Examine whether the Jesus of Nazareth is in you!

 

Revelation of “the little horn”, the Antichrist

 

I have already published many articles on the person and ministry of the Antichrist and the False Prophet. They are in fact spiritual beings ruling a hidden kingdom in this world. Paul while writing his epistle II Thessalonians, during the first century, says very clearly," For the mystery of iniquity doth already work….." (II Thes. 2:7). It is not something that happens in the last century of this world. However, the mystery of iniquity will reach its zenith during the last of last days. Paul says about the time of the revelation of the Wicked in verse 8 of this chapter. "Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming". "Then" the Antichrist will be revealed. Before his revelation, he would oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. In the spiritual realm, the Antichrist, the invisible king ruling his kingdom, is exalting himself above the God of the universe, and the people of this world are worshipping a god other than the God of the Bible. He is a god of materialism; a god of all religions; a god of power. One day, he will be revealed. The Wicked will be revealed "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth……"

The book of Daniel is a sealed book. Even Daniel was not given the key to open the seal of this book. The seal of this book was opened by Paul in his epistle to Thessalonians. These days, there are many interpretations of the revelations in the book of Daniel. Some people describe the Antichrist as the Pope of Rome, etc. Till the time of his revelation, we would not know who he is.

In Mathew 24:15, Jesus refers to the prophetic book of Daniel and speaks about "the abomination of desolation" that would stand in the holy place. This expression occurs three times in Daniel. In Dan.9:27 and 12:11, the reference is to the "Beast", "man of sin" (2 Thes.2, 3, 4) and is identical with Mt.24:15. In Dan.11:31, the reference is to the act of "Antiochus Epiphanies, the prototype of the man of sin, who sacrificed a sow upon the altar, and entered the holy of holies. The spirit of prophecy here returns to that which more immediately concerned Daniel and his royal masters – the near future of the empire in which he was great a personage. Four kings were yet to follow in Media-Persia. Then will come Alexander the "mighty king" of Grecia (Dan.11:3). The division of Alexander's empire into four parts (11:4) as already predicted (Dan.8:22) is foretold. The troublous course of affairs in two parts of the disintegrated Alexandrian empire, Syria and Egypt, is then traced down to Dan.11:20. Here Antiochus Epiphanies, the "little horn" of Chapter 8 occupies the vision down to verse 36. His pollution of the sanctuary is again mentioned. From verse 36, the interpretation is of the final "little horn" (Dan.7:8, 24-26). Here the prophetic fore view, having traced the history of the two parts of Alexander's empire which had to do with Palestine and the Jews, viz, Syria and Egypt, to the time of Antiochus Epiphanies, and having described his career, overleaps the centuries to "the time of the end," when he of whom Antiochus Epiphanies was a type, the "little horn" of Dan.7:8, the "Beast out of the sea" of Rev.13:4-10 shall appear.

Prophecy does not concern itself with history as such, but only with history as it affects Israel and the Holy Land. Antiochus Epiphanies was insignificant as compared with historical personages whom the Bible does not mention, but he scourged the covenant people and defiled God's altar, thus coming into prophetic light. From verse 36 the "little horn" of Dan.7:8, 24-26 fills the scene. His propensity lasts until "the indignation" (the time of trouble of Dan.12:1 and Mt.24:21) is accomplished (Vs.36).

The "little horn" here is a historical event fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanies, B.C.175, who profaned the temple and terribly persecuted the Jews.

What I want to stress here is that the historical events concerning the "little horn" had already been fulfilled in the person and rule of Antiochus Epiphanies. But the prophetic events concerning "the little horn" are taking place in the spiritual realm which we do not see with our physical eyes. In other words, though the historical part of the book of Daniel has already taken place, the prophetic part which needs to be interpreted allegorically has been taking place in the spiritual realm. The final manifestation of the "little horn" or the Wicked or the Antichrist is yet to take place.

 

Examine whether the Jesus of Nazareth is in you!
 

Luke in his gospel speaks about a certain man who said to Jesus, "Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest". Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head...." (Luke 9:57-58). As the disciples of our Lord Jesus and as His ministers, we are supposed to follow Him whithersoever He goes.

The Lord will not be in a place where the people merely worship Him but do not heed His call for repentance. Today you may feel like enjoying His presence in a church service. But the Lord may not be there. It is only a deception. It may not be the Jesus of Nazareth in your midst. It may be "some other Jesus" in your midst who makes a debut only on Sundays. A Jesus who condones the sin of adultery! A Jesus who extracts your tithes and offerings but overlooks your sinful secret life! If Jesus is in your midst or in your church service, you will weep over your sinful life; you will loathe your sinful life; you will be stripped of your prideful spirit.

If the Holy Spirit leads you to a nation where the gospel has not yet been preached to the multitudes there, you have to follow Him. As an apostle, you cannot minister to Jesus in a place which has already been evangelized.

The Jesus of Nazareth had no place to lay His head. Today, many ministers of the gospel who reportedly follow Christ lead luxurious lives without any concern for the poor saints in the Body of Christ. Though they preach the gospel to the thousands, they own movable and immovable assets either in their own names or in the names of their spouses or children. They may perform signs and wonders in the Name of Jesus Christ or prophesy in His Name. If they lead luxurious lives like the rich man in the Luke's gospel "who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day" without caring for the poor "Lazarus", where they would spend their eternity? Jesus did not disclose in this passage that the rich man was saved or not. This Bible passage does not speak about salvation at all. It only focuses on the selfishness of a certain rich man who did not care for the one who desired to be fed with the crumbs which fell from his table (Luke 16:19-31).

Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests. But Christ the King of glory, the King of Kings, had no place to lay His head. The people who reportedly follow Him own everything on this earth. Sadhu Sundar Singh, the apostle with bleeding feet from India, lived like Jesus in our midst. He was led by the Holy Spirit to visit many places in India and in foreign countries in the early 1900s. At Lake George, USA, he spoke in a meeting. In the front row at the meeting sat a small child of three and a half years. All through his address, this wee mite scarcely took her eyes from the Sadhu's face. When he sat down, the audience was almost electrified to hear the question asked in a clear childish treble, "Is he Jesus?" People saw Christ in the life of Sadhu Sundar Singh because he was leading a Christ-like life on this earth.
 
Today, we, the Christians, are the most deceived people in this world. We presume that Christ is in us or in our midst and that we are ministering to Him. Paul in his epistle to Corinthians exhorts them, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. (2 Cor.13:5-6). We have to examine ourselves whether we are in the faith. We may attend the church services and worship Christ. We may give our tithes and offerings. We may also partake of some special church meetings. But the Jesus of Nazareth may not be in us or in our midst and we may be reprobates.