile of the object, you will be able to see the dimensional setting, etc. Such things as small details can be added as time goes on.
PART 3
FALLING AWAY LEADS TO MAN OF SIN
WHY FALLING AWAY COULDN’T OCCUR 50 YEARS AGO
If there is to be a falling away before the church is caught away, how is this “falling away” going to occur? Remember one important thing, 50 years ago the “falling away” could not occur and here is why. The very constitution and judicial laws of the U.S., as well as the governing judicial laws of many other countries of the world, simply would not have permitted. Many judicial laws, for centuries, have been derived at upon the basis of what effects universal Christian religion had played in its influence in these centuries. The church’s influence affected lawmaker’s decisions. The church, years ago, because of its prominent role in society, had set such a high standard in living, morals, etc., this caused the judicial laws to be obeyed which affected the lives of the church people. Such a high standard caused a man who was born, reared and educated in such a society to respect the laws of the land. Furthermore, the laws were definitely kept in force in those days. Fifty years ago you never saw teenagers in droves traveling the globe doing nothing but riding airplanes and peddling dope as you do today! Fifty years ago teenagers didn’t run around, they had nothing to run around for!
LIFE 50 YEARS AGO PREVENTED FALLING AWAY
Most teenagers after school had chores to do. Living in the country they fed hogs, milked cows, chopped wood, carried water, built fires, filled lanterns and helped Mom make bread. In other words, they were occupied in doing something beneficial. We are discussing this to show how mankind in that hour’s frame of thinking was molded into a certain pattern which made him more law abiding. Such a life pattern caused men in general to be easier, to be preached to than he is today. Fifty years ago teenagers weren’t carrying switchblades knives and snub-nosed pistols to school. Had they done so and were caught, 95 percent of the schools would have immediately expelled them and later the juvenile authorities would have locked them behind bars, not caring if they ever came out! No, by no means did that philosophy of law stop the criminal, but it sure did slow down crime from breeding so fast! Capital punishment never stopped crime either, but when they had it in force it made a person think twice before shooting someone. Whereas today in five years, since the death penalty has been declared unconstitutional, homicide alone has risen 50 percent. Why should the criminal care how many he shoots, what does he have to be afraid of? In a sense he is the only one protected! Shoot as many as he wants, with a good lawyer he might get only 20 years and then be released a little while later. Fifty years ago it was not so! If you got out you broke out!
FALLING AWAY NOT STRICTLY RELIGIOUS
Many people want to associate this “falling away” strictly with religion only, however, this is not true! The “falling away” first takes place in the society of the world, then pressure is placed upon the church world and made to submit and accept the standards set by the world. Let’s break this down by asking ourselves a question – How do we know we are living in the hour of that falling away? Secondly, where at first does this “falling away” take place? As I said, the “falling away” first takes place in the society of the world. Something always has to happen first in the world society and later the world applies pressure on the church world to accept the same. I grant you, in the nominal church world you have certain cold denominational religions which have spiritually died, seeing they have refused to feed or refuel the fire of their previous revelations of truth (with more truth) and have died out, leaving them strictly dormant and helpless to resist the power of Satan which eventually comes against them, compelling them to take the route they are forced by the world to take today! 25-40 years ago you would never have seen a Pentecostal church allowing their people to dress and look the way they do today! Pentecostal churches in those days were proud of their code of strictness in dress and appearance. Therefore, the “falling away” must be understood that first of all Satan begins to work on the society of the world in general, and later it is the world societies which applies the pressure against the so-called nominal church, making them accept what they have already accepted.
WHOLESALE SELLOUT – LONG HAIR
The “falling away” is manifested as such. It is a total wholesale sellout to the devil in general (first by the world, then by the church) of everything Satan has to throw at the people. For instance, when the Beatles from England appeared with their long unruly hair, that long unruly hair which is now in the church, did not begin in the church, no! It started in the world (England) down at an old swimming hole where these boys, being too poor to get decent haircuts, noticed one day when their long hair became soaking wet they resembled something which had crawled out of a cave somewhere and this inspired them! Their hair, long and flopping like cavemen’s hair, flopping in every direction took hold of the youth of this day, who in turn applied pressure upon the church to allow them to wear their hair this way to the services of the church also! Young men, if that is the way you like to wear your hair remember, your nature is a half brother to a caveman! But some will say, what does it mean in Psalms where it declared, anoint thy head? Remember, when Christ made reference to the Pharisees who enjoyed fasting and putting on such a public display of piety, Christ told His followers to do just the opposite. Don’t go around looking like you are in the dumps, instead wash your face and anoint your head! No, He didn’t mean to perfume it up either. Anointing means put something on it! Comb your hair and appear in public as though you haven’t been fasting. It didn’t mean you couldn’t use a little hair tonic. If you do it was alright, but for goodness sakes, look like a human being, not like something dropped out of the prehistoric world! That long unruly hair which speaks of rebellion and disobedience to authority (associated with dope traffic and hippies) started in the early 60’s with a bunch of worldly kids, and I look what a hair style they started! Shame on 60 year old men who cater after that. Fifty years ago a 60 year old man would never follow after hairstyles of teenage kids. Fifty years ago it would have been the opposite. The five teenage boys would have wanted to follow after the man, saying, I want to be like him. Not so today!
ROCK AND ROLL
Rock and roll music didn’t begin in the church either (although that is where it wound up), instead it began with Elvis Presley doing his vulgar wiggle which took hold in the 50’s and drove the youth of this world screaming mad. Newspapers portrayed girls becoming hysterical, ripping away their clothes…It is a spirit, the hour had come! Satan, knowing the hour had come, threw this spirit at the world. Yet remember, it takes time for the Bible to be fulfilled and for an entire generation to measure up to all God said they would become! But when you have a people going after such things, all because time is right, God simply says to them, help yourself!
MINI-SKIRT SYMBOL
They started their demon possessed beat called music, they started their long, unruly hair fads. Later on a woman declared, am I the only woman who feels she would like to go to bed with any man any time of the day as well as night. By this symbol (of this miniskirt) will people know all those who have that same desire I do! They will wear the sign which will be this dress I create. Therefore, she cut if off just below her thighs and became the princess of the miniskirt! Although some innocent to what they were wearing wore it simply because it was the style, nevertheless, it wasn’t long until almost every teenage girl in public schools was wearing one! Why? Because it was the style!
WORLD APPLIES PRESSURE
The hour had arrived in this modern age and the public schools embraced instantly all these fads now springing up in the world. Pressure is soon applied to the so-called fundamental Christian churches who, having refused to move on with God in truth, must now submit under pressure and move with the world! Living only for certain enrollments each year, though many still held to their previous conviction of dress code, soon they were crushed under the pressure and therefore yielded. If you don’t move on in truth with God sooner or later the fire of the truth you do have will simply die out, not being refueled by other truths to keep the fire going and the testimony hot. This fulfills exactly the words of Christ who said, take away that which they have and give it to another. God will give everyone something whereby they may begin to walk and fellowship with Him and know Him as a merciful God. However, if in that little measure of faith or revelation He gives you, you fail to yield it to Him, allowing Him to take you on into still more truth, more light and more fellowship of His word, sooner or later you will reach a stalemate and you will feel I have had enough, I am not going any further. Right there is where you die out and the pressure from without (in the world) will begin to squeeze that which you have within until there is nothing left!
DRINKING LAW CHANGED
No, it wasn’t long until the unruly, long hair fad and miniskirt were in the schools and then in the church. Next Satan began pushing through the legislature, because they declared our 18 year old boys had been old enough to fight in Vietnam, surely they wee old enough to drink beer and liquor also. Therefore, let them go into the saloons. Pressure from without caused state legislatures all over the U.S. to change judicial drinking laws permitting 18 year old to step into nightclubs and bar rooms along with the 21 year old to buy their booze. Personally, I have never seen an 18 year old who had will enough to know that if the stuff was harmful to him, he wouldn’t turn around and pass it on to a 12 year old. Usually a man past 21 has enough common sense to know if that stuff gets hold and bites him, he certainly wouldn’t want it to bite the younger kids, because for alcohol to take hold of the young, it seems to mold something into their spirit.
NO FALLING AWAY BEGINS WITH CHURCH
It wasn’t any time before the devil throws dope at the generation. Remember, the dope, booze, miniskirt, the rock and roll and the long hair, none of these which contributes to the “falling away” started in the church house, it started out in the society of the world. The devil, throwing all this stuff especially at the younger generation so rapidly, created what is known as the generation gap. Why had it all spread so rapidly? God, already knowing this, “falling away” would be the curse (Malachi 4:6) therefore, allowed it to rapidly blanket the earth shortly before His coming. This “falling away” would be responsible for bringing in the man of sin. No wonder Malachi declared God would send that spirit of Elijah (to the Gentiles) before that great and dreadful day of the Lord should come, and He would turn the heart of the end time children back to the (apostolic teachings of the) fathers lest he (God) would smite the earth with a curse.
CURSED GENERATION
What kind of curse? Remember, when God curses anything He always curses that particular generation which is involved, because somewhere previously He would have tried in a special way to show His mercifulness, longsuffering and gentleness to that generation receiving the curse. Showing them His kindness and goodness in a special way, giving them a special opportunity to know Him and miss the curse that is soon to follow. Therefore, if they don’t want to move on in truth, if the generation doesn’t want to accept His mercy through what He has to offer them, He will in turn, turn that generation over to a reprobate mind to simply believe a lie and be damned, to be lost! THAT IS THE CURSE! You can’t say He cursed the scientific world! They continually get smarter every day.
CHURCH CHILDREN OUTNUMBERED
Now watch what happened in your local schools where your church children attended, but were far outnumbered by the children of the world. Pressures from without now begin to pressure the church youth to line up with these fads and go along with the crowd of the day. It isn’t long before mommy and daddy begins to hear these words, can I dad, can I mom? However, because we have a generation today who mostly were forced because of one situation or another to be reared by babysitters, these poor children hardly knowing the love of a mother or father and practically disciplined by neither, naturally have no respect for the wishes or desires of Mom or Dad, seeing that loyalty and respect of the children for parents is not what it should be. The poor children have been made through all these years to look at a babysitter who wasn’t paid to discipline the child, only to see they didn’t run out the door, get lost in the dark and was fed on time, etc. With over half the school age children’s mothers working, it has been babysitters who practically built the character of the society of our youth! Remember, all this came about in ONE GENERATION! From without came the pressures which have forced and changed the church lifestyle, as well as the morals of our day! Social patterns of church going youth has absolutely been stripped and brainwashed in these public schools!
ALLOWING DEVIL TO ENTER FULL FORCE
About this time one atheistic woman whose hatred for God and prayer caused a bill to be passed removing the Bible and prayer from all state run schools. Removing the Bible and prayer from the schoolroom now allows Satan to enter into the school in full force. Since that hour you have heard nothing but dope, guns, knives, booze and all kind of moral breakdowns! Why? Because the church world each year continually backs up, giving an inch here, a foot there. Why? Because seeing they did not want to move on in the truth of God’s word they are given no choice but to be forced by world pressures to move with the world or lose their crowd! This is an hour in your generation that in yourself you can’t live different, you can’t buck this sweeping tide unless you are doing it for truth’s sake. The pressure of the world will simply sweep you under. If you live different, live it because God’s word says so. If it is not for truth sake and you try, sooner or later it will swamp, choke and isolate you from everything until you are forced to yield to the pressures of the day. Living different because it is truth, because it is Jesus Christ in spirit from in you, will be honored by the Lord!
Yes, the “falling away” first came from without, yet it brought such a pressure on the entire church world that the church world in general was forced to back up, back off, let down the gap and stop saying this or that until today the church world, from the outward appearance, looks no different from those outside the church circle. The only difference is, in certain respects, it may not have as yet reached the depth of extreme!
HONORING PROSTITUTES
Then from California, the state which discovered gold, has now discovered the devil in full force. Churches 50 years ago would never have stooped as low as this one church of the Methodist faith in California which permitted hundreds of prostitutes forming a union of their profession to hold their meetings in their church! Here was the one religious system which more than the others 50 years ago was teaching holy living! Why would a church even in California stoop so low to do such a thing. It is because the hour is here for the “falling away”! The pastor of this church has often bragged how his Methodist church set the pattern in San Francisco for the night clubs to follow. Could John Wesley return to the scene, and he was a man who resorted to physical force, no doubt he would do what Jesus did at the temple, or either take gasoline and a match and burn the building down. On and on such things, because truth has left, are still creeping into the religious world. See, that Holy Ghost conviction is lifting or leaving the Gentiles. People are losing their anchor and their stabilizing force because that is exactly what the Holy Ghost is!
Today we see the Holy Ghost lifting that convicting power, yet some will say, I believe the Holy Ghost will be here in convicting power until the church is gone. Beloved, I believe the Holy Ghost will be in YOU until the church is gone, but you can’t make the Bible say the Holy Ghost is going to be here in that hour convicting people of sin and still continually holding back all this evil force from sweeping in, NOT AT ALL!
NO GREAT CONVICTING POWER FOR GENTILES
No, understand this does not mean the Holy Ghost will leave the planet, of corse not. The Holy Ghost will always be here. It was here before the gospel ever came to the Gentiles, yet the Holy Ghost was not working in convicting power among the Gentiles. However, when the dispensation of grace came in respect to gospel truth, the Holy Ghost immediately went to work on Gentiles’ hearts and lives convicting them and changing their life pattern. As time closes out, this grace period for us Gentiles, this will no longer be the case where people fall under deep conviction or is even dealt with in such a manner as we have read about in years past, such as the great Welsh revival, etc.
I read how a certain man became so hungry to see God work, that because of the way people were living he decided to pray under a certain bridge for a certain length of time for God to move. The bridge where he hid and prayed stood at the entrance to town and there he asked the Lord to convict every person who passed over that bride. Sure enough, in the great Welsh revival every person who walked or rode over that bridge fell under such deep Holy Ghost conviction that hearing about the revival in the little town, they simply could not stop until they made their way to the meeting house and gave their hearts to God. But face it, you won’t see that anymore, that was the day the average man of the world, though not a Christian, (as we understand Christianity today) had respect for this book. It is not so anymore! Open infidelity against this book, boastful, hardhearted, stubborn, stiff-necked is the order of the day and it is all because the Holy Ghost is letting up in that convicting power. As the Holy Ghost, who has been withholding or resisting that spirit of iniquity lets up, Satan will now move in in full force bringing back in among the Gentiles all those evil things they had before! And recall, the devil has done it through the medium of the world because the time was right.
SELLOUT TO MATERIALISM
Satan brought the pressures against the carnal church world which, if you recall, is his own church system which he placed into the kingdom of heaven to buffet the true church. Satan now brings all this into his own church system, the system he has had all along. It was he who held these back from going on in the truth, now brings them down to a completely worldly level! This is done through none other than a great deception. That is why in this period of great deception we are seeing ministers, as never before, preaching about world affairs instead of about the conditions of the time pointing to the soon coming of Christ, or the conditions that man’s soul is in. With all these pressures pushing from without, all you need was the right time and the right people. An hour when people would live more for materialism than anything else, and isn’t that the modern philosophy today. Schools now having no respect for the Bible nor religion is teaching and training strictly for the materialistic realm of life! When one lives strictly for the materialistic things in life, what do you think that does to the human soul? The spiritual side has to go! The philosophy of our modern institutions of learning is, educate the youth for a materialistic world. Sad to say, modern youth today is trained only for a material way of life, embracing no concept of God consciousness whatsoever!
BRAINWASHING YOUTH
Naturally, in a concept such as this, morals will absolutely be very low in fact, the modern way of life, morals as we have known them, have been kicked out – they simply can’t survive in this generation! This brings about a complete brainwashing of our younger generation as they are slowly introduced to all these four letter words and such things. Isn’t it strange, they used this philosophy, that as long as the Bible remained in the schools the child was subject to religion. They say the child should be allowed to choose what they want to accept, therefore through special legislation the Bible is kicked out and now in turn these same philosophers forcibly subject your child to just the opposite and justify it all by saying, it is the child who should have the opportunity to choose what they want. Yes, but you may rest assured by the time these modern philosophers have finished teaching the child sex education, their four letter words, atheism, evolution, no God, etc., your child will be so brainwashed and subjected to their corrupt Godless, immoral way of thinking the child actually has no choice but to follow the Godless way they have been taught!
LAW TO PROHIBIT PARENTS DISCIPLINE
A bill now in Congress, if it is ever passed in this day of the “falling away” would prohibit you from bringing your child up as the Bible teaches in the ways of the Lord, because if your child under the influence of modern education is brainwashed and if your child should choose the image of modern youth and want to go that way, however they want to dress or live, and you say one word against it or you tell your child to do something and they don’t want to obey you, this law will prohibit you from correcting them! Then you tell me we haven’t been brought to a generation being cut off – we most certainly have! And this falling away has brought that particular way of life right down into the church circle! No, I didn’t say it had brought it into the church circle to the degree that it is in the world, but it has brought it into the church circle and now all these lifestyles, fads, new morals for a new society are all being accepted by the church circle. That group of so-called Christianity which is propagating under the name of religion using the name of Jesus and supposing to be the medium whereby man finds eternal life is swallowing all this hook, line and sinker!
MATERIALISTIC GOSPEL
Today they have become nothing more than an institution of religion, full of perverted ways of living insomuch they can no longer set a standard which is any different than the standard already going on on the outside of the church! Since now it is all within the church circle, the world recognized the church to be no better than they. Therefore, this weakness of conviction, this lowering of standards has even led the clergy, seeing they refused to go on with truth, to now recognize the fruitlessness of it all, and have turned to a life style strictly of material advantage! Such as a radio preacher from California like so many others today who have taken the very thing they once preached, this gospel of salvation, and now openly converted it into strictly a materialistic gospel preaching how all these worldly, material things should now all be yours, as if these things are the blessings of God saying God wants you rich, God wants you to have plenty, etc. Why, they teach indulgence worse than the Catholic Church did in the Dark Ages! This kind of promotion leads to all kind of religious gimmicks. Fifty years ago, had a man used such religious promotion of the gospel in such materialistic gimmicks people would have run from him! But not today because it is a spirit falling upon those who refuse to walk on with God! One by one they are picking up this materialistic angle. If you don’t go on with truth, sooner or later a spirit will take hold of you, because this is the day of the “falling away”! It invaded the society of the world and has now invaded the church circles!
This “falling away” is now on because God set a truth before them and they refused to walk in it, this has absolutely become a delusion. God will permit you to see this delusion and you will walk straight for it thinking it is the real thing!
A DELUSION
A delusion is a mirage which, from a distance, looks real. However, the sad part is, once you start toward it, it never in reality gets any closer, always remaining the same distance from you and that mirage or delusion that you grope after is always something that is going to be! It is always just before you, but it never materializes because it will always remain the same distance and will bring death! This is causing the church world to become so apostate!
NEW POLITICAL ROLE
Recently the 76 year old pope, I heard, made the remark it was possible he might resign. If he does resign the man next in line for that office, because of the role that office is destined to play in European unity and world peace, may possibly be a younger man, more vigorous in health, yet I say he will be a man who will have a modern philosophy of unity which will have more of a political overtone than ecclesiastical. He will dress that Catholic Church up in such a political role every businessman will want to join it. And because they have already taken to this charismatic move, rest assured this world is headed for an hour of climax like it has never seen before. If that next man is the man, then we are close. But remember, you can’t have the man of sin revealed until you first have the “falling away”. Today the world is in shape, it knows more than ever, it is desperately in need of a mastermind. It needs a man who has the brains and personality to be able to step on the scene and say to the world, brothers, this is what we need to do! Once you hear that type introduction being introduce to the world, WATCH OUT! It should cause every Holy Ghost believer to begin looking up knowing that at any moment Jesus could come. No, the bride will not go through the tribulation period, but according to Paul teaching, the true church is definitely going to see an introduction of that man of sin and his hour of false deception, being introduced to the world before it leaves.
PART 4
REVEALING MAN OF SIN BEFORE RAPTURE
4 TITLES TO SAME PERSON
Yes, it is this falling away that eventually brings to the forefront that man of sin also called the son of perdition, the antichrist, and the one referred to in Daniel 9:27 as that (false) prince of peace. Bear in mind, the man of sin, the son of perdition, the antichrist and false prince are simply four separate titles pertaining to this one and selfsame person – – Satan’s false, counterfeit agent. This man in turn introduces to the world that dreadful hour spoken of by Christ in Matthew 24:15-22.
WITHDRAWING DOES NOT MEAN LEAVING
The Holy Ghost withdrawing does not mean the Spirit leaves the planet, but merely lifts its convicting and retraining powers whereby these evil spirits, which once ruled the lives of the gentiles before the First Century but were restrained throughout the gospel dispensation of grace, now return in full force with as much evil influence as ever among the gentiles, because time has arrived for the word of God to be fulfilled, because this is the generation today whose hearts and minds will eventually be turned over to a reprobate mind believing every lying device Satan throws in their path!
Mankind today, though he has climbed higher up the tree of knowledge scientifically and culturally, yet morally and spiritually, he has crawled lower than practically any generation which has existed before him! This is the generation where crime, terrorism, vice, dope, immorality and the degenerate nature of mankind has stooped to its lowest ebb.
FOUR-LETTER WORDS ACCEPTED
Never was there such an hour when educated mankind looks upon and justifies four letter words as proper English to be used in the presence of women. Education today has taught these four-letter words to be a part of our language culture. 50 years ago were a man to use such words in public he would be looked upon more or less as a demon possessed person, though today they are accepted as an everyday language culture. Mentally, man has not become much more than an educated animal.
LAW CHANGED TO PERMIT IMMORALITY
This “falling away” may be identified by many phases of activities presently affecting mankind’s social, moral and spiritual welfare. Already we see the pressure satan has placed on the world, changing certain lifestyles and morals and now changing certain judicial laws to allow these various changes to be legal. Looking back over previous years and meditating on all these cultural changes made today which satan has introduced, we are aware he couldn’t have done this unless the generation it was all to be fulfilled in had been born. When these changes were turned loose we began noticing strict judicial laws slacking down. During the 15-20 years the Supreme Court has been constantly changing, revising and adding amendments to one law after another until today the Constitution has been amended so many times it no longer means what it was originally written to mean. Such changes made it impossible today for you to live and receive the intended benefits of protection as well as freedom to express your religious convictions, etc. This is a day when all these convictions and liberties are being rapidly snatched away, as satanic influences are slowly being introduced to replace those older convictions, as pressure is placed upon the people. The reason usually given for these changes are “but these things have failed to accomplish their purpose.” No doubt they may have failed to accomplish their purpose – of all they intended – yet I assure you jails were never as full as they are today! Fifty years ago when law was stricter, they were not running over!
DOPE WRECKS BRAIN
Youth today says, Dad drank his booze, why can’t I use dope? This statement doesn’t justify drinking, but I never heard of men who became liquor addicts who ever had their brains eaten up. But did you know drugs will make a mentally deranged person out of you and it takes nothing flat to do so in comparison to what liquor will do! There was a day it was considered a crime for youth to smoke marijuana, however today, because of the political legislative circles which cater to pressure, we now see our legislators begging our law officials to endorse the use of marijuana, saying it is not harmful to health when scientifically, doctors have already proved it is! We are living in an age of paradox, one voice screams there is no harm, while others cries out there is. These are some of the things we are noticing as pressure from without is coming against the church world. The religious institutions, which mostly already belong to satan seeing he has caused the world to look toward them and be deceived, and because it is the hour they should now begin to lose ground, we see things going on in the church world, practiced even in the pulpits that were not present before. Such things are rapidly causing the world and the church circles to become identified together in the same boat, proving still further we are definitely in that hour of the “falling away”!
WOMEN PREACHERS – IS IT SCRIPTURAL?
Granted, even though it has always been unscriptural, certain religious circle has always endorsed women preachers, yet most fundamental church circles who, because of what the scripture taught against it, knew it was unscriptural for women to usurp authority over the man or stand in any position of leadership (I Timothy 2:12-14). Everyone knows in this respect through the ages they have stood firm. In that one respect they remained true to scripture, however when we reached the hour there was to be a generation hit by all these satanic influences, because the church world had already refused to accept the message of truth, what did God’s word say He would do to them, He would send them strong delusions that would be so persuasive, so convincing that the church world would go after it. Remember, a strong delusion is a mirage, something that looks so real. Fifty pears ago you could never have witnessed any women make headlines coming down the aisle, especially in the Episcopal churches, contesting their denominational clergy saying, we also have a right to preach! Understand, that doesn’t mean women can’t be as spiritual as men, they certainly can , but if they are spiritual they will be obedient to the scripture. However, some live by this standard today, I don’t care what the Bible says, I know what I want! Yes, God says there will be a generation who would say they didn’t care what the Bible said. He said they would have a form of godliness, denying the power of the authority of the scriptures to change your life, your belief, to change your way of thinking. They would deny all that! What did the Bible say to do to such people? Accept them and let them have their way? Absolutely not!! The Bible says, from such turn away! Why? Because they will lead your soul to hell!
NEW ROLE OF WOMEN
No, you can’t say because some women decided they wanted to preach in one movement that this is what is going on throughout the entire religious world, yet because of what was going on out in the social world as certain predominant feminine personalities who allowed that spirit to get on them, looked around the world in general and seeing prevailing conditions, their feelings became, “if I were in his place I would do it differently.” Therefore, beginning to converse with each other, women formed themselves into groups and began expressing themselves in one common voice and began pulling strings. No doubt back of the scene many a woman sits behind a politician dominating the entire setting. We are in that hour when women of the world in general have begun to say, we have been pushed down, suppressed and belittled long enough! Yet the Bible, which has never changed, says because of what Mother Eve did in the garden, womanhood could no longer have an equal role with man. Instead, as part of the punishment God laid upon womanhood, the secondary role is what she must live until the Lord Himself comes and personally lifts the curse.
CHURCH’S NEW ROLE – FREEING WOMEN
However, because of what all is going on in this equality field, women’s rights, etc., and since Jesus has not as yet personally come, the modern church world feels what they are doing for women, giving them an equal role with men, is the spirit of Christ now moving through religious circles to change the woman’s role – but it is not! It is a trick of the devil and the spirit of Antichrist. Because the same spirit that is in the world preaching woman’s liberation is also the same spirit that is in the church world, in religious circles doing identically the same things! When you see women demonstrating for equal rights, equal opportunities to be able to run for public, political offices, to hold governmental positions, standing and exercising in the same rank of identity, competing for jobs and such things, you can rest assured this has become the hour when the entire social human race is falling away from previous Biblical principles which once governed and stabilized the course of human history.
WANTS TO BE PASTOR
Why do you think in 1975 women from practically every free country met in Mexico City chanting to be identified for equal rights, equal opportunity, etc., because it showed womanhood has no more intentions of fulfilling her God appointed secondary role! And as worldly women began pushing for this, look what it released inside religious church circles. Naturally many women in the church never had a desire to be president, congressman, senator or even mayor, but what they would like to be is PASTOR OF THAT CHURCH! Why is it in certain church circles the older clergy have literally been challenged in the courts as certain young women who studied theology in certain colleges, and because of their little degrees in theology, marched down the aisles demonstrating to the congregation challenging the very authority of the pulpit, demanding equal rights and equal voice! Such actions set off a tremor down through the ranks of religion reaching into Rome and the pope’s office! Because of that pressure now being brought against the church, certain groups who never thought of opening their pulpits to a female preacher and mainly because they have lost their power with God in refusing to go on with God in truth, have no power, spiritually, to withstand such extreme pressure. Furthermore, because their congregations now so worldly, seeing the world and every perversion, every lifestyle, immorality, etc., is creeping in, they are no longer able to resist the pressure. The old clergy therefore throws open the doors, saying I give up, I am tired! This throws the door wide open for the female role to come right on into the church exactly as they did in the political role on the outside. On and on like dominos toppling one another, standards and conditions continue to fall until, were it not for the fact there has been a truth declared to this generation, absolutely everything within the religious realm would have continued to topple! This church world will now fling open her front doors to the devil and every perverted spirit which knocks on it, while truth is kicked out the back door. Modern Christianity will reach an hour when it will become worse than paganism 2000 years ago. The morals of the people will be no better than those of the gentile people 2000 years ago. People in church circles will be doing practically the same thing their ancestors did, only they will be doing it in the name of Christ and Christianity, whereas their ancestors did it 2000 years ago under the name of some false deity and their only excuse will be, times have changed. Yet, if you will allow Him in your life He will absolutely change your way of living and thinking. If God allowed us to get by with anything short of this word, we wouldn’t be fit to judge the world when He returns to earth for the millennium. If we aren’t able to handle the world this side of the millennium, how could we ever handle the world once Christ had definitely placed His bride in charge of it after she returns to earth with Him to rule and reign.
We know the “falling away” is here and will never become any better, according to scripture it is designated to grow worse. In this generation wherein judicial laws are continually being changed which affects morals, etc., how could the Holy Ghost possibly honor such laws? And if time continues another year or so gentiles will be living worse than ever. Time will come when what you hear being done in high schools and colleges will make you scream! This is an age when the devil’s philosophy is to educate the world for all the materialistic advantages of life and brainwash the reality of even the existence of God, let alone that there is a saviour and we as poor helpless lost creatures need Him. The devil doesn’t want you to believe that, thus we see these conditions now moving in.
DISHONESTY IN GOVERNMENT – WHERE IS IT LEADING?
Seeing we are in the “falling away”, sooner or later all of these things are going to bring such pressure, such unrest and such instability! This is a day the world over dishonesty rules in leadership. Dishonesty has made every government like a dead carcass. No government today seems to be a stable thing. Every leader is at one another’s throat. It reminds you so much of the old Roman Empire after the death of Nero. Emperor after emperor took the throne only to be assassinated or placed under such pressure they soon resigned, some lasting less than a year. From the U.S., Asia, Europe, the world over pressures in government, dishonesty, no stability – what an hour that is here, and everything must go down! Naturally, because there is no stability, no true character or image in the government, this has set off an image and a way of life that has all been passed down to the last stop, the church circles. Out of this attitude a new style of evangelism has arisen on the scene and also must play its role in the “falling away” which will eventually bring in the man of sin.
DAY OF PLAYING IS OVER
God help us all! If a man is sold out to God and truth is his only objective for preaching, God will help that man to stay out of the pitfalls of the devil. However, if truth is not his main objective for preaching then somewhere social prestige, fame, fortune, money, women, or something will get him. Rest assured, this is the hour Satan has his trap set. The papers and magazines are publishing sad testimonies of one minister after another who has fallen over money, women, social prestige, wine or something. Either you walk with God and uphold truth, preacher, or you are destined to play your role in the “falling away”! Either you will move on with God or you are facing an hour you won’t get by merely playing with the gospel. You won’t get by playing like you are a Christian. Sooner or later the pressure from without will come against you and it will break every fiber that is not fortified in Christ, it has to be that way!
MUST TAKE STAND
As we see all this coming and we recognize how the little nation of Israel is being pressured from every standpoint, this lets me know the Spirit of God is slowly withdrawing its convicting powers and restraining forces from all these satanic influences as all these satanic spirits are sweeping back into the gentile world as they were before Christianity come to the gentiles in the First Century. Scriptural-wise, Israel is being placed back into a time relationship, prophetic-wise, with God as He pleads for those dispersed Israelites to return home, back to the land He gave their father, Abraham. Does she yet know the Messiah? NO! Has she received the revelation of the time it actually is? NOT NECESSARILY! But from all over the world there is a call, Jew, come home! And as they are going home the whole gentile world looks on that one nation. Satan, through gentile nations, through world conditions, would like to pick that nation up and squeeze the very life from her. Sad to say, concerning diplomatic channels, our own statesmen from one point seems to have done everything possible to promise her protection. While on the other hand, seemingly undercover, our nation is doing everything possible to sell her down the drain! This definitely creates dishonesty and tension in world governments. People reach the point they don’t know what to accept or who to trust. When you begin to feel you don’t know who to trust and you don’t know who to turn to for help, you begin to feel like a lone figure walking through a world of demons. There is only one who can help you and that is the Lord. Therefore, somewhere soon the hour is coming when Israel will have looked to Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger for their last time. God is placing such deception in front of them to create a condition whereby Israel will have to withdraw from everything she has said or even promised to sign, saying from here on we stand alone.
The hour is also coming when every Holy Ghost filled born again Christian who knows what truth is will have to say in his heart before God, if need by for truth’s sake I will stand alone! That doesn’t mean you are saying only you and God are the only two in the universe, NO, but in order for you to make a stand you are going to have to take that attitude. It can no longer be as it has been in days gone by when people have taken this attitude, well if so-and-so does it, I will, or if so-and-so doesn’t do it, I won’t! Beloved, it will only take you three minutes in hell before you decide you would give anything if you hadn’t taken that attitude toward God’s word! The pressure will be far better here, that what it would be in the pit. The reward on the other side will be far more glorious. Therefore, I encourage you to take your stand for God and right today! What you go through down here will be nothing compared to the torture you will face in hell if you miss God in the end!
POWER LIFTS BEFORE RAPTURE
Keep in mind for the Spirit of God to stop suppressing or withholding these evil powers from rushing in among the gentiles, does not mean that the rapture must first take place before the Spirit will stop withholding or is taken out of the way of these spirits whereby the spirit of iniquity would then be allowed to go full blast. When He stops hindering these spirits, you are going to see it! Can you see it even now? The world is living, acting and doing such things today, had they done fifty years ago you would have needed far more jails to hold the people than what we have today because you would have gone there in nothing flat! And you would have remained there until you thought you could come out and act like a decent human being.
SATAN BEHIND IT ALL
When this falling away has reached a certain peak or depth of iniquity as it continues to take hold of the human race, that man of sin is going to be introduced. Thus, if you can see it has been Satan all along doing all this, first through the instrumentality of man in certain circles, using the judicial courts and educational circles, law administrative branches, etc., and second you can see hour he brought that over into the Ecclesiastical church branches I ask you, if Satan has been successful in using all this to mold the world for the hour of the falling away, don’t you think he can just as easily use the instrumentality of men through certain pressures and world conditions which he will also create, to eventually bring his man of sin in the front! Satan will create such world conditions that it will demand a new world order of politics, the re-writing of governmental platforms, etc., and that, beloved, whether you believe it or not is exactly what this world is on the verge of today! Then says Paul, shall that wicked (one) be revealed (II Thessalonians 2:3) whom the Lord shall (later) consume (at the end of the tribulation period) with the brightness of his coming. Naturally this speaks of the end of that man of sin. Recall, in I Thessalonians, Paul stated that the Lord shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and them who have pleasure in unrighteousness.
MOTHER & DAUGHTERS (ALL HARLOTS)
Back in II Thessalonians 2:9, Paul says that this man of sin whose coming will be introduced to this world is after the working of Satan. Therefore, when you see certain things going on in the church world today, those things which are producing strictly a denominational unity, just know that is not the spirit of God. But someone says, after all these religions have been preaching the same thing and how often have I heard them say, we are all going to the same place. No, beloved, we are not all going to the same place, that is another lie of Satan! Where in the Bible do we read such a thing! The Bible is filled with scriptures plainly informing us that the woman in Revelations 17:5 is a mother of harlots. Scriptures say she seduced the world by committing spiritual fornication with kings, dictators, etc., but one day that woman (the Roman Catholic Church) gave birth to some daughters who scripture declares were harlots also, and scripturally, their reputation as daughters wasn’t any better than the reputation of the mother! Then you say everybody is going to the same pace, OH NO!
“Whose coming (man of sin) is after the working of Satan.” See, it has been a satanic trick. Some of that trick he works through political power, some of it will work through ecclesiastical power, and some of it he will work through signs of every description, lying wonders and through all deceivableness of unrighteousness (especially) in them who perish, because they receive not the love of the (gospel) truth. Therefore, somewhere prior to this introduction of this man was the “falling away” from the truth which God has offered to the human race. And even back as far as 54 A.D., God says that (last generation) who is destined for destruction would not accept the truth, therefore, God sent this falling away unto those who receive not the love of the truth in order they might be saved or that they might escape the curse, the judgment, the condemnation that was destined to fall on them. And because they rejected the truth, it was for this cause, Paul says, God shall send them (that generation) strong delusions that they should believe a lie and be damned, who do not believe the truth and have pleasure in unrighteousness.
MANY MIRACLE WORKERS FULFILL MATTHEW 7
Many people the world over are grieved over the fact the world has lost one of the greatest female evangelists they feel the world ever had. I have often said I do not touch a person for all the good they feel has been accomplished, but many times we get questions asked, what about Kathryn Kuhlman? What about these things? Beloved, don’t ever say people weren’t healed, they were! Don’t every say people weren’t blessed by the Spirit, they were! Nevertheless, sad to say there are many people on the road to hell because they never saw the Christ in His real true purpose or objective. The Bible plainly says, and I know for such a statement my name will be mud to many people, nevertheless, when I stand before God I certainly don’t want to be responsible for having taught anybody something false such as those in Matthew 7:21-23 were guilty of. Yet according to Matthew 7, somebody in a generation must fulfill the words of Jesus spoken there! Those words left must be fulfilled because he says, many will come to Him in that day (of judgment) and say, did we not cast our devils in your name? There is going to be a generation who lived on this earth who saw just such characters doing those very things and what they saw accomplished is exactly what set off the fulfillment of Christ’s own words. When they said to Jesus, have we not cast our devils in your name, Christ never said you did no such thing! Why they even told Christ they had prophesied in His name, and undoubtedly they had because Christ never denied it. He never judged them but what they had done in the sense of casting out devils or prophesying in His name or doing many wonderful miracles in His name. No, but what He did was point a finger and say to this group, depart from me you that work iniquity, I NEVER KNEW YOU!
NEED OF A STABILIZER
Seemingly there will be many iniquity workers who did miracles, cast out devils and prophesy! People seemingly cannot differentiate what truth is nor how to digest it in the light of the word. Yes, there must be those individual characters who lived on earth who fulfilled these very scriptures! If you interpret all that goes on in the great evangelistic field as being God’s perfect plan for His bride, you might as well take this Bible and throw it to the wind, God simply didn’t mean what He said! But thank God He left you enough of a clue in this book to know what is truth and what is error in relation to the teaching of His word.
Therefore, is you happen to be in any or all these meetings and if someone’s eyes are opened remember, God did it! If someone received the Holy Ghost in one of these meetings, God did it. But beloved, when it comes to the point of what do you believe, this revelation of the word of God is what you are to believe! And if you fail to get that in your soul, rest assured somewhere down the road you are going to come up short. Never forget this, if God ever had a people He lived in, He built it on His word! Around this world there are people who have seen all kind of manifestations, yet because they have no truth to stabilize them, no truth of the word to line up behind, those poor souls will reach an hour of confusion and they won’t even know what to believe. And because of that discouragement and confusion they will turn their lives back to living after the world.
Many tonight, because of the death of this woman evangelist, will not know who to follow. They are discouraged and won’t know what to believe. As far as they are concerned their only crutch just died. It is almost as pathetic as the people in this message when Bro. William Branham passed away, when they lost their crutch or support.
HOLY GHOST – NEW COMFORTER
It goes back to the words of Jesus when He said it is necessary that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter can not come. If I go away I will send you another Comforter. Do you know what that Comforter was suppose to do, He was to get inside you and whatever the things was you had been leaning on for a crutch or support you don’t lean on it anymore! You lean on the new Comforter, the Holy Spirit! Beloved, you better have some truth to lean upon because if you haven’t truth to lean upon it won’t be long until discouragement, disillusionment, despondency, frustration, fear and doubt will begin slowly to engulf your mind in thinking. Either you will go after some far fetched unscriptural revelation or else the pull of the world will slowly take you back, back! But I know there is a truth in the earth and it is a standard therefore line up behind it! It is like a company of soldiers when the commanding officer blows his whistle and word goes forth certain companies are to fall in line, you begin to look and see where you are to line up. Unless it is in the field of combat when you are told to line up you will begin looking for a standard. The standard you look for is the flag for your particular company and when you see this flag, there is where you know to rally yourself. I will never forget years ago of having a dream and I heard voices singing.
LINING UP BEHIND (BIBLE) STANDARD
In my mind I knew when that song reached the last stanza I would be compelled to sing the last line of the song. As those voices sang that song down to the last word I heard myself saying, and what is a flag without a staff! Remember a staff is what you fasten the flag onto, then place it in the ground and line up by it. In other words, the flag is the gospel but without something to lift it up you might as well fold it up and put it in a box. Before you leave this world you are going to see the sellout, the “falling away” we have been discussing, and it is going to take its toll greatly out of the religious world! Considering those various instruments which have been used to play their role as they cast their image and leave their influence, it would not surprise me in the least if you saw the hand of God reach over and begin to remove them one by one. Such action would leave people disillusioned and confused and many not knowing which way to turn.
TRUTH ALONE WITHSTANDS
But I thank God for truth that is here in this Bible. It is going to cost you an awful lot to stand for truth in this hour. It will cost you your name; it will cost all the personal fame you have achieved in the social world. But beloved, I had rather know I had pleased God by standing for truth than to have a million dollars and ten thousand followers, and in the end wind up not knowing God nor His perfect will and have Him to say to me, as He will say to many who have cast out devils in His name, who have prophesied in His name and who have done many wonderful works in His name, “DEPART YE WHO WORK INIQUITY, I NEVER KNEW YOU! No, you can take this whole world but give me Jesus, the Truth, the Way and Life for in the end the truth will be all we will be able to stand on!