Participants: Kenneth Cox
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000097
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00:25 We have had a tremendous time already here.
00:30 in this beautiful, beautiful sanctuary, our worship center, 00:35 at 3ABN. 00:37 We're located in West Frankfort, Illinois. 00:41 And we just hope that some of you will come and be with us 00:45 for these live Anchors. 00:48 We started last night, and tonight we're again. 00:52 And then tomorrow night at 7 pm. 00:55 And then Saturday morning, Sabbath morning, 00:58 at 11 am here. 01:00 And then we have an afternoon meeting in the afternoon. 01:04 So we'll be looking forward to some of you joining us 01:07 live and in person here. 01:09 And we've got a good group here this evening. 01:11 We had a great group last night. 01:13 And we heard a tremendous message. 01:17 It was so clear. 01:20 And I just was thrilled with the message last night. 01:24 Every time I hear these prophetic subjects, 01:27 it helps me to realize how much closer we are 01:32 to the Lord's return. 01:35 He's coming back. 01:36 You know, we're not living in the time way back 01:40 in the dark ages. 01:41 And the Lord has given us a road map, and we saw that last night. 01:46 We saw that 1260 day period. 01:49 We saw when it started, when it ended. 01:51 And that tells us that we are down at the time of the end. 01:58 And then we're going to look at some other prophecies, 02:01 time prophecies, that verify that even more. 02:05 And so I'm hoping that every single one of you will 02:10 be with us every single moment of this particular series. 02:17 It's on the rise of the antichrist tonight. 02:20 Pastor Kenneth Cox is a man who loves God, 02:24 who loves the Word of God. 02:26 He's been preaching this Word all over the world. 02:30 And tonight, he is with us here. 02:33 And by television he is preaching again 02:37 all over the world. 02:40 Before Pastor Cox comes and speaks to us, 02:43 Tina Berry is going to sing for us, 02:46 I Will Never Leave You Alone. 03:20 Wandering in the wilderness, stumbling in the dark; 03:27 life put me on a road I prayed I'd never have to walk. 03:35 Helpless and uncertain, staring at a wall; 03:42 I wondered where the Lord was in it all. 03:50 But God said, "I'll love you forever. 03:58 I will never leave you alone. 04:05 Days when you feel your heart can't take it, 04:12 I will be the One to make you strong. 04:19 I'll be there to help you carry on, 04:27 I will never leave you alone." 04:46 Picking up the pieces of dreams that had to die; 04:53 trying hard to understand and not to question why. 05:00 It took a while to realize what now I clearly see; 05:08 that holding on to Him meant letting go of me. 05:15 But God said, "I'll love you forever. 05:23 I will never leave you alone. 05:30 Days when you feel your heart can't take it, 05:38 I will be the One to make you strong. 05:45 I'll be there to help you carry on, 05:52 I will never leave you alone." 06:10 Oh, but God said, "I'll love you forever. 06:21 I will never leave you alone. 06:28 Days when you feel your heart can't take it, 06:36 I will be the One to make you strong. 06:43 I'll be there to help you carry on, 06:50 I will never leave you alone. 07:01 I will never leave you alone." 07:35 Thank you, Tina. 07:36 And welcome to the second presentation 07:40 in an Anchors Of Truth series entitled, 07:44 The Rise of the Antichrist. 07:47 And we're looking at the subject of the antichrist 07:50 during these presentations and different places in the 07:53 Scripture and what it has to say about him. 07:55 So we welcome each of you. 07:57 Those of you that are joining us by television, 08:00 we welcome you. 08:01 Or if you're listening to it on the radio, we welcome you. 08:04 We're glad that you're here. 08:06 And we hope you'll be blessed in a very special way 08:09 as we take a look at what the Scripture has to say about 08:12 this very, very vital and important subject. 08:17 Now it is my custom before I speak to pray. 08:22 And I try to follow that custom in my life. 08:29 And so I'm going to ask you if you'll join me in prayer. 08:31 I'm going to kneel and we're going to offer a word of prayer. 08:42 Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight 08:47 first asking, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit may fill this place. 08:54 May it fill our hearts. 08:57 Lord, may we be receptive to Your guidance 09:01 and to Your leading. 09:03 Give to us tonight, Lord, wisdom. 09:08 Give us understanding. 09:10 May our hearts be open. 09:13 And give us, Lord, the faith that we need 09:16 to walk in the light of Your Word. 09:19 And as we look at this important subject, Lord, 09:23 help us to understand where we are, what's happening, 09:27 what's taking place, and to prepare our hearts 09:31 for Your return. 09:33 For this we ask in Christ's name, amen. 09:44 As I mentioned, the series is entitled, 09:47 The Rise of the Antichrist. 09:50 But tonight's presentation, I have entitled the same. 09:53 Because we're going to Revelation the 13th chapter. 09:58 And the 13th chapter talks about the rise of the antichrist. 10:04 That's what it talks about. 10:05 So if you remember our previous presentation in which we 10:11 talked about the antichrist from Daniel the 7th chapter, 10:14 and you remember in that chapter it talked about a little horn. 10:19 And we went through the points of identification 10:23 for that little horn step by step. 10:25 So the Scripture gives us plenty of evidence 10:29 as to exactly who that little horn is. 10:33 As we went through those steps one by one, 10:37 we came down and it says that his dominion 10:41 was taken away from him. 10:43 And as we looked at history, we found out that his dominion 10:47 was taken away from him in 1798 by Napoleon. 10:53 Napoleon sent his general, Berthier, into Rome 10:57 and took the pope prisoner and brought an end 11:00 to the papal power in 1798. 11:03 This is where you're going to find that in Revelation 11:08 the 13th chapter it begins to take us a step farther. 11:13 You see, prophecy repeats and enlarges. 11:18 And it's in Revelation the 13th chapter that it enlarges 11:22 on that subject. 11:24 So we're going to look at this 13th chapter 11:28 starting with verse 1 and see what it has to say 11:31 about this beast. 11:33 Now it says here in Revelation... 11:35 Let me get my Bible open where I can read it, okay? 11:39 It says, Revelation 13 and verse 1... 11:55 So John, here in Revelation, is seeing a beast 11:59 coming up out of the sea. 12:02 In Bible prophecy water represents people, 12:06 nations, and tongues. 12:08 And so this is representing a beast that is coming up 12:11 from among the people. 12:13 And it says that it had seven heads and ten horns, 12:19 describing this particular beast. 12:22 Now John doesn't leave us any doubt, folks, 12:26 where he's coming from. 12:28 He makes it crystal clear. 12:29 Listen to this. 12:31 "Now the beast which I saw..." 12:47 Now if you were here for our previous presentation, 12:51 you remember we talked about these very different ones. 12:55 You remember that in our presentation, there was a 12:58 beast; there was a dragon, leopard, and so forth. 13:03 So John is talking about these to help you and I 13:06 know where we are. 13:07 So it goes on and says, "And they worshiped the dragon 13:12 who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped 13:14 the beast, saying..." 13:20 Now there's some important things here, 13:22 as we go through the Word of God, for you to remember 13:25 as we come back to them. 13:27 And one of the things that is so important here 13:29 is that of what? 13:31 What would you say is most important here? 13:34 The fact is that they worshiped. 13:36 It says they worshiped the dragon, 13:39 they worshiped the beast. 13:41 So this is not just a matter of a political power. 13:46 This is a matter of worship. 13:48 And they're worshiping this beast. 13:51 Alright, it continues. 13:53 "And he was given a mouth..." 14:01 So again, God is going through and identifying 14:06 point by point who this beast is so that you and I 14:11 do not have to be in doubt as to who this beast represents. 14:36 So this is not just some little power 14:39 that's off in the corner somewhere. 14:41 But this is a power that has held worldwide control. 14:47 Because it says that, "Authority was given him over every tribe, 14:51 tongue, and people." 15:10 So here, the Scripture has taken us step by step 15:14 and has lined up for us the points telling us about 15:17 this particular beast. 15:27 In our previous presentation, I mentioned something to you. 15:30 Because the Scripture talks, as you go through Daniel 15:33 and Revelation, it talks about these people that are wise. 15:38 And it says the wise shall do this. 15:41 And it says, "Here is wisdom." 15:43 Here is one who has understanding. 15:45 Here again in Revelation 13, it says, 15:48 if you have an ear, hear. 15:50 Listen to what the Scripture has to say. 15:53 This is what makes you wise unto... 15:59 ...salvation. 16:00 That's what it says; it makes you wise unto salvation. 16:04 These are special things that you and I need to understand 16:09 for the times in which we are living. 16:12 So now let's go back to that second verse 16:16 and take a look at it. 16:17 Because it carries some very, very vital information in it. 16:21 And it says, "Now the beast which I saw..." 16:40 Here, this beast is made up of parts of three other beasts. 16:49 And it says, "The dragon gave him his power, his seat, 16:53 and his great authority." 16:54 So in our previous presentation, 16:57 we found that there was a lion. 17:00 And we found that this lion represented the 17:04 kingdom of Babylon. 17:07 It represented Babylon. 17:09 And then we found that Babylon was overthrown by Medo-Persia. 17:17 And Medo-Persia was overthrown by Greece. 17:22 And Greece was overthrown by Rome. 17:26 Now the thing that's important here, folks, 17:28 is that Daniel, and even John, that's as far as they take it. 17:35 I run into people who are all the time trying to put in 17:38 some other nation, some other power. 17:40 Scripture doesn't do that. 17:41 It talks about Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, and Rome. 17:44 And then it says when Rome is done, it's over. 17:49 That's what it says. 17:51 And so we need to follow exactly what the Scripture 17:54 is saying here when it talks about these four powers. 17:59 Alright, points of identification. 18:02 Because he's going to identify who this beast is. 18:06 One, it says... 18:11 That's where his power and authority is going to come from; 18:14 is from the dragon. 18:30 Now those are points that the Scripture gives 18:32 identifying exactly who this beast is. 18:38 So we're going to see some interesting things here. 18:41 Because we find that this beast of Revelation 13 18:45 is exactly the same power as the little horn of Daniel 7. 18:51 It's the very same power. Watch. 18:54 Revelation 13 verse 2. 19:01 Daniel 7:24 19:06 Now in our previous presentation, as we 19:08 talked about that, we found out that this little horn 19:12 would rise up out of where? 19:17 It says, "Who shall arise from this kingdom." 19:20 What kingdom was that? 19:22 That kingdom was pagan Rome. 19:25 Okay, when you look at the dragon here, 19:28 the dragon represents the power of pagan Rome. 19:32 So it says that this beast would receive its power, 19:37 its seat, and its authority from pagan Rome. 19:42 Exactly what the Scripture says. 19:44 It tells you exactly where it starts, where it comes from. 19:47 And when you go back in history, history makes that very clear. 19:51 Because this is what it says... 20:10 So we remember, this tells us clearly that Vigilius 20:15 ascended to the papal throne in 538 AD. 20:20 "Vigilius ascended the papal chair in 538..." 20:26 And other places in history says that the Bishop of Rome 20:32 stepped to the seat of Caesar and seized the scepter. 20:37 So we find that history bears this out. 20:42 The Bishop of Rome was put out; Silverius. 20:48 And in his place, Vigilius was put there. 20:51 Justinian, who was the Emperor, never had any inkling, 20:57 as far as I can tell, that this would take over. 21:02 He simply saw this as simply the Bishop of Rome. 21:06 But as time passed, the Bishop of Rome, as history says, 21:10 reached out and took hold of the scepter and stepped to the 21:13 seat of Caesar. 21:16 And so, you find that pagan Rome gave to papal Rome 21:22 its power, its seat, and its authority. 21:28 538 AD, you need to mark that date. 21:33 It become very, very important. 21:36 Alright, let's go to verse 5. 21:45 Daniel 7:25, speaking of the little horn, 21:49 that he was given authority... 21:55 So it speaks of these, this little horn. 21:58 It says he was given time, times, and a half a time. 22:02 It says that the beast of Revelation 13 22:05 was given 42 months. 22:07 So when we take a look at that, we found out that he 22:10 ascended to the throne in 538 AD. 22:16 So let's see what we find. 22:18 Forty-two months. 22:20 In biblical reckoning of time, there is 30 days 22:24 in a biblical month. 22:25 And I mentioned this previously. 22:26 If you need to tie that down, go to Genesis, take a look. 22:31 Read the story of the flood. 22:32 Genesis 8, 9, 10, 11. In there. 22:36 And you'll find it will tell you that there are 30 days 22:39 in a biblical month. 22:40 It makes that very clear. 22:42 So if you multiply 30 times 42, what does it give you? 22:49 1260. 22:51 So it says it was given unto his hand for 1260 days. 22:57 Time, times, and half a time in the biblical reckoning of time, 23:03 a time represents one year. 23:06 And in biblical time, there are 360 days in a biblical year. 23:12 Times; two years. 720. 23:15 Half a time; a half of a year. 180. 23:18 Total those, that gives you 1260 days. 23:22 Exactly the same period of time for the little horn, 23:27 as well as for the beast of Revelation 13. 23:30 And we're told in Scripture that a day represents one year. 23:34 So I have 42 months; 1260. 23:37 And it says, "I have laid on you..." 23:44 So we found that the papal power ascended to the throne 23:51 in 538 AD. 23:55 And it says it would be given unto his hand for 1260 days. 24:01 And a day represents a year. 24:03 It means 1260 years takes us to 1798. 24:10 This in history, folks, is a period known as the 24:14 time of papal supremacy. 24:18 That's what it's known in history. 24:19 And it says in the Scripture that it would be 24:22 given unto his hand; and it says that everyone, 24:25 over all nations, tribes, and tongues, and people. 24:28 And during that 1260 years, the papal power held 24:32 absolute control over everyone. 24:37 This was exactly as the Scripture said it would be. 24:43 "And he was given a mouth..." 24:50 Daniel 7:25 24:56 So the little horn of Daniel 7, the beast of Revelation 13, 25:01 are both speaking things, great things; things against God. 25:07 And I shared with you in the previous presentation 25:10 statements where they take that position. 25:14 And I'll share with you just a couple again tonight. 25:17 This is what they say, this is a matter of recorded history. 25:22 And it says, "On The Authority of the Councils..." 25:35 It says, all the names that apply to Jesus 25:41 are applied to the pope. 25:44 Another one. 25:46 This is from a statement from the "Prompia Bibliotheca." 26:05 So when it says he would speak great words 26:08 against the Most High, pompous words against the Most High, 26:12 indeed he has done just that. 26:15 This is part of the thing that identifies the antichrist. 26:20 We'll come to that in a little bit and see 26:22 where the Scripture uses that to identify the antichrist. 26:28 "It was granted to him to make war with the saints..." 26:34 Daniel 7:25 26:40 So you can see it's following the same pattern. 26:42 One thing right after another, just the same as Daniel 7 did. 26:46 And it says he would make war against God's people. 26:51 It would wear out the saints of the Most High. 26:54 "History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of 26:57 Rationalism in Europe," by Lecky. 27:00 And he says... 27:12 And some historians say that she has taken the life 27:18 of 100 to 150 million people. 27:23 And all you have to do if you want to look at this 27:26 and see what history says about it is read. 27:31 Let me just mention some for you to read. 27:35 Read, "The Rise and the Fall..." 27:38 Oh excuse me. 27:39 Read "Reformation" by D'Aubigne. 27:46 "The History..." Excuse me, I'll get it right. 27:48 "The History of the Reformation," by D'Aubigne. 27:51 Read, "Here I Stand," by Bainton. 27:56 Read, "Short Stories of the Reformation," by Short. 28:02 Read, "The History of Europe," by Qualbin. 28:05 Read, "The Great Controversy," by White. 28:08 All of those will outline for you in detail 28:12 the people that gave their lives and suffered 28:15 because of this power. 28:17 And it says that they would do this. 28:19 They would take the lives of God's people 28:23 during that period of time, the 1260 years of papal supremacy. 28:28 So as you're looking at this, you can put it together 28:31 and see what has happened and taken place. 28:35 "And I saw one of its heads as if it had been 28:38 mortally wounded," Revelation 13:3. 28:43 Daniel 7:26 28:48 So both of them are having a time where ones says 28:51 his dominion is taken, the other says it receives a deadly wound. 28:55 And again, we talked about this in our previous presentation, 28:58 when Napoleon sent his general, Berthier, 29:04 into Rome and took the pope prisoner. 29:08 This is what the Encyclopedia Americana has to say. 29:12 "In 1798, he, Berthier..." 29:24 Now that all took place as the Scripture said. 29:27 It says it would be given unto his hand for a 29:30 period of 1260 years, bringing us to 1798. 29:38 Now we talked a little bit about this last night. 29:40 And I want to make it real clear. 29:43 When we reach 1798, the Scripture defines that period 29:49 as the time of the end. 29:52 It says it will be 1260 years until the time of the end. 29:57 And so, you and I tonight are living in the time of the end. 30:03 That's when we're living. 30:06 The Scripture also, as we looked at Daniel 7, 30:10 he told about certain events that would happen. 30:13 And he said, after 1798 the next event to look for would be 30:19 that of the judgment. 30:22 That's what it says. It's very clear. 30:23 The next event to look for would be that of the judgment. 30:28 And then it says that after the judgment, 30:30 the next event that would take place would be 30:33 the coming of Jesus Christ. 30:36 So we've come a long way down through time. 30:40 And we're into that period of time. 30:44 And it can't be long until Jesus is coming. 30:49 And so the Scripture makes that very, very clear. 30:53 Now it's at this point where Revelation picks up 31:00 and brings it on down into our time. 31:05 Both John and Paul believed this power in Revelation 13 31:13 was the antichrist. 31:16 I want to say that again. 31:18 Both John and Paul believed this power was the antichrist. 31:23 The word "antichrist" is used only four times in Scripture. 31:28 That's all. 31:30 It's used in 1st and 2nd John. 31:33 That's where it's used. 31:35 I want to read to you a couple of text from John, 1st John. 31:42 It says this. 31:56 Okay, he said you have heard that the antichrist is coming. 32:02 Now this is John speaking, folks. 32:04 This is back in 85 AD, somewhere along there. 32:09 And he says, even now many antichrists 32:14 are already in the world. 32:16 The Bible, John himself, defines that if a person 32:19 denies the Father or the Son, he's an antichrist. 32:23 That's what John defines it as. 32:25 So that's what he means when he says there's many antichrists 32:28 in the world. 32:29 But he also says more than that. 32:31 He said there's an antichrist that is coming. 32:35 So he's making a distinction between two different ones. 32:39 Not just a person who denies the Father and the Son, 32:41 but he says there's an antichrist that is coming. 32:47 1 John 4:3 33:00 So John says this is the spirit. 33:03 He doesn't say antichrist is there, but he said the 33:06 spirit of the antichrist is already in the world, 33:10 and it's coming. 33:11 So he, John, was clearly looking for that to take place. 33:16 And he says the spirit of the antichrist is coming. 33:19 Now Paul pinpoints it. 33:22 He talks about it very clearly. 33:24 And Paul has this to say. 33:26 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 3 and 4. 33:29 "The man of sin is revealed..." 33:31 That is the antichrist. 33:52 So Paul picks up this very thing of him speaking 33:56 great words against God, or pompous words. 33:58 And he says, "This is an indication of the antichrist. 34:03 No question about it." 34:05 So you and I need to be very, very clear 34:09 on who the antichrist is. 34:11 Now let's come on down to our time. 34:21 It received a deadly wound when? 34:26 1798, that's when it received its deadly wound. 34:29 But now it says the deadly wound is going to be healed. 34:36 So it means there's going to be a healing that 34:38 takes place there and that the antichrist will rise. 34:43 I wish I had a clearer picture than this, 34:46 but that's the best one I could get. 34:49 With the papal power being taken away, 34:55 Napoleon setting up a secular power in place of it. 34:59 This began in history what was called, The Roman Question. 35:05 Now there were many, many efforts made, folks, 35:09 to try to settle the Roman question. 35:13 But every time they tried to settle it, it was always 35:17 dependent upon the Italian Parliament. 35:20 And the papal power would not accept that. 35:24 Just refused to accept that. 35:26 And that went back and forth, back and forth, 35:29 for over 100 years. 35:34 When Napoleon came in and overthrew the papal power, 35:39 took the pope, took him back to France, and he died in prison, 35:44 they elected a new pope. 35:46 He moved back to the Vatican and didn't show his face 35:51 for 50 years. 35:53 This was called, the voluntary imprisonment of the pope. 35:57 Didn't show his face for 50 years. 36:00 But this went on back and forth, back and forth, 36:04 until all of a sudden, or I shouldn't say all of a sudden, 36:08 there arose an individual who was not controlled 36:12 by the Italian Parliament. 36:15 He was a dictator. 36:17 His name was Mussolini. 36:21 And Mussolini decided that he would settle the Roman question. 36:27 And so conferences were set up with the papal power. 36:31 And this went on for several years. 36:33 But finally, they came to an agreement and they formed 36:38 what in history is known as, The Lateran Treaty, 36:42 or The Lateran Pact. 36:44 And this is a picture of the pope signing the Lateran Treaty. 36:50 That's what it is. 36:52 And this took place in 1929. 36:58 And history has recorded it with these words... 37:09 Now listen to the way they worded this. 37:13 It's, to me, amazing that they would word it with these words. 37:20 "The Roman question tonight... 37:38 It said it would receive a deadly wound. 37:40 They used almost the same phraseology. 37:48 1929, the Lateran Treaty was signed and it did something 37:55 that was most, most important and vital. 38:01 This is what it did. 38:02 February 11, 1929 38:15 Do you understand that? 38:17 I told you in the previous meeting that a church 38:22 has no power. 38:25 It has no power to enforce its dogmas. 38:30 There's no way a church can enforce its belief. 38:34 Unless it assumes state power. 38:40 It has to assume civil power. 38:42 When it does that, it can now enforce its beliefs. 38:49 Here, 1929, the Catholic church, who had lost its status 38:54 as a sovereign power, it was given back to it. 38:59 That means they are a sovereign nation, the just the same 39:02 as any other. 39:05 I have people call me up and they get upset 39:11 like when the pope comes over here. 39:14 And they'll call me up and say, "Brother Cox, 39:16 this is not right." 39:19 They say, "He comes over here and we spend millions, 39:22 literally, of dollars protecting him and providing for him, 39:27 and spending your tax money and all to care for him." 39:31 I'm sorry, it is right. 39:34 It is right because we guarantee to foreign powers 39:41 that protection. 39:43 And he is a head of a power. 39:46 Let me ask you another question. 39:48 Why is it that the pope has spoken to the United Nations? 39:56 Why is that? 40:02 Do you know of any other religious leader that has ever 40:04 spoken to the United Nations? 40:08 Who? 40:09 The Dalai Lama. Why? 40:12 Because he's the head of a nation, 40:14 a sovereign government. 40:16 The pope is the head of a sovereign government. 40:19 Therefore, he has the right to speak to the United Nations. 40:22 So did the Dalai Lama. 40:24 So it puts them in a position that is totally different 40:28 than any other church in the world. 40:31 Okay? 40:32 It paid them 21 million dollars for the spoliation 40:38 of the papal states. 40:39 These were the papal states that Napoleon took away from them. 40:42 It paid them 21 million dollars. 40:44 Now folks, this is in 1929. 40:48 In order to pay that debt, the country of Italy 40:54 paid to the papal power 3.25 million lire every year 41:03 for 56 years. 41:08 That's what they did to pay that debt. 41:11 It gave them the right to receive ambassadors 41:18 and to send ambassadors to every country in the world. 41:24 It gave them that right. 41:26 If you wanted to go to one place in the world 41:31 where you would find more ambassadors 41:34 in close proximity to each other, where would you go? 41:43 You'd go to Rome. 41:44 You'd go to the papacy. 41:46 Because they have ambassadors there from all the different 41:50 countries of the world. 41:53 Okay? 41:54 It also gave to them diplomatic immunity. 41:59 That was what was granted to them. 42:01 That's a power that was granted to them 42:03 because they're a nation. 42:05 And it brought church and state together. 42:11 It brought those together. 42:13 This is what makes it totally and completely different 42:17 than any other church power. 42:21 Any other one. 42:22 Because it is strictly a church and state united into one. 42:30 "And all the world marveled..." 42:36 "All the world marveled and followed the beast." 42:42 Well let's see what has happened. 42:44 What has happened since that day? 42:48 What has happened since 1929? 42:51 Well in 1929, the membership of the Catholic church... 42:56 If you go back and try to find it, you can't even find it. 43:00 I mean, they had some membership. 43:03 No question about it. 43:05 But how many was not very significant. 43:08 But today, the membership stands at 1.4 billion people. 43:17 Now I hope you're putting that together. 43:19 That's how much it has grown since 1929. 43:24 By the way, when you go back and you read 43:27 what the pope said there when he signed the Lateran Treaty, 43:32 do you know how he ended his speech? 43:36 He ended his speech by saying, "Have babies." 43:42 That's how he ended it. 43:44 "Have babies." 43:46 And the church has literally grown, mushroomed, 43:49 until today it is at 1.4 billion. 43:54 Now I'm going to be saying more as we go into other 43:58 aspects of this little horn, or the antichrist. 44:02 But I want to just say this to you, folks. 44:06 Look at it very carefully. 44:10 Because not only has it grown, but you live in a democracy. 44:17 Do you understand that? 44:20 Do you understand that? 44:22 In a democracy, who rules? 44:27 The majority. 44:30 Did you get that? 44:32 In a democracy, the majority rules. 44:38 So you need to look at that very, very carefully. 44:41 Their membership has skyrocketed. 44:44 Ambassadors, they had none in 1929. 44:49 Didn't exist. 44:51 Today, they have 180 ambassadors. 44:57 I think if you could remember back in the 45:00 days of Richard Nixon. 45:03 Do you remember him? 45:05 Well Richard Nixon decided that he was going to send 45:08 an ambassador to the Vatican. 45:11 He got so many telegrams and so many letters 45:14 from the American people against it that he decided not to do it. 45:19 And he sent his own personal envoy to the Vatican 45:24 in that of Henry Cabot Lodge. 45:27 And he was the representative from the president 45:30 to the papacy. 45:35 Well, several of the presidents after that 45:41 decided they would try to do the same. 45:44 Gerald Ford talked about it some. 45:48 Even made some mentions of it in his campaigning, and so forth. 45:54 But wasn't able to ever do anything, 45:57 and kept Henry Cabot Lodge as his representative. 46:01 And then along came Jimmy Carter. 46:04 And it was part of Jimmy Carter's plank. 46:07 I mean, he talked about it, said he was going to do it, 46:09 and everything. 46:10 But when he got elected, he just forgot it. 46:14 Didn't say anything about it. 46:16 And then along came Ronald Reagan. 46:22 And Ronald Reagan said nothing about it. 46:27 I mean, not in any of his speeches or all. 46:29 He didn't say anything about it. 46:31 Just when he became president, he did it. 46:35 And he put in our first ambassador to the Vatican. 46:39 And tonight, we have an ambassador to the papacy 46:42 from the United States. 46:45 And so, nation after nation around the world 46:48 have ambassadors that represent the countries. 46:53 When it comes to civil power, it's sovereign. 46:59 I mean, it carries supreme weight. 47:04 And then when it comes to leadership, it's at the top. 47:10 I mean, there's not any decisions, folks, that are made 47:14 that they're not consulted. 47:16 It's part of it. 47:17 They represent 1.4 billion people. 47:26 And so, if you're going to consider them a civil power, 47:30 and they have that kind of membership, 47:35 you have to consider them. 47:37 And by the way, do you know what the population of the world is? 47:44 Well it's a little over seven billion. 47:46 So when you stop and think that they have a membership 47:50 of 1.4 billion, they have to be considered. 47:54 And they are. 47:55 And they carry, very, very, very strong weight 48:00 in the leadership of what happens and takes place 48:03 in this old world. 48:04 How much does it affect it? 48:08 How much does it control? 48:10 Well, a few years ago Pope John Paul II died. 48:22 And with his death, people came by the hundreds of thousands, 48:29 over a million, to attend his funeral. 48:35 The press, in fact, that was on the TV and in the newspapers 48:43 for weeks as it talked about his death. 48:46 In fact, just recently I heard something where they decided 48:50 that they're going to make him a saint. 48:52 And so here we have, if you look at it there, 48:58 we have three presidents of the United States 49:04 kneeling before the pope. 49:09 Attended his funeral, kneeling there before the pope. 49:13 And so we have this very situation in which it says 49:18 that all the world wondered after the beast. 49:23 And dear friend, how can it be more than that today? 49:26 How could it be more than what's happening today? 49:30 And then here in just the last few months, 49:35 we've elected a new pope. 49:39 Pope Francis. 49:41 The first time we've gone outside and elected a pope 49:47 from South America. 49:50 Argentina. 49:53 He came there, and if you watch the news just in the last 49:58 day or two as he's making this trip, there's huge crowds 50:03 turning out to meet him. 50:06 All the world bows and turns to the pope and follows him. 50:12 These are the things that the Scripture tells you and I 50:15 that we need to watch. 50:18 And what concerns me more, I think, than anything else, 50:20 folks, is there's things that come up that grab our attention 50:25 and take us away from what the Scripture teaches. 50:29 The Scripture teaches very clearly that this is what's 50:32 going to be the things that will happen in the last days. 50:37 And it puts it and it zeros in on the antichrist 50:41 and what he's going to do in the last days. 50:43 And somebody raises a smoke screen and takes our attention 50:47 off of that and diverts us to some other idea 50:51 rather than what the Scripture says. 50:53 And we need to stay clear with what the Scripture teaches 50:57 and says is going to happen in the last days. 51:00 And so don't let something come up and say, 51:04 "Oh, well this is what it is." 51:05 No, stick with the Word of God. 51:08 This is what it says. 51:10 This is what's going to happen, what's going to take place. 51:15 Now it's most important that if you and I 51:24 are going to make it into the kingdom, 51:26 then we need to be aware. 51:29 And fortunately... 51:32 Or unfortunately. 51:33 I don't care how you look at it. 51:35 Fortunately, you're living in the last days. 51:40 You're living in the time when many of these things 51:42 are happening, as we've talked about tonight. 51:44 You've seen these things happen. 51:47 So you're living in the time that the Scripture refers to 51:50 as the time of the end. 51:53 And certainly, folks, we're coming down to the 51:56 end of the judgment. 51:59 And when the judgment is over... 52:01 That's what it tells us clearly there in Daniel 8 and 9. 52:05 That's what it tells us in the book of Hebrews. 52:07 That's what it says in the book of Revelation. 52:09 When the judgment is over, then Christ is going to come back. 52:14 And you and I need to be prepared for the 52:17 coming of our Lord. 52:19 We need to be ready. 52:21 And the only way you're going to be ready, 52:26 you've got to spend time in this book. 52:29 You have to spend time in this book. 52:31 Let me tell you something now, folks. 52:35 You could read the Scripture all you wanted to, 52:39 and be just as lost as lost can be. 52:43 Do you understand that? 52:46 You can read the Scripture and absolutely be lost. 52:51 Because in order to read the Scripture, 52:53 something has to happen to you. 52:56 And that is, you have to surrender your soul. 53:02 You have to surrender your soul to the work of the Holy Spirit. 53:06 The Holy Spirit has to come into your life 53:08 and He has to do His work in your life. 53:11 And only then, as you read the Scripture 53:14 and you surrender your heart and soul to Him, 53:17 then the Scripture can have its part and its place in your life 53:20 and will bring about the transformation 53:22 that needs to take place. 53:25 So take the time. 53:28 Take time to read the Word of God. 53:31 Get into it. 53:32 Find out what it has to say and have the faith 53:37 to walk in what it has to say. 53:40 Because these are the people right down at the end. 53:51 Do you know what that means when it says, 53:53 "Many shall be purified, made white, and refined." 53:59 That's means a transformation of your character. 54:04 That's what it's talking about. 54:07 You can't be so set in your ways that the Holy Spirit 54:12 can't change you. 54:15 And in order to change you, you have to be humble. 54:19 You have to be willing. 54:21 You have to be willing to let the Holy Spirit 54:23 do its work in your life. 54:26 And if you're not that way, it won't do any good. 54:30 And you can believe things and doctrines, and so forth. 54:35 But oh dear friend, if you don't surrender your heart and soul, 54:42 you won't make it into the kingdom. 54:44 It takes that. 54:47 You can believe, but you've got to surrender 54:52 and you've got to let the Holy Spirit work in your life. 54:55 "But the wicked shall do wickedly..." 55:02 Don't expect the wicked to understand. 55:04 They are not going to understand what's happening. 55:07 When it talks about this refining of your heart 55:11 and changing your life, they're not going to understand that. 55:14 Don't expect them to. 55:16 "But the wise shall understand." 55:21 This special group of people called the maskilim, 55:26 they are the wise and they'll understand. 55:30 And they know what takes place in a person's life. 55:34 And you and I must be together. 55:39 We must stay together. We must uphold one another. 55:42 We must love one another. 55:44 We must hold them up, because things are going to 55:46 go the other way. 55:47 And the work of the antichrist is going to happen, 55:51 it's going to take place. 55:52 And you and I need to make sure that we're among this group 55:57 that's the wise. 55:58 We need to follow the Lord, walk with Him. 56:02 Let us pray. 56:03 Heavenly Father, we thank You. 56:08 We thank You, Lord, for the admonition of Your word. 56:13 Thank You that we can turn to You and know that You are there 56:18 and that You're willing to come into our lives and 56:21 to do Your work. 56:23 Help us, Lord. 56:25 Help us just to turn over everything to You, 56:30 to let You control our lives. 56:33 Help us, Lord, to be willing, to be humble, to be open 56:42 to the work of the Holy Spirit. 56:44 Grant to each one here tonight, Lord, and each one watching 56:49 on television, grant to them, Lord, a special 56:54 outpouring of your Spirit into their lives, 56:58 that all of us may have the opportunity and the privilege, 57:02 of being in Your kingdom. 57:04 We thank You, Lord, for the promises of Your word. 57:08 These things we ask in Your name, amen. 57:13 Now tomorrow our subject is, The Antichrist Partner. 57:21 And we're going to talk about one who is a partner 57:24 with the antichrist and what they do. 57:27 So you need to be sure and watch that. 57:29 God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17