Participants: Pastor Kenneth Cox
Series Code: TOTE
Program Code: TOTE000004
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00:01 Can you believe it?
00:05 Can you build your faith on it? 00:08 The promises of God's Word are sure. 00:12 They do not fail. 00:17 This book has stood the test of time. 00:29 Gracious Heavenly Father, 00:33 Tonight as we look at prophecy 00:38 we ask, Lord, that You'll quicken 00:43 our understanding. 00:47 We pray that the Holy Spirit may be here. 00:53 That each heart may be open, 00:58 may be soft, 01:00 that the Holy Spirit can lead and guide and direct us 01:04 into the truths of Your Word. 01:06 We pray, Lord, that we may keep our hearts surrendered 01:10 and that we might listen and follow Your direction. 01:15 Bless each one this evening as we study Your Word. 01:19 We pray in Your name, Amen. 01:28 We use the word Antichrist, and I think, many times 01:33 we misunderstand it, 01:35 because when the scripture speaks of the Antichrist 01:38 to you and I the word anti- means against. 01:44 That's what we normally think of when we use the word anti 01:48 we think of against. 01:49 But that is not the way the scripture uses it. 01:52 When the scripture is speaking 01:54 of the Antichrist, 01:55 it uses it in the sense of "instead of" or "in place of. " 02:01 That's what it's talking about. 02:03 When it speaks of the Antichrist 02:04 it's talking about something that is in place of 02:08 or instead of. It's not talking about something 02:11 that is against. 02:13 Now the word Antichrist is actually only used 02:17 by the apostle John. 02:20 John is the one that uses it, 02:22 and it's used in I and II John. 02:25 And John starts out and says this about the Antichrist... 02:28 and it's only used four times. 02:31 I want you to listen carefully as we look at those four times 02:34 because they help you understand some things 02:38 about the Antichrist. So please follow 02:40 as we take a look here at I John the second chapter 02:44 and verse 18: 02:56 So John said you've heard that the Antichrist is coming. 03:01 That's important. Let's go on and read another one. 03:11 So if you are studying that scripture 03:14 all of a sudden you see that John is talking about 03:16 two different types of Antichrist. 03:18 He says there's an Antichrist that is coming 03:22 and there are Antichrists that are already here. 03:25 Now watch as he continues: 03:39 So John says that if a person denies the Father, 03:42 he denies the Son, he's an Antichrist. 03:45 Now that could be anybody, right? 03:48 Sure, that could be anyone. 03:50 If he denies the Father, denies the Son, 03:53 that could apply to anyone who did that. 04:17 So John is saying here 04:19 that you have heard that the Antichrist is coming 04:23 and he says the spirit of the Antichrist 04:26 is already in the world. 04:29 So we're beginning to put some things together 04:31 as we take a look at what John has to say. 04:45 So when we start looking at what John had to say 04:49 we find that John talks about two types of Antichrist. 04:54 Two different types of Antichrist. 04:56 Those two types of Antichrist are: 05:02 If a person denies Christ, denies the Father, 05:05 denies that He came in the flesh, 05:07 that person is an Antichrist. 05:10 That's what the scripture says. 05:12 But it also talks about another type of Antichrist 05:15 and it says: 05:20 Now folks, if there's an Antichrist that is coming 05:24 and he's already in the world in John's day, 05:29 that can't refer to a human being 05:33 because people don't live that long. 05:35 See, he says the spirit of that Antichrist is already started 05:40 so he says that Antichrist is coming. 05:43 So that can't be talking about a person, an individual. 05:47 It has to be talking about a system or a power 05:51 that the spirit of it was already starting in John's day 05:55 and would go clear to the end of time. 05:58 So you find John is talking about two different types 06:02 of Antichrist. 06:04 1. An individual who denies God. that's an Antichrist. 06:08 But he's talking about a power or a system 06:11 that was going to come into the world. 06:13 And he said the spirit of it's already developing in my day 06:16 and it's going to go clear down 06:18 to the day when Jesus comes back. 06:21 OK, Paul... Paul talks about the Antichrist. 06:26 He doesn't use the word Antichrist, 06:28 but he talks about it and you'll recognize it 06:31 as we look at some of the scriptures which Paul gave 06:34 as he describes what the Antichrist would do. 06:51 This is referring to the Antichrist. 06:53 Said until he's revealed - 06:56 the son of sin or perdition - until he's revealed. 07:00 All right, now watch: 07:15 So it says that this power... And you remember I said 07:19 that that word Antichrist doesn't mean opposed to - 07:24 it means in place of or instead of. 07:27 And Paul is saying that this Antichrist power is going to 07:31 show himself as God in place of God. 07:36 That's what Paul is saying. 07:38 That he will oppose that... that he will presume to be God 07:42 showing himself that he is God. 07:45 Continues in verse 9: 07:52 This is talking about the Antichrist. 07:56 So it says he will do a lot of things. 08:13 So it says that the things are revealed in God's Word. 08:18 God puts them there for you and I to understand clearly 08:22 that we can see what it says. 08:24 But it says these people would not 08:25 receive the love of the truth. 08:28 In other words, they weren't willing to look at God's Word 08:31 and say: "Yes, I'll follow it. " 08:33 And God say because they would not receive 08:36 the love of the truth this is what happens. 08:49 So dear friend, it is absolutely vital tonight 08:52 that you and I be willing to accept what God's Word says. 08:58 That is essential if a person is going to grow in grace. 09:01 And if God is going to lead that person, 09:04 then I have to be willing to take the Word of God 09:07 and make my stand on the Word of God 09:09 and stand there and say: "This is what I believe! " 09:12 If I'm not willing to do that, God can't lead me. 09:16 That's what the scripture says. 09:18 They would not receive the love of the truth 09:20 therefore "God sends them strong delusions 09:24 that they should believe a lie. " 09:25 So tonight we want to look very carefully 09:29 as we take a look at the Antichrist... 09:32 so we're going to go to the book of Daniel. 09:35 And in the book of Daniel, 09:37 Daniel outlines this whole thing for us. 09:40 Daniel has been praying that God will help him 09:45 understand what the Word is teaching 09:48 and what this seventh chapter is about. 09:51 Now folks, I want to share a principle with you tonight. 09:54 Because as we are studying these prophecies 09:57 you'll find that God uses a principle. 10:00 And that principle is simply this: 10:02 like with Daniel here... 10:04 He gave Daniel the vision that you and I studied 10:07 the other night in Daniel the second chapter. 10:09 You remember that? OK. 10:11 And he took us step by step so far. 10:14 Then you'll find that God will back up and start exactly 10:19 at the same place again... 10:21 and this time He's going to take us a little farther. 10:25 In other words, God is going to show us that 10:29 and He's going to repeat it and enlarge. 10:31 Repeat it and enlarge. 10:33 That is what God does. That's a principle 10:36 in understanding Bible prophecy. 10:38 So tonight as we take a look at this 10:41 you're going to see some of it repeated. 10:43 OK? That we talked about here on Sunday night. 10:47 You're going to see some of that repeated 10:49 and then you're going to see God enlarge it 10:51 so that you and I will understand more of it. 10:54 So as we go to Daniel, watch this principle 10:57 as we continue to study God's Word. 11:00 Because when we studied Daniel the second chapter 11:03 you remember we found there to be what? 11:06 Four nations. Those four nations were 11:15 Those four powers, folks - 11:18 I'm talking about repeat and enlarge - 11:21 those four power are mentioned in Daniel 2, Daniel 7, 11:26 Daniel 8, and Daniel 11. 11:30 They are mentioned in those four chapters. 11:32 So God in each case is just simply repeating it 11:36 and enlarging it so that you and I understand 11:39 more and more of what He's talking about, 11:42 and that's what we're looking at tonight. 11:44 So, let's go to Daniel the seventh chapter 11:48 and see what Daniel saw in this vision. 12:06 So it just simply says he had a dream 12:08 and Daniel has written it down, recorded it, 12:12 so that you and I can see what he dreamed. 12:29 So Daniel is having a dream. In his dream 12:32 he is seeing the wind blowing across the water, 12:36 stirring up the water. 12:38 And as the wind stirs up the water 12:40 watch what happens: 12:48 So as a result, four beasts rose up out of the water 12:52 out of the sea. 12:54 Now, God simply uses symbolism. 12:57 God uses symbolism and He tells you 13:01 without any question of a doubt 13:04 exactly what that symbol is in the Bible 13:07 so you and I don't have to be in doubt about it. 13:09 God reveals it very clear. 13:11 So we have wind blowing on the water 13:15 and beasts rising up out of it. 13:17 Let's see what the scripture tells us about those. 13:32 So the Bible tells us as clear as it can 13:36 that water represents people, nations, tongues. 13:40 So when you are studying Bible prophecy - listen carefully - 13:45 don't apply this outside of Bible prophecy. 13:51 In other words, you might be reading when the children 13:53 of Israel crossed the Red Sea. 13:55 Don't take the Red Sea there to mean people. 13:58 When you're dealing with prophecy, 14:01 when in prophecy you come to water, 14:04 water represents people, nations, tongues. 14:08 OK, let's go on. 14:13 I'm giving you a text here to illustrate 14:17 how He uses water to represent people 14:21 and He uses a definite symbolism for wind. 14:53 So here God is talking about wind - a whirlwind - 14:57 going through and it destroyed people. 15:00 In other words, wind in Bible prophecy 15:03 represents war, represents strife, represents hard times. 15:09 That's what wind represents. 15:11 So when Daniel had a vision and he saw the wind 15:15 blowing on the water, 15:17 he's really seeing war and strife taking place 15:21 among the people. 15:23 As the result of that, 15:25 four beasts come up from the sea. 15:36 Let's take a look... 15:38 see what these four beasts look like... 15:41 what they represent. 15:43 The first beast, scripture says, was like a lion. 15:48 Watch: 15:58 So the scripture doesn't leave us in any doubt 16:02 as to what beasts represent. 16:04 They represent kings; they represent nations; 16:07 they represent powers. 16:09 And so, as a result of war and strife among the people, 16:13 a kingdom rose up. 16:31 This first beast you'll find the scripture tells us 16:35 represents the kingdom of Babylon. 16:39 This beast rose up on its two hind feet. 16:43 It says that a man's heart was given to it. 16:46 It's the only beast in the Bible 16:50 that you'll find a man's heart was given to it. 16:52 And the reason a man's heart was given to it 16:55 was because of the conversion of King Nebuchadnezzar. 16:58 He accepted the Lord; gave his heart to Him. 17:01 So a man's heart was given to that beast. 17:04 But this represents the kingdom of Babylon. 17:09 Babylon went from 605 BC 17:13 to 539 BC. 17:16 I told you that Nebuchadnezzar, 17:18 the king of Babylon, was one of the greatest generals 17:21 the world has ever known. Never lost a battle. 17:23 And he had taken the city of Babylon 17:26 and lavished everything that he could upon it. 17:29 It was referred to as the Golden Kingdom. 17:32 And I read to you on Sunday night how Nebuchadnezzar 17:35 wanted that kingdom never to end. 17:38 OK. Never to come to an end. 17:42 But God said that isn't what would happen. 17:45 Remember, Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, 17:50 Belshazzar, didn't follow the Lord. 17:55 One night they were having a great party 17:59 and they had called and had the golden vessels 18:02 they had taken from the temple in Jerusalem... 18:05 They had them brought it and they were drinking 18:07 out of those. They were drinking wine out of them 18:09 and celebrating to pagan gods. 18:11 And while they were doing that 18:13 all of a sudden a bloodless hand began to write on the wall. 18:18 Belshazzar called in all of his wise men. 18:25 Said: "Tell me what it's saying. " 18:27 It said, in fact, it scared him so bad, it says, 18:29 that his "knees knocked" is what the scripture says. 18:33 But nobody could interpret it. 18:36 Nobody could tell Belshazzar what it meant 18:38 until the queen, his mother, said to him: 18:44 "Ah, there's a man in your kingdom by the name of Daniel 18:49 who can tell you what it means. " 18:50 They called in Daniel; he's now 90 years old. 18:54 Asked him what it meant. 18:58 And Daniel interpreted, and this is what it said, folks: 19:11 The words written on the wall were Mene, 19:14 Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. 19:17 Mene: your kingdom is numbered, found wanting. 19:23 Terrible words. 19:25 Tekel: you have been weighed in the balances 19:28 and found wanting. 19:32 Peres: your kingdom has been divided 19:37 and given to the Medes and the Persians. 19:41 And I told you that Cyrus was right there 19:44 at the command of the Lord. 19:46 So the scripture made it very clear 19:48 that that kingdom of Babylon was going to fall 19:50 to the Medes and the Persians. That's exactly what happened, 19:53 because it goes on the scripture and says this: 20:10 So now we have a second beast coming on the scene of action. 20:13 It's represented as a bear. 20:16 And the scripture tells us clearly that Medo-Persia 20:19 would overthrow Babylon. 20:21 How was the bear represented? 20:24 Well, I told you the other night that this was a coalition 20:27 of two powers: the Medes and the Persians came together. 20:30 The Persians were stronger than the Medes. 20:33 That's why the scripture says this bear raised itself up 20:36 on one side... 20:38 because the Persians were stronger than the Medes. 20:41 But also it says this bear has three ribs in its mouth. 20:45 Those three ribs represented the three countries 20:49 that Medo-Persia overthrew. 20:51 Those three countries were Babylon, Egypt, and Libya. 20:56 Those are the ones that Medo-Persia overthrew. 20:59 Under the leadership of Cyrus they overthrew Babylon. 21:04 And I told you that in the book of Isaiah 21:10 it spoke of Cyrus. 21:14 Isaiah the 45th chapter verse 1 21:17 it called Cyrus by name 21:20 150 years before he was born. 21:27 You don't believe this book is inspired? 21:30 You tell me how that happens when God will call a person 21:35 by name. 21:38 In fact, I can read you in scripture where God said 21:41 to Jeremiah, He said: "I knew you 21:42 while you were still in the womb. " 21:46 God knows the end from the beginning. 21:50 Called Cyrus by name. 21:52 Not only called him by name... 21:53 said exactly how he would overthrow the city of Babylon. 21:57 And he did it just exactly as God described. 22:04 But it says: 22:10 So all of a sudden we have the third beast 22:13 coming on the scene of action, 22:14 and this beast represented the kingdom of Greece. 22:18 Greece. This beast like a leopard 22:23 had four wings on its back like a bird. 22:31 Under the leadership of Alexander the Great 22:34 Greece over threw Medo-Persia 22:39 in 331 BC. 22:43 Alexander the Great 22:46 faced Darius of the Medes and Persians 22:49 on the plains of Arbela. 22:51 Darius had 1,000,000 men. 22:56 Alexander the Great had 40,000 22:59 and Alexander the Great overthrew him. 23:04 That's why this beast has four wings on its back... 23:08 because when he overthrew Darius of the Medes and Persians 23:11 Alexander the Great took his army and they began to march 23:15 and they took every country they came to. 23:17 He marched his army for 7 years without ever going back home 23:22 and wept because there was nothing else to conquer. 23:28 Reaching the borders of India 23:31 his men refuse to go any farther and they head back. 23:34 Alexander the Great now is suffering. 23:37 He is suffering from epilepsy. 23:40 He is suffering from drunkenness. 23:42 They have arrived back, folks, to the city of Babylon. 23:49 Alexander the Great is lying on a table 23:52 in that very banquet hall 23:55 where the hand had written Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. 23:58 Lying on a table there... dying... 24:01 and he's called in his generals. 24:05 And his generals have asked him 24:06 to whom he's going to give the kingdom. 24:09 And he said: "When I die, I'll give my kingdom to 24:13 the strongest. " 24:14 And when he died, his kingdom was given to his 4 generals. 24:20 That's why that beast has four heads... 24:23 because it represented his four generals 24:27 that the kingdom was given to. 24:48 The fourth power that comes on the scene of action 24:53 is the kingdom of pagan Rome. 24:55 Pagan Rome overthrew Greece in 168 BC... 25:00 lasting longer than any other kingdom. 25:13 OK. Pagan Rome went from 168 BC 25:17 to 476 AD. 25:19 As I told you the other night, 25:21 Rome was the one who brought civilization to the world. 25:25 It opened up the waterways. It opened up the roadways 25:29 and people could travel where they had never been 25:31 able to before. 25:32 Rome was the power that was 25:34 ruling at the time Jesus 25:36 was born. 25:38 It was the decree of Caesar Augustus 25:41 that sent Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem 25:44 to pay their taxes. 25:45 You remember, Rome was the one that was ruling at the time 25:48 Jesus died. 25:51 For you remember, He was tried in a Roman court 25:57 by Pilate. 25:59 Rome ruled to 476 AD. 26:04 Now you were with me the other night on Sunday night 26:07 as we went through this. 26:08 And this is the part I was talking to you about repeating. 26:12 You see, God repeats and enlarges. 26:15 You remember I told you as we went down through that image 26:18 we came to the ten toes. 26:21 Watch, because this beast has ten horns. 26:34 All right. Those, you remember I told you, were the Germanic 26:39 tribes that came down on the Roman Empire 26:41 and broke it to pieces. 26:43 They were such tribes as the Anglo-Saxons, 26:46 the Franks, the Heruli, the Vandals, the Ostrogoths. 26:49 And they broke the Roman Empire into 10 different parts. 26:54 OK. That is the same as the ten toes 26:59 on the image of Daniel 2. 27:02 Now we're going to begin to enlarge. 27:05 OK? 27:07 Those ten tribes became the nations of western Europe 27:12 such as the Alamanni, the Franks, the Visigoth, uh... 27:16 The Alamanni became the Germans. 27:19 The Bergundis became the Swiss. 27:21 The Franks became the French. 27:23 The Lombards became the Italians. 27:24 The Saxons English; the Suevi Portugal; the Visigoths, Spain. 27:28 The Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths are now extinct, 27:32 and I'll tell you why tonight... 27:33 what happened to them. 27:35 Now folks, the other night I read you a text 27:38 in Revelation the 17th chapter where it says 27:40 "these ten kings have received no kingdom as yet 27:44 but they will receive authority for one hour with the beast. " 27:47 And several of you have come up and said: 27:49 "You didn't say anything about that. " No, I didn't... 27:52 because we're coming to that. 27:54 We're going to trace it right on down, 27:57 and we're going to see how all that fits together. 27:59 And we'll come to that, and we'll talk specifically 28:01 how that all fits together. 28:03 OK. But these ten tribes became the nations of western Europe 28:08 today. 28:18 We're enlarging now, folks. 28:34 All right. 28:38 So tonight we want to identify this little horn 28:41 that the scripture identifies as that of the Antichrist. 28:44 Before I go on, I want to take just a moment 28:48 and tell you that the Bible and history does certain things. 28:54 One of the things that's unique about the Bible 28:57 is when the Bible talks about individuals, 29:00 when it talks about nations or powers, 29:03 it tells both the bad and the good. 29:07 You know, sometimes in history they have tainted 29:10 and told only the good. 29:12 Scripture doesn't do that. It tells bad and good. 29:15 So tonight as we identify this little horn, 29:18 you've got to understand that we are talking about a power. 29:22 We are talking about a system. 29:25 We are not talking about people. 29:28 Please do not take what I say and apply it to an individual. 29:33 That would be wrong. 29:34 That would be just as wrong as could be. 29:37 Let me... let me illustrate what I mean. 29:41 I am a citizen of the United States of America. 29:44 Glad to be one. 29:45 Sometimes the United States government 29:49 does some things that I don't agree with. 29:52 Maybe they never do anything you don't agree with, 29:55 but sometimes they do things I don't agree with. 29:57 If they do something that you or I don't agree with, 30:01 does that make all the people in the United States bad people? 30:05 Huh? No! 30:08 So when I'm talking about this system tonight 30:10 don't take it and apply it to individuals... because 30:13 that isn't the way it's to be applied. 30:16 We are talking about history. 30:17 We are talking about something that happened in the past 30:22 as we come on down through time. 30:24 So look at it very clear because the scripture is very clear. 30:28 I'm going to give you 8 points 30:31 that the scripture gives to identify this power. 30:35 I want to say something else about that. 30:38 If you can take these 8 points 30:42 and make them fit any other power on the face of the earth 30:48 please tell me. 30:50 I'll listen to everything you have to say. 30:53 I have never been able to get it to fit any other power. 30:58 What I will tell you is don't do to me like one man did. 31:02 Came up to me after the meeting was over 31:04 and said: "Well, I disagree with you. " 31:06 And I said: "Well, that's OK. 31:09 You can disagree with me. " 31:11 He said: "Well, I just don't see it that way at all. " 31:13 And I said: "Tell me... how do you see it? " 31:16 "Oh, " he said, "I don't know what it means, 31:17 I just disagree with YOU. " 31:19 You know, you know... I hope that you will 31:21 be open enough that you'll take God's Word 31:24 and open it up and look and see and study it. 31:27 If you don't know what it means, 31:28 study it until you do have some conviction about it. 31:32 That is important. 31:33 OK. Let's see if it will identify 31:35 this little horn for us. 31:37 That's what we want to take a look at 31:40 is this little horn that's coming up among those ten. 31:44 All right. 31:46 Number one, first point: 31:57 That's the first point. 31:59 Second point: 32:04 I'm reading. This is a scripture, folks. 32:06 This is Daniel 7:24 and 25 and that's what I'm reading. 32:10 I've just broken it up and given you the points 32:13 that God uses to identify it. 32:15 Three: 32:20 Four: 32:23 Five: 32:27 Six: 32:31 Seven: 32:35 Eight: 32:40 Those are the eight points that God gives you and me 32:43 to identify with any question of a doubt 32:46 who this little horn is. 32:49 So now we're going to go back and take it step by step. 32:52 And watch how scripture and history bears out 32:55 exactly what God said. 33:08 Rise from what kingdom? 33:10 Well, this represents the fourth beast. 33:13 This fourth beast. 33:15 The fourth beast was who? 33:18 Pagan Rome. 33:19 So there's no use you going over into Asia 33:22 and start looking for the little horn. 33:25 There's no use you going to the United States 33:27 and start trying to find the little horn there. 33:30 There's no use you going over into Africa 33:32 trying to find the little horn there. 33:34 It had to come out of that kingdom which was pagan Rome. 33:39 So that little horn has to arise out of that kingdom. 33:43 You with me? 33:45 That's the first point. 33:46 Second point: 34:01 So the scripture tells us secondly 34:03 that this little horn was going to come up what? 34:07 "among them. " 34:09 So it makes it very clear that it had to rise 34:12 out of pagan Rome 34:13 but it had to come up among the ten horns. 34:16 That's where it had to come up. 34:19 Had to come up in western Europe. 34:22 It brings it right down to the location. 34:24 It tells you it had to arise in western Europe. 34:28 OK. Let's go to the third point. 34:32 These ten kings which we just talked about 34:37 and it said those... it said it came up... 34:40 Let me make one other point: 34:41 it says it came up "after them. " 34:44 Those ten kings came into existence in 476 AD. 34:49 When it says the little horn had to come up after them, 34:52 that means he had to come into existence after 476 AD. 34:57 And that little horn came into existence in 538 AD. 35:03 So it fulfills it. It came up in the pagan Roman Empire, 35:08 it came up among the ten horns, 35:10 and it came up "after them. " 35:12 OK? 35:16 What happened... what took place? 35:22 As these Germanic tribes moved down on the Roman Empire 35:28 they broke it apart. 35:29 There's a Roman emperor 35:32 that's trying to hold his 35:35 kingdom together. His name is 35:36 Justinian. 35:37 Justinian is fighting these Goths 35:42 trying to hold them back. 35:43 His general Belisarius is fighting them. 35:46 In the city of Rome, folks, 35:49 in the city of Rome the bishop of Rome... 35:53 The bishop of Rome - his name is Silverius. 35:56 Silverius is a godly man. 36:00 He's a man that loves the Lord. 36:02 He's a man that loves the people. 36:04 He tries to serve the people, 36:06 and Silverius has refused to have anything to do with the war 36:11 between Justinian and the Goths. 36:13 Since he is the bishop of Rome, 36:16 he has control of the city of Rome. 36:18 And any time the army of Belisarius got close 36:23 to the city of Rome, he had all the gates to the city 36:26 of Rome shut and refused to let them in. 36:28 If the Goths got close, he shut the gates 36:32 and refused to let them in. 36:35 Well, the Goths had backed Justinian's army 36:40 clear to the walls of the city of Rome. 36:43 Silverius has had all the gates shut. 36:48 It looks like Justinian's army is going to be wiped out. 36:54 So Belisarius has sent a note to Justinian saying: 36:57 "Do something for us or we're going to be wiped out. " 37:03 Justinian went to his wife. 37:05 Justinian's wife was a Christian. 37:08 She happened to be a friend of the bishop. 37:13 And he pled with her to ask the bishop to raise the gates 37:17 to the city of Rome to let his army in 37:20 and shut the gates and keep the Goths out to save his army. 37:24 She went to Silverius and pled with him. 37:28 And out of respect to her 37:31 he raised the gates to the city of Rome; 37:34 let the army in; shut the gates and kept the Goths out. 37:39 But... Justinian and Belisarius had already agreed 37:45 that if they got inside the city of Rome 37:48 they would banish the bishop. 37:51 Why? 37:53 Justinian sees his kingdom falling apart 37:56 and he thinks that since he can't control it politically 38:02 maybe he could control it religiously. 38:06 And so he banishes Silverius 38:09 and he takes and puts Virgilius on the seat of the bishop 38:14 as his puppet, and he thinks that through him 38:18 he can control it. That's why history says: 38:29 That's from the History of the Christian Church, volume 3. 38:32 That's exactly what happened. 38:35 Now that had great, great influence. 38:41 It had great - should I say - effect 38:45 upon the whole kingdom. We'll talk about that later on. 38:49 But remember the date: 538 AD. 38:52 All right. Next point: 38:57 Now I told you, Justinian felt that he couldn't control 39:02 his kingdom any longer politically 39:04 so he thought maybe he could control it religiously. 39:07 So with Virgilius taking the seat of the bishop 39:11 and working under Justinian, 39:13 all of a sudden you find the kingdom changing 39:16 and you find union of church and state. 39:19 No longer is it just a political power... 39:22 it is a religio-political power. 39:26 Church and state has come together. 39:29 That's why the scripture says it is "different. " 39:33 Different than it has been. 39:38 This is from the history book called 39:40 The Rise of The Medieval Church 39:42 by Alexander Flick. 39:44 And listen carefully. Very, very important 39:49 statement in history. This tells you what happened: 39:55 Now folks, let me... let me explain something. 39:59 Justinian, when he put Virgilius on the seat of the bishop, 40:05 he never intended Virgilius to be anything other than 40:10 the docile head of the department of religion. 40:13 That's all he intended for him to be. 40:15 But history says that the bishop of Rome seized the scepter 40:21 and stepped to the seat of Caesar. 40:24 And this is what it says happened. Watch: 40:36 And I want you to listen to this word... 40:38 "And was soon" what? 40:41 "Forced. " You need to keep that very clear. 40:44 This wasn't something that he just intended to do. 40:47 It was forced upon him... 40:54 All of a sudden he found himself not just the head of the church. 40:58 He finds himself the head of the government. 41:19 So all of a sudden you find the power that has been 41:22 in the state all of a sudden now the religious head has. 41:27 And so you find union of church and state taking place. 41:33 It's a different power than it has been before. 41:44 Thus it changes. 41:55 When these Germanic people - the Goths, the Anglo-Saxons, 41:59 the Franks, the Heruli, the Vandals - 42:01 when they moved down on the Roman Empire, 42:04 moved down and began to run over the Roman Empire, 42:09 the Christian people that lived in the Roman Empire 42:12 remembered the commission that Christ had given 42:14 to the Christians, and He told them they were to preach 42:16 the gospel in Jerusalem, Samara, and to where? 42:19 To the ends of the earth. 42:21 So when they went out, they found these Germanic people 42:26 with open hearts. They found people who were willing 42:30 to accept the gospel and they preached Jesus Christ 42:33 to these Anglo-Saxons, these Franks, the Heruli, the Vandals. 42:36 And these people accepted Christianity. 42:40 That is the reason, folks, western Europe is Christian 42:44 to this day. OK? 42:47 But among those powers that accepted Christianity 42:51 there were three tribes... 42:54 These three tribes - the Visigoths, 42:59 Heruli, the Vandals... 43:02 When they went in and preached to these, these people 43:05 taught a belief to these people that was called Arianism. 43:11 Arianism says that Jesus Christ was a good man. 43:14 Says He was a prophet, 43:17 but it says He was not divine. 43:21 Teaches that He wasn't divine. 43:23 Those 3 tribes accepted that. 43:27 That was very offensive to Justinian, 43:31 to Virgilius, and to those of the church. 43:35 And since it had become a state as well as just a church 43:39 they sent out their army and they had those 3 tribes 43:45 wiped out. 43:47 Now folks, if you don't believe what I'm telling you tonight 43:51 I invite you to go to the library and check me out. 43:55 Listen, the descendants of the Alamanni are the Germans. 43:59 The descendants of the Franks are the French. 44:02 The descendants of the Anglo- Saxons are the English. 44:06 You cannot find any descendants to the Visigoths, 44:11 the Heruli, and the Vandals. 44:14 The Bible says that he would pull them up by the roots, 44:18 and that's exactly what took place 44:21 just as the scripture said it would. 44:23 "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High. " 44:28 Now folks, you remember as we studied what Paul said 44:32 there in Corinthians, he said that this power would 44:35 put himself in the place of God. 44:37 That's what it said: "He would show himself to be God. " 44:40 That's what he said. So I want to share with you 44:42 just some things. You have to judge it for yourself. 44:45 Again, I am not talking about people. 44:48 I'm talking about a power; I'm talking about a system. 44:52 The papacy claims two things that belong only to God. 44:58 They don't belong to anybody else but God. 45:01 It says it would speak "pompous words. " 45:04 Let's look at what those two things are. 45:26 It says that the priest has the power to forgive sins. 45:30 Can you remember the other night when I studied with you 45:33 and when Jesus told that paralytic 45:35 "your sins are forgiven, " 45:37 do you remember what the Pharisees said? 45:39 They said: "Blasphemy! " 45:42 Only God can forgive sins. 45:46 You'll find that taught in scripture. 45:49 Says here the priest can forgive sins. 45:53 Secondly, 46:10 Let me read you one other. 46:29 So when it says he would speak great words or pompous words 46:33 as far as I'm trying to tell you is history 46:36 has borne that out that he has done just that. 46:42 Now folks, I want to try to make something clear, 46:45 because this doesn't apply just to this power. 46:49 Any time if you want to go and get your history book, 46:52 you want to go to the library and you want to read 46:54 and study, you'll find that any time in history 46:57 that a church - I don't care what church it is - 47:01 has taken state power... 47:04 Any time a church has taken on state power 47:08 it's persecuted. 47:10 I don't care whether you're talking about Lutherans 47:13 or whether you're talking about Baptists. 47:15 Whether you're talking about Roman Catholic. 47:16 I don't care what you're talking about, 47:18 when that church has assumed state power, 47:21 it has persecuted. 47:23 A church is not capable of handling state power 47:28 and it should never be placed in the hands of a church. 47:31 Why? 47:33 Because a church - I don't care what church it is - 47:36 they believe what they believe to be the truth. 47:40 And if you don't believe like they do, 47:44 then they're going to persecute. 47:47 That has always happened. 47:49 So what I'm reading to you tonight, don't be shocked at. 47:53 If you don't understand, you want to read it, 47:55 then go to the library. I'll name some books for you. 47:58 You can read Fox's Book of Martyrs. 48:00 Or you can Read Short Stories of the Reformation. 48:02 Or you can read The History of the Reformation by d'Aubigné. 48:06 Or you can read Here I Stand by Bainton. 48:08 Or you can read The History of Europe by Quabbin 48:11 and they will all tell you what I am sharing with you tonight. 48:14 All you have to do is read about the Massacre of St. Bartholomew 48:19 where they slew 60,000 Huguenots one Sunday morning. 48:22 Or read about the persecution of the Waldensian people. 48:32 That's a history book. 48:40 You find that shocking? 48:42 You must understand she has existed longer 48:45 than any other institution. 48:47 OK? 48:54 So when it says that this power would persecute the saints 48:57 of the Most High, all I'm trying to do tonight is to tell you 49:01 that she has fulfilled that. 49:11 Going to be "given into his hand for a time, 49:13 times, and a half a time. " 49:15 Now God is very, very accurate in what He does. 49:20 He tells you exactly how to count time in prophecy. 49:24 Watch carefully as He tells you how to do this: 49:27 it says that this power would think to change what? 49:34 Now, if all these other points we're talking about 49:36 have fallen true, this should fall true. 49:38 So has it changed that of law? 49:43 OK? Listen. This is a statement taken from history, 49:47 and it says: 49:57 It's a statement; that's what they say... 49:59 that they can change it. 50:01 Have they changed it? 50:02 Well let me read to you from their own Catechism 50:06 because this is what we're talking about: changing law. 50:10 Listen. This is what they've done. 50:11 You take the 10 Commandments. 50:13 If you read in the Catechism you'll find they did away 50:16 with the second commandment. 50:18 You won't find it in the Catechism. 50:20 You'll find it in the scripture but not in the Catechism. 50:22 If you take a look at the 4th Commandment, 50:25 they shortened the 4th Commandment 50:27 from 94 words to 8 words. 50:30 Literally... just shortened it that much... 50:33 from 94 words to 8 words. 50:37 Third, they divided the 10th Commandment 50:40 into two commandments. 50:42 So you find when it talks about they would change the law 50:45 of God, they have changed the law of God. 50:48 Now folks, again, I am talking about a power. 50:51 I'm talking about a system in the past. 50:54 I am not talking about individuals. 50:56 There are many, many individuals within this particular 51:00 fellowship or this particular belief that are sincere 51:04 Christian people. 51:05 And if you take what I'm saying tonight 51:08 and you apply it to an individual, 51:10 you are doing the wrong thing. 51:13 OK? So please understand what I'm saying. 51:17 Secondly, the scripture helps you and I 51:23 and from tonight on, folks, you ought to be able to study 51:26 prophecy and apply time and see how God uses it. 51:30 For God tells us exactly how to count time. 51:33 Ezekiel 4 verse 6 says: 51:41 So when you're studying Bible prophecy 51:43 a day will simply represent one year. 51:47 That's what a day will represent. 51:50 Let's look at another text. 52:04 So here again God said: "I'm going to give you a day 52:07 to represent a year. " 52:09 So when we look at this particular prophecy 52:12 we find that God talks about that they would be given 52:16 into his hand for a time, times, and a half a time. 52:21 Now in the Bible, a time represents one year. 52:24 OK. Since a day represents a year, 52:28 if you pick up your Bible and you begin to study it 52:31 you'll find there are 360 days in a Biblical year. 52:36 If you need help with that, go to Genesis the 5th chapter 52:39 where it talks about Noah and the flood. 52:41 It'll tell you very clear there are 360 days 52:44 in a Biblical year. OK? 52:46 So if I've got one time, that's 360 days. 52:50 Times means two years... that's 720. 52:54 And a dividing of time or a half a time 52:57 represents a half a year which is 180. 52:59 If you add those together, that gives you 1,260 days 53:04 and each day represents one year. 53:07 OK? 53:09 Now let's see what happens. 53:11 I told you the papal power, this little horn, 53:15 came into being in what year? 53:18 538 AD... that's when Virgilius ascended the throne. 53:23 538 AD. If I add 1,260 years 53:29 to 538 it takes me to when? 53:33 Takes you to 1798 AD. 53:37 Now folks, something very, very important happened 53:43 in 1798 AD. 53:46 I mean extremely important happened in 1798 AD. 53:50 But that's as far as I'm going to take you tonight. 53:55 If you want to know what happened in 1798 AD, 53:57 you've got to be here Friday night. 53:59 OK? 54:02 And I can assure you, it's very important that you know 54:05 what happened in 1798 AD. 54:06 But I want you to watch as we put together 54:10 what we've learned. And I want to take you just a step farther 54:14 because there's some fantastic things, folks, 54:16 that you need to apply here as we look at it tonight. 54:21 As we take a look at scripture 54:24 and we're trying to see where we are, 54:28 God here in the book of Daniel, folks, 54:31 He is stressing... He is stressing over and over 54:35 some points that you and I must understand 54:38 so that we'll be ready for His coming. 54:41 And He's telling you "I'm telling you these things 54:44 before it happens. " 54:53 God's saying: "Listen, I want you to know this 54:56 so you'll believe. " So watch carefully tonight, 54:58 dear friend, please watch... because you're going to see 55:01 where we are and what God has to say. 55:05 Listen: 55:07 We found the head of gold on the image represented who? 55:13 Babylon. 55:15 The lion tonight represented 55:17 Babylon. 55:19 The arms and breasts of silver 55:22 represented Medo-Persia. 55:25 The bear represented 55:28 Medo-Persia. 55:30 The belly and thighs of bronze 55:35 represented Greece. 55:37 The leopard beast represented 55:39 Greece. 55:40 The legs of iron 55:43 represented pagan Rome. 55:44 The dragon represented 55:47 pagan Rome. 55:48 Then from there you remember 55:50 we went to the ten toes. 55:52 And the ten toes were 55:53 those ten Germanic tribes. 55:55 And in Daniel 7 55:57 the ten horns on that beast 55:59 represented the ten Germanic tribes. 56:01 All that was repeat for you 56:03 tonight. But then we went 56:05 to this little horn 56:07 which represented 56:09 the papal power 56:10 that came into existence. 56:12 OK, we've enlarged on that. 56:15 So now you've seen another power 56:17 taking us clear down to 1798 AD. 56:22 And it says that his kingdom 56:24 would go to 1798 AD. 56:26 Now watch what the 7th chapter 56:29 of Daniel does 56:31 when it talks about this little horn. 56:34 OK. We're talking about the little horn: the papal power. 56:38 You'll find that little horn is mentioned in Daniel 7 verse 8. 56:43 OK. It's mentioned again in Daniel 7, verses 20 and 21. 56:49 OK, you with me? 56:50 It's mentioned again in Daniel 7 verses 24 and 25. 56:55 All those talk about the little horn. 56:59 Scripture says that when that little horn comes to an end 57:04 the judgment begins. 57:08 Watch. It talks about the judgment. And you'll find that 57:14 in Daniel 7 verses 9-12. 57:18 Are you with me? 57:21 You not only find it in Daniel 7 verse 9-12 but 57:24 Daniel 7 verse 22 talks about the judgment. 57:28 And Daniel 7 verse 26 talks about the judgment. 57:32 So the Bible says that when this little horn comes to an end 57:37 the judgment is going to take place. 57:40 And then the Bible says that when the judgment ends 57:44 do you know what it says is going to happen? 57:46 Says God's going to set up His kingdom! 57:49 Watch: 57:55 talks about God setting up His kingdom. 57:58 Daniel 7:22 talks about God setting up His kingdom. 58:02 Daniel 7 verse 27 talks about God setting up His kingdom. 58:07 So when you take a look at this 7th chapter of Daniel 58:11 it takes all those things and lines them up for you and I. 58:15 And this is simply what it's telling us: 58:26 After the little horn, 58:28 the scripture says you've got the judgment. 58:31 And after the judgment, you have the kingdom of God. 58:35 Are you getting an idea of where we are in the stream of time? 58:39 Hmmm? Are you beginning to get the picture? 58:45 To obtain a copy of this program or for more information 58:48 please write to: |
Revised 2014-12-17