[World Challenge Pulpit Series] The Coming Of The Blasphemers ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Plain Text File + Home Page + Subscribe + Copyright ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By David Wilkerson March 4, 1991 __________ "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.... "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven" (Revelation 13: l, 5-6). The apostle John prophesies of a last-day invasion of the world - by a beast with monstrous heads coming up out of the sea. It is a demonic invasion of a powerful spirit of blasphemy that rises up in great influence during the very last days. I believe the "sea" John talks about represents the masses of humanity. And his phrase "ris(ing) up out of the sea" indicates something that has lain dormant - but that now suddenly exposes itself and goes on the offensive. I believe he is saying that something in society has built up over time - and now appears as a multi-headed monster! Its name is emblazoned on all seven heads:... and upon his heads the name of blasphemy" (13:1). Attacks of blasphemy are not new. God and His servants have always been blasphemed. David said, "O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name forever?" (Psalm 74:10). Even Paul confessed he was once "a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious" (1 Timothy 1:13). But this is something much more sinister. I believe John is describing an incredible unleashing of a last-day, multi-headed spirit of blasphemy and that John is standing on the sands of our time, witnessing prophetically all the various kinds of blasphemy that are rising in power, influence and respect in the world at this very hour! In Revelation 12:3, the devil is described as "a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns." This seven-headed beast that is rising to power is a reflection of Satan - it has all the characteristics of the red dragon! I remind you that the church of Jesus Christ has been under a powerful, supernatural attack in recent years - beyond anything recorded in church history. You'd have to be blind not to see it. And it's not just that God is exposing things in the body of Christ; certainly, judgment begins at the house of God. But this is something entirely different! No other Christian generation has been assaulted with all the popular means that modern-day blasphemy uses to flaunt itself. TV, films and videos were not known in John's time. All these things have emerged in our century, right out of the sea of humanity! Only in our time has Christ been vilified and mocked and blasphemed in such evil films as "The Last Temptation of Christ" - where He was shamefully portrayed as a pervert, living with Mary Magdalene! Christ's divinity was ridiculed, His very manhood questioned. Thousands flocked to theaters to applaud such blasphemy. Only in our time has a homosexual artist - Mapplethorpe - been honored with a nationally shown photography exhibit that blasphemes the Cross of Christ. He photographed the cross rising out of a vat of urine! Much of the rest of his traveling show was so smutty and evil it can't be repeated here. Just fifty years ago this man would have been jailed! It was a powerful blasphemy - yet he was protected by law and defended by some of the most powerful people in our courts and government. (Mapplethorpe died of AIDS - a victim of the very perversions he promoted in his photographs!) I am not trying to look for seven major kinds of blasphemy to represent the heads John described. It is sufficient to say this monster is multi-headed and it is rapidly rising in power, gathering influence and acceptance! For example, out of the ashes of Iraq and Kuwait there has risen a dictator whose head is inscribed with another blasphemy: Islam! Islam is now a religious-political blasphemy that holds one-third of the world's population under its deceptive influence. And it is quickly gaining more recognition and power. Less than twenty years ago we heard that a few sports figures were changing their names to take on Islamic ones . Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abduljabbar. We took it lightly and attributed it to the influence of black Muslims. Today, their radical leader Louis Farrakan - who once was considered just a fanatic - holds sway over many thousands here in the United States. His influence has spread like wildfire! The blasphemy of Islam has been granted great power from Satan. Islam well fits John's description: "...like unto a leopard... the feet of a bear... the mouth of a lion... and the dragon gave him his power" (Revelation 13:2). This describes the ferociousness, the wildness, the lack of respect for human life that characterizes Islam. It all comes from Satan! It is his last hope to annihilate Israel! And what about the great bear, Communism? The New York Times likened Communism recently to "a corpse... now clambering ghoulishly from its grave." For months the Times writers waxed eloquent about the death of Communism, saying the evil empire had been fatally wounded in the head. Now these same people say Communism has been resurrected! A corpse is now rising from the dead! And stop and think for a moment about the growing power and influence of other modern blasphemies. What about the New Age philosophy that's sweeping the world? Humanism? Mystic cults? "Kingdom dominion" doctrines? Ten years ago Shirley MacLaine and her "I-am-God" gibberish was the laughingstock of Hollywood. Today she helps mold the minds of millions who flock to hear the New Age gospel! Another horrible blasphemy occurring in the past twenty-five years is so ugly, so evil, it drives hundreds of thousands of Americans to pound the streets. Their cause? To save minks and other rodents - while claiming the right to kill babies! They scream for the right to murder innocent children, yet weep over dolphins caught in tuna nets! They carry water pistols loaded with red paint and spray expensive fur coats - then later flatter themselves that they've done a righteous thing. Yet if you try to save the life of a single baby from abortion, they spew off a vicious torrent of curses in your face! Beloved, it has never been this way before! This spirit has always lurked underneath the surface - but today the beast of blasphemy has risen to go forth to deceive the nations! ----------------------------------------------- The Devil Himself Has Endued These Multi-Blasphemies With Power From Hell! ----------------------------------------------- "The dragon gave him his power... and power was given unto him" (Revelation 13: 2,5). Paul warned of "the spirit that now worketh in [drives] the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2). This explains the devotion and violence of these growing movements of blasphemy. It is a supernatural dedication - straight out of hell! Have you ever wondered how homosexuals are willing to demonstrate and march for their cause through ice, sleet and freezing weather? Or how they have gained such power and influence that they now demand legislation on every level to promote and protect their lifestyle? How is it that, in just a day's notice, such groups can gather multiple thousands to leave their jobs and families willing to lie down in the streets, sacrificing their bodies for a cause? Where does their zeal, their spirit come from? Listen, Christians: Don't even try to match their numbers! We never will! There is something supernatural about their drive. It's driven and manipulated by command central - hell! We are going to be amazed in the days ahead at the incredible pride, arrogance and violence of this multi-headed beast of blasphemy. It is a war of words - proud, violent, threatening words against the righteous! Persecuting, mocking, blasphemous words! The battle cry of the blasphemers in the last days is: "No one can stop us! We will control the minds of the whole world! A new world order will arise with such power that no one can withstand it!" (This "new world order" is also being spoken about by President Bush!) They will say, "Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him" (Revelation 13:4). Islam is looking for world domination. Its goal is to bring everyone to Mecca and put them at the feet of its god! They want to drive Israel to the sea, wipe it out, make the land a Palestinian state - and designate Mecca the center of the world! These blasphemies are converging like liquid poured into a funnel - and are all emerging from the same hole. And the supreme leader these blasphemers all worship and yearn for is the Antichrist! When he is revealed, they will bow at his feet. The Aquarians, the New Agers, the Eastern cults - all look for the supreme teacher to come: the Lord Maitreya - the Christ one! The final illuminated one! Maitreya's group is looking for him to appear at any moment. Several years ago they placed ads in TV, newspapers and other media all across the United States announcing that Maitreya had already appeared on the earth. They claimed he was now an adult and was being trained for rulership. Everybody laughed! When I first heard this, I thought, "This is just a tiny group. No thinking person, no educated businessman or woman would fall for this foolishness!" Now, not more than 10 years later, powerful business executives - degreed men of influence - have crystals displayed in their offices. They bow down to them, saying "Give me power, give me supernatural energy flow!" This type of blasphemy is not limited to the New Agers. Let me give you a specific example of what we can expect in some of our mainline denominations: Episcopal Bishop John S. Spong who oversees 125 Episcopal churches in northern New Jersey, has just released a book entitled Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism. In it he calls the apostle Paul "a self-loathing and repressed gay male" - because Paul confessed, "Wretched man that I am." Spong says Paul revealed his hostility toward women when he said, "Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands." Bishop Spong told a reporter he got the idea from an atheist writer in 1937. Then he reread the New Testament with this in mind: "St. Paul was gay... nothing else can account for Paul's self-judging rhetoric, his negative feeling toward his own body and his sense of being controlled by something he had no power to change." Some of Spongs own ministers say he has gone too far - that he has created a church with no morals. Yet will Spong lose his position? No! Give him a month or two and he'll be wined and dined and heralded as a great theologian - because America is that backslidden. This is a prime example of the rising power and authority of blasphemers! A generation ago the church wouldn't have given Spong an hour of its time. The moment his book came out, he would have been called before a committee of elders and banned from ministry. But today he is a hero! ----------------------------------------------- To the Natural Eye God's People Will Be Overcome By This Invasion of Blasphemy! ----------------------------------------------- "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations" (verse 7). Daniel said the same thing: "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them" (Daniel 7:21).The words used here - overcome, prevail - do not mean destruction or defeat. This is not an ultimate victory for the devil! The best definition is effectiveness or success in wearing down the saints. We cannot soften what the Scripture clearly says in this war of blasphemy - that the beast will overcome the saints! To the temporal, natural eye, the blasphemers are winning! Yet they cannot overcome our spirits or our faith - only our natural man. It will appear to our very eyes, though, that the church is powerless against these blasphemies - and that the blasphemers will go unchallenged. For instance, the entire church structure of America could not stop the showing of The Last Temptation of Christ. Christians picketed, pulpits thundered - but the show went on! It appeared the blasphemers won. No body of believers could stop Mapplethorpe's evil road shows! The attempts by decent people to halt it were all pushed aside by favorable court rulings. ACLU lawyers proudly left courtrooms beaming from ear to ear, like conquerors! To the natural eye they overcame the believers. Drug lords are now saying, "Who can stand in our way?" A new "designer" drug mixed with pentathol is on the streets right now. Who is going to stop this new death-drug? We have a powerful army in Iraq right now, but we can do nothing in our own country in the war against drugs. We're powerless! In twenty-five years, have we stopped abortion? No - it is worse than ever! It has the support of the law in all but two states. We have prayed for three years for God to shut down the 68th Street abortion chamber, located one floor above our church offices. We have fasted, wept, pleaded. To the natural eye these people have overcome us. They have told us publicly that we can't touch them! For a season it will look as though God's people have been overcome, as if we are absolutely helpless. Dear saint, the day is coming when you'll feel totally stripped! Yet there are Christians right now who claim they are taking the world for Jesus. But I don't know of one country they've "taken" - or where in America they've been able to stop abortion. Please hear me: The devil is not going to be affected by cheer-leading saints who do something based on emotions and not on Scripture something that has no spiritual insight! I agree that we should demonstrate, that we should pray - but God is warning us from His Word: "Don't be surprised when you see things happening in America you thought could never happen!" Yes, I believe in pulling down satanic strongholds! Yes, I believe in the power of prayer! Yes, I believe in the victory of the Cross over hell and the devil! Yet in the very last of these last days, this many-headed beast must arise. Daniel and John have said that, for a season we will witness the proud, arrogant ascendancy of the blasphemers! Remember: It's a temporary show of might - a sham dominion! It is a coalition of antichrist spirits that will some day meet its eternal doom! ----------------------------------------------- Rejoice! The Beast's Days Are Numbered - King Jesus Is on His Way to Cut Down All Enemies" ----------------------------------------------- Reading through the Book of Revelation, your mind almost reels because of the vivid imagery: Mystery Babylon, the great whore, the woman sitting on a scarlet-colored beast, the red dragon, the seven-headed beast with ten horns and ten crowns, frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, foul powers loosed from the River Euphrates, locusts pouring out of the bottomless pit... We don't need to know the reality of the symbolism of all this - there are literally hundreds of interpretations. We know that the book is all about Jesus and His final conquest of the devil, evil and death. And I rejoice over one thing in Revelation that is very clear: Everywhere you look in these prophecies about the Antichrist, false prophets and demonic forces, you see that God is putting limits and deadlines on their abilities: The Beast is given power - but only "to continue forty and two months" (Revelation 13:5). The number forty-two appears four times in Revelation. And when the Lord sees that Mystery Babylon's cup has been filled with iniquity, it burns to ashes "in one hour." In Revelation 17, a ten-pronged power is given "power as kings one hour with the beast" (verse 12). Yet the significance of this message isn't the "forty-two months" or the "one hour." No - we simply need spiritual eyes to see as Elisha did! When surrounded by an army sent to kill him, he didn't even stir to go to the window. He smiled because his spiritual eyes beheld an all-powerful heavenly host in the clouds! He had another window in the clouds above him! To the natural eye, Elisha was overcome. The enemy had prevailed - but the story wasn't over. The King of Glory was on His white horse! And Elisha had spiritual eyes to see Him! Dear saints, if you begin to see all these blasphemies and powers surrounding you, and you don't have spiritual eyes - you'll get agitated and worried and fretful. As you see them gaining power and ascendancy, your spirit will become upset. But one thing has blessed my heart - and it's going to keep me sane no matter what comes. It will do the same for you. Beloved, I've seen a white cloud! And I want to point you heavenward to it! This white cloud holds the key to our victory: "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle" (Revelation 14:14). All you tin gods and blasphemers below - God is going to come down one day and cut you all down! He will say, "Where is all your power now, all your influence?" And the beast and the dragon will be cast into the pit! So the atheistic lawyers, the liberal court, have ruled God out of the schools and they pass out condoms instead! So they're pushing to get God out of American society and home. My answer is simply this: "There He sits, crown on His head, sickle in His hand!" Their days are numbered - harvest time has come! Jesus commanded us, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28). Well, what are we supposed to look for and rejoice at? At the white cloud - So New Agers, Aquarians, mystics and occultists are growing in power, influence and number - So they proudly boast they will rid the earth of everyone who refuses to go along with them. So they say a new world order is coming. (I can hear the angels whispering, "If they only knew how true!") So they brag they will take over the earth and crown their lord Maitreya. So Islam says it will wipe Israel off the map and claim the spiritual victory of this last day. Yet as they spew forth these words there He sits, crown on His head, sickle in His hand! So the radical homosexual group Act Up continues acting up. So they flaunt their sins, gaining power and shaking their fists at God. So 300,000 of them march and chant and dare us to step on them. So the sadists, the God and Christ-haters, pack their theaters with films and videos, mocking all that is holy! So the pornographers and drug lords go on getting rich and powerful. I say: There He sits, crown on His head, sickle in His hand! So the Communist bear rises from its deadly wound and becomes a dictatorship worse than Stalin's. So Russia fights the whole world - moving a multi-million-member army toward Israel, and aiming a nuclear arsenal at the United States. My answer is: There He sits, crown on His head, sickle in His hand! The United States boasts about its satellite monitoring system. We claim we can look down at Iraq, even on a cloudy day, and see the part in a man's hair. Beloved, there is an even greater monitoring system! There is a Man on a white cloud who looks down and sees the number of hairs on your head and the thoughts in your mind. So a man sits in the temple calling Himself God. So He declares war on God - on heaven itself! Yet the man sitting on the cloud is totally unimpressed! He stands, raises His sickle and thrusts it into the harvest - it's time to reap the earth! (Revelation 13:15) ----------------------------------------------- He Is Not Sitting Now - He Is Cutting Down - Reaping! ----------------------------------------------- Beloved, I've seen that white cloud - and the One who sits on it! He's wearing a crown of authority over all the kings of the world, and all the nations serve as His footstool. Now I know how I can rejoice when I see all these things coming to pass, as Jesus instructed us. Because there He sits, crown on His head, sickle in His hand! All I have to do is to look up! The time of reaping has come! And listen, backsliders, compromisers - if He's going to cut down entire armies, will He spare you? If He has His eye on the hidden Antichrist, has He missed seeing you? No, everything we do is seen by that great monitor in heaven Jesus, sitting on the cloud! Can you imagine what it's going to be like when He starts reaping? Oh, the judgments, the agony! He is going to bind the blasphemers, the antichrist spirits, the beast spirits - and cast in them all into a bottomless pit, locked for eternity. Then, He says, He is going to go into the clouds and take us with Him! He said He's coming in a cloud of glory! Saint, have you seen that white cloud for yourself? Look up - your redemption draws nigh! --- Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O. 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