The Future is Coming! Who's Side Are You On?

Paul Harvey created a segment about "If I were the Devil." It is now available on YouTube and it's chilling to watch. It's prophetic actually. He created this in 1965 and when you look at what is happening in our world today, how can you not wonder how he came to know what would happen this far into our future with his prophetic words? Satan always has counterfeits. He always has stuff that looks like the originals that God created. Even the atheist today has to watch this and wonder. Was Paul Harvey used by God? God can use anybody and Paul Harvey was a believer! He had his finger on the pulse. That man, knew the culture and he was speaking in a very prophetic sense in that he was telling us or warning us what would happen if we remain on this Godless path. Yet here we are in the 21st century, right where he predicted we would be. 100% of this is absolutely true! It's the same thing people think when the read the Book of Revelation and think to themselves, this can't come true. Yet one day it will with 100% accuracy in every single detail.

https://youtu.be/H3Az0okaHig

Don't fool yourself. Every single one of us wants to know about the future. We have this bizarre, strange curiosity that is why every year at the checkout stand in November, they sell all these magazines predicting what might happen in the coming year. They sell out because people are interested in the future. The amazing thing is that the Book of Revelation is in fact the future, but people don't like the way it plays out. They want to write their future. But God has written a future that is far better than anything you could have dreamed of.

This is the stuff people want to talk about when it is entertaining, unfortunately many pastors and churches ditch the teachings on the Book of Revelation. Their flock misses out on what is perhaps the most important book of the Bible. This book covers more Old Testament Scriptures than any other New Testament book does. Satan always comes to us offering an alternative. Do this, instead of the Bible. Do this instead of prayer. Do you realize that if you told people we need to meditate more, everyone would agree with you. If you told people to sit on a rock naked with a pyramid on their head in order to understand the power of the universe, people with brains would want to know how to do it. How naked do they get? Where do they get the right pyramid for this?

Why do that when I can invite you to know God Almighty who can hear your cry? He will do what is best for you because you and I don't know what is best for us. You can meditate on everything and anything and miss it. God knows what you need before you even ask. No Satan comes along and offers alternatives. All Satan wants to do is flood the market with a counterfeit. What we see in the Book of Revelation is the unveiling of a counterfeit, and the world will go after him. He is riding a white horse, he has a crown and he has authority, he's got power. He's just the wrong guy! The world will go after him.

In the book of Daniel, the Bible says, he will promise peace and prosperity. Well who doesn't want those? But Jesus Christ came first to deal with sin, then comes peace and prosperity, when the Prince of Peace returns to earth in the Second Coming. (1) Jesus came to die for our sins. (2). He will come to establish His kingdom. Watch out because those alternatives will come and we see it coming in the form of the Antichrist, the first rider of the apocalypse, the first horseman. The advent is evil in human flesh, he will be amazing.

Revelation 6:1-2 ~ "I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest."

When John says that he saw the Lamb and it opened the first of the seven seals, this is important, Jesus Christ is the one who releases that seal. The world has never known the advent of such evil. You might say, "Well why did Jesus send evil upon the earth?" It's not so much that Jesus is sending it, remember the requirements of the last will and testament of that seal, of that seven sealed book is being fulfilled. One of those things is that evil must run its course because this is what man wants. Man wants to be self-governed. That's the problem today. You don't want God to tell you what to do. Even the most devoted Christian struggles with what God tells us to do. It all comes down to a step of faith and obedience til the day we die.

When God says do this, don't do that, it levels the playing field to who truly loves Him. Do we love Him enough to do what He says? Or would we rather accept an invitation to something the world offers? Satan doesn't jump out at you saying "Come with me to hell Ha Ha Ha!" No he says things like, " He dressed up and says things like, "This is the norm.This is the way it goes. Everybody is doing it! YOU deserve it! " Satan is going to announce through the Antichrist, "You deserve it! You deserve peace!" What is the world crying for right now? Peace and prosperity! This man will come and give it all. When Jesus loosens the seal, He lets evil personify. He just steps back and says, "You want self governance without God? Instead of a theocracy, you want to have a monarchy? Go ahead and have your man! The Bible says that evil will come and it will be all dressed up and looking good.

Revelation 6:1 ~ "I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a loud voice, 'Come!" 

In the Greek, the word "Come" is "Ercho"  and means to come forth but also to go. The living creatures are not speaking to John, he is saying "Come forth and go!" It's a pulling out and sending. This living creature is saying, "First horse of the Apocalypse, the first rider, come forth and go to the earth!" There are going to be four messages sent to the earth with four riders and this one is the white horse.

The question remains, "Who is this rider on the white horse?" This is the unveiling of the Antichrist.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 ~ "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God."

There is no temple of God in Jerusalem in this moment. There will soon to be however. Showing himself that he is god.

2 Thessalonians 2:5-8 ~ "Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so til he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming."

The Holy Spirit in the church on the earth is holding the lid on sin, on the Antichrist. Picture it this way, a big pot is boiling on your stove, and the lid is dancing on the top. The Holy Spirit through the church, is sitting on that lid so to speak holding evil down, until as 2 Thessalonians tells us, He steps out of the way, or steps aside. He doesn't leave the earth. Why? Because the rapture takes place, and then He steps aside and this wicked one is revealed. The lid is lifted off and all hell on earth is let loose.

Notice this! The Antichrist can not be revealed until the hindering power of the Holy Spirit determines it so. When the rapture happens, what then?

1. The Holy Spirit will resurrect the bodies the new physical bodies of those that died believing in Jesus. The Bible says to be absent with the body is to be present in the Lord. Those who believe in Jesus who die now, their Spirit is immediately in the presence of the Lord, but their physical body remains here in the grave. When Jesus comes for His church in the rapture, He will literally resurrect the atoms in the earth, and bring them up out of the ground, first.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 ~ "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep , or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not recede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."  

2. The Holy Spirit will hand the baton of the church over to Jesus Christ in the atmosphere. Right where you and I are standing at sea level, 0 to about 126,000 feet technically. That is where our atmosphere is. That is how specific our Bible is. When it says that Jesus will come in the air, when He raptures the church in the air, we are not going to land in Jupiter and wait for Him to come pick us up there. We will meet Him in the atmosphere, somewhere between sea level and 126,000 feet.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 ~ "According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not recede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

"Caught up" is where we get the word "rapture," which is Latin for 'rapturo' which is where we get "rapture" from. 

John 14:1-3 ~ "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

3. The Holy Spirit will stand aside, letting evil go unrestrained.

2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 ~ "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming."

Like Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember when Lot asked if he could go to a safe city outside Sodom and Gomorrah and the angel said, "Yes! Go!" He could not bring judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah until they were gone. God is going to remove the church from the earth, and then Bible says throughout the Old and New Testament, that God will visit the earth in judgment because of their sins. You will NOT be judged for your sins. Your sins were judged on the cross with Christ. Some of you don't get this! I am more sure of that than my last name. All my sin was placed on Jesus on the cross.

How do you know? Because He died. He died on the cross. Then He rose again from the dead. And when He rose again, that was it. That settled it. My Lord has risen from the dead. It is something that He died on Friday, but Sunday was a coming!!! Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead. When they went to the tomb it was empty! There is more evidence of the crucifixion of Christ than there is evidence for you and I to go to court on any issue. You are going to have change Roman history, both secular and religious history if you don't believe in the crucifixion or resurrection of Jesus. It is one thing that Jesus died for us, but if He didn't rise from the grave it would have been an empty victory. But He did!

Genesis 19:22 ~ "But flee there quickly because I cannot do anything until you reach it."

4. The Holy Spirit will come upon the nation of Israel.

Ezekiel 36:27-28 ~ "And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people and I will be your God."

Acts 2:16-21 ~ "No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

These are specifically given to the nation of Israel. This is the Second Coming, not the rapture. Remember Israel didn't even exist 70 years ago. There is now a antisemitism movement in the world today. There is an Anti-Israel boycott of products in churches today. God loves Israel and His covenant is with them forever. Israel is going to be the central point of Revelation and in the last days. You better be on the right side of the future!

The Rider of the White Horse!

Before we head into Chapter 6 of the Book of Revelation, a transition has taken place. Let us recap in case you are just joining us today. We have learned up to this point about the revelation of Jesus Christ and His love for us, we have learned about His instruction for the church and what heaven is going to be like regarding worship that is beautiful, challenging, exciting, and personal. From Chapter 6 on out to Chapter 19, the vantage point is solely from heaven looking down on the earth, it is bloody. It is the wrath of God. It is the punishment of the earth for their sins. It is man gone crazy. It is evil unchecked. Chapter 6 through Chapter 19 is the Great Tribulation period. It is horrific and it all begins with the first rider in the famous four horsemen of the apocalypse. We now meet the first rider. This is a time yet coming for all of us. But the question is, will you be here on earth or will you be with us, looking down from heaven?

For some of you that have been following, we are getting into the Great Tribulation and you really want to hear more about this stuff. The dynamic about the Christian faith is that we do not worship some dead God or some token religion. But the fact of the matter is our Lord is risen, He is alive and His book, His love letters given to us in the Bible. In Revelation 5, we saw the glories of heaven and the worship that was taking place there. We saw those whom Christ has purchased through His blood and redeemed by every kindred tribe, tongue, nation and people. They have been raptured up into heaven. Now we come to Chapter 6, where the Tribulation Period begins. It covers all 7 years of it all the way to Chapter 19 around verse 11. The bulk of it, is the last 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation period. By the time we get to the end of the Book of Revelation, you should be an expert on the End Time Events!

We are going to set the plow today to begin to dig in deep into the Scriptures so you might want to gather together your Bible and something to write down what you have learned alongside your Scriptures for easy reference.

Revelation 6:1-2 ~ "I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest."

This is the first of the four riders of the apocalypse and we will be spending some time really studying what they mean, what they are carrying and what it means for the inhabitants of the world. The first rider comes with the loosening of the first seal. Now remember that Jesus Christ was the only one found in heaven, on earth and under the earth, in all the created world both spiritual and physical,  to be worthy to take the scroll and open the seven seals. The word "worthy" meant that Jesus had met all the requirements necessary to take the scroll from God the Father, the Lamb of God, the Root of David. He was the only One to be found worthy to open the seven seals. Once He opens one, He will continue until they are all opened. This all takes place in a very short period of time. Once it begins, it will run its successive course. Once the seven year Tribulation period begins, yet one day in the future, and it will be so clear that those living then, will be able to mark their calendars and count the days as 7 years begins to the day. It will go 7 full years without stopping or pausing, without hesitation, without a comma, until Christ returns in the Second Coming.

We may all remember in high school or college, being on a time table. We enter high school on one day and will graduate on another. It may be two years or four years but there is a predetermined time table that must be followed to go from the beginning all the way to the end. We will have met all the requirements and all that needed to happen to graduate and be free from those institutions. As we approach graduation, there is an increase in the tests, exams and effort. There are finals we have to go through, and we have had to go through all those years to get to the point where we can finally graduate. We have met all the requirements.

The seven year Tribulation Period  must happen, it will happen, because all the requirements in both the Old and New Testament describe, must take place. When it comes to the prophetic Word of God, let alone all the other portions of the Bible, when we fail to take these Scriptures literally, unless otherwise specified by the Bible, we often wind up being in error. Most of the mistakes we often make is when we don't take the Bible literal enough. For example when Jesus says, "All those who come to Me, I will no wise cast out." What does that mean? It means that all those who turn to Him, He will not turn away! When He says, "You must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven," what do you think He meant? If you keep reading John 3, He tells you exactly what He means. God is not mysterious in that He withholds all the information that we need. He gives us all what we need to know. He's a great God!

So in regards to the time table in your life, you are coming to a predetermined graduation so to speak, and so is this world, by the way, everything, politics, economy, ecological issues, are all marching forward in a predetermined moment of time in the mind of God. That is kind of eerie in one point but awesome in another. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow! We often feel that God is not on time. "Where is that predetermined moment in my life?" God is never early and He is never late. He is always on time and God's prophetic Word is one of those truths, about that.

In Chapter 6, this view is from heaven because the church is no longer mentioned from Revelation 4:1 on earth, until it comes back to earth from heaven with Jesus Christ in Revelation 19. That is significant with all the efforts put forth in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, regarding the church on the earth, now there is no church on the earth, and we shall see some of the reasons why as we go further into our study. The events of the 7 Year Great Tribulation Period is those 7 literal years that will usher in the return of Jesus Christ to the earth, in what is called the Second Coming.

These seven years or the seven year time table, is a time reserved specifically by God for global judgments and God's revisitation upon the nation of Israel. Make note of that.You may think Israel is out of the picture, but Israel is in the picture! The Bible tells us that God will re-establish the nation of Israel in the last days, and He will come and visit His people. The nation of Israel must be established and on the earth before the Second Coming of Christ. The 7 year period of the Tribulation deals with God's judgment on the earth for a Christ rejecting world, and the re-establishment and the redemption of the nation of Israel! This is very important. Always keep your eye on Israel! Up until May 14, 1948, we didn't have an Israel to look at. According to the Scriptures of Isaiah 66 and the United Nations, on May 14, 1948, Israel was born as a nation a second time in one day.

The Bible speaks of these 7 years that are coming. They will be commencing on a very specific and certain day. It's a day the Bible tells us that a peace treaty will begin with Israel and its surrounding neighbors, which just so happens are their enemies. When the peace treaty commences, there will be a date when its signed, and does anyone know how long that peace treaty will last in a contract form? 7 years! But in the middle of that time, the man who forges that agreement, breaks that agreement in 3 1/2 years! It will take place with the nation of Israel, not any other nation. This is what the Bible said would happen thousands of years ago! That day will commence a very terrible moment in time! That Jesus said would be unlike any other time on the earth, and unless He shortens those days, no flesh would remain upon the earth. Jesus said, "it will be a time of such tribulation nor shall ever be in the world."

In other words, it will make the Holocaust look like a picnic. One man, the Bible says, will be the one who instigates this process that will lead to earth's last attempt to govern itself in human politics, and that man, the Bible refers to him as the son of Perdition, the beast, the worthless shepherd, and in Zechariah, the Bible refers to him as the Antichrist.

As we look around in the world today, where the Bible says this man will come into the world, seeing and riding on the back of another beast called a religious beast. He will use that pseudo false church system and will come out of the old ancient Roman Empire, and he will come and use religion as a tool. At some point, he will discard that false religious system, and the Bible says, he will stand in Jerusalem in the temple and declare himself to be God, and the world will marvel and worship him.

What I find very interesting about that is even now people have been working and have spent tens of millions of dollars reconstructing the tools and the devices, that they believe will be used in the coming temple of their Messiah. They have already completed the menorah they plan on using that stands four feet tall, made of solid precious metal. It's under lock and key and they are waiting, they have tracked and trace men in their lineage of Levites, to be priests and make offerings and sacrifices because they believe their Messiah is soon to come. The problem is that the Bible says, the Messiah that they are going to receive will come riding upon a white horse. You might say, well what is wrong with that? The Bible says that Jesus will come riding on a white horse? It is not Jesus Christ, but the Antichrist. It is the one that is a false representation of the Messiah!

Revelation 1:17-19 ~ "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later."

We learned that when He (Jesus) told John to "write the thing you have seen", that is in reference to Chapter 1 of the Book of Revelation, "what is now," that is in reference to Chapters 2 and 3 and "what will take place later." is in reference from Chapter 4 until the end of the Book of Revelation.

The first rider of the apocalypse brings the advent of evil in human flesh. This man will be unlike Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Hussein, and unlike them he will have success in what he plans to take place on the world. There are powers that are sinister and dark that are moving toward the reception of this man. I believe this man is alive in the world today somewhere, biding his time. I believe he is coming. He may be in his 30's, 40's, or 50's, I don't know, but I believe this Antichrist figure is alive. When he comes, the Bible tells us in the book of Daniel and Revelation, how specifically he arises. He will be evil personified. He will be the son of Satan.

As we go from chapter 6 to 19, keep this in mind, that Satan will always attempt to mimic what God has already given. As we have read in the Bible, we read that God told Moses to thrown down his staff and it would become like a serpent. Remember that? What did Pharoah's magicians do? Same thing. They mimicked back and forth, these miracles of God until they reached a point where their gods were exposed. Satan is always mimicking. He can not create anything new. When Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, that applies to Satan too! He creates nothing! He only steals and manipulates, that which exists. He steals. He rips off. He does that in people's lives. Jesus says "he is the father of lies." The only thing he has ever produced is false lies. Because whenever there is the truth, he comes with a false alternative. He always comes in our life, trying to offer a false alternative.

From Chapter 6 to Chapter 19, these are the chapters in the Book of Revelation that no one wants to read. This is the reason why most people say they won't read the Book of Revelation. It shouldn't be the case. Each of us has the opportunity to choose where we will be viewing this from. If you make the right choice, Jesus being THAT choice, none of this will be yours to inherit. If you just listen to the Word of God, this is heavy stuff, because you don't get these in churches very often. The church in America today is messed up because it has been playing church for far too long. We need to get right with God and get back to the Bible! The first step in doing that is found in John's gospel, where he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." Jesus Christ is your literal ticket to heaven. It's not your smile, your wealth, not your achievements or righteousness, that is all garbage to God. It's what Jesus has done! That is why at the base of the cross, everyone comes at equal footing. Rich man, poor man, beggar, thief. We all come to Him in need of His blood, which He shed upon the cross, Jesus died for us.

If you say to Him, wherever you are at right now, "Jesus save me! Jesus I love You today for what You have done for me. You died on the cross, You rose again from the dead, I declare You today and I receive You today, as my Lord and Savior!"

A Warning about Miracles, Signs and Wonders!

So just how close are we to the rapture of the church and the Tribulation period? Definitely closer than we were yesterday. The one thing that has moved us that much closer is the creation of the nation of Israel for a second time, that occurred on May 14, 1948 and fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 66:8. That one event has set up a stop watch for the last days. How do we know that? Because the Bible says that there will come one who makes political promises. Notice that the Antichrist, the one we see in the Bible, riding a white horse, that we are going to be reading about today, don't mistake this for being Jesus. Read Revelation 6 carefully!

There is the impostor. The mock Messiah. He is the false Messiah. He is the Antichrist. He is going to come and Daniel 9 tells us, that he is the one that will come to make a peace treaty with the nation of Israel. The contract will be for 7 years and it will be for 7 years of peace. It will be anything but, and it will be deceptive. The nation of Israel and its leaders are going to go with that and follow that deception. So just how close are we?

Doesn't every politician seek to gain a peace treaty with Israel and its neighbors? Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, both President Bushes, and this is just God giving us a little heads up that there will be one who comes that will broker a peace treaty with Israel. To know where we are at, keep your eyes open, your Bible open, your mind on the news of what is happening in regards to the nation of Israel and the Middle East. A man will one day come that the Bible tells us that will pull off this peace treaty deal. Israel right now is so hated by most people.

There was a social experiment done on a college campus, where one man waved the ISIS flag in front of people and no one said anything. Then he did the same thing with the flag of Israel and he was mocked, spit on, made fun of, you name it. This is just a sign that what we are facing is a spiritual issue. (1) No one said anything about the ISIS flag, and what we need to understand is silence is agreement. If you don't speak up then you are agreeing with whatever is happening. No one out of fear says anything about the ISIS flag. That is just wrong. Yet when someone says something about the flag of Israel, they are immediately under attack and that is an indicator that something is out of balance. The reason is because this is spiritual. Why do you hate Israel? Why do you hate Jews? You are being lead demonically to that decision, and they hate the promises of God. I've included the link here just in a case you might be questioning whether this could honestly happen here in America. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOHJ06bsSow)

Revelation 6:1-2 ~ " I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest." 

The issues we really want to pay attention to here are the words "white horse," "bow," and "crown." A lot of people mistake this for Jesus Christ. You might argue that the description here is the same as it is in Revelation 19, but that is wrong. In Revelation 19. the Bible says that Jesus has many crowns, and the word for "crowns" in Revelation 19, is the Greek word meaning "diadem." The absolute crown of an absolute ruler. The rider in Revelation 6, has a "crown" and in the Greek it means "stephanos," given to anyone who wins a heat in a race, or wins a battle in a war. This is not Jesus Christ.

We see that he is riding a "white horse," and a white horse was given to those who won a battle in ancient history. This first rider is the Antichrist riding a white horse.

Matthew 24:24 ~ "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect - if that were possible."

That is referring to those  converted during the Tribulation period. Jesus is saying that Satan will be so prevalent in the last days that there will be miracles done that will having nothing to do with the power of God it will be the power of Antichrist. We should be extremely concerned even with the state of current believers even today, that when a "miracle" happens, they will sacrifice Bible doctrine, to embrace a tortilla shell that has image on it or they will leave to head to other parts of the world, by hook or by crook, to worship some sort of a building that has an insignia on it, and if you put someone in front of it, they are healed. You might say, "Well what is wrong with that?" It's the message that follows these things. If people are getting healed by some abhorrition that is taking place in Central America some place, who is doing it, if the message after the healing is, "Yes! Jesus is one of the Saviors!"

If you know someone who is blind or needs a miracle, you will be desperate enough to be tempted to go and seek that healing. Will you sacrifice biblical truth so that this person might be healed or see again? You know that the doctrine is different than what the Bible teaches in order to get this healing, but you go anyway. You have been deceived. You might ask, "Well are all miracles wrong?" It depends on the message that accompanies that miracle! Is the message done by Almighty God and is Jesus the only one who gets all the glory and  honor? Or is His glory shared with another? What does the Bible say about that? "My glory I will not share with another."

Jesus warns that in the last days, it will be so powerful, these miracles and powers, that are not of God, that if it were possible, even My very chosen people would be deceived. But if you read it in its original context, it means that even His people, will not be deceived by what they see. That is very comforting.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 ~ "While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come upon them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."

The answer is simply this, don't be fooled by people riding on white horses! You might hear of a ministry, evangelical service or a healing service coming to town, the false always has the mask, just a little bit crooked. They will test your faith and ask you to give everything you own, money, wealth in order to show just how much faith you have in God. "Just trust in God and have faith! Take out that money and put that in the offering. It's okay if it all you have left, because God will bless your faith!"

Why don't those guys stop it, put a sock in it and exercise faith themselves? Be careful! Does God heal? Absolutely! But God has convicted the hearts of those that do it, to never parade that around in front of people. It is usually done quiet and away from others, when people are prayed for. The first century church had a guideline for people like that, if they asked for money or to stay in your house, throw them out!

This Antichrist comes giving everything that the world wants. Why? He's fooling people and he's riding a white horse.

2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 ~ "And then the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy it by the splendor of his coming.The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonder, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing."

John 5:43 ~ "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him."

Jesus was speaking in both of these cases of the Antichrist. Another thing we learn in verse 2 of Revelation, don't be intimidated by the powers of evil.

Revelation 6:2 ~ "I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest."

This is really interesting, notice, he had a bow, but no arrows! Jesus doesn't carry a bow does He? Jesus comes forth out of heaven in Revelation 19 with a sword in His hand. The ancient scholars believe and Daniel backs it up, that he will first conquer through peace. He doesn't need arrows. He conquers through peace and treaties and that is exactly what Daniel says. For the first 3 1/2 years, he brings such peace and prosperity into the world that the people fall into a stupor.

" he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest," means he starts out winning small battles but they increase in size as he goes on, until he has won the world and that of popular opinion as well. This is the reason why this verse uses the word or form of conquer or conquest, twice.

Daniel 9:27 ~ "He (the Antichrist) will confirm (that is succeed where others have failed) a covenant (a league or agreement made with blood) with many (not only Israel, but their neighbors) for one 'seven' (years). In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to the sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

2 Thessalonians 2:10 ~ "and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." 

It means when they had opportunity, they didn't give their hearts to Christ when they had the chance.

2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 ~ " For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." 

How does this happen? It talks about the coming of the Antichrist, and those people who had the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior, now perhaps even as you find yourselves reading this, they heard the gospel and willfully rejected it and then the rapture takes place. Some of you might be banking on this. You look at stuff and think to yourself when I see this stuff starting to take place, then I'll make the choice to get right or accept Jesus during the Tribulation Period.  But you won't have that chance according to 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 that we just looked at. You won't get the chance and not only that, you are worse off for waiting to do so. Why? Because you stood your ground while the opportunities came around and now you will won't be able to do so. That's frightening enough in the life of a believer. What about an unbeliever?

The ones that sit on church and hear about Jesus and the way to get to heaven through the acceptance of Jesus Christ and don't do anything about it. They blow it off and go play it off in the world for a while. They might even come to church on Sundays just to cover all their bases too! If that is you or you know someone like that, you better pray for them and tell them the truth. That they need to accept Jesus Christ today.

2 Corinthians 6:2 ~ "For he says, 'In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."

But the choice must be yours. Jesus wants your life. He doesn't want it dead, but alive for Him. If that rapture takes place, and you've said, "No, no, no, no, no, no..." you will become like Pharoah and harden your heart and God will send you strong delusions and you believe the lie. What is that lie? That the Antichrist is God and will set himself up in the temple in Jerusalem. You will believe he is who he says he is.

The Antichrist that is coming as the rider on the white horse, comes with the opening of the first seal. The first rider and those that ride behind him bring havoc and mayhem to the world. Man's government, man's rule, man's control, left without the intervention of God, is destroyed by self. Think about this, Satan is deceiving and he's been attempting to ride into your life, and attempts to do so every day of your life on a white horse. Before we were Christians, he rode in quite willfully and freely, you could sin without thought. There was no difference in our lives. We schemed on how not to get caught. At some point in time, we began to have different thoughts and then we find Jesus and accept the gift of His salvation. We became converted and for some of us, those sins stopped immediately! Maybe you cussed like a sailor and now you don't. There are some people who don't work that quickly, but He does keep working in your life.

We can't even sin right anymore. When you have the Holy Spirit working in your life, you can't even sin right. We lose our joy or our light. When we backslide, and you can just tell by looking at them that something isn't right anymore. God will turn your back and it's time for you to get right with God again.

Are you feeling a little bit of pressure right now? Praise God, that is Him putting a calling on your life right now. Make that decision today while there is time, make that decision to accept Jesus before the delusion comes.

Acts 17:11 ~ " Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

This is how we should live our lives, not with an open mind but with an open Bible. Especially in these days that we are facing now. The deceiving and deceptive signs, wonder and miracles is already at work. The Scriptures warn us that these things are coming. Remember the battle of spiritual powers between Moses and Pharoah's staff. One origin was from God and one was from a false demonic origin. We have to be careful what miracles we accept. We follow the miracles to accept the false doctrine. It will increase and we need to make sure our faith is rooted in the Word of God.

Monday, we will take a look at the other riders that follow this one! You won't want to miss it. Hope you found this interesting and feel free to share with those that might need to hear it.

The Problem Today is Man Wants to Be Self Governed

Paul Harvey created a segment about "If I were the Devil." It is now available on YouTube and it's chilling to watch. It's prophetic actually. He created this in 1965 and when you look at what is happening in our world today, how can you not wonder how he came to know what would happen this far into our future with his prophetic words? Satan always has counterfeits. He always has stuff that looks like the originals that God created. Even the atheist today has to watch this and wonder. Was Paul Harvey used by God? God can use anybody and Paul Harvey was a believer! He had his finger on the pulse. That man, knew the culture and he was speaking in a very prophetic sense in that he was telling us or warning us what would happen if we remain on this Godless path. Yet here we are in the 21st century, right where he predicted we would be. 100% of this is absolutely true! It's the same thing people think when the read the Book of Revelation and think to themselves, this can't come true. Yet one day it will with 100% accuracy in every single detail.

https://youtu.be/H3Az0okaHig

Don't fool yourself. Every single one of us wants to know about the future. We have this bizarre, strange curiosity that is why every year at the checkout stand in November, they sell all these magazines predicting what might happen in the coming year. They sell out because people are interested in the future. The amazing thing is that the Book of Revelation is in fact the future, but people don't like the way it plays out. They want to write their future. But God has written a future that is far better than anything you could have dreamed of.

This is the stuff people want to talk about when it is entertaining, unfortunately many pastors and churches ditch the teachings on the Book of Revelation. Their flock misses out on what is perhaps the most important book of the Bible. This book covers more Old Testament Scriptures than any other New Testament book does. Satan always comes to us offering an alternative. Do this, instead of the Bible. Do this instead of prayer. Do you realize that if you told people we need to meditate more, everyone would agree with you. If you told people to sit on a rock naked with a pyramid on their head in order to understand the power of the universe, people with brains would want to know how to do it. How naked do they get? Where do they get the right pyramid for this?

Why do that when I can invite you to know God Almighty who can hear your cry? He will do what is best for you because you and I don't know what is best for us. You can meditate on everything and anything and miss it. God knows what you need before you even ask. No Satan comes along and offers alternatives. All Satan wants to do is flood the market with a counterfeit. What we see in the Book of Revelation is the unveiling of a counterfeit, and the world will go after him. He is riding a white horse, he has a crown and he has authority, he's got power. He's just the wrong guy! The world will go after him.

In the book of Daniel, the Bible says, he will promise peace and prosperity. Well who doesn't want those? But Jesus Christ came first to deal with sin, then comes peace and prosperity, when the Prince of Peace returns to earth in the Second Coming. (1) Jesus came to die for our sins. (2). He will come to establish His kingdom. Watch out because those alternatives will come and we see it coming in the form of the Antichrist, the first rider of the apocalypse, the first horseman. The advent is evil in human flesh, he will be amazing.

Revelation 6:1-2 ~ "I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest."

When John says that he saw the Lamb and it opened the first of the seven seals, this is important, Jesus Christ is the one who releases that seal. The world has never known the advent of such evil. You might say, "Well why did Jesus send evil upon the earth?" It's not so much that Jesus is sending it, remember the requirements of the last will and testament of that seal, of that seven sealed book is being fulfilled. One of those things is that evil must run its course because this is what man wants. Man wants to be self-governed. That's the problem today. You don't want God to tell you what to do. Even the most devoted Christian struggles with what God tells us to do. It all comes down to a step of faith and obedience til the day we die.

When God says do this, don't do that, it levels the playing field to who truly loves Him. Do we love Him enough to do what He says? Or would we rather accept an invitation to something the world offers? Satan doesn't jump out at you saying "Come with me to hell Ha Ha Ha!" No he says things like, " He dressed up and says things like, "This is the norm.This is the way it goes. Everybody is doing it! YOU deserve it! " Satan is going to announce through the Antichrist, "You deserve it! You deserve peace!" What is the world crying for right now? Peace and prosperity! This man will come and give it all. When Jesus loosens the seal, He lets evil personify. He just steps back and says, "You want self governance without God? Instead of a theocracy, you want to have a monarchy? Go ahead and have your man! The Bible says that evil will come and it will be all dressed up and looking good.

Revelation 6:1 ~ "I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a loud voice, 'Come!" 

In the Greek, the word "Come" is "Ercho"  and means to come forth but also to go. The living creatures are not speaking to John, he is saying "Come forth and go!" It's a pulling out and sending. This living creature is saying, "First horse of the Apocalypse, the first rider, come forth and go to the earth!" There are going to be four messages sent to the earth with four riders and this one is the white horse.

The question remains, "Who is this rider on the white horse?" This is the unveiling of the Antichrist.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 ~ "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God."

There is no temple of God in Jerusalem in this moment. There will soon to be however. Showing himself that he is god.

2 Thessalonians 2:5-8 ~ "Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so til he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming."

The Holy Spirit in the church on the earth is holding the lid on sin, on the Antichrist. Picture it this way, a big pot is boiling on your stove, and the lid is dancing on the top. The Holy Spirit through the church, is sitting on that lid so to speak holding evil down, until as 2 Thessalonians tells us, He steps out of the way, or steps aside. He doesn't leave the earth. Why? Because the rapture takes place, and then He steps aside and this wicked one is revealed. The lid is lifted off and all hell on earth is let loose.

Notice this! The Antichrist can not be revealed until the hindering power of the Holy Spirit determines it so. When the rapture happens, what then?

1. The Holy Spirit will resurrect the bodies the new physical bodies of those that died believing in Jesus. The Bible says to be absent with the body is to be present in the Lord. Those who believe in Jesus who die now, their Spirit is immediately in the presence of the Lord, but their physical body remains here in the grave. When Jesus comes for His church in the rapture, He will literally resurrect the atoms in the earth, and bring them up out of the ground, first.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 ~ "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep , or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not recede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."  

2. The Holy Spirit will hand the baton of the church over to Jesus Christ in the atmosphere. Right where you and I are standing at sea level, 0 to about 126,000 feet technically. That is where our atmosphere is. That is how specific our Bible is. When it says that Jesus will come in the air, when He raptures the church in the air, we are not going to land in Jupiter and wait for Him to come pick us up there. We will meet Him in the atmosphere, somewhere between sea level and 126,000 feet.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 ~ "According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not recede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

"Caught up" is where we get the word "rapture," which is Latin for 'rapturo' which is where we get "rapture" from. 

John 14:1-3 ~ "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

3. The Holy Spirit will stand aside, letting evil go unrestrained.

2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 ~ "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming."

Like Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember when Lot asked if he could go to a safe city outside Sodom and Gomorrah and the angel said, "Yes! Go!" He could not bring judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah until they were gone. God is going to remove the church from the earth, and then Bible says throughout the Old and New Testament, that God will visit the earth in judgment because of their sins. You will NOT be judged for your sins. Your sins were judged on the cross with Christ. Some of you don't get this! I am more sure of that than my last name. All my sin was placed on Jesus on the cross.

How do you know? Because He died. He died on the cross. Then He rose again from the dead. And when He rose again, that was it. That settled it. My Lord has risen from the dead. It is something that He died on Friday, but Sunday was a coming!!! Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead. When they went to the tomb it was empty! There is more evidence of the crucifixion of Christ than there is evidence for you and I to go to court on any issue. You are going to have change Roman history, both secular and religious history if you don't believe in the crucifixion or resurrection of Jesus. It is one thing that Jesus died for us, but if He didn't rise from the grave it would have been an empty victory. But He did!

Genesis 19:22 ~ "But flee there quickly because I cannot do anything until you reach it."

4. The Holy Spirit will come upon the nation of Israel.

Ezekiel 36:27-28 ~ "And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people and I will be your God."

Acts 2:16-21 ~ "No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

These are specifically given to the nation of Israel. This is the Second Coming, not the rapture. Remember Israel didn't even exist 70 years ago. There is now a antisemitism movement in the world today. There is an Anti-Israel boycott of products in churches today. God loves Israel and His covenant is with them forever. Israel is going to be the central point of Revelation and in the last days. You better be on the right side of the future!

The Enemy Comes With A False Alternative to the Truth!

Before we head into Chapter 6 of the Book of Revelation, a transition has taken place. Let us recap in case you are just joining us today. We have learned up to this point about the revelation of Jesus Christ and His love for us, we have learned about His instruction for the church and what heaven is going to be like regarding worship that is beautiful, challenging, exciting, and personal. From Chapter 6 on out to Chapter 19, the vantage point is solely from heaven looking down on the earth, it is bloody. It is the wrath of God. It is the punishment of the earth for their sins. It is man gone crazy. It is evil unchecked. Chapter 6 through Chapter 19 is the Great Tribulation period. It is horrific and it all begins with the first rider in the famous four horsemen of the apocalypse. We now meet the first rider. This is a time yet coming for all of us. But the question is, will you be here on earth or will you be with us, looking down from heaven?

For some of you that have been following, we are getting into the Great Tribulation and you really want to hear more about this stuff. The dynamic about the Christian faith is that we do not worship some dead God or some token religion. But the fact of the matter is our Lord is risen, He is alive and His book, His love letters given to us in the Bible. In Revelation 5, we saw the glories of heaven and the worship that was taking place there. We saw those whom Christ has purchased through His blood and redeemed by every kindred tribe, tongue, nation and people. They have been raptured up into heaven. Now we come to Chapter 6, where the Tribulation Period begins. It covers all 7 years of it all the way to Chapter 19 around verse 11. The bulk of it, is the last 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation period. By the time we get to the end of the Book of Revelation, you should be an expert on the End Time Events!

We are going to set the plow today to begin to dig in deep into the Scriptures so you might want to gather together your Bible and something to write down what you have learned alongside your Scriptures for easy reference.

Revelation 6:1-2 ~ "I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest."

This is the first of the four riders of the apocalypse and we will be spending some time really studying what they mean, what they are carrying and what it means for the inhabitants of the world. The first rider comes with the loosening of the first seal. Now remember that Jesus Christ was the only one found in heaven, on earth and under the earth, in all the created world both spiritual and physical,  to be worthy to take the scroll and open the seven seals. The word "worthy" meant that Jesus had met all the requirements necessary to take the scroll from God the Father, the Lamb of God, the Root of David. He was the only One to be found worthy to open the seven seals. Once He opens one, He will continue until they are all opened. This all takes place in a very short period of time. Once it begins, it will run its successive course. Once the seven year Tribulation period begins, yet one day in the future, and it will be so clear that those living then, will be able to mark their calendars and count the days as 7 years begins to the day. It will go 7 full years without stopping or pausing, without hesitation, without a comma, until Christ returns in the Second Coming.

We may all remember in high school or college, being on a time table. We enter high school on one day and will graduate on another. It may be two years or four years but there is a predetermined time table that must be followed to go from the beginning all the way to the end. We will have met all the requirements and all that needed to happen to graduate and be free from those institutions. As we approach graduation, there is an increase in the tests, exams and effort. There are finals we have to go through, and we have had to go through all those years to get to the point where we can finally graduate. We have met all the requirements.

The seven year Tribulation Period  must happen, it will happen, because all the requirements in both the Old and New Testament describe, must take place. When it comes to the prophetic Word of God, let alone all the other portions of the Bible, when we fail to take these Scriptures literally, unless otherwise specified by the Bible, we often wind up being in error. Most of the mistakes we often make is when we don't take the Bible literal enough. For example when Jesus says, "All those who come to Me, I will no wise cast out." What does that mean? It means that all those who turn to Him, He will not turn away! When He says, "You must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven," what do you think He meant? If you keep reading John 3, He tells you exactly what He means. God is not mysterious in that He withholds all the information that we need. He gives us all what we need to know. He's a great God!

So in regards to the time table in your life, you are coming to a predetermined graduation so to speak, and so is this world, by the way, everything, politics, economy, ecological issues, are all marching forward in a predetermined moment of time in the mind of God. That is kind of eerie in one point but awesome in another. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow! We often feel that God is not on time. "Where is that predetermined moment in my life?" God is never early and He is never late. He is always on time and God's prophetic Word is one of those truths, about that.

In Chapter 6, this view is from heaven because the church is no longer mentioned from Revelation 4:1 on earth, until it comes back to earth from heaven with Jesus Christ in Revelation 19. That is significant with all the efforts put forth in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, regarding the church on the earth, now there is no church on the earth, and we shall see some of the reasons why as we go further into our study. The events of the 7 Year Great Tribulation Period is those 7 literal years that will usher in the return of Jesus Christ to the earth, in what is called the Second Coming.

These seven years or the seven year time table, is a time reserved specifically by God for global judgments and God's revisitation upon the nation of Israel. Make note of that.You may think Israel is out of the picture, but Israel is in the picture! The Bible tells us that God will re-establish the nation of Israel in the last days, and He will come and visit His people. The nation of Israel must be established and on the earth before the Second Coming of Christ. The 7 year period of the Tribulation deals with God's judgment on the earth for a Christ rejecting world, and the re-establishment and the redemption of the nation of Israel! This is very important. Always keep your eye on Israel! Up until May 14, 1948, we didn't have an Israel to look at. According to the Scriptures of Isaiah 66 and the United Nations, on May 14, 1948, Israel was born as a nation a second time in one day.

The Bible speaks of these 7 years that are coming. They will be commencing on a very specific and certain day. It's a day the Bible tells us that a peace treaty will begin with Israel and its surrounding neighbors, which just so happens are their enemies. When the peace treaty commences, there will be a date when its signed, and does anyone know how long that peace treaty will last in a contract form? 7 years! But in the middle of that time, the man who forges that agreement, breaks that agreement in 3 1/2 years! It will take place with the nation of Israel, not any other nation. This is what the Bible said would happen thousands of years ago! That day will commence a very terrible moment in time! That Jesus said would be unlike any other time on the earth, and unless He shortens those days, no flesh would remain upon the earth. Jesus said, "it will be a time of such tribulation nor shall ever be in the world."

In other words, it will make the Holocaust look like a picnic. One man, the Bible says, will be the one who instigates this process that will lead to earth's last attempt to govern itself in human politics, and that man, the Bible refers to him as the son of Perdition, the beast, the worthless shepherd, and in Zechariah, the Bible refers to him as the Antichrist.

As we look around in the world today, where the Bible says this man will come into the world, seeing and riding on the back of another beast called a religious beast. He will use that pseudo false church system and will come out of the old ancient Roman Empire, and he will come and use religion as a tool. At some point, he will discard that false religious system, and the Bible says, he will stand in Jerusalem in the temple and declare himself to be God, and the world will marvel and worship him.

What I find very interesting about that is even now people have been working and have spent tens of millions of dollars reconstructing the tools and the devices, that they believe will be used in the coming temple of their Messiah. They have already completed the menorah they plan on using that stands four feet tall, made of solid precious metal. It's under lock and key and they are waiting, they have tracked and trace men in their lineage of Levites, to be priests and make offerings and sacrifices because they believe their Messiah is soon to come. The problem is that the Bible says, the Messiah that they are going to receive will come riding upon a white horse. You might say, well what is wrong with that? The Bible says that Jesus will come riding on a white horse? It is not Jesus Christ, but the Antichrist. It is the one that is a false representation of the Messiah!

Revelation 1:17-19 ~ "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later."

We learned that when He (Jesus) told John to "write the thing you have seen", that is in reference to Chapter 1 of the Book of Revelation, "what is now," that is in reference to Chapters 2 and 3 and "what will take place later." is in reference from Chapter 4 until the end of the Book of Revelation.

The first rider of the apocalypse brings the advent of evil in human flesh. This man will be unlike Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Hussein, and unlike them he will have success in what he plans to take place on the world. There are powers that are sinister and dark that are moving toward the reception of this man. I believe this man is alive in the world today somewhere, biding his time. I believe he is coming. He may be in his 30's, 40's, or 50's, I don't know, but I believe this Antichrist figure is alive. When he comes, the Bible tells us in the book of Daniel and Revelation, how specifically he arises. He will be evil personified. He will be the son of Satan.

As we go from chapter 6 to 19, keep this in mind, that Satan will always attempt to mimic what God has already given. As we have read in the Bible, we read that God told Moses to thrown down his staff and it would become like a serpent. Remember that? What did Pharoah's magicians do? Same thing. They mimicked back and forth, these miracles of God until they reached a point where their gods were exposed. Satan is always mimicking. He can not create anything new. When Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, that applies to Satan too! He creates nothing! He only steals and manipulates, that which exists. He steals. He rips off. He does that in people's lives. Jesus says "he is the father of lies." The only thing he has ever produced is false lies. Because whenever there is the truth, he comes with a false alternative. He always comes in our life, trying to offer a false alternative.

From Chapter 6 to Chapter 19, these are the chapters in the Book of Revelation that no one wants to read. This is the reason why most people say they won't read the Book of Revelation. It shouldn't be the case. Each of us has the opportunity to choose where we will be viewing this from. If you make the right choice, Jesus being THAT choice, none of this will be yours to inherit. If you just listen to the Word of God, this is heavy stuff, because you don't get these in churches very often. The church in America today is messed up because it has been playing church for far too long. We need to get right with God and get back to the Bible! The first step in doing that is found in John's gospel, where he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." Jesus Christ is your literal ticket to heaven. It's not your smile, your wealth, not your achievements or righteousness, that is all garbage to God. It's what Jesus has done! That is why at the base of the cross, everyone comes at equal footing. Rich man, poor man, beggar, thief. We all come to Him in need of His blood, which He shed upon the cross, Jesus died for us.

If you say to Him, wherever you are at right now, "Jesus save me! Jesus I love You today for what You have done for me. You died on the cross, You rose again from the dead, I declare You today and I receive You today, as my Lord and Savior!"