OUR GATHERING TOGETHER

Brothers and sisters: I hope this helps you to understand why I say that they shout, and the voice of the archangel, as pertaining to the time of the rapture, is for the living saints at that time. The shout and the voice will get all the living saints ready for what will take place when the trump of God sounds to set the resurrection and the translation in motion. Paul had taught this to the Thessalonian church, and admonished them to comfort one another with those words, but something had been misunderstood somewhere along the line, and there was a feeling of unrest among those saints because of it, therefore in his second letter to them, Paul attempts to put their mind at ease. So now, we will get back to 2 Thess. 2:1, where we will begin reading, to see how Paul ties the resurrection, and the rapture to world condition. This lets us see that you cannot take this event called the rapture of the church, and apply it just anywhere, and at any time you please, no more than they could with the first advent of Christ, for the great eternal spirit hold those things sovereignly in His own power. Now notice verse 1," Now we beseech you brethren, (He is not talking to the world, he is talking to believers and the word beseech did not convey the thought, listen if you want to. it strictly meant, you pay attention to what I am going to say.) by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, ( the rapture) That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." To be shaken in mind is to be disoriented, confused, full of doubts and fears, and unable to let your mind rest upon the truth of God's word. Throughout the various realms of denominational religion one can find hundreds of opinions both in books and verbal statements, concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the rapture of the church. Some have the church raptured before the great tribulation, and others have her going through the tribulation. Therefore a hungry soul, without a genuine revelation on this event, could not find much rest in their mind. God wants our mind to be at ease, but most of us have been brought up through these various systems, and until we receive a genuine revelation about something, our mind is still subject to many of our traditional thoughts, and many times they bring on a state of confusion, and cause us to be unnecessarily troubled. That caused Paul to say, Do not allow this condition, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us. What exactly was he referring to? Simply this, no matter what you see or hear that supposedly comes from the realm of the Holy Spirit, if it does not line up with a true revelation from the word of God, do not allow that spirit to trouble you. No matter what word someone may have for you, if it does not follow continuity with the scriptures, do not allow yourself to become anxious nor troubled, not even by a letter from us. In other words, just because I wrote you that first letter, giving you the order in which the resurrection and rapture would take place, don't you get all shook up, and sell your property, and go off someplace waiting for it to happen. (Various groups have been doing that, you know). That is not Paul's words, but that is what he was getting at, for these forewarning spirits will always run ahead of the Spirit of God, and they can only succeed among people that do believe in the working of the Holy Spirit, but are without true revelation of God's word. many people are claiming to have the Holy Ghost in this Laodicean age, but the very fact that so few of them are ever led into a revelation of the word of God proves in itself that their claim is not vindicated by the very spirit they claim to have. For as we have pointed out, over and over again and again, Jesus said, When He comes, He will guide you into ALL TRUTH. But Paul is writing to true saints that truly do have the Holy Ghost; therefore he knew that all they needed, was to have the truth presented to them, and that would settle it, so he went on, saying, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day ( the day of our gathering together unto Jesus Christ, the rapture) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."

THE FALLING AWAY

Evangelists for the last fifty or sixty years have used the falling away part of verse 3, trying to scare people into joining their churches, and some of them could literally make the hair stand up on your arms, as they would paint their picture of a great falling away from Bible precepts, and in many ways, you would have to agree that in the overall scope of world religion, convictions have been slipping away from people for most of those years. But what Paul was talking about goes much deeper than that. He was referring to the kind of falling away that has been taking place among the people who were supposedly restored to the word of God by the message of the prophet to this age. Falling away from revealed truth presents a much more serious situation than just falling away from traditional religion, even if it is the same spirit behind both. We will see in verses 10 & 11, of this chapter, how God deals with people who have no love for the truth, But right now we want to lay our emphasis upon the fact that the rapture of the church is definitely tied to a world condition that must materialize first. There must be first a great falling away from Godly principles and convictions that have been founded upon the truth, and we are seeing that as never before. But then, there must be revealed the man of sin, the son of perdition. ( The Antichrist) Of course we already know what office he will come from, but we do not yet know if the present pope of the Roman Catholic church is the individual man that will fulfill that Antichrist role, or whether he is the one or not, we do know assuredly that he has been busy laying the groundwork for what is soon to materialize. The whole world is seeking peace, and we know there is not going to be any true world peace before Jesus Christ sits upon His throne in the Millennium, but this Antichrist person whoever he turns out to be, will help negotiate something that will pass off as a great world peace agreement, and by then the true bride of Christ will know who he is; he will be revealed to her. Therefore as this apostate condition prevails more and more in the overall scope of religion, the little bride of Christ will have her spiritual eyes and ears open, and she will know that the time of her departure is getting closer and closer. The world will not see it, because they are children of the night, but those who are children of the day will know what is about to take place. Does that mean that Ezekiel 38 and 39 might not hit until after the rapture? No, of course not. Do not allow these great peace overtures to lull you into a false sense of security; for that war of Ezekiel 38 and 39, must still be fought before this week of Daniel starts, in order for the time tables allotted to both to work out properly, God will not have Israelis burning weapons from that Ezekiel conflict, over in the Millennium, and Ezekiel 39:9, lets us know that they will be years baring up all those weapons that are left behind. We also know that the week of Daniel starts when the Antichrist peace agreement is signed, and seven years later, Jesus and His saints will be back on earth setting everything in order for the Millennium. Knowing the order of all these things that are yet to come is what keeps the born again children of God on a true course while the world is going berserk.

THE GREAT FALLING AWAY

I cannot help but think back, how 20 or 30 years ago the church world in general still had some genuine Bible convictions and kept their moral standards up, and how they have let every kind of compromising, devil designed social program move in and replace them. The most effective tool the devil has used to accomplish this, has been the gospel singing groups of the past two decades. Most of them are no more living for God than a jack rabbit, but this generation loves entertainment, and they will sit there and listen to whatever comes along. They do not want to be classified with the hippy rock bunch out there, but they will accept that same beat, just as long as it has a few words to it that can be identified with the Bible. Those singers will get up there and swing and sway to that Satanic beat, and sing and talk about how they love Jesus. If they really loved Jesus, they would leave that junk alone. I certainly do not want to hear it: it does not entertain me one bit whatsoever. Saints: Just stop for a moment and realize where that beat came from. It certainly did not originate in the church, but the so called churches have accepted it, and thrown their doors wide open to whatever follows it in. You could take that same rhythm down here to these disco dance halls, and they would twist, jump around, and do what they do just as well to these so called gospel songs as they do to the others. The only difference is the words. You consider that along with everything else that is being done in the ranks of religion, and you will have to agree that the falling away is almost accomplished. These deteriorating spirits among church people are just like a bunch of maggots in an old dead carcass; they just keep eating away. Social programs, politics, and entertainment take up their time, and the word of God has no real place. Perverts have moved in and forced themselves into leadership positions, and a general trend of immortality and spiritual decay is dominating churches that formerly stood for Bible principles; therefore we would have to say that the falling away is upon us. Every area of life is affected by it, spiritually, morality, politics, social structures, economy and everything is affected by this falling away that precedes the Antichrist and the rapture. Women are demanding equal rights, not only in business and labor circles, but also in the ministry of the gospel of Christ, or maybe we should just say, in the churches, for they know nothing of the true gospel, or they would not be demanding equality in the ministry. But nevertheless, in spite of all that is going on in the world, we are admonished to comfort one another with these words that Paul has spoken. Our comfort and assurance comes from knowing that God is still in control, and that He provides for His own, no matter what the world may do. We are not appointed to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are not to be deceived, because we know the truth. We will not expect the rapture to take place before its time, for we know what must precede it. That is how we properly watch for it; not expecting it to take place at any moment, but watching those things that lead right up to it. On the heels of this great falling away, Paul said, that man of sin would be revealed, this son of perdition who is also know as the false prophet.

FROM PEACE TO TERROR

Let us go on now into verse 4, and listen to Paul tell what he will do (this man of sin). "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." How he is not going to act like that at first, This is what he will be like once Satan has anointed him to fulfill his 3 1/2 year reign of bloodshed and terror. Before that hour arrives though, he will be a peace loving, hand shaking, baby kissing pope, seemingly doing everything possible to further the cause of world peace. That is how he gains the confidence of world leadership, and stands in a place to be chosen by them to oversee their great peace plan. Then after 3 1/2 years of overseeing this peace covenant, Satan anoints him to fulfill what Paul was describing here. That is when he will break the peace covenant, move into the temple of God in Jerusalem, kick the Jews our, and in every way possible project himself to be God. He will blaspheme and oppose everything, and everyone that in any way seems to be Godlike. That is when Jewish believers in God, and foolish virgins from the grace age will begin to be slaughtered because of their faith. The time of the great tribulation will be in effect, and all that Daniel and John wrote about, concerning that hour of time, will follow. It was not necessary for Paul to see everything that would transpire in connection with the falling away he mentioned, and the Antichrist that would follow. What he wrote to those Thessalonian believers was all they needed to know, for they would not be involved in any of the actual events that they were being told about, except the resurrection itself, and being caught up to be with the Lord forever. On the other hand, those of t his age who will be alive to witness the various events of the end time, needed to have more information than what Paul wrote. That is where Daniel and Revelation, comes into the picture. Neither one of them take anything from what Paul wrote; they just fill in the details. Now some will say, But, what about the temple? There is no temple in Jerusalem. Brother: Listen to me. Something is going to take place over there, that will give those Jews their temple spot, and I assure you this, When they get it, it will not be long before that temple is built and completed. It will not upset the scriptures if they are building that temple during the first half of the week of Daniel, but you can believe this, they will be offering sacrifice upon that altar long before the temple itself is built. You can confirm that, by reading the 3rd chapter of Ezra, and see what they did back then, before they even laid the foundation for the temple. They first established their form of ancient worship of Jehovah, and then they went to work building the temple. But let us get back to Paul's letter. He says in verse 5, "Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? ( This proves that he had taught them concerning these things, but somehow it had just not broke through to them.) And now ye know what withholdeth that he ( the Antichrist) might be revealed in his time." In our language of today one would just say, And you know that it is the Holy Spirit that is holding him back until his appointed time. "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." This mystery of iniquity, refers to the spirit of Antichrist, and not to the literal man himself. Even in 54 A.D. Paul could see that the spirit of Antichrist was already at work. Then by 96 A.D. when John wrote the book of Revelation, Satan had already sent out minor agents, minor Antichrists to harass the church, but none of that pertains to this MAN of sin that Paul is writing about here. Of course the last part of that verse refers to the Holy Ghost,, for He is the one that will hinder, or prevent this man of sin from coming on the scene ahead of his appointed time, and when his hour does arrive, it will be the Holy Ghost that withdraws His holding power and lets him make his move. The Holy Ghost have been among the Gentiles for over 1900 years now, convicting and wooing them to salvation, through our Lord Jesus Christ, but there will come an hour when God has determined that His Spirit should no longer deal with Gentiles in this way. That is when the Holy Ghost will cease to hold back the spirit of Antichrist; therefore the man of sin will then be free to move upon the scene, and when he does, the true church will know him, he will be revealed. Time and conditions has produced his office; we know where he will come from, but as I ALREADY SAID, We do not know for sure if the man who presently hold that office is the man that will fulfill the role of this man of sin. Daniel 7 and 8 lets us know beyond any shadow of doubt that his office is established in and through the Roman Catholic church; the fourth beast system upon earth has produced that. We can say also, His office has been established gradually over a period of many years of time, but when the man himself is revealed, that will not be a slow gradual process. World conditions, and the demand upon him will allow him to step right into his end time role as the man of sin, this son of perdition, the Antichrist that is to come. This world is right on the brink of another terrible conflict, one that will have universal repercussions, and this time it will not be the United Nations that establishes a peace plan; it will be the pope of the Roman Catholic church, and if this present pope is still in office at that time, then it is he, that will fulfill this diabolical plan of Satan.

COULD POPE PAUL II BE THE MAN?

Let me just say a few words about this present pope. in the short time he has been in office, he (picture of man with black hat and the choice between Life and Death) has traveled more miles that any of his predecessors, making speeches to great multitudes of people. He has a profound way of speech. It seems that he is just able to melt the hearts of those who hear him. Furthermore, coming from Poland, he knows how to deal with, and co-exit with communism, and that is a necessary characteristic, in this age when the spirit of communism is so widespread. He makes speeches that just leave politicians and communist leaders standing in awe. Therefore all we need right now is another world conflict, and I can guarantee you, that if this present pope is still alive, and in good health, (able to travel about) his unusual personality, and his ability to get things done will project him right into the role as a world peacemaker, to fulfill the scriptures. World leaders will not be looking for a man who will point them to the Bible. Oh, no. They will be looking for one that will promise them more dollars, no more war, better security worldwide, and a brighter future for their families. It will all have a religious front, but there will be nothing spiritual about it. Now I realize some will say, Now Bro. Jackson: That all seems a little far-fetched, and to some, I am sure it will, but to those who are alert to the reality of what mass destruction could be wrought upon the old world, if nuclear weapons should begin to be turned loose, I am sure they realize the seriousness of what I am saying. I say, On such a brink of disaster, world leaders will rush to the negotiating table, and be more than ready to sign a peace covenant that will fulfill Daniel 9:27. Therefore the world is going to need a peacemaker, a negotiator, a mediator, and Satan will have certain man waiting and ready to step into his role, so that brings us back to verse 8, in the 2nd chapter of 2 Thess. "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, (this Man of sin) whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." This of course, speaks of how the Lord will deal with this wicked one when He returns to earth with His saints to set up the Millennial reign, but that will not take place until the end of seven years that have been allotted to the Antichrist. In other words, this is when Christ comes back to earth to rule and reign, and not when He comes to rapture His saints in the beginning of this seven year period of time.

SELF STYLED HOLY PEOPLE

According to Revelation, chapter 19, all the armies of heaven will be with Jesus, when He comes back to earth to fight against this man of sin and all of earth's corruption, and this time He will not come as a thief in the night to them. He will come in power and glory, taking vengeance upon all that is ungodly. When he comes to rapture His church, He will come as a thief in the night as far as the world is concerned, for they will not know what is happening, but when He comes back, seven years later, every eye will behold Him for He will be coming back in wrath. Brother I want you to know though, the last 3 1/2 years of that 7 years is going to be hell on earth, for that old Antichrist with all his evil forces will be stalking the earth with a death decree against all Gentile virgins, and all Jewish saints, and they will butcher them like hogs at the slaughterhouse. During that time evil and ungodly men will desire to die, and death will will flee from them. According to the 9th chapter of Revelation, the bottomless pit is opened up, and every tormenting spirit held therein is loosed upon earth to torment ungodly mankind. They wanted their great hour of manmade peace, and God will let them have it, but this is what it will turn into, hell upon earth. They will desire to die, but God will not let them die until their cup of wrath is full, and then Jesus and His armies will descend from heaven and destroy them. Verse 9 tells how this man of sin makes his appearance, and lets us know why the world at large will receive him so graciously. Notice, "Even him whose coming is after the workings of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." Naturally this is speaking of political power, and not of supernatural power, and it is a known fact, that by political maneuverings, the Catholic Church is always able to stay on top of every situation. If you do not think I am speaking the truth, just go back and read your history books, and you will find that through the ages of time, in every conflict, the Catholic church always manages to end up on the winning side, even if she has to change sides. That is how she has maintained control over so many people through the centuries of time since she came into prominence. Verse 10, goes ahead describing the tactics of the man of sin who gains his power through political wonders that are brought about by lying and deceiving, and so forth. And with all deceive ableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; ( He will not deceive the true body of Christ, but he will deceive all the rest.) because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (or the lie) That they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." It was necessary for God to send a prophet messenger to this age, to cry out against Antichrist systems, and point God's true people back to His word. Otherwise we would still be sitting in our Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal and whatever other denominational systems we were in. Furthermore we would be all wrapped up in this spirit of deceive ableness that has captured the multitudes. Where did it all start? It started when Rome put out her great plea for a united brotherhood. This ecumenical spirit was loosed upon mankind, and it is leading denominational religion right into the arms of old mother Rome. This Glossolalia, and Charismatic movement is leading it all right back to Rome, but it could not happen until after the had their opportunity to receive the love of the truth, and they rejected it. Therefore God Himself sends them strong delusion by certain manifestations which causes them to follow signs and wonders. He does it to bind them to that old religious system that the world looks upon as the church, so He can judge it all together when the times comes. All will be damned who believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness. Now please do not allow yourself to think that it is only those who love to go to the beer joints that are unrighteous. God will have mercy on that person a lot sooner than He will a self righteous, self willed, self styled holy creature. This is the kind of holy people that condemned Jesus and sent Him to the cross. This is the kind of people that actually made up false charges against Him, and cried Crucify him! Crucify him! Then when Pilate would have released Him, they cried, Give us Barrabbas. Therefore they are already condemned in the eyes of God, and their judgment lies before them. As children of the day, we can see these things that are taking place throughout the world today, and we know they point to the soon coming of Jesus Christ. But we also know that His coming has to be in accordance with the word of God, therefore we are watching those world conditions that will lead right into it. Jesus said, When you see these things, then lookup, for your redemption draweth nigh. Brothers and sisters: I hope none of you think we say these things trying to get glory to ourselves, for all glory, honor and majesty belongs to Him who died for us and rose again, that we also might have hope of redemption. Praise His wonderful name! Hallelujah! Yes we can, and should watch for the rapture, but we should and must watch scripturally, knowing in our hearts that God will not bypass one single prophecy of the scriptures in order to hurry it up for us.

GREAT TRIBULATION FOR WHO?

What we are going to look at now will not affect those who truly do go in the rapture, but since there is still so much speculation about the great tribulation, what it is, when will it be, who will go through it, and what is the purpose for it, along with two or three dozen other questions, I think it would be good just to take a little time right here, and deal with it. I heard a radio preacher trying to teach on it the other day, and he was having the whole week of Daniel as the great tribulation, and saying, But don't worry, the saints will be raptured before that starts. Well, in reality he had one point correct; the saints will be raptured before the great tribulation starts, but not necessarily before the week of Daniel starts, for the signing of the peace covenant that also includes the nation of Israel is what will mark the beginning of the 7 year period of time known as the 70th week of Daniel. Therefore to give that whole week of time to the great tribulation, throws everything else out of its scriptural setting, so let us take a little time to examine this subject.

THAT CERTAIN PEACE COVENANT

This is definitely a teaching subject, so I am trusting the Lord to help me make everything clear and easy to understand, and above all else, scripturally established. First of all let me ask you this, Do you know where this great tribulation terminology originated? You do not find it in Daniel, where the events of it are first mentioned. Actually Jesus Himself was the first to make mention of it, in Matthew 24:21. It is a period of time associated only with the last half of the week of Daniel, when the Antichrist breaks the peace covenant with the nation of Israel. But first, there has to be such a covenant signed. The Roman pope may sign treaties with ever so many nations in the months and years ahead of us, but until the nation of Israel is included in one of them, please do not jump the gun, to start the week of Daniel. God Himself will start that week, for He is the one that keeps all prophetic time, and He knows exactly when to move men to fulfill His will, and when He moves upon the nations to sign that particular peace treaty, then we will have something precise to calculate remaining time by, for however long we are still here. In the meanwhile, we must calculate seasons by world events, especially in the Middle East. It is really a time for Christians to begin to be very wise. I just happened to catch a few minutes of the P.T.L.Club on TV the other day when Mr. Baker was interviewing people to build upon the rock kingdom, and I just thought to myself, yes, what you are saying is true, but you are looking at the whole thing through dollar signs; you are not taking heed to the words of Jesus. Do not ever forget that Jesus said, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and Doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock." Was Jesus having any reference to money when He said that? You know perfectly well that He was not; He was talking about Godly character and a pure revelation. But He also said, "And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand." That would be those who try to live a Christian life, but avoid the true teaching of the overall word of God. We are living in a day when people by the thousands, just follow anything that looks or sounds good to them, without even giving any thought as to whether it follows a pattern laid down by the Bible. The truth is, Most of them do not even know their way through the Bible, therefore they would not know how to test it by God's word, yet they profess to be born again. That is a very commonly used terminology in our day, you know. Dear Brothers and Sisters: I hope you every one realize that none of us have anything to be proud about, for if the grace of God had not reached down and lifted us up, where do you suppose we would be today? I am thankful to the depths of my heart, for the grace that God has bestowed upon me.

DANIEL'S FOURTH BEAST

Let me get back to Matthew 24:21. "For then shall be GREAT TRIBULATION, (In every age, trials and tests have always been common, but none of them could ever be considered great tribulation in the sense that Jesus was speaking of here, for this is a certain specific period of time.) such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Notice this next verse.) And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Now saints, we need to realize that even though these two verses did truly have a type setting fulfillment in 69-70 A.D., to the Jewish people, that still was not THE GREAT TRIBULATION: that was just a projection of the spirit of this one that is just up ahead. You that have not read our article titled,"THE ABOMINATION THAT MAKETH DESOLATE, might want to get that article and read what took place in Jerusalem, in 69 and 70 A.D. But when you do, just remember this, the great tribulation that is yet to come will be much, much worse than anything that happened back then. That is what Jesus said, It will be a time like there has never been before, and there shall never be another time like it, and verse 29, lets us know that what took place in 69 and 70 A.D. in Jerusalem, was not it. Notice, "Immediately (not 6 months, nor 2 years later, but immediately.)after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken? ( This did not take place in 70 A.D.) And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." This definitely is not referring to Jesus coming to rapture the saints, for that has already taken place. This speaks of when He comes back to earth, with His church, and all the armies of heaven, in power and great glory, to rule and reign for one thousand years, right about the end of the great tribulation period of time. Nevertheless the last half of that week of Daniel will be the worst time this old world has ever known. We have to go back to the 7th chapter of Daniel to pick up the symbolic language where this period of time is first spoken of. Let me say this also, Every scripture in the Bible, that speaks of this period of time is in perfect harmony one with the other; there is no confusion. Here, in this chapter, Daniel describes a dream he had, in which he saw 4 great beasts come up from the sea and go through their cycle, and the fourth was the most terrible and dreadful of all. He even saw that fourth beast go through judgment and his body destroyed. He sees himself inquiring of an angel as to what all this pertained to, and he wants to know especially about this fourth beast, so let us pick up in verse 19, and be aware of the fact that this fourth beast was the old Roman Empire. He says, "Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse (different) from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with is feet; (see verse 7 and 8) even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." He watched that fourth world kingdom go through its cycle of changes; then after it had devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet, it was finally brought to judgment and destroyed. Brothers and sisters, that covers a great span of time, but it is a picture of what the old Roman empire did in the Middle East and Western Europe. When it says in verse 23, that it shall devour the whole earth, you have to realize that it is referring to the old world, where these great empire stamped their influence, and ruled and reigned with such authority. The Roman empire never did rule, nor devour the Orients. It never did penetrate beyond the borders of India; therefore it is strictly a Middle East and Western Europe setting. The only reference to the eastern nations is in the 16th chapter of Revelation, in connection with the kings of the east being brought to the battle of Armageddon, which is definitely the last war that will ever be fought on this planet.

THE LITTLE HORN

Saints, we just have to assume that most of you already know a lot of those things from history and from other articles we have printed, for we could never justify the time, nor the space that it would take to fill in all the details leading up to where we are reading, here in Daniel 7. The beast had ten horns that were in his head, and there came up from among them a little horn, before whom three of the other horns fell. This little horn had eyes like a man, and a mouth that spake great things, and his look was more stout than his fellows. We know from church history, as well as from secular history, that this is speaking of the rise of the papal power as it came up through, or from the midst of those ten horns of Western Europe during (picture of the beast with the littlest horn looking like a man with a crown on his head)the Dark Ages, until it finally reached such a place of power in Europe, just before the breaking of the Reformation period, that it literally took control of heads of state, and stamped down their authority, and he proceeded to change times, and laws, and such like. Do you know that the whole western world today, observes solar time by a calendar that was designed by the Vatican? We call it Roman time, but actually, it is Roman time that has been revised by the Vatican, instead of the old Roman ceasers. This little horn works out to be the pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and that brings us to verse 21, which actually deals with the great tribulation. This verse could very well have a compound meaning, covering other periods of time, but its climax is in the last half of the 70th week of Daniel, for verse 22, shows that it continues until Jesus comes back to judgment. Notice now, "I beheld, and the same horn (that little horn) made war with the saints, and prevailed against them: (That is your Gentile foolish virgins and Jewish saints, that will be martyred during the great tribulation.) Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High: and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom," Judgment is given to the bride of Christ, and she rules and reigns with Christ throughout the Millennium. As we continue reading, you will hear the angel explaining the 4th beast that was so terrible in Daniel's vision. Verse 23, "Thus he said, The fourth beast SHALL BE the fourth kingdom upon the earth, (BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, GREECE and then ROMAN; these are the 4 great world kingdoms that appeared as beasts in(picture of symbols of beast, ecclesiastical Babylon mystery) Daniel's vision, and the Roman empire was the fourth.) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." The Roman empire went through many stages that made it different from the others, and finally, papal power gained the supremacy over the emperors, and that allowed that fourth kingdom to be ruled by what we now know as the Catholic church. But let us read some more scripture. Verse 24, And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: ( That is your ten kingdoms of Europe that made up the territory over which this Roman beast ruled.) and another shall rise after them; (the pope gains authority over political rulers.) and he shall subdue three kings." The first ten horns on that fourth beast were political horns, ( horn speaks of power) and that is why that, even though it seems that this little horn that arises from their midst should make eleven horns on it, it really does not, for this little horn is ecclesiastical power, church rule. The Catholic Church took dominion over those kings of the old Roman empire. That is why this last horn that raised up from the midst of the others was so different from them; he was a religious power, ursuping religious authority. The apostle John in his vision, saw seven heads upon his fourth beast, and this papal head was what made up the seventh, for the seven heads were 7 forms of rulership over the Roman empire which was the fourth beast, that had ten horns. We will see how that 7th had was wounded, and how it was healed, a little later, but first we want to finish this scripture. Verse 25, "And he shall speak great words against the most High; and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given unto his hand until a TIME ( one year) and TIMES (two more years) and the dividing of time." (another 1/2 year) This is a great tribulation setting, and it is those tribulation saints that shall be given unto his hand for 3 1/2 years to be martyred because of their faith in God. The length of time in which this shall take place is spoken of in symbolic language, but the time itself is not symbolic; it is literally 3 1/2 years of time, in which this devil incarnated pope of Rome will rule, and actually sit in the Jewish temple showing himself as God. Naturally this 3 1/2 year period of time is not called great tribulation here, for Jesus is the first to refer to it as that, but from these scriptures, we get our first glimpse of the whole picture that is revealed through other scriptures. Just reading here we do not know whether these saints of the most High are Jewish or Gentile saints, but as we go into the book of Revelation, we see that it is both. Also, it is from other scriptures that we learn what this symbolic mention of times breaks down to be, for as we get over in Revelation, we find it mentioned as 42 months instead of in this way.

WHAT SHALL THE END BE?

Right now, let us go to Daniel 12:7 for another mention of this time element involved. This is dealing with another experience Daniel had, and the answer that was given him when he wanted to know the truth of it. "And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half time; and when he (This he, is that little horn that arose from the midst of the ten,) shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." What things? You may wonder. Verse 1-6, speak of a time of great trouble such as never was before; it speaks of a resurrection, and of deliverance of all that have their names written in the book of life. So verse 7 answered the question of verse 6, How long shall it be to the end of these things? Daniel heard all of this, but that did not clear it up for him, so in verse 8, we hear him saying, "And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, What shall be the end of these things: And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." These things were written in a symbolic language enough to keep the wicked from being able to pick up the book and read exactly what was going to take place, yet the children of God, living in the generation that would see these things take place, have been led by the Spirit of God, to understand what they mean. Yes, the wise will understand, but this wicked and ungodly generation of perverts and murderers, will not understand. They will go right on in their self willed way until the end, and get worse and worse every day they live. Any time you have a society of people that demand to do exactly what they want to do, you have nothing but hell on earth, and that is exactly what we have today. Any man or woman in their right mind, would not want to do any more than what they felt would be right, and proper in the sight of God. It is the same with God's angels; they are so thankful, and they love God so much, they only want to do what pleases Him. That, my Friend, is true freedom. None of those people that are always demanding their freedom, will ever know what true freedom is, for they are slaves to demon spirits, and what they want to do, and all the time, they think they are gaining freedom to do exactly as they choose to do. Well, God is going to let mankind have the kind of leader that will turn all these spirits loose, and that is when men will seek to die, and death will flee from them. God will keep them alive to partake of the kind of life they have been fighting to achieve, one that will allow anyone to do anything they choose to do, any time, and any place.

1260 DAYS PLUS 75 DAYS EQUALS?

Brothers and sisters: We are living in an hour when professing Christians can find a form of religion somewhere that will suit their desired way of life, pacify their religious feelings, and give them their social standing in society, but there is not much wisdom in that kind of a life,and certainly no salvation. That is a life of deception, one that just lulls you to sleep, and God moves on off, and leaves you. True, wisdom is knowing how to look at the word of God through the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Ghost, and knowing what hour we are living in, just before the return of Jesus Christ. We do believe the word of God, and we are persuaded that when He comes, He will find some true saints that have made themselves ready to be ushered into the wedding. These are the wise ones that will understand the scriptures we are looking at in this message. So now, let us look at verse 11, which is a confirmation of 9:27, that speaks of the Antichrist breaking the peace covenant and this is when the great persecution of the Jews begins again. 11 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, ( the Jews will be driven out of their temple, and the old Antichrist will take control of it, and that will initiate the great tribulation period.) there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. "You will notice that there is an extra 30 days included there, beyond the 1260 days allotted to the great tribulation. That is not a mistake, and neither does it cause confusion. I am persuaded that at the end of 1260 days of the rule of the Antichrist, Jesus will come with His saints from heaven, and begin to pour out His wrath upon this earth, but that will not be finished in a few minutes of time, it will run into days, and that will account for extra days in verses 11 and 12. Notice verse 12, "Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." That gives you another 45 days on top of the 30, which adds up to a total of 75 extra days between the end of the Antichrist's allotted time, and the actual starting of the one thousand year reign of Christ upon earth. That 75 days will be the time elapsed during the wrath of God poured out upon ungodly mankind, then getting the planet back in order for the Millennial reign, and actually setting the Millennium in starting order. Jesus said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken," so we can see that everything is going to be terribly disrupted during that time, but when His wrath has accomplished it's purpose, He will pull everything back into it's intended order, and set about cleansing and sanctifying the defiled temple, getting it ready for the Millennium, for Christ Himself will rule from the temple in Jerusalem throughout the next one thousand years. We have already mentioned it, but if you will turn back to Daniel 9:27, with me, we will read that verse and see where he (the Antichrist) will confirm a covenant with many for 1 week, and in the midst of the week he will cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease, meaning, to break the covenant agreement, and start persecuting the Jews that have enraged him during the first 3 1/2 years of that week. 9:27 "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for 1 week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Jesus Christ is the true Prince of Peace, and when He comes to earth to rule for one thousand years, it will be a rule of peace, and He will not have to get the nations to sign a peace agreement. He will establish peace by chaining up the old trouble maker. Satan. But this false peace maker will have to do it man's way, but before he does, the scriptures will be fulfilled, 1 Thess.5:3, " For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. There has to first come a time when the world will feel at ease, and begin to say, Well, we finally have peace an safety. God will let them live under that false peace for 3 1/2 years, and then it will suddenly become hell upon the earth, as the bottomless pit is opened, and all those tormenting demons turned loose upon wicked mankind.

WOUNDED HEAD HEALED

I have said it many times before, and I do not mind saying it again, I believe the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 and 39 is what will so shake the world that their leaders will rush to the peace negotiating table, sign a peace pact, and appoint the pope of the Roman Catholic church as the overseer of it. Since the signing of such an agreement is what actually starts that last week of Daniel, I look for this old world to get a terrible shaking. The scope of Ezekiel 38 and 39 will be a lot greater than a lot of people expect. People of the world are going to feel that we are on the brink of total annihilation. You talk about shuttle diplomacy, that old pope is really going to be busy.Then when the agreement is signed, the man of the world is going to lean back and say, This is wonderful. This is what we have needed for so long. We can build houses now, and not have to worry about them being blown all to pieces. We can send our children to college and not have to worry about them being called to the battlefield as soon as they are finished. No wonder Revelation 13:8 says, "They worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast." Now we know that no same person would be likely to bow down and worship him through their systems of religion, not recognizing the spirit of the man. Now while we are here in chapter 13, let us read verse 3, which speaks of the wounding of one of the 7 heads of that old Roman beast, and of it's healing, and how the world responded. "And I saw one of the heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." When Daniel first saw that fourth beast it only had one head, but John later saw it with seven heads, and one of those heads was wounded unto death, but later healed. I will be brief, but maybe a few words of explanation will clear up any question you may have about these heads. As long as Rome was ruled by the ancient Ceasars (those of that royal family that passed the throne from one to the next in line) the fourth beast (Rome) had only ONE head. But NERO was the last one of that royal line of ceasars, and when he died there was no one to inherit the throne. From that point seven heads begin to develop on that old beast, and when the angel spoke to John, in Revelation 17, he told him that five were fallen. The seven heads were seven kings, and rulers of the Roman empire, after the death of Nero, and the five that were fallen, were the five good emperors that tried to re-establish another line of Caesars, another royal family) but never succeeded in doing so. Nevertheless each of them did succeed in establishing a form of political government that caused them to be looked upon as a political head upon the beast. They left the scene, and time passed, and Constantine was the next outstanding emperor that ever established any form of imperial rule that could be considered a head on that Roman beast. Other men sat upon that throne before Constantine, but he was the only one that could be considered head number 6, and when he passed off the scene, over 400 years rolled by before head number 7 appeared. His name was Charlemagne, and it was his form of imperial ruler ship that the popes began to exercise the authority of the papacy above. Charlemagne was the seventh head on that old beast, and the 8th head was an ecclesiastical head, and therefore did not put eight heads upon the beast, for only political heads were recognized as such. Therefore the beast continued to have only seven heads, but it was obvious that the eighth was in control. It was just a case of blending the seventh form of imperial rulership and ecclesiastical rulership together. Little by little the papacy took control of that seventh form of imperial government, and that is why the Bible says that the eighth is of the seventh. it was the wounding of that ecclesiastical head by the Reformation, that John saw, and he thought it should have been wounded to death, but along come eccumenicalism, and through the world council of churches, all the Protestant daughters have been led back to mama, ( Roman Catholicism) and in so doing, that deadly wound has been healed. The old pope is just about ready to resume his beastly rule. All he needs is that spirit of Satan that is to come up out of the bottomless pit, (Hell) enter into the man for the duration of his allotted time, (three and one half years of beastly rule in the last half of that week of Daniel) and then go into perdition. (Destruction)

CONDITIONS FULFILL BIBLE PROPHECY

Now some may ask, Why should such a peace loving man as the Roman Catholic pope in that hour, suddenly take on a beastly attitude, and conduct himself like a demon? I am convinced that during the first 3 1/2 years of that week of time, something will agitate him to the point where he can no longer contain his feelings, and I believe it will probably be the ministry of those two Jewish prophets that prophecy to the Jews for 3 1/2 years, and constantly warn them of what the pope is destined to do. In the eyes of the world, those two prophets will be nothing but troublemakers, stirring up trouble in a time of great peace, and do not forget who is overseeing the peace agreement. Why would he not be provoked to wrath by what they will be doing and saying there in Israel? They will be exposing everything, and everyone that had anything to do with that peace agreement, and the news media will be broadcasting it to the world. That is how the people of the nations will be able to to see their dead bodies lay in the street for 3 1/2 days without being burred. Television will broadcast it to the whole world, just like they have the incident in Beirut, Lebanon. The ministry of those two prophets is going to upset the whole social structure in Israel, and it will cause great feelings to swell up between the political Jews that agreed with the peace covenant, and the spiritual Jews that never have signed it. It will bring about a condition almost like the one that brought Titus and Jerusalem in 69 and 70 A.D. Jew against Jew, until it gets to the point where something has to be done about it. The old peace promoting man of sin will be forced to make his move, for 3 1/2 years of those two prophets is all he will be able to tolerate. That is when Satan will make his move. While the old pope is building up certain human feelings toward those two prophets that are causing so much disturbance, old Satan will take him over, and that is when the blood bath starts. He breaks the covenant, has the two prophets killed, refuses them entombment, and begins a widespread persecution of the Jews and anyone else that professes to believe in God. That is what is meant in Daniel, when it speaks of the overspreading of abominations. It is the ushering in of excessive hatred. In Daniel 12:7, it speaks of scattering the power of the holy people, so even that far back, it was prophesied that this satanic instrument would do something to scatter the children of Israel. What else could that be but Israel fleeing for her life in the dark tribulation hour? (Rev. 12:6) True saints know what he will do to gain the confidence of world leaders, and that is why Paul could say, That day of our gathering together unto Him ( Jesus Christ) shall not come except there first come a falling away, and that man of sin be revealed, that son of perdition, the Antichrist, false prophet, and false peace maker. He was not teaching that the church would go through the tribulation, he was just using the beginning of that peace agreement as a sign factor for believers. When you see these things taking place, Look up, for your redemption draweth nigh. He also told them that God has not appointed them to wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ. The wrath he was speaking of, will be the great tribulation therefore somewhere about the time of the signing of that peace treaty, the living bride saints will be caught up to be with the heavenly bridegroom, Jesus Christ. That leaves on earth, the foolish virgins, and the Jewish saints, to face martyrdom at the hands of the Antichrist forces. These Jewish saints that will be martyred, are not the same ones that will receive the message of the two prophets, for that group are the ones that will flee into the wilderness to hide for 3 1/2 years. Daniel saw that little horn speaking great words against the most High, and said he would wear out the saints of the most High. Therefore those who cannot see the foolish virgins of Matthew 25:1013, as being saved, get in trouble trying to explain how the church can be raptured before the great tribulation, and yet have the Antichrist wear out the saints of the most High during that time. Then when they get to Revelation 7:14 and see that great multitude, some from every nation under heaven, that purged themselves through martyrdom during the tribulation; they just have to say, Well, we will let time itself reveal who they are. Brother: I thank God that I know already, for I would not rest with such uncertainty in my soul, Will I go through the tribulation, or will I not? Let me just say this, and we will bring this to a close. From every nation under heaven, there will be saints raptured to be with Jesus during that tribulation hour, and from those nations there will also be foolish virgins that will be martyred during that time, and also there will be some people left alive upon earth, good moral people from every nation under heaven that will pass into the Millennium to repopulate the earth. But we do not learn these things just drifting along nonchalantly without ever allowing the Holy Ghost to teach us, and neither can we make ourselves ready for the rapture just drifting along like that. Jesus Christ is coming back for a God fearing, truth loving, Bible studying, praying, Holy Ghost taught church, that has followed all the truth that was revealed in her hour, and that is why I say, young people; Do not get so wrapped up in material things, that you neglect your own soul. Go ahead and build houses, plant potatoes and prepare to live here another twenty or so years if that should be the will of God, but do not neglect to have your soul ready to meet your maker before the sun goes down tomorrow, it that should be His will instead. No, the rapture cannot come that quick, but He may call you as an individual, therefore be ready, regardless of the cost to your flesh. Watch for the rapture, but watch scripturally instead of traditionally. Do not allow yourselves to be sidetracked by signs and wonders, for God still has tare bundlers out there. They are speaking in tongues, praying for the sick, and supposedly doing God a great service, but they have no love of the truth; therefore God Himself is sending them strong delusion, that they might believe the devil's lie and be damned.

Keep your eyes upon the Middle East, and especially upon the nation of Israel, for all the present signs are pointing toward Ezekiel 38 and 39, and the rapture will not be very far beyond the climax of that. May God bless you. Amen.

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