The Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah when He appeared over 1900 years ago. They called Him a blasphemer. The Romans crucified Him. Today the most COLOSSAL LIE of all time is being spawned to counterfeit the identity of the returning Christ. This challenging article unmasks the deception.
THE MOST sinister, diabolical LIE ever foisted on a confused world is now being spread. This cunning master-lie makes Jesus Christ appear to be the ARCHENEMY of the world! It falsely labels Jesus as the "ANTICHRIST." It cunningly makes the Antichrist appear to be Christ! It's time you knew the shocking truth about this monstrous hoax! And what it has to do with "Christian Unity" and the coming revival of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe.
Plot to Unite Church and State
For over 30 years, Mr. Armstrong has been warning the nations via The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast and The PLAIN TRUTH magazine of the prophesied end-time revival of the "Holy Roman Empire." It is a union of Church and State, of economics and science, that will stamp out true Christianity — that will exalt a mortal man to the office of Christ. It will deceive the world into believing that the Christ of your Bible — who is coming again to destroy this diabolical system — is "the Antichrist." In the Bible, God cloaks this coming European religio-political empire in mysterious symbolism. It is called in your Bible "Babylon the Great." Notice God's prophecy. "And I saw a WOMAN [the symbol of a Church (II Cor. 11:2)] sit upon a scarlet colored beast [the symbol of a political government], full of names of blasphemy... and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Rev. 17:3, 5). God labels her (verse 1) what she is — "the great whore that sitteth upon many waters" — a symbol of "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues" over which she rules spiritually (Rev. 17:15). In verse 2, she is described as having committed spiritual "fornication" with "the kings of the earth"! That is, alliances, concordats with the nations of this world, instead of waiting for the returning Christ to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. She is also described as "that great CITY which reigneth over the kings of the earth" (verse 18). A woman is God's symbol for a church. Here is a fallen woman — an apostate church — ruling over many nations! A great false church riding, dominating, the "Beast" — the Roman Empire which is soon to arise for the last time! Those who know history and understand Bible prophecy know what power ruled over the civil government of the "Holy" Roman Empire during the Middle Ages! This great counterfeit religion — instead of becoming "engaged" to the true Christ, and keeping herself true to Him as coming World Ruler — formed illicit unions with the governments of this world. She entered into world politics! She sought to dominate this world's governments! Thus she committed spiritual "fornication" — illicit union prior to marriage. God portrays this church as having a "lamb-like" — Christ-like — appearance. It appears as if it were God's Church, but actually speaks as a "dragon" — the DEVIL! (Rev. 13:11; 12:9) History tells us this power patterned its ecclesiastical government after the "BEAST" — the Roman civil government. Although palmed off as the government of God, this church government is in reality only an "image," or copy, of a satanic, human government — NOT the government of God! She has always used religion as her means of gaining political control over society — first through education and finally by government and economics. Her basic policy is to establish her order — her rule — over the world. Revelation 17 reveals her goal is to become universal — the one and ONLY church — ruling the whole world POLITICALLY!
Religion to Unify Europe
No military or political leader could unite Europe. Only religion can do it! Only some great religious leader can be the supreme authority acceptable to all! The prophecy in Revelation 17 shows that all seven successive revivals of the "Holy" Roman Empire would be dominated by a great fallen church. And history tells us that a succession of great religious rulers did dominate every one of the former six revivals of the "Holy Roman Empire"! Ten European nations are finally to unite in the last restoration of the Roman Empire. They are symbolized in Revelation 17 as "ten horns" (verse 7). Leading them will be a great miracle-working religious leader. This union will, by common consent, give its united strength into the hands of the political and military leader — the "Beast," a "Hitler" — who will be approved by this great religious leader! (Rev. 17:12-13) When the religious leader — the "man of sin" — gives the word, every devoted follower will OBEY his orders! He will step into the picture with his miracles as the supreme unifying authority — the final arbiter — the only one who can finally unite the differing, squabbling nations of Europe and bring "peace" to the world. All Europe will become fanatically religious! The remaining "wayward daughter" churches of the great "Mother" church will be forced back into the fold. Only ONE RELIGION will be the accepted form of worship! The great "fallen woman" will have mounted the resurrected "Beast" — the Roman Empire! (Rev. 17:3, 5)
"ANTICHRIST" Revealed!
The apostle Paul warns us of this "man of sin" in II Thessalonians 2:1-12 — a mere human who will exalt himself above all — even above God! Listen to Paul's grim warning: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the day of Christ's return — verses 1-2] shall not come, except there come a falling away first [a rebellion against God's government], and that MAN OF SIN be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God... whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming" (verses 3-5, 8). Did you grasp the full impact of this amazing prophecy? Paul said there would rise up in our day — just immediately before the return of Jesus Christ — a great miracle-working religious ruler with the audacity to claim he is God on earth!
To Perform Satanic Miracles
This "man of sin" will use his miracle-working power as a supposed "proof" that he is God! The apostle Paul warned: "... Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and LYING wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish [are perishing]; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (II Thess. 2:9-10). Here is pictured, in prophecy, the head of a vast ecclesiastical empire. Through Satan's power, he will perform false miracles and lying wonders to deliberately deceive the world into believing he is GOD on earth and that the returning Christ is the Antichrist! This "man of sin" will even call down fire from the sky! "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And DECEIVETH them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do..." (Rev. 13:13-14) Millions will be swept off their feet by his mighty signs. They will worship him "as [very] God" because of these spectacular, attention-getting, satanic miracles! Have you the wit to see exactly who the apostle Paul is referring to as this "man of sin"?
The COLOSSAL LIE!
God Almighty also calls the man of sin a great "false prophet" (Rev. 19:20). Notice the profound effect his false "prophetic utterances" will have on the Christian-professing world: When Jesus Christ returns to punish the world for its sins and to stamp out war and bring peace at last, will the world accept Him as the Messiah? Not at all! They will refuse to heed — "and they repented not" (Rev. 16:9). They will
Jerusalem, Palestine, viewed from the Mount of Olives. In this city-holy to Christians, Jews and Muslims - the man of sin will sit in the Temple of God, yet to be built, and proclaim himself God.
instead run from Christ — even calling for the rocks to fall on them, hiding in caves — FLEEING from the face of God Almighty! (Revelation 6:15-16) But why? Because that "false prophet" will have deceived them into believing the biggest lie ever told! Into their ears, he will have poured the insidious, diabolical lie that the returning King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, IS the ANTICHRIST — that He is the Devil incarnate! And the world will believe him because God will have sent them "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie"! (II Thess. 2:11)
What the False Prophet Will Claim
Already the clever deception is being spread. Notice this false prophecy revealed well over a century ago: "Antichrist will fight a successful battle at Mageddo (Armageddon) in Palestine after which... he will thereafter become lord of the world" (Prophecy for Today, p. 71). Your Bible states that through Satanic influence, the False Prophet and the Beast will muster the armies of the nations to FIGHT the returning Jesus Christ (Rev. 16:13-14, 16; 17:13-14). They will be convinced He is the Antichrist, the enemy of the world! Bible prophecy reveals Jesus Christ will be victorious when He returns — not the Antichrist: "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... "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: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS"! (Rev. 19:11-16) "The Kings will send armies to the Holy Land," continues the false prophecy, "but the Antichrist will slay them all"! (ibid. page 69) Revelation 19:19-21 shows this is exactly what the returning Christ — not
The plain of Esdraelon, which sprawls out before Megiddo, in Palestine. It is here that the Beast will assemble a vast army to fight the returning Christ, who will destroy that army and stop the Beast's fiendish oppression.
the Antichrist — will do! He will cause their flesh to "consume away while they stand upon their feet..." (Zech. 14:12). But to continue with these diabolical false prophecies: "Antichrist and his army will conquer Rome, kill the Pope and take the throne... the Jews will come from everywhere, and accept Antichrist as the Messiah" (ibid. p. 68). Your Bible reveals Jesus Christ is to destroy the Beast and the False Prophet by casting them into the lake of fire! (Rev. 19:20) The Jews will then acknowledge, for the first time, that the returning Jesus is indeed their Messiah. Notice it in Zech. 12:9-10. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son..." (Zech. 12:9-10).
More Satanic Deceptions
Continuing the false doctrine which the False Prophet will proclaim: "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 on his followers. He shall feign a resurrection from the dead, cause rain to fall... perform other wonders, all through the power of the devil... The Jews will welcome him" (Prophecy for Today, p. 66). Now read your Bible! After the fall of Rome (see Rev. 18), it is Christ who will stamp out the pagan religions and false Christianity. He will descend to the Mount of Olives, "which is before Jerusalem on the east" (Zech. 14:4). Then He will make His HOLY SPIRIT available to all human beings (Joel 2:28, 32). It will be the time of the first resurrection. The dead in Christ will rise from their graves! (I Cor. 15:50-55) Yet all these plain scriptures are made to appear as though they were the work of the Antichrist instead of Christ. The Holy Spirit is diabolically labeled "an evil spirit" that "will come out of the air and descend on his followers." That is BLASPHEMY against the Holy Spirit! That is the UNFORGIVABLE SIN — for the False Prophet knows better! The False Prophet will claim: "And in the presence of all he [the Christ, who is falsely labeled the Antichrist in this diabolical prophecy] exhibits himself as taken up into heaven with trumpets and sounds, and the mighty shouting of those who hail him with indescribable hymns; the heir of darkness himself shining like light, and at one time soaring to the heavens, and at another descending to the earth with great glory, and again charging the demons, like angels, to execute his behests 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" (Ante-Nicene Fathers, "Hippolytus," p. 250, Section XXIX). But your Bible — the inspired Word of God says: "Behold, he [Jesus Christ] cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him... and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him" (Rev. 1:7). "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a SHOUT, and the dead in Christ shall RISE first: and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the AIR"! (I Thess. 4:16-17. See also I Cor. 15:50-53) Jesus will travel around the world with the speed of lightning, gathering the resurrected saints into the clouds. The real antichrist — the man of sin — falsely labels the saints of God "demons brilliant like angels"! The Prophet Daniel was inspired by God to tell us that the resurrected and changed saints "shall shine as the BRIGHTNESS of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness [will shine in the resurrection] as the STARS forever and ever"! (Dan. 12:3) And as for the "indescribable hymns" — "And they sung as it were a new song before the throne... and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth... the FIRSTFRUITS unto God and to the Lamb"! (Rev. 14:3-4) The false prophecy continues: "Then that abominable one [meaning Jesus Christ — what blasphemy against God Almighty!] 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 ye all to worship him; come ye 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 obeys His command. Come ye all to him — (ibid. p. 249, section XXVIII). But Revelation 14:6-7 says: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and 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 is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountain of waters." Soon, even other Devilish false prophecies, recorded over many centuries, will be read from pulpits into the ears of gullible people. The False Prophet will place his so-called "divine" approval on them. The people will believe these false prophecies — the only teaching they have ever learned. They don't know what the Bible really says, because they have been taught not to study the Bible. They will be absolutely convinced that the returning, glorified Christ is the Antichrist! And that the man of sin is Christ in the flesh! We are beginning to see this happening before our very eyes! The call for "church unity" is just the beginning. The WHOLE WORLD is being deceived by it!
Don't YOU Be Deceived!
Satan knows the prophecies of God. He trembles at God's Word (Jas. 2:19) because he knows it will come to pass! He hates God's Kingdom — and His Law! No wonder he has influenced his followers to prophesy this satanic deception: "Antichrist [by which the victorious Christ is meant] will be an iconoclast [an idol breaker]. Most of the world will adore him. He will teach that the Christian religion [today's counterfeit Christianity] is false, confiscation of Christian property is legal, Saturday is to be observed instead of Sunday, and he will change the Ten Commandments [that is, restore them to their original form, including the often-deleted second commandment against idols]. "All his wonders could not be written in a book. They will be more wonderful than the Old and New Testaments!... He will read people's minds, raise the dead, reward His followers and punish the rest"! (Prophecy for Today, p. 70) Your Bible says Christ is the One who will destroy idols! Jesus Christ is the One who will reveal how perverted this world's pagan practices — labeled, falsely, "Christianity" — have become. Christ is, moreover, the LORD of the Old Testament. At creation He instituted worship On the SEVENTH DAY, not Sunday! Jesus Christ spoke the Ten Commandments. He will restore them to their original form, not as they have been misnumbered in so many catechisms. And Christ is the One who will RAISE the dead and REWARD His followers! Now you see in full the diabolical plot being hatched by Satan the devil. Here you see laid bare a few of the deceptive prophecies Satan will inspire the end-time false prophet to preach! It is simply Satan's age-old attempt to assume to himself the office of God, while he assigns the intervention of the TRUE glorified Christ to the Antichrist! Thank God YOU don't have to be deceived!
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