Participants: Jac Colon
Series Code: RNN
Program Code: RNN000006
|
00:17 Open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke 3:21.
00:22 John the Baptist was in the waters 00:26 of the Jordon River, baptizing people 00:32 when suddenly he looked up, pointed and said look 00:38 the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. 00:46 And he saw Jesus walking down into the water 00:50 asking John to baptize Him. 00:54 Jesus was baptized in verse 21 we can read about it. 00:59 "When all the people were being baptized, 01:03 Jesus was baptized too. 01:06 And as he was praying, heaven opened 01:10 and the Holy Spirit descended on him like a dove. 01:17 And then a voice from heaven came and said, 01:21 "You are my Son, whom I love 01:26 with you I am well pleased." 01:30 Now Jesus Himself was about 30 years old, 01:35 it says when He began His ministry, 01:39 a ministry that would last three and one half years 01:46 and at the end of that time, Jesus suffered a deadly wound 01:51 when He died on the cross. 01:55 But that wasn't the end of the story was it, 01:59 because three days later that deadly wound was healed 02:03 and He rose again, ascended to heaven 02:07 and then He sent the Holy Spirit 02:11 to perform miracles and wonders 02:16 as the spirit gathered the world 02:20 in to God's church in order 02:26 to worship the Creator God. 02:30 Jesus watch this, get it emblazed 02:33 in your conscious mind Jesus himself was baptized 02:38 came out of the water, the Father gave him 02:41 His authority as the Messiah empowering and anointing Him 02:47 with the Holy Spirit to perform His ministry 02:50 for three and half years at the end of that time He died, 02:54 received the deadly wood then He was raised up again 02:57 as that wound was healed, He ascended to heaven, 03:00 sent the Holy Spirit to perform miracles. 03:03 And by the power of the miracles God gathered His people 03:07 into His church to worship the Creator of the heavens 03:12 and the earth, that's the kingdom of God. 03:19 We're in Revelation 13, we see something else. 03:29 Verse 1 the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. 03:34 The dragon is the devil remember, 03:37 And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. 03:40 So, there is the dragon, the devil looking out 03:44 over the water and he sees a beast 03:49 coming up out of the water. 03:53 And then watch this in the verse 2 03:55 "The dragon gave the beast his power, 03:58 his throne and great authority." 04:02 So as the beast comes up out of the water, 04:06 the dragon gives him his authority 04:09 and he was given authority, the Bible says in verse 5. 04:15 "He was given authority for forty-two months". 04:17 Now, do the math forty-two months 04:19 divided by twelve that's three and half years. 04:24 Now, he says it in a different way because 04:25 the beast is a counterfeit to the truth. 04:28 Jesus' ministry three and half years 04:31 the beast ministry 42. 04:33 The counterfeit has to look like the real thing 04:37 in order to deceive any one. 04:40 So he has his authority for 42 months 04:43 that's three and half years and then look at verse 3. 04:48 "One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had 04:49 a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed." 04:57 You're beginning to see 05:00 a parallel here, it's not over. 05:07 Verse 11, "Another beast, comes up out of the earth. 05:10 But he had two horns like a lamb." 05:15 But he spoke like the dragon, 05:17 look like a lamb, speaks like a dragon. 05:20 And not only that verse 13 says, 05:23 "He performed great and miraculous signs, 05:25 miracles," and verse 14, 05:28 "Because of the signs of the miracles, 05:30 he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, 05:33 he deceived the inhabitants of the earth 05:35 into worshiping the first beast. 05:38 Verse 8, "All of the inhabitants of the earth will worship 05:41 the first beast except for those whose names are written 05:44 in the book of life belonging to the Lamb." 05:48 Now, follow what's happening just as Jesus came out 05:51 of the water, the Father gave Him His authority 05:54 as the Messiah for His ministry three and half years. 05:57 At the end of that time He was crucified died on the cross, 06:01 but He was raised up again, ascended to heaven and sent 06:05 the Holy Spirit to do miracles to gather 06:08 the world into His church. 06:10 So the counterfeit, the dragon watches his son 06:15 the beast come up out of the water and he gives 06:18 the beast his power and his authority and the authority 06:21 that was to last three and half years, 06:23 42 months at the end of which he receives a deadly wound. 06:27 A deadly wood is healed and he sends the false prophet 06:31 to perform miracles and gather the world 06:34 into his church... 06:38 to worship the beast. 06:45 Dragon, the beast, and the false prophet 06:48 are the counterfeit of the Father, 06:50 the Son and the Holy Spirit 06:55 and it is a counterfeit kingdom of God. 07:00 He look like a lamb, those who follow the beast 07:03 think they are following the lamb. 07:08 They are deceived by the miracles. 07:10 They are deceived by the power displayed. 07:13 They are deceived by what they see 07:16 and they can't hear that he speaks like the dragon. 07:27 So the whole purpose of the dragon, 07:30 the beast and the false prophet is to establish a people 07:36 who will worship the dragon but no one will worship the devil, 07:42 that's why he gives his authority to the beast. 07:46 And those who worship the beast, 07:48 think they are worshiping God because he looks like a lamb, 07:54 but he speaks like the dragon. 07:59 The counterfeit kingdom of God is a counterfeit system 08:07 of worship which we commonly 08:12 would call the church. 08:18 You shouldn't be surprised. 08:21 We learned the other day in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 08:29 "Concerning the coming of our Lord, 08:32 Jesus Christ, Paul writes to the church 08:35 at Thessalonica and our being gathered to him, 08:40 so Paul is talking about the time when the church 08:44 that's them and us are going to be gathered 08:48 to Jesus Christ that's the rapture of Jesus Christ, 08:52 our of the church to Jesus, our being gathered to Him. 08:55 Look, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled 08:58 or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposing 09:02 to have come from us, saying the day 09:04 of the Lord has already come. 09:06 Oh, they thought that Jesus already came and they missed it, 09:11 so Paul said no, Don't let anyone fool you in any way, 09:18 for that day will not come until a rebellion occurs 09:25 and the man of lawlessness that's the Antichrist 09:28 is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 09:31 Don't let anyone tell you that Jesus has already come 09:34 because that day will not come until the antichrist, 09:39 the man of rebellion is revealed. 09:42 This verse tells us that before Jesus comes to gather 09:48 His church to Himself, the antichrist 09:52 will be revealed first, before he comes. 09:59 And there must be a rebellion. 10:05 Now the Greek word for rebellion, 10:07 apostasia means an apostasy of falling away from the truth. 10:14 So there would be a great apostasy, 10:16 a greater falling away and then the antichrist 10:20 would be revealed and then Jesus comes. 10:24 Now watch what happens. 10:26 Verse 4, "He that's the antichrist 10:28 will oppose and exalt himself over everything 10:34 that is called God or is worshiped, 10:37 so that he sets himself up in God's temple, 10:40 proclaiming himself to be God." 10:45 So the antichrist sets himself up in God's temple and he says, 10:50 I'm God and he establishes himself as the one that should 10:56 be worshiped by using the power of the dragon 11:00 and his authority bestowed upon the beast. 11:03 And the power of the false prophet 11:06 worshiping miracles, he says, I'm God, worship me. 11:10 Now he sets himself up in God's temple everyplace 11:13 in the New Testament that uses the word God's temple 11:17 or the temple of God, it is always referring 11:20 to the church of Jesus Christ. 11:22 He is the cornerstone and we are the living stones in the temple, 11:29 so the antichrist then sets himself up in God's church. 11:34 And he says, I'm God and practically 11:38 the entire world including many in God's church will worship 11:43 the beast instead of the lamb, 11:48 because he looks like a lamb. 11:53 The word anti in Greek 11:57 actually means in place of Christ. 12:04 Antichrist means in place of Christ. 12:09 He sets himself up in Christ's place. 12:11 He says, I'm Christ, worship me. 12:16 And the Bible tells us practically the whole world 12:18 follows and today practically the whole world following 12:23 the lead of popular book writers, 12:26 novel writers like Dr. Tim LaHaye's Left behind 12:29 or waiting for the temple to be rebuilt and for the antichrist 12:35 to go in and to smash the temple and the altar and desecrate 12:41 it with his filthy sacrifices, overlooking the fact 12:48 that the true temple of God is the church of Jesus Christ 12:51 and antichrist is doing his work in the church, 12:54 so that while all the world practically is looking 12:58 to the Middle East and looking for antichrist, 13:02 one single man to come. 13:05 Antichrist is working in the church 13:07 and they don't even recognize him. 13:12 I can show you one verse that dismantles the idea 13:17 that antichrist is one single individual that will appear 13:20 in the future and destroy, rebuild the temple 13:25 and destroy it, I can show you one verse 13:28 that this assembles that whole idea. 13:30 Do you want to see it? 13:32 Well, I'll show you. 13:34 1 John in the little book 13:38 of 1 John 2:18, "Dear children, 13:44 this is the last hour--" 13:48 It was written 2000 years ago, I mean it's the last hour 13:55 and we think we are living in the last hour, 13:58 2000 years later, how can that fit. 14:01 Well, just keep coming, you will see and that's 14:04 an eye-opener but look, "Dear children, 14:07 this is the last hour and as you have heard 14:10 that antichrist is coming," noticed? 14:14 "You have heard antichrist is coming, 14:20 even now many antichrists have come." 14:26 That was written 2000 years ago and John said 14:31 you heard antichrist is coming, 2000 years ago even now 14:38 many antichrists have already come, 14:43 I could say the same thing to you today. 14:46 You have heard that antichrist is coming. 14:50 Even now many antichrists have already come. 14:53 Hey, if they were here 2000 years ago, 14:56 then you better believe they are here now, amen. 15:04 Even more remarkable this is how we know 15:10 that it's the last hour, they went out from us. 15:16 Isn't that exactly what Paul said was going to happen? 15:18 There would be an apostasy, apostasy means 15:21 the falling away from the truth 15:24 and antichrist would be revealed. 15:26 Now, John is saying all ready they have gone out from us. 15:30 There has been an apostasy 15:32 and they are falling away from the truth. 15:34 This is how we know that it's the last hour. 15:37 2000 years ago, many antichrists 15:40 had already come, 15:45 we had to better believe antichrist is at work right now. 15:59 Who is he? 16:01 What's he doing? 16:03 That's what we are here for. 16:06 Dig a little deeper, find the answers. 16:11 Look at Revelation 13:8. 16:14 "All of the inhabitants of the earth will worship 16:18 the beast except for those whose names have been 16:22 written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb." 16:27 Now I want you to get a picture of what's happening, 16:31 the real battle with antichrist, his real objective 16:36 is to somehow try to get your names 16:41 out of the Lamb's book of life, that's what it's all about. 16:46 Folks, it's not about territory in the Middle East. 16:50 It's not about oil wells in the Middle East. 16:52 It's not about boundaries and places to live. 16:55 It's about the cross of Jesus Christ. 17:00 That's why he is antichrist, he puts himself in Christ place, 17:05 all the inhabitance of the earth, 17:08 that means that this is a global system of worship, 17:14 not just some little church in some obscure place 17:20 but it is a global worldwide system of worship 17:26 that practically the whole world follows except for a few. 17:33 A world wide global church 17:39 that appears to be the kingdom of God 17:45 but it's a counterfeit. 17:54 Not a perfect counterfeit. 17:57 He makes some mistakes along the way. 18:00 Verse 7 says, "He was given power to make war 18:04 against the saints and to conquer them." 18:11 So the antichrist is a religious power, 18:14 a church that has some kind of authority to persecute 18:17 and make war against those who refuse to go along 18:20 with his particular brand of worship. 18:28 God doesn't force anyone. 18:34 God woos us with His love. 18:42 So who is the antichrist? 18:44 Let's go back to the beginning 18:45 and I want to start in Revelation 12:17. 18:49 "And then the dragon was angry at the woman 18:51 and he went off to make war against 18:53 the rest of the remnant," King James says, 18:57 "the last of her offspring, the last of the seed 19:01 of the woman," we learned the seed of the woman 19:03 is God's people, the pure woman, 19:06 "so the last of the seed of the woman, 19:09 the last of God's people on this earth who are they, 19:13 those who obey God's commandments 19:15 and hold to the testimony of Jesus." 19:18 Two points of attack. 19:21 At the end of this unfolding of the battle between 19:24 the antichrist and the people of God, 19:27 he concludes in Chapter 14:12, 19:30 "This calls for patient endurance 19:31 on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments 19:35 and remain faithful to Jesus." 19:39 So the two points of attack like bookends 19:42 on this passage of scripture defining the antichrist 19:46 and his battle between himself and God and the people of God, 19:50 the two points of attack like bookends are obedient 19:54 to God's commands and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 20:00 Keep that in mind, that's the battlefield. 20:04 It's not the Middle East. 20:06 The battlefield is faith in Jesus Christ. 20:15 So then 13, "The dragon stood 20:17 on the shore of the sea and in verse 2, 20:19 "I saw a beast coming out of the sea." 20:21 Who is that beast? 20:23 "He has ten horns, seven heads, ten crowns on his horns, 20:27 and on each head a blasphemous name. 20:31 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, 20:34 but he had feet like those of a bear 20:36 and a mouth like that of a lion. 20:38 The dragon gave the beast his authority and power and throne." 20:44 So picture this. 20:46 The dragon, that's the devil looking out 20:47 over the water, he sees this beast with seven heads, 20:50 ten horns coming up out of the water and this beast 20:54 with seven heads, and ten horns, 20:56 the Bible tells us resembled a leopard, 20:58 but feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion, 21:03 and the dragon gave him his authority. 21:07 Leopard, bear, lion and receives 21:12 his authority from the dragon. 21:16 Now, the dragon is the devil, but remember 21:18 the devil never works as the devil. 21:22 He doesn't go running around that little red jumpsuit 21:24 two horns on his head, long tail with an arrow on it. 21:26 None of you would ever worship anyone 21:27 like that and he is trying to get you. 21:31 He wants those who want to obey God 21:33 and to cling for the cross of Jesus. 21:35 So he doesn't go as the devil, 21:37 he works as human instruments trying to devour Christ. 21:40 First we saw him as King Herod, the pagan Roman emperor, 21:44 who tried to devour Jesus, the moment he was born. 21:46 So who does this pagan Roman power give his authority to? 21:51 If we can find out who he gives his authority to, 21:54 then we can identify this beast. 21:57 At this point John is saying, Stop don't go any further 22:03 until you have read the seventh chapter of Daniel. 22:09 Now keep that in mind. 22:10 Look, the Leopard, the bear, the lion and the dragon 22:16 gives his authority to that beast 22:18 that looks like leopard, bear, lion. 22:20 Keep that in mind and now we turn to Daniel 7. 22:25 Remember you have to understand the Old Testament 22:27 before you can understand Revelation. 22:31 Here is the place. 22:33 In Daniel 7:3 Daniel had a vision he saw 22:36 "Four great beasts, each one different 22:39 from the others, came up out of the water. 22:42 The first one was like a lion, second one a bear, 22:45 third one, verse 6, look like a leopard. 22:49 Sound familiar? Lion, bear, leopard 22:54 and then the fourth one terrifying and frightening, 22:59 so terrifying he couldn't even name 23:01 what he was like or what he was and while I was looking 23:06 at the horns, he had ten horns. 23:11 Now, we've already identified these four beasts. 23:15 Watch, verse 17 the interpretation comes. 23:19 An angel came to interpret it and he says 23:22 "The four great beasts are four kingdoms 23:24 that will rise up from the earth." 23:25 So, if we let the Bible interpret itself, 23:29 are you okay with that? 23:31 If you let the Bible interpret itself, 23:34 then a beast is a symbol for a nation and so Daniel 23:39 is looking out over the water and he sees four nations 23:42 rise and fall, one symbolized by a lion, 23:45 the other one the bear, the other one a leopard, 23:47 the fourth one oh he didn't know what it was too terrifying. 23:52 We've already identified those four nations in Daniel 2. 23:56 Remember Nebuchadnezzar's image, 23:57 the head of gold, breast and arms of silver, 23:59 body and thighs of bronze, 24:00 the legs of iron and the ten toes. 24:05 This time beast, the first beast was lion 24:08 at the Babylonian power 605 BC ruling over God's people 24:13 and most of the civilized world overthrown 24:15 by the Medo-Persians in 538 BC ruling over God's people 24:20 and most of the civilized world overthrown by the third kingdom, 24:24 this one symbolized by the leopard with speed 24:27 in the year 331 BC lead by Alexander the Great, 24:30 the Greek Macedonian Empire and then in 169 AD 169 Greece 24:37 was overthrown by Caesar's of Rome, 24:41 that Pagan Roman Empire, the two legs of iron, 24:45 this time symbolized by that beast with iron teeth 24:49 that devour the nations, ruling over God's people 24:52 even during the time of Christ when he was on this earth. 24:57 No wonder he was so terrible and he had ten horns. 25:01 The ten horns same as the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image 25:05 when Rome was divided into the nations forming Europe, 25:09 so we seen an exact parallel of Daniel 2. 25:12 This is a historical platform. 25:14 This is so crucial for us to understand 25:18 the ten toes and the ten horns. 25:21 Rome was divided. 25:23 There was Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. 25:26 Rome was divided into the ten toes, 25:30 the ten barbarian states dividing Rome 25:33 into what we think of as modern Europe today 25:36 and three of those horns he said were uprooted 25:40 before this little horn that came up. 25:48 Now follow me. 25:50 Daniel saw lion, bear, 25:54 leopard, terrifying beast. 26:00 John saw a beast come up out of the water 26:04 in Revelation and he resembled 26:09 the leopard, the bear and the lion. 26:15 Daniel saw lion, bear, 26:19 leopard, terrifying beast. 26:22 John lived during the time of that terrifying beast Rome, 26:29 and he saw the beast leopard, 26:33 the bear and the lion 26:35 in the reverse order that Daniel saw. 26:39 You see that's how we know 26:40 we are standing on solid ground. 26:42 Folks, you have to have a historic platform 26:47 to truly understand the Bible. 26:49 When I was a young boy in school, 26:51 I had to take history classes and I didn't like history, 26:56 I didn't care about the Persians or the Medes, 26:59 who cares about that. 27:00 I wanted to play baseball. 27:04 I am glad I learned a little bit now because its important 27:08 for us to know we are standing on solid ground. Babylon, 27:11 Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Rome was divided in the middle 27:14 of that division came the little horn that would 27:17 be the beast of the antichrist. 27:18 Now, we have a solid platform to base our interpretation on. 27:22 Let the Bible interpret itself 27:25 and you can't go wrong. 27:27 So Daniel understood what was happening. 27:31 The four great beasts, the four kingdoms the angels 27:33 said and in verse 19, he continued and asked him, 27:36 I want to know about the fourth beast, 27:38 the one that's different from all the other ones. 27:41 In verse 20, I also want to know about the ten horns on its head 27:44 and about the other one, that little horn that came up. 27:47 He had a mouth that spoke boastfully 27:50 but he had the eyes of a man. 27:53 He claimed to be God but he was only a man, 27:58 and so Daniel says, I want to know about that guy, 28:02 so the angel continues with his interpretation. 28:06 Turn to verse 23, "He gave me this explanation 28:11 'The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom, 28:13 Babylon Medo-Persia, Greece, 28:15 Rome fourth beast Rome, fourth kingdom. 28:19 Verse 24, "The ten horns are ten kings 28:22 that will come from this kingdom. 28:27 The ten horns have to come from this kingdom, 28:30 what's this kingdom Rome the fourth beast. 28:35 And then after them another king will arise, 28:37 different from the earlier ones, 28:39 he will uproot or subdue three kings. 28:42 He will speak against the Most High, 28:45 he will oppress the saints of God. 28:48 He will try to change the set times and the laws. 28:51 And the saints will be handed over to him for a time, 28:54 times and half a time nine identifying marks 28:58 of that little horn that are essential for us to identify 29:03 because almost all Bibles scholars will agree 29:05 the little horn is the sameas the beast 29:08 of Revelation 13 and the antichrist. 29:11 When we identify the little horn, 29:13 then you know who the beast is, So let's get to work, 29:17 nine identifying marks. 29:18 We want to look at them quickly but thoroughly. 29:23 First of all 24, number 1 "The ten horns are ten kings 29:28 that will come from this kingdom. 29:32 This kingdom is the pagan Roman Empire 29:35 divided into the ten toes or the ten horns, 29:38 so the ten horn of the little horn, 29:41 that the little horn oppose the ten horns 29:43 among which she came from this Roman kingdom, 29:47 not some kingdom in the future. 29:52 But the same one that overthrew 29:55 the third kingdom the Medes and the Persians. 29:58 That's important for us to recognize. 30:01 And then after them second mark, 30:04 after them after the ten horns divided the Roman Empire 30:10 after that another king will arise 30:13 different from the earlier ones 30:15 and he would subdue three kings 30:19 and he would have authority 30:20 to persecute the saints and rule 30:23 for time times and half a time. 30:26 So this gives us a bunch of identifying marks 30:29 after the division of Rome sometimes after the year 476 30:35 that we learned the other night was about when that division 30:38 was completed by the barbarian invasion, 30:40 sometimes after that this little horn would appear among them. 30:46 So we should be looking for the little horn to arise 30:49 some time after the year 476 among those divisions 30:55 of the Roman Empire which is essentially Europe today. 30:59 We should be looking for the little horn to arise 31:01 somewhere in Europe after the year 476 AD. 31:06 He would be different from the earlier ones 31:09 and he would uproot three of those ten horns. 31:13 And he would have power for time times and half a time. 31:18 Now in order to understand this, 31:19 we need to go back into history a little more once again. 31:24 Because in the 4th century Constantine 31:28 was the emperor of Rome, and he saw that out 31:34 on the eastern front the barbarian nations 31:38 were beginning to nibble away and weaken his empire 31:41 and he had to do something to strengthen it. 31:46 So Constantine did a couple of things. 31:51 At that time the church was rapidly growing through 31:56 the Roman Empire, so Constantine joined the church 32:02 and that would give him credibility 32:05 with many of the people in his empire, 32:08 so he became a Christian nominally and name 32:11 only but he joined the church but then he did something else. 32:16 He moved the capital which for so many years 32:21 had been in Rome to Byzantium. 32:28 Out on the eastern front and changed the name 32:32 from Byzantium to Constantinople 32:39 after himself, so he could be right out 32:44 there where the action was and help 32:46 to hold his empire together. 32:49 The problem was that practically the whole civilized world 32:54 had become accustom to looking 32:55 at Rome for leadership. 33:01 And when he moved he left the political vacuum in Rome 33:06 and he knew that if he didn't do something, 33:09 that some military man or some powerful person 33:12 would arise and perhaps be a threat to the emperor 33:16 himself with the military coup. 33:20 So, he had to put someone in charge at Rome, 33:23 couldn't be a military person. 33:25 No, that would be too risky. 33:28 But at that time 33:33 there was a very influential 33:37 and powerful leader emerging in Rome 33:43 and that was the bishop of the church at Rome. 33:50 So, Constantine gave the bishop of Rome, 33:56 his power, his throne and his authority. 34:05 Constantine, the pagan Roman emperor 34:10 who would try to devour Christ 34:14 gives the bishop of Rome 34:17 the church his power, his throne and authority 34:20 and now the bishop of Rome has not only religious authority 34:25 but political power because 34:27 the Vatican became a nation. 34:32 And he would be different from all of the other kings, 34:36 different because not only did he have political power 34:40 but he ruled the church of Jesus Christ 34:44 and for the first time since Christ established his church, 34:47 the church would join together with the political powers 34:51 of the state to enforce her doctrines 34:54 and her particular brand of worship. 35:03 Now the bishop of Rome found himself bitterly opposed, 35:10 by three of those barbarian states, 35:14 Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Heruli. 35:19 They were Arian tribes. 35:21 They thought that Jesus Christ, 35:23 they're following the-- the teachings of Marcus Aurelius 35:27 that Jesus Christ was not fully God 35:29 but he was somewhere between man and God. 35:33 Rightly so, the church apposed the Arian teachings 35:39 found in those three tribes that followed Marcus Aurelius. 35:43 The church has the right and the obligation to oppose 35:47 lives against God... 35:52 after all it's the kingdom of God 35:55 but the church went too far in its opposition 36:00 and fighting broke out as the church used force 36:07 and finally the bishop of Rome summon Justinian, 36:10 who was now the emperor and Justinian's troops uprooted 36:14 and fought against quieting those 36:18 three horns by the year 538. 36:23 Just the way the prophecy said it would happen 36:26 and now the bishop of Rome is virtually unopposed 36:28 in his quest for power. 36:34 Now, a lot of you have already seen it. 36:38 I see your heads nodding, I see the ah, 36:42 so I need to pause here for a moment and do a disclaimer. 36:48 I think its obvious that when Revelation 36:52 says the dragon gave his throne his power, 36:55 his authority to the beast 36:59 and when Constantine gave his throne, 37:01 his power and his authority to the bishop of Rome 37:07 along with the historical setting, 37:09 it becomes clear that the medieval church at Rome 37:13 is the little horn, antichrist and I have a lot more to go, 37:18 so don't think I'm jumping to conclusions, not done yet. 37:23 But I think at this point, I need to make something clear. 37:26 I'm not anti-catholic, I'm not anti-pope, 37:31 I'm not anti anybody, 37:35 I'm anti-era. 37:42 I'm not talking about anyone's faith, 37:45 there may be some of you here tonight 37:47 that are a part of the catholic faith. 37:50 No, I'm not talking about you. 37:53 I'm talking about a church, so we are going to see 37:55 the medieval church that made some serious, 37:59 serious mistakes in a time period called the Dark Ages 38:05 and John Paul 2 himself officially 38:08 called a day of apology fasting and asking 38:13 for forgiveness for the sins of the church during that time. 38:20 Now, personally I think it takes a big man to admit 38:26 that his church has made mistakes. 38:29 And I respect him for that. 38:35 I don't agree with him on everything obviously. 38:40 But we don't have to agree on everything to love 38:43 and respect each other, do we? 38:47 Can't we love each other even if we don't agree? 38:53 My wife and I don't agree on everything. 38:56 She likes the Dallas Cowboys, 39:03 I still love her. 39:08 So I'm not talking about your faith, 39:11 I'm not talking about any individual. 39:13 I'm talking about a dark period in the history of the church, 39:17 even acknowledge by John Paul 2, 39:19 the special day of fasting and prayer. 39:22 Folks, if we don't go back and look at the mistakes 39:25 that were made then, how can we know 39:27 we will never repeat those mistakes in the future. 39:31 And so I'm not doing this to be hateful 39:35 and I know there are some people out there 39:37 on the TV world and the news commentators 39:40 that would consider what I have just said to you hateful. 39:43 I'm not being hateful, we can love each other 39:45 and disagree, but I believe you are here because 39:48 you want to know the truth, Jesus said, 39:50 "The truth will set to free." 39:55 So, I'm not talking about any people per se, 39:58 I'm talking about a system of worship developed 40:01 in medieval church of the Dark Ages. 40:05 And it says that he would have authority 40:08 for times time and half a time. 40:12 Now, that sounds like a riddle but it's really not that hard 40:14 to understand what does it mean? 40:16 Time times and half a time. 40:18 I could tell you but I don't want to tell you because 40:21 that's my private interpretation, 40:23 I want you to get it from scripture, 40:24 how do we do that? 40:27 Come on talk to me, compare scripture with scripture, 40:32 so what is time, times and half a time mean. 40:34 Go back to Revelation. 40:35 Remember Revelation quotes 40:36 the Old Testament over how many times? 40:39 600 here is one of those places, Revelation 12, 40:44 let's begin in verse 14. 40:48 "The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, 40:51 so that she might fly to the place prepared 40:53 for her in the desert, where she would be taken care 40:56 of for how long, time, times and half a time." 41:01 The woman symbolizing God's people would be hidden 41:04 in the desert while the beast is doing his dirty work 41:08 against the church, the woman is hidden 41:10 in the desert, the same time times 41:12 and half a time, God will always protect his people. 41:17 But what is this time, times and half a time mean? 41:20 We'll compare it with scripture, this time same chapter, verse 6. 41:24 "The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared 41:26 for her by God, where she should 41:28 be taken care of for 1,260 days." 41:33 So time, time and half a time that's when God's protecting 41:36 the woman 1,260 days that's when God's protecting 41:41 the woman in the desert, so time, 41:43 time and half a time equals 1,260 days. 41:46 Actually its not that difficult to see 41:49 when you understand a few things. 41:50 Time is symbolic for a year, times would be two years, 41:55 half a time half a year, time times half a time 41:59 three and half years 1,260 days. 42:04 Now this is the only time at Revelation Now 42:08 that I'm ever going to ask you to take my word for something 42:10 because I just don't have time to prove everything tonight. 42:16 But, I'm going to prove it to you without 42:17 a doubt on another night coming that in prophecy 42:20 a day is symbolic for a year, so 1,260 days of time, 42:28 times and half a time 1260 days would be 1260 years. 42:34 By the time the bishop had pretty well squelched 42:39 the major opposition to the church 42:41 in 538 uprooting those three horns. 42:44 538 plus 1260 years after that she would have authority 42:49 that takes us all the way to the year 1798. 42:53 In 1798 Napoleon sent his General Berthier into Rome 42:58 express orders to capture the city. 43:00 He captured Rome, captured the pope 43:03 brought him back to Paris where the pope died 1260 years 43:09 after the three horns were uprooted. 43:15 Just exactly the way the prophecy 43:17 said it would happen. 43:23 There is some other identifying marks 43:25 that we need to recognize. 43:27 He said he would be a persecuting power 43:30 or he would oppress the saints of God. 43:35 And then there is another identifying mark. 43:40 This one would try to change the set times and the laws. 43:47 He would try to change the set times and the laws. 43:52 Now, you have to understand this isn't talking about 43:55 man's laws, they change all the time. 44:00 He's talking about God's laws. 44:02 He would try to change God's laws and set times. 44:08 Or did the church ever do that or try to do that? 44:12 This is a book it's fairly new, 44:15 Catechism of the Catholic Church 44:17 even included all the teachings even yet today 44:20 endorsed by John Paul 2 44:22 has his imprimatur and stamp in the cover. 44:25 Meaning there is no false doctrine in this book. 44:29 And here is what it says, 44:33 "The church does not derive 44:35 her certainty about revealed truth from the scripture alone. 44:40 Both the scripture and traditions of the church 44:44 must be honored and accepted with equal sentiments 44:48 of the devotion and reverence." 44:51 So what he is saying is that the church 44:55 and her traditions are equal to the scripture. 45:02 Now I'm going to show you some things about that, 45:04 I'm just giving you a quick peek. 45:06 I'm going to show you some things that are going to make 45:08 your hair stand out on end and straighten 45:12 and if it's already straight, I'm going to curl it up for you. 45:15 We don't have time to do all that yet they would try 45:19 to change God's laws, putting tradition over scripture 45:24 and then we see another one. 45:27 He would speak against the Most High. 45:30 Revelation said, he would blaspheme God. 45:34 What does that mean? 45:36 When Jesus was here on this earth, 45:41 He was to heal a crippled man instead 45:46 of just saying I heal you, He said, I forgive you. 45:53 Your sins are forgiven. 45:56 Well, the church leaders weren't too happy about that, 45:59 they picked up stones to stone Jesus. 46:01 And they said, that's blaspheme. 46:04 Only God can forgive sins, that's blaspheme, stone Him. 46:10 Well, they were right, only God can forgive sins. 46:13 But where they were wrong is that Jesus was God. 46:18 Only God can forgive sins, only Jesus 46:22 can forgive sins because he is God. 46:25 But the church teaches that there is a man 46:29 on earth who can forgive sins. 46:34 In Michael Muller book, The Catholic Priest, 46:37 this is carried over from the Dark Ages 46:40 Yes, beloved brethren, the priest not only declares 46:43 that the sinner is forgiven, but he really forgives him. 46:47 The priest raises his hand, 46:48 pronounces the word of absolution, 46:50 and in an instant, quick as a flash of light 46:52 the chains of hell are burst asunder, 46:54 and the sinner becomes a child of God. 46:57 So great is the power of the priest that the judgments 47:00 of heaven itself is subject to his decision. 47:06 Does the priest have the authority to forgive sins 47:14 but it was the dragon who gave the beast his authority. 47:20 You're beginning to see how it all fits together. 47:29 Labbe and Cossart's History of the Councils, 47:31 volume 14 page 109. 47:34 "For thou art the shepherd, thou art the physician, 47:37 thou art the husbandman, 47:39 finally thou art another God on earth." 47:43 He would set himself up in God's temple 47:45 proclaiming himself to be God. 47:48 From the Catholic National July 1895. 47:52 "The Pope is not only the representative 47:54 of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ himself, 47:59 hidden under the veil of flesh." 48:01 He would set himself up in God's temple and say, 48:04 I am God and the whole world is waiting for the antichrist 48:09 to come and rebuild the temple over there? 48:15 St. Bernadine of Sienna said, "Thus the priest in performing 48:19 the mass-the priest may, in a certain manner 48:23 be called the creator of his Creator 48:25 "The power of the priest is the power of the Divine person 48:28 for the transubstantiation of the bread requires 48:31 as much power as the creation of the world." 48:34 Dignity and Duties of the Priest, Alphonsus Liguori. 48:41 Now the mass is not just a worship service 48:45 but the priest at the high point of the mass would take the bread 48:49 and the wine and pray the prayer of transubstantiation, 48:55 that means that he is actually converting the bread 48:59 and the wine not as symbols of the body and blood of Christ 49:02 but in the actual body of Christ, 49:05 in the actual blood of Christ 49:07 so that the priest is offering 49:10 Jesus Christ again as a sacrifice 49:13 with the sins of many on his altar. 49:17 Watch the book John O'Brien's book, 49:20 the Faith of Millions is the book, 49:22 I'm just going to read it from the printout 49:23 to save time, but it's right in here. 49:26 He says, "The power of the priest 49:27 is equal to that of Jesus Christ because in this role the mass, 49:31 the priest speaks with the voice and authority of God himself. 49:34 When the priest pronounces the words of Consecration, 49:37 he reaches up into the heavens, and brings Christ 49:40 down from His throne, placing Him upon our altar 49:43 to be offered up again as the victim for the sins of man 49:47 not once but a thousand times. 49:49 The priest speaks and lo! the eternal, 49:51 omnipotent God, bows His head 49:52 in humble obedience to the priest's command." 49:59 Now, my personal feeling is, that's blasphemous, 50:05 that's my personal feelings. 50:07 You have to decide for yourself. 50:10 If you think that's right you think that's true, 50:13 then that's fine with you and you between you and God. 50:17 But I think that Jesus Christ died once for all 2000 years ago 50:24 and there is no need for Him to be offered 50:26 as a sacrifice again and to me to offer Him 50:31 as a sacrifice again is to deny 50:33 the once for all sacrifice of Christ 2000 years ago. 50:37 He would attack the Gospel of Jesus Christ 50:40 and that's what got the attention 50:42 of a Roman Catholic priest named Martin Luther teaching a class 50:47 at the University of Wittenberg on the book of Romans 50:50 and he discovered in the Book of Romans 50:52 that we are saved by grace 50:54 through faith in Jesus Christ alone. 50:58 And he began to teach that in his seminary class, 51:00 Rome got when the evidence said, oh! 51:02 Luther no more, you can't teach that. 51:05 We are saved by faith and works, not by faith alone. 51:12 And Luther said, but the Bible says we are saved 51:17 by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. 51:25 And Rome said, Luther you don't understand, 51:30 the Bible isn't the only rule of faith in practice 51:33 for the church, it's the Bible plus 51:38 the traditions of the church. 51:47 And Luther said, "Now I know who the antichrist is." 51:57 He would attack law of God 52:00 and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, 52:05 put himself in God's place. 52:14 Revelation 13:18, "This calls for wisdom. 52:20 If anyone has insight, let him calculate 52:22 the number of the beast, for it is man's number. 52:24 His number is 666." 52:29 Six is man's number because 52:31 he was created on the sixth day, 52:35 three is God's number, the father, 52:38 the Son and the Holy Spirit. 52:41 Three sixes would be man putting himself in God's place. 52:49 In fact long ago, one of the titles 52:53 that some of the pope's claim 52:54 for themselves in Latin words was Vicarius Filii Dei. 52:59 And it's interesting when you add up the letters 53:02 of Vicarius Filii Dei in Roman number they equals 666. 53:08 Now that alone is no proof. 53:10 Lots of names can add up to 666 but when you look at all 53:16 of the nine identifying marks that we have seen 53:18 that he would set himself up in God's temple proclaiming 53:22 himself to be God attacking the Gospel of Jesus Christ 53:26 not overtly but by subtly introducing his own teachings, 53:30 so many people began to leave Rome, 53:34 so many people began to protest 53:36 the doctrines of Rome that the church had for me. 53:41 So how we are going to stop these protestors, 53:43 they were called Protestants, Lutherans. 53:49 If you're a Lutheran your church started 53:51 when Luther understood this prophecy. 53:56 If you are Methodist your church started 53:58 when the Wesley's understood this prophecy. 54:02 Reform tradition your church came into existence 54:05 when Calvin understood this prophecy. 54:09 If you are Baptist your church began 54:11 when Roger Smith understood this prophecy. 54:21 Church says what we are going to with 54:22 these protestors these Protestants. 54:24 Protestant is nothing more than one who believes 54:26 in the world of God only, scriptures alone. 54:31 What are we going to do with these Protestants, 54:33 so they met at the Council of Trent to discuss 54:35 this 18 years 1545 until 1563 one of the things 54:40 they taught was, "If any one says 54:42 that the man is absolved from sins 54:43 and saved through faith alone, let him be accursed." 54:50 The Council of Trent, now she has spoken like the dragon. 54:59 So why doesn't everybody teach this today, 55:03 if all the Protestant churches began this particular 55:06 interpretation surprising answer. 55:10 You see at the Council of Trent they studied some other things 55:13 and they were two Jesuits, they came up 55:15 with two interpretations of the prophecy 55:17 because all those Protestants were pointing to Rome 55:19 saying you're the antichrist, I already can feel about that. 55:24 So Alcazar, Jesuit scholars says, I got an idea. 55:28 I can show you how we can prove that all the prophecies 55:31 in the Book of Revelation and the antichrist and the beast 55:34 are all dealing with the past fulfilled 55:37 by Nero when it's all ended, so we can't be the beast 55:41 that ended hundreds of years ago. 55:46 It's called preterism. 55:48 Ribera said, I got a better idea. 55:51 Looks like to me that Jesus is coming in the future. 55:55 Antichrist is in the future, 55:57 so he put it all off in the distant future. 56:01 We have been here 1500 years 56:03 so how can it be us, we can't be antichrist. 56:09 Most Protestants have picked up that interpretation 56:15 followed by the left behind series over 70 million copies 56:18 in print so which one is right? 56:23 Is it all in the future, is it all in the past? 56:28 Or is it is I like to call it interpreted 56:33 through the eyes of Christ. 56:42 We can know who the beast is. 56:48 Beast received the deadly wound in 1798 56:51 but Revelation says the deadly wound will be healed. 56:54 In a surprising way we are going to see another world power 56:58 emerged based on the foundation and the platform established 57:03 by the church of Dark Ages in that evil church we are going 57:06 to see it again with more power with more authority at the end 57:10 time when the deadly wound is healed we can know 57:13 who the antichrist is, we can know who the beast is, 57:16 but you better follow the Lamb and you will never go astray. |
Revised 2014-12-17