Man, the title of my sermon this morning is Antichrist Bible Versions.
Antichrist Bible Versions.
In these last days, there are a lot of Bible versions that are being rolled out that corrupt
and change God's Word.
This was not the case in the past.
If we were to go back in time 100 years, 200 years, 300 years, everyone in the English
speaking world was using the same Bible.
They were all using the King James Bible.
The English Bibles that came before the King James said basically the same thing that the
King James Bible says because they were translated from the same type of Greek manuscripts and
Hebrew manuscripts.
If we were to go to foreign languages throughout the world in the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, Bibles
all over the world would be saying the same thing.
They would have the same verses present in them.
But now in the 20th and 21st centuries, we're seeing the true Bible, the true Word of God
replaced with modern Bible versions that are making dramatic changes to God's Word.
Now it makes sense that these things would be just now rolled out if they have something
to do with the end times.
If they have something to do with preparing people for the end times.
That's why they weren't rolled out previously but now there's a huge push to get the King
James Bible out and to get the NIV in, to get the ESV in, to get the New Living Translation
in.
Now, there have always been people who corrupted and changed God's Word, don't get me wrong.
That took place even in the time of Christ's apostles and it's taken place at various times
throughout history.
There have been corrupt texts and corrupt versions and corrupt Catholic Bibles that
were used to justify things like indulgences and so forth but what we see in modern times
is just an unprecedented just push of these modern versions where they're becoming more
common in churches than even the right Bible, the King James Bible, the traditional Bible,
the Bible that's been passed down to us.
You often hear the term textus receptus and that might sound like a fancy term that you're
not sure if you grasp that term but all it is is just Latin for received text, textus
receptus, received text and what that simply means is that it's what's been passed down
to us.
It's what our parents, our grandparents, our great grandparents have used as opposed to
something that's new, something that was not used by anyone a few hundred years ago that's
been dug up somewhere from some archeological dig and they say, well, we found something
better for you.
We found something that's more accurate.
We found something that's more reliable.
So let's just take that Bible away that you've been using for centuries and let's give you
something new and improved and easier to understand.
That's what's going on today with modern Bible versions.
If you want to know why we're King James only, the reason why is that all of the modern versions
are part of this new corrupt family of Bibles that are being used to prepare the way for
the Antichrist and for the end times.
I'm going to demonstrate that to you.
The King James Bible is the only modern version that is true to the textus receptus that's
true to the text that's traditional, that's been received, that's been passed down.
There were other good Bibles before the King James.
They're out of print.
There are other great Bibles in other languages.
We don't speak those languages.
But in English, we have the perfect preserved word of God without error, the English King
James version that has stood like a rock for 400 years while all these other versions come
and go.
They're constantly being replaced.
The NIV doesn't even stay the same.
You got the 1984 NIV but then you got the 2011 NIV which is dramatically different.
And so these things are constantly changing.
The New American Standard used to be a pretty popular Bible.
Nowadays, very few people are using it.
They've gone to the ESV.
So those Bibles come and go like weeds.
They grow up in the night and they perish in the night.
Then you have the tree of life, the King James Bible that's been there for 400 years and
what's it been doing all that time?
Producing great fruit.
And it continues to bear great fruit today.
Unlike the weeds known as the NIV, the ESV, the ASV, the RSV and so forth.
Look down at your Bible in 2 Thessalonians 2.
The title of the sermon is Antichrist Bible Versions.
I'm going to show you this morning how these modern Bible versions specifically make changes
and alterations that have to do with Bible prophecy or end times or future events.
This is why they've come out at such a time as this, to make these strategic changes.
And all of the changes in these modern Bibles, make no mistake about it, they're strategic.
They're not coincidental.
You can see certain agendas at work.
When you look at all the changes, you'll see patterns of things that keep being changed.
There are certain agendas.
No matter what subject you look at, you'll see a pattern, you'll see an agenda.
Today we're going to specifically home in on the end times.
Now 2 Thessalonians 2 is a pretty important passage about the Antichrist.
It's a pretty important passage about the end times and it's a great warning unto us
not to be deceived.
Look if you would at verse number 1.
Now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering
together unto him that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor
by word nor by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling
away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition who opposed and exalted
himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in
the temple of God showing himself that he is God.
The first thing I want to point out to you is that the modern Bible versions they tamper
with verses about how the Antichrist is going to come before Jesus Christ.
You see many Christians today are being taught to expect the coming of Christ at any moment.
You'll often hear them talk about how he might come today.
He could come this very day.
He could come this evening.
He could come during the service.
Jesus could come back at any moment.
That is a statement that is rolling off of tongues all over America right now.
Right at this second some preacher or many preachers somewhere those words are rolling
off their tongue this second.
Jesus might come today.
Jesus wouldn't it be great if today were the day.
Amen.
Jesus is coming today.
That's a false teaching.
The Bible is crystal clear here.
It says do not be shaken in mind.
Don't let anybody deceive you into thinking what?
What's the deception at the end of verse two?
That the day of Christ is at hand.
What is the day of Christ being at hand mean?
That it's just right here.
It's about to happen.
It could happen any moment.
Then he makes it really clear what he means in verse three because he says let no man
deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away
first.
You see before the day of Christ can come before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
in verse one and our gathering together unto him can take place before that happens the
man of sin has to be revealed first.
Now this makes perfect sense because the man of sin also known in the Bible as the antichrist
is claiming to be Jesus Christ.
So people are constantly being taught oh Jesus could come back today.
Jesus is coming back at any moment.
There's nothing that needs to happen first.
Well then that prepares the way for the antichrist to come and say I'm Jesus Christ.
I'm the second coming of Jesus Christ and make no mistake that is what he will do.
He will claim to be Jesus.
Jesus said many shall come in my name saying I am Christ.
The Bible says that there's antichrist singular that shall come and then there are also many
antichrists even now there are antichrists.
There's a guy down in Brazil.
There's a guy over in Russia.
There's a guy in Mexico.
People that claim to be Jesus Christ and they have lots of followers and they say I'm Jesus.
I'm the second coming and they have lots of followers tens of thousands of followers sometimes
even millions of followers that they can amass but when the antichrist comes he'll be believed
on by the entire world.
He'll be believed on even across denominational or religious boundaries.
He'll be believed on by Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him.
Every tongue, every language, every nation.
Now let me just make it really clear to you what the word antichrist means because a lot
of people misunderstand this word because we have another prefix in English that's similar
to this anti where we'll say hey we're anti-abortion and what does that prefix of anti mean against.
That is not what the anti and antichrist means.
See English is a language that draws from a lot of languages.
We have a lot of French that has come into our language.
We have a lot that has come from Greek.
We have a lot that has come from German because English is a Germanic language but England
was ruled over by the Norman French for over a century so we picked up those and English
is a very eclectic language.
We borrow loanwords from all kinds of languages.
It's a melting pot of a language.
So we get different prefixes from different languages but we have to understand that the
anti and antichrist is the Greek prefix anti because the New Testament is written in Greek
and that prefix anti does not mean against.
It means in the place of or replaced.
So when the Bible talks about the antichrist, it's not just saying somebody who's against
Christ.
No, it's someone who's taking the place of Christ.
It's someone who is a substitute for Christ.
So the antichrist is one who comes saying I'm Christ.
He's a false messiah instead of the true Christ, the true messiah, Jesus Christ, the same Jesus
who was here 2,000 years ago.
This is an imposter saying I'm Christ.
That's what it means to be antichrist.
It's having a different Christ or a different messiah, a replacement or a substitute.
That's what that prefix anti means, in the place of instead of.
So the Bible says here that the day of Christ being at hand is a deception.
Don't let anyone deceive you.
That day shall not come until what happens first?
The falling away, which the falling away is talking about how in the latter days many
will depart from the faith.
A falling away from right doctrine, a falling away from the true Bible, a falling away from
God's word and then the man of sin, which is another name for the antichrist, will be
revealed the son of perdition.
So if we don't see the antichrist and know him to be the antichrist and see him revealed,
once we see the revelation of the antichrist, then we know, okay, now Christ can return.
But Christ cannot return before that.
Not only that, but the way that the man of sin is revealed is explained in verse 4.
The man of sin be revealed the son of perdition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God or that is worshiped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God
showing himself that he is God.
So that's what we have to see happen first before Christ can come.
This event is known as the abomination of desolation.
When the antichrist enters into the temple and declares himself to be God, it happens
at the midpoint of the seven year period often known as Daniel's 70th week.
But that's another story.
Let's see what the NIV does to these verses.
This is a pretty important passage, don't you think?
He's saying, look, don't let anybody deceive you by any means.
Don't be shaken.
Don't be troubled.
I don't care if it's a letter claiming to be from us.
I don't care if it's by word or by spirit.
Just don't let anybody trick you.
Now, it's pretty important, right, not to be tricked.
A lot of people are being tricked.
Well, let's see what the NIV does.
You look down at your King James Bible.
I'm going to read to you from the NIV.
All the modern versions are going to do the same thing.
I'm choosing the NIV because it's the most popular modern version.
The ESV will do the same thing.
Now we beseech you, I'm sorry, I'm reading the King James.
Let me read the non-inspired version.
It's hard to get myself to do it.
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you
brothers and sisters not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly
from us, whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter, asserting, watch this,
that the day of the Lord has already come.
So in the King James Bible, the deception that we're to watch out for is the teaching
that the day of Christ is at hand, that it's about to happen, and hey, don't let anybody
deceive you because it can't happen until X, Y, and Z happens first.
They've changed it to, you know, don't let anybody tell you that the day of the Lord
has already come.
Now don't you think there's a pretty big difference between something being about to
happen and something already happening?
So according to the NIV, maybe it is about to happen.
Just don't let anybody tell you that it already happened.
But maybe it is about to happen.
You see how this is paving the way for the Antichrist to come first.
It doesn't make any sense.
He says in verse 3, don't let anyone, you look down at your King James, I'm going to
show you the next change they make.
Don't let anyone deceive you in any way for that day will not come until the rebellion
occurs.
Now do you see the difference there?
The falling away versus the rebellion, we're going to talk about that in a moment.
Until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to
destruction.
Now there are three major changes just in these couple of verses that have dramatic
implications for end times prophecy.
You're going to tell me, I just read the NIV because it is a little easier to understand.
Because lawlessness is way easier to understand than sin.
It's not that.
It's just that they are changing God's word to corrupt it.
Look, the first change was that they changed the deception to being that the day of the
Lord had already come.
But the next change that they make is that they say that a rebellion has to come first.
What does a rebellion imply?
A rebellion implies that someone's in power, someone's in leadership, someone's in authority
and people are rebelling against that leadership or that authority.
Now in this case the rebellion is a bad thing, right?
So who would have to be in charge in order for a rebellion to be a bad thing, it would
be someone good that's in charge, right?
Because if someone bad is in charge and there's a rebellion, then that could be a good thing,
right?
Overthrowing a wicked leader like Queen Athaliah or something in the Old Testament.
But you see how this could be used by the Antichrist, oh, there's going to be a rebellion
that comes first before the day of the Lord happens.
Think about this, that's people rebelling against the Antichrist.
Think about that.
I mean, I hope this isn't going over your head, it might be a little deep here.
But instead of a falling away, what's a falling away imply?
The falling away, if we study that term in scripture, it's people who are believing right,
they're going to church, they're serving the Lord and in time of temptation, time of testing,
time of tribulation, they fall away.
These are good people falling away.
The rebellion that they speak of could be, well, the Antichrist is trying to rule and
unite us all in peace, but there's some people who just don't want world peace.
The terrorists, these fundamentalist Christians, they won't play ball, they won't get on board.
They're rebellious against this new world order that is being created.
Do you see how that's a pretty big difference?
But then here comes the really big difference.
Instead of the man of sin being revealed, the son of perdition, the NIV changes it to
the man of lawlessness.
Now, first of all, lawlessness is a dumb word.
It sounds weird, lawlessness.
That's a weird word.
But guess what?
It's not the same word as sin.
It's different than sin.
And in fact, this is, remember how we talked about a couple months ago the two problems
in the modern versions?
Do you remember that sermon where I talked about how one problem is they're coming from
a different text and then the other problem is that they have a translation problem?
This is one of those situations where it's coming from a different text.
The underlying Greek text here has been corrupted and changed to say lawlessness.
That's where these modern versions are getting it.
It's a totally different root word.
It's not the same as sin.
Now, why is that a big deal?
What's the difference between being the man of sin and the man of lawlessness?
Well, I believe that people are being programmed that the antichrist is a man of lawlessness
because people are being prepared in the end times to be brought back under the law, which
is something that the New Testament constantly warns us we're not under the law but under
grace.
In the end times, what we're going to see is a resurgence in what we know as the Torah
observing or law observing Christians and what this is is an antichrist that will bring
people together under the Jewish laws and customs.
You see, righteousness doesn't come by the law.
If it does, then Christ is dead in vain.
And the Bible tells us there's been a change made in the law.
The priesthood being changed, there's made of necessity, a change also of the law.
What does that mean?
That means that in the New Testament, we don't observe the Sabbath.
In the New Testament, we eat pork.
In the New Testament, we eat shrimp and lobster if we can afford it, amen?
In the New Testament, we don't observe the Feast of Tabernacles.
We're not going by the month Abib and the month Adar and we're not sitting there and
blowing a trumpet for the new moon.
We're not going down to the temple and offering sacrifices.
We're not building an altar of earth or an altar of whole stones and offering a blood
sacrifice.
Look, that stuff is done away in Christ.
We're in the New Testament.
But there's a huge movement today for Christians to go back to those things, to be Judaized,
and it's called the Hebrew Roots Movement.
And they say, hey, we need to get back to the Hebrew roots of Christianity.
We need to get back to observing Hanukkah.
We need to get back to observing the Yom Kippur and the Sabbath and we need to blow a trumpet
in the new moon and we need to observe all these different signs and all these different
Jewish holidays and we need to abstain from certain meats and we need to abstain from
things that are against the Torah, not understanding that the carnal ordinances are done away in
Christ.
This is way more popular than it was even when I was a kid and I'm a young man.
When I was a kid, the only people who would usually bring that kind of stuff up were Seventh
Day Adventists.
But now you're seeing Evangelical Christians and Baptists just falling for this stuff and
going after these Judaic ways.
And some of them will even go so far as to say that Jesus shouldn't be called Jesus.
His real name is Yeshua.
Or the Lord isn't really the Lord.
He's not really Jehovah.
He's actually Yahweh.
And they bring out these strange terms, Yahweh, Yeshua, and Shalom, Shabbat, and they want
to come at you with all of this Judaizing garbage when that stuff is not part of the
New Testament.
It's not part of our faith.
It's not part of our practice.
We don't believe in that.
But it makes sense because if you're going to bring all religions together, you're not
going to teach New Testament Christianity.
You know what you're going to do?
You're going to try to cross boundaries and say, well, let's bring in the Jews, right?
If we get back to the Torah, we can bring in the Jews, and then we can have Judeo-Christian.
And how many times have we heard that term?
Judeo-Christian.
You know, that's no different than saying Islamo-Christian.
In fact, Christianity and Islam at least both say that Jesus is a prophet.
Now Islam is a wicked religion because they deny that Jesus is the Son of God.
Judaism is a wicked religion because they deny that Jesus is the Son of God.
Both of these religions are false.
We can't have fellowship with either one of them.
We're not Judeo-Christian.
We're not Islamo-Christian.
We're just Christian.
And let me say this.
The Jews and the Muslims and the Christians, they can all agree on one thing, and that's
the Old Testament law of Moses.
That's what we're hearing today.
That's what's going to bring us all together going back to the Torah.
That's what's being taught.
So you can see how the bad guy becomes not the man of sin, not the man who disobeys
God and disobeys Christ's commandments, but the man of lawlessness.
And you know what?
They'll say to us as Bible-believing Baptists or Bible-believing Evangelical Christians,
they'll say, you guys are lawless.
You guys are lawless because you're not doing the Sabbath, because you're not abstaining
from these meats and so forth.
But the next change that they make, and let's keep reading here in 2 Thessalonians 2.
We showed you, first of all, number one, they tampered with verses about the fact that the
Antichrist will come first.
Number two, they changed the falling away to the rebellion.
Two totally different things.
Number three, they changed the man of sin to the man of lawlessness.
But let's keep reading in 2 Thessalonians 2.
It says of the Antichrist in verse 4 that he opposeth, watch this, he opposeth and exalted
himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he as God sitteth in
the temple of God showing himself that he is God.
Now what I want to point out about this is that it's not just that the Antichrist claims
to be God.
He definitely does that.
But what else does he do?
He doesn't just claim to be God.
He claims to be above all that is called God or that is worshiped.
Now let me ask you this.
When Jesus walked on this earth, and when Jesus returns for that matter, but when Jesus
walked on this earth, did he claim to be God?
Yes he did.
He claimed to be God, didn't he?
Because he was God.
John 1.1 clears that up pretty quick when you're reading the Bible.
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
We beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
So we see that Jesus claimed to be God because he was God.
But let me ask you this.
Did Jesus ever exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped?
No, because there is one person that he never exalted himself above, and that's the Father.
So you see the difference there between the Antichrist and Jesus.
Jesus never exalted himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped.
Jesus never refused to acknowledge any God, because he said, I'm going to my Father and
your Father, I'm going to my God and your God.
That's what he said before he ascended up to heaven.
Jesus always gave glory to the Father.
He said, my Father is greater than I.
He said, I do always those things which please him.
And he said that he had received commandments from the Father.
He said, not my will but thine be done.
He called the Father my God when he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
So we see a colossal difference between the Antichrist and Jesus Christ that he exalts
himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped.
Go back to Daniel chapter 11.
Daniel chapter 11 is a pretty difficult chapter.
A lot of things in the Old Testament are pretty difficult to understand, because when they
are dealing with Bible prophecy, they are not as clear as New Testament Scriptures.
So this is kind of a bear of a chapter.
But it has some great teachings on the Antichrist and on end times.
And I want to point something out here in Daniel chapter 11 in regard to this issue
of the Antichrist exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped.
Look down at your Bible there in Daniel chapter 11 verse number 36.
And the king shall do according to his will and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself
above every God and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods and shall prosper
till the indignation be accomplished for that that is determined shall be done.
Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers nor the desire of women nor regard any God
for he shall magnify himself above all.
What does that sound like?
It's exactly what it said in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 that the Antichrist would exalt
himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped.
But in his estate, meaning once he gets into power, because that's when he's basically
getting into power, right?
When he sets himself up as the Antichrist at that midpoint of the week.
But in his estate, once he's in that position of authority, he shall honor the God of forces.
The God of forces and a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold and silver
and with precious stones and pleasant things.
So when the Antichrist comes along, he says what?
I'm God and he says I'm above all that is called God or that is worshiped.
No one's above me.
No one's higher than me.
That's what he comes out with, right?
But then once he's in power, once he's in that estate or in that position of authority,
then he will at that time begin to honor the God of forces.
Now what do you think that means?
The God of forces?
Well, when we think about the word forces, we don't think of a person, do we?
You know, you think about Star Wars, the force.
It's everywhere, you know.
May the force be with you.
Use the force, Luke, right?
And that's something that most of us are pretty familiar with.
I'm not going to ask for a raise of hand who's seen it.
But the force, okay.
But not only that, whenever we talk to heretics who deny the fact that the Holy Spirit is
God or deny the fact that the Holy Spirit's a person, what do they say he is?
Well, he's not a person, he's a force.
Have you heard that?
Put it up your head and be honest, have you heard that where they say the Holy Spirit's
just sort of a force?
Okay.
So when we talk about the God of forces, we're talking about an impersonal God at that point
that's just sort of a force that holds the universe together.
And this is something that the Hindus would be very comfortable with.
You know what I mean?
The idea that the whole fabric of the universe is just this impersonal God or a force or
whatever.
Now, I'm going to come back to that, but let me just tell you that the NIV changes this.
Is that a shock?
Are you shocked?
Instead of the God of forces, here's what the NIV says, the God of fortresses.
The God of fortresses.
So it's just a God, he's going to exalt a God.
After he gets in power, he's going to roll out this new teaching of God having a lot
of castles or fortresses or whatever.
But see, they're trying to hide the truth of the danger of the God of forces.
That's what we need to be aware of.
That's the end times deception, the God of forces, okay.
So what else does the NIV do to change scripture?
Well they change Revelation 14 one to teach a oneness doctrine or a modalist doctrine
where Jesus does not give all glory to the father because according to them, Jesus is
God the father.
Now if you would, we're going to go to Revelation 14, but first go to Ezekiel chapter number
nine.
I want you to pay close attention because if you pay attention to this part of the sermon,
if you get this, this is going to blow your mind.
This will blow your mind and if you have any doubt that the NIV is a wicked version, if
you have any doubt why we need to be King James only, and if you have any doubt why
the Trinity is so important and why this oneness or modalist teaching is so dangerous, this
is going to blow your mind.
You're not going to have those doubts anymore in a minute.
This will blow your mind, what I'm about to show you.
So pay close attention.
Now's not the time to fantasize about what you're going to have for lunch, okay.
That means you too.
No, I'm just kidding.
So here's the thing, okay, before I get into this because this is mind blowing, let me
just start out by saying this, okay, modalism is an end times heresy.
It's something that's been around throughout the centuries.
It was pretty big in the early days of Christianity, but it pretty much died off the face of the
earth until 1913, which was a bad year for a lot of reasons.
But in 1913, this ancient heresy of modalism that hadn't been talked about for a long time
reared up its ugly head and ever since then it's been believed by a group of people called
oneness Pentecostals and you'll run into people when you're out soul winning that will sometimes
tell you, you have to be baptized in the name of Jesus only.
Who's ever run into that out knocking doors, the Jesus only baptism.
Now that means they're a oneness Pentecostal and it's often been known as the Jesus only
movement and what it teaches is that there's just one person, just Jesus, Jesus is God
the Father, Jesus is the Holy Spirit, the name of the Father is Jesus and that Jesus
is just God the Father in a different mode or acting in a different capacity or in a
different manifestation.
They don't differentiate between the three persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost.
Now why does this matter?
Well in the end times, we're all familiar with the idea of the mark of the beast, right?
It's a big thing that people talk a lot about, but here's the thing about the devil.
He doesn't seem to have any original ideas.
He seems to borrow what God has created and just twist it, just pervert it.
He doesn't come up with that which is new.
So what the devil did with the mark of the beast, he actually didn't come up with that
on his own.
He takes a biblical concept and he twists it.
Now are you there in Ezekiel 9?
Before there ever was a mark of the beast, God talked about a good mark being in the
forehead of the righteous.
Now that might come as a surprise to you, but look what the Bible says in Ezekiel 9
verse 3.
And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub whereupon he was to the
threshold of the house and he called to the man clothed with linen which had the writer's
ink horn by his side and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through
the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads, that sound familiar?
Mark on the forehead?
Of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst
thereof and to the others he said in my hearing, Go ye after him through the city in smite,
let not your eyes spare, neither have ye pity, slay utterly old and young, both maids and
little children and women, but come not near any man upon whom is the mark and begin at
my sanctuary, then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Let me ask you something, does this sound a little familiar?
A mark on the forehead and if you don't have the mark on your forehead you're killed.
Sound a little familiar?
Yeah, because this is an Old Testament prophecy given to Ezekiel and this is where the devil
got the idea.
The devil is using this idea and perverting it and corrupting it and not only that, but
I believe that when the antichrist implements the mark of the beast, I believe he'll even
point people to scriptures like this and show them, see this mark is biblical, getting a
mark in your forehead.
Now look, I'm not going to ask for a raise of hands how many people didn't know that
that verse was in the Bible, but it'd probably be most people.
Why?
Oh, Ezekiel's boring.
Well, you know what, if you read this stuff though you'd be prepared for these things,
you'd understand these things.
You think your average fun center Christian today has a firm grasp of Ezekiel chapter
9?
So when the antichrist pulls out Ezekiel 9 or pulls out other scriptures on this mark
in the forehead, he's going to be able to trick people into thinking, hey, this mark
in your forehead is of God.
Look, don't think that the devil's going to show up with horns and a pitchfork and a tail,
alright everybody, come worship me.
He's going to make it believable.
He is going to make it believable.
The Bible says the antichrist will be so convincing he would deceive the very elect if it were
possible.
So of course he's going to use something that he has scriptural backing for.
He loves to twist scripture.
Remember how he was throwing scripture in Jesus' face, just twisting it a little?
That's what he does.
Now go if you would, I'm going to show you the colossal difference between God's mark
in the forehead and the antichrist's mark in the forehead.
Go if you would to Revelation chapter 7.
In Revelation chapter 7 we have a group of people known as the 144,000 and this is a
group that, I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about it because it's outside
of the scope of this sermon, I've done other sermons on it, but this group is sealed in
their forehead in the end times.
And the Bible says in verse 3 of Revelation 7, saying, hurt not the earth, neither the
sea nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
So are these the good people or the bad people getting sealed in their foreheads?
Right, but just so you know, these are people that have been brought back from the dead
at the resurrection.
What we know is the rapture, the resurrection.
These people get sealed and then they're on this earth after the resurrection.
That's another sermon.
There were sealed 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Now let's go to chapter 14, we're going to see the same group.
Chapter 14.
But before we look at chapter 14, look at the last verse.
The last verse says of chapter 13, starting in verse 16, this is the antichrist.
He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark
in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he
that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom.
Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number
of a man, and his number is 600, threescore and six, or 666.
Notice whose name does he put in their foreheads.
The Bible says right here that he causeth them all to receive a mark, and it says in
verse 17 that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, watch this, or the name
of the beast.
The beast is the antichrist.
So when the antichrist implements the mark of the beast, whose name are they getting
in their foreheads?
The name of, the name of the beast.
Does everybody see that?
Look down at your Bible there.
Notice in verse 17, the name of the beast or the number of his name.
Everybody see that?
Look at the very next verse.
The very next verse, Revelation 14, 1.
It says, and I looked and lo, a lamb stood on the mount Zion.
Who's the lamb?
Jesus.
And with him, a hundred forty and four thousand having his father's name written in their
foreheads.
Now what's the difference?
Is Jesus putting his name in their foreheads?
Whose name is going in their foreheads?
The father's name.
Whose name does the antichrist put in the foreheads?
His own name.
Now what did Jesus say in John chapter 5?
He said, I am come in my father's name, and ye receive me not.
If another come in his own name, him you will receive.
Think about that.
So who's the guy who came in the father's name?
Jesus.
Who's the guy who comes in his own name?
The antichrist.
Who's the guy who says, I'm going to put my name in your forehead?
It's not Jesus Christ, it's the antichrist.
So that's a colossal difference there.
And Revelation 22, 4, speaking about the fact that after the millennium when God the father
is directly ruling over us, according to 1 Corinthians 15, Jesus delivers up the kingdom
to the father, to God the father.
At that time the Bible says that we shall see his face, meaning we'll actually see God
the father at that time, they shall see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads.
God the father's name will be in their foreheads.
So it's very consistent, isn't it?
Stay there in Revelation 14, let me show you what the NIV does here.
Listen to what the NIV does in Revelation 14, 1.
You look down at the King James in Revelation 14, 1, I'm going to read you from the NIV.
Then I looked and there before me was the lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him 144,000
who had his name and his father's name written on their foreheads.
Oh, that's, oh, these new versions are just a little easier to understand.
Oh, these changes are just a coincidence.
You think that's a coincidence?
That instead of being the father's name, now it's his name and his father's name.
Now what does that imply?
It implies that it's the same name.
It implies that the name of the father is also Jesus, the name of the son is Jesus.
Some idiot said, well the Antichrist isn't going to come saying that he's Jesus because
that's the name above all names.
Have you ever heard of another Jesus?
Oh, I guess just anybody who we call Jesus is the real savior, huh?
Well guess what?
Mormonism has another Jesus.
The Jehovah's Witnesses have a different Jesus.
The Bible brings up another Jesus in 2 Corinthians chapter number 11 verse 3.
It says, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom you've not preached, or if you receive
another spirit which you've not received, or another gospel which you've not accepted,
you might well bear with them.
Let me tell you something, just because somebody comes in the name of Jesus doesn't mean that
they're actually of the right Jesus.
Why?
Because there's another Jesus.
There's another Christ.
He's called the Antichrist.
Jesus said many shall come in my name.
Notice they're not coming in the Father's name, but he said many will come in my name
saying I am Christ and shall deceive many.
This verse in the NIV implies that the name of the Father and the name of the Son are
the same name, and it is putting the mark in the forehead as being the name of Christ
when any righteous mark in the Bible was the name of the Father, and it's the Antichrist
who wants to put his own name in their foreheads.
That's not a coincidence.
Now the reason why this makes perfect sense is because if you're going to bring all religions
together, and isn't that what the Antichrist is going to do?
If he's going to be worshipped by all tongues, all nations, all languages, he's going to
look, he's got to bring in the Hindus, friend.
There's 1.1 billion of them.
You think he's just going to leave them out?
No way.
It says he's worshipped by everybody.
Okay, you're going to tell me that he's not going to bring in the Muslims?
1.6 billion people?
What about 500 million Buddhists?
They're all going to be brought in.
Well, what kind of a god, let me ask you this question, what kind of a god do the Muslims
have?
Is it a trinity or is it a oneness god?
It's a oneness god, right?
Okay, what kind of a god do the Jews have?
The trinity or a oneness god?
What kind of a god do the Hindus have?
Well, if you're not sure what kind of a god the Hindus have, just go to Google and just
type in nothing else but just the word oneness.
You told me that, right?
You type it.
O-N-E-N-E-S-S. Just type that in and see what comes up.
It's all Hinduism.
And you know what they say?
There's one god.
You say, no, that's not true.
Hindus believe in millions of gods.
No, no, no, Hindus believe that there's one god, the god of forces, and that that one
god just has a lot of modes.
He manifests himself in all these different ways but that there's only one god.
Okay, so if you're going to bring in the Hindus, the trinity's not going to work.
If you're going to bring in the Muslims, the trinity's not going to work.
If you're going to bring in the Jews, the trinity's not going to work.
And let me tell you this.
When you go out soul winning and you run into those that wear the turban and have the really
long beard, what are they called?
Sikhs.
And you know what they tell you?
God is one.
That's their mantra.
In fact, if you open their holy book, the guru grunt sahib, the first words are, God
is one.
What do the Baha'i faith people tell you?
God is one.
I've had Baha'i faith people just, no, no, no, God is one.
God is one.
The Bible says the Lord our God is one Lord.
The Jews will misquote that as the Lord our God is one.
No, actually the Lord our God is three.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one God.
Those three witnesses that bear witness to the truth make up one God.
See you know what sets our God apart from every other God?
We're the only ones who are, as Christians, who worship a triune God.
The Trinity is unique to Christianity.
It's not a Muslim thing.
It's not a Jewish thing.
So if you're going to bring these religions together, listen to me now.
The Trinity is going to have to be discarded in the end times.
It's going to have to be.
It's going to have to be discarded.
Because how else are you going to teach everybody, hey, we're all worshipping the same God?
No, because our God is in three persons.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, a totally different God.
Totally different.
And that's why the NIV changed Revelation 14.1 to make the Father and the Son have the
same name and that name's going to the fourth.
Look, Revelation 14.1 in the NIV is going to be a perfect verse for the Antichrist to
pull out to convince people to take the mark of the beast.
Perfect for him.
This thing is just on a silver platter form.
Oh, and by the way, did I mention to you that the NIV removes the most powerful verse in
the Bible on the Trinity?
Oops, almost forgot to mention the fact that they completely removed 1 John 5.7.
Here's the inconsequential verse that they remove.
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost and
these three are one.
Just that little verse.
It's gone in the NIV.
There's no 1 John 5.7, it's gone.
You say, well, why is that such a powerful verse?
Well, if you actually read it in context, you'll get why it's so powerful because it
says if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.
And what does it mean when we receive the witness of men?
It's when we get two or three witnesses.
Because one witness is not enough.
If one witness comes to me and says, I've witnessed a murder, that's not enough to convict.
It must be two or three witnesses.
There has to be other evidence than just one person's word, right?
Well, we don't have one person's word.
We have the word of Jesus, but we also have the word of the Father.
There are three that bear witness, three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost.
These three are one.
There's only one God made up of the three witnesses, the three that bear record.
Gone in the new versions.
Oh, it's just a coincidence.
But let me show you one last thing that the new versions do to tamper with scripture.
This is pretty mind-blowing as well.
Go if you would to 1 John chapter 4.
We're going to go to 1 John 4, and we're going to go to 2 John 7.
Now the reason 1 John 4 and 2 John 7 are pretty interesting is that they both have to do with
the word antichrist itself.
So this is some of the scripture where we actually derive the word antichrist.
The word antichrist is also used in 1 John chapter 2.
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ.
He's antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.
So you can see that the spirit of antichrist says that Jesus is not the Messiah because
they're looking for a different Messiah.
Why?
Because antichrist means in the place of Christ, a different person in the place of Christ.
Not this same Jesus which was taken up from us into heaven, but a different guy.
That's what antichrist means.
But notice that also the spirit of antichrist does what?
It denies the Father and the Son.
Sounds like an attack on the Trinity to me when you're denying the Father and the Son.
You're teaching oneness.
But look what the Bible says in 1 John chapter 4 verse 1.
Beloved, believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they're of God because
many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the spirit of God.
Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God and every
spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God and this
is that spirit of antichrist where have you heard that it should come and even now already
is it in the world.
So the Bible here says that the big thing that identifies the spirit of antichrist is
what?
That that spirit does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
Everybody see that?
Okay now listen to the NIV.
You look at verse 2 and I'm going to read for you in your Bible and I'm going to read
from the NIV.
We're going to read verses 2 and 3.
This is how you can recognize the spirit of God.
You're looking at the right Bible.
Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
Watch verse 3.
But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.
This is the spirit of antichrist which you've heard is coming and even now is already in
the world.
Now listen carefully.
Look at verse 3.
Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.
Is that what it says in the King James?
No in the King James it says that every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh.
So in the NIV you're antichrist if you don't acknowledge Jesus.
You just don't acknowledge him at all.
But in the King James you're antichrist if you don't confess that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh.
Is that a pretty big difference?
So the very definition of antichrist has changed.
Now go to 2 John and see where they change it again.
2 John verse 7 has another real clear definition of what it means to be an antichrist.
It says in 2 John verse 7 for many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
Notice the exact words.
Confess they don't confess the word confesses there.
They don't confess that Jesus Christ is come past tense in the flesh.
Everybody got that?
This is a deceiver and an antichrist listen to the NIV.
I say this because many deceivers who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the
flesh have gone out into the world any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
So notice we've changed from a past tense to a future tense.
Everybody see that?
Instead of saying that the antichrist is one who confesses not that Jesus Christ is come.
Look at past tense joy to the world the Lord is come.
Is that saying in the past or the future?
Past.
Joy to the world the Lord is come.
He said look if you won't confess that Jesus Christ is come past tense in the flesh that's
a deceiver and an antichrist but in the NIV it says well they don't acknowledge Jesus
Christ as coming.
If I said I'm coming is that future or past?
Hey you coming to the barbecue this afternoon?
Yes I'm coming.
Future or past?
Future.
You coming?
I'm coming.
You going?
I'm going.
I'm come.
I am come alight into the world Jesus said.
What does that mean?
He already came into the world and he's there right?
So you can see that these changes are not incidental coincidental or accidental are
they?
There's agenda and there's a lot of thought that goes into these changes and just these
little subtle corruptions have very far reaching implications.
A lot of times people they hear about false doctrine they say what's the big deal?
Who cares?
Well I heard a great illustration recently it's sort of like a guitar.
Who plays guitar a little bit or you've played guitar a little bit in the past and you know
that tuning the guitar is something that you do almost every time you sit down to play
it you tune the thing right?
Well sometimes you'll start playing and you'll have a string out of tune right?
And if a string's out of tune it sounds terrible.
Everything sounds aw- well something's wrong.
What you do is you figure out which string's out of tune and you put it into tune and then
everything sounds great right?
And sometimes you can go to a piano or something that you know is tuned right and use that
as the standard.
So those guitar strings are sort of like doctrine okay?
So sometimes I'll look at my doctrine and find something that's not making sense or
it's not adding up it's not you know something's a little out of tune right?
Then what I need to do is go to the Word of God which is like the piano and get in tune
with what God teaches in the Bible right?
Or I can sit there and say well if five of the strings are sounding great together and
one of them's like I can pretty much guess it's that one that's wrong it's not the five
that are wrong it's that one that's wrong because the other five are all in perfect
harmony.
So it's like that when we study the Bible everything's in perfect harmony everything's
lining up everything's making sense we're comparing scripture with scripture we're testing
the first string to the second string sounds good second string to the third string sounds
good third string to the fourth string sounds good then we get the fifth string.
We don't any logical person is going to say well it's the fifth string that's wrong it's
not one through four that are wrong.
Some toddler came up and just you know when a toddler touches a guitar that's all they
want to touch is that little knob.
They don't want to strum the strings they just want to just start twisting the knobs
right but here's what happens when we find that a false doctrine doesn't jive it's not
in tune it's out of sync what do we need to do we need to get it in tune.
But here's what some people do they get stubborn about that false doctrine they don't want
to let go of it they don't want to admit that that strings out of tune they won't face it
so here's what they end up doing instead of fixing that false doctrine here's what they
end up having to do they end up having to tune all the other strings to match the one
that was all.
That's what they have to do they end up now they have to start tweaking on the first string
second string third string fourth string and the sixth string and then they're playing
it sounds good hey everything's making sense now hey it all fits it all matches except
it's a lie except when we compare it to the standard when we compare it to the authority
when we compare it's totally out of tune it would sound horrific if they actually tried
to play in a band with people who are tuned in right and you can't even communicate with
these people because you tell them hey let's okay everybody let's play an A chord and then
they're just like total wrong if they play by themselves it sounds good yeah because
they're but their A is our G so when we're all playing A and they're playing G it's like
oh man we can't even communicate because when I say A they don't even know what I'm
talking about when I mention an A flat they don't even know what that means they're thinking
G flat they're thinking F sharp you see what I'm saying this is why we got to be careful
anytime we want to just dig in on a false doctrine for whatever ulterior motive we have
to hang on to that false doctrine pride or just whatever tradition because when you do
you end up having to make other adjustments pretty soon it's affecting salvation it's
affecting you know other things and so that's why it's scary when people you show people
that the pre-trib rapture is wrong and they dig in on it and then you know what they end
up doing they end up getting into like hyper dispensationalism because it's the only way
they can make their pre-trib work and pre-trib is not a damnable heresy but hyper dispensationalism
is when you start teaching that people are saved by works in the Old Testament works
during the tribulation you start saying that there's three gospels that's a damnable heresy
because the Bible says only one gospel and anybody who preached another gospel let him
be accursed so this is why false doctrines later when you tamper with the Trinity the
whole Bible goes out of tune the whole New Testament goes out of tune you start tweaking
these things and and look the NIV the NIV's got all the strings out of tune and I'm telling
you you must be King James only in these last days do not do not think this is a minor issue
I mean look if you're not you know the guitar illustration doesn't even work for the you
know the NIV is not you're not even a guitar anymore the NIV is a kazoo is that what you
said who said a kazoo is that you yeah the NIV is like more like a kazoo yeah you got
the little Chuck E. Cheese fun center church that's what they're playing down there we're
playing classical guitar down here they're on a kazoo like you know doo doo doo doo doo
doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer