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How to Spot a Fake |
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Have you ever been swindled? Most people have at one time or another. In fact, ever since 1626, when the early settlers traded $24 worth of colorful beads and cloth to the unsuspecting Indians for Manhattan Island, a record of swindling and fraud seems to have run throughout American History. Only a few decades ago "con men" made thousands of dollars selling Grants Tomb or Woolworth Building to gullible tourists and immigrants on their first trip to New York. Amusing? Perhaps. But it isn’t only the innocent, naïve, greenhorns who are victimized by con artists! It happens every day! The National Business Bureau is quoted as saying, "No matter how intelligent or careful you are, at least once in your life you will be swindled." Not a very happy event to look forward to, is it? Unfortunately, it happens everyday! One of the greatest swindles ever recorded took place in the late 1960’s. David Stein, a brilliant young Frenchman, painted more than 400 imitations of the Old Masters: counterfeit Picassos, Chagalls, Renoir’s, and Van Goghs, among others. He signed the real names of the renowned artists on the masterpieces and passed them off as originals. They were masterpieces of deception. So much so, they were declared to be authentic! To date only 110 of these forgeries have been detected and recovered. Stein was apprehended in 1972 and served prison terms in Sing Sing Prison and in Paris, France. He was released in l980. During his stay in prison Stein had a change of heart and decided to paint under his own signature. Today he is a noted artist and lecturer around the world. And, what does he lecture about? What he knows best- "How to Spot a Fake." You’ll have to agree, Stein certainly demonstrated that it isn’t always easy to spot a fake-even for experts! But, clever as he may have been as a "con-man" He was just a "Babe in the woods" so to speak, when compared with the granddaddy of them all-Satan! The Devil stands without peer when it comes to swindling, cheating, and counterfeiting. Of course, Satan doesn’t work openly. He work’s through other people, other powers and agencies. If he were an open enemy of God and truth there would be little danger that any Christian would be deceived. So he works under cover, sometimes masquerading in the very garb of religion ingeniously mixing truth and error to draw men away from the true worship of God. This has been his all-consuming passion for thousands of years. The first con-job recorded in Scripture took place in the early hours of earth’s history when Satan, in the guise of a talking snake in a tree, appeared to Eve. He promised that Eve would be a liberated person-reaching greater knowledge: that her mind would be expanded and she would become like God! In other words, Satan was saying that she would be a winner by disobeying God -by breaking His law! Eve was deceived. She believed the words of the master deceiver, and just as God had said, Eve did die! Not because she conscientiously believed a lie, but because she didn’t believe God’s warning and obey what He had said God’s Word is our only protection against the shrewd deceptions of the Devil. Whatever contradicts God’s Word we may be sure it is not true! "But," you say, "I’m an intelligent person. I don’t think the devil can "con" me. I think I can hold my own." Wait a minute, Friend. Don’t be too hasty in shrugging off the ability of the Devil to deceive. He’s been in the business of misleading and deceiving people for over 6,000 years! And every moment of that time he has studied man’s weaknesses and has learned by experience the best strategy to use in deceiving his victims. In fact, before earth’s inhabitants were created, Satan or Lucifer, as he was then called, was in the business of deceiving. Under the pretense of bringing freedom to all the angels giving them something much superior, Satan undermined God and the government of heaven by his subtle innuendos and lying propaganda. And one-third of the heavenly angels, with their great wisdom and intelligence, were "conned" by the devil’s deceptions. The Bible gives this sad account: "And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought... So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Revelation 12:7, 9 NKJV As incredible as it may seem, Satan actually tried to con Jesus into uniting with him in his rebellion against God. Did you know that? It happened at the time of Jesus’ physical need: when He was most vulnerable. For forty days Jesus had been fasting in the wilderness, preparing Himself for the bloodstained path He must travel to Calvary. He was faint from hunger-worn and haggard from mental agony, and who should happen to drop by to tempt or deceive our Saviour in this critical moment? Satan! Satan, masquerading in the guise of an angel-not the rebellious fallen angel that he was, but as a loyal, heavenly angel. He tried to use the same con-game to deceive Christ that he had used so successfully with the fallen angels and Eve, but thank God, it didn’t work! Christ recognized and overcame each of Satan’s temptations by following God’s instructions in Scripture: each temptation He met with a Bible quotation. Jesus warns us that we must be on guard against this great imposter. He said that in the last hours of this earth’s history that Satan’s deceptions will be so overwhelming that- "If it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matthew 24:24 KJV Later, the great apostle, Peter, warned: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5: 8 But a God of love has not left His children on Planet Earth without sufficient information to recognize and resist the deceptions of Satan. Through the prophet Daniel, God foretold the devil’s master plan to delude and trap the whole world during earth’s last hours. In fact, God gives a detailed description of the means Satan would use to accomplish this final deception. It will be a powerful movement which will claim to follow God, to speak for God, but which would directly subvert the Scriptures in practice and doctrine! Daniel called this power the "little horn." You will remember in our last program that we studied the seventh chapter of Daniel in which we saw how accurately God outlined world history from the days of Daniel to our present time. We found that Daniel saw four beasts coming up out of the sea or the populated area of the earth. We discovered that these four beasts represented four world empires that would arise on the earth. First, Daniel saw a lion with eagle’s wings, which represented the ancient world Empire of Babylon. The next beast was a lop-sided bear, picturing the second world empire of Medo-Persia. The lop-sided bear was followed by another extraordinary looking beast: a leopard with four heads and four wings, which was such an appropriate description of the Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great. And then, the most frightening of all of the beasts made its way out of the water: "And this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceedingly strong; it had huge iron teeth: it was devouring, and breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. Daniel 7: 7 Daniel had never seen an animal that even remotely resembled this fourth beast. But, as sensational and dramatic as its appearance may have been , one part of the fourth beast with the ten horns intrigued Daniel more than anything else. He said: "I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words." Daniel 7:8 The "little horn" troubled Daniel, in fact, he wrote: "I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them ... He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half of time." Daniel 7: 21, 25 You see, Daniel recognized that this prophecy was more than a prediction of secular history, it concerned God’s people. The "little horn" power would make war with the saints and prevail against them over a long period of time. What an astonishing revelation! As Daniel envisioned the persecution and hardships that God’s people would have to endure, he became ill. "...I Daniel, was deeply troubled by
my thoughts, and my face turned pale." What or who is this "little horn" power? That is a very important question! In fact, the answer could mean the difference between eternal life, or eternal death! As we turn the pages of New Testament prophecy we discover that the characteristics of the anti-christ, as described in the New Testament, are identical with those of the "little horn" power of Daniel. The apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians concerning the work of this power in the last days: "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, proclaiming himself to be God." 2 Thess. 2: 4, NIV In Revelation John wrote, "And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.... Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name." Revelation 13: 5, 6, KJV John also warned about this power during his lifetime: "...And this is the spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world." 1 John 4:3, KJV The Bible pictures a power operating in the world during the New Testament times that would rise to great power and influence after the breakup of the fourth world empire, and continue deceiving the world until the close of earth’s history! The great Protestant reformers studied these prophecies thoroughly. In fact, it was their interpretation of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation that led them to break with the medieval church. But, was the interpretation of Daniel’s prophecy by the reformers mere speculation, or does history confirm it? With the abundance of evidence given in Scripture and world history, there is no need for question. Modern scholars agree that the early reformers were united in their interpretation of the identity of this "little horn" power. What conclusion had they reached? Professor George Ladd of Fuller Theological Seminary wrote: "Many of the great Christians of
Reformation and post-Reformation times shared this view
of prophetic truth and identified anti-christ
with the Roman Papacy.... Among adherents of this
interpretation were the Waldenses, the Hussites, Wycliffe, Luther,
Calvin, Zwingli, Melanchthon, Tyndale, Latimer and Ridley," "Leaders such as Luther, Calvin,
Knox, and Cranmer, pointed to Daniel 7 and Revelation 17, identifying the great apostasy with
headquarters in Rome. The Scriptural message of Revelation
18:4 formed the basis of many of their
sermons, ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins,’" They called the people back to the Bible, claiming that from God’s Word the papal power fulfilled Daniel’s prophecies. John Wycliffe, called by historians, "the Morning star of the Reformation," wrote: "The Pope is antichrist here on earth." —DE PAPA, CH. 2. It was not an easy thing for the great reformers to take such a bold stand concerning this prophecy. Martin Luther expressed himself in these words: "O, how much pain it has caused me, though I had the Scriptures on my side,... that I should dare to make a stand alone against the pope, and hold him forth as antichrist,... ‘Twas so I fought with myself and with Satan, till Christ, by his own infallible word, fortified my heart against these doubts." Martyn, pp. 372, 373. "But," you say, "was the interpretation of Daniel’s prophecy by the reformers mere speculation or does history confirm it?" With the abundance of evidence given in Scripture and world history, there is no need for question. When we examine the unique characteristics of the "little horn" power, only one conclusion can be logically reached! It’s just like the photos in the post office of persons wanted by the government agencies. A list of characteristics is given unique to that person: the color of his eyes, his height and approximate weight; any scars, and then a copy of the person’s thumb print. There may be many people who resemble each other, even having some of the same general characteristics, but there is only one person in the world who can fit all of these characteristics. That’s the way it is with the "little horn." Only one system, or power on earth, can perfectly match God’s identifying characteristics so clearly catalogued in the Book of Daniel. Let’s take a look at the Bible’s description of this "little horn" power and see what history records concerning its fulfillment. Daniel described the fourth beast, or the fourth world empire of Rome as: "dreadful and terrible, and exceedingly strong; ... and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them..." Daniel 7: 7, 8 What did the ten horns represent that Daniel saw in vision? "And the ten horns out of this
kingdom are ten kings that shall arise." Instead of another world empire appearing on the scene of history at the fall of the fourth one, Bible prophecy predicted that there would be a division of the Roman Empire resulting in ten lesser kingdoms. History confirms that portion of Daniel’s prophecy. After ruling for six centuries, the great Roman Empire crumbled, weakened by internal strife, moral decay, prosperity, and ease. Its fall was, of course, hastened by the invasion of many Germanic tribes. "As time passed, the barbarians could no longer be held back. In 376 several Germanic tribes broke through the Danube frontier, and others soon followed.... The Germanic incursions of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. overwhelmed the Empire. —Imperial Rome, p. 146 - 158 "When the last wave of the barbarian invasions had spent its force, the face of Europe had been transformed. Independent Germanic kingdoms had been established on the ruins of the Roman Empire" -- Church History, p. 175 Historians tell us that the division of Rome was completed by A.D. 476. According to the English historian, Edward Elliott, in his book Horae Apocalypticae, the following barbaric tribes over-ran the Roman Empire from 351 - 476 A.D. The following list gives the names of the Germanic tribes and their modern nation today: Alamanni - Germans These are the ten horns of the fourth beast that Daniel saw. And according to the prophecy, the little horn was to rise to great power after the ten horns, or divisions of the Roman Empire. "The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;....and he shall subdue three kings." Daniel 7: 24 As we study history, we find that three of the ten horns or kingdoms, were an obstruction to the supremacy of the Roman Church because of their religious differences. —These tribes or kingdoms were called "Arian" kingdoms because they believed in a form of Christianity taught by a missionary by the name of Arias. As we turn back the pages of ancient history, we find that the Catholic emperors of the eastern empire found ways to help the Bishop of Rome by eliminating these three Arian powers. The Heruli kingdom met its fate with the help of the Catholic Emperor Zeno in 493 A.D. Another emperor, Justinian, exterminated the Vandals in 534 A.D., and then broke the power of the Ostrogoths in 538. Thus, the three horns of Daniel’s prophecy were "plucked up by the roots." Making the rise of the church at Rome a reality. It was at this time that Justinian, made a decree establishing the Bishop of Rome as the political and religious leader of Western Rome. Notice this statement by the historian Thomas Hobbes: "If a man considers the original of this great, ecclesiastical dominion he will easily perceive that the papacy is none other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire sitting crowned upon the grave thereof." —Leviathan, p. 457 The power, which came up after the other ten kingdoms, was none other than the Roman branch of the church in the Middle Ages. The Roman church had roots extending back to the early years of Christianity, to be sure. But it was not until 538 A.D., that following the Emperor’s decree giving the Bishop of Rome political as well as ecclesiastical power, that the "little horn" power became as Daniel had prophesied: "... More stout than his fellows." Daniel 7: 20 Or, in other words, more powerful and influential than the other horns or kingdoms. Carl Conrad Eckhart wrote: "Under the Roman Empire the popes
had no temporal power. But when the Roman Empire had
disintegrated and its place had been taken by a number of rude
barbarous kingdoms, the Roman Catholic Church not only
became independent of the states in religious affairs but
dominated secular affairs as well." Daniel had also written that this power "shall be different from the first." Daniel 7:24 NKJV Was this power different? Indeed it was. The empires and the other horn kingdoms were all political powers, but the "little horn" power was a church that wielded political power! A Catholic historian, J. J. Ignatious von Dollinger, wrote: "Out of the ruins of the Roman
Empire there gradually arose a new order of states whose central
point was the Papal See. Therefore, inevitably resulted a
position, not only new, but very different from the former." Yes, the finger points unerringly toward the Roman Church as the "little horn" power of Daniel 7. "But, " you say, "What about the other characteristics given in the prophecy, do they point to the papal power?" Daniel said this of this power: "And he shall speak great words against the Most High," Daniel 7: 25, KJV Words of blasphemy and self-exaltation is what Daniel is referring to here. When Jesus was on earth He was accused of blasphemy for claiming to be equal to God and for claiming to have power to forgive sin. We note from their own works that the Roman church makes the same claims. They claim to forgive sins and also to be equal with Christ. Daniel wrote: "... the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them." Daniel 7: 21 Verse 25 says it would "persecute the saints of the Most High." Has the Roman Church persecuted? Let’s read the church’s own writings: "The church has persecuted. Only a tyro (novice) in church
history will deny that...We have always defended the
persecution of the Huguenots and the Spanish Inquisition... when she thinks it good to use
physical force, she will use it." Protestants still shudder as they recall St. Bartholomew’s Day, August 22, 1572. It was on that day that the bells of Paris rang out calling the Catholics to destroy, in one major stroke the Huguenots. The Inquisition, the crusades against the Huguenots, Waldenses, Albigenses, the Thirty Years War, the rack, the dungeon, the flames from the martyrs burned at the stake, are all historically linked to the Roman Church during the dark centuries of its supremacy. Why the wholesale slaughter? The answer is one of conscience. The martyrs were unwilling to compromise their belief in God and His Word. They refused to follow the man-made teachings of the Roman Church, thus, they were branded as "heretics." In the March 20, 2,000, issue of TIME magazine, page 23, is a short article speaking about Pope John Paul’s apology for the above listed horrors committed by the Roman Church. It reads: "ACT OF CONTRITION In the jubilee year and the season of Lent, Pope John Paul II confronts the Crusades, the Inquistion, the Holocaust, and other horrors in seeking to express regret for sins committed by Catholics in the past 2,000 years." And Friend, however shocking these revelations and statistics may be, please keep in mind that God intended this prophecy to be a kind and loving warning against this great apostate system, not against individuals of that system. We must never forget for a moment that there are loving and sincere Christians in every communion. But, there is another very important distinguishing characteristic of this "little horn" power. The prophecy predicted that it would think "...to change times and law..." Daniel 7: 25, KJV Does the papal power claim to have the ability to change God’s times and laws? Sad to say, it does! "The pope has power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ." —Decretal De Translat, Episcap, Cap Incredible as it may seem, the papal power attempted to change God’s divine law. She did that very thing, and freely admits it. In its catechisms, the papacy has deleted the second commandment which forbids the worship of images and has divided the tenth commandment so there will still be ten. However, they made the fourth commandment, which has to do with God’s Sabbath day, the third, and has left out all reference to the seventh day as being the Sabbath. "The Church, after changing the day of rest from the Jewish Sabbath of the seventh day of the week to the first, made the third Commandment refer to Sunday as the day to be kept as the Lord’s Day." —The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 153 "Perhaps the boldest thing, the most
revolutionary change the church ever did happened in the
first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from
Saturday to Sunday, not from any directions noted in the
Scriptures, but from the Church’s sense of its own power...people who think that the Scriptures
should be the sole authority, should logically become
Seventh Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy." Catholic Cardinal James Gibbons once wrote: "You may read the Bible from Genesis
to Revelation, and you will not find a single line
authorizing the sanctification of Sunday." We read from The Convert’s
Catechism: There is no record in the Bible commanding such a change! None of the New Testament writers told of such a change. It would have been the lead article in every New Testament Book had such a momentous change occurred! God said, "I will not break, nor alter the
Word that has gone out of My mouth." God has not changed His law and no one else has the right to alter God’s law! The last characteristic we will study is perhaps the "cap—stone" -proof positive, or the thumb-print of this "little horn" power and its identity. Daniel actually pinpoints when this antichrist power would be supreme, and the length of time it would persecute the saints of God. "...and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Daniel 7: 25 KJV Here we find more Bible symbols. The term "time" comes from the Aramaic word "iddan," meaning a year, or 360 prophetic days. "Times" would be dual or signifying two years or 720 prophetic days. And a "dividing of time," would signify a half year, or 180 prophetic days. When we add a time (360 days), times (720 days), and the dividing of time (180 days), we arrive at a total of 1260 prophetic days. According to the prophet Ezekiel, a prophetic day signifies a year. Ezekiel says "I have appointed thee each day for a year." Ezekiel 4: 6 History confirms the accuracy of this time period...The Ostrogoths, the last of the Arian kingdoms to oppose the Roman Church, were overthrown in the year 538 A.D., leaving the papacy free to develop her political and ecclesiastical power. Exactly 1,260 years later, in 1798, the Roman Church’s political power was broken by Napoleon’s general, Berthier, who took the pope prisoner. Now, let’s leap ahead to the climax of Daniel’s great prophecy, for it has a very happy ending for the people of God. Even though Daniel saw the various things that the little horn power would do-wearing out the saints of God and trying to change God’s law-he said that this power would eventually come to an end. "The judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom ..." Daniel 7: 26,27, KJV What a glorious event, as God’s eternal kingdom is ushered in! The details of that kingdom are recorded earlier in the same Book of Daniel, as Daniel was given a vision of the second coming of Christ. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away ...." Daniel 7: 13, 14 KJV What a contrast to the kingdoms earth has known. No armies, no police, no prisons, no poverty, no sickness or death! Just peace and love, and beauty from pole to pole.. Jesus says: "...Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25: 34 NKJV Jesus wants to share His kingdom with everyone, but He will not force us to choose Him as our Lord. The decision is ours to make. Don’t hesitate, Friend. Time is running out for Planet Earth, soon Jesus will come to take us to those mansions He has prepared in His kingdom. Won’t you just lift your heart to Him right now and invite Him to reign supreme in your heart? There will only be two classes of people in that day: those who chose to follow Christ and His Word, and those who chose to follow the arch-deceiver-the anti-christ. Won’t you just now take hold of that nail-scarred hand and tell Jesus you want Him as your Lord and Kings? God wants all of His children on Planet Earth to be a part of that kingdom to be ready for that glorious moment when our Savior returns! For in that glorious day we shall behold Him - our Savior and Lord!
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