Article

“‭Therefore if any man ‭be in Christ‭, ‭he is a new creature‭: old things are passed away‭‭; behold‭‭, all things are become‭ new‭,‭”‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ 2 Corinthians 5:17.

I was reminded of my age and the sombre truth that “‭we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again,”‬ 2 Samuel 14:14, by this picture which appeared in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ on Thursday morning past.

It shows the demolition of what was known as Havelock House, situated on the lower Ormeau Road. It was the old headquarters of Ulster Television. I entered that building as an employee, just short of my sixteenth birthday, the youngest member of staff at that time, on the 21st September 1959, some five weeks before Ulster Television began broadcasting.

About eighteen months later, I began to work in the ‘Film Department’, where feature films were prepared for transmission and where advertising commercials were assembled on large reels for transmission each day.

I can recall working at a bench and looking out of the window, top left in this picture, as I helped assemble the 35 mm commercial adverts and various feature films that were broadcast. I also learned about feature film editing for sometimes the broadcasting schedule required a feature film to be shortened by a few minutes. I also was involved in editing news film reports for local news broadcasts, a knowledge which stood me in good stead in later years, when editing audio files for radio broadcasts was required..

Everything changed for me on 5th April 1964, for the Lord in mercy awakened me to my lost condition, granted me faith and repentance and I trusted Christ as my Saviour in obedience to the gospel. At the end of November of that year, just seven months later, I left Ulster Television and at the beginning of January 1965, I began as a student for the gospel ministry in the Free Presbyterian Church Theological Hall.

The above picture brought this all before me in a moment! (more…)

“And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority,” Revelation 13:2.

This is but one of the many ‘pictures’ given to us of the man who will rise at the end of this age and lead the nations in the region of the old Roman Earth or the ‘Prophetic Earth’ as it is known. His damnation will come directly at the hands of the Lord Jesus on the glorious day of His return.

“And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh,” Revelation 19:19-21.

So will end in ignominy the wicked and proud attempt by the devil’s man to frustrate the purpose of God and usurp His throne!

To seek to learn what is revealed to us about the “man of sin and son of perdition” we must diligently search through God’s ‘photo album’, the inspired Holy Scriptures and humbly receive by faith the information God has given us there of the end times and ‘that wicked one’ whose activities will dominate the world stage and the thoughts, aye, and the admiration of sinful men!

I would like to gather what information I can from Holy Scripture of the person about whom  God would clearly have us to be well informed. It is obvious from the record given us by Jude that since the earliest days of men, the subject of the final apostasy and the overthrow of those involved in that apostasy by the Saviour upon His return in power, has been under consideration.

“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him,” Jude 1:14-15.

That Enoch, back at the dawn of time was PROPHESYING of the return of Christ and His overthrow of Antichristianity, clearly shows that it has ever been the purpose of God to have His people made aware of the end-time events!

Thus He has given us many indications of the one who will be central in the devil’s latter day rebellion.

This is a lengthy article and even then I have only scratched the surface of what the Scriptures reveal of the Antichrist. May I suggest, if you find it too long to read at one sitting, that you read it point by point, for each point is a little article in itself.

I. THE BIBLE MAKES CLEAR THAT THE ANTICHRIST WILL APPEAR ATTRACTIVE TO THE EYES OF MEN.

1. Many of the titles given him do not denote ‘attractiveness’! He is called ‘the beast’, Revelation 13:2 — the Greek word denotes a wild, savage beast. He is called the ‘man of sin, the son of perdition’, 2 Thessalonians 2:3. He is called ‘that wicked’ (that lawless transgressor), 2 Thessalonians 2:8. He is likened unto a ‘horn’ in Daniel 7:8, 8:9. A horn is a destructive weapon on many animals by which they put forth their power to inflict injury on their opponents! He is called a ‘vile person’, Daniel 11:21. The Hebrew word means ‘contemptible’. (more…)