Welcome to From the Pulpit in Classic Sermons.
Each week we bring you a different message
from some of history's greatest speakers in the
Christian faith.
And powerful sermons from modern preachers too.
This week we have John Rhys Watkins with
his message, The Antichrist Unmasked.
Matthew 24 beginning in verse 1 and it
says this, it says, And Jesus went out
and departed from the temple.
And his disciples came to him for to
show him the building of the temple.
And Jesus said unto them, See not all
these things?
Verily I say unto you, that there shall
be left one stone upon another that shall
not be thrown down.
And as he sat upon the Mount of
Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying,
Tell us when these things shall be.
And what shall be the sign of thy
coming and of the end of the world?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take
heed that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name, saying,
I am Christ, and shall deceive many.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours
of wars.
See that these be not trouble you.
For all these things must come to pass,
but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom
against kingdom.
And there shall be famines and pestilence and
earthquakes in diverse places.
All these are the beginnings of sorrows.
Then shall ye be delivered up to be
afflicted and shall kill you.
And ye shall be hated of all nations
for my name's sake.
And then shall many be offended and shall
betray one another and shall hate one another.
And many false prophets shall arise and shall
deceive many.
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of
many shall wax cold.
But he that endureth unto the end, the
same shall be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations.
And then shall the end come.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of
desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet.
Whosoever readeth, let him understand.
Then let him which be in Judea flee
into the mountains.
Let him which is on the housetop not
come down to take anything out of his
house.
Neither let him which is in the field
be turned back to take his clothes.
And woe unto them that are with child
and them that give sack in those days.
But pray that your flight be not in
winter, neither on the Sabbath day.
For then shall be great tribulations such as
was not since the beginning of the world
until this time.
Nor ever shall be.
And except those days be shortened, there should
no flesh be saved.
But for the elect's sake, those days shall
be shortened.
Then if any man shall say unto you,
Lo, here is Christ, who there?
Believe it not.
For there shall arise false Christs and false
prophets and shall show great signs and wonders.
Insomuch that if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect.
Behold, I've told you before.
Therefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold,
he's in the desert.
Go not forth.
Behold, he's in the secret chambers.
And believe it not.
For as the lightning cometh out of the
east and shineth even unto the west, so
shall also the coming of the Son of
Man be.
For whosoever, for wheresoever the carcass is, there
will the eagles be gathered together.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall
the sun be darkened and the moon shall
not give you light.
And the stars shall fall from heaven and
the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Then shall appear the sign of the Son
of Man in heaven.
Then shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn.
And they shall see the Son of Man
coming in clouds of heaven with power and
great glory.
And he shall send his angels with the
great sound of a trumpet.
And they shall gather together his elect from
the four corners, from the four winds, from
one end of heaven to the other.
Now learn the parable of the fig tree.
When his branches yet tender and put forth
leaves, you know that summer is nigh.
So likewise, you know when you shall see
all these things.
Know that it is very near, even at
the door.
Verily I say unto you, this generation shall
not pass till all these things be fulfilled.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my
word shall not pass away.
But of that day and hour knoweth no
man.
Know not the angels of heaven, but my
Father only.
But as the days of Noah, so shall
be the coming of the Son of Man.
For as in the days they were before
the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day the
Noah entered into the ark.
And knew not until the flood came and
took them all away.
So shall also the coming of the Son
of Man be.
Then shall two be in the field, and
one shall be taken and the other left.
Two women shall be grinding at the mill,
and one shall be taken and the other
left.
Watch therefore, for you know not what hour
your Lord doth come.
But know this, that if the good man
of the house had known in what watch
the thief would come, he would have watched,
and would not have suffered his house to
be broken up.
Therefore be also ready, for in such an
hour as you think not, the Son of
Man cometh.
Who then is the faithful and wise servant,
whom his Lord hath made ruler over his
outflow, to give them meat in due season?
Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when
he cometh, shall find him doing.
Verily I say unto you, that he shall
make him ruler over all his goods.
Amen.
May the Lord bless this word unto our
hearts.
Amen.
You can see that I've got new glasses,
and I'm still trying to fit them in
with my eyes.
The title of the message tonight is Antichrist
Unmasked.
Now, someone said recently, how do you avoid
the Antichrist?
How does the church get away from this
beast?
What can we do?
The greatest thing that God has given to
us is the first commandment, Thou shalt have
no other God before me.
If the church sticks that principle in the
heart and believes it, then Antichrist, he cannot
mark the church.
He cannot assault the church if God is
the only God that we serve.
Antichrist can only come because the church has
fallen away from her first love.
She's become cold and dull.
Now, in Matthew 24, the Lord Jesus, he's
asked three questions of his disciples.
The first question related to the destruction of
the Jewish temple.
The other two questions, they related to the
end days.
The sign of his coming and the end
of the world.
He warned of many signs that would have
to be discerned by the church in these
days.
I believe there was an urgency in the
words of Christ to his followers.
That means it's applicable to us tonight.
There's an urgency in these scriptures.
I believe that as Christ answered the question,
he could see in his mind's eye the
awful things that would come upon the earth.
His words were filled with fear and trepidation
as he saw the gross satanic assault that
the devil would afflict upon his people.
I believe there's something missing today in the
modern interpretation of the scriptures.
And that element is a godly fear of
that which shall come upon us, upon the
world.
You know, the warnings of this prophecy, they're
not recorded for us to debate.
They're not recorded here that the church might
have something to argue over.
Eschatology is not something that we must learn
in a dry, analytical sense.
Eschatology, the end times prophecy, is something that
must be absorbed into the very heart of
a Christian.
If all you hear tonight is facts, figures,
and something new, you're dead to the word
of God.
We're not here to tell you something new.
We're not here to talk about facts and
figures and work this jigsaw out.
You're here tonight to listen to the warnings
of God.
The message tonight is to confirm to us,
to strengthen us, and to direct our faith
towards the object of faith, the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
If that is not the object of our
faith, we need to be waken up as
a people.
Faith must always be projected to the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Cannot have faith in anything else.
You see, the words of Christ, they've sounded
the alarm for the past 2,000 years.
But the years of the year as in
the church, they've waxed hard and dull.
The church today, unfortunately, is making the same
mistake as the man and the woman made
in the Garden of Eden.
Instead of coming to the tree of life,
we're picnicking under the tree of knowledge.
Man once made that dreadful mistake.
He thought that knowledge was the key to
life.
And look at the cost.
Look at the dreadful cost for the whole
of mankind.
You see, it's very difficult for us to
understand the fear that shall descend upon the
whole of mankind.
But it's all too easy for the church
to make light of his words in our
jigsawed interpretation of prophecy.
You see, we've made the prophetic word of
God a debate in society.
It's something that we've divided into schools of
thought.
And God helps someone if they don't agree
with your theology of the end times.
God didn't give us these scriptures to debate.
He gave us them as a warning that
Christ is coming, but the Antichrist is on
his way.
You see, this Christ, he spoke of many
things that I believe point to the fact
that the world today is living in the
very last days of his grace.
You're listening tonight.
We're at the end.
How many people believe that this is the
end of the world?
If it's true, then grace is about to
end.
Christ spoke of wars and rumors of wars.
What is he talking about?
Have you ever known such a time when
there's wars, there's rumors of wars?
There's a war in Iraq today, but nobody
knows if it's a war or if it's
just a conflict.
It's a rumor.
Nobody knows why they're fighting out there.
Nobody knows how many people are dying.
Nobody knows the cost of that war.
Christ spoke of these things.
He said, for nation shall rise against nation,
kingdom against kingdom.
He spoke of famines, pestilences and earthquakes.
Well, we all know about the earthquakes that
come upon us at the very end of
last year.
We know about famines.
We know about the pestilences that are going
and spreading like wildfire through Africa.
600 people a day in Africa dying through
the pestilence, the disease of AIDS.
Christ said that the nation shall rise against
nation, kingdom against kingdom.
You know, in our first century, the Jewish
thought, kingdom rising against kingdom, nation against nation.
It's a Jewish idea.
What they knew and believed was this would
be a world war.
Now, it was impossible in the first century.
It was only possible to have a total
worldwide conflict at the beginning of the last
century.
There's been two world wars.
Christ said that these were signs of his
coming.
From verse 9, he goes on to warn
of things that relate specifically to the church.
You see, the world today, they can know
that Christ is coming because we've had wars.
They should know because of the famines, the
pestilence, the earthquakes, the sorrow, the misery, the
drudgery of this world.
But for the church, he gave us specific
warnings.
Before he gave the signs, he said something
incredible.
He said this to the church.
Take heed that no man deceive you.
Why did he say that?
Did he say it just to fill a
line in the King James Bible?
No, he said it because he knew men
would come to deceive the church.
Men would come to deceive his elect.
Men would come.
Men was already in his church trying to
deceive.
Take heed then that man does not deceive
you.
Christ warned that many false prophets shall arise
and shall deceive many.
Where did the false prophets come into?
Only one place, the church.
He said that iniquity shall abound and the
love of many shall wax cold.
Have we ever known a time in history
when iniquity is absolutely rife?
The cup of iniquity of this world is
filled and overflowing.
God must come and judge the world.
Now him, Christ, looking through the eyes of
God, foresaw and warned the individual Christian of
every age that there shall arise false Christs
and false prophets.
He told us beforehand these things must come
to pass.
He said that these men, these false Christs,
these antichrists, they shall have power.
They will be able to show great signs
and wonders.
He says this in verse 25.
Behold, I've told you before.
He said I've warned you in advance.
There's no need for a Christian to be
dull in this world.
Everyone should know these things.
I've warned you before that the false will
come to the church.
The false will come to deceive.
Not going to deceive the world.
The world is already deceived.
It's the church that that devil wants.
Every man, woman and child born again and
believe in God should have a witness to
the words of Jesus Christ.
The weight of prophetic scripture, both Old and
New Testament, comes to us in the form
of a warning to his people.
It's the cry from the heart of God
towards his church.
He has compassion on me tonight.
God wants to do us good.
Therefore, he warns us of the assault that
comes upon us.
What a tremendous cry there's going to be
on that day.
On the day of judgment.
When men and women are told to depart
from him.
Look at the pain and the agony of
these people.
It'll be all too much for them.
More of a burden than Cain could bear.
They called him Lord.
They said they prophesied.
They said that they saw and did many
wonderful things in his name.
But he said to them, depart from me.
I never knew you.
At the revelation of him, these people were
found to have been deceived people.
They're not outwardly wicked and gross people.
Simple people that have been deceived.
Their gospel, their experience, their love for him
was just a system of theology taught by
man but not supported by the word of
God.
The savagery of terror will manifest itself in
the flames of the dam as the spirit
of Antichrist welcomes these people.
Welcome to my hell.
People will stand before him and be cast
into the lake of fire because they were
deceived.
Christ said, Behold, I've told you before.
No man, no woman should be deceived in
the church.
All but it is great deception abroad.
Whenever we hear the name Antichrist, we must
remember these two words, counterfeit and liar.
Put those in your mind.
Whenever he's mentioned, he's a counterfeit and he
is the liar.
People will go to hell because they followed
the spirit of their day.
A spirit that entertained them.
A spirit that was able to stupefy the
mind with signs and wonders.
Men and women will burn forever in that
day because they believe the lies of a
showman instead of the sure word of God.
The Antichrist is a person and personality.
He is the counterfeit of all that Jesus
Christ represents in himself.
The Antichrist will not only forge a likeness
to the character of Jesus Christ, but he'll
be able to counterfeit his life and his
nature.
Oh, he's a good counterfeit, this man.
This spirit, this beast as a counterfeit will
be the best.
You need the word of God.
You need the testimony of Jesus Christ.
You need the baptism.
You need to be filled with the spirit
to avoid this man.
Just as the Lord Jesus is the second
person of the Triune God, Father, Son and
Holy Ghost, so the Antichrist will be the
second person in that satanic trinity.
Satan, the God of this world.
Antichrist, the son of perdition and the false
prophet who has spiritual power to conform the
world to the image of the beast.
It's all about conforming.
Christ in his church is conforming the church
into his image.
That beast will conform the world to the
image of the beast, of the Satan, of
Antichrist.
Not only is Antichrist the counterfeit of Christ,
he's also the opposite.
God purposed and planned that man should go
beyond everlasting life and receive eternal life.
Eternal life is different to everlasting life.
Every creature created has everlasting life.
This life will go on forever and ever.
But eternal life is the uncreated life, the
life of God himself.
Now that man was to inherit, but he
did not because he went for knowledge.
But through Christ, us who are born again
and saved, we have this eternal, uncreated life
of God within us.
In John 17 and 3, it says, Now
this doesn't mean to know him theologically, but
to know him because he's conformed you to
the image that you share his nature.
To know God, to know Jesus Christ experimentally.
This is life.
To know him intimately.
To have intimacy and fellowship with the Father
and the Son.
This is life.
Do you have this life tonight?
Do we have this life in the church,
this intimacy?
This is life.
The Antichrist, the antithesis of Jesus.
He's first revealed in the book of Revelation
as the rider of the four horses.
Four horses, one rider.
Listen to what it says.
There is no life in him.
He's the personification of death and death is
the fear of all men.
But at the end, men will embrace that
beast.
They'll take that mark and they'll worship death
itself.
Even in the scriptures it said, The men
called for the mountains and the rocks to
fall upon them.
To hide them from the wrath of the
Lamb.
Embracing death instead of life.
Let us again remember these warnings of Christ
for the church.
Are you hearing me tonight?
It's for the church, it's not for the
world.
The first place that we find the title
Antichrist is in the first epistle of John.
Chapter 2, verse 18.
Little children, it is the last time.
And you have heard that Antichrist shall come.
Even now, there are many Antichrists.
How many?
Many Antichrists.
Whereby you know that it is the last
time.
They went out from us, but they were
not of us.
John tells us two things relating to Antichrist.
Antichrist, he says, he shall come.
There is a personal beast coming.
Also, he tells us that he's already come.
He says there are many Antichrists.
John reiterates the warning of Christ to the
church.
He reveals the earthly origin of Antichrist.
They went out from amongst us.
Didn't come from Islam.
Didn't come from the Mormon temple.
Didn't come from the watchtower.
Out of the born again.
Church of Jesus Christ.
Did you hear that?
They went out from amongst us.
This is the purpose and the plan of
Satan.
To be involved with that body.
Just as Christ dwelt with his church in
the first century.
So did Antichrist.
Just as Christ made a promise that he
would return to his church.
So will Antichrist.
You know in Matthew chapter 12.
He preached that message on the unpardonable sin.
He says about a man that had a
demon in him.
And the demon left.
But when that house was not filled by
anything else.
The demon came and brought seven other spirits
that were worse than himself.
That Antichrist will return to where he originated.
He wants to come.
Now seven and one is eight.
What does that tell us from?
What does the number eight represent?
Resurrection.
Life.
This is what he's offering.
But he cannot bring life because he is
the bringer of death.
The first appearance of Christ was as a
man.
The word was made flesh.
Dwelt amongst us.
Is that what it says in the scriptures?
On the day of Pentecost.
Christ again came to his church.
But not as a man this time.
He came in the power of the spirit.
And there he dwells amongst his people.
Until he comes as a man.
The opposite is true of Antichrist.
He first comes as a spirit.
And will remain a spirit.
Dwelling amongst the people of God.
This is what Christ says when he.
This is what Christ means when he says.
Take heed that no man will deceive you.
Finally.
The Antichrist.
He will come as a man.
The lie will be made flesh.
The lie made flesh.
Dwelling amongst us.
But his spirit is here today upon the
earth.
Many Antichrists.
Many spirits.
One of the great truths of the gospel
is the virgin birth.
This is one of the great mysteries of
the Bible.
Now I know today the people say that
you don't have to believe that.
And be born again.
But I'm going to tell you.
If you deny the virgin birth.
You deny Jesus Christ himself.
Even Mary couldn't understand it.
She was astonished and asked.
How shall this be?
Well the holy ghost.
The angel said.
The holy ghost shall come upon thee.
The power of the eye shall overshadow thee.
Therefore that holy thing.
Which shall be born of thee.
Shall be called the son of God.
This is Christ.
This is the God man.
Fully man.
But fully God.
You see Satan will counterfeit this truth.
To manifest his presence in Antichrist.
In Isaiah 14.
We see that Lucifer says that he will
be like the most high.
This is what Christ is referring to.
As in the days of Noah.
What is the eating.
The drinking.
The giving and marriage mean.
In the context of Noah's day.
What did it mean?
It meant a union.
A physical union.
In Genesis 6.
It tells us that the sons of God.
They're fallen angels.
The angels of Satan.
They came to earth.
And they began to take women to themselves.
Began to marry these women.
It goes on to say that.
That unholy union produced a hybrid offspring.
Called the Nephilim.
The giants in the King James translation.
The fallen ones.
Is what it means.
This was the offspring.
The spiritual and physical union.
Between men and devils.
So violated the principle of procreation.
The God poured out his wrath upon that
world.
God again will be moved with force against
this world.
Because this principle will once again be violated.
Each creature was to reproduce after its own
kind.
But not in these days.
Not in the last days.
Again what happens in Genesis 6.
Will happen again in the very last days.
As in the days of Noah.
What were the Nephilim?
Well they're a hybrid race.
Of demon possessed people.
That sought one thing.
The destruction of God's people.
Or people say.
Well we've had a virgin birth.
Just less than 10 years ago.
A virgin was impregnated.
And she gave birth.
So they said it wasn't miraculous.
What happened in Bible times.
But it was.
This woman knew no seed of man.
It was the seed of God.
That was placed into Mary's womb.
It's the same thing with Antichrist.
When he's born.
Satan's not going to send one of his
princes.
To impregnate a woman in the last days.
He's going to take a virgin to himself.
And utterly defile her body.
It'll be a spiritual and physical union.
That will produce a son.
And a heir to his throne.
The seed of Antichrist.
One of the most famous Nephilim.
In the Bible was Goliath.
He is a type of Antichrist.
If you study the types in the Bible.
You'll find they're remarkable.
In their warnings to the church.
This Goliath.
You probably know this.
He had 6 fingers on each hand.
He had 6 toes on each feet.
Add them up.
What do you get?
4 and 20.
He wore 6 pieces of armor.
His spear alone weighed 600 shekels.
You see the 6, 6, 6.
Plastered all across that beast.
He was a Nephilim.
He was the result of a fallen angel.
Coming to a woman.
And impregnating her.
Now this may sound far fetched.
But it will happen.
Satan will have his bride.
He'll have his whore.
And she will produce a man.
Born of a virgin.
It's not necessary.
For us to work out the mark.
Or the number.
Or the name of the beast just yet.
If we study the scriptures.
Of Revelation chapter 13.
We'll see that we're dealing with a mid
tribulation prophecy.
Here we see that Antichrist.
He's been killed.
But through the power of Satan his father.
There's gonna be a resurrection.
That Antichrist is gonna counterfeit.
The life, the death, the burial.
And the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This resurrection.
There was no different to that of Lazarus.
The son of Nain.
Or the daughter of Jairus.
It was a resurrection.
But no resurrection like.
Lazarus was raised.
But he died again.
The Jews killed him.
That little girl raised.
But she'd have to die again.
Same for the son of Nain.
Christ is the first born from the dead.
He lived.
He died.
And in his resurrection.
There is no more death.
All the others.
All the above.
They tasted death.
Once again.
And so will Antichrist.
He'll counterfeit that resurrection.
But so deceived is Lucifer.
Not realizing.
That he'll taste the second death.
Nevertheless.
The counterfeit.
It is so good in the last days.
That the whole of the world.
Will be called to worship.
And to be conformed to his image.
Think of it.
If you see on the TV.
A man being killed.
And then three days later.
Being resurrected.
I believe even some people.
That go to church.
Will say well.
This must be.
The coming of the son of man.
He must be Jesus.
I believe there'll be.
Preachers.
That'll pay homage.
To this beast.
The confirmation.
Of this.
Is the receiving.
Of the mark.
They'll worship.
That beast.
And they'll receive his mark.
This is the name of the beast.
This is the number of his name.
This is the number of a man.
And his number.
Is six hundred.
Three score and six.
The sex.
Sex.
The name and the number.
They point us to the character.
And the nature of the beast.
Those who will receive this mark.
Whatever it may be.
Will have already received the mark.
Spiritually in their hearts.
Nothing to do with the chip.
They've already received it.
Whatever that mark is gonna be.
They've already received it in their hearts.
They've already given themselves.
To the God of this world.
They that love this present.
Dying world.
Will receive the mark of the beast.
Our only hope.
Is to despise this world.
And love the Lord Jesus Christ.
With all our heart.
There have been many types of antichrist.
Throughout history.
Antiochus Epiphanes.
Nero and all the Caesars.
Typified him.
In the church.
Oregon.
And Julian the Apostate.
All the popes.
Up and down the centuries.
Have been antichrist.
On August the 6th.
1806.
There was a call throughout the Jewish world.
To receive Napoleon.
As their Messiah.
So convinced.
Was that Jewish world.
They will accept.
A Gentile Messiah.
Mussolini.
Was believed to have been antichrist.
By the Plymouth brethren.
Hitler was a tremendous example.
Of satanic evil.
How many Jews did he kill personally?
None.
Yet there is 6 million of them.
That died.
As well as Christians.
How did he do this?
Because he poured himself.
Into a nation.
The whole of Nazi Germany.
Was being conformed to his image.
They.
That nation.
Those Nazis.
Became the Führer.
They became the beast.
They worshipped.
All of these men.
Are being worshipped.
In one form or another.
Satan as the counterfeit of God.
Seeks to be worshipped.
But the world.
Is not enough for him.
He doesn't want the worship.
Of your rock band on MTV.
He's not interested in the worship.
That the heathens.
And the pagans will offer him.
His greatest desire.
Is to be worshipped.
By the people of God.
Listen to what Paul wrote.
To the Thessalonians.
Let no man deceive you by any means.
For that day shall not come.
Except the come of falling away first.
And that man of sin be revealed.
The son of perdition.
Who's he talking about?
It's the antichrist.
He that opposeth.
And exalteth himself.
Above all that is called God.
All that is worshipped.
So that he antichrist.
As God sitteth.
In the temple of God.
Showing himself that he is God.
Remember ye not.
That when I was with you.
I told you these things.
Paul is impressing upon his hearers.
That he's told them once.
He's told them twice.
He's warned them.
Until he's blue in the face.
This beast he says.
Will come.
He's gonna receive worship.
The temple of God.
Is not the Jewish temple.
Built with ants.
God doesn't live in a house.
Built with man.
He will not live in a stone building.
Over and over the Bible tells us.
That the church is the temple.
Of the living God.
I believe Paul's theology.
Is the same of mine.
Paul preached more than any man.
That the temple.
The church.
His body.
Was the true living temple.
Of God.
This is the goal of Satan then.
He wants to be worshipped.
On the throne of Christ.
By those who call them.
By his name.
Christians.
Not interested in the Mormons.
The Jehovah's Witnesses.
Or any other cult.
He wants the Christians.
He wants the born again church.
To worship him.
The Antichrist.
May at some point.
Sit.
And accept worship.
In a future Jewish temple.
I don't deny those things.
But that is not.
And cannot be.
The temple of God.
He will not live in that building.
Temple worship.
Animal sacrifice.
Will be an abomination.
To our God.
Who is the liar?
But he that denieth.
That Jesus is the Christ.
He is Antichrist.
That denieth.
The Father.
And the Son.
You cannot tell me.
That Judaism.
Does not deny.
That Jesus is the Christ.
They.
Do not believe.
They cannot believe.
And they will not believe.
That Jesus is the Messiah.
Thank God.
The Christ.
Is being revealed.
To some of them.
Thank God.
There is more.
Saved and born again.
In this century.
Than all.
The other ages.
Have put together.
God.
Has his witness.
In that nation.
But for now.
They are.
An Antichrist system.
We must understand.
That Antichrist.
Is not just future.
He opposes.
Us today.
As he works amongst us.
Did you hear that?
He opposes the church.
He is against you and me.
He works amongst us.
In 1st John.
4 and 3.
And every spirit.
That confesses.
Not that.
Jesus Christ.
Has come in the flesh.
Is not of God.
And this is that spirit.
Of Antichrist.
Where of you.
Have heard.
That it should come.
And even now.
Already.
Is in the world.
That Antichrist.
Has come.
It's here.
Many false prophets.
Will pave the way.
In the church.
For world supremacy.
Resulting in the slaughter.
Of countless.
Millions.
Saints.
Of God.
The prophets.
The false prophets.
The false Christ.
Will pave that way.
We'll build him.
A yellow brick road.
All the way.
To the temple.
Of God.
Until he shows us.
His true face.
A prophet.
Is a person.
That is called.
To preach the word of God.
And to warn the church.
That's what a prophet is.
God never recognized.
A prophet.
Outside.
Of his kingdom.
If he recognized.
Them.
He'd call them.
False prophets.
He'd call them.
By their name.
Pagan.
Prophets.
The prophets.
The Jezreel.
The prophets.
That.
That worshiped.
Around the grove.
But these are prophets.
That'll come.
In the church.
One of the greatest signs.
That we're.
Near the end.
Is the proliferation.
Of false prophets.
You've never lived.
In an age.
When false prophets.
Are everywhere.
They're everywhere.
On every other tape.
On every other channel.
The false prophets.
Are there.
How many of us.
Here tonight.
Believe.
That you can be a Christian.
And believe.
In evolution.
How many of you.
Would believe that.
How many.
Would believe.
That we.
Accidentally.
Evolved.
From monkeys.
No one.
Would listen.
To a man.
That teach.
That.
Taught.
That.
From you.
But there are.
Men.
That have written books.
Men.
That have translated.
Your bibles.
That firmly.
Believe.
In evolution.
Go to your local.
Christian.
Bookstore.
And see the.
Heretics.
Upon the shelves.
Ecumenism.
Was birthed.
In the mind.
Of the evolutionists.
The human cry.
Today.
Is for the unification.
Of all religions.
It does not come.
Out of nothing.
It has its creators.
Men.
Women.
False prophets.
It's the mind.
Of the creationists.
Christianity.
Is not going.
To evolve.
It cannot.
Evolve.
The gospel.
Cannot change.
The person.
Of Jesus Christ.
Is the same.
Yesterday.
Today.
And tomorrow.
He.
Cannot change.
Neither.
Will his doctrines.
His doctrines.
Will not change.
One of our greatest.
Dangers today.
Is the antichrist.
And our downfall.
Is the.
Our ignorance.
And our apathy.
To his movements.
We have men.
That call themselves.
Watchmen.
Guard the walls.
Of the church.
They scour the horizon.
Watching for the rider.
On a white horse.
These men.
Have preoccupied.
Themselves.
With the future.
Urging all.
And sundry.
To avoid.
The implant.
Of a silicon chip.
They wander.
Desperately.
From personality.
To personality.
With ancient.
Lexicons.
And the modern.
Calculator.
Pointing out.
Men and women.
As potential.
Beasts.
Recently.
Men.
And women.
Like.
Bill Clinton.
And his wife.
Hillary.
Have been named.
As antichrist.
Both of their names.
Added up to.
Six.
If you translated it into the Greek.
Added a few.
Eskimo.
Letters.
You'll find that their names.
Come to six.
Six.
There was a picture.
Of Clinton.
Next to her.
A stone bust.
Of the emperor.
Nero.
And they looked the same.
So he must have been.
The antichrist.
You can take your pick.
From the modern.
Crop of candidates.
George W.
Bush.
Osama Bin Laden.
Ariel Sharon.
The Blair Witches.
The Blair Witch.
In 10 Downing Street.
Most of these names.
Have been touted.
Up and down the church.
The favorite today.
In all of Europe.
Is our old.
Bonnie Prince Charlie.
But if we study the scriptures.
We find that these people.
Cannot.
Be the antichrist.
They can be.
They can be antichrist.
But not the antichrist.
A man got very angry.
With me once.
He crossed the road.
And he sees me now.
Because I don't agree.
The Prince Charles.
Is the beast.
He's lucky.
If he'll ever be a kitten.
Let alone a beast.
He bases it on.
Well.
His flag's.
Got a big red dragon on.
There's lions.
On his standard.
He has to come.
From Europe.
And he's got a dragon.
On his flag.
And he's got a dragon.
On his flag.
He'll probably marry one.
In the future.
But that won't make him.
The antichrist.
We have to stick to the scriptures.
The unmasking of antichrist.
It's not.
Not future.
It's not out there.
The unmasking of antichrist.
Is here.
The perils of antichrist.
Are present.
And they're in the church.
It's not a future thing.
Those that looking into the future.
They miss him.
What he's doing today.
The only person.
Who wants us to believe.
That antichrist is a future.
One off.
Is Satan himself.
The coming of antichrist.
It's progressive.
He's been working.
For 2000 years.
He's paid for it.
And he's patiently maneuvered himself.
Within the church.
Gently whispering.
In the year of the bride.
Did God say.
Oh the way they deny.
The doctrines of Christ.
And the scriptures.
And the doctrines.
And everything else.
That we should all precious.
And we've bent over backwards.
To these people.
And allowed them to come.
And eat away.
At the fundamentals.
Of the faith.
But it's time.
The church.
Made a stand.
Against such.
Satanic onslaught.
It's the antichrist.
Antichrist.
He's alive and well.
Because his spirit today.
Has very little opposition.
Within the church.
In 2nd Thessalonians.
Again.
It says.
Be not.
Soon shaken in mind.
Nor be troubled.
Neither by spirit.
Nor by word.
Nor from letter.
As from us.
As the day of Christ.
Is at hand.
Let no man deceive you.
By any means.
For that day.
Shall not come.
Except they come.
A fallen away first.
And that man of sin.
Be revealed.
The son.
Of tradition.
If antichrist is ready.
To manifest himself.
To the world.
Then it'll be.
Because the church.
Has fallen.
Away from the truth.
He cannot come.
Until the church.
Apostatizes.
He cannot come.
Until the greater part.
Of that church.
Not all the church.
But the church.
Begins to fall away.
From the truth.
Now.
That truth.
Is not just theoretical.
But is truth personified.
The church.
Will fall away.
From the truth.
From Jesus Christ.
Now.
Can you believe that.
Tonight.
You don't have to.
But it is happening.
No longer.
Is the.
The object of faith.
In many.
Christians lives.
Is just the.
Means to an end.
To their greed.
The church.
Is beginning.
To fall away.
From the truth.
There will be.
And has.
Already been.
Many false.
Christ.
There's already been.
Many false.
Anointed ones.
People.
That will claim.
That they are.
Christ.
The scripture says.
All they're saying is.
I'm the anointed.
I'm the man.
I'm the.
I'm the ministry.
All of these things.
There today.
Those men in the church.
Those that claim.
The anointing of God.
Upon the ministry.
Those whose ministries.
Would shame Elmer Gantry.
Himself.
Are the ones.
That are taking scores.
Of people.
To hell with them.
Because they've fallen away.
From the truth.
They've fallen away.
From Jesus Christ.
The new.
Preachers.
With the churches.
And by such.
Men.
Is.
Like this.
Today.
Recently.
David Wilkerson.
Preached a message.
About God.
In the sheep.
Against the world.
And he said.
That in America.
This is what they're preaching.
I'm going to quote.
What the preacher said.
Novel Wilkerson.
Said.
He said.
A man.
A prosperity preacher.
Said.
That Jesus Christ.
Cannot come back.
To earth today.
Until you're prospering.
Until you get a nice car.
Until you have your.
Dream house.
Until then.
He simply.
Cannot come back.
That's wickedness.
Your avarice.
Your greed.
Your selfishness.
Will not stop.
This Christ.
From coming back.
He won't come back.
Because the church.
Is full of greed.
In fact.
He'll come back.
Because the church.
Is full of greed.
That church.
That preacher.
That man.
Not the word of God.
It's the word of the devil.
Being preached.
In the name.
Of Jesus Christ.
How awful.
And for people.
To listen to that.
And shout.
Amen.
Does anybody here.
Believe.
The Christ.
Cannot come back.
Until you fill.
Your greed.
I'm so glad.
And relieved.
Tonight.
Another lie.
Of the devil.
Is that.
Jesus Christ.
Did not secure.
Salvation.
Through his cross.
And through.
His resurrection.
The new teaching.
Says that.
That he died.
And he went to hell.
There he was tortured.
By Satan.
For our sins.
He then became.
Demon possessed.
And shared the nature.
With Satan.
And finally.
That in hell.
He became.
Born again.
Another preacher said.
That he himself.
As a born again man.
Could redeem.
The whole world.
What blasphemy.
In the church.
But you know.
If I named them today.
They probably wouldn't.
Talk to me tomorrow.
Because they probably.
Your greatest preachers.
You'll see them everywhere.
The books are everywhere.
And the tapes are everywhere.
It's blasphemy.
It's the spirit.
This is the spirit.
Of antichrist.
That we.
Must be engaged in.
It is a present.
Struggle today.
We must not.
View popular teachings.
As alternative.
Theology.
It is the word.
Of Satan.
Always he attacks.
The work.
And the person.
Of the Lord.
Jesus Christ.
They never.
Gonna be on that channel.
Running me down.
But him.
But his blood.
But his cross.
They're gonna be.
Hacking away.
If we cannot.
Discern the working.
Of antichrist.
If we cannot discern.
The working.
Of antichrist.
If we cannot discern.
The working.
If we cannot discern.
The working.
Of antichrist.
If we cannot discern.
Of antichrist.
If we cannot discern.
Of antichrist.
If we cannot discern.
The working.
Listen to what he said to the Corinthians,
But I fear, lest by any means, as
the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so
your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus,
whom we have not preached, or if you
receive another spirit, which you have not received,
or another gospel, which you have not accepted,
you might well bear with him.
You see those Corinthians, they're always on the
edge of that charismatic church, always looking for
a new teaching, instead of sticking to the
simplicity of Jesus Christ.
He warns them that they might receive another
gospel, and they're lost.
He goes on to warn, for such false
apostles, deceitful workers, transform themselves into the apostles
of Christ.
Osama Bin Laden is not going to come
to the church and give a sermon.
This devil is going to come as a
minister, as a preacher, as an evangelist.
He's going to come as one with a
mighty ministry to speak to the church.
He's an angel of light and a false
apostle.
Paul goes on, and no marvel, for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore, it is no great thing if his
ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
righteousness.
Where do the ministers of Satan go?
They're in the church.
They're transformed into ministers of righteousness, whose ends
shall be according to their works.
The prophecy relating to the coming of Christ
is related to the coming of Antichrist.
In Genesis 3.15, the Lord says, I'll
put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed.
It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise it ill.
There's always a conflict between Satan and the
church.
This is what Eve represented.
She represented that church.
There's going to be an enmity.
There has to be.
The church has to know truth from error.
We're in a struggle.
We're in a battle for truth.
We're in a battle for life.
We're in a battle, as the believers in
this church, for them out there.
If we're deceived, God help them.
We're in this battle.
There's always going to be an ever-present
struggle.
We must not forget that this woman, who
represented the church, was deceived and ordained.
Again, the early warnings of Christ is to
his church, Take heed and no man deceive
you.
Why did he say that?
Because there are many deceivers.
The seed of the woman was Christ.
And that seed was to be carried on
in the church.
If we're born again, we have the incorruptible
seed of God within us.
That is the seed of Christ.
There's bound to be an enmity between us
and the devil.
This is where the struggle for life comes
from.
Enmity between Christ and the Antichrist.
The devil came to Christ, but he could
find nothing in that man.
So now he comes in the spirit of
Antichrist to oppose and to destroy the work
of God.
Now after the fall, Eve is called the
mother of the living.
Both her and Adam, they've heard the prophecy
related to the seed, but it has to
be fulfilled outside of the garden, away from
the tree of life.
Now Eve's still being deceived and bore a
son called Cain.
Obvious from the text that she thought that
this was the Savior.
She believed that Cain was the Christ.
I can see it at the birthday parties.
I can see it as he's growing up.
I've received a man from the Lord.
Don't worry Adam, this is the Christ.
This is the one that's going to deliver
us.
He's the Savior.
I've gotten a man from the Lord.
But this man was not from the Lord.
This man was Cain.
His name means possession.
He was a possessed man.
This is the first type of Antichrist in
scripture.
And his coming was only possible because the
woman was deceived.
She gave birth to someone that was a
type of Christ.
But this one she thought first was Christ
himself.
But it was not Antichrist.
He was hailed and heralded as the Christ
of God.
Judas, another major type of Antichrist, teaches us
of the deception within the church.
Not just a member of the church, one
of the twelve.
Judas had power to preach.
Listen now, this man, this preacher, Judas.
Power to preach, power to heal, and power
to cast out demons.
Just the same as the other eleven.
His gospel message looked more credible than the
other disciples.
You never hear Judas asking Jesus to call
down fire on those that would not believe.
He never asked for the special privilege of
sitting on the left hand or the right
hand of God.
He never asked for those things.
He seemed to be humble and zealous for
the works of God.
He had no doubts regarding his faith.
He's not a doubter.
In fact, he seems to be the greatest
of the disciples.
He gave the impression, this Judas, that he
was caring and concerned for the poor, for
the sick, and for the infirm.
I can see him building orphanages.
I can see him with his pictures taken
with crying little children.
I can see all the charitable work that
this man done.
Judas deceived the whole church.
But he didn't fool Christ.
He didn't fool Christ one bit.
When he was revealed as the beast, as
the devil himself, Antichrist, in that garden, the
only people that were deceived was the church.
Not Christ himself.
From the very beginning, Christ said that this
man was a devil.
It was the spirit of Antichrist working in
the church through Judas that thoroughly caught the
disciples off guard.
They never suspected that honest preacher.
This man that held the prosperity of the
church close to his heart.
They never once suspected that this rich and
prosperous preacher was a thief, was a liar,
and was a devil.
He never said that.
It was right at the end that Satan
came to his own and made him full
possession of Judas' soul.
Until then, the church had no inclination as
to the real motive, the real message, and
the real ministry of Judas, the son of
perdition.
They were all deceived.
None of them could discern him.
But Christ himself knew that he was a
devil.
The Bible exhorts us to test the spirit.
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits where they have gone.
Because many false prophets have gone out into
the world.
You don't test things by our own intellect.
You know the mind has fallen.
You don't test things with your feelings.
Your emotions are up in the air.
They've fallen.
We test the spirit, all teaching, and all
experiences by the word of God.
What does it say in the scriptures?
What does the word teach regarding that doctrine,
that preacher, that experience?
If it's in the word, fine.
If it's not, then we have full right
to reject it.
We reject the union of all faiths.
The Bible teaches there is one faith.
We will not stand with the ecumenical.
We reject any method of salvation other than
repentance from dead works and faith in Jesus
Christ, the son of God.
There is no other method.
There is no other way but by his
cross.
We will reject all satanic infiltration to unite
and unify us with other thoughts and theology.
God will not be mocked.
He will not be mocked.
There is no baby in the ecumenical, the
liberal, or the charismatic bathwater.
The waters are dirtied and sullied by the
real presence of Antichrist.
You see, we cannot quench the spirit by
contending for the truth.
We're commanded to contend for the truth.
You see, I stand here tonight as a
Pentecostal.
I believe in miracles.
I believe in signs and wonders.
But I believe in the Bible as my
sole authority.
I have to believe in this book.
It doesn't matter what these men say.
They can speak in tongues.
They can speak in Martian.
If it's not in the Bible, I have
to reject it.
What I see today is the greatest onslaught
of the spirit of Antichrist that the church
has never known.
The devil is not yet working in the
mode of the dragon.
He comes as a serpent to beguile and
to deceive.
He has caused good men and good women,
those who truly love the Lord Jesus Christ,
to trust in the blessings and the curses
of our present day.
Much of the faith being preached today is
faith in faith.
Faith is not an open checkbook.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
The evidence of things not seen.
Faith is substance and the evidence that says
Christ is coming.
Cannot see Him coming tonight.
But I believe it.
That is where my faith is.
It's in the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
It's not in a new car.
It's not in a new house.
It's not in anything of this world.
But it is in Jesus Christ.
Salvation is conditional.
A man cannot be saved until he repents
of his sin.
So I believe the church will be gone.
Long gone before that beast appears in the
flesh.
I'm not interested in which tribe he'll come
from.
I believe that the Antichrist will be a
Gentile and the false prophet will be a
Jew.
But I'm not preaching that tonight because it's
irrelevant.
It's for the future.
The rapture also, I believe, is conditional.
Christ said that He will come for those
who are waiting and watching for His return.
I don't believe that we can be a
dead, dull, slow, sleepy Christian and still make
the rapture.
I believe if you miss the rapture, you'll
still be saved.
But not like those left behind series.
You'll not be hiding in grandma's basement with
the vicar next door that just found out
that his bishop was the beast.
And he's going to feed you tins of
beans until everything is alright.
It's not going to be like that at
all.
If you're left behind, it's because you left
your first love.
Christ said those who are watching and waiting
for His return.
And Paul says it's for those who are
alive and remain alive.
I'm not looking for the Antichrist.
How do I know that I'll be in
that rapture?
Because I'm not looking for the Antichrist.
He's alive and well and at His Father's
business.
My hope, my eyes are firmly upon the
Christ.
I have no care about avoiding the mark
of the beast.
My hope is in bearing the mark of
the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
If I have His marks upon my life,
if I bear His cross, I'm going to
heaven in that rapture.
And the cross is going with me.
May the Lord bless us and may the
Lord stir us tonight.
Let us all stand and we'll pray.
You've been listening to the From the Pulpit
in Classic Sermon series.
This week you heard John Rhys Watkins with
his message, Antichrist Unmasked.
Tune in next week to hear Leonard Ravenhill
talk about who's touching the ark.
On From the Pulpit in Classic Sermons.