A NATION IS BORN

BECAUSE OF RECENT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND WORLDWIDE CURRENT EVENTS, I FEEL STRONGLY LED TO DEAL SPECIFICALLY AND THOROUGHLY WITH MANY OF THE SCRIPTURES THAT POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE ANTICHRIST. A LOT OF BIG NAME PREACHERS, MANY OF WHICH HAVE THEIR OWN TELEVISION PROGRAMS, HAVE RECENTLY BEEN INDULGING IN SUBJECTS OF PROPHECY AND MAKING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE ANTICHRIST. THEY WILL GO INTO GREAT DETAIL EXPLAINING WHAT HE IS NOT, BUT IT SEEMS THAT THEY ARE AFRAID TO COME RIGHT OUT AND SAY WHAT HE IS AND WHAT OFFICE HE COMES FROM. NATURALLY, WE UNDERSTAND FROM MATTHEW 25:1-13, THAT IN THE LAST DAYS THERE WILL BE (LIVING ON EARTH) BOTH WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS, AND I AM FULLY PERSUADED THAT THE WISE VIRGINS DO NOT NEED TO GUESS ABOUT WHO THAT MAN OF SIN (THE ANTICHRIST) IS, FOR THEY WILL HAVE EARS TO HEAR AND EYES TO SEE WHEN A TRUE REVELATION IS PRESENTED FROM THE WORD OF GOD. WE WILL SAY THINGS IN THIS MESSAGE THAT NO DOUBT WILL OFFEND SOME PEOPLE, BUT LET ME CLEARLY STATE AT THIS TIME THAT WE ARE NOT MAKING PERSONAL ATTACKS ON INDIVIDUALS. WE ARE ONLY SEEKING TO EXPOSE THE SPIRIT OF THESE SYSTEMS OF RELIGION THAT ARE ANTICHRIST IN THEIR DOCTRINAL TEACHING. FURTHERMORE, WE WILL NOT JUST GIVE OUR OPINION ON THESE THINGS, BUT WILL PRESENT TO YOU WHAT YOU ALSO MAY READ FROM HISTORICAL RECORDS IF YOU WISH TO TAKE THE TIME TO DO SO. MOST OF WHAT WE WILL SAY ABOUT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS BEEN TAKEN FROM HISTORY WRITTEN BY THEIR OWN HISTORIANS AND FROM THE SCRIPTURES THAT NAIL IT ALL DOWN. IT WOULD BE VERY FOOLISH ON OUR PART TO BLAME INDIVIDUALS FOR THE ABOMINABLE MESS WORLD RELIGION IS IN TODAY, FOR WE KNOW THAT SATIN HIMSELF HAS MASTERMINDED THE WHOLE PLOT AND THOSE THAT PLAYED THEIR PARTICULAR ROLES WERE JUST PAWNS IN HIS HANDS, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT TRUE CHILDREN OF GOD SHOULD BE AWARE OF WHAT SATAN IS DOING AND THAT THEY SHOULD KEEP THEMSELVES COMPLETELY FREE FROM THE ACTIVITIES OF THESE RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS AS THE END APPROACHES; FOR GOD IS USING VARIOUS MEANS TO BUNDLE THEM ALL TOGETHER FOR BURNING. WE ARE GOING TO USE MANY SCRIPTURES ALONG WITH VARIOUS PORTIONS OF ACTUAL HISTORY AS WE DEAL WITH THIS MESSAGE WHICH WE ARE TITLING, IDENTIFYING THE ANTICHRIST; BUT THERE IS ONE VERSE OF SCRIPTURE IN PARTICULAR THAT I WANT TO USE FOR A TEXT BECAUSE IT SHOWS HOW THIS WHOLE THING ENDS UP. YOU WILL FIND IT IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION, CHAPTER 19, VERSE 20. THIS IS WHERE THE ANTICHRIST FINALLY COMES TO HIS END.

TWO SPIRITS DESTROYED

Let us read our text now and then we will go back to the prophecy of Daniel to begin our message. “And the beast was taken, (not the man, but the world system over which the man rules) and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Now what we are seeing here is how God deals with these two spirits of Satan. This is not the physical bodies of the people that are being cast into the lake of fire at this particular time, but the spirit of Satan that has controlled the people. The beast is that great embodiment of Satan in the world system and the false prophet is actually the antichrist, the one that has been looked to as the great authority pertaining to the word of God. But it is these two spirits that are cast into the lake of fire when Jesus returns to earth with His saints. The physical man himself (the Antichrist) will just be destroyed by physical death at that time. In 2 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul says that he will be destroyed with the brightness of His coming, meaning that Jesus will destroy him with the sword of His mouth. Yet we know that every wicked person will be resurrected to stand before the great white throne judgment before they are ever cast into the lake of fire for their total destruction. Revelation 20:7-15, will shed more light on the final destruction of all evil men that have ever lived on earth, but we will get back to that later. Right now, let us read verse 21 of chapter 19, for in that verse we see how Jesus deals with the physical aspect of those wicked men when He returns. These two spirits being destroyed from the face of the earth forever can never deceive and control mortal men again and in verse 21 we read, “And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him (Jesus) that sat upon the horse, which sword (not a literal sword, but the word of God) proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” This brings physical death to every remaining human that has had a part in this world system controlled by Satan through his many tactics and finally through this very man of sin that he (Satan) has incarnated for his end time role. Of course, we know that the spirit of Antichrist was already working in the world before the apostles of Christ passed from the scene in death, but it is the one man who scripturally carries so many different titles that we want to identify in this message, for we are living in the days when he is slowly being introduced to the world.

THE FOURTH BEAST OF THE FOUR

Now that we have given you a little preview of how God deals with the Antichrist which is soon to be introduced to the world, after he has used up his allotted time, let us go to the prophecy of Daniel where we will pick up one of our major scriptures that deal with this character. You will see as we go along, that this man scripturally, carries many titles, and Daniel was one of the first Jewish prophets that began to receive an insight as to his true identity. Naturally, the Spirit of God has it so recorded as to hide it from the various systems of religion through time, but here at the end of the age, it is being revealed to the true children of God that will be affected by his end time role in world order. We are going to begin reading in Daniel 7:7, where Daniel sees this fourth beast, the same beast that we saw in Revelation 19:20. Daniel has been shown four great beasts in his visions, each one different from the others, but it was the fourth beast that really caught his attention and caused him to inquire of the angel of God as to what it truly represented. He was told that the fourth beast was the fourth world kingdom that would rule the world, so let us see what he says about it. “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse (different) from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.” Now saints, as we read about this same beast, in Revelation chapter 13 a little later, we will see that it still has ten horns, but there we will see that something else is added. We will not speak of that yet, though, for we want to see what verse 8 reveals about this fourth beast. We want to realize that as Daniel saw this beast, he saw it from its complete territorial identity, for it absolutely does not incorporate any of the Asiatic nations of the Orient. The Roman empire never did cover any of those areas. It stretched to the borders of India, but that is as far as it reached. Therefore, as we deal with this beast and the Antichrist, we must keep it strictly associated with the Middle East nations and Europe and most important of all is that we must keep our thinking in line with the scriptures. You can hear every kind of wild idea imaginable from some of these preachers in the world today and many of them have educational degrees a mile long. But that just proves that God does not put a true revelation in these institutions for them to use for their monetary purposes. He commits that to hungry souls that have a right motive in what they do in the name of Jesus Christ. I am amazed though, that so few of them ever actually see that the Antichrist must come out of Rome, for the Bible makes it very clear that this terrible beast which was so different from all the others was the fourth kingdom upon earth and even young school age children are taught that the fourth world kingdom was Rome. Verse 8 is where the revelation begins to unfold to those that have their eyes and ears anointed to catch it though. Notice as we read it. “I considered the ten horns, (The ten horns Daniel saw was the ten territorial kingdoms of the old Roman empire territories.) and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, (actually horn speaks of power, and though the ten horns speak of territorial kingdoms, we must realize that this little horn which was a power also does not pertain to a territorial kingdom. He is different from the other ten.) before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” This little horn that came up among the ten has remained a mysterious horn (power) to most people right on through the centuries, but it is given unto end time children of God to know what and who this little horn represents. Its origin is Rome, and its power and authority is still from Rome, the fourth beast of Daniel’s visions.

TRUTH FOR THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

Through the scriptures, we find many titles attached to this Antichrist which is to appear on the scene shortly; so this Little Horn reference is just one of many and they all have their application in the A.D. period of time. There was no ten horned beast in the B.C. period, but on the other hand it is not something new as some try to teach. It has gotten its existence well established through past centuries and the little horn has been there getting its existence well established also. Therefore, there is no grounds whatsoever for anyone to believe that this Antichrist, soon to be introduced to the world, could be an upshot from Communism, for Communism is less than one hundred years old. Let me say also, This little horn title has not applied to any one man in particular; it applies first of all to the office held by many men down through time, an office of power and authority in the old world, but an office that has enlarged its dominion through time to the point where it not only has universal recognition ecclesiastically, but is also coming into prominence in the 20th century as an office that politicians look to with much admiration and expectancy. Of course, we know that all of this is just setting the stage for the ONE MAN which will be in that office in the end time to be manifested to the world in his prophesied role as THE ANTICHRIST, (SATAN PERSONIFIED) for the fulfillment of all that this one man is destined to do. The spirit of Antichrist has been in the world ever since the apostles of Christ first recognized it coming upon the scene in the closing years of that first century A.D., but there is coming a day (and not very far away) when a certain man from the office of that little horn Daniel spoke of, will be incarnated by Satan, and the world will enter into a dark hour of great tribulation that has been much talked about, but little understood through almost two thousand years of Christianity. Preachers like Jimmy Swaggart and a long list of others, talk about this Antichrist as though they understand all about him, but the very fact that they will never take a scriptural stand, and proclaim that he will definitely have to come out of the papal office of Rome, proves that they either do not have a revelation of the thing, or they are afraid to say so, lest they lose their great ministry that they have built for themselves. Regardless of which it is, they are not ministering to the bride of Christ, for the bride is to know the truth in these last days. Now I realize that many of you already know much of what we will present in this message, so I am just going to ask you to bear with me and pray for me as I try to include enough background for those who have not heard it before, to understand what we are talking about. That is why I want to present it in a way that can be checked and confirmed by historical records by anyone desiring to take the time to do so.

THREE HORNS PLUCKED UP

We are considering a beast with ten horns that Daniel says also had a little horn come up among the ten and this little horn had the eyes of man and a mouth speaking great things. Naturally, we all understand that a horn is always attached to the head and scripturally, these horns represent power, but let us be sure we see the difference between the ten horns and the little horn that came up among them or we will be trying to visualize a beast with eleven horns and that would completely distort the picture, for the beast is the Roman empire which was broken up into ten kingdoms after the last of the old line of imperial caesars passed away. That is why we say that these ten horns are associated with or tied to territorial geographical boundaries. But the little horn that comes up among them is not a king of a territorial kingdom. He is a power of a different sort. He is a power, (a horn) but not a king, and his power was demonstrated in the fact that three of these ten kings were stripped of their power by him, simply because they each (in their own way) defied papal authority. Now please remember this, we are not referring to any certain pope, but to the office that gives them their authority. For these men who have held this papal office down through time each claimed to be the vicar of Christ (one that stands in His place) and they claim to have the power and authority to forgive sins or to refuse to forgive sins. In verse 8, where it says that three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots, it does not mean that their territorial identity was destroyed. It simply means that their capacity to resist the power of the papacy was destroyed. The first one was Henry the 4th, ruler of Germany, that wrote a letter to Pope Gregory the 7th, calling him, “No pope, but a false monk,” and also that Christ had never called him to the priesthood, and said, Come down from St. Peter’s throne. Gregory immediately dethroned him and excommunicated him from the church, and freed his subjects from their oaths of allegiance to him. When Henry the 4th decided to become submissive to him and seek his forgiveness, he stood barefooted in a January snow for three days before he was granted an audience with Gregory and absolved. The second horn (or king) to be plucked up was Frederick the 1st, the very emperor of Italy, and after his political policies brought him into direct conflict with the papacy, he ended up kneeling before Pope Alexander the 3rd, and kissing his feet before a great throng of people. This took place just one century later than the first one we mentioned. But it lets us know why Revelation 17:16 says that the ten kings will hate the whore, for that papal office has exercised authority over those kings through the centuries beginning after 1073 A.D., when Gregory the 7th began devoting all his time and talents to the advancement of the papacy. I will read you a portion of a document that may very well have been authored by him. In making sure that the papal office was recognized in every aspect of life, here is what he decreed. Just listen to this little horn speak concerning the authority of the pope. “He alone may remove bishops, and restore them to office. He is the only person whose feet are to be kissed by all princes. He may dethrone emperors, and he may be judged of no one. He may absolve from their allegiance, the subjects of the wicked. The Roman church never has erred, and never can err.” These decrees did not necessarily originate with Pope Gregory, but he was the first to really take an open stand declaring them.

SPIRITUAL LEADERS LED BY DEMONS

Let me get back now and give you the name of the third king (or horn) that was plucked up by that little horn. This one was Phillip Augustus, king of France. When he divorced his wife and married another woman, Pope Innocent the 3rd, declared the divorce void and ordered him to take back his discarded queen. Phillip refused and Innocent put all of France under an interdict. From that very hour all religious rites ceased. Church doors were barred. The sick died unattended to and the dead lay unburied in the streets. Finally, Phillip was compelled to submit to him as a last resort. Actually the papacy reached the height of its power under Innocent the 3rd. Listen to a little of what he had to say. “As the moon receives its light from the sun, and is inferior to the sun, so do kings receive all their glory and dignity from the Holy See.” According to him, the pope of Rome had the right to interfere and invoke his decisions in all secular matters and quarrels of the rulers of the nations. He said also, “God has set the prince of the apostles over kings, and kingdoms with a mission to tear up, plant, destroy, scatter and rebuild.” Now we know that only God himself has such authority and He has never delegated it to any mortal man upon this earth, but these old popes have sure taken it upon themselves to act as though they had been delegated this authority from God. In the Bible we read where God said, I will lift up whom I will and I will put down whom I will, but when a mortal man talks like that, he is actually speaking against God. Just like in Isaiah 14, where Satan said, I will exalt myself above the stars of God, for God is the only one who sits up that high. Nevertheless, through time that papal office identified here in Daniel as a little horn, truly did pluck up three kings to fulfill Daniel 7:8. That did not change the number of horns on the beast through, for in 96 A.D. when John saw it, those horns were still there. The difference was, it then had seven heads which we will discuss later. But right now, I want to be sure you all understand that the term “little horn,” does not apply to any one man, but rather to an office that has been held by many men. None of the other men who have held that papal office were THE LITERAL ANTICHRIST, but their end time successor is sure going to be. The doctrine taught by every one of them has been Antichrist, but only one of them will ever be incarnated by Satan to fulfill the scriptures written about the actual Antichrist who is to be the cause of a time of trouble on this old earth such as has never been seen before. He is definitely going to be a man from Rome who will attribute to himself things that belong only to God. All of the other popes before him have done that, just merely by assuming the office they claim makes them the Vicar of the Son of God. But this last one will magnify his own authority above anything the others ever even dreamed of, and he will be a terror to anyone who opposes him. What those others did to those three kings that opposed them will only be minor incidents compared to what he will do. This one will make war with the saints and overcome them. He will slaughter them by the thousands and what Hitler did to the Jews in WW2 years was only a little taste of what this evil, devil possessed pope will have in mind in the last days. We have already read how those popes spoke, back in the Dark Ages, as they began to exalt themselves above kings and rulers of those nations of the old world. I have the history to prove it; that is what we were reading from. The old Roman emperors held a blasphemous title, calling themselves Sovereign Imperial Ruler, a title which belongs only to God himself, but the pope of Rome has incorporated every bit of that into his claim of being the Vicar of the Son of God. That is why, when he speaks, so many people in this world will sit up and take notice. That is why he had no trouble casting down three kings that did not agree with him. Whenever you supposedly hold the destiny of a man’s soul in your hands, you can get that man to do anything you demand him to do.

SEVEN HEADS ON TEN HORNED BEAST

As we read verses 9-14, we find that Daniel continued watching that ten horned beast and the little horn all the way through time until the Ancient of days did sit judging at the great white throne judgment. But let us take note of verse 12, for it will mean something to us later. In the last part of verse 11, Daniel says, “I beheld even till the beast was slain, (He was allowed to witness the end of that ten horned beast after it had run its course through time, so notice.) and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. (Now notice verse 12.) As concerning the rest of the beast, (that would be the Lion-Babylon, the Bear-Media-Persia, and the Leopard-the Grecian Empire, which were the other world kingdoms before Rome.) they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” Naturally, each of those beasts were made up of people, and it was only the rulership over those people that rose to power and then fell to another, so the people themselves, and their national identity did not cease to exist as world rulership passed from one great king to another. That is how their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. That is why when John described the fourth beast over in Revelation chapter 13, it sounded like he was describing the first three beasts that Daniel saw. In reality, he was, for the first three were incorporated into the fourth. Of course when John sees it, it no longer had just the one sovereign head of the old imperial caesar’s as it did in Daniel’s vision, but it now had seven heads representing the seven forms of imperial rulership that Rome had passed through since the death of Nero. Listen to John, in Rev. 13:1, “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, (sea of people) having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. (SOVEREIGN IMPERIAL RULER) and the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, (here is the description of the first three beasts incorporated right in with this fourth one.) and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon (the devil) gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” We are seeing the healing of that wounded head in this very generation, for from the days of the great Reformation that old Roman head could do little more than nurse his wounded head. You will see as the message progresses, how the old caesar rulership eventually ended up in the hands of the popes of the Roman Catholic church, and how the Reformation almost completely destroyed papal power over human souls. But then you will see also how that deadly wound is being healed just in time for the old Antichrist to come out of that very office to fulfill hi end time role in prophecy. We will see also in Daniel 9:26, that this old Antichrist is also called a prince, not because he changes to another office, it just simply brings out another aspect of his many, many involvements. In world affairs he will be looked upon as a prince of peace when he negotiates with the leaders of nations and gets them to sign a seven year peace covenant, a covenant which the political Jews will sign, and it will be a covenant which he himself will break after it has been in effect for only 3½ years. Nevertheless, such a covenant would bring together those European nations that make up the heads and horns of this great beast with the Middle East nations in and around the very territories that was once the Babylonian, the Medio-Persian, and the Grecian empires. That would have them all united for trade purposes, and supposedly for peace and prosperity for everyone, but it will not last very long. Three and a half years of peace and prosperity will proceed one of the darkest periods of human history. It would be more correct to say it will absolutely be the darkest and bloodiest, and most hopeless time of all times. We are talking about the great tribulation that is to come upon this old earth starting in the middle of the pope’s wonderful peace covenant that he will work so fervently to get signed. Verse 13 of Daniel 7, shows that the coming of Jesus Christ will wrap up the whole thing though and set the stage for the Millennium. That is why we used Revelation 19:20 for our text, because it shows where all of the Antichrist’s efforts end up after God has allowed him all of his allotted time. Let us see what Daniel said about it. “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.” Now brothers and sisters, you have to realize that this was a vision God was giving Daniel of things that did not even exist at the time of the vision. Jesus the Christ had never yet been born, and the Roman Empire was not even in the picture, but God let Daniel see it all the way through to the end. Verse 14, “And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: (in the Millennium) His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel became troubled in his spirit because of all that he had seen, and he began to inquire as to what it all pertained to, so in verse 17, we will read what the angel began to say to him, “The great beasts, which are four, are four kings, (or kingdoms) which shall arise out of the earth. (Let us name them again now, so you will be able to keep up with the thought. Babylon-Medio Persia-Greece-Rome. These empires were the four great beasts Daniel saw.) But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, and even for ever and ever.” But Daniel wanted to know more about that fourth beast which was so different from the other three. Something about this fourth one was so different it kept Daniel’s attention, and he just had to find out more about it.

DEMON POSSESSED TYRANT

Brothers and Sisters, I realize this is going to be a lengthy message, for in order to nail it down once and for all, there are a lot of scriptures we must use, so let us just take our time and try to get them all, so there will be no reason for anyone to have to guess about what we were supposed to say. In verse 19, Daniel said, “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; And the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. (This little horn had a more authoritative look about him than the others. His very look was a demanding look.) I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” A lot of your prophecy teachers today will say that applied only to the great tribulation time, but I want you to know that this little horn had that particular identity established long before the church ever even emerged from the Dark Ages. Daniel even saw him overcoming saints during those Dark Age years as well as in the time of great tribulation here at the end. By the time the great tribulation hits the earth, the bride saints will be gone to glory, but there will still be Gentile foolish virgins and a great host of spiritual Jews left here to face his wrath. How long was this to go on? Until the Ancient of days comes, and judgment for Millennial subjects is set up. That should rule out any thought some of you may have had about the Antichrist being a Syrian, or Judas resurrected, or of some Communist that would work his way into such a position for the Antichrist is definitely going to be that little horn that came up among the ten horns of that fourth beast and we are going to read verse 23 in just a minute that tells exactly where that fourth beast comes from. So just remember this, He does not start out being one thing and then change to something else; he carries the same identity all the way through time. All right now, let us read verse 23, and see exactly what the angel told Daniel about that fourth beast. “Thus he said, The fourth beast SHALL BE the fourth kingdom upon earth, (Roman empire) which shall be diverse (different) from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall treat it down and brake it in pieces. (Notice now) And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse (different) from the first, (the first ten) and he shall subdue three kings.” As I said already, most any school child can tell you that the Roman empire was the fourth kingdom to rule the world, (the old world) and they also know that after Nero died, Roman imperial rulership was never the same again. Eventually what was once one great kingdom, under one Roman ruler, was broken up into ten separate kingdoms, each one having their own king. There is where the ten horns came into being. As far as the territorial boundaries and the people were concerned, they remained basically the same, but instead of one ruler over all of them, they now had ten different ones. But what about the little horn? He had some kind of power or he could not be called a horn and what does it mean he came up among them? It simply means that the bishop of Rome, claiming to have power over the soul’s of men, eventually worked his way up to a position where he could even dictate to the kings of these various territories, and when three of them opposed him, he simply stripped them of their power and influence even over their own kingdoms. Naturally as time went on, that papal office became even more powerful even to the point where he (the pope) not only exercised his authority over spiritual matters sovereignly, he also sovereignly exercised his authority over political matters until eventually he was occupying the very seat of the old Roman imperial caesars. We will cover that more thoroughly as we deal with other scriptures. But for now we want to get the identity of this little horn so completely tied to Rome that there can be no doubt in any one’s mind when they hear some Charismatic preacher say that he is a Syrian, or an apostate Jew, or such and such. Once you see that this little horn of Daniel 7:8 has to be kept tied to the fourth beast, the beast that had ten horns and you learn beyond any shadow of doubt that this ten horned beast is of the territories and peoples of the old Roman empire, you will never have to wonder again where the literal Antichrist will get his power and authority from. His nationality, or racial identity may not be Italian, but his seat of authority will always have to be Rome. We will prove that as we proceed with the message. Right at this present time, the pope of the Roman Catholic Church is Polish, but is there any doubt as to where his seat of authority is? Furthermore, right now, he is a baby kissing, old lady hugging, politician pleasing, universal spiritual leader, (as seen through the eyes of the world.) but if he should be the pope that oversees the signing of the peace covenant of Daniel 9:27, you can be sure of this one thing, three and one half years later, he will be a devil possessed tyrant, unequaled by any of the old Pharaohs of Egypt, Hitler of Germany, or anyone else that has ever lived since time began.

TWO “LITTLE HORNS” LED BY THE SAME SPIRIT

Now let us read Daniel 7:25 for it is in the last half of that seventieth week of Daniel that this verse stands out most vividly. “And he (this little horn, the Antichrist) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand (pay attention now) until a time (ONE YEAR) and times (TWO YEARS) and the dividing of time,” (ONE HALF OF A YEAR.) That is one of the verses that lets us know exactly how much time the Lord has allotted to this evil Antichrist to do his dirty work, before Jesus returns with His raptured and resurrected saints, and casts him alive into the lake of fire, as it says in Revelation 19:20. Let me say here again though, it is only those two spirits of the devil that is cast into the lake of fire at that time. The physical man himself will only be killed with death, and one thousand years later he will be resurrected to stand before the great white throne judgment, before he is cast into the lake of fire. In chapter 11, Daniel, speaking of this Antichrist, says, “He shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he (this Antichrist, this pope of Rome) regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.” I used to wonder why a man that was looked upon as such a religious example, would suddenly change and be so completely opposite to that. But we will get to that later, for there is much to proceed that drastic change. Besides that, I want to deal with something here in chapter 8 that throws many Bible teachers for a loop, simply because they are unable to separate one little horn from another little horn. In chapter 8, Daniel tells of another vision he had, and I suppose we should start reading in verse 3 in order to get the picture before us that will make verse 8 stand out and identify the little horn that is mentioned there. This is completely apart from the four great beasts of chapter 7. “Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: (That represents the kings of the Medes and Persians.) and the two horns were high but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward and northward and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will and became great.” That was the Persian empire at the high peak of her glory. It included within its boundaries all previous empires, Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and so forth. But in verse 5, Daniel sees a great change. “And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came forth from the west on the fact of the whole earth, and touched not the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.” Remember now, horn represents power and this particular power belonged to Alexander the Great of the Grecians. He was the he goat that came ramming and pushing his way right into areas that he was advised against, but his vision to do so caused him to conquer with such fervency that nothing could stand before him. Notice verse 6, and remember that the ram represents the Persian empire. “And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran into him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler (That is an ancient word that was used to describe a hot temper and easily provoked anger) against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: (The power of the Persian kings was broken.) and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, (Alexander the Great, the he goat) but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore, the he goat waxed very great; and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable horns toward the four winds of heaven.” There has been much dispute about what caused Alexander the Great to take sick of a fever and die, but nevertheless he died without leaving any certain heir to his throne. Therefore, his generals fought among themselves over who would rule the kingdom, and finally divided it up into four separate regions ruled by one of four certain generals, and one of the territorial divisions included Syria. These four generals are the four notable ones that spread toward the four winds of heaven, for they were ruling this great Grecian empire that Alexander the Great had conquered. Now naturally as we read the scriptures concerning these things we do not know how much time elapses between certain events, and that is why we ought to be thankful for the history that does fill in these gaps. For as we read verse 9, we would be prone to think this took place immediately after the death of Alexander the Great, but actually it fell in another century of time. Keep in mind now, the Grecian empire territories were being ruled by four horns instead of the he goat with one horn, and we will read verse 9, the verse that gets a lot of people in prophetic trouble. “And out of one of them (one of these four territories) came fourth a little horn, (Definitely not the same little horn as chapter 7, verse 8.) which waxed exceeding great toward the south, (meaning Egypt) and toward the east, (That would be further into Persia.) and toward the pleasant land (Israel.)” This little horn was Antiochus Epiphanes from Syria, one of the four, and his attitude toward the Jews sets a type of the kind of hatred the little horn of Daniel 7:8, the Antichrist, will have in the last half of the seventieth week of Daniel, but he is definitely not to be confused with the little horn that will eventually be the literal Antichrist. Let us read some more of the scriptures. Verse 10, “And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yes he (Antiochus Epiphanes, this Syrian, called a little horn.) magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of the transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.” This Antiochus did to the Jews almost exactly what Titus, the Roman, did more than two hundred years later. He besieged Jerusalem killing more than 40,000 of its inhabitants, and selling many more into slavery. He stripped the temple, and desecrated the altar by offering swine’s flesh upon it to Jupiter Olympus, whose statue was set up in the Holy place. He later published a decree requiring all nations under his dominion to lay aside the worship of their gods, and worship the same gods he worshiped. Naturally, the Jews refused to comply with this decree, and that brought on even more persecution. You can read in the histories exactly how Antiochus went about doing all of this. How he destroyed the Jews right to offer sacrifice and how he himself sacrificed a sow on the altar of the temple of God and then forced many of the Jews to eat swine’s flesh and plundered and destroyed. He set the first type of the Antichrist that is yet to come to fulfill his last day role in the history of that Jewish nation.

ANTIOCHUS 2300 DAYS ANTICHRIST 1260 DAYS

Daniel watched and listened, but he did not understand all of this. Then he heard a question asked, verse 13. Let us read that. “Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” That is about 6 1/3 years of time and history bears out that this is exactly as it was. Antiochus was one of the last great rulers of that Syrian territory that was derived out of the breakup of the old Grecian empire and that was still more than one hundred years B.C. During this time Rome, the 4th beast of Daniel 7, was gaining supremacy in the west and as these various powers of the east shrunk from the limelight, Rome just simply moved in. Not altogether by war though, for much of it was accomplished by agreements and by intermarriages. Nevertheless, Rome rose to power using the weakness of those who were more or less figureheads than true leaders of the areas of the east. Remember now, of the four great beasts that Daniel saw come up from the sea, Rome was the fourth and Greece was the third, so let us watch now as the angel explains these symbols to Daniel and we will see the references move from Antiochus, the little horn of chapter 8, back to the little horn of chapter 7, as Rome is introduced into the picture not by name, but by references. Verse 22, “Now that being broken, (the horn of the he goat, Alexander the great) whereas four stood up for it, (the four generals) four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.” None ever equaled the power of Alexander the Great. Antiochus was a tyrant and a type of the Antichrist that will reign on earth in the last days, but he never enjoyed the conquering glory that Alexander the Great did. Now as you read verse 22 and go right on into verse 23, there is a transition whereby the one that has been typed actually comes into the picture. Verse 23, “And in the latter time of their kingdom, (moving from Grecian to Roman and spanning many centuries) when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.” We have already explained how the pope of the Roman Catholic Church worked his way right into the seat of the old Roman imperial caesars, and even though the scriptures refer to him as a little horn, his power and authority supercedes all those who were before him. He rose to power in the Dark Ages and reigned until the Reformation began to wound him and finally Napoleon Bonaparte struck the last blow that wounded that head of the old Roman beast to the point of death, but it recovered, and for many years it has been in the process of being healed completely. He is the king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences of verse 23, and in these last days he shall stand up to fulfill Daniel 9:27, which we will get to later. “And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: (No, it will be by the power of Satan that has by that time incarnated him.) and he shall destroy wonderfully and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people (the Jews). And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.” He will be broken by the sharp two-edged sword that proceeds out of the mouth of Jesus Christ. But until his power is broken by the returning of the true Prince of Peace, this false prince of peace, this son of perdition, this little horn, this Antichrist will make this old world a miserable place to live. But now Saints, I hope we have said enough to clear your mind of any thoughts about the possibility of the Antichrist being a Syrian. If not, just stick around, there is still a lot more to come. Antiochus Epiphanes and Titus the Roman emperor both typed the spirit that will be on the Antichrist, for they were motivated by that same Jew hating spirit of Satan that was on Hitler and that will be on the Antichrist in that last half of the seventieth week of Daniel. In other words, for 1260 days.

MAN OF SIN – SON OF PERDITION – FALSE PROPHET

Daniel’s visions covered a great span of time and involved many different people, but every bit of it was actually pointing to the time of the end. Now some may say, Why should it have to include all those B.C. happenings? Why do we need to know all of that? Saints, that is what I appreciate so much about the way God reveals things. First, He establishes the identity of the end time Antichrist and then he conceals it so completely that only a true child of God could ever understand it. That leaves all the tares to follow a false revelation and end up in destruction, just like they are foreordained to do. God is not forcing them to go the wrong way. They have the same scriptures at their disposal that we have, and if they could get a true revelation and follow it, God would say to them what He said to Cain, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” But they will not follow a true revelation, so their destiny is already foretold; they will be led to destruction. No son of God can ever be led to destruction, but that is exactly how every tare (make-believe) ends up. Now because of this very terminology, I feel that this would be a perfect time to open our Bibles to the 17th chapter of John’s gospel where we will find the first mention of another title given to the Antichrist. This particular scripture is speaking of Judas Iscariot that betrayed Jesus, but he was a type of the actual man that this title belongs to, so let us notice how Jesus brings it out. We are in verse 12, where Jesus is praying to the Father and says, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: (Now to keep them in the name of the Father, means to keep them in, or through the revelation of what His name pertained to. JESUS is the redemption name of the omnipresent God of all creation, which first of all is the Father of all creation.) those that thou gavest me I have kept. (The Father gave those disciples to Him by revelation. That is why Jesus asked them one day, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? Then He asked them, But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter had the answer, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. He had that by revelation, so nothing could ever take it away from him, so that is what Jesus is referring to in His prayer.) And none of them is lost, but the SON OF PERDITION: that the scripture might be fulfilled.” Judas did not have the revelation that it took to stay with the Word, so there was the manifestation of the first tare. Jesus did not call him a horn; there was no reason to, for in this statement He is identifying a Satanic objective by the use of another term, son of perdition. What does that mean? Some may ask. It means, one ordained to lead something or someone to destruction. When Judas betrayed Jesus, selling Him for thirty pieces of silver through a Satanic plot, he actually set a type of how the literal Antichrist will accomplish his very ordained purpose. By deceit, he will lead multitudes to destruction and he will do it through the avenue of religion that is looked upon by the world as true Christianity. A lot of people actually think the Roman Catholic Church is being won over, simply because of this present day courtship between Catholics and Protestants, but let me remind you that for this to actually happen, it would go contrary to the scriptures, for this Catholic church, the great whore of Revelation 17: will ride that beast which has seven heads and ten horns, until the beast finally destroys her. You can read it all, right there in that one chapter so it is these poor, spiritually ignorant tares called Protestants, (but they no longer protest Catholic dogma) that are being won over to something and because they are blind, they will never see it. This son of perdition will lead them to destruction. Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, was the one that actually applied the term son of perdition to the Antichrist, when he wrote to them because they needed comforting, having been harassed by various false teachings. In chapter 2, he says, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye 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. (They no doubt had been harassed by the teaching of a bunch of “date setters,” just like the church of this very age has been, and Paul is reminding them of certain things that will have to proceed the return of Jesus Christ, just like we have tried to do in our day.) Let no man deceive you by any means: (He says here) for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, (notice now) and that MAN OF SIN be revealed, the SON OF PERDITION: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Of course, we realize that there will be a number of years expire between verses 3 & 4 of this chapter, for this son of perdition will be revealed to the true children of God long before verse 4 is fulfilled. But what did we find there in verse 3? We found two references of this devil inspired man that will one day turn this (little horn) power loose upon mankind. He is the MAN OF SIN, and he is the SON OF PERDITION, and in that hour of time, he will have the world so deceived that denominational religious people will actually worship the dragon (the devil) that gives him his power. How does he deceive them, you may ask? Another title given him in the book of Revelation reveals that about him. In Revelation 16:13, 19:20, and 20:10, we find him referred to as the FALSE PROPHET. He who supposedly stands in the place of Jesus Christ on behalf of mortal beings is a false prophet. There are many false prophets in the world today and there always has been, but this man is THE FALSE PROPHET. It is his mouth, that speaks great words against the most High. It is his mouth that promises peace and then inaugurates destruction. It is his mouth that starts out speaking wonderful words that mankind wants to hear and then ends up speaking like the very devil himself.

ONE MAN WITH MANY TITLES

Let us take just a moment to look at the two men that these SON OF PERDITION references apply to and maybe we can clear up some misunderstanding about the Antichrist. Some have said the Antichrist will have to be an apostate Jew, because that is what Judas was. Others say, Oh, he will be a Syrian simply because of the LITTLE HORN reference pertaining to Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian that actually did much of the same as the Antichrist will do. Then you have those who believe he will be a Communist, but let me remind you that Communists are atheists and I will ask you to think upon this as we proceed. First, let me ask you this, What are we going to use to get our answer to these questions? Will we use the scriptures or will we use the writings of modern day man? The answer to that is very obvious, for the Bible is the only book of prophecy that has stood the test of time and proved to be 100 percent correct at all times. All right then, the Bible tells us that he will be a man whose seat of authority is Rome and that he will hate Jews and that he will try to rid the world of them. You will not find it written in the Bible that clearly and specifically, but if you will follow us through this complete message, we will furnish the scriptures that will prove it, beyond any shadow of doubt. Now as for the atheist part, there are ever so many scriptures that would rule that out of the picture, but the only two things I will mention right at this moment is the fact that he is called a false prophet, (That alone connects him to something that is supposed to be of a spiritual nature.) and the fact that Judas, the only other type of him that the term SON OF PERDITION was ever applied to was an apostle of Jesus Christ. In other words, a spiritual man, until Satan anointed him to fulfill his type of the Antichrist, the man of sin. Therefore, we must realize that the spirit that drives these men to do what they do is a spirit that is associated through time in the realm of religion. There are at least eight different things that this same man is called in the Bible and each reference connects him with something that will help true children of God to identify him. Let me just name them, not necessarily in the order that each term will apply to him, but that you may have them all to think upon. We will start with Daniel 7:8, THE LITTLE HORN. Then we have Daniel 9:26, PRINCE, a prince of the people that destroyed Jerusalem in 69 & 70 A.D., Romans. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, we find two references, SON OF PERDITION and MAN OF SIN, and in verse 7, we find MYSTERY OF INIQUITY, and in verse 8, WICKED ONE, and the word WHOM, in verse 8 lets us know that these two terms apply to a person with an evil spirit. In Revelation 16:13, 19:20, and 20:10, which we have already mentioned, we find him being called THE FALSE PROPHET. Then as we consider the term BEAST, we have to realize that this carries a twofold application, for we have the BEAST SYSTEM, and we also have the BEAST MAN, but in Revelation 13:17-18, and 14:9, I believe you should be able to recognize that they apply to the man. Now of course we have one more term that is applied to him, the most used of them all, but he (the man himself) is not actually called that in the scriptures. It is the term ANTICHRIST, which we know applies to him, because the spirit in him is that spirit of Antichrist that the apostle John wrote about in his little epistles. Furthermore, even before his literal manifestation, we know that the doctrine coming from the papal office is not what Christ and His apostles taught, so it is anti-true revelation, anti-Christ, doctrines of devils, (demons) and whatever else you can think of that is contrary to true revelation. You could never truthfully say that the pope is not religious, but to think of him as a true Christian is absolutely ridiculous. He is just what Judas was, a tare. Brothers and Sisters, I hope you realize that we are not making a personal attack on any of these men; for it is their office that carries the prophetic identity. The individual men that have held that office could only do what they were ordained to do, if you know what I mean. In other words, once a tare, always a tare. There is no way that a tare could ever become a true son of God. For if he had been foreknown of God, he never could have been a tare in the first place. Jesus used that terminology to nail down a point, for anyone knows that it is impossible for an old weed growing out in the wheat field to produce wheat kernels in its maturity. It gets the benefit of the same sunshine, the same rain, the same cool breeze at night, and all the rest, and it may look exactly like what is expected to grow there, to the untrained eye, but its fruit will reveal it as harvest time approaches, or its lack of fruit. This is where Paul’s revelation, the mystery of iniquity comes into the picture. A mystery is something that is in existence, but not understood. That is why, from the natural standpoint, the pope of Rome seems like such a holy man, because what the devil is working out, through his office, causes him to manifest what religious people of the world are looking for. You should take note of the fact that I said religious people and definitely not true children of God. Nevertheless, his actions and attitudes leading up to that point in the middle of the week of Daniel will look so right, that only a true child of God can identify him for what he really is. God is allowing Satan to project these illusions through that office for the purpose of deceiving all those that have no love for that truth. Among the Gentiles that are supposed to be Christians out here in these denominational church systems, only the foolish virgins will ever recognize what they are being led into and even though they do wake up to reality, it will be too late for them to avoid martyrdom. They will be saved, but only through martyrdom during the great tribulation. Bro. Jackson, what makes you say a thing like that? Simply because the Bible says so. We cannot take time to prove every statement we may make in a message like this, but if you will study Revelation 7:9-17, you will see that there are some mentioned in verse 14, that had to seal their testimony with their own blood in martyrdom. Bride saints are perfected before the great tribulation ever starts and during that time, they are in glory with Jesus Christ the Bridegroom, at the marriage supper. Yes, of course it is the shed blood of Jesus Christ that pays our sin debt, but those who fail to take full advantage of all the benefits of that shed blood and walk in a true revelation while there is time to do so, will be left here to face the great tribulation, and the wrath of that beast that will kill every person that refuses to renounce their faith in God. That of course will be Gentile foolish virgins and a certain element of Jews. Jews that will not renounce their faith in Jehovah. No, it will not be any of 144,000 Jewish servants of God, nor any of those mentioned in Rev. 12, concerning the woman that flees into the wilderness to hide from the Antichrist for the 3½ year period of time. It will be mainly Jews still in dispersion among the nations. Jews that believe in God, but will not be in Israel to hear and believe the message of God’s two prophets of Rev. 11:3-7.

THE PRINCE THAT SHALL COME

Let us get back to our main thought now and continue our study of the scriptures that serve to identify the Antichrist. We mentioned already that he would be a prince whose seat of authority is Rome, so we will go back to Daniel, the 9th chapter, and read the scripture that reveals that. Now we have messages in print that go into the scriptures that lead up to the verses we are going to use here and you can get them, just for the asking if you have a desire to study them. Just ask for the messages titled, One Week Left, The Abomination That Maketh Desolate and The Seventy Weeks of Daniel. But now let us look at Daniel 9:26, where we will find this Antichrist referred to as a prince. Be sure you do not get this prince mixed up with the Prince of verse 25, though for the Prince in verse 25, is Jesus Christ, the true Prince of Peace, the true Prince of God the Father of all creation. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah (Jesus Christ) be cut off, but not for Himself: (No, it was for you and me and every other lost sinner in the world throughout all time.) and the people of the PRINCE THAT SHALL COME (This prince is the Antichrist, for the true Prince of Peace will never come to earth as a prince any more. When He comes again, He will be King of kings and Lord of lords.) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, (a flood of persecution) and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” After Jesus Christ the Messiah was cut off, (crucified) the people that destroyed the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the temple) were Romans. Not necessarily Roman born, but they were soldiers of the Roman army, under the command of Titus who later became emperor of Rome. The true Prince of Peace was cut off in the year 33 A.D. according to history, and in 69 & 70 A.D., this Roman army besieged the city, slew thousands of its inhabitants and completely laid the city in waste, fulfilling the words of Jesus in Luke 19:42-44, where He looked out over Jerusalem and wept over it and said, “If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. (Notice now) For the days shall come upon thee (about 36 years later) that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round about, and keep thee in on every side and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation.” We have pointed out in other messages that this Roman army had men from other countries in it even as other armies do, but they are identified by the nation their authority originates from and history declares that it was the Roman army that fulfilled Daniel 9:26 and Luke 19:42-44. So what does that tell us as we consider the complete verse of Daniel 9:26? It tells us that there is yet a prince that shall come and that he will be a prince whose seat of authority is the same as that of the army that destroyed Jerusalem a few years after Jesus the true Prince was cut off. What will be his purpose and what gives him his identity as a prince? I will answer that in just a moment. But first, let me say this, I am thankful to God that it does not require a college degree and so many years in a theological seminary to understand this. Those who wrote the scriptures did not have to have that kind of credentials, so why should it take any such as that to read them and receive a revelation of what the Holy Ghost has hidden in them? Praise God! It doesn’t! It requires only a born again believer whose attitude and motive is right in the sight of God. As for the reference to a prince here in Daniel 9:26, its origin comes from the ancient practice of kings of nations that desired to negotiate a peace treaty with the king of another nation. The king desiring to negotiate diplomatic relations with another kingdom would send a prince (his own son) to speak for him. For it was commonly accepted that the son would speak the same as his father. The son would speak on behalf of his father and his father would honor whatever agreement his son negotiated with the foreign kingdom. I believe you understand the point I am making, do you not? The only thing about this prince though is that he comes upon the scene in such a deceiving and misleading way, the world will think him to be God’s ambassador of peace, but in reality he will be Satan’s false prince of peace. That is why Jesus said in John 5:43, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” Jesus was the true Prince of Peace that came to that generation in the name of His Father and was rejected of them and crucified, but while He was with them, He uttered these words, actually prophesying to them that the false prince of peace sent by Satan, but actually coming in his own name would be accepted. Why? Because he is ordained to lead deceived souls to destruction, this son of perdition. Another reference made by Jesus of a prince that was to come is found in John 14:30, but you have to read it is its twofold application so that it projects both Satan himself as well as the human vessel he will actually incarnate at the end of the Gentile church age. Jesus had been telling His disciples some of the things that were shortly to come to pass and in verse 29, He says, “And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that, when it comes to pass, ye might believe.” Now we will read verse 30, which is the reference I spoke of. “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.” Satan himself is actually referred to in the scriptures as the prince of the kingdoms of the world, but you must remember, Satan is a spirit, therefore he has to have human vessels to work through, just as God the great omnipresent Spirit also works through human vessels.

THE REVELATION IS COMPLETE

I believe we have the term PRINCE as applied to the Antichrist sufficiently established, so let us read Daniel 9:27, the verse that lets us know what this prince of the Romans is going to do in these last days. “And he (this prince of the people that destroyed Jerusalem) shall confirm the covenant with many (many nations) for one week: (one week of years) and in the midst of the week (or more properly stated, middle, for time calculations in other scriptures prove that.) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation and that determined shall be poured out upon the desolate.” Now if that was the only scripture we had to go on, there might be some room for questions, but when we have Daniel 12, Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20 and ever so many more that put all of this together into a complete revelation for true children of God, we just want to be thankful for what He has given us. When Jesus said, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another (prince) shall come in his own name, him ye will receive,” He knew that He Himself had come to fulfill the Prince reference in Daniel 9:25, where it refers to the MESSIAH the PRINCE. But the Prince of the 25th verse could never be associated with the covenant of peace made, or confirmed by a prince, for we know beyond any shadow of doubt that the Prince of verse 25, is Jesus Christ the promised Messiah to the Jews. We know also, that even though He was the true Prince of Peace, He never did at any time ever make a covenant of peace with anyone. We also know that if He had made a covenant with anyone, he would not have broken it. Is that not right? He truly was God’s ambassador of peace sent to this world, and especially to the Jewish nation, but He was rejected, and He knew that Satan would send his ambassador, and that he would be a false prince of peace, but His warning about that, served only to confirm the revelation that the Holy Ghost has given God’s true children here at the end time. That first century had not even passed, before the spirit of Satan’s deception began to work in the churches. That is why Paul and John began warning the churches of what was happening. In 90 A.D. that spirit of Antichrist was so active, John thought for sure that he was living in the last days. Notice what he wrote in 1John 2:18. “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, (speaking of what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians) even now are there many Antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” What would Paul and John be saying by now if they were still alive? There has never been an hour this side of the Dark Ages when the church of the living God was in any more disarray than the hour we are living in. Oh, yes, we have the truth, but that truth has not yet settled fully into the hearts and lives of those that have it. That is why there is still so much confusion among the ranks of Christianity around this world.

TRUTH IS NOT POPULAR

When Jesus said, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me,” He meant exactly this. There will never be any agreement between the spirit of Antichrist and the Spirit of the true Christ as long as the world stands. These two spirits cannot be blended together, for one is the enemy of the other. Even among those who claim to have been restored to the apostolic truth through the ministry of the Laodicean church age messenger, there is still disunity. That spirit of Antichrist is still in there working. Brothers and Sisters, we may as well face facts, the truth is not loved in this age is it was loved in that first age. You can sure tell that by the way so many Christians are still living more to please the flesh than to please their heavenly Father that has redeemed them to Himself. Where is that separated, dedicated walk that those early believers had? Oh yes, we all want the power of God and yes, we want the blessings of God, but where is the dedicated life that should proceed everything that we desire to receive from God? You turn on your television set and what do you see? A bunch of people that claim to be “born again” Christians and the women have their eyes painted black or green, their ears hanging full of junk and their clothes (what few they have on) are to tight, it looks like they have been melted and poured into them. You see both men and women with ever so many rings on their fingers, bracelets lined up on their arms, and log chains around their necks, and they are supposed to be telling people how to find God and how to have the power of God in their lives. What a sham! What a trick of the devil! What a joke! Yes, I said a joke, but tell me, who can laugh? It is sad to see “Christians,” (if you want to call them that) who feel that they must appear exactly as any movie star or television celebrity. But the sad truth is, they all have the same spirit upon them. You cannot tell the Pentecostals from the Catholics and you cannot tell the Protestants from the prostitutes that stand in the dens of iniquity. Bro. Jackson, that is awful hard language to be using. I know it is, but who among you can deny that it is the truth? In fact, an awful lot of these Protestants despise the revelated truth of God’s word more than the prostitutes do. Saints, this world of religion has more of the devil in it than it does of the Spirit of Christ. So much of what is called Christianity today is just a carnal embodiment of Satan’s deceptive work in this world. That is why I said, If there was ever a time that this old world needed an ambassador of peace, it is now, but do you think they are going to get one? What they are going to get is a counterfeit, but they will realize what he is, only after it is too late. He is the SON OF PERDITION because he is ordained to lead that abominable mess of make believers to destruction along with that great host of ungodly politicians that could not care less about the will and purpose of almighty God. Through flatteries he shall deceive many, just like it says there in Daniel, chapter 11. You know what flattery is, that is when someone uses just the right words to psychologically build someone else up to feel like they are really something. What you see there in chapter 11 was characterized by that Syrian man Antiochus Epiphanes, but the climax of that prophecy is definitely pointing to the end time when that spirit of Satan incarnates the very man that all these other men typed. At first, he will come upon the scene with flatteries and promises that will literally swoon the world into a stupor. You have seen how those young girls used to carry on when Elvis Presley was alive and would appear on the scene; that is just about the effect this man of flatteries will have on this generation of flesh-pleasing, deceived souls. A person did not have to be very smart to realize that a spirit got hold of those young folks that would scream, and swoon, and pass out with excitement, when Elvis would sing and go through all those physical gyrations and neither does it require a college degree to recognize the spirit that is on people out here in the ranks of religion in this hour if you have the right Spirit in you. Let me finish the point I am making here. Even after Elvis has been dead six long years, there are still great numbers of people from all around the world that go to great extremes just to see where he lived or to lay a wreath of flowers on his grave and so forth. So if people will go to those extremes all because of their memory of a man that is now dead; what do you think they will do when some prince of the world comes on the scene with such flatteries, promising peace and tranquility, and prosperity for all, both young and old? Revelation 17:8 says, “They that dwell on earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.” That lets us know that only true children of God are going to be able to recognize this man of deception, and the beast system that is at his disposal to do his dirty work for him. Only the true children of God will be wise enough to refuse to accept the mark of the beast when it is presented. All deceived mankind will receive that mark of damnation, but the true children of God will be too wise to have anything to do with it. As a matter of fact it will be Gentile foolish virgins and orthodox Jews that will have to be faced with the reality of martyrdom rather than receive the mark of the beast, for the bride element of the foreknown of God will be gone by then.

DO NOT BE DECEIVED

I realize a lot of you who will hear these tapes or read this message in the Contender may not realize the seriousness of the spirit of deception that is enveloping this age in this very hour of time, but Saints, listen to me. We are living in a late hour of the dispensation of grace and Satan is making an all out attempt to deceive every person who names the name of Jesus Christ as their Savior and you denominational evangelists and pastors are being led right into Satan’s traps of deception. Therefore, only those who have enough spiritual insight to recognize what is happening and break away from those systems before it is too late, will escape the great hour of tribulation that is to come upon this old world very soon now. Just for an example; you cannot hardly turn on your television to one of these religious programs without hearing someone say, “I believe Jesus Christ could come at any moment; how many of you believe that?” Just about every one present will raise their hand indicating that they also believe He could. Now let me ask you, How many of you believe Jesus Christ could come at any moment now? I do not see any hands raised, so what is the difference? I will tell you what it is. You have been taught the truth from the Bible and you believe it, therefore you know that there are yet certain prophecies that have to be fulfilled before Jesus returns for the rapture of the church. Some of those people out there in those huge meetings are scared half to death by unscriptural statements made by the preachers just like those Thessalonians were before Paul wrote his second letter to them. Word had reached Paul of what some were teaching concerning the return of Christ, so he just simply sat down and wrote them a letter to settle their minds. We have already read it, but let us just read it again, for it fits in here. We are in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4. “Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, (or concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ) and by our gathering together unto Him, (and about our being caught up together to meet Him) That ye 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. (Do not let any of these things draw your mind away from what you have already learned from the scriptures.) Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day (In other words, the rapture) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, (a falling away from the basic truths of apostolic teaching) and that MAN OF SIN be revealed, the SON OF PERDITION: (The next verse lets us know why Paul called him the man of sin.) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Now some will say, Yes, Bro. Jackson, but it looks to me like the falling away is here already. It most certainly is, but that man of sin has not made his big move yet, and he will not make it until Ezekiel 38 and 39, and every other Bible prophecy is fulfilled that must proceed this final move of deception on the part of this man of sin. Like I have said before, we do not know if this present pope is the one that will fulfill those scriptures or not, but we do know that he is the very type of man that it will take and we know also that he has really been getting the stage set for the one man, whoever he is, to step right in and fulfill the scriptures. I know it is hard to imagine such an easy going, peace loving man as this pope seems to be, suddenly turning into a devil, but someone from the office he holds will have to fulfill all those scripture and whoever he is, in the beginning, he will have to be an easy going, world pleasing, religious type just like the present pope is, in order to deceive the world at large. These who say, Oh, the Antichrist could not possibly be the pope, for he believes in Jesus Christ, is just as void of spiritual revelation as the pope himself is. He believes in Jesus Christ, but not according to the scriptures. That is why the Catholics still portray Him (Jesus) as a little baby in the arms of his mother Mary. They evidently never have seen Him as a grown man, except on their crucifix. They will strip Him of the glory and honor that belongs to Him and put it all on Mary whom they call the mother of God. That one phase in itself displays spiritual ignorance for God is a Spirit and does not even have a mother or father. That is why it is written in John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” God will not accept any other form of worship. You can count beads, crawl on your knees on broken glass for ten miles, recite a thousand rehearsed prayers and fast for a year and still never worship God, for that is all a lot of pagan ignorance and God wants no such stuff as that. If you want to worship God, you approach Him with a broken and contrite spirit, bringing nothing to Him except yourself, for that is all you have that He is interested in. He already has everything else. Of everything that God created, man was the only one of His creatures that He created in His own spiritual image, whereby he could exercise his own will, make choices, and choose to either walk with God or walk his own way. Of course some will say, if man can exercise his own will, how can we say that predestination is a reality? That is very simple. God works in circumstances and circumstances most of the time is what leads man to God. That is why we can say, God will not violate our will; He just works circumstances to make us willing.

SPIRITS RECOGNIZED BY THEIR FRUITS

Brothers and Sisters, we have a lot more to say about Catholicism, Protestantism and the Antichrist once we get all these identities established sufficiently. For we want to show what this spirit of Satan has done through the years to mold these popes into their particular image, and what he has done through the years to mold these popes into their particular image, and what he has done to the word of God through that counterfeit mess called Catholicism. Of course we realize our efforts are only for the purpose of allowing believers to have access to the truth, for we are not so vain as to believe we could say anything that would change the course of the world. The word of God is absolutely and positively hidden from them. They can read the written words of the Bible, but they can never get a revelation of what those words mean. The world calls the pope father and the Bible calls him the man of sin. That particular term belongs only to the last one, as far as the man himself is concerned, but the office he will hold has always been abominable to God. That system is against every true doctrine of the Bible. When they take Jesus and put Him in the arms of Mary a little baby and give reverence to that statue, do you know what that a actually amounts to? They have taken Him out of His mediatorial position. He is not Melchizedek the high priest to them; he is just a little baby, held in the arms of His virgin mother. That is how they refer to Mary, but the Bible lets us know that Mary had other children by the natural process whereby God ordained that children should be born by. The truth of the matter is, Catholicism is nothing more than an embodiment of pagan superstitions devised by Satan before there ever was a Christian era. She just stepped into the place of the female goddesses that were worshiped before the advent of Christ. As for the virgin birth of Christ, do you realize that Nimrod’s wife was the first ever to claim to give birth to a child still being a virgin? It just lets us know that the devil started his counterfeit plot long before Christianity was ever a reality. Catholicism boasts of being the oldest church upon the face of the earth. Naturally, they are presenting it as the church that originated in the books of Acts, but the truth is, their doctrines and ways of worship were in the world long before Jesus and His apostles ever walked the shores of Galilee. That ought to tell you something about them. They do not have ne doctrine that would stand up in the high court of heaven. Every doctrine they teach is out of the pit of hell. No wonder Jesus said, the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. The prince that Jesus was referring to has ruled the Catholic church through the ages through his little princes that have stood in his place. The only difference between the last pope of the Catholic church and all the others is the fact that Satan himself will incarnate him and cause him to manifest openly what all the others were able to manipulate in such a way that they could still keep the world deceived into believing that they were the great power of God on earth, for the benefit of mankind. Man f sin is a perfect reference to make of a man that in reality is against the truth of God’s word. This spirit of iniquity has always worked through the papal office against the word of God. If people would just stop to realize that there are only two great spiritual forces in the world, one of God, and the other of Satan, they would not find it so hard to accept the truth about where certain things originate. God is certainly never going to speak anything that is contrary to what He has spoken before so let me ask you, where does all this confusion and Antichrist foolishness come from? It comes from a lawless spirit that is worse than Communism, Nazism, fascism, and all the other isms of the world put together. That is why Daniel 12:1, speaks of the great tribulation as a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation. Hitler was a tyrant and slew his millions, and Antiochus and Titus had already slain their thousands, but this one we are identifying will be one that none of them could even compare with. Antiochus and Titus set a type of his hatred for the Jews, but what they did was just a foretaste of what this SON OF PERDITION will do, when he is truly manifested as the MAN OF SIN. As we have already said, Satan has had his Antichrists in every church age, but all of the others were minor agents, compared to this last one we are identifying in this message. That is what John was dealing with in his first little epistle. We read verse 18, in chapter 2, where he said, “Even now are there many Antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. (Then he went on to say,) They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” Now does that mean that they were anti-god? Of course not. But that is what you are saying if you try to make the Antichrist come out of Communism, Fascism, or any of those other anti-god movements. No, he has got to be a religious man, but a man that is against divine revelation of the scriptures. We still have the same thing going on today, that John was writing about. Certain one’s will sit in the congregation of the saints for years, and seemingly enjoy the revelated word as much as any one else, but then one day Satan hits them with an idea that is different, and away they will go. In such cases, we just have to say what John said, If they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. Men such as this claim to have a greater revelation, but their very attitude makes them more like vicious dogs just waiting to devour anyone that will not follow them, than it does a true servant of God, they go out with their Antichrist teachings, and the become false prophets, for what they prophesy is not by divine utterance.

TESTING THE SPIRITS

Let us go to the 4th chapter of 1 John and look at verses 1-3, where he specifically speaks of false prophets. He says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.” Now Saints, you know good and well that John is not telling these Christians to go down the street to the temple of Apollo and try the spirits in that place to see whether they were of God or not. They already knew those spirits were not of God and they already knew those spirits in the temple of Venus were not of God, so what was he talking about? He was talking about men that had sat right among them, supposedly having a revelation of who Jesus Christ was and then something would get hold of them, and they would begin to deny the very revelation that was supposed to have brought them into the church in the first place. Men such as this caused John to say, “Because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Notice verse 2 now and remember that this was written in 90 A.D., before it became common terminology to refer to Jesus Christ as the Son of God. He writes these words, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God? and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” We have to realize that we are living in a day when we could probably go into any tavern, any day of the week, and ask a hundred people, Do you believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that He came in the flesh and preached for 3½ years, and no doubt 95 of them would say, Sure, I believe that. Would that mean that they were of God? Is that what John was talking about? Absolutely not. In that day, a lot of them were attracted to the gospel by the sincere preaching of those early apostles, but after so long a time, a spirit would jump up on their shoulder and give them a different revelation than what those true Christians had, and little by little they would being to create little differences of opinion, and the first thing they knew they were denying the deity of Christ. That spirit of Antichrist had gotten hold of them, that mystery of iniquity that was against a true revelation of the word of God. In those days, a person did not join the ranks of Christianity as carelessly as they do today. In our day it is a popular thing to belong to some church. It is good for business, good for politics, and whatever else you do, that causes you to desire a good image in that way. But in John’s day, a person did not dare open himself up to the persecution that being called a Christian could bring upon them, unless they believed enough truth that they were willing to pay the price. Of course your natural question would be, If they believed truth, how could they then become Antichrist in their belief? The answer is very simple and it is still that way today. They believe truth with their intellect, but they never receive it by divine revelation. Therefore, as long as what you have is only in your mind instead of in your heart by divine revelation, the devil can rob you of it. He can give you something that appeals to your fleshly ego more than divine revelation that humbles you before God. We still test the spirits the same way as they did in the early church, but we just have to be a little more specific about our questions. Naturally, this is not a game we play just to amuse ourselves, but to illustrate what I mean by that statement, let us just suppose that a group of Baptists came into our church just because they happen to live close by and feel that they ought to go to church somewhere. It would not have to be Baptist, it could be people from any Trinitarian church. You could ask them, do you believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God? Absolutely, they will reply. Do you believe that He was God in the flesh? Oh, yes, we definitely believe that. Well, do you believe that Jesus Christ was the ONLY PERSON in the Godhead? On, no. God is three persons. Believing in the blessed holy trinity is one of the requirements of being a member of our church. (Watch it now; a spirit is being revealed here.) Would you please explain the trinity to me? Oh, no one can do that. The three in one God is a great mystery; you just have to accept it by faith. Dear Brother, Dear Sister, I am here to tell you for a fact that no one can explain the holy trinity (though many great theologians have tried) because there is no such thing. Only a devil would try to cut God up into three persons, when the scriptures teach clearly that God is a Spirit and not a person at all, except in the very flesh of His only begotten Son Jesus the Christ. But the fact remains, that these spirits did get into the church and cause division about whether Jesus Christ was divine and whether God was one or three, and all such like and that is what caused the Roman emperor, Constantine, to call the Christian bishops together, for what is now known as the Nicaea council. It was in that Nicaea meeting that the devil’s agents managed to get their trinity doctrine adopted by the church. Instead of one sovereign God which is Spirit, being manifested to the world through the incarnation of His only begotten Son Jesus, they made the decree that God is actually three separate persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all equal in authority, but in perfect agreement on everything, and to them, that is how God is one. Naturally they teach that Jesus the Son preexisted with the Father and that the Father was speaking to Him when he said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over such and such. Only a devil could ignore the scriptures enough to come up with an idea like that. If the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost preexisted together as three separate persons all equal in authority, then how can it be said that “God so loved the world, that He gave HIS only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life?” Furthermore, if they are separate persons, equal in authority, why did Jesus put so much emphasis on the fact that He never did anything except what the Father showed Him to do? There are so many unanswerable questions when your concept of God is that the Godhead consists of three separate persons, I do not see how in the world anyone that was foreknown of God could have ever accepted an idea like that even for a little while, yet most of us will have to confess that we grew up in the midst of such teaching, and did not know any different until God opened our eyes to the truth. That just simply shows how effective Satan’s campaign to pervert the revelation of the Godhead really was. Satan never has cared for people going to church, just as long as he could keep them in spiritual ignorance and cause them to miss God. He knows God will not accept a counterfeit product in the great harvest of souls, so he has devoted his efforts and schemes to the task of filling the churches with make believers. But in spite of all his deceiving tactics, not one predestined soul has ever been lost. God has always had His way of redeeming out of this old sinful world, that which he foreknew and placed on the pages of the book of life before the world ever was. Hallelujah! He redeems His own and just lets the devil use all the rest to fulfill the work of his kingdom, a kingdom that is headed for destruction. The way this thing is ending up is no surprise to God, for He is the one that inspired His prophets to prophesy the end of it all hundreds of years in advance. Daniel prophesied in the 6th century B.C. of what this agent of the devil would do as Gentile time closes out. In 54 A.D., Paul spoke of the Antichrist, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they receive not the love for the truth, that they might be saved. In 66 A.D. Jude exhorted the brethren that they should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Then in 90 A.D. John was really moved by what he could see taking place, but God has allowed that spirit of deceit and deception to run rampant, almost unchecked for over 1900 years, since those apostles first became aware of it.

GOD’S GIFTS – SOLD TO THE WORLD

What really amazes me though, is how people who know the truth will still take part in this religious deception. They will go to their meetings, contribute to their ministry, and even go away and talk about how the presence of the Lord was in the service. Let me tell you something. It is not always wisdom for a true child of God to try to be in every place where the Spirit of God is working, for God is in a lot of those places blinding the eyes of those that prefer miraculous demonstrations more than they do the truth. Some of these preachers out in such meetings claim to have a gift of the Spirit, equal to what Bro. William Branham had and I will never deny that their gift is of God, but when I see them use that gift for personal monetary gain, it lets me know that their own spirit and motive is the same as old Baalam. When you hear them stand up and say, The Lord shows me that there is a man here tonight that is going to give me a check for $7,000.00 or a woman that is going to give me $2,000.00 and so forth, you know that is coming forth from the same spirit that was on Baalam. God does not need to operate like that. He does not need to put on a show to gain support for His true ministry. I say of them, as Jude said to their kind in his day, Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, (self will) and ran greedily after the error of Baalam for reward and they will perish in their gainsaying, just like Korah, and those that followed him. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul warned him to withdraw himself from such men who teach that gain is godliness and have nothing to do with them. He went on to say, “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content. For they that will be rich fall into temptation and snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the LOVE of money (not money itself) is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred FROM THE FAITH, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Saints, I am fully persuaded that if God wanted a true servant of Christ to minister the gospel on 400 television stations around this old world, He could get it done without that preacher ever having to beg for that first dollar to support his ministry. Does not God own the cattle of a thousand hills? Can He not move this world’s riches from one to another at His own will? Why then, would any true servant of God ever find it necessary to beg for money to support his program? I believe the answer to that question is very obvious. Let him that hath ears to hear, hear what God has to say about those whose attitudes and motives are wrong. I will not have to judge them: He will. Every true child of God has a reward awaiting him for his unselfish labor of love in this life, but all the rest are headed for destruction, for they are being led by the spirit that will one day take over the pope of the Roman Catholic church, just like he took over Judas, the apostle that betrayed Christ. Bro. Jackson, are you saying that all these preachers out here in the world of religion are Antichrists, if they are not preaching the same thing you preach? I will just say the same thing basically that Paul said to the Galatians. If what they are preaching is different than what Paul, Peter, James and John preached, their preaching is Antichrist. We do not have to be very smart to realize that. A person simply cannot be both right and wrong at the same time when it comes to the doctrine of Christ and the gospel that in the eyes of God has never changed since it was first delivered to that first church in the books of Acts. Of course I realize, that when a person talks like this, they are branded as a fanatic, but if standing for the truth of God’s word makes a person a fanatic, then I gladly accept the brand, for that is what He has called me to do. When you try to keep your mind clear of man’s religious junk so you can hear the voice of God, it sometimes seems like you are almost standing alone, but that is not so, for we know that God’s true church is made up of saints from around this globe. We may not seem like very many compared to Satan’s deceived multitudes, but I assure you, God has a great multitude also, and their most treasured possession is their assurance of eternal life that has been placed there in their innermost being by a true revelation of the word of God. The Bible does not promise us a carefree life of worldly riches and honor of men, but it does promise us, that in the midst of trials and tests that are sure to come upon us, we will have peace of mind and peace in our soul. That is treasure that money cannot buy. While people of the world are searching for security in this life, they are completely overlooking the only security there is, in other words, to be eternally secured by believing in and walking with Jesus Christ in a pure revelation. James said, (4:14) “What is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” That of course is speaking of this natural life, that too many people live as though it will never end. They fret their whole lifetime about material things while laying up treasures that someone else may scatter to the four winds no sooner than they are gone. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things (the things people worry about, food, shelter, clothing, and such like) shall be added unto you.” Do you know what that is actually saying? If you are a true child of God, you will never have a legitimate reason to worry about the necessary things of life. But there is a key, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” That is what Paul was referring to in Philippians 4:19, when he said, “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Jesus Christ Jesus.” Those words were not written to tares; they were written to true children of God. When our attitude and motive is right, and we are walking with God in all the light that He has shed upon our pathway, do you not believe that He is able to care for us in the material affairs of life? I assure you, He is able, and He will do it.

THE COMFORTER’S WORK

Let us go back to John’s gospel now as we continue with out main thought in this message, “Identifying The Antichrist”, for there are yet many things that I believe we should look at. We have already referred to a verse in chapter 14, that speaks of the prince of this world, and we pointed out the fact that in that particular mention of prince, it pertains only to Satan, a spirit. There is no man pointed to in that verse, but the prince of that verse will incarnate the prince of Daniel 9:26, in the middle of his great 7 year peace covenant that he confirms with many nations. What I want us to look at now though is the first part of that 30th verse, where Jesus said, “Hereafter I will not talk much with you,” and yet in chapter 16, verse 12, He said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot hear them now.” Both of these statements were made within a very short period of time, so it seems like a contradiction, but I assure you, it was not. Verse 13 explains it, as He continues speaking. Let us read them both together. “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall He speak; and he will show you things to come.” In other words, it was getting very close to the time when he would be arrested, and crucified, and there were yet many things that his disciples would need to know, but until they received the Holy Ghost, they would not even be able to understand, nor accept them. Therefore, as a human person, He would not speak much with them concerning these things from then on. The rest of what they will need to know will be given to them by the Holy Ghost after He is dwelling inside of them. Not in a day. Not in a week, nor in a year, but progressively, as time moved on. Let’s just go back to verse 7 in this 16th chapter and notice how Jesus speaks to this sad bunch of disciples that just cannot understand why he has to go from them. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you (necessary for you) that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, (We know when that was. It was on the day of Pentecost following.) He will reprove the world of sin, (It is only through the working of the Holy Ghost, that lost sinners are made to realize their lost condition, and accept God’s plan of salvation.) and of righteousness, and of judgment.” He mentions three main things that the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, will be doing once He comes. Then He begins to explain. “Of sin, because they believe not on me.” That should be enough to let us know that God is not sending people to hell because they get drunk, nor because they gamble, smoke cigarettes, and use bad language. They go to hell because of unbelief. God will forgive a repentant sinner for all those SINS plural, when he repents, and turns to Him in faith. But for the sin of unbelief, there had to be a price paid. A perfect sacrifice for that sin had to be offered to God, and man had no perfect sacrifice that he could offer, so Jesus the Lamb without spot or blemish offered His own blood on behalf of all lost mankind, and settled man’s sin debt with God once and for all. But it only becomes effective for those that respond to the wooing of the Holy Spirit when he begins to convince them of their son of belief. A lot of religious people who go to church every time the doors are opened are going to split hell wide open simply because of their unbelief. Why do you suppose Jesus and John the Baptist would call those scribes and Pharisees serpents, and vipers, and children of the devil? They were the most holy religious leaders of that day, yet Jesus said to a bunch of them, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (Notice now) And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.” (John 8:44-45) Do you now see why Jesus called those great theologian children of the devil? It was because of their unbelief. It was not the drunks and gamblers and the prostitutes, that stood there before Pontius Pilate crying Crucify him! Crucify him! When Pilate asked, What must I do with Jesus? It was those ecclesiastical big shots of religion. That kind will never believe, those self-righteous make believers. But they will be judged by the very truth they reject through their unbelief. All right now, let us see what else this Comforter will do other than convict the world of sin because of unbelief. Verse 10, “Of righteousness because I go to my Father and ye see me no more.” Those Scribes and Pharisees thought, Oh we live so holy, who does this fellow think he is, talking to us like he does? They had their own ideas and opinions about righteousness, but the Bible says that Jesus Christ was the righteousness of God revealed to lost mankind. How was this true? Because He was what God demands and expects from His children, lived before the eyes of those self-righteous make believers. Everything He did and said spiritually was absolutely contrary to the way they lived and talked. On one hand was the righteousness of God displayed, and on the other, was the self-righteousness of religious mankind. Away with him! He has a devil, they cried. But who really had the spirit of the devil in them? It is the same today. You begin to preach the truth of God’s word and when it starts exposing those miserable, unbelieving, word rejecting hypocrites, that same old spirit that caused those religious people to cry Crucify him! will cause their offspring to cry out against you in about the same way. A lot of them would crucify you if they could. They may go to church every week, pay their tithes, sing in the choir, teach, preach, or what have you, but when you cross their doctrinal limits by preaching the whole truth, you will find that some of them are meaner than the devil himself. They demonstrate what spirit they are of by their actions. Their unbelief is revealed by their response to truth.

SATAN IS ALREADY JUDGED

Now we come to verse 11, which speaks of the third thing that the Comforter will reprove the world of. “Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” That brings us to a verse in chapter 12, verse 31, Jesus speaking said, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” Jesus knew that the hour of His betrayal was at hand and He knew who this son of perdition was, this Judas, that sold him for 30 pieces of silver. He knew also that He would soon stand before that religious high court, and be condemned to death by them. The highest religious dignitaries of that hour were about to pronounce a death sentence upon the very one they claimed to be looking for, the promised Messiah, to the Jews. Satan had so deceived that whole nation of people, that they thought, We cannot possibly be wrong. This fellow has to be of the devil. Religious tradition is of a strong spirit, and it will always crucify the truth. But Jesus said, “NOW IS THE JUDGMENT OF THIS WORLD: NOW SHALL THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD BE CAST OUT.” God judged the sins of the whole world through the offering of His only begotten Son upon that old cross. Almost any person of the denominational churches of the world will tell you that Jesus shed His own blood for the sin of the whole world. Will they not? They say it with their intellect, but they do not have the benefit of it, simply because they have held to their religious traditions and rejected the truth that makes the benefit of that shed blood effective on behalf of a soul that has been separated from God through unbelief. “Now shall the prince of this world (Satan) be cast out.” That means revealed or exposed. When Jesus hung there on that old cross and cried, “It is finished,” that deceiving spirit of unbelief was judged. That is when Genesis 3:15, (the part that speaks of the bruising of the serpent’s head) was fulfilled. The serpent’s head was bruised there that day. No matter what that spirit of Satan would do from that day forth, the work that was required to finalize his penalty was already finished. God has allowed him to continue his deception, but the children of God are no longer under his bondages. They have been set free. He (Satan) is the prince and the power of this world, but we are not of this world, our citizenship is of heaven. The mystery of iniquity is still at work, but it is not leading the true church into darkness; it is only binding tares together, getting them ready for burning. The literal son of perdition is not yet on the scene, but this generation will live to see him, for the time of his appearing is close at hand. God has allowed us to see what this man of sin will be like when his hour arrives, by the types he has shown us of him. He has told us exactly where he will come from and what he do when he comes upon the scene. We do not hesitate to point to Rome, for we have unquestionable proof, that Rome is where his seat of authority will originate from and to go with the scriptures we are using, we are going to use excerpts from actual history to back up our remarks. Of course we may have to use as many as three issues of the Contender to get it all in, but we want to present the whole picture from beginning to end before we are through, so watch for the next issue and pray for us as we continue to lift up the true revelation of God’s word.