(tm)The fourth trumpet
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And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. (Revelation 8:12)
The sun represents the Lord Jesus; the moon represents the created realm; and the stars, in this case, may portray the saints of the Church. The obvious Presence of the Lord will diminish as part of the great tribulation. The Christian churches will be corrupted by the world. The testimony of the Holy Spirit through the saints will not be as abundant as formerly. Many Christians will fall through deception.
The cloud of blessing by day will be curtailed. The fire of the judgment of God’s Word, the help God gives us during the "night," will seemingly be diminished.
Whatever literal fulfillment this passage may have, it is evident that the spiritual counterpart is taking place in our day. The light of God’s Presence and Word appear to be diminishing. People from different cities have reported to us there is no church they know of where the Presence of God can be felt.
Some who have been accustomed to the Presence of God in their lives are finding that God does not seem as close to them as once was true. Trouble has come to them and they are not being delivered. Some are plagued with the manifest presence of demons.
Ministers and people are unable to obtain release from the lusts of the flesh. Spiritual darkness is settling in where there used to be an abundance of Gospel light. It is becoming more difficult to seek the Lord. There appears to be a spiritual torpor, an inability to shake one’s self. Deception is widespread. The spiritual light is decreasing. Spiritual darkness is increasing.
The darkness of Antichrist is here now—today, and the darkness will become greater. We are not speaking of events in the future only. We are speaking of the present hour.
(It also is true in the present hour that there is marvelous light and glory for each believer who will turn away from the ungodliness of the churches and seek the Lord with a pure heart.)
Daniel warned us of the authority God will give to the Antichrist.
And it waxed great, even to the host of the heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. (Daniel 8:10)
We understand from the above verse that Antichrist will have power that reaches into the heaven, deceiving and casting down some of God’s stars. This is taking place today as some pastors and evangelists fall through immorality and covetousness.
Antichrist will deceive and overcome the saints through ease and prosperity.
And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power [by Satan’s]: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace [prosperity] shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. (Daniel 8:24,25)
He will shatter the power of the saints of the Lord.
. . . and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. (Daniel 12:7)
The Antichrist will overcome the saints who bear the latter-rain witness of the last days, the Gospel of the Kingdom that will be brought to every nation.
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. (Revelation 11:7)
Antichrist will wear out the saints by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Also, he will persecute savagely those who do not conform to his way of thinking. He will work both by violence and by deception.
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (Revelation 13:7)
As we stated previously, the only protection from the spiritual darkness entering the world is to be filled with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To thus enter the spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles necessitates the removal of the love of the world from us, the removal of the love of sin from us, and the removal of the love of self from us.
The love of the world is removed from us as we turn our back on the world, choosing to be a pilgrim and stranger on the earth.
The love of sin is removed from us as we confess our sins, our demonic lusts, repent of them, and ask the Lord to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. After that, we must seek the Lord continually for His wisdom and strength so we may obtain victory over every area of sin.
The love of self is removed from us as we take up our cross and follow Jesus. Suffering and tribulation purge from us the love of the world, the love of sin, and the love of self. Only as we are purified of these can the holy Godhead settle down to rest in us. It is the Presence of the Godhead which preserves us from the spiritual death of the last days.
Let us look for a moment at the four evil forces of the last days.
Satan.
Antichrist.
The False Prophet.
Babylon the great.
Satan is the fallen cherub, the adversary, the accuser of the brothers, the one who desires to be like God and to be worshiped as God.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:14)
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. (Ezekiel 28:14,15)
If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. (Luke 4:7)
We understand that Satan is the father of the unholy trinity (Satan, Antichrist, and the False Prophet). Antichrist, the False Prophet, and Babylon live and move and have their being in the spirit of Satan. Satan is God’s rival for supremacy in the heavens and the earth. God will permit the whole of Satan’s personality to be revealed in the earth as an eternal lesson to God’s creatures of the folly of not abiding in God.
Antichrist is the second person of the unholy trinity. He is the imitation, the counterpart, the rival of the only true Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The spirit of Antichrist is in all human beings. It is the desire of man to be God. In the last days the spirit of Antichrist will be revealed in a man who finally will take his place in the Temple of God in Jerusalem. He will sit in the Most Holy Place declaring He is the Glory of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the only true and living God. This is the final result of the spirit that is in us, the spirit that seeks to be like God rather than an eternal part of God through Christ.
There is one point we wish to emphasize. The major issue of the last days is the overcoming of Antichrist. This is what the Book of Revelation stresses.
Antichrist already is in us. It is not a case of waiting until a dreadful man appears in the future. Antichrist is a spirit in us we have to overcome now—right now!
Antichrist is the spirit of man making himself God, of attempting to be like God and endeavoring to rule his own environment and destiny.
The last several hundred years of world history have witnessed the emergence of the spirit of Antichrist. The philosophers have brought forth the concept that man is the center of all things. Various nationalities of peoples have risen in revolt against those who have ruled them.
We do not wish to question the rightness or wrongness of the signing of the Magna Carta by King John, the French Revolution, the American Revolution. The tyranny of people in places of power has resulted in rebellion on the part of those abused by them.
But the fruit of man’s struggle is the emergence of rule by the masses of people, a bowing down to "world opinion" on the part of those who would attempt to accomplish anything. The philosophies of democracy and humanism are spreading. Communism and the Muslim religion still control major segments of earth’s peoples. Humanism and democracy will emerge victorious because they appeal to the love of man for himself. Satan perceives that man can be corrupted more easily and more thoroughly by prosperity than he can by violence and fear.
Antichrist rises out of the "sea" (Revelation 13:1). This means Antichrist will come forth from the masses of earth’s people. He is that spirit of lawlessness, of self-rule, that seeks the godship of man. He is in all of us until we are willing to lay down our life, take up our cross, and follow the Lord Jesus.
The antichrist system emphasizes money, education and the brain of man, and finally the occult until it is obvious it is Satan who is in control.
There are at least four aspects of the antichrist system:
The Beast.
The image of the Beast.
The mark of the Beast.
The number of his name.
Our understanding is that the Beast represents man opposing the rule of Christ, man choosing to govern himself.
It may be true that the image of the Beast will be some computerized marvel, some masterpiece of cybernetics employed to solve the problems of mankind. However the image may prove to be money. It may be recalled that Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold (Daniel, Chapter Three). It appears today that money is emerging as the primary God of the world. Everything is accomplished by money. The worship of money is spreading to lands that formerly worshiped idols, or nature, or some personage or object.
The mark is in the right hand or in the forehead (Revelation 13:16). The mark in the right hand suggests that the system works by the strength of man. The mark in the forehead means the individual does the will of Antichrist, just as God’s seal in the forehead of the remnant means the individual does the will of God.
We are not implying that there will not be some type of device inserted under the skin that is linked with a world economic system. There may be such a device. But that is not our problem now. Our problem now is overcoming the giving of our strength to the world system, and the habit of thinking as the world thinks.
The television and the Internet are among Satan’s principal tools for forming our thoughts and imaginations in the image of the world. It is difficult to comprehend the enormity of the evil of television with its ceaseless displaying of the values of Satan. No sincere Christian spends much time on the television programs presented by the world.
If we do not overcome the mark of today we will be helpless when it comes to a governmental demand to become part of the world economic system, the alternative being we can neither buy nor sell.
The number of his name—666—symbolizes man making himself God, seeking to exalt himself, and finally to be worshiped. It is the ancient satanic desire to be like God instead of being in union with God through Christ.
Each believer who would be accepted of God must overcome the Beast, the image of the Beast, the mark in the right hand or in the forehead, and the number of his name.
It is not enough to accept Christ, or to be born again (as Christians employ the term), or to speak in tongues. In order to be accepted of God each believer must overcome, through the Holy Spirit, his governing of himself. He must submit to crucifixion so Christ may live in him in place of Antichrist.
Each believer must overcome, through the Holy Spirit, the God of money. He must seek first the Kingdom of God and allow God to supply his needs. This does not mean the believer is not to work. It does mean all employment becomes secondary and seeking God’s will becomes of supreme importance every day of his life.
Each believer must overcome, through the Holy Spirit, the using of his prime time and energies to serve the world spirit of Satan. He must resist doing the will of the God of this world and be transformed by the renewing of his mind. He must present his body a living sacrifice to God.
Each believer must overcome, through the Holy Spirit, the desire to exalt himself, the desire to be God, the desire to be worshiped by his fellow creatures. He must humble himself unto death, the death brought about by bearing his personal cross, in order that he may become part of the one true Vine—the Lord Jesus Christ. He must renounce for eternity his desire to be a competitor of God, another will in the universe. He must be willing to become one with God.
The believer who does not overcome the Beast, the image of the Beast, the mark in the right hand or in the forehead, and the number of the Beast’s name, will never be accepted of God. He is in danger of being cast into the torment of fire and sulfur. Let the reader take heed!
The only manner in which we can escape deception is by doing what Revelation 14:12 and 13 command. We must be patient. We must keep the commandments of God. We must hold fast the faith of Jesus. We must die in the Lord and allow His Spirit to perform the works of redemption in us.
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. (Revelation 15:2)
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)
From the above verse we see that the only persons who attain to the first resurrection are those who do not worship the Beast (man’s self-rule), or his image (money), and who do not receive his mark on their forehead (fleshly reasoning) or in their hand (using their strength to serve the world spirit instead of God).
The Scriptures state we attain to the first resurrection by overcoming the Beast, his image, and his mark. Let every person who adds to or subtracts from this statement consider the dreadful curse with which the Book of Revelation is bound (Revelation 22:18,19).
To those who teach that by accepting Jesus we automatically are overcomers, let us respond by pointing out it is evident that numerous persons who have "accepted Jesus" still are governing themselves, are worshiping money, are serving the world, are worldly in their thinking, and never have laid down their life in order that Christ may live in them.
Therefore to say that "accepting Jesus" (as we use the term—for it indeed is not a true acceptance of Christ) automatically makes us an overcomer is false and destructive of the Christian redemption.
The False Prophet is the third person of the unholy trinity. The False Prophet is an imitation, a counterpart, of the Holy Spirit. The False Prophet lives by soulish, metaphysical wisdom and power not governed by the Lord Jesus, wisdom and power that do not proceed from the Holy Spirit.
The Antichrist rises out of the sea, that is, from the ranks of mankind. But the False Prophet comes up out of the earth, out of the souls of people.
And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. (Revelation 13:11)
Man is spirit, soul, and body. God deals with the spirit of man. The soul of man can choose to live in the spiritual life of God, or to live in metaphysical life that is of the spirit realm but not of Christ.
The occult always has been with us. The religions of the East understand and practice metaphysical powers that work in and with the soul of man.
Western man has been drugged with materialism. But materialism is not a satisfying way of life. The human being longs for the supernatural. Christ satisfies the hunger for the supernatural for those who walk with Him. Satan stands ready to supply this need for those who reject Christ.
The science of psychology is of the soul. The science of psychiatry also is of the soul and has been known to dabble in the occult. The present-day trend is toward the soulish, toward the occult, as we can determine by studying the curricula of the public institutions of learning.
The False Prophet has two horns like a lamb. He is an imitation of Jesus. He claims that his power (the two horns) is the power of the Lord Jesus, of the Lamb. But his voice is that of the ancient dragon, Satan.
The False Prophet performs wonders (Revelation 13:13). We may note today that miracles are taking place in some instances. It is up to the Christian believers to make sure the miracles being demonstrated are turning us back to the Lord and are not supporting the current man-centeredness of Christian teaching.
If the miracles are supporting the idea that we all are acceptable to God, that no Christian need concern himself with the Judgment Seat of Christ because we are saved by grace, then we need to pray for discernment and we need also to test the apostle.
Today the Spirit of the Lord is calling for repentance and is warning God’s people of judgment to come. Any prophecies or other miraculous actions that support and confirm the current doctrinal position regarding the acceptability of worldly believers on the basis of their profession of faith in Jesus, are not coming from the Lord. Any prophecies or other miraculous actions that support and confirm the current doctrinal position that it is not necessary for us to keep the commandments of the Lord because we are saved by "grace" is assuredly not coming from the Lord. The primary way in which we show our love for the Lord is by keeping His commandments.
The False Prophet advises those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the Beast. After that, the False Prophet gives life (breath) to the image of the Beast and enforces the worship of the image of the Beast.
It is the Christian people of today who are emphasizing the worship of the golden image—money. Some have "prophesied" that in the last days the world’s wealth will be given into the hands of the believers and the world will be required to come to the believers for help.
Already we behold the beginning of the concept of the golden image being supported by those Christians who have been seduced.
We see also the Christian leaders attempting to make believers of the heads of government. They do not stress that the political leader lay down his life, take up his cross, and follow Jesus. They do not make the head of state tremble with the demands of God, as happened with the ungodly Felix (Acts 24:25). Rather, they advise him or her to just "accept Jesus" and then talk in tongues.
Any individual who accepts Christ and talks in tongues, but who does not lay down his own life and follow the Lord Jesus, is a potential antichrist.
The Scriptures are being fulfilled before our eyes. The False Prophet, which is the spirit of religious deception in the Christians, is attempting to make an image of gold for all people to worship and to give spiritual life to the world leaders.
What if the leader receives Christ? What if he speaks in tongues? Do we suppose for one moment he is going to lay down his life and follow the Lord into the crucifixion of his self-life? Rather, the politician is looking for means to strengthen his political life. How many politicians in America are professing to be born again so they may gain support from Christian people?
Our religious works are not accepted by the Lord as long as our self-life is directing us.
The Lord Jesus insists we give up our life and die in Him. He helps us by allowing Satan to cast us into prison. The Lord lets suffering come our way. He will burn that mountain of self with fire and cast it into the sea so the soulish creatures in us will die.
If some evangelist could persuade a world leader to "accept Jesus as his Savior" and to speak in tongues, and then learn to accomplish his own political will "by faith," we would be well on our way to the cooperation between Antichrist and the False Prophet mentioned in Revelation 13:11-15. Why is this? It is because accepting Jesus is not enough. Speaking in tongues is not enough. We come into that which God desires only when we stop planning our own life and begin to find the will of God through prayer and presenting our body a living sacrifice to God. We must lose our own head and put on the Head of Christ.
The False Prophet is spiritual power not coming from Jesus, not being administered by Jesus, but using the name of Jesus. It is under the control of the human soul and mind.
This is where the danger is in today’s revival movements. The people are seeking power rather than the Lord Jesus.
Babylon the great is the fourth of the four evil forces of the last days. Babylon is not the church of the Laodiceans. The church of the Laodiceans is the seventh of the lampstands of Christ. Babylon (man-directed Christianity) never was a lampstand of God, never was of Christ.
Babylon is the spirit of religious organization. Because of the worldwide spread of the Gospel of the Kingdom through the Lord and His saints of the last days, Christianity will, as we understand it, establish a worldwide religion, perhaps absorbing into itself enough of the other religions of the world to satisfy the demands of a majority of the earth’s population.
It appears not unlikely that Babylon, the worldwide Christian Church of the last days, will be located at the site of ancient Babylon on the Euphrates River.
Notice, in Zechariah 5:7-11, there was one woman in the ephah, which may represent the Catholic Church. Then there came out two women, no doubt the Catholic and the Protestant churches. After that, the wickedness of the ephah (basket) was carried to the site of the tower of Babel, of ancient Babylon. There they built a house for it.
The ephah is significant in that the ephah was a basket used for holding grain—a type of the Lord’s people.
The spirit of religious organization, of bringing the Lord’s elect into a manmade structure and hierarchy, has been with us since the first century. A denomination is formed after a revival has taken place with the intention of systematizing and assisting the new workings of the Lord.
Denominations may have been a necessity during the early stages of the Body of Christ. But the spirit that always is in religious organizations will be revealed in the last days, and the Lord’s true elect will come out of all religious organizations and be joined to the Head. The time is not yet. We of today must work within the structure in which we find ourselves.
We understand, then, that Satan, Antichrist, the False Prophet, and the worldwide Christian Church will work together to produce abominations, desolation, and death in the world. Finally the ten kings who give their power and strength to the Antichrist will turn against Babylon and burn her with fire (Revelation 17:16).
We have discussed the judgment on the earth, on the fruitfulness of man, on the attractiveness of the world, on self-seeking, on commerce, and on the educational-spiritual life that proceeds from the mind of man and from Satan. We have called attention also to the diminishing of the spiritual light available to people, and to the rise of Antichrist, the False Prophet, and Babylon.
The final three trumpets reveal further the attitude of God toward the conduct of mankind, and the steps God will take in order to prepare the Lord’s people, and the nations of the earth, for the return of His King—the Lord Jesus Christ.
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