Herbert W Armstrong

   Satan is a very, very clever deceiver, and Satan is going to be deceiving this whole world. However, as the days draw closes to the time that Jesus Christ is going to return, God warns us, His true church, to be ever watchful of the events as they unfold in the world in which we live. You know, in Luke in the 21st chapter, verse 36 (Luke 21:36), He says, "Watch you therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape these things" - the things that are going to be happening, the tribulations that are going to be coming on this earth, the tribulations that are going to be coming especially on members of God's church.

   Now, of course, God tells us we that are members of the Philadelphia church that He's going to give us a safety or an escapement from these things. Let's just look into some of the things that we find in God's word, and then I want to compare with some of the things that we'll find in what is going to be taught and is already being taught in one of the greatest churches in this world today.

   Let's first go back to II Thessalonians and let's look into a few things in the scriptures here. II Thessalonians - because we're going to find that God's word shows us that in these end times, a great false prophet is going to arise. And he's going to claim - this prophet is going to claim that he actually is God himself.

   Let's just look here in II Thessalonians. Let's pick it up in chapter 2 of II Thessalonians. Notice what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians here. He said (II Thessalonians 2:2), "That you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand."

   Now, here Paul was writing this almost 2,000 years ago, some 1,900 years ago. Then he goes on, he said, "Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." Notice the falling away comes first, "Who opposeth and exalteth himself, verse 4, above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." This person is going to show himself that he is God, or he's going to show himself to the world that he is God.

   And then in verse 8, "And then shall that wicked be revealed," or as Nestle's rather interlinear says, "and then shall be revealed the lawless one whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming."

   Yes, God shows that the time is going to come when that one is going to stand up and say himself as God. I forgot to put this mic on. So God's word does definitely show us then that in these end times a great false prophet will arise, and he's going to be claiming that he is a prophet and actually, as the Bible goes on and shows there, that he is going to claim that he is God, going to sit in God's seat.

   Now, Satan knows God's plan in general. He doesn't know it completely, but in general he does know what God's plan is. And for many years, he has been laying the groundwork to delude men into thinking when the Antichrist - or when Christ comes - that He is the Antichrist. And he's going to do this job very, very well. Even after Christ, at His return, has poured out the seven last plagues, men still are going to be refusing to repent and recognize God. God's word definitely shows that.

   Let's turn back now then to Revelation, the 16th chapter, and let's bring out a few points on this and then we'll go right on along. Revelation 16, let's pick it up in verse 1 (Revelation 16:1). Now, here is when the seven plagues are going to be poured out. Now when you understand prophecy, you understand that God has divided Revelation into seven different, seven different parts there. And finally, as we - well, let me see here, just quickly, I want to go back here to chapter 6 to bring those out.

   You've got the first, second, third, and fourth and fifth and sixth and seventh seals. If you remember right, the seventh seal then is divided into seven trumpets, seven different trumpets, and then the last trumpet is divided into the seven last plagues. So that comes in after the tribulation then on God's people.

   But notice here then about the seven plagues being poured out then or poured out right at the very last, chapter 16 and verse 1 then: "And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, 'Go your ways and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.'" Again, after tribulations and all, here these vials are being poured out on the earth.

   The first went and poured out his vial upon the earth and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon men which had the mark of the beast." You know, there's some kind of mark here. We'll hear a little bit more about that just a little bit later too. "And upon them which worshiped his image, and the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea and it became as the blood of a dead man and every living soul died in the sea." Everything then that was living there, the fishing and all the rest of them were dying there.

   "And the third angel," verse 4, "poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood." One thing right after the other happening then, you know, on mankind. "And I heard the angel of the waters say, 'Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and was and shall be, because thou hast judged thus. And they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink for they are worthy.' And I heard another out of the altar say, 'Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.'"

   "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire." And remember, they've already had all kinds of terrible things happen to them before these seven plagues are being poured out upon mankind. And then in verse 9, "And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God which hath power over these plagues, and they repented not to give Him glory." So you notice they still didn't repent, even after all these plagues were being poured out on them. The reason is because they didn't recognize it was God that was pouring them out. That's the whole reason - because they had been deceived.

   Going on into verse 17: "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying, 'It is done.'" Notice even after the seventh plague being poured out, the very last plague, in verse 21, "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent" - that would be around 120 or 130 pounds. That's a mighty big chunk of ice, isn't it?

   You know, when you go back into the book of Job, you find out that Job mentioned back over there where God - or God mentioned it back over in there - that He already had those things all stored up undoubtedly for these end times. Where has He stored them? We don't know. There are good indications that He has those hailstones already stored up, but a 120-pound chunk of ice. Can you imagine that hitting someone? Can you imagine those things falling all around?

   And notice what's happening: "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent, and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceedingly great." So they still didn't understand then that it was really God that was pouring it out. And we want to see that they thought it was Antichrist. We'll be seeing that a little bit later on.

   Now then let's go back to II Thessalonians again and let's just go through a few things in that chapter again. II Thessalonians chapter 2. Let's take it up here in verse one. II Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 1 (II Thessalonians 2:1). Now Paul says, "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him."

   And then going on into verse 3 (II Thessalonians 2:3): "Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God." So here is one that's going to exalt himself above everything that's called God or that is worshiped, "So that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." So this is one that is going to claim he is God. He's going to claim he is a prophet.

   "Also, remember you not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things, and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work." In other words, back in Paul's time there was already a planning then of what was going to happen, all the way on up into this day here. Hundreds and hundreds of years ago and we're going to see that when I go through some things in a book of prophecy here in just a little while put out by the Roman Catholic Church.

   He says, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let," or now hindering is what he's speaking of. "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who hindereth now will hinder until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed," or "and then shall be revealed the lawless one." Not the lawless one, which is a much better translation of it, because God believes in law.

   "And then shall be revealed the lawless one whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." So God is going to destroy this individual. When He comes, Jesus Christ will destroy him. "Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders." Notice who is behind this one - Satan, the devil.

   "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish," in other words, those that are dying because they're not keeping God's word. And in most cases they don't even understand God's word, they don't even know that God's law is still in force. "Because they received not the love of the truth." What is truth? God's word is truth - "Thy word is truth." And what is love? The keeping of God's commandments. You see, they don't understand that.

   "Yes, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie." So the people that are not in God's church are going to be sent strong delusions. God is going to allow those strong delusions here, so they're going to believe a lie, something that's the very opposite of what God's word says.

   And now we're going to go through some of these things today and you're going to see how this is so true, how it can be understood today too when you have a few of these points to go by. Let's just notice then - I have a book here that I'd like to read a few things out of. It's a book about 15 years old, I think it is. It was published in 1956, I believe it was 1957... 1956. The name is "Prophecy for Today," some of you may have seen this book "Prophecy for Today," and it's by Edward Conner. He's the man that got these various prophecies and all together in this book and lined them up.

   And it's also something that is approved by A.J. Willinger, W-I-L-L-I-N-G-E-R. He's the bishop of Monterey-Fresno, California. Now, he was the bishop back there in 1956 when this was published. So you see this back - what is it? That's 23 years ago, isn't it? Yeah, 23 years. My, time really flies by.

   But first, let's see how the Catholic fathers view tradition. In other words, now this is going to have some traditions of the church in there that are accepted by the Catholic Church. But first I want to show you how the Catholics accept tradition. And here is something from the history of the Council of Trent. Just noting a few things about the Council of Trent - incidentally, the Council of Trent was started December 13th, 1545. So that's been quite a number of years back, several hundred years ago. And it lasted till 1563, or 18 years.

   So here's what we find in the Council of Trent. Actually, it was Emperor Charles V who urged Pope Paul III to call the Council of Trent. And the idea was to define Catholic dogma. That was what the whole idea was. So remember, this was back in 1545 to 1563 A.D. So that's about 400 years ago or a little over 400 years ago.

   Quoting from them: "And then it was approved by all that the tradition" - I get this in your mind - "that the tradition should be received as an equal authority with the scriptures." Traditions then of the church would be equal with scriptures. Now that's from the History of the Council of Trent, page 145.

   Now then going on further: "To dispute their interpretation" - that is of the traditions - "by use of plain scripture is greeted, as it was at the time of this declaration, with the cry of heretics." In other words, if you said, "Look, the Bible says something different," tradition stood over the Bible or over the scriptures, and they would say you're a heretic if you tried to use scripture then to show that the traditions were wrong.

   Then it goes on and says, "And you would be branded as anathema" - that is, a formal curse would be put on you. Going on further: "The holy scriptures cannot be expounded against the sense held by the Holy Mother of the church, nor against the common consent of the fathers," end quotation.

   So if tradition differs from the scriptures, the scriptures hold true rather than the traditions - or the traditions hold true rather than the scriptures as far as the Council of Trent was concerned. That's pretty strong, pretty strong language, isn't it? Again, that's from page 152 then of the History of the Council of Trent.

   Now then I just want to go through a few of these prophecies that have been placed in this book, "Prophecy for Today." Here on page 64 of "Prophecy for Today" is a prophecy by Abbot Joachim, J-O-A-C-H-I-M, who died in 1202 A.D., so that would be over 700 years ago that he died. So now again you remember what we saw there in II Thessalonians a while ago that the spirit of iniquity was already working way back in Paul's days.

   So this goes back 700 years for this prophecy, and we're going to see some of these prophecies come all the way on up to just about 100 years ago when we get through going through some of the prophecies that we will go through. Now here's what his prophecy was, quote: "Towards the end of the world, Antichrist will overthrow the Pope and usurp his seat." That's what he said would happen at the end time - that Antichrist will overthrow the Pope and usurp his seat. Well, now, you can also check this in the Catholic Encyclopedia under the article "Antichrist," and I think you'll find exactly the same thing there.

   Well now, we want to go back and check this first scripture. Now one other prophecy I want to go through with too here is on page 71. This prophecy on page 71this is one by Anna Catarina Emery, and she died just a little over 100 years ago, 1824 A.D. So now you see the widespread then between these prophecies. Here's what she said: "Antichrist will fight a successful battle at Megiddo in Palestine, after which he will thereafter become lord of the world."

   Now when it says Megiddo, M-E-G-I-D-D-O, is a place about 65 miles northwest of Jerusalem. You've heard of the Battle of Armageddon. Well, now Megiddo is where Armageddon is. If Megiddo "har" would really be the first word, and they drop off the "h" because you know the Hebrews do not pronounce the word "h" in hardly anything that they do say. So that would be "Ar-megiddon" or "Armageddon." In other words, it's a note. Actually, a number of different societies have been built on at Megiddo, one on top of the other where it's become a note. And actually many different armies have been gathered there at Megiddo over the years.

   So this is what this prophecy says then by this Anna Catarina Emery: "Antichrist will fight a successful battle at Megiddo or Armageddon in Palestine, after which he will thereafter become lord of the world." Now remember what it says - he's going to be Lord of the world.

   All right now then, I want to just go through a few scriptures then to see if the scriptures agree with that. Turn back to Revelation, the 16th chapter. And here in Revelation 16, pick it up in verse 13. Revelation 16:13: "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs." Now remember this is when the plagues are going to be poured out. Unless the plagues are the last thing then. In fact, that's the day of the Lord which comes up after the tribulation.

   "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon" - and we know who the dragon is, the dragon is Satan, the devil, as is explained here in Revelation in other places - "and out of the mouth of the beast" - and the beast will certainly be that European power and the top leader of that European power of the ten nations that are going to be gathered together - "and out of the mouth of the false prophet."

   Now here we see one coming out of the mouth of a false prophet. "For they are the spirits of devils working miracles, to go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief, blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame," and he - or it should be they, those three spirits that come out of their mouths - "gather them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon" or you leave off the "Ar" and you have "Mageddon" or Megiddo. But you notice who it is that calls them together - definitely know who it is that calls them together.

   Now then, let's go on back over to Revelation, the 11th chapter and put a couple of other things along with this. Revelation Chapter 11 and verse 15 (Revelation 11:15): "And the seventh angel sounded" - and remember when the seals come up in the seventh trumpet, the last or the seventh seal is divided into the seven trumpets, the seventh trumpet is divided into the seven last plagues or the seven angels that are going to pour those plagues out - "And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, 'The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord.'"

   Now notice whose kingdoms they are going to become - "the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. So Christ then is going to take over and rule forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders which sat before God on their seats fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, 'We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and wast and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned.' And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead" - in other words, the resurrection - "that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth."

   But now again, what does this prophecy here say about that same thing, only it's reversed? It talks about it as being Antichrist. Again, let me just go through this prophecy here: " Antichrist shall fight a successful battle at Megiddo in Palestine after he will, which thereafter he will become Lord of the world." God's word says that this is going to be Jesus Christ when He returns, not Antichrist. But now can you understand when people are being taught just before Christ comes that that's going to be Antichrist that are doing the very thing that Christ does? Do you see how hard it is going to be to get it out of their minds? Because they're going to be taught that - it's going to be universally taught.

   Well, now let's go on a little bit further. I want to bring out another one of these prophecies, and this is from page 69 of "Prophecy for Today" page 69. And this is a prophecy by Maria Agreda, A-G-R-E-D-A, who died in 1665 or a little over 300 years ago. Again, these things have been planned all the way back from the time of Paul as he was writing.

   Here is what she said: "The kings shall send armies to the holy land, but the Antichrist will slay them all." The Antichrist will slay them all. Well, let's go back to Revelation 19 again. And here in Revelation 19, let's find what God says about this in His word.

   Revelation 19, and picking it up in verse 19 to start with so we can find out who this is speaking of. Notice in verse 19 of Revelation 19 (Revelation 19:19): "And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, and notice what they were gathered together for, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse and against his army." Where are they gathered together? At Megiddo, about 65 miles northwest of Jerusalem.

   Now notice who they're going to be battling though. Verse 11: "And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war." We're gonna find out that this is bound to be Jesus Christ.

   "His eyes were as a flame of fire and on His head were many crowns, and He had a name written that no man knew but He himself, and He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and His name is called The Word of God." Is there any doubt in who that is on that white horse? Jesus Christ.

   "And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." In other words, angelic beings that were with Him as well as the saints that had risen at the time He was coming and met Him in the air, as we'll see a little bit later on.

   "And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it He should smite the nations, and He shall rule them with a rod of iron." So here, Jesus Christ is the one that is speaking of here. But you'll notice again in verse 19: "And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against Him that sat upon the horse and against His army." So that's a little bit different - quite a little bit different then from what this prophecy says in the book "Prophecy for Today" where it said "the kings will send armies to the holy land, but the Antichrist will slay them all." Nope, the Antichrist will not slay them. Jesus Christ and His armies are the ones that will slay them. You see the very opposite - the very opposite.

   So that's what they are being taught and will be taught as time goes on. I know just recently I wrote in - I noticed the Knights of Columbus had an ad in one of the papers I got the other day and so I wrote in for a booklet, "The Papacy: Expression of God's Love" - brand new. One thing it brings out in here that's interesting, I'll just mention this right now. This is on page 2:

   "Choosing the name of John Paul II, the new Pope paid tribute to his beloved predecessors and, like him, to Pope John XXIII and Paul VI. Almost at once, however, he established his popularity in his own right, talking several languages with ease and proving to be a man at home among people both great and small. The funerals and inaugurations of the Popes were carried on worldwide television, as well as given wide coverage in the other media. Suddenly it seemed that the whole world was talking about the Papacy," and that certainly is true. Just here recently you've heard the whole world talking about it. He's been to Mexico, he's been over to Poland recently, just been all over everywhere.

   "Old questions began to be asked again, but in a new way. Where before the mood was one of bitterness and hostility bred by anti-Catholic feelings, the mood now has one of a certain friendliness. People were not interested in old sectarian debates, but rather in understanding what the Papacy means to Catholics, its historical significance, and some specific questions on the meaning of papal infallibility. It is in response to such inquiries that the following pages are written. Whether one agrees or not with the scriptural interpretation with which the Catholics support their beliefs in the Papacy, it is hoped that in any event the Pope will no longer be cast in such outlandish roles, the Pope will no longer be cast in such outlandish roles as Antichrist, the beast of the apocalypse and so on, even though certain little tracts continue to foist such nonsense upon those disposed to listen."

   You know, we do not call him the beast. But we certainly can see - I'm not saying whether this one is the Antichrist or not. Maybe he's leading up to it. But certainly we can see as time goes on now that there is a lot going on in the Catholic Church, just a whole lot. I'll read you something else out of Time Magazine just recently published by this trip that the Pope made over to Poland.

   But now then let's get back here again though to this, this next prophecy that we have. This is on page 68 in "Prophecy for Today." This is a prophecy by the venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser, who died in 1658 or a little over 300 years ago. Quoting from his prophecy: "Antichrist and his army will conquer Rome, kill the Pope, and take the throne. Now notice who they say is going to do that Antichrist. The Jews, knowing from the Bible that Jerusalem will be the seat of the Messiah, will come from everywhere and accept Antichrist as the Messiah." Into the prophecies.

   We’ll go over that again: "Antichrist and his army will conquer Rome, kill the Pope, and take the throne. The Jews, knowing from the Bible that Jerusalem will be the seat of the Messiah, will come from everywhere and accept Antichrist as Messiah." Now I think we need to go through some of the scriptures about this and see what the scriptures say.

   But first, one more prophecy here too from "Prophecy for Today" on page 66. This is a prophecy by Richard Rolle, R-O-L-L-E, of Hampole who died in 1349 or over 600 years ago. His prophecy, quote: "After the destruction of Rome, Antichrist will appear and exalt himself above pagan deities and the Trinity. Coming to Jerusalem, he will succeed through false preaching, miracles, gifts, terror, aided throughout by the devil. An evil spirit will come out of the air and descend upon his followers."

   "He shall feign a resurrection from the dead, cause rain to fall, and perform other wonders all through the power of the devil. The recalling of the dead to life will be only apparent. Devils entering the dead bodies will cause the illusion. Antichrist will be the greatest tyrant of all time. His adherents will be marked with his sign." What is the sign of God's people? What did He use as a sign? Use the Sabbath, didn't He? The Sabbath day of the week. That was His sign. So that's what he is going to say here is marking the Antichrist - is the Sabbath. We'll see that a little bit later on.

   "Devils shall be let loose from hell. The Jews will welcome him." End of quotation. Well now, He says he's going to have a fake resurrection and the demons are going to enter the bodies. We have to remember that these prophecies must be examined in the light of God's word, not in the light of tradition of the Catholic Church.

   So now let's go on from here and let's see some things about Hippolytus. And you might say, well, who is Hippolytus? Well, let me just mention a little bit about Hippolytus. And he wrote quite a number of prophecies way back around 170 A.D., somewhere like that, way back even a little bit after the time of the Apostle Paul, but some of these things were being put together then for men like him to write about.

   Hippolytus was one of the early church fathers, as I mentioned a while ago at around 170 A.D., on which the Catholic Church depends for inspiration and dogma. About the year 170 A.D., Satan inspired him to make several prophecies. Since that time, there have been scattered prophecies by many men and women in the Catholic Church on this subjects of great importance, even up to the last 120 or 130 years.

   Here's one of Hippolytus's prophecies. Now this is from the Anti-Nicene Fathers under the section Hippolytus, section 29. Hippolytus said, quote: "Believe not the enemy who is to come and be seen. Remember that the enemy who is to come and be seen. For he is an adversary and corruptor and son of perdition and deceives you, and for this reason he will kill you and smite them with the sword." Again from the Anti-Nicene Fathers by Hippolytus.

   Well, now let's see what Revelation 1 says, Revelation 1 says about Jesus Christ. Let's see if he's a little bit mixed up in what he has to say here. Chapter 1 of Revelation and let's notice in verse 7 (Revelation 1:7): "Behold, He" - speaking of Jesus Christ - "He cometh with clouds and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him, even so, amen." Picturing Jesus Christ coming that every eye shall see Him.

   I'll read Hippolytus's prophecy again just in a second. But let's go over again now then to Revelation 19 and pick up one other thing here in Revelation 19. In verse 15, Revelation 19:15: "And out of His mouth" - speaking of Jesus Christ's mouth, as we read here a while ago, of the one riding on the white horse, the one that was the Word of God - "And out of His mouth, that is the mouth of Jesus Christ, goeth a sharp sword that with it He shall smite the nations and He shall rule them with a rod of iron, and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."

   What did Hippolytus say? He said, "Believe not the enemy who is to come and be seen." Jesus Christ is the one that is to come and be seen. He's saying that this is the Antichrist. For he goes on and says, "For he is an adversary and corruptor and son of perdition and deceives you. And for this reason, he will kill you and smite them with the sword." God's word says that Jesus Christ is the one that's going to be smiting with a sword then, doesn't He? Definitely does.

   So I think we can see that Hippolytus is certainly pointing to Christ and calling Him Antichrist. And again, that's what those people will be taught. And they will believe what they've been taught because, after all, tradition - if it doesn't agree with scripture - is right and scripture is wrong. Remember, that's what they feel. That's what they say.

   Now then let's go on with another one of Hippolytus's prophecies. Now this is in section 33 of the Anti-Nicene Fathers under the Hippolytus section. Hippolytus said this, quote: "And that time, the whole earth will bewail. The life of anguish in the sea and the air in like manner will bewail it, and the sun too will wail, and the wild beasts together with the fowls will wail. Mountains and hills and the trees of the plain will wail on account of the race of men, because all have turned aside from the holy God and obeyed the deceiver and received the mark of that abominable one." Again, remember the mark of that abominable one is he's calling - you talk about abominable - these are abominable words. The enemy of God instead of the quickening cross of the savior.

   Notice what they say the savior will have for a sign - the cross. The one thing - that's not the only thing, you know, there's another thing that's a sign. God gave the Sabbath as a sign for His people. And remember the beast or the image of the beast will have the sign not only of the cross but also of Sunday worship. That's the signs it will have.

   Well now then let's go back and see what God says about this very same thing in Revelation 18. Being picking it up in Revelation 18 in verse 11. In other words, this shows Jesus Christ here and they show Antichrist.

   Revelation 18:11 says: "And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her" - speaking of Babylon when Babylon starts falling down, the Babylonish government - "for no man buyeth their merchandise anymore. The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all fine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves" - or as the margin says, bodies.

   There'll be bodies just like in World War II that were made into fertilizer. There'll be bodies that will be made into fertilizer again. You remember how bodies were burned, how they chipped the gold, and how they chipped even the teeth out and saved all of those things and then burned the bodies - in some cases, actually making fertilizer out of them. It'll happen again.

   "And horses and chariots and slaves or dead bodies and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and you shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things which were made rich by her shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing."

   But that shows when Jesus Christ is returning. Again, what does Hippolytus say though? Hippolytus says, "And at that time the whole earth will bewail. The life of anguish in the sea and the air in like manner will bewail, and the sun too will wail, and the wild beasts together with the fowls will wail. Mountains and hills and the trees of the plain will wail on account of the race of men because all have turned aside from the holy God and obeyed the deceiver and received the mark of that abominable one, the enemy of God, instead of the quickening cross of the Savior." They saw this when the Antichrist is coming and God shows that it's definitely when Christ returns. Very, very interesting then how it's absolutely 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

   All right, another one of Hippolytus's prophecies, quote: "And in the presence of all, he exhibits himself" - that is the Antichrist, it says - "as being taken up into heaven with trumpets and sounds and the mighty shouting of those who bewail him with indescribable hymns. The heir of darkness himself shining like light and at another descending to the earth with great glory and again charging the demons like angels to execute his behest with much fear and trembling, for he will show forth his demons brilliant like angels, and he will bring in hosts of the incorporeal" - that is angelic or not material beings but angelic or spirit beings - "without number," end of quotation. Again from the Anti-Nicene Fathers.

   So it's just interesting then what we see is pictured as the Antichrist, but now what does Christ say about this in His word? Let's turn back to I Thessalonians, the 4th chapter. I think this is some scriptures that most all of us are quite familiar with, which is showing the return of Jesus Christ.

   Verse 16, I Thessalonians 4 (I Thessalonians 4:16): "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first." You know that practically the same thing that Hippolytus was saying over here - almost the same, and he was showing that to be the Antichrist.

   "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

   Now then before I just reread Hippolytus's prophecy, let's turn back over to Daniel and see something over in Daniel too that goes right along with this. Daniel Chapter 12, and let's pick it up in verse 1 (Daniel 12:1-2): "And at that time" - that is the time of the end - "shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to the same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone that shall be found written in the book." And of course we show here our Hippolytus is showing then that at the time when all of this consternation is coming, when Jesus Christ is bringing it, he's showing here that it's the Antichrist that's bringing it.

   Verse 2: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt" - a resurrection - "and they that be wise" - or teachers - "shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." In other words, those that died knowing and understanding God's truth and keeping with God's truth and being faithful to it are those that are standing there alive at that particular time when Jesus Christ returns and are made spirit beings and rise up to meet Him in the air.

   That's what he's talking about here. And yet Hippolytus says that's the time that the Antichrist will be performing. Again, let me just read Hippolytus's prophecy again: "And in the presence of all, he" - that is Antichrist - "exhibits himself as taken up into heaven with trumpets." The seventh trumpet is what is going to be sounding at that time right there. "And sound and the mighty shouting of those who hail him with indescribable hymns." We'll hear a little bit more about those hymns a little bit later too. "The heir of darkness himself shining like light and in another descending to the earth with great glory and again charging the demons like angels to execute his behest with much fear and trembling, for he will show forth his demons brilliant like angels, and he will bring in hosts of the incorporeal without number," end of quotation.

   Now then, let's turn back over to I Corinthians 15th chapter. And let's read right here and put this together with what is actually going to be happening at that time. This is from God's word, not from Hippolytus. So Hippolytus is 180 degrees off from what God's word says.

   Picking it up in verse 50 then of chapter 15 of I Corinthians (I Corinthians 15:50): "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold," he says, "I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep" - but we shall not all be dead - "but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

   "For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality." Showing then the time when Christ returns, there are going to be those that are going to be spirit beings. The angels coming with Him at that time, but also the saints will be rising up to meet Him in the air - those that are in their graves that have died back over hundreds of years past, as well as those that are alive at that time and meet Him there on the Mount of Olives. Oh, when you put all these things together, you can see how wrong Hippolytus is and how wrong their doctrine is.

   "Indescribable hymns." Now, what are those indescribable hymns? Let's turn to Revelation 14. And we'll see what those are. Revelation 14 and who is singing them. Revelation 14, picking it up in verse 6. Well, let's go and pick it up in verse one. Let's go all the way through. Let's pick it up in verse 2 will be fine, (Revelation 14:2): "And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. And they sung as it were a new song, this is when the Lamb stood on the mountain of Zion, verse 1 brings out, before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders, and no man could learn that song but, who? the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth."

   So you see why it's indescribable or indescribable as Hippolytus says. Nobody could learn it except those particular ones that were right there. "These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins." These are they which followed the Lamb - in other words, they were not defiled with the churches of this world. "These are they which follow the Lamb" - that is Jesus Christ - "whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb." So God definitely shows then what these indescribable hymns are. Those that have been resurrected will be singing those very hymns.

   Now then, let's go on a little bit further with some of Hippolytus's prophecies. This is one, let’s see - here is his prophecy that he has written, quote: "Then that abominable one" - in other words, he's claiming that Jesus Christ is an abominable one, he's calling Him the Antichrist - "will send his commands throughout every government by the hand of one of what demons." Or angelic being is really what it's going to be because this is Jesus Christ sending these things up. "And the visible man who shall say, 'A mighty king has arisen upon the earth. Come you all to worship him, come you all to see the strength of his kingdom, for behold, he will give you corn and he will bestow upon you wine and great riches and lofty honors for the whole earth and sea obey his command. Come you all to him.'"

   So that's what he has to say then about Antichrist. Let me just go over that one more time. "Then that abominable one, that is the Antichrist as he is saying, will send his commands throughout every government by the hand at once of demons and of visible men who shall say, 'A mighty king has arisen upon the earth. Come you all to worship him, come you all to see the strength of his kingdom, for behold, he will give you corn, and he will bestow upon you wine and great riches and lofty honors for the whole earth and sea obey his command. Come you all to him.'"

   Well now let's see what Revelation 14 says about that though in verses 6 and 7 (Revelation 14:6-7): "And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach." What is the gospel? It's the knowledge or the understanding of the kingdom of God. The good news of God's coming kingdom, and remember God's coming kingdom has laws that must be obeyed. There will be subjects, people, there will be somebody that will rule over them. They'll have certain laws that they will be ruled by and also there will be a certain territory - four different major things that comes into the kingdom.

   So here's what God's word says again: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach" - in other words, about God's kingdom and the laws of God's word, the kingdom - "unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation." Notice this - not just to Israel but to every nation - "and kindred and tongue and people, saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment has come and worship Him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters.'"

   But again, what does Hippolytus say? He attributes those very same things unto what he calls the Antichrist. "Then that abominable one will send his commands throughout every government by the hand at once of demons." Who is it that's going to be taking that message out to the nation? Brethren, it's gonna be us. That's who's going to be doing it, not demons at all. We're the ones, we're going to be resurrected spirit beings taking the gospel to the other nations.

   "And the visible man who shall say a mighty king has arisen upon earth, come you all to worship him, come you all to see the strength of his kingdom, for behold, he will give you corn, and he will bestow upon you wine and great riches and lofty honors for the whole earth and seas obey his command. Come you all to him." And that's exactly what Jesus Christ is going to be doing, not the Antichrist.

   Again, can you begin to see then when people have this stuff pounded into their minds and that's what they understand is going to be the Antichrist - when Jesus Christ returns, they're not going to believe it's Jesus Christ. Brethren we just don't realize what's going to be on this earth in just a few short years. These things are going to be promulgated all over through this Babylonian religion. It certainly will be.

   Well, now then I want to go on back over now then to a prophecy in today's "Prophecy for Today." This is one on page 29. This is a prophecy by Anna Marie Taigi, T-A-I-G-I, who died in 1837. So that's a little over 100 years ago - what would that be about 140 years ago, roughly 142 years ago. So not too long back.

   Here's what she said in her prophecy: "Whole nations will join the church shortly before the reign of Antichrist." Now what church do you think that's talking about? "These conversions will be amazing. Those who shall survive shall have to conduct themselves well. There shall be innumerable conversions of heretics who will return to the bosom of the church."

   Let me go over that again: "Whole nations will join the church shortly before the reign of Antichrist. These conversions will be amazing. Those who shall survive shall have to conduct themselves well. I suppose they will because a lot of them are going to be in communist nations. There shall be innumerable conversions of heretics who will return to the bosom of the church."

   Well now, I just want to read one couple of little things here out of the article from Time Magazine about the Pope's visit over in Poland. One thing here that's interesting - now you know God's church, God's church is certainly a church that is becoming more and more interested in the children and we really should because God again is building a family. One thing I have noticed, I think it's very interesting, Satan is one that certainly does come along and use things very similar to what God does.

   You know, the Catholic Church for the past few years up until just recently has been having a lot of problems. A lot of problems, a lot of nuns and a lot of priests quit the Catholic Church. During the same time, they were having a lot of those problems, God's church was having problems very similar with the ministry and all. I think it's very interesting.

   The Pope recently has been wanting to get back authority in the church, the Catholic Church, because they were beginning to get away from it. God is working through Mr. Armstrong to get authority back in God's church. It's interesting how Satan wants to counterfeit what God does.

   Now then God's church is finding out more and more and Mr. Armstrong has said this for years that we were to do the work of Elijah and one of the things that Elijah was to do was to bring the hearts of the fathers and the sons back together again or the fathers and the children. We can see that happening here. Have you noticed that the new Pope is one that picks up the kids and he hugs them and he kisses them and boy they just really go for it? And you haven't seen that in those that we've had around over the years before.

   Here's something then about him and his trip over in Poland. Quoting from Time magazine: "An early Sunday morning mass that the Pope celebrated just before leaving Warsaw brought a convincing demonstration that Polish Catholicism has deep roots among the young. The congregation outside Saint Anne's Church consisted of youth tightly packed into the square and surrounding streets. Here as elsewhere people continually passed out from the heat - as high as 93 degrees - while the Pope addressed his 'children.' At last he said that he would bless any crosses that the young congregation had brought. Suddenly thousands of crucifixes of all shapes and sizes were thrust out of the crowd and waved aloft," said the pontiff, quote: "I hope you will be faithful to this sign always," end of quotation.

   "Not interesting. What sign? The sign of the cross. You're gonna see something a little bit later on in one of these other prophecies that brings that point out too.

   Now here is something of the Polish sayings of Pope Paul the... of John Paul II. This is on the future task of Christianity, and of course you know what they claim Christianity is. Christianity, he said, must commit itself anew to the formation of the spiritual unity of Europe. Economic and political reasons cannot do it. We must go deeper to ethical reasons. All the episcopates and churches in Europe have here a great task to perform, end ofquotation.

   In other words, he knows. And Mr. Armstrong has been saying for years and years, the only thing that will unite Europe... There's a great religious leader. And I think we see who that great religious leader is, we can see it coming all along. Now whether or not this Pope will be the last or not, we don't know, but I'll tell you he's different from any of the rest of them they've had in an awful long time. All you have to do is just see what, see what's going on and you notice that speaks in many different languages. He has an outgoing concern. It certainly appears to the people. He's warm. And he's loved by all of the people that have anything to, you know, anything to do with him. That's fantastic. And there's somebody that's using that very thing. For a purpose.

   All right, now here's another one of the prophecies from Hippolytis. Then, quote, "Will he send the cohorts of the demons and the mountains and caves and dens of the earth to track out those who have been concealed from his eyes and to bring them forward to worship him." End of quotation.

   Just let me read that once more: "Then will he, that is the Antichrist, send the cohorts of the demons among mountains and caves and dens of the earth to track out those who have been concealed from his eyes and to bring them forward to worship him," end of quotation.

   All right, let's go back to Revelation, the 6th chapter. And here in Revelation in the 6th chapter, let's pick it up in verse... verse 15 and verse 16 (Revelation 6:15-16): "And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks and the mountains." Now this is when the Day of the Lord is happening. And said to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that set us on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb."

   They don't realize though that this is God's wrath. They say it's God's wrath, but they think that it is, they think that it is the Antichrist or they will think it because that's what they've been taught. Again, what did Hippolytus say? "Then will he send the cohorts of the demons among the mountains and the caves and the dens and the earth to track out those who have been concealed from his eyes and to bring them forward to worship him," end of quotation.

   So, when Christ is sending us out to ferret those people out to teach them the truth of God, they're going to think that it's demons that are coming out there tracking them down. Because remember by that time we will have been resurrected and be spirit beings. So they're going to think that we are demons out there tracking down.

   Can you see what a rough job we have coming up? Can you see why we're going to need a lot of training between now and that time? Can you see why Mr. Armstrong is so interested in the church getting rid of the blemishes and all that it has to realize the job we have coming up?

   You know, that's one of the things that to me is wonderful. We're not gonna retire when we get into God's kingdom. I don't know, maybe some of you look for retirement. Frankly, I don't. I can't ever remember really looking for retirement and playing a harp around heaven all day, 7 days a week. But I'll tell you, I can really think of something when I'm gonna work there and I'm going to be able to enjoy it of teaching these people the truth which they've never had before. And that's why God has all of us coming along. So we can teach them the truth.

   Now I know a lot of people say, "Well, I don't want to be a teacher. I don't want to be a king. I don't want to be a priest." Well, I frankly didn't want to be one myself. I didn't want to be a minister. That was the least thing to my mind at all a few years back. Somebody said something about being a minister, I'd probably thumb my nose at him and said, "Oh, you're crazy as a loon." But you know, to be able to teach God's truth... In which way to go, that's tremendous, and that's what God is training every one of us for.

   And yet here we see that those people are going to be taught that that's the Antichrist. Do you see how we're going to have to have a lot of wisdom when we begin to work with those people? To be able to help them get rid of some of the things they have believed before. Some of us, I don't think have been steeped near as badly in things that some of them are going to be because they're going to see these things coming up and think that they are Antichrist when they actually are things that Christ himself is bringing. It's gonna be very, very difficult for them to understand that.

   Well, let's have another one here by Hippolitis: "And by reason of the scarcity of food, all will go to him and worship him and will put his mark on their right hand. Notice. And on their forehead that no one may put the sign of the honorable cross upon his forehead with his right hand, but his hand is bound," end of quotation. Notice, the sign of the honorable cross.

   Well, let's see what God says. God says back in Zechariah, the 14th chapter along these lines. A little different from what Hippolitis said. Zechariah 14. And let's pick it up in verse 16. And of course you know the first chapter of the first part of Zechariah 14:1 says, "Behold the day of the Lord cometh and thy spoils will be divided in the midst of thee, for I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle."

   Now that's when their battle, when they're gathered up there at Armageddon and then they will come down to Jerusalem for the battle. So it shows it is at the time that Jesus Christ returns. And let's notice in verse 16 (Zechariah 1416): "And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which come, which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles."

   So there's a time coming when all the nations are going to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and it shall be that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth onto Jerusalem to worship the king. The Lord of host even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up and come not and have no rain, there shall be, there shall be the plague. When they have no rain, they have no food, they're going to have a plague because they're going to, their bodies are going to not have the food and all to keep them healthy.

   "Wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." So God is the one that's going to be doing the smiting because they will not keep the Feast of Tabernacles. "This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles."

   So God here then is the one that's going to be doing this, not Antichrist. Now again what does Hippolitis say?, Hippolitis say? Quote, "And by reason of the scarcity of food, all will go to him and worship him. And will put his mark on their right hand." Now his mark again is the Sabbath. That's what the mark is. And that mark is God's mark, not, not the mark of the Antichrist, "and on their foreheads that no one may put the sign of the honorable cross upon his forehead with his right hand, but his hand is bound."

   So again, he attributes that to Antichrist, but God says it's Christ returning. Well, here's one more of Hippolitis's prophecies. Quote, "The public service of God, in other words, what they call the public service of God would be the Catholic services, shall be extinguished. At that time, silver and gold shall be cast out in the streets, and none shall gather them, but all things shall be an offense," end of quotation.

   Yes, it's going to seem like an offense as far as they're concerned, but now what does God say? Again, let's go back to Isaiah the 2nd chapter. And here in Isaiah in the 2nd chapter, let's pick it up in verse 19 and in verse 20 (Isaiah 2:19-20). Speaking of the time when God sends Jesus Christ back to rule this earth: "And they shall go into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth for fear of the Lord," not the fear of Antichrist. They will think it's Antichrist themselves, but it's not "for the fear of the Lord and for the glory of His Majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day, a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, but they made each one for himself to worship to the moles and to the bats."

   So that's when Jesus Christ returned, not when, not when, uh, not at all when the Antichrist does it all. That's not picturing him at all. So again, we find that, that Hippolitis is just way off, way, way off, and he attributes and of course there's no doubt about who was, who was inspiring Hippolitis too. The one that was inspiring him was certainly not Almighty God, but the one that was inspiring him was certainly the God of this world, Satan the devil.

   Now then, let's just notice one other thing here too in Jeremiah the 23rd chapter. Jeremiah 23. And picking it up in verse 5 (Jeremiah 23:5): "Behold the days come sayeth the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch," again speaking of Jesus Christ. "And a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness."

   "Therefore, behold the days come sayeth the Lord, that they shall no more say, 'The Lord liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.' But the Lord liveth which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country and from all countries where I had driven them and they shall dwell in their own land."

   So this is showing them the time that God is going to be ruling through Jesus Christ and also the time that we're going to be ruling with Jesus Christ as we're going to be sitting on thrones judging, judging the people on this earth and working with them. You go back into Jeremiah 31, I'm not gonna go through there, but verses 1 through 26 (Jeremiah 31:1-26), and that shows the establishment of God's government in Jerusalem. And it's going to be ruling from there and then just pick it up over here in Micah in the 4th chapter.

   Again, it shows the time that Christ returns and it's certainly going to be different from the Antichrist, but of course many people are going to believe that it's Antichrist again because they've been taught that. Picking it up in verse one (Micah 4:1): "But in the last days that shall come to pass at the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains. And it shall be exhausted above the hills, and people shall flow into it. Many nations shall come and say, 'Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways.'"

   We are the ones that are going to be doing the teaching for him. "And we will walk in his paths for the law shall go forth from Zion or forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." The kingdom of God is what's going to be taught, the laws of God, the Ten Commandments. "And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."

   No, they're certainly not going to war anymore at that time. It's going to be completely different from the times that we've had in the past. One translation brings out that they will shut down all military academies. And I think that's a pretty good one because that's where people learned war.

   Now then, from one more prophecy then out of "Prophecy for Today," this is one over on page 70 of "Prophecy for Today." This is a prophecy by Gnosis of Luxembourg, who died in 1682 or roughly about 300 years ago. Here's what his prophecy is:

   "Antichrist will be an iconoclast, that is one that tears down idols. Even against pagan images, most of the world will adore him. He will teach that the Christian religion is false." Now that means the Catholic religion is false, that's what it says. "Confiscation of Christian property is legal." In other words, the picking up of the Catholic property will be legal. In other words, going to the government of God.

   But of all things, notice what else he will do: "Saturday is to be observed instead of Sunday." That's what the Antichrist will do, "and he will change the Ten Commandments." Yes, he's going to change them. In other words, the one that brings out worshiping idols is going to be back right in them, just as it is in the word of God today, but not in that religious belief. "All his wonders could not be written in a book. They will be more wonderful than the Old and the New Testaments. He will read people's minds, raise the dead, reward his followers, and punish the rest." End of Prophecy.

   Let me read that one to you again, what Antichrist they say will be doing: "Antichrist will be an iconoclast even against pagan images. Most of the world will adore him. He will teach that the Christian religion is false, confiscation of Christian property is legal. Saturday is to be observed instead of Sunday, and he will change the Ten Commandments. All his wonders could not be written in a book. They will be more wonderful than the Old and the New Testament. He will read people's minds, raise the dead, reward his followers, and punish the rest," end of quotation.

   It seems almost impossible that anybody could write such a thing as that, doesn't it? And yet, Satan the devil is the one that has sponsored all of these things. And Satan the devil just hates God and God's way of life. And he's fooling all the nations. And look at how he's doing it through religion is one of the chief ways he's doing it. What a shame.

   Let's turn back over in Isaiah in the 19th chapter and one other thing that's very, very interesting, and what God is going to be doing. Isaiah chapter 19. Picking it up in verse 16 (Isaiah 19:16): "In that day," speaking of the very last days, "shall Egypt be like unto women, and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hands of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it. The land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt. Everyone that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he has determined against it."

   "And that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak. You ever notice? The least number of cities that God is going to allow his people to work, to sit and judge over? The least he says will be king of five cities if we're in his kingdom. Isn't that interesting? Something else you might just think of along those lines. Thinking about maybe how much more time we have, I kind of wonder. I just got thinking here recently. The least that God offers us is 5 cities to rule over. You know, if we're faithful, the person that had only one talent, you know, and the talents he offers the talent, the person that only had one talent and put it in a bushel, you know, he had to give it to somebody else. He didn't receive anything. The one that had to received 5 cities if he was faithful with those, and that's the least you find of anybody ruling over that's gonna be in the kingdom of God.

   How many are going to come out of the tribulations? Do you ever stop and think about it? 144,000 of Israelites, aren't there? With a great multitude. Now you multiply the 144,000 by 5, 5 cities to rule over and you know that brings you up to around 750,000 cities that you'd be ruling over. Think of the great multitude, and you know those that come out of the tribulations are not the ones that are in the Philadelphia area of God's church. So they're somewhere else. So you take 5, 750,000, roughly 750,000 cities or kings to be ruling over cities. And each one being able to rule over 5, I'll tell you. You may not have to have too many. It'll be in that first resurrection. Do you ever stop and think about it? Is it possible that not too many more will have to be converted? I kind of wonder. I never thought about that till here recently, but it's something to think about. Yes, in that day shall 5 cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan and swear up to the Lord of hosts. One shall be called the city of destruction. In that day shall there be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord."

   You know, one thing that the Sadat wanted to do was to build three different churches on Mount Sinai. He wanted to build one that would be a Christian church for all quote unquote Christians, one that would be a church for the Jews, and one that would be a church for the Arabs or the Muslims. I have that in the Jerusalem Post that he started that or wanted that and got it all started on drawing boards immediately after he decided to go to Jerusalem back over a year ago. So it's interesting and they all recognize, you know, that they go back to Abraham.

   Verse 20: "And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt, for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors. And he shall send them a savior." Jesus Christ is that savior that's going to be sent. "And a great one, and he shall deliver them, and the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day and shall do sacrifice and oblation. Yea, they shall vow unto the Lord and perform it."

   "And the Lord shall smite Egypt. He shall smite and heal him. So you see, it will be going both ways. And they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall entreat of them and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians shall come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians."

   You know, isn't it interesting here, God shows that Egypt and Israel and Assyria will be working together. And you know who is the rod of God that he's going to be using in his last days, you know, and Isaiah in the 10th chapter brings out the rod will be Assyria. There are certainly strong indications that the great beast power will be from the Assyrians of our modern day Assyrians. I think it's very interesting when we put these things together.

   Verse 24: "In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land. And the Lord of hosts shall bless saying, 'Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands,'" You know, it's gonna take a lot of the work of God's hands to bring the Assyrians around. “And Israel mine inheritance.”

   Yes, that time is coming. It's gonna be so different, so very different from what we find in the prophecy, "Prophecy for Today" and what Hippolitis has to say. Brethren God has called us and he's called us for a training period now and he's training us. So that we can be of his firstfruit. So we can be those that are going to be resurrected and working with Jesus Christ and ruling and teaching this world.

   And again, when you see what prophecies they're going to have preached to them, it's going to be a real job brethren. It's gonna take a lot of, a lot of understanding and a lot of wisdom, and I'll tell you it's going to take a lot of patience to be able to work with people that have been taught that when we come to them that we're Antichrist or part of Antichrist's forces rather than the forces of God.

   And you see how we're going to really have to be close to God. In fact, by that time, we will be God. What a fantastic calling God has given for us. Aren't you glad that you're not being taught what the world is being taught? And I'll tell you in the next few years, we're going to be taught that more thoroughly than they've been taught it in the past few years too.