Brakelite
Well-Known Member
Continued from above...
So there it is. By worshiping Antichrist, they by proxy are worshiping Satan. Antichrist is Satan's frontman, his alter-ego, his counterfeit. Through the worship of Antichrist Satan fulfils his lifelong dream to receive the worship of man. But there is more. He enlists help, and we read about this a little later in the same chapter...
11 ¶ And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Notice that it is the people, (the 'they in verse 14) who under recommendation from the state power, create this image, another church/state union, and it is the second beast, or nation, that gives the church/state union its power. And notice that this nation with the horns like a lamb speaks as a dragon...speaks like the devil...like the pagan emperor who granted the Roman church power in the 6th century, so also does this second nation give power and authority to this newly developed church/state union.
The Majority will Worship their Enemy.
Deception,worship,deception,worship. These are the issues of the last days. Remember, this is God's loving 'revelation' concerning true and false worship. It is the love of God which prompted Jesus to warn constantly of the core theme of the times leading up to His second advent.
Matt. 24:4 ¶ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many....11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many....23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Deception is surely a major factor contributing to the confusion and apostasy of Babylon. Are not the abominations in the cup which she holds her deceptions and false doctrines? But of what purpose are these deceptions if they do not relate directly to how we relate to our Creator? Are they not designed to draw us away from a right relationship with God? Yes, assuredly. But more than that, and I cannot stress this enough, Satan seeks to draw us away from the Creator toward himself. Through deception, he has the whole world worshiping the Antichrist, and the whole world believes they are worshiping God. The counterfeit system of worship is so beguiling, so attractive, and presents itself in such a loving, caring, compassionate, Christian way, that the entire world is deceived into accepting her, obeying her dogmas, following her counsel, keeping her man-made commandments.
The Truth Liberates.
So back to our original question. Does God want us to be so deluded that we would submit ourselves to a system of worship directed through Antichrist to Satan? Of course not. That is why Jesus warned us repeatedly of false prophets, false Christs. That is why the inspired scriptures go into such great and minute detail in the books of Daniel and Revelation concerning Antichrist and his work. And it is from these details that we can gather sufficient information to come to an honest and correct conclusion as to the exact identity of the Antichrist. To the precise identity of this false worship system that even now has much of the world in its grasp. The apostle Paul said that if we have a love for truth, we would not be deceived (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12) , and Paul is referring directly to the Antichrist when he penned these words. Jesus said in John 17:17 that we are sanctified by the word of truth, and in John 8:32 that if we continue in His word the truth of His word will set us free. Free from sin, free from error, free from false doctrine, free from deception.
According to most modern evangelists, Antichrist is yet to come. The scriptures however are very clear. Antichrist is here now, and hard at work drawing the world after him as you read these words. And true to form, and in fulfillment of prophecy, much of the Christian world is either in denial, deluded, or at best confused, as to the true nature of the beast which is before them. They see it, they even wonder after it marveling at her power and splendor, many praise it, countless millions obey her commands in direct contradistinction to the commandments of God, but very few perceive the true nature of it.
God's exceedingly great and infinite love for you demands you understand this truth. In His word He has provided all the information needed to ensure that no-one need be deceived or lack understanding in matters relating to such an essential matter as worship. Worship is what is due our Creator. It is who we worship that defines our loyalties. And it is how we worship that defines who we worship. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth." John 4:22-24.
The last great delusion is set to present itself to the world, and even now is busily doing so. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in the sight of man. So closely will this system resemble the true, that it will be almost impossible to discern between truth and error except for the scriptures. No-one who hasn't trained themselves to search for and grasp the truths of the Bible will remain faithful to the true God when the coming crisis deepens. When demands come that they obey certain commandments, because they have failed to study and accept scripture, they will not discern that these commandments of men demand submission to counterfeit truth, and usurp the commandments of God. The fearful judgements that are proclaimed against those who worship the beast, the image, and receive the mark, as revealed in Revelation 14, should drive all men to an earnest study of the scriptures and the prophecies to learn what the mark is, who the beast is, and how they are to avoid them.
The Bible, and the Bible only, must be the standard for all doctrine and belief.
So there it is. By worshiping Antichrist, they by proxy are worshiping Satan. Antichrist is Satan's frontman, his alter-ego, his counterfeit. Through the worship of Antichrist Satan fulfils his lifelong dream to receive the worship of man. But there is more. He enlists help, and we read about this a little later in the same chapter...
11 ¶ And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Notice that it is the people, (the 'they in verse 14) who under recommendation from the state power, create this image, another church/state union, and it is the second beast, or nation, that gives the church/state union its power. And notice that this nation with the horns like a lamb speaks as a dragon...speaks like the devil...like the pagan emperor who granted the Roman church power in the 6th century, so also does this second nation give power and authority to this newly developed church/state union.
The Majority will Worship their Enemy.
Deception,worship,deception,worship. These are the issues of the last days. Remember, this is God's loving 'revelation' concerning true and false worship. It is the love of God which prompted Jesus to warn constantly of the core theme of the times leading up to His second advent.
Matt. 24:4 ¶ And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many....11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many....23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Deception is surely a major factor contributing to the confusion and apostasy of Babylon. Are not the abominations in the cup which she holds her deceptions and false doctrines? But of what purpose are these deceptions if they do not relate directly to how we relate to our Creator? Are they not designed to draw us away from a right relationship with God? Yes, assuredly. But more than that, and I cannot stress this enough, Satan seeks to draw us away from the Creator toward himself. Through deception, he has the whole world worshiping the Antichrist, and the whole world believes they are worshiping God. The counterfeit system of worship is so beguiling, so attractive, and presents itself in such a loving, caring, compassionate, Christian way, that the entire world is deceived into accepting her, obeying her dogmas, following her counsel, keeping her man-made commandments.
The Truth Liberates.
So back to our original question. Does God want us to be so deluded that we would submit ourselves to a system of worship directed through Antichrist to Satan? Of course not. That is why Jesus warned us repeatedly of false prophets, false Christs. That is why the inspired scriptures go into such great and minute detail in the books of Daniel and Revelation concerning Antichrist and his work. And it is from these details that we can gather sufficient information to come to an honest and correct conclusion as to the exact identity of the Antichrist. To the precise identity of this false worship system that even now has much of the world in its grasp. The apostle Paul said that if we have a love for truth, we would not be deceived (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12) , and Paul is referring directly to the Antichrist when he penned these words. Jesus said in John 17:17 that we are sanctified by the word of truth, and in John 8:32 that if we continue in His word the truth of His word will set us free. Free from sin, free from error, free from false doctrine, free from deception.
According to most modern evangelists, Antichrist is yet to come. The scriptures however are very clear. Antichrist is here now, and hard at work drawing the world after him as you read these words. And true to form, and in fulfillment of prophecy, much of the Christian world is either in denial, deluded, or at best confused, as to the true nature of the beast which is before them. They see it, they even wonder after it marveling at her power and splendor, many praise it, countless millions obey her commands in direct contradistinction to the commandments of God, but very few perceive the true nature of it.
God's exceedingly great and infinite love for you demands you understand this truth. In His word He has provided all the information needed to ensure that no-one need be deceived or lack understanding in matters relating to such an essential matter as worship. Worship is what is due our Creator. It is who we worship that defines our loyalties. And it is how we worship that defines who we worship. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth." John 4:22-24.
The last great delusion is set to present itself to the world, and even now is busily doing so. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in the sight of man. So closely will this system resemble the true, that it will be almost impossible to discern between truth and error except for the scriptures. No-one who hasn't trained themselves to search for and grasp the truths of the Bible will remain faithful to the true God when the coming crisis deepens. When demands come that they obey certain commandments, because they have failed to study and accept scripture, they will not discern that these commandments of men demand submission to counterfeit truth, and usurp the commandments of God. The fearful judgements that are proclaimed against those who worship the beast, the image, and receive the mark, as revealed in Revelation 14, should drive all men to an earnest study of the scriptures and the prophecies to learn what the mark is, who the beast is, and how they are to avoid them.
The Bible, and the Bible only, must be the standard for all doctrine and belief.
