The Road Hog

The Road Hog

By Phil Winfield

Bible Text: 2 Thessalonians 2

Preached on: Sunday, April 25, 2004

Grace Church of Des Moines, IA

4200 E. 25th StreetDes Moines, IA 50317

Website:  http://www.gracehome.com

Online Sermons: http://gracehome.sermonaudio.com

Now everybody needs to put on your mental running shoes with me tonight. I am running out of weeks to get this study in and so I was going to take...  You know this morning how I was so kind to you to only give you half of that sermon.  Well, tonight I am not going to be so kind. I am going to give you two weeks in one and I am going to talk to you about this road hog. I could probably talk about it for about three weeks. But I tell you what.  We are going to get right into it.Take your Bibles if you would, please, and look to John chapter five. And also take your Bibles and turn to 1 Thessalonians if you would please, 1 Thessalonians.  So first of all go to John chapter five and verse number 43 and I want to read you a verse there, John chapter five and verse number 43. And then a little bit later we are going to get over to that 1 Thessalonians passage, several of the passages that you will want to write down.Now we are talking about the road ahead, what is coming, what is it that is on the road ahead for this world, for the history of humanity?  What is on the road ahead for the Lord Jesus Christ? What is on the road ahead for this church, for all churches and for the children of God?  What is coming? What is it that is the next thing on God’s calendar?Well, we have talked about several things.  We have talked about sign posts on the road and then we talked about vanishing from the road. That was two weeks we talked about the rapture.  I want to talk to you about a very interesting figure tonight, the road hog.John chapter five and verse 43 Jesus is speaking and says, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.” A very curious verse in the Bible.  Underline that.  It says, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”Of course, he is speaking to some Jews and Israeli leaders there and some of them were intimidated by his style and his power and his fame and they just didn’t like what was happening there and he says, “I have come in my Father’s name and you don’t receive me. Now if somebody else comes and comes in their own name, you are going to receive them.”I never looked at this as a prophetic verse until I really got to studying this, but you are going to find out what it has to say.  We are going to talk about the road hog.Now I have a brother. His name is Don.  He has been here several times and he is a riot. This guy can take the normal routine of life and make it hilarious more than anybody. Everything is funny to him and he can turn everything into a joke. He has a way of referring to truck drivers. Now how many truck drivers do we have here tonight?  I don’t want to offend you.  God bless you truck drivers, wonderful people. And don’t let me offend you, but there are some funny things my brother has to say about road dogs.  Not road hogs.  He calls them road dogs. And he said that it is his version of road hogs and he is talking about truck drivers and trucks and all those kinds of things.Now you have got to realize my brother is the ultimate southerner, you know, big buckle and all. You know, he is really... He is the real deal. And here is what he said. He said, “You have got to admit that if you get into one of the convoys between two or more trucks you kind of feel like the cheese on a griddled cheese sandwich, you know, just the grease spot in the middle.” And he said, “That’s the way you feel.” And he calls truck drivers and the trucking industry, he has some names. He calls truck drivers these things. He says, “There are big dogs on the road.” That is just a big rig. And then there are short dogs on the road. That’s something smaller than an 18 wheeler. And then there are double dogs on the road. Those are tandem rigs. And then there is the triple dog. That is a triple rig. Flat dogs, that’s a flat bed truck.  Bad dogs, those are truckers with an attitude. There are mad dogs, truckers gone crazy and ignoring all of the traffic. Poster dogs, those are truckers advertising something. Dirty dogs, those are truckers hauling beer and liquor. And then chili dogs. Those are refrigerator trucks.He’s got a lot more names. I don’t know what all you call them, but he’s got...  What’s that?  I thought I heard somebody else with another dog.  But anyway, I can’t remember all of them. But he is hilarious.  He talks about them and everybody knows what a...  Why he just calls them road dogs, but everybody knows what a road hog is. He hogs the road and he hogs the show.  On the road ahead there is a road hog in view and I want to talk about him.  And we are looking ahead down the road of human history and as we go down that way we are going to find out that there are those who want to hog the road, hog the show, be the number one, want to dominate and rule on life’s road.In the secular realm there have always been these people. How about some notorious ones. The first one, Alexander the Great.  There were no more fields to conquer for him at 30 so a bug took him and he died of malaria.  Napoleon would have ruled the world, too, but he was stopped at Waterloo. Hitler and the Third Reich, an Arian nation, he said, would rule the world, but it ended in a bunker in Berlin toward the end of the war.From the pages of Scripture there have always been these ones that we can point to: Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.  He built a tower, wanted to make a name and a language for himself. God stopped it. Nebuchadnezzar thought that he ruled by his own power.  He did rule what world there was known at that time and God made him a beast for seven years and curtailed all of his glory and brought him back down to earth.There was another fellow Antiochus Epiphanes. He is the true forerunner of the road hog we are going to talk about today and he desecrated the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem in 167 BC. On a wing of the temple he offered an actual pig on the altar.Now the world tonight is being ruled by a road hog and that is evident.  And the Bible tells us that Satan is, indeed, the prince of the power of the air. He is the prince of this world. He is the ruler of this world. He is in charge of a lot of the culture.Now that doesn’t mean he is the ultimate sovereign. No, God curtails him, cuts him back and does what he wants to with him, but he has been given a measure of rule in the world and certainly the culture that is around us is the realm of rule of the road hog, or I will call him Satan tonight, the ultimate road hog.Now how many of you recognize that Satan really is having his way in the culture of our world? Raise your hand. Be honest with you. Be honest with me.  Yes he is. He is having his way.  And he is getting things done his way today.Now the Lord referred to him as the prince of this world and the Bible predicts that Satan himself will send to the road of human history one who will be the king of the road. He has many names. If you want to jot these down I will say them slow. He has many names in the Bible. In Daniel he is called the little horn. Now you can...  Some people call him the little big horn, little big horn with a big mouth, but he is the little horn and he is also called a prince that will come.In the book of Revelation he is called the rider on a white horse. You find in him chapter six of the book of Revelation and then many places thereafter.The most familiar name given in Scripture would be given to us by the apostle John and he calls him the antichrist. And so if you want to know who I am talking about tonight, the road hog, the one who is going to hog the show, bring all the pictures on him, get CNN and Fox News and everybody else talking about him, it is going to be this one that is called the antichrist.  John gave him to us in his epistle, told us who he was and gave him that name and it is the most common name by which he is called in Christianity today.Now where did he come up with that name? Well, he just put a prefix in front of the name Christ.  And that word is anti-.  And when you do that, especially in the Latin or in the Greek language it doesn’t mean just the opposite of, it means to oppose or to be instead of. Very important meaning.When you read in the New Testament about the antichrist or I’ll call him the road hog tonight, when you read about him, you are reading about one who is going to oppose Christ and even more importantly is going to try to be instead of Christ.Now one of these days the Lord Jesus is going to come back.  He came the first time and the majority of the world rejected him. The Bible says that he came unto his own and his own received him not. Well, guess what?  That... Those that did not receive the truth when he came did receive a lie. And, you know, it is always that way. It is either truth or error.  There is no middle ground.Now I was here last night at the Child Evangelism Fellowship and I heard Senator Chuck Grassley speak last night and he was here at Child Evangelism Fellowship and he spoke marvellously. In fact, I wish that had been taped. I could have played it tonight. It was tremendous what he said. One of the major points that he made was, “No matter what I am doing in Washington or what I do politically, it does not compare to what you might do with children and with the next generation because somebody somewhere along the line needs to tell the next generation that there are absolutes, that there is such a thing as right and there is such a thing as wrong and there is no middle ground.”Now one of your US Senators said that last night and I was very, very grateful to hear that there are people in the politics that believe those kinds of things.Now I want you to know that this text of Scripture tells us—if you will look at John 5:43 again—it says, “I have come,” Jesus speaking, “in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”If a person doesn’t receive Jesus, the truth, then they are going to receive a lie. But in the future, in the day of the road hog, you are not just going to receive a lie, you are going to receive the personification of a lie. You are going to receive the antichrist.  You are going to receive the opposer of Christ. You are going to receive the substitute, the instead of for Christ .And that is what that passage of Scripture is talking about there.  And that person, that future king of the road is the antichrist.Let’s talk about him. In the Bible we see that in 2 Thessalonians chapter two I told you, 1 Thessalonians. Flip over to 2 Thessalonians chapter two and verse number three.  Let me check and make sure I didn’t write that down wrong.  2 Thessalonians chapter number two. Did they cut that out of my Bible?  No. Here it is. 2 Thessalonians chapter two. Yes.  2 Thessalonians chapter two and verse three.  Let me read this to you, speaking about this road hog.  “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.”Now we are going to talk about the road hog’s résumé for a moment.  We will talk about, well, what are his credentials? And there is a prediction of two things here. There is going to be a falling away before he appears. That is the word that we get for the word “apostasy.” There is going to be a great apostasy, a great turning away from the truth, a great wholesale desire to go after that which is not the truth, but is a lie. There is going to be an apostasy and then there is something else in those verses. It says that there is going to be a revealing or an unfolding of this—quote, unquote—man of sin.  And I take that to mean—knowing then that that day will not occur. We talked about this the other night. The rapture will not occur until these things happen or at the timing of the rapture there is going to be a great apostasy and then there is going to be the revelation of this heinous figure that is going to come on the world scene.And people have, for years, tried to suggest candidates for this person. They have said, “Well, Julius Caesar in the days of Christ in the first century.  Julius Caesar, why he is definitely, he is definitely the one. He is the antichrist.”Others said Nero. Others said Stalin and Hitler. We have heard all kinds of people suggested. I even heard Henry Kissinger mentioned as the possible person who could be the antichrist.Listen to 1 John chapter two and verse 18. You should be writing these references down. I don’t give you...  You just bring a blank sheet of paper and you write things down on Sunday night. We don’t give you everything on a silver platter. We have got to work a little.1 John chapter two verse 18 says, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists [plural] have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”Notice this. There are many antichrists who have come.  What does that mean? There are many opposers and there are many substitutes. They have already come into the world. Listen to verse 22 of that same chapter, chapter two of 1 John.  “Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.”And then in 1 John four and verse two write that reference down., 1 John four and verse two.This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. [Now listen.]  This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.Key phrase.  If they deny that Jesus is come, the Messiah, the anointed one, if they deny it they are the spirit of antichrist.I have got in my hand something that I found at Bibleplaces.com.  Speaking about the Dome of the Rock. I was going to mention this later in this sermon, but let me just mention it to you right now.You know, a lot of people, a lot of good people have it in mind that there are many ways to heave and, why, you can just get there just, you know, it is kind of like going to Rome. There are many ways to Rome. Grab a way and when you get there you will all end up at the same place, many ways to heaven just, you know, believe strongly, have faith in your religion. Everything will be ok.Well, Islam is one of those things that is very much on our mind right now. Let me read you a little something right here. This is written...  The founding...  The foundational inscription inside what is known as the mosque of Omar which is really wrong, it is the Dome of the Rock. The mosque of Omar was torn down. It is another edifice, but many have mistakenly called the Dome of the Rock, which is a mosque that sits on the temple site that one day will be built by the way. Inside of there this is what it says. If you are wondering about Islam here is what it says.  Inside the building it says in Arabic, “Oh, you people of the book, overstep not bounds in your religion and of God speak only the truth.”So, so far so good.“The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary is only an apostle of God and his Word which he conveyed unto Mary and his Spirit proceeding from him. Believe, therefore, in God and his apostles and say not,” listen to this, “say not three. It will be better for you.  God is only one.  Be it far from his glory that he should ever have a Son.”So what is it that they are denying?  Exactly what 1 John chapter two, 1 John chapter four said that the antichrist, the instead of Christ, the opposer to Christ, the substitute Christ, exactly what he said that they would say, that God did not have a son, that the Messiah has not come in the flesh and that is the spirit of antichrist.Listen.  That was on the scene immediately in the first century. I mean they were talking about this immediately. There has always been that spirit of antichrist.  So the spirit of antichrist is here and working.  And the little subjects of the antichrist—I won’t go into it—but the [?] of the world and all of the different mystic religions and even some religions that purport to be Christian are doing everything they can to replace the truth with error and they are the little subjects of the antichrist.But I am here tonight to tell you that the Bible says that there is going to be a future personality, a singular individual called the antichrist who is coming. And he has some cruel credentials. Listen to them.  Notice three descriptions given back there in chapter two of 2 Thessalonians. In verse three he is called the man of lawlessness. The King James Version has called him the man of sin.What we have here is that the sin of man is going to result in the man of sin.  The sin of man, the continual, habitual breaking of God’s law is going to get us ready for the man of sin and he will be a person, he will be a man that is sin personified. He will be controlled and dominated, characterized by and his whole life is going to be one big ball of sin.Secondly, in verse three he is called the man doomed to destruction. That means that in his own personality are the seeds of his own destruction, his arrogance, his pride, his know it all attitude.  It is all the seeds of his destruction are right there, of course, sin being the primary seed.  Sin when it is finished brings forth death and the soul that sinneth it shall die. He was doomed to destruction from the beginning.The third characteristic, the third credential is that he is the lawless one. He knows no law. Rebellion is his middle name.Now we can see the rise of lawlessness in our society.  We can see that what has been called personal liberty has involved into lawlessness. And I am going to make some statements right now that you may not like.  But I am going to share with you what unbridled, unlimited individual freedom can become.Watch this.  The personal liberty has evolved into lawlessness.Folks, democracy has its limits. The Judeo Christian ethic that we all enjoy was sown in the seed bed or, excuse me, the Judeo Christian ethic was the seed bed in which democracy was planted in our country. The whole idea of Judeo Christian ethic says something like this. “I hope that you do well and you hope that I do well.  I hope that you have a happy and wonderful and fruitful life and you hope that I have a happy and fruitful and wonderful life.” If nothing else, we wish the best for our neighbor.Well, that is the Judeo Christian ethic. But here is what has happened. We are living in a world that wants democracy, but they don’t also... They do not also want Christianity that is the seed bed that can make a democracy or make a rule by people really worthwhile.Now watch this. As Christianity goes by the wayside, personal freedom becomes irresponsible license.  We are working our way up to the place that the most lawless person we can find is going to be our champion. He is going to be the person we want. He doesn’t like laws. He doesn’t like rules. He doesn’t like regulations. He doesn’t want anybody, anywhere, any time telling him anything about what he should or shouldn’t do and so he is the lawless one. We are very quickly becoming a society—because of our extreme individual freedom—licensed to do what you will.  We are going to want the person that lets us do any and everything that we want to do. Abortion, for instance.You see, we are in a society that people want to be able to do what they want to do with their own body. Only problem is it isn’t their body, but we won’t get into that tonight.  It is somebody else’s body.But here is the point. We are in a society that... We want to be told, “Practice your homosexuality.  If you want to get married to the same sex, fine.  Do whatever you want to do and how dare anyone stand up and say how that you can pass rules and regulations for others.”You see, without personal character, without personal limits and without senses within your heart there will never be senses on the outside. There is no such thing as an organized society without chaos and anarchy, without senses, rules, regulations in the heart of man.The seed bed of democracy was the Judeo Christian ethic in this country. That Judeo Christian ethic is going out as Christianity fades. Are you listening?  We are getting to a place where the lawless one is going to be a world champion. They are going to want him because he is just going to say, “Do anything and everything you want. I am the champion of personal freedom.”Interesting, isn’t it?I want to stop and tell you something that our closed mouth Christianity is purchasing for us, anarchy in society. In addition to a generation that is going to go to hell in a hand basket, personal freedom always ends up in unbridled license to sin. It is not checked by the wholly Spirit.  The great restrainer in the world today of total anarchy is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.Let me tell you of one good reason to go and share Jesus Christ with other people, to restrain this wicked world if nothing else.  Tell people about Jesus.Now we are witnessing in our time anarchy in virtually every area of human society. I am picking on this point because it is so evident before us. The way is just like Elijah prepared the way of the Lord or that John the Baptist who was that Elijah if you will, just like John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord, listen, the way is being prepared for the anarchy. The way is being prepared for the anti, the opposer to Christ.  How?  It is being prepared by getting people to believe in, accept and vote for total personal freedom.We are witnessing anarchy in our society.  There is anarchy in the arts.  They can draw anything they want to.  They can desecrate anything they want to.  And they can do it and charge you tax money to do it with the Endowment for the Arts.   We are facing anarchy in music.The greatest antidote to a rebellious child is a godly parent.  And to think that in the musical area of this world it is just notes and beat and music and why we had Chubby Checker when we were young or we had Elvis.  Listen.  What they are doing and singing about today hasn’t got anything to do with what Elvis and some of those others were singing about.  Listen. They are singing about drugs and death and killing and hate and murder and they are singing about the devil and Satan. They are singing about everything.Anarchy.  Anarchy in our morals.  We have already talked about that.Anarchy in education. Elevating as something desirous to learn that would have been despicable.You just voted here in the state, voted in the state of Iowa concerning one that was bound and determined to get on the state board. They wanted to get on the state education board so that he could go out of his way to force children to read and study curriculum promoting the idea of homosexuality, same sex marriage, lesibianism. He was going to do that and that was his express purpose.  We voted it down, thank God, but only by two votes, two votes.I don’t mean that we... I know he had to get 60 something or 70 something percent and he wasn’t close, but what I am saying is that in this state, in the heartland of the United States of America, good old Iowa, farm land USA there were only two more votes that voted against it than voted for it.  Something is wrong with us.We are preparing the way for anarchy, preparing the way.Education. Literature. I don’t even need to say anything and all the things in the name of freedom of speech that are going on in our country. And then, of course, we are witnessing anarchy in religion, anarchy in the pulpit, anarchy where men stand up and women and its stand up in pulpit and just say, “Do anything you want to do. It is all all right.  We are just clay.  God doesn’t care. He understands.  We are all going to end up in heaven anyway. If it feels good, do it.”Well, you know, that is anarchy.  It is chaos and it is not from God. It is preparing the way for the antichrist.What about this guy? Well, he has a calling card.  What is it?  It is a number: 666.  You can call him Mr. 666.  We’ll look at that later. In the Bible numbers have meaning. The number seven is the number of completion or perfection. The number six is the number of human failure.  So 666 is the trinity of human failure.The antichrist is going to be the final culmination of what man is able to produce.The coming antichrist is going to be an amazing individual.  He is going to have a charismatic personality, a scintillating speaking ability like Hitler.Imagine Adolf Hitler and what a speaker he was. You never listened to any of that.  Man, you didn’t even have to know the language to see the power the man had when he was speaking and the world groveled at his feet. If Hitler would have had world wide coverage on CNN and Fox News this world may have been conquered without a shot fired, just listening to the man.Guess what?  The antichrist is going to have CNN, Fox News, email, internet and satellite coverage, coast to coast, around the world, 24 hours a day and he will with his speaking ability empowered by Satan be able to say what he will.He is going to have the cruel savagery of Nero, the lust for power of Napoleon and the insane wrath of Hitler. He’s got connections.  This road hog, he is connected.Who is he connected to?  Well, we are told something about his connections, where he gets his power, his connections.Verse nine says, “The coming of the lawless one...” This is 2 Thessalonians chapter two. It says, “9  The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders.”Satan is the power source for the antichrist. He gives him his authority, his ability.  Turn your Bible to Revelation chapter 13 if you would, please. I want to read a rather extensive chapter here in Revelation chapter 13, very, very important.  Revelation chapter 13 verse one...  Actually, verse two.  Verse one said, “And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.” The dragon being Satan himself.  “And I saw a beast coming out of the sea.” Or, that is, out of the great hordes of people of the earth.He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name.  The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.The dragon being Satan.One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.  Men worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshipped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"Verse five.  “The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.” Three and a half years.He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling-place and those who live in heaven.  He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.  All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.  He who has an ear, let him hear.  If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.Now I want you to notice something here in this passage of Scripture. We are going to read it a little, but I read there in verse nine of 2 Thessalonians. It says, that “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan.”  And what is the work of Satan?  How is it going to be displayed?  With all kinds of counterfeit miracles and signs and wonders.That being in mind look down at verse 11 of Revelation chapter 13.  “Then I saw another beast.”  Write in your Bible the words “false prophet” “...coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.”  I wonder where he learned to speak like a dragon.  “He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast.”  Look at the worship.  We see it over and over: worship, worship, worship. We are going to talk about that.  “...the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.  And he performed great and miraculous signs.”  Look at that.And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.  Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honour of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.  He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.  He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no-one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.  This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.I want you to notice back in that 2 Thessalonians two passage there in verse nine we read it. It talked about counterfeit miracle signs and wonders. And now we read in chapter 13 that this... that Satan is going to empower the beast and then also the second beast to do something very interesting. The same words are used and they are counterfeit miracle signs and wonders, that little trinity of words, signs, wonders, miracles. Those three words, excepting the word counterfeit are the very words that are used to refer to the miracles that Jesus Christ performed on this earth. He performed miracles, signs and wonders.  Jesus did sign wonders and miracles while he was on earth. The same three words are used to describe the ministry of the apostles.Do you know what they did?  They did—as confirmation of who they were, of their apostleship and of the message—they did signs, wonders and miracles. But this verse indicates to us that it is going to be possible for Satan to imitate the miracles of God.  And don’t assume, my dear family of friends, do not assume that just because people have the ability to do these kinds of things that automatically they are of God.Are you listening to your pastor tonight?  Do not assume.  One of the greatest tools that Satan, the beast and the false prophet are going to use in the future—and this world is getting ready...  I mean we are crazy over magic. We are absolutely nuts to watch people do these magic shows. Well, wait until it is no longer magic and it is truly miracles, signs and wonders, unexplainable.  And we are going to see that miracles are not a verification of God’s hand in the day and age in which we live. Be advised that power encounters, signs, wonders, miracles and the propagators of those are at odds with Jesus Christ.You say, “Now, pastor Phil, I know... Now just hold on a minute. I mean there are some...  There are some wonderful evangelists and there are some wonderful people out there.”I am not going to pass judgment over any individual. I am going to read you God’s Word. Here is what God’s Word has to say.Jesus predicted it in Matthew 24. “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.”Matthew 7:22.  “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’”Jesus then turns and says, plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”But they say, “Did we not preach in your name? Did we not do many miracles in your name?”And Jesus will say, “Depart from me. I never knew you.”This guy, this antichrist knows the propensity that humans have for the miraculous, the encounters with angels, out of body experiences, those things sound vaguely familiar to you.We are being prepared, the highway is being made ready for the antichrist to come. This world has an appetite for the supernatural, but they don’t want an appetite for a sovereign God who not only is supernatural, but also has requirements of them.  Oh, no. We want supernatural without any limitations.  Personal freedoms to the nth degree, do what I want to do when I want to do it without any consequences.  It is not the way that it works.This powerful, personal miracle now that the antichrist performed, one of the most powerful that you can ever imagine, in fact, the most powerful miracle that can ever be done.Revelation chapter 13 and verse three says, “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast.”  That verse seems to indicate that the antichrist is going to be killed and to experience a miraculous resurrection.Now his charisma, his speaking ability, his war making, his political acumen and his treaty with Israel and many other things are going to make him an amazing and fascinating world figure, but this resurrection is going to be the clincher. He will at least fake a resurrection. Remember he is the antichrist. He is the instead of Christ.And let me ask you a question tonight. What is the single most amazing miracle of the person of Jesus Christ upon which hangs all of our hopes?  He rose.We just celebrated on Easter that he rose again. You see, he is going to even imitate that to deceive the world, the resurrection of the dead.All right. Put on your thinking hat for a moment.  Turn to Revelation chapter 17 if you would please and verse eight. Revelation chapter 17 and verse eight. Now just follow with me now.  Just really listen carefully in verse number eight. “The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.”He was, he isn’t and he is again.This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits.  They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while.  The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king.The seventh king is the eighth king. Do you understand that?   He was. He was. He isn’t and he will be again.  He was the seventh king and he was the eighth king.Verse number eight, “The beast, which you saw, once was, now is [again].”Verse 10 talks about five kings having fallen. Five kings are five kingdoms. What are they?  Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece.  One kingdom is.  At the time of the writing that kingdom was Rome. And one will come for a short while, the kingdom of the antichrist.  And then there is an eighth king who only reigns a little while.Verse 11.  “The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.”Now, folks, many people saw John F. Kennedy die. What if he rose from the dead after two or three days and stood up after everybody saw that and just started talking to everybody?  Would that be the wonder of the world?  Would that be the most...  I mean I am telling you with the TV coverage that we have now if JFK would have risen from the dead and begun to take charge again, it would have wowed the world.I want you to know that is exactly the miracle that the antichrist is going to pull.  Satan is giving him his...You say, “Well, how in the world could a man die?  Is he going to be a real man?”Oh, yeah. He is going to start off as a real human being empowered by Satan.  But he is going to do something else. He is going to come to a place where he is going to be killed or at least it looks like he is killed, but when he comes back he won’t be only a man empowered by Satan. He is going to be a man indwelt by Satan.Read Revelation chapter 12 and find out about what it says that Satan comes with great fury because he knows he has but a short time. He takes up residence in this man at the three and a half year point and he lives out the second half of the tribulation on this earth. Satan, I believe, personally does.And so watch. Here is what happens. Man was created to have dominion over the world, but it didn’t take Satan long to beat him out of it. When the Lord Jesus was being tempted by the devil he, Satan, offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world because he had it to offer him.  And what Jesus refused from Satan, the kingdoms of the world, the antichrist will accept. And here is a brief sketch of the three fold rule of the antichrist in this world.First of all he is going to have a political rule like this world has never seen. Revelation 13:1 talks about seven heads and 10 horns. That is a statement that ties it back to the Old Testament in the prophecies of Daniel.  One of the greatest things in the Bible to convince a person of the accuracy of Scripture is to studies the prophecies of Daniel.In Daniel chapter two it tells us of a great statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw and it was a representation of Babylon, of Medo-Persia, of Greece and of Rome.  Students of history know that that is exactly the way that world history played out, that there was the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon, followed by the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, the Roman Empire and it happened exactly like that and Daniel prophesied this before any of it ever came to pass.Now, when you move to the seventh chapter of Daniel you find a similar vision except this time the vision has to do with four different kinds of animals.You say, “Wow. This is fantastic.”Go read it.  It is in your Bible.  Just read Daniel chapter seven and you will find about four different kinds of animals. And as you study carefully the vision that God gave Daniel, these wild beasts, you will find the same breakdown. Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome are represented by four different animals. And when you get to the fourth beast, the fourth one, we are told that the fourth beast is very, very terrible.Daniel 7:7 it says this beast has 10 horns. Do you remember the 10 horns of Revelation chapter 13 and verse one?  The antichrist had 10 horns.  These 10 horns represent 10 kingdoms, but there are only seven heads.  Why?  Because in Daniel seven also Daniel nine it says that three of those kingdoms are destroyed very rapidly in rapid fashion by this little horn that comes up. He destroys them.And so he has the power of 10 kingdoms, but there are only seven other people that are going to share the power with him. Why?  Because he destroys three of them in a blink of an eye.  “Who can make war [with] him,” the Bible says.  He is going to be a political power, a military genius.  And so I believe the Bible predicts that the antichrist is going to emerge from a 10 nation kingdom that shall be organized generally in the area of the old Roman Empire. I believe that the kingdom of the antichrist will be the revival of the Roman Empire.You say, “What’s that?”Europe.You know, there is a lot of rattling going on in Europe right now.  They are not listening. They don’t... The United States is not scaring them with our power like we used to. They are doing their own thing, making their own decisions. I believe that the Bible predicts that the antichrist is going to rise up there. The European Union at this moment has 12 members but Great Britain and Germany don’t like how things are shaking out for them with the use of the Euro and they are thinking about breaking ties.  How many would that leave?  Twelve minus two is 10.Did you know that one of the favorite subjects of discussion in Europe right now is the possibility of electing a European president?  They want one president.  Oh, they have got one money. Why not have one president? They have one economic system.  Why not just have one president?I don’t know if Jesus is coming tomorrow or 100 years from now, but I know things are going really well in what was the old Roman Empire to make things... to make the roadway wide open for this road hog to come again.  This fellow is going to be an international diplomat.  This man is going to be a world wide statesman. He will move the world empire politically. He is going to rule the world.There is something else he is going to do. He is going to economically rule.Revelation chapter 13 and verse 16.He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no-one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.You start taking the food off somebody’s table and you say, “You join my kingdom or you are not going to eat,” it is going to be difficult to say, “No.”He is talking about economic control. Nobody is laughing anymore about global economic control or a global economy.  Technology makes it possible now to do business around the world. You and I both know that.  Some of you are in business with world wide connections right now.I was talking to Bill Mayor this morning. He is sitting right over here. He is fixing to go take a world tour.  He has got business in several places around the world.  That’s Bill Mayor.  So what else is going on around here?You see, people, this is a world economy.  There is going to be a one world, global economy and the antichrist is going to be a brilliant technocrat. He is going to know how that thing operates. He is going to be a financial wizard. He is going to rule the world politically.  He is going to rule the world economically.Now the scary part and the part that really grips the world. It is going to be a religious rule. He is going to demand world compliance.  Let’s take a minute to complete this ruse if we can.  Satan gives the beast his power and the beast gives another beast some authority as well. He is called the false prophet.Look again at Revelation 13.  What does he do?   He causes the worship of the beast and the dragon. He enforces the economy of the beast.  Now listen to me.  How is it that this religious man is used? Remember he is the... He causes worship.  Worship the beast. Worship the dragon. We are looking for worship here. He is a religious leader.Somebody says, “Boy, I hate ecumenicalism.”Well, I want to tell you something, the greatest ecumenical conference of all time is on the horizon. There is going to be a one world mystery religion.  Babylon...  And what was the religion of Babylon?  Any religion is fine just as long as you pay allegiance to the king of Babylon.Why they had so many... There were so many idols, there were so many... I mean, you know, when the Jews went to Babylon, when they were carried away captivity, they had problems with idolatry before they went to Babylon.  But you never read one more problem with idolatry after they came back.  They don’t believe in idols. Do you know why? Because Babylon was full of them. They were on every corner, every kingdom they conquered. Every kingdom they conquered, they brought another god and they set them up.What was the God of Babylon?  Well, all of the gods were the gods of Babylon. They worshipped them all. But in...I think I am speaking Spanish. [?].  But over all of those gods, listen to this, over all of those gods was the fact that you had to recognize the big honcho over all as the one real religious ruler. It is religious control. He causes the worship of the beast and the dragon.Now you listen to me.  The highway for the road hog is being paved today. Any time a false teacher is doing what he does for the sake of money he is being just like the false prophet.Could that be why there are so many money mongers in the pulpits and on the Christian airways today?  Are they getting the world ready for the false prophet money religion?When I stand in the pulpit and I talk to you about giving liberally and giving for the furtherance of the gospel there are a group of elders and there is a group of deacons and there is a financial committee and there are all kinds of people that can verify that your pastor and your staff have no access whatsoever to one penny of this church to appropriate personally, not one penny. But do you know, do you know that there is hardly any accountability on the part of the money mongers all over our world today that are doing what they do because they worship at the altar of the almighty dollar. And they are using religion to do it. And these money mongers are getting the world, they are paving the way for this terrible, horrible man that is coming.The unholy trinity can be mentioned at this point. Who is the unholy trinity and why do you call it that?  Because Satan is the great imitator and just like there is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, there is Satan, the beast and his false prophet.  And this is where it gets serious when we talk about a world being dominated by religion or being dominated religiously.Verse eight. “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life.”  Those who know Jesus won’t. They will die for it, most of them, but they won’t worship.Here is a prediction. There is going to be a one world religion. It is a prediction that the antichrist is going to rule over this world religion.  So what does the antichrist want?  He wants worship. That’s what Satan has always been after, God’s place of worship. He got kicked out of heaven for this when he said, “I will ascend. I will be like the most high.”God says, “No, you won’t.  You said you will go up, but you are going to go down and you are going to go down to the most low place.”And let me track this whole thing for you. Who is this beast, the road hog?  He is the antichrist. He is going to be a world leader. He is going to be a scintillating speaker. He is going to be a charismatic personality.  He is going to be an international diplomat. He is going to be a military genius. He is going to solve the world’s religious conflicts.Did you hear that?Do you know what is going on right now in the Middle East? Wars of religion.  Are you aware of that?Why, we even have news anchors on the major networks of our country saying things like, “If we could just get rid of all the religions of the world we would get rid of all the wars of the world.”That is what is going on over there and he is going to solve world religious... How do you say...“How do you know that, pastor?”Well, I want you to know that President Bush’s road map for peace in the Middle East is not going to work, but the antichrist will.  The most burning international issues of our time are religious in nature and one of the real burning problems we are facing in the world today is the future problem, the problem of today, Islam.Somebody will say, “Well, all religions have problems.”Yes, but do all religions have at their core the elimination of all people who will not acquiesce and become part of what they want them to be?  World domination.Every time I get on an airplane now and I fly somewhere and I will here in a couple of weeks, I get the heebie jeebies.You say, “What are the heebie jeebies?”I don’t know, but that’s what I get.  When I hear the flight attendant say, “Such and such an airline is part of the one world alliance,” how many of you have heard that on an airplane, “Proudly serving as part of the one world alliance.”That is what the antichrist, the beast is going to do. We are just going to in this world he is going to seek worship.  Away with everything else. Everything else, after all, he rose again, didn’t he?  And the world is going to see it.Now there is this little issue of Israel and God’s eternal purposes for them as a nation.  There is the problem of the temple mount and the fact that the Dome of the Rock that I talked to you about a while ago is sitting there.  This international diplomat is going to broker a truce and permit the Jews to build a temple on the sacred and holy spot. That Dome of the Rock is coming down.You say, “Oh, that could never happen.”Oh, yes it is. It is coming down and they are going to build a temple right there on that spot, quite a feat.How do I know he is going to do that, that the temple is going to be rebuilt?  It said right there in 2 Thessalonians where we started, “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple."Well, if he is going to set himself up in it, then you know what? He has got to rebuild it. And he is going to do it.  The temple has to be rebuilt if he is going to sit in it.Daniel 9:27 says how he is going to do it.  “He will confirm a covenant...” a pact, a promise. He is going to broker a treaty, “...with many for one ‘seven’.” That is for a week.  Bible terminology means that is one week of years or seven years.  He is going to broker that peace and then it says in the middle of that week he is going to put an end to sacrifice and offering and on a wing of the temple he is going to set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end is decreed that is poured out upon him.December 16^th, 167 BC his forerunner, his prototype, Antiochus Epiphanes in a rage over having lost to the Egyptians at Alexandria offered a pig on the altar to Zeus in the temple. It was horrible for the Jews in those days.  But he was but a foretaste of the king of a fierce countenance who is to come.I am trying to show you here that the antichrist is going to rule the world.  He is the road hog. He is coming.“What does that have to do with me?”Well, if you are saved, if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you are saved, you are secure, you are safe, you are in Jesus. Let the world do what the world wants to do.  The road hog is not going to rule over you. But listen to me. If you are here tonight and if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if you are here and you never have said, “Lord, save me,” guess what?  The Lord could come back at any moment.  When he does, guess who is going to be ushered in and he is going to start taking over this world.Oh, look.  I’ve got a newspaper right here. This is just a mock up newspaper, not the real thing. I don’t know who put it out there, but it says right here. “Christ Returns: Millions Missing Around the World.” It is kind of unique. It says all kind of stuff about what it will be like, how airplanes are going to wreck and how trains are going to run off the tracks and thousands attempt suicide and oh, teenage mob demolishes five million dollar church and it goes on and this is really interesting.But do you know what?  It is not too far fetched.  One day a trumpet is going to sound. The world is going to be in chaos, total chaos, no leadership. And all of the sudden this leader, this world renowned, scintillating speaker with great ability and a charismatic personality is going to step forward and say, “I’ve got some... I’ve got some answers for you.  We have got to settle this thing in the Middle East once and for all.”  He will start there. That is what he is going to do.The antichrist is going to rule. He is going to be the king of the road. He is going to do it politically, economically and religiously and that is fantastic to think that people will follow him. But I want you to know that people would put into the hands of one human being absolutely total domination if they thought it would work.  The problems of mankind are going to become so severe as we approach the end of the age that they will be desperate for a leader.Listen to these statements from modern international diplomats and leaders.  Paul Henry Spock a distinguished Belgian says, “We do not want another committee. We have had too many already.  What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking.  Send us such a man and be he God or devil we will receive him.”European economist banker Paul Mazure said, “In order to control the diverse bureaucracies required a politburo will need to develop and over this group an organization there will arise to the final and single arbiter, the master of the order, the total dictator.”These people are talking today.Listen to the statement of many years ago Zbignew Brezinsky.  How many remember who Zbignew Brezinsky is?  He was Jimmy Carter’s administration. He said, “To truly unify Europe, to unify Europe must either fashion a remarkable degree of consensus or be led by one single acknowledged leader.Things are getting ready. TV celebrity power.  Does anybody know in this world who Lance Ito was until the OJ trial?  Did anybody know who Lance Ito was?  Nobody in the world.  But you let somebody become a celebrity and the whole world locks on.  You let this man stand up with answers in a chaotic world and the world will lock on to him and know who he is.But the road hog is going to come to his ruin.2 Thessalonians 2:4 the Bible says he is going to sit in the temple as God. That is his fatal mistake. The Jews ought to forget about the whole idea of a sacrificial system. They could if they would just believe in Jesus.  He said it was finished and that means that there remains no more sacrifice for sin.My favorite hymn in all the world is Jesus Paid it All, All to Him I Owe.  You know, there is no more sacrifice for sin. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. If the Jews would but believe that they wouldn’t be worrying about trying to build a temple and restart all of the Old Testament sacrifices.  Sin has left a crimson stain, but he washed it as white as snow.In Daniel 9:27 we mentioned that the beast made a seven year treaty, but he breaks it half way through and he sacrifices what is called the abomination to the Jews on an altar and he calls a halt to the regular religious activity of the Jews.  And he is going to send a message to say, “All right, you stop all that, all those things and everything over there, signed, the road hog.”And when he does that the Jews will rebel. When he stops and breaks that treaty they are going to rebel and when he rebels, when he rebels, the Jews are going to fight back and the whole world is going to say, once and for all, let’s be rid of this bunch of rebels, let’s kill them. And they are all going to march on Jerusalem.He will gather all of the armies. He will gather with his military and the Bible says he will make his move on the plains of Megiddo.But look what happens.  2 Thessalonians chapter two verse eight says, “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.”  That’s short, isn’t it?  This guy who gets the whole world, the tiger by the tail, he gets the whole world in his hip pocket. He’s got everything and he is going to handle it all.  And the Bible says Jesus is going to come and overthrow him with the breath of his mouth and the splendor of his coming.That is not the rapture, that is the coming. That is the coming with his saints.Do you like to ride horses?  How many of you are horse back riders?  Get ready.  We’re coming back on white horses. We are coming back with Jesus. We are coming back to a great battle that we are not going to fight.  No battle to be fought. He is coming back with the Word of his mouth, with a sword that goes out of his mouth he is going to destroy him.But that was too quick.  Daniel 7:8 is a great passage, but let me move to Revelation 19:1 for a blow by blow accounting of the end of the beast, Revelation chapter 19 verse one.  I read the Hallelujahs to you last week.  Now let me read to you what happens after the Hallelujahs.Verse nine says this.Then the angel said to me, "Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’" And he added, "These are the true words of God."  At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow-servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."Now here we go.  Verse 11. Here is the blow by blow of the end of the antichrist.I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.   His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no-one knows but he himself.  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.  The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.I told you you were going to ride a horse.  And if you don’t like to... if you don’t like to dress up you are going to dress up that day because we are coming in fine white robes. Those are the robes that have been prepared for us by the blood of Jesus as he washed us white and gave us a robe covering all filthiness and we get on those horses and we ride with him.Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron sceptre." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.I wish the rapture would come today.And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in mid-air, "Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great." Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.   But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshipped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur.  The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.2 Thessalonians chapter two it brings out the point that those who reject the truth of the Lord Jesus will receive the lies of the antichrist. There is a Bible principle that when you reject the truth of the gospel you are especially susceptible to the lies and deceptions of Satan.Verse nine says:The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.Now why do they perish?  They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.  They reject the truth and they believe a lie.  God confirms their rejection.How many times have you heard somebody say, “Oh, well, one day I’ll come to Jesus. I have just got a lot of things I want to do. I don’t want all those limitations of Christianity. I just want to live my life and do everything I want to do. And someday why when I know I am coming to the end of days, I know I will do something. I’ll ask Jesus to come into my heart. I will do it at that time.”?Do not kid yourself.  Do not joke with yourself. Do you suppose that God is like a genie in a bottle that you can rub up any time and have him come running to you to just at your beck and command do anything you want to do, would do anything you want him to do?Isaiah 55 says, “Call unto me while I am near. Call unto me while I am listening.”  He doesn’t have... He is not duty bound to listen to anyone. He is not duty bound to save anyone. He is not duty bound to do anything we say that he is supposed to do. He is duty bound to honor his Word.And here is what he says. “Call unto me. While I am near call unto me. While I am listening and I will answer you,” Isaiah 55.It is so important and people who reject truth have the propensity to believe a lie and God will confirm their rejection.“For this reason,” verse 11, “God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.”  Why?  They perish because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved.  They refused it and God confirms their rejection.“And so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”“And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”If you don’t receive Jesus you will receive the spirit of the antichrist in that day or the real antichrist when he is revealed.John 12 says that Jesus did many miracles and they did not believe in him. It says in the 39^th verse that they could not believe.Persistent unbelief has a tendency to disintegrate the capacity for faith.You and I need to receive Jesus while we can, while he is near, while he is calling because he may not always be near. He may not always be calling. And no man comes to the Father unless his Spirit draws him.He is the road hog.  The road is being prepared and we are headed toward the end of time.You say, “You are just trying to scare people.”No, I just picked the subject and I have been teaching on right out of God’s Word.I want you to know. First of all, I want you to know that the sign posts are everywhere. The signs of his coming are abundant.  I want you to know that the Bible teaches that at any moment a trumpet could sound, an archangel could lift his voice and Jesus could shout. Those that know him will go to heaven and be with him, go the marriage supper of the lamb, be judged according to their works and then get on white horses to get ready to come back a little short while later to watch and witness the greatest military victory in the history of the world.But just before that time the road hog is coming and he is going to spread misery like this world has never seen.Do you know Jesus? Do you know him?  Is he your Lord and Savior? If you would but come to him now...  Don’t reject him. Don’t favor a wicked life over an opportunity to be the child of God.  Don’t hate the truth, thus confirming a lie. Come to Jesus. Believe in him.  Trust in him. Give him your life and, thus, be saved by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.Would you bow your heads?If you are here tonight and you say, “Wow. I wasn’t counting on that,” a lot of people aren’t counting on that.  But the Bible is not silent.  God does not leave us wondering what is coming in the future.  Satan and the demons of hell right now are preparing this world for the coming of his favorite child, his antichrist.“Pastor, is he alive today?”I don’t have any idea.“Do you know who he is?”Of course not.  I know what he is like. I know what he can do.  I know what he is going to convince the world of.“Pastor, is... is there no hope?”Oh, yes. There is great hope.  Believe on Jesus and be saved.  You see, God is not planning on sending us to wrath. He is talking about saving us from wrath, the wrath that is to come on this world.I want to encourage you to come to this gentle Lamb of God, this gentle, meek, kind one who appeals to you on the words of kindness and words of love. I want to appeal to you to the one who bled...on the basis of the one who bled and died for you to put your faith and trust in him.  Say something like this. “Dear Jesus, I am a sinner.  Quite frankly, I am scared of what I am hearing, but come into my heart and save me. I want to be your child. I ask for forgiveness.  Take my life. Change it.  I want to go to heaven when I die. I want to be part of the family of God.  I believe you died for me and rose again. I accept you now as my Savior. Please accept me.”If you did that the Bible says that Jesus came into your heart. He saved you from your sins. I ask you to accept now that gentle Savior because the next time he comes he is not coming meek like a lamb.  He is coming on a white horse with all of the power of the universe at his disposal to destroy those who will reject him.Father, work in our hearts tonight and as Oliver Green said so often, Lord, save that soul that is nearest hell.  Save them.  If you are here tonight and you prayed that prayer, you said, “Dear Jesus, save me,” and if you called out to him tonight to be your Lord and Savior I want to pray for you.  Just raise your hand up and say, “I did that. I just asked Jesus to come into my heart.”  Is anyone like that tonight, anyone at all?  Oh, if you did I rejoice with you. If you already know him, if you already know Jesus I said something tonight that really should shock us.  If... if we are closed mouth about Jesus and about our Christianity, then we are helping prepare the way for the antichrist because the restraining factor in the world today to keep total anarchy chaos from taking over is the presence of the Holy Spirit of God in the life of believers. It is crucial. It is urgent. It is world shaking for you and me to simply talk about Jesus and to share our faith with others.  It is crucial.Won’t you commit in your heart to look for those windows of opportunity in the lives of friends and neighbors, loved ones to tell them about Jesus.Father, motivate us, oh Father, motivate us as believers to want to tell the good news to preserve this civilization for future evangelization and for the glorification of your name. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.John 5:43Ibid.Ibid.2 Thessalonians 2:31 John 2:181 John 2:221 John 4:2-32 Thessalonians 2:9Ibid.Revelation 13:1Ibid.Revelation 13:1-2Revelation 13:3-4Revelation 13:5Revelation 13:6-102 Thessalonians 2:9Revelation 13:11Ibid.Revelation 13:12Revelation 13:12-13Revelation 13:13-18Matthew 24:24Matthew 7:22Matthew 7:23Revelation 13:3Revelation 17:8Revelation 17:9-11Revelation 17:8Revelation 17:11Revelation 13:4Revelation 13:16-17Revelation 13:82 Thessalonians 2:4Daniel 9:27Ibid.2 Thessalonians 2:8Revelation 19:9-10Revelation 19:11-14Revelation 19:15-16Revelation 19:17-212 Thessalonians 2:9-102 Thessalonians 2:112 Thessalonians 2:122 Thessalonians 2:11Page  PAGE 1 of  NUMPAGES 26