Participants:
Series Code: WHO
Program Code: WHO200018S
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00:29 Hello, friends, and welcome to 3ABN Worship Hour
00:32 where we worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. 00:36 We thank you so much for taking time out of your day 00:39 to join us and to worship with us 00:41 as we uplift Jesus in the Word of God 00:44 and also in song. 00:46 And we hope that you have your pens, 00:48 and your writing utensils, your iPads, your notepads, 00:52 all of those things available 00:54 because today, we have a very, very special message, 00:57 a power-packed message, 00:59 one that is indeed 01:01 ultimately going to bring glory to Jesus. 01:04 And the title of our message today 01:06 is "The Undeniable Identity of the Antichrist." 01:11 And so before we go any further, 01:13 why don't we just take the time to go to the Lord in prayer 01:16 and ask Him to lead and guide us in this study? 01:20 Our Father in heaven, 01:22 Lord, we dare not move any You made forward. 01:26 Lord, we need You to give us Your Holy Spirit. 01:31 We need the spiritual guidance, 01:33 the spiritual mind of Jesus 01:34 to be able to rightly divide the word of truth at this time. 01:39 Lord, Your Word is life. 01:41 And we recognize that in that word of life, 01:44 we are told that Jesus is the way, 01:46 the truth and the life. 01:48 And ultimately, Lord, may this sermon, 01:49 may this message bring glory to Jesus. 01:53 Lord, this is a very powerful message indeed. 01:56 One of those messages 01:57 that can be easily misunderstood, 01:59 but we know Lord by the power and the leadership 02:01 and guidance of Your Spirit, 02:02 You will bring all things to our remembrance. 02:05 You will make things clear for us 02:07 and lead and guide us through the study. 02:09 So, Lord, give me the words to speak 02:11 that are according to Your will. 02:13 Help hide me Ryan Day completely out of sight 02:17 and help the words of Jesus 02:18 to come through very clearly today. 02:21 Give us Your Spirit we ask and we pray this in confidence 02:23 and in the name of Jesus' Christ. 02:25 Amen. 02:26 Amen. 02:28 The Undeniable Identity of the Antichrist. 02:32 You may be saying right now to yourself, 02:34 "Oh, no, another Antichrist sermon. 02:36 Really?" 02:38 I think that we are living 02:39 in very, very interesting times. 02:41 And the reason why I felt convicted 02:43 and led to deliver a message 02:46 on the identity of the Antichrist 02:48 is for a couple of reasons. 02:50 Number one, as I mentioned, 02:51 we're living in interesting times, 02:53 and I can't help 02:54 but see coming across my social media, 02:56 talking on the phone 02:58 and just interacting with people around Christians 03:01 and non-Christians both around the world 03:04 who are because of the strange and challenging times 03:07 that we're living in, 03:09 they're being drawn to the Word of God. 03:11 They're being drawn to study 03:12 the deep prophetic themes of Scripture. 03:15 And people are asking questions. 03:17 And one of those popular questions 03:19 that I'm often getting is, 03:20 is the Antichrist gonna show up soon? 03:23 Are we approaching the rapture? 03:25 Are we approaching the last days 03:27 in which, you know, this world is gonna be launched 03:30 into havoc 03:31 and the Antichrist is gonna show up 03:33 and do all of his evil deeds. 03:35 There's lots of questions pertaining to this 03:37 and what better time 03:38 than to go back to the Bible 03:40 and reintroduce ourselves 03:42 to what the Bible actually says 03:44 about this Antichrist of Bible prophecy? 03:47 Another reason why I find it very important 03:49 is that it's kind of unavoidable. 03:51 If you're going to study the Bible, 03:53 and you find yourselves 03:55 in these great apocalyptic books 03:56 like Daniel and Revelation, 03:58 then you cannot avoid it. 04:00 If we were to take kind of an aerial view, 04:02 kind of a bird's eye survey of scripture, 04:05 and we were to go 04:06 through the great prophetic books 04:07 like Daniel and Revelation, 04:09 and other Bible passages that are prophetic in nature. 04:12 You will find that the content of the Antichrist, 04:15 this subject of the Antichrist 04:17 comes up over and over and over. 04:20 In fact, let me give you some examples here, 04:21 just a few that I was able to 04:23 kind of at the last minute pull together, 04:25 but I wanna show you this. 04:26 It's a great illustration. 04:27 You'll notice that in the Antichrist 04:29 is found in Daniel Chapter 7. 04:31 It's also found in Daniel Chapter 8. 04:34 Also, notice, Daniel 11, and Daniel 12. 04:37 So the latter chapters of Daniel, 04:38 and then notice by the time 04:39 you get to that famous Olivet Discourse, 04:41 we were told about false Christ, 04:43 the Antichrist is indeed a false Christ there 04:46 in Matthew 24 and Mark Chapter 13. 04:48 We're also reminded of that 04:50 great Antichrist leadership figure 04:53 of the last days in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. 04:56 And then, of course, you actually see the term, 04:58 the word Antichrist in 1 John Chapter 2, 05:01 1 John Chapter 4 as well as 2 John Chapter 1. 05:05 And then notice this, 05:06 the very last book of the Bible. 05:08 We're talking about Revelation 13, 14, 15, 05:11 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20. 05:15 All of those passages, my friends, 05:18 we find the subject of the Antichrist 05:21 coming back up, back up, 05:22 almost like a repetitive sequence. 05:24 Now what does this tell us? 05:26 And why is it important that we revisit this topic? 05:28 Well, just by what we just saw a clear illustration, 05:30 God is invested, 05:32 He is interested in helping us 05:35 to be clear on these subjects, 05:37 helping us to be clear as to who the enemy is 05:41 and what the enemy is doing to keep you from Him. 05:45 Yes, we have a gospel, an everlasting gospel, 05:49 and many people might say, 05:50 "Ryan, the Antichrist message 05:51 doesn't fit into the gospel message." 05:53 And I would just simply disagree with that 05:56 because in that great 05:57 redemptive message of salvation, 05:59 God is interested in making sure 06:02 that you are informed 06:03 of the enemy's plan 06:05 that is set up against you to keep you from the Creator. 06:09 And so today, I want to bring about 06:12 in an in depth study 06:13 of how we can properly identify who this Antichrist is. 06:17 Some of you may have heard this before. 06:18 There may be many of you 06:20 who have never heard this before in your life. 06:21 I pray that you'll bear with me, 06:24 go through this with me, 06:25 and let's see what the Bible has to say 06:27 on this subject. 06:28 So before we go any further, 06:29 I would like to go right into 1 John Chapter 2 06:33 where we find the very first time 06:35 that the word Antichrist appears in Scripture. 06:39 So the actual term Antichrist 06:41 appears in Scripture in 1 John 2:18. 06:45 Notice what the Bible says. 06:47 He says, "Little children, 06:49 it is the last time or the last hour 06:52 and as you have heard, that," 06:54 notice, "Antichrist shall come." 06:57 Okay, 06:59 and then many people would stop right there, 07:00 but notice what it continues to say. 07:03 "Even now are there many Antichrists," 07:08 there it is, 07:09 whereby we know that it is the last time." 07:13 So I wanna pause there 07:14 and just make this very, very clear. 07:15 We know that the Bible tells us very, very clearly 07:19 that, "Yes, an Antichrist shall come." 07:22 And many Christians today are saying, 07:23 "Yes, I know he's coming. 07:24 He shall come soon." 07:26 And it's very sad indeed 07:27 because many Christians had been deceived 07:29 into believing, my friends, 07:30 that this Antichrist is gonna show up 07:33 after the church is raptured, 07:34 that he's gonna show up sometime 07:36 after God has evacuated the saints from the earth, 07:39 but I'm here to set the record clear, okay? 07:43 God would not give us this warning. 07:44 In fact, these epistles here, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, 07:47 this was written 07:48 primarily to the Christian audience. 07:51 Why would God warn His people of an Antichrist infiltration 07:56 or an Antichrist enemy presence 07:59 if he was planning on evacuating 08:01 or rapturing the church beforehand? 08:03 So that's just another great point 08:04 that we need to realize that God is trying to warn us. 08:07 And He's saying that while you have heard 08:09 that the Antichrist is coming, 08:11 I'm telling you he's already here, 08:13 even 2000 years ago nearly, John wrote this down. 08:16 And he's telling us that the Antichrist, 08:19 that spirit of Antichrist was at work, 08:22 even in his day. 08:23 And notice how he says it's there's more than one. 08:25 Many people think 08:27 that the Antichrist is one single individual 08:29 that's gonna show up at the end of time, 08:31 and he's gonna wreak havoc on the entire planet. 08:33 Well, while there is a leadership figure, 08:36 an Antichrist leadership figure in the last days, 08:39 which we're going to talk about in just a moment. 08:42 Actually, the Bible clearly reveals to us 08:44 that it's a system. 08:46 There's multiple Antichrists, 08:50 in other words, there's more than one. 08:52 Notice what the Bible continues to say 08:53 in 1 John 2:19. 08:56 It says, "They," speaking of the Antichrist, 08:58 "went out from us," 09:00 okay, "but they were not of us, 09:03 for if they had been of us, 09:04 they would no doubt have continued with us, 09:08 but they went out, 09:10 that they might be made manifest 09:12 that they were not all of us." 09:15 So this is a very powerful point 09:17 to make here. 09:18 Actually, John is saying that when they, 09:20 speaking of the Antichrist, that they came out from us, 09:24 he's speaking of the church. 09:26 That's right. 09:27 Many people think that the Antichrist 09:28 is gonna come from some, you know, 09:30 elite governmental organization of some kind. 09:32 And while there is a political side 09:35 to the Antichrist, 09:36 we need to be very, very clear, my friends, 09:38 the devil's ultimate deception 09:40 is not to attack from outside the church, 09:42 but from within. 09:43 And we're gonna come to back to that point 09:45 in just a few moments. 09:46 So hang with me on that, but again, 09:48 making the point here that he says they came from us, 09:50 but John sets the record clear. 09:52 He says, look, but don't mistake it all 09:54 while they came from us, they didn't remain with us, 09:56 they went out 09:58 that they might be made manifest 09:59 in and of themselves. 10:00 They didn't stick with the truth of Jesus Christ. 10:03 So this Antichrist system 10:05 is indeed has manifested itself. 10:07 It's grown and has become something, 10:09 but it's no longer in connection 10:11 with God's true remnant people. 10:13 Notice, what 1 John 2:22 says, 10:17 "Who is a liar 10:19 but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? 10:22 He is," there it is, 10:24 "Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son." 10:28 So what we're about to notice, later on in our study, 10:31 is that in some way form or fashion, 10:32 this Antichrist is denying God 10:36 that in some way form or fashion, 10:37 God's keenly priestly and prophetic authority 10:41 and who he is this very divine person 10:43 is being denied and cast down in some way, 10:45 form or fashion. 10:47 And we're gonna come back to that as well, 10:48 but keep that tucked away in your memory, 10:50 but here comes kind of the Mecca of text 10:53 in dealing with the identity, the goal, the purpose, 10:57 the very agenda of this Antichrist. 10:59 It's found in 1 John 2:26. 11:03 Notice what the Bible says. 11:04 It says, "These things have I written unto you 11:07 concerning them that seduce you." 11:10 Of course, this is coming from the King James Version, 11:13 excuse me, the New King James Version. 11:14 I think the King James Version says deceive 11:17 or I may have that backwards, 11:19 one way or the other, deceive, seduce, 11:21 it's the exact same thing. 11:23 So we need to be very clear. 11:24 What's the purpose of this Antichrist system? 11:28 Why has the devil set this Antichrist power up? 11:31 It's to deceive. 11:33 In fact, you're gonna see this theme, 11:35 the same element keep coming back up 11:37 more and more and more in Scripture. 11:39 And we're gonna read a little bit more about it 11:40 in this particular study today. 11:43 Notice what it continues to say in 1 John 4:3, it says, 11:47 "And this is that spirit of Antichrist, 11:51 whereof you have heard that it should come," 11:54 so there he is, again, he says, 11:55 "you've heard that it's coming 11:57 and even now already is it in the world." 12:01 So he's just reminding us again, 12:02 this same Antichrist power, 12:04 you've heard that it's coming. 12:05 My friends, if you're hearing this 12:07 for the first time, 12:08 I want you to know if you've been taught 12:09 that you know 12:11 what you're gonna be raptured out of here 12:12 that the Antichrist is coming, 12:14 but he's not here yet and praise the Lord, 12:16 you're gonna be out of here. 12:17 Let me tell you something, the Bible is clear. 12:19 You and I are here now. 12:22 And the Antichrist is at work in the world today. 12:25 In fact, we're going to identify 12:27 who that is in just a few moments. 12:29 The Bible is very clear on the identity 12:32 if we just allow God to tell us from himself. 12:35 And, of course, the last text that I wanna look 12:37 of this Antichrist 12:39 mentioning in word comes from 2 John 1:7. 12:43 Notice what the Bible says, 12:45 "For many deceivers, " 12:47 there it is again, 12:49 "for many deceivers are entered into the world 12:51 who confess not that Jesus Christ is come 12:53 in the flesh. 12:54 This is a," 12:55 and there it is again, emphasized, 12:57 "this is a deceiver and an Antichrist." 13:01 So in summation here in the opening time 13:02 that we have, 13:04 let's be clear about something. 13:06 In order for us to properly identify 13:08 the Antichrist, 13:09 we need to know what this is about, 13:10 we need to know who is this ultimately, 13:13 but what is it about? 13:15 What can we know for sure about this Antichrist, 13:19 that will help us to further look 13:21 into the very nature and character 13:23 so that when we see these biblical identifications 13:26 given to us clearly in scripture, 13:28 we will not be overwhelmed or confused 13:30 as to why the identity is what it is 13:33 because we already know the very nature, 13:35 the very character of this system. 13:37 So that being said, 13:39 I wanna cover something very clearly, 13:41 very quickly. 13:42 What about anti? 13:44 The prefix anti, 13:46 when we're talking about Antichrist, 13:48 most people think of the prefix anti 13:50 in terms of, 13:52 against or in opposition to, but biblically speaking, 13:56 the biblical term anti or the biblical prefix anti, 14:02 while the core is in definitely against 14:05 or in opposition to. 14:07 There's another element that we have to understand 14:09 about this anti prefix 14:12 that comes before the word Christ 14:13 in reference to Antichrist. 14:15 The Strong's definition 14:17 tells us something very interesting. 14:18 Notice what it says here, 14:20 it identifies the prefix anti as, 14:23 "instead or because of, 14:26 in the room of or in the place of, 14:29 often used in composition to denote contrast, requital, " 14:34 but notice this bottom word here underlined in white, 14:36 "substitution." 14:38 Okay, substitution. 14:40 I cannot emphasize that enough. 14:43 The term or the prefix anti 14:46 in reference to Antichrist in scripture 14:48 does not necessarily mean 14:50 that this person is Antichrist 14:52 is gonna show up on the scene 14:54 as a violent opposer, 14:56 you know, hating God and hating Christianity, 14:59 hating the Bible and hating... 15:00 No, no, no, no. 15:02 Yes, in some way, form or fashion, 15:03 we're gonna see 15:05 how indeed this particular office, 15:06 this particular spirit of Antichrist 15:08 is indeed against God, 15:10 but we're also going to see very clearly 15:12 that it's not against God in the sense 15:15 that it shows up as a violent opposer, 15:16 but rather a subtle imposter, 15:20 a substitution for God, rather than an enemy of God. 15:24 Very interesting. 15:25 In fact, Paul communicates this 15:27 in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. 15:29 Let's go there. 15:30 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2, 15:32 we're gonna start reading in verse 3. 15:33 Notice what the Bible says. 15:35 It says, "Let no man," what's that next word? 15:38 "Deceive," 15:39 Ain't that what John was saying in those passages we just read? 15:42 "Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day, " 15:46 speaking of the second coming of Jesus, 15:48 "that day shall not come, 15:50 except there come a falling away first, 15:53 and that man of sin be revealed," 15:56 here it is, "the son of perdition." 16:00 And then the next couple of verses here 16:02 is describing this man of sin, this son of perdition. 16:05 And, my friends, 16:06 this is the leading Antichrist figure 16:08 of Bible prophecy that we're about to read. 16:10 Notice what it says, 16:11 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself 16:14 above all that is called God, 16:15 or that is worshiped, 16:17 so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, 16:22 shewing himself that he is God." 16:26 I can't emphasize that enough. 16:27 Okay, so let's bring this together. 16:29 Let's first notice what it doesn't say, okay? 16:31 It doesn't say 16:33 so that he has God sitteth in the temple of God 16:35 showing himself that he is against God. 16:38 That's not the temperature 16:40 that you get from this particular passage. 16:42 That's not the notion or the takeaway 16:43 that you get from these verses. 16:45 We see that this man of sin is showing up on the scene. 16:48 This is that leading Antichrist figure 16:51 who is kind of the overseer, 16:52 the leadership figure of the system of Antichrists. 16:56 And it says that, 16:58 "He sits as God in the temple of God, 16:59 showing himself that he is God." 17:01 My friends, that is a substitution. 17:04 So notice, how this person is not showing up on the scene 17:06 like, you know, I hate God, I hate Christians, 17:09 I hate the church, I hate the Bible, 17:10 I hate the gospel, honk if you hate Jesus. 17:13 No, no, no, no, 17:14 that's not what we're seeing 17:15 from this particular leadership Antichrist figure, okay? 17:19 What we're seeing here is a subtle imposter. 17:23 He's coming in, he's very secretly, 17:25 very slyly he's coming in, 17:27 and he's sliding himself in the place of God. 17:32 In other words, 17:34 he's basically taking for himself, 17:36 the kingly, the priestly 17:38 in the prophetic authorities of Jesus Christ. 17:42 You'll notice that there are two names or titles 17:44 given in this passage 17:45 for this leadership Antichrist figure. 17:48 One of them kind of self-explanatory 17:50 man of sin, 17:52 but the one that interests me most 17:54 is the son of perdition. 17:56 The son of perdition. 17:58 It's interesting that when you do 18:00 a research of that phrase, 18:02 son of perdition. 18:03 It comes up two times in Scripture, 18:06 in all the Bible twice. 18:08 One of them we just read in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2 18:11 about the leadership Antichrist figure, 18:15 but the other one is very interesting. 18:17 It's referring to a rather interesting, 18:19 gentleman, 18:21 over in John Chapter 17 18:24 when Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, 18:26 He's about to be arrested, but He's praying to His Father. 18:31 Notice, what it says there about this individual. 18:34 This is John 17:12. 18:36 Notice, what the Bible says. 18:38 As Jesus is praying he says, 18:40 "While I was with them in the world, 18:42 I kept them in thy name, " 18:44 speaking of His disciples, 18:46 "those that thou gavest me I have kept, 18:49 and none of them is lost, 18:52 but the son of perdition, 18:56 that the scripture might be fulfilled." 18:59 So obviously here 19:01 if you're a student of the word 19:02 or maybe you're hearing this for the first time, 19:04 this is referring to Judas Iscariot. 19:08 Jesus chose 12 disciples, 19:09 and He said, none of them was lost. 19:11 I've kept them in thy way except for one, 19:15 the son of perdition. 19:16 So here we are. 19:18 Jesus is referring to Judas Iscariot 19:21 as the son of perdition, 19:22 and then over in 2 Thessalonians 2, 19:24 we see Paul 19:25 referring to the Antichrist leadership figure 19:28 of Bible prophecy there, 19:29 we see him referring to him as the son of perdition. 19:32 What is the connection? 19:34 I think there's something that we can learn 19:35 about the very nature and character 19:37 of this Antichrist figure 19:39 by looking at the example of Judas. 19:41 And here's the point I'm making. 19:43 What was Judas most famously known for 19:46 in all of Scripture? 19:48 Obviously, he was known for betraying Jesus, 19:52 but how did he betray Jesus. 19:56 It wasn't from outside the inner circle, 20:00 but rather Judas betrayed Jesus 20:02 from within the inner Christian circle. 20:05 In other words, 20:06 Judas wasn't some violent opposer 20:08 from outside of the church, 20:10 you know, throwing stones and throwing rocks, 20:12 you know, wailing at Jesus and the disciples and saying, 20:15 you know, I hate you, I curse you.. 20:16 No, no, no, but rather Judas, 20:20 of course, he was influenced by a different spirit. 20:23 He was one of the 12, he was within that inner group, 20:27 and he betrayed Jesus, 20:29 not from outside of the church, my friends, 20:30 but from within the inner circle 20:33 of the church. 20:35 That's my point, 20:36 the Antichrist of Bible prophecy, my friends, 20:38 many people are again looking to the White House 20:40 or they're looking over 20:42 to the Middle East or Jerusalem, 20:43 and they're waiting for some evil sinister, 20:45 you know, politician type figure 20:48 to show up and wreak havoc on the Christian church, 20:50 when really we don't realize 20:52 that right under our nose, 20:53 right here clearly in the Bible, 20:55 we see very, very clearly 20:57 that this Antichrist figure 20:58 is not showing up 21:00 as some violent opposer of Christianity, 21:03 but a subtle deceiver from within Christianity. 21:07 That's why I make a note here 21:09 that, "The Antichrist will not come 21:11 from outside the church, 21:13 but from within," my friends. 21:15 That's right. 21:17 If that's shocking to you, I'm sorry that that's the case, 21:20 but it is the truth. 21:22 In fact, if you go over to the Book of Acts, 21:23 where Paul is preaching there to the Ephesians, 21:26 I'm reminded of this, he actually tells them, 21:28 he's like, "Look, you know, while I was here, 21:30 you know, I told you 21:31 that you are overseers of the church, 21:33 you have been placed to protect the church, 21:34 but as soon as I'm gone from here." 21:36 He says, "These grievous wolves are gonna come in, 21:39 and they're gonna not spare the flock, 21:41 they're gonna try to divide the flock, 21:42 and they're gonna try to lead all the disciples of Jesus 21:45 after themselves." 21:46 Again, Paul was implying 21:47 that the spirit of the enemy 21:49 was going to not attack the church from outside, 21:52 but he was going to infiltrate the church, 21:54 he was gonna attack the church from within. 21:56 Now when I'm speaking of the church, 21:57 understand I'm talking about Christianity as a whole. 22:00 We're not necessarily nailing down 22:02 individual denominations here. 22:03 We're saying Christianity as a whole, 22:05 the devil has realized 22:07 that by trying to kill and destroy Christians, 22:10 that didn't work. 22:11 He didn't try that already, right? 22:13 In the 1st century AD, murdered, 22:15 who knows hundreds of thousands, 22:16 millions of innocent Christians who gave their heart to Jesus 22:19 and every time blood was shed 22:21 that is Christian blood was shed, 22:22 more and more and more and more Christians popped up. 22:24 So he changed his game plan. 22:26 He realized, you know what? 22:28 This very clear, outward attack is not working. 22:32 So how can I get back at the Christian church? 22:36 How can I tear down the kingdom of the Lord? 22:39 How can I lead all these followers astray? 22:42 Not from outside, but from within. 22:46 And this is where we come to the segment 22:48 where we're very quickly, 22:51 very quickly going to go 22:53 through the identifications of this Antichrist. 22:57 So far, we've clearly nailed down 22:59 the fact that this Antichrist system. 23:02 Again, it's a system. 23:04 It's a system made up of multiple individuals, 23:07 multiple people, multitudes of people, 23:09 not just one single individual, 23:11 even though there is a leadership figure 23:13 in the end, 23:15 but its sole purpose, 23:16 its sole goal and agenda is to deceive the world, 23:22 to deceive Christians 23:24 who believe they have a relationship 23:26 with the Lord. 23:28 When in reality, Jesus says, "I don't know them." 23:30 We need to make sure as Jesus has warned us, 23:32 "Do not be deceived by these false Christ." 23:36 Paul says, "Do not let any man deceive you by any means." 23:39 John writes, he says, 23:40 "I write to you little children, 23:42 so that you be not deceived." 23:44 It's all about deception. 23:46 So the devil has set his game plan into motion. 23:50 He has a frontman. 23:53 It's all about worship. 23:55 The devil knows 23:56 that if he walks right up into any church, 23:59 any particular large mass group and says, 24:02 "Hi, I'm Lucifer the devil, Satan worship me." 24:05 He knows 24:07 that's not gonna go over very well. 24:08 You know, there are some, 24:09 you know, some people out there 24:11 that would probably take them up on that 24:12 that consider themselves Luciferians 24:14 or Satan worshipers, 24:15 but nonetheless, 24:16 that's a small insignificant group 24:18 compared to the masses 24:19 who would simply just by knowing 24:21 that it's Lucifer, or this guy, 24:23 or this person is identifying himself 24:25 as Lucifer, the devil, 24:26 and he's wanting us to worship him. 24:27 No, we shall not. 24:29 The devil knows this. He's smart. 24:31 So what does he do? 24:32 He sets him up a frontman. 24:34 It's called worship by representation. 24:37 He sets him up a frontman. 24:39 And while all of the world begins to wonder 24:42 and give their allegiance and their support 24:44 to this Antichrist entity that the devil has set up 24:47 because right there in the Book of Revelation 13 24:49 it says that the dragon, 24:50 the devil has given his seat and his great authority 24:54 and his power to this Antichrist system. 24:57 And so ultimately, 24:58 what we have 25:00 is when the world is wondering and giving their allegiance 25:03 and their support 25:04 to this Antichrist system, 25:06 who in the end are they really worshiping? 25:09 Lucifer is getting all the credit, 25:11 the devil himself is getting all the credit. 25:14 Why is it important that we understand and know 25:16 who this Antichrist is, my friends, 25:18 because the devil is hard at work. 25:20 He has been very much 25:22 so in the Christian church 25:23 for the last nearly 2,000 years. 25:25 And, my friends, do you think 25:26 he's slowing down anytime soon? 25:28 No. 25:29 This is not to point fingers. 25:31 This is not to cause division or to hurt anyone's feelings, 25:34 but to simply raise up the banner, 25:36 expose the fruits of darkness, expose the enemy's game plan 25:40 so that you and I 25:41 and all of our family and friends 25:43 and everyone around us can know the truth 25:45 and the Bible says the truth shall make you free. 25:49 Amen. Praise the Lord. 25:50 I can hear you say an amen at home right now. 25:53 So notice when we go through this 25:54 very quickly by the way, 25:56 it may seem like I'm talking pretty fast, 25:58 and that's okay because you can go on YouTube 26:00 and just type in the title of this sermon, 26:01 you'll see it there 26:03 and you'll be able to be able to stop and pause 26:04 and take notes and anything later, 26:06 but hang with me here. 26:07 We're gonna go 26:08 through the biblical identifications 26:10 of the Antichrist. 26:11 Notice this in Daniel Chapter 2 and Daniel Chapter 7. 26:15 This is just to kind of set a foundation. 26:17 In Daniel Chapter 2 and Daniel Chapter 7, 26:19 we are given clearly, 26:21 probably the skeleton kind of backbone prophecies 26:25 of all of Bible prophecy. 26:27 These are the two chapters 26:28 in which pretty much everything afterwards 26:31 that comes after in the Book of Revelation. 26:33 And the latter parts of the book of Daniel, 26:34 all come within the context of Daniel Chapter 2 26:38 and Daniel Chapter 7. 26:39 And basically we're seeing the great movers and shakers, 26:43 the great kingdoms of the world 26:45 there in these two chapters. 26:46 So basically, you see Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, 26:51 just as you see right there on the left side of your screen 26:54 you have the, you know, the head of gold, 26:56 the chest and arms of silver, that image there, 26:58 you know, the bronze and the iron. 27:00 There's four metals there 27:01 and we know that they represent kingdoms 27:02 because, well, it tells us there 27:04 in the in the chapter that it represents kingdoms. 27:06 And then over in Daniel 7 we have again, 27:08 notice how ironic is it, four beasts, four metals, 27:11 four beasts, a lion, a bear, a four-headed leopard, 27:14 and this great dreadful, terrible beast 27:16 with 10 horns and iron teeth. 27:18 I wanna emphasize that there's iron legs and iron 27:21 that continues into the feet of that image in Daniel 2, 27:24 but notice, this fourth beast of Daniel 7 has again, 27:27 10 horns that are, we're told are 10 kingdoms, 27:31 like the 10 toes on the image were 10 divisional kingdoms, 27:34 and again, this beast of Daniel 7, 27:36 this fourth beast has horrible iron teeth. 27:39 And we need not wonder as to what these metals 27:42 and these beasts represent 27:44 because the Bible 27:45 clearly brings it out, my friends. 27:47 We're talking about Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. 27:51 Now here's where things get interesting. 27:55 Daniel see something extra in Daniel Chapter 7. 28:00 He sees the four beasts. 28:02 And he gets down to this fourth one. 28:04 And it's like the Lord hits the zoom button on the camera. 28:07 And he zooms in on the head of this fourth beast. 28:09 And he's looking at these 10 horns 28:11 which he has been told, 28:12 right there in Daniel 7 28:14 that these horns represent kingdoms. 28:16 So he's looking at these 10 horns, 28:17 and then all of a sudden he sees this little horn, 28:21 this small horn begin to grow 28:24 out of the head of this fourth beast. 28:26 What do we say the name of that fourth beast was 28:29 or what kingdom it represents? 28:31 It's none other than Rome. 28:33 And I can't emphasize that enough. 28:35 Rome. 28:36 You've heard the expression, all roads lead to Rome, right? 28:39 Well, my friends, I'm gonna tell you 28:40 straight up here without holding anything back. 28:43 I'm gonna do things a little different, 28:44 a little kind of backwards. 28:46 And maybe you might have seen 28:47 a presentation like this before. 28:49 Many times people will give all the identifications, 28:51 and then name 28:52 who the Antichrist is at the end. 28:55 I'm gonna tell you who it is up front, 28:57 and then we're gonna back it up 28:59 by going back through the scripture 29:01 and looking at these identifications. 29:03 My friends, Rome, Rome. 29:08 What religious power is significant in Rome? 29:14 Remember, the devil is trying to infiltrate 29:16 the Christian world 29:18 and deceive the entire world 29:20 by substituting an Antichrist for Jesus Christ. 29:25 You have to, 29:26 the only way you're able to achieve this 29:28 is if you set up a system within Christianity. 29:32 And we see that there is one very dominant, 29:35 powerful, significant Christian system 29:39 that comes from Rome. 29:41 And, my friends, 29:42 I don't wanna beat around the bush. 29:43 We wanna make it very clear. 29:45 We wanna be compassionate and loving about this, 29:47 but we wanna be very clear. 29:49 The Antichrist of Bible prophecy, I believe, 29:52 based on the evidences of scripture 29:56 is none other than the Roman Papal Church State. 29:59 I wanna give a little bit of a disclaimer here. 30:01 I wanna be very clear. 30:03 This message is not to attack 30:05 Catholic individuals or Catholic people. 30:09 God is not at war with people. 30:11 He's not at war with Catholic individuals. 30:14 And so, you know, you may be a Catholic Christian 30:16 watching this presentation right now 30:19 and may be blown away by what I'm saying, 30:21 understand this is not a direct attack 30:23 on the wonderful people within the Catholic Church, 30:25 but rather, it's a system that God is worried about. 30:28 It's a counterfeit system that is trying to usurp. 30:32 Again, as I said earlier, the kingly, the priestly, 30:35 and the prophetic offices of Jesus. 30:38 And so while as crazy as it may sound, 30:41 as absurd as it may sound, 30:43 let's allow the Bible to tell us, 30:45 let's allow the identifications of scripture 30:48 to clearly pop out at us and identify who this is 30:50 'cause it can only be one, 30:53 and it's within the Christian church. 30:55 In fact, to further prove that I'm not the only one 30:59 that believes this 31:00 as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 31:01 we believe this, we teach this 31:03 because we believe that 31:04 that's what the Bible consistently reveals to us, 31:07 but it's not just Seventh-day Adventist Christians, 31:09 it's all Christians at one time 31:12 from different denominations who believe this. 31:14 Let me give you a few significant ones. 31:16 Consider Martin Luther, 31:18 who is the founder of the Lutheran Movement. 31:20 Again, Protestant, 31:22 notice what he said back in the day. 31:23 He says, "We here are of the conviction 31:25 that the papacy is the seat 31:26 of the true and real Antichrist... 31:29 personally I declare that I owe the Pope 31:31 no other obedience than that to Antichrist." 31:35 Again, very strong, very direct words, 31:37 but it's true. 31:38 That's what Luther believed. 31:39 Also John Wesley, 31:41 founder of the Methodist Church, 31:43 notice what he said at one time. 31:45 He said he's speaking of the Office of the Pope, 31:47 he said, "He is in an emphatical sense, 31:50 the Man of Sin, 31:51 as he increases all manner of sin 31:53 above measure. 31:55 And he is, too, 31:56 properly styled the Son of Perdition, 31:58 as he has caused the death of numberless multitudes, 32:01 both of his opposers and followers..." 32:03 And he goes on to say, 32:05 "He it is that exalteth himself above all that is called God, 32:07 or that is worshipped, 32:09 claiming the highest power, and highest honor, 32:11 claiming the prerogatives which belong to God alone." 32:15 Again, this is not something that Ryan Day has, 32:18 you know, just made up on his own. 32:20 This is a teaching that was established 32:22 and very clearly taught 32:24 and seen by many of the great reformers. 32:26 Notice, Thomas Cranmer, 32:28 Leader of the English Reformed Church, 32:30 the Church of England. 32:31 Notice what he had to say. 32:33 He said, "Whereof it followeth Rome 32:34 to be the seat of, " 32:36 there it is, "Antichrist, 32:38 and the pope to be very Antichrist himself. 32:41 I could prove the same by many other scriptures, 32:43 old writers, and strong reasons." 32:46 John Knox again, would probably, 32:48 I think the sole founder of the Presbyterian Movement 32:51 in Scotland. 32:52 Notice what he had to say. 32:53 He says, "That tyranny which the pope himself 32:55 has for so many ages exercised over the church 32:58 and that the pope should be recognized 33:00 as 'the very Antichrist and son of perdition, 33:03 of whom Paul speaks.'" 33:06 Very, very clear. 33:07 John Calvin, 33:09 one of the founders of the Presbyterian doctrines 33:11 and principles and liturgy. 33:13 Right here, he says it very clearly. 33:14 He says, "Some persons think us too severe and censorious 33:18 when we call the Roman pontiff Antichrist. 33:21 But those who are of this opinion 33:22 do not consider that they bring the same charge 33:25 of presumption against Paul himself, 33:28 after whom we speak and whose language we adopt... 33:31 I shall briefly show that Paul's words 33:32 in 2 Thessalonians 2 33:34 are not capable 33:35 of any other interpretation than that 33:37 which applies them to the Papacy." 33:39 So again, my friends, all of these, 33:41 the Baptist Confession, my friends, 33:44 the Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. 33:46 Notice again, 33:47 what the Baptist used to believe. 33:48 Very clear, it says, 33:50 "The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, 33:51 in whom, 33:52 by the appointment of the Father 33:54 all power for the calling, institution, 33:57 order or government of the church, 33:58 is invested in supreme and sovereign manner, 34:01 neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, 34:04 but is that Antichrist, the man of sin, 34:06 the son of perdition, 34:08 that exalts himself in the church against Christ." 34:10 And probably, 34:12 there's no one that says it better than 34:14 and ends in such a loving way, as I believe here, 34:17 Brother Charles Spurgeon, again famous Baptist Minister, 34:20 notice what he had to say. 34:22 He said, "It is the bounden duty of 34:23 every Christian to pray against Antichrist 34:27 and as to what Antichrist is no sane man 34:29 ought to raise a question. 34:31 If it be not the Popery in the Church of Rome, 34:33 there is nothing in the world 34:35 that can be called by that name. 34:36 It wounds Christ, 34:38 because it robs Christ of His glory, 34:40 because it puts sacramental efficacy 34:42 in the place of His atonement 34:43 and he lifts a piece of bread into the place of the Savior 34:45 and a few drops of water 34:47 into the place of the Holy Spirit 34:49 and puts a mere fallible man like ourselves 34:52 up as the Vicar of Christ on earth. 34:54 If we pray against it, because it is against Him." 34:57 I love this. 34:59 He says, "We shall love the persons 35:00 that we hate their errors, 35:02 we shall love their souls 35:04 though we loathe and detest their dogmas. 35:06 And so the breath of our prayers 35:07 will be sweetened 35:09 because we turn our faces towards Christ when we pray." 35:12 What beautifully said. 35:13 My friends, 35:15 this isn't an attack on Catholics. 35:16 I have many wonderful Catholic friends 35:18 that love Jesus 35:19 and are so Christ like and loving people. 35:21 This is not a message to hurt Catholic individuals, 35:24 but to bring awareness to a system 35:26 that robs Jesus Christ of His glory. 35:29 So may we pour our hearts into the scripture, 35:33 our time is getting away from us, 35:34 but I wanna quickly go through some of these 35:35 very clear biblical identifications. 35:38 You say, "Ryan, you think it's this 35:40 Roman Papal Church State system? 35:42 Where do you get your information? 35:45 Where do you get all of these identifications 35:47 that you say are so clear?" 35:48 Let's go to them right now. 35:49 In fact, many of our opening identifications, 35:53 in fact, I'm gonna show you 13 very quickly. 35:55 Again, you can pause this and go back and watch it, 35:57 but you can see 35:59 that there are many, many by the way, 36:00 there's more than just 13, 36:01 but I'm gonna share 13 with you 36:03 in the closing moments that we have. 36:05 In fact, these first six are gonna come 36:07 from just one verse in Daniel. 36:09 It's powerful how one verse in the Book of Daniel 36:12 holds really the bulk of the understanding 36:14 and the identifications 36:15 of who this Antichrist power is. 36:18 Notice, right off in Daniel 7:8, 36:22 the first identification is that 36:23 this is a small kingdom. 36:25 Remember, in the Book of Daniel, 36:27 we are told that a horn is a kingdom, 36:29 and he didn't just see 36:30 just any old normal sized kingdom. 36:32 He saw a small kingdom or a little kingdom. 36:34 Is the Roman Papal Church State, 36:36 a small kingdom? 36:38 Of course, it is. 36:39 In fact, if you do your research, 36:40 you'll find that it sets on about 120 acres 36:43 within the city of Rome, 36:45 and it has its own 36:46 independent church state, my friends, 36:48 it has its own independent statehood. 36:51 It is the smallest and most significant 36:53 and very dominant sovereign kingdom 36:56 in the world today, 36:58 just on 120 acres in the city of Rome, 37:01 it is indeed a small kingdom. 37:03 Notice the second identification. 37:05 It says that this little horn came up among them, okay? 37:08 That means it came up among the other 10 horns, 37:11 which are clearly in Europe. 37:13 So I wanna make that clear. 37:14 While many people are looking toward the White House again 37:16 and all of these different governmental agencies 37:18 across the world, 37:20 and they're looking over to the Middle East, 37:21 and they're looking to other, 37:22 you know, geographical locations. 37:24 My friends, the Bible tells us 37:25 that if you're looking for the true biblical identity 37:28 of the Antichrist, 37:29 you need to be looking towards Europe 37:31 because that's where the headquarters are found 37:34 of this Antichrist power. 37:35 Notice number three here. 37:37 It says that it rises after them, 37:39 this little horn power, again, 37:41 this little horn power, and by the way, 37:43 I just wanna say for the record, 37:44 most biblical theologians and scholars agree 37:47 that this little horn power is no doubt the Antichrist 37:50 of Bible prophecy. 37:51 In fact, you don't even have to be a scholar 37:53 to read this through and say, 37:54 "Yeah, this is an Antichrist power." 37:56 So this is very much in harmony with Revelation 13 same power, 38:00 Revelation 17 same power. 38:03 This little horn power is no doubt 38:04 the Antichrist of Bible prophecy. 38:06 Most Christians agree on that, 38:08 they just don't agree 38:09 on necessarily on the identity of the Antichrist, 38:12 which is what we're talking about now. 38:13 So notice back number three, it rises after them. 38:16 So chronologically speaking, 38:18 if you look at the span of time, 38:19 Europe as those 10 individual nations 38:22 originally that were established 38:23 by 476 AD, 38:25 you'll notice that the little horn comes up 38:27 after them. 38:28 So if you're looking for the establishment 38:30 of this Antichrist power, 38:32 and in this case, we're talking about the system of the papacy, 38:35 they came to fruition 38:36 to world dominant supremacy in 538 AD. 38:40 You look it up, go look up your history, 38:42 it's very clear. 38:44 So it came up after them. 38:45 Notice number four, it destroys three nations. 38:49 Interesting. 38:51 It wipes out 38:52 three entire nations and that is true. 38:54 In fact, I have a little bit of a visual here 38:58 you can see the original kingdom. 39:00 So we're looking at number four here 39:02 that destroys three nations, 39:04 but then this next slide that I have here you'll see 39:06 that these are the original 10 kingdoms 39:10 that Rome was divided into. 39:12 And so you have the Alamanni 39:14 which became known as the Germans. 39:15 You have the Burgundians, 39:16 which became known as the Swiss. 39:18 The Franks the French, the Lombards, the Italians, 39:20 the Saxons, the English, the Suevi, the Portuguese, 39:22 the Visigoths, the Spanish, 39:24 but then notice down here 39:25 these three the Heruli, Vandals, and the Ostrogoths 39:27 they no longer exist 39:29 because if you look up in the history, 39:31 what actually happened? 39:33 Well, Daniel Chapter 8 actually tells us that 39:35 the little horn was given an army. 39:37 And if you go back and study history, 39:38 you'll find that by the power and the authority 39:41 and the support of the French army 39:43 back in the day, the Franks, 39:45 they helped the pope 39:46 and the leadership of the papacy 39:48 to establish their dominance by the year 538 AD 39:52 and what that cost 39:54 was three entire nations of people, 39:56 the Heruli, the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, 39:59 they don't even exist anymore 40:00 because they were wiped completely out 40:02 by the power and influence of this papal reign. 40:06 Let's go on to the next one here. 40:07 Number five, the face of a man. 40:09 Daniel saw. 40:10 And Daniel again 7:8. 40:11 That's what, you'll notice all of these, 40:13 these first five here, 40:14 actually first six come from Daniel 7:8, 40:17 you can read that there. 40:19 He said, he saw the face of a man 40:20 eyes like the eyes of a man 40:22 and a mouth speaking great words 40:24 and blasphemies. 40:26 So again, in the Bible, 40:27 the facial features of a man or the head of a man 40:30 or the features of a man, when they're emphasized, 40:32 it's talking about a leadership figure. 40:34 So I believe very clearly what Daniel was seeing here, 40:36 in the face of that little horn, 40:38 that face of a man that's in that little horn, 40:40 he is seeing 40:42 that Antichrist leadership figure 40:45 who speaks and oversees 40:46 and leads out on behalf of this system, okay? 40:49 And we're gonna see here that, of course, in Rome, 40:52 do they have a leadership figure, 40:54 a man that speaks for them, a man that is an overseer, 40:58 a leadership figure that leads out 41:00 on behalf of this great papal system? 41:02 Of course, my friends, we know that that is no one, 41:04 none other than the office of the pope. 41:06 I have a picture of Pope Francis here. 41:08 He is the current pope, but there are many, many popes. 41:12 Again, we're not trying to say that, 41:13 you know, Pope Francis in and of himself, by himself, 41:16 again that the Antichrist system 41:18 is a system of people. 41:19 There's been multiple popes, 41:21 multiple people within this system 41:23 that have played a major role in its establishment 41:26 and its ongoing effort. 41:28 And again, I have a couple of other pictures here 41:30 they kind of show 41:31 that the office of the pope is not seen 41:34 as just some man 41:36 that there's almost a divinity applied here. 41:39 I think this is an ordination service 41:40 in which 41:41 obviously these new young priests 41:43 are coming in 41:44 and they're acknowledging their leader, basically, 41:47 very powerful 41:48 and even within the leadership of the church, 41:50 you know, the bishops and the cardinals. 41:51 And as you can see, in this next photo, 41:53 it's very clear that the pope is not just seen 41:56 as just a man, 41:57 but also 41:58 he has divine qualities about him 42:00 within the Catholic movement. 42:03 Number six, 42:04 let's look at our six identity here. 42:05 He saw that this mouth of this man 42:08 was speaking great words and blasphemies. 42:11 And you can read about this in Daniel 7:8, 42:14 as well as Revelation 13:5-6, and also in Revelation 17:3. 42:19 This is a blasphemous power. 42:21 What is blasphemy? 42:23 Well, if you allow the Bible to interpret itself, 42:25 you can commit blasphemy in three forms. 42:28 Basically, blasphemy 42:30 is assuming the Authority of God 42:32 in the form of either forgiving sins, 42:34 claiming to be God, 42:37 or simply persecuting others in the name of God. 42:41 So we see that that's a clear identification. 42:43 Does the Catholic Church fit that description? 42:45 I've never seen 42:46 any other church movement out there, 42:47 my friends, 42:49 or system that allows their leadership 42:51 to forgive people sins. 42:53 The Bible says only God can forgive sins. 42:55 And that's the blasphemy that Daniel was saying. 42:57 That's the blasphemy that John was saying 42:59 over in Revelation. 43:00 In fact, this comes from the Encyclical Letters 43:02 of Leo XIII, page 66. 43:05 He says, "We hold up on this earth, 43:07 the place of God Almighty." 43:10 And then here's another one from the Catholic National, 43:12 it says, "The pope 43:13 is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, 43:16 but he is Jesus Christ Himself, 43:19 hidden under the veil of the flesh." 43:22 My friends, again that according to the Bible, 43:24 identifying a man, 43:26 a created man as to be God Almighty. 43:29 My friends, the Bible makes it clear 43:30 that that is blasphemy. 43:32 As I love what Spurgeon said, he said, we need to pray, 43:35 we need to pray for these brothers. 43:38 Notice, identification number seven. 43:39 No one is gonna argue 43:41 that the Roman Papal Church State 43:42 is a persecuting power. 43:44 They are responsible for millions and millions. 43:46 In fact, it's estimated that 43:47 more than 50 million lives, my friends, 43:51 were claimed during the Dark Ages 43:53 because of them trying to root out 43:55 what they call heresy. 43:56 And they were trying to find the heretics 43:58 and anyone who didn't go along 43:59 with that papal ideology or the papal principles 44:03 they were found and they were persecuted. 44:05 And many of them, 44:06 millions of them lost their lives, 44:08 persecuting power 44:09 where it says they wear out the saints 44:10 of the Most High 44:12 according to Daniel 7:25 and also verse 21 there. 44:15 This is a persecuting power. 44:17 Notice number eight, it says, it thinks to change God's law. 44:21 Catholic Church, my friend, you can look at... 44:22 They have their own version of The Ten Commandments. 44:25 And right there very clearly, if you look this up, 44:28 the Catholic Church has their own version 44:29 of The Ten Commandments. 44:30 They've completely removed 44:32 the second commandment which says, 44:33 "Don't bow down and worship idols or graven images." 44:36 It's not even in their version of The Ten Commandments, 44:38 and so that they would have 10, 44:39 they went to the 10th commandment 44:41 which says don't covet your neighbor's wife 44:43 or your neighbor's belongings. 44:44 Guess what, they just cut, 44:46 you know, divided those up and gave 44:48 made it into two commandments. 44:49 Not to also mention they've also attempted 44:52 to change the Sabbath day. 44:55 The Sabbath day in the Bible 44:56 is the seventh day of the week, 44:57 which has always been Saturday, 44:59 but according to the Catholic Church, 45:01 the Lord's Day is the new Sabbath day. 45:04 And that's how you get the change 45:05 from Saturday to Sunday, 45:07 which again, there's no reference 45:09 of a change of the Sabbath in the Bible. 45:11 So changing God's law, 45:13 that's what the Bible says they would think, 45:14 to change God's law. 45:16 Number eight, excuse me, number nine says 45:18 they would rule for 1,260 years. 45:21 Well, if you do 45:23 your historical research, my friends, 45:24 you'll find that again 45:25 from their dominant recognition of supremacy 45:28 from 538 AD to 1798 AD. 45:33 And it's very ironic 45:35 how this comes about historically 45:36 because the French armies are the ones 45:38 that help the pope 45:39 and the Catholic Church come to power in 538 AD. 45:43 And it's ironic to see that by the time you count 45:45 1,260 years later, in 1798 AD, 45:50 it was a French King 45:52 by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte, 45:53 who sent his General Berthier into Rome. 45:56 He took the pope captive and he basically imprisoned him 46:00 and he just allowed the Catholic Church 46:02 to function as a church 46:04 and not a political agent or not a political system. 46:08 So does it fit number nine identification 46:10 where it says in Daniel 7:25, 46:12 that they would rule for a time times 46:14 and a half of time. 46:15 Or also in Revelation 13:5, 46:17 where it says they would rule for 42 months, 46:19 [inaudible], 1260 years. 46:25 There's no other institution that fits it better than that, 46:27 my friends. 46:29 Again, we're talking about the identity. 46:30 God is invested. 46:32 He's interested in you knowing 46:33 that who this great Antichrist system is 46:36 so that your eyes can be open, 46:39 and you can watch and be aware 46:41 of what is coming about in these last days. 46:44 If you know what the Bible says 46:45 about this Antichrist system, my friends, 46:47 it is not anything pretty, 46:48 and we need to be aware of it, 46:50 especially in the times we're living. 46:52 Number 10, we're getting down to the last few moments. 46:55 Hopefully we can get through this. 46:56 Number 10, 46:57 is the papal system a dominant world power? 47:00 Because if you read there in Revelation 13:3 and 8, 47:05 I mean, it makes it very clear 47:07 all the world wonders after this Antichrist beast, 47:11 that all whose names are not written 47:13 in the Lamb's Book of Life, 47:14 they begin to worship and give their allegiance 47:16 to this Antichrist system. 47:18 My friends, it's very clear. 47:20 And it's interesting that right now as we speak, 47:22 there are more than 1 billion Catholics 47:25 in the world. 47:27 And that's awesome 47:28 that there's professed Christians 47:29 that love Jesus, you know, again, 47:31 this isn't an attack 47:32 on the Catholic people as individuals, 47:33 but nonetheless, 47:35 this is not some little meely-neely little system 47:37 on the street corner of somewhere. 47:39 We're talking about 47:40 nearly one seventh of the world's population, 47:43 within a system, my friends, 47:44 that God is waking us up for, He's trying to awaken us. 47:48 He's trying to say, "Hey, wake up! 47:49 Let me show you who this is." 47:51 So you can be aware 47:52 of what happens when the time comes. 47:54 In fact, notice Revelation 17, 47:57 and the very first two or three verses. 47:59 Very interesting. 48:00 Notice what the Bible says 48:02 in reference to this harlot figure. 48:03 A woman in Bible prophecy represents a church, 48:06 very clear. 48:07 And we see a harlot woman, 48:08 a false counterfeit system of worship, 48:11 right here in Revelation 17. 48:12 Notice what the Bible says, beginning in verse 1, 48:15 John is told, he says, "Come hither, 48:16 I will shew unto thee 48:18 the judgment of the great whore 48:19 that sitteth upon many waters: 48:21 With whom," 48:22 notice, "the kings of the earth have committed fornication, 48:25 and the inhabitants of the earth 48:27 have been made drunk 48:28 with the wine of her fornication." 48:31 So again, another identification 48:32 very, very clearly made, 48:34 that this is not some just little small system. 48:37 This is a world dominant power. 48:38 And, my friends, 48:40 if you've been watching the news lately, 48:41 you know, that the Catholic leadership 48:43 as well as Pope Francis, he's been at work. 48:46 He is recognized as not just a religious figure, 48:49 but a powerful figure indeed. 48:50 The last three, let's look at these very clearly. 48:52 Wears colors of red and purple, 48:55 along with precious stones. 48:57 Is that what the Bible tells us? 48:58 Again, right there in Revelation 17:4, 49:01 one of those identifications, God says, 49:03 "If I can't make it any clearer, 49:05 let me show you what they wear. 49:06 Let me tell you what they wear." 49:08 And so we see right here 49:09 that they wear colors of red and purple 49:11 according to Revelation 17:4 notice what the Bible says. 49:14 "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, 49:16 and decked with gold 49:18 and precious stones and pearls." 49:20 My friends. 49:22 And then you see, here's some pictures here. 49:25 Oh, what are they wearing? 49:26 Red and purple. 49:27 Red and purple. 49:29 All this assembly's red and purple, 49:31 even down to the previous pope here, 49:33 Pope Benedict 49:34 and what appears to be some type of cardinal 49:35 or leadership figure, 49:37 red and purple 49:38 and the precious stones and pearls. 49:39 My friends, again, no other institution wears 49:41 except that God is trying to wake us up. 49:43 He's saying, "Hey, wake up. 49:44 Look, I'm giving you the keys. 49:45 I'm trying to identify who this enemy system is." 49:48 Notice the next one. 49:50 Their headquarters are located on seven mountains. 49:53 My friends, there's only one, 49:54 you can go Google it right now, just Google it. 49:56 What is the famous city on seven mountains 49:58 or seven hills? 49:59 It's only one, it's Rome. 50:01 It's Rome. 50:02 So God says, "Look, in case you're confused. 50:04 In case you've missed everything up to this point. 50:06 Let me clearly, let me take my finger, 50:08 put it on the map for you 50:09 and say this is where they're located." 50:11 The city that sets on seven hills, 50:12 it's Rome, my friends, 50:14 and then last but not least, notice this, 50:16 has a special relationship with the leaders of the world. 50:21 He says, "Come hither, 50:23 I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore 50:24 that sitteth upon many waters." 50:26 That's multitudes of people. 50:28 "With whom the kings of the earth 50:29 have committed fornication, 50:31 and the inhabitants of the earth 50:32 have been made drunk with the wine of the wrath 50:34 of her fornication." 50:35 My friends, all of these pictures, 50:37 look at this, 50:38 the pope meeting with presidents 50:39 and prime ministers, 50:41 all of these pictures were taken. 50:42 And you can see the pope's been a busy man. 50:45 The point of this is to show, my friends, 50:47 that God is invested in your eyes to be open. 50:51 Many people are looking at the word of the Lord 50:53 and they're saying, "Is the Antichrist coming?" 50:55 My friends, the Bible says 50:56 that the spirit of Antichrist is at work. 50:58 It's here now. 51:00 This Roman Papal Church State system again, 51:02 it's a system. 51:03 It's not a war on people. 51:04 There's wonderful loving people in the Catholic Church 51:06 who love Jesus 51:08 and I expect to see many of them 51:09 in the Kingdom of God, 51:11 but nonetheless, Jesus is saying, 51:13 "Identify this system, 51:16 raise the trumpet, blow the trumpet, 51:17 sound the alarm, 51:19 and allow My people to see her sins." 51:22 My friends, open your eyes, 51:24 and allow Jesus to see and to show you 51:26 and to lead and guide you in times like these. 51:30 Jesus should be uplifted. 51:32 Only Jesus deserves worship. 51:41 In Christ alone Will I glory 51:45 Though I could pride myself 51:48 In battles won 51:51 For I've been blessed Beyond measure 51:55 And by His strength alone 51:59 I'll overcome 52:03 Oh, I could stop And count successes 52:08 Like diamonds in my hands 52:13 But those trophies Could not equal 52:16 To the grace by which I stand 52:23 In Christ alone 52:27 I place my trust 52:31 And find my glory 52:34 In the power of the cross 52:38 In every victory 52:43 Let it be said of me 52:47 My source of strength 52:51 My source of hope 52:54 Is Christ alone 53:01 In Christ alone do I glory 53:05 For only by His grace 53:08 I am redeemed 53:11 For only His tender mercy 53:16 Could reach beyond My weakness 53:18 To my need 53:23 And now I seek no greater honor 53:28 Then just to know Him more 53:33 And to count my gains But losses 53:37 To the glory of my Lord 53:44 In Christ alone 53:47 I place my trust 53:51 And find my glory 53:54 In the power of the cross 53:59 In every victory 54:03 Let it be said of me 54:07 My source of strength 54:11 My source of hope 54:14 Is Christ alone 54:22 My source of strength 54:25 My source of hope 54:28 Is Christ alone. 54:46 In Christ alone, 54:49 I place my trust, 54:53 not in some man-made system, 54:57 not in any created man. 55:01 I'm sure the pope is probably a wonderful man, 55:04 probably someone that wanna sit down 55:05 and have a conversation with, but he is not Jesus Christ. 55:15 The Bible tells us in Revelation 18:4, 55:20 it says, "And I heard another voice from heaven, 55:22 saying, 'Come out of her, 55:24 my people, 55:26 that you be not partakers of her sins, 55:29 and that you receive not of her plagues.'" 55:35 Come out of her. 55:36 Jesus says, "I love you." 55:38 Notice how He said, "My people." 55:39 Does God have people in this Catholic system? 55:43 Yes, He does. 55:45 That's why I emphasize clearly, 55:46 this isn't a message to attack Catholic individuals 55:50 'cause God's got people in that system, 55:55 but He says, "Please, come out. 55:59 Let Me make you whole. Let Me transform you." 56:02 Because you see God's true remnant people. 56:05 You see there are people, 56:07 "That keep the commandments of God, 56:10 and have the testimony, not of the Pope, 56:13 not of the bishop, not of the cardinal, 56:18 but the testimony of Jesus Christ." 56:22 Oh, that's exciting. 56:25 Revelation 14:12 says, 56:27 "Here is the patience of the saints: 56:31 here are they 56:33 that keep the commandments of God, 56:36 and have the faith of Jesus." 56:39 Do you have the faith of Jesus? 56:42 I don't know where you are today 56:43 or where you're headed, 56:45 but I know this, Jesus loves you. 56:47 And He has died for you, your Savior, 56:52 who should not be eclipsed by any man or any institution, 56:57 but Jesus and Jesus alone deserves 57:01 glory and worship and honor. 57:05 So forget about some Antichrist 57:08 and to give your heart to the Christ, Jesus Christ. 57:14 I wanna thank you for joining us. 57:16 Have a blessed day, my friends, 57:18 and know that right here at 3ABN, 57:20 we love you, we care for you, 57:22 and we hope to see you back here 57:23 right here at 3ABN Worship Hour next week. 57:27 God bless. |
Revised 2020-09-04