THE COVENANT VISION

MINISTRY.

P.O. Box 3192.
Mount Druitt Village.
N.S.W. 2770. AUSTRALIA.
Phone: 02-9833-3925. Fax: 02-9833-4397.

E-Mail: fdowsett@idx.com.au

Senior Pastor and Co-Founder:

FRANK W. DOWSETT. J.P.


The Heritage
of
Israel.

  
By Frank W. Dowsett.


Part Fourteen.

The Covenants & The Promises.   Part 9.

The Abrahamic Covenant.   Part  Six.


As you read, please keep in mind that we are now studying those who falsely claim to be the recipients of God’s Covenants and Promises.   You will no doubt recall that in our previous study, we found that there were three very definite, but different titles referred to by the apostles John and Paul, and our Lord Jesus Christ.  They were; “anti-Christ”, by John;  “the man of sin” by Paul;  and “the synagogue of Satan” by our Lord.  It was pointed out that neither of these titles were made by any other writer, and that there was thus, no apparent second or third witness as required by the Scriptures..

Unless, of course, these three titles referred to the very same entity.

So in this study, we will have a close look at this possibility, by studying the separate descriptions given of them in God’s Word.

Anti-Christ.

References to this are only found in the writings of John, as recorded in his first and second epistles.  They read;
 

"Little children, it is the last time.  And as ye have heard that ANTI-CHRIST shall come, even now are there many ANTI-CHRISTS; whereby we know that it is the last time.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.  But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ.
He is ANTI-CHRIST, that denieth the Father and the Son.
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father, but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning.  If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father."
(1 John 2:18-24)
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.  Because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God.  Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.
And this is that spirit of ANTI-CHRIST whereby ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them.  Because greater is He that is in you, than he which is in the world."                                                                                                               (1 John 4:1-4)
"And this is love, that ye walk after His commandments.  This is the commandment, that as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
For many deceivers have entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
This is a deceiver and an ANTI-CHRIST.
Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.  But he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not unto your house, neither bid him God-speed.
For he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds."                                 (2 John vs. 6-11)
 As usual, in studying any portion of God's Word, it is imperative that we establish the context in which the particular passage in question was written or given.  In this instance, there are three important factors which should be recognised.  Firstly, it is clear that "anti-christ" is not just one person or thing.  There is no such statement, in this passage, or anywhere else in the Bible, as THE Anti-christ.  The only phrases mentioned are "Anti-christ", "AN Anti-christ", and "that SPIRIT of Anti-christ".  We are also told that there are "MANY anti-christs".  I suggest that this makes quite a mess of the commonly held theory that we are to expect the rise of some grotesque individual sometime in the future.  Secondly, we have the timing of the operation of this particular entity, that is, the period of time during which the activities of these anti-christs would be evident.  John clearly states that at the time he was writing that particular epistle that they were already operating.  He also makes the very important statement that the fact that they were then operating was in itself proof of the fact that the people of his own time, as he wrote, were living in ‘the last time’.  If ‘anti-christ’ was not to appear until some two thousand years later, how could its existence then prove that the ‘last time’ had commenced in John’s own day?  The Greek word here translated as “time” means “a definite, limited, determined period”, and I suggest it refers to the ‘Christian Age’ in which we are now living, which we know is of a definite pre-determined length, because our Lord Himself stated that He would shorten, or determine, its length so that all flesh would not be destroyed.  But we should also note that if ‘anti-christ’ was evident at the time of John, then it must have commenced at some time before he wrote.  Thus, the ‘time frame’ of the operation of anti-christ starts at some time prior to John’s statement, and concludes with the return of our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of this age or dispensation.  This fact alone must surely rule out the Roman Catholic church as being the complete, or even the main, manifestation of anti-christ.  There is no doubt at all that some of the statements regarding anti-christ can be applied to this particular church.  There can also be no doubt but that this church fulfilled this role up to a certain extent, and for a certain period of time.  But this should not be surprising when we consider that she is the ecclesiastical section of the overall system of which she is only a part, the system identified in Revelation chapter 17 as “The Great City Babylon” and represented by the woman seated on the beast.  This section of the Book of the Revelation takes on a whole new meaning when we realise that Babylon, which includes the Roman church, is controlled and supported by the beast which itself represents anti-christ.
 Now I realise that many of my very good friends and fellow-servants in Christ will tend to disagree with me in this matter, and I can only trust that they will not take offence.  But I am convinced that Satan has brilliantly deceived God's people by employing the age-old tactic of subterfuge.  He has allowed us to see only part of our enemy, and has managed to convince us that this part is all there is, when in fact that is not the case at all.  By convincing us to direct our attention, and our efforts, and indeed our resources to fighting what is in fact no more than a part of the enemy, he has completely deceived us, and drawn our fire away from the enemies’ remaining forces.  Thus the main body of anti-christ has been relentlessly pressing forward until it is now in complete control over us. Whilst we have been fighting very necessary and important battles in this religious front, our attention has been diverted from the main battle, which involves not just one section of Babylon, but the whole system in its entirety.
 The third point to be noted is that John was referring, similarly to Paul, to an enemy that was known about at the time of writing.  Not only this, but the expression used by him described the enemy in a way that would be understood by those to whom he wrote.  Believe me, they were not at that time confused by theological terminology and speculation as we have become today.  Their whole understanding of his statement would be entirely based on the Scriptures, (the Old Testament), and the teaching of Jesus and the disciples to that time.  The Roman  Catholic church did not come into being until some hundreds of years later.
 We should also note the meaning of the word “anti-christ”.  Dr. Bullinger, in his ‘Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament’ defines it thus:  “An opponent of Christ.  That which sets itself in the place of Christ, which appears as Christ in opposition to Christ, as distinct from a false hypocritical representation of Christ”. Vine’s ‘Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words’says:  “It can mean either against Christ, or instead of Christ, or perhaps, combining the two, one who, assuming the guise of Christ, actually opposes Christ”.
 A further point which is of the utmost importance is an understanding of the word “Christ”.  This word is the English translation of the Greek word “Christos”, which actually means “anointed”.  Now there is absolutely no doubt but that this refers to Jesus as the “anointed One of God”.  But it can be, and sometimes is, used in reference to “the anointed People”, that is, Israel.  Thus in its fuller and broader sense, anti-christ is not only opposed to “the anointed ONE”, but is also opposed to “the anointed PEOPLE, Israel”.

 So who was this enemy of which they had already heard, and of which John himself, as well as other writers, had already written and taught?  In the Phillips Modern Translation we read these words:-
 

“But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said, ‘Who warned you, you serpent’s brood, to escape from the wrath to come?  Go and do something to show that your hearts are really changed.  Don’t suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We are Abraham’s children’.  For I tell you that God could produce children of Abraham out of these stones.’ ”      (Matthew 3:7-9, Luke 3:7-8)
“You serpent’s brood, how can you say anything good out of your evil hearts?  For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart.  A good man gives out good, from the goodness stored in his heart.  A bad man gives out evil from his store of evil.”                                                                    (Matthew 12:34-35)
“Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all kinds of rottenness.  For you appear like good men on the outside, but on the inside you are a mass of pretence and wickedness.
What miserable frauds you are, you scribes and Pharisees!  You build tombs for the prophets, and decorate monuments for good men of the past, and then say, ‘If we had lived in the times of our ancestors we should never have joined in with the killing of the prophets.’  Yes, ‘Your ancestors’.  That shows you to be sons indeed of those who murdered the prophets.
Go ahead then, and finish off what your ancestors tried to do!
You serpents, you viper’s brood, how do you think you are going to avoid being condemned to the fires of destruction?
Listen now to the reason why I sent you prophets and wise and learned men.  Some of these you will kill and crucify, others you will flog in your synagogues and hunt from town to town.
So that on your hands is all the innocent blood spilt on the earth, from the blood of Abel the good to the blood of Zachariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
Yes, I tell you that all this will be laid at the doors of this generation.”                       (Matthew 23:27-36)
 Now it is important to note two things about the above readings.  Firstly, the people to whom these accusations were made were identified as being ‘the seed of the serpent’ as distinct from those who are identified as ‘the seed of the woman’. This surely takes us right back to Genesis 3:15 where the enemy of God, the ‘seed of the serpent’, is first mentioned and identified.  The second thing which we should understand is that the word ‘generation’ used here does not just refer to a period of time as so many seem to think.  That is to say, it does not just refer to a time period of 40 or 70 years from the time when those particular people lived, and when the actual statement was made.  The original word translated ‘generation’ means “progeny, or offspring, from the point of view of race”. Thus it is the ‘race’ or ‘children’ of this ‘serpent’s brood’ who are implicated and condemned and identified here by our Lord Jesus Christ.
 And this judgment and condemnation was not to be subject to any restriction of time.  Christ’s own enemies themselves confirmed this very principle when at His trial they said, “His blood be upon us, and on our children”.  (Matthew 27:25)
 But let us proceed to another of our Lord’s statements, as recorded in John’s gospel.  Speaking to the Pharisees and their followers, He said:-
 
“I know that you are descended from Abraham, but some of you are looking for a way to kill me because you can’t bear my words.  I am telling you what I have seen in the presence of My Father, and you are doing what you have seen in the presence of YOUR father.’
‘Our father is Abraham!’ they retorted.
‘If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the sort of things Abraham did.  But in fact, you are looking for a way to kill me, simply because I am a man who has told you the truth that I have heard from God.  Abraham would never have done that.  No.  You are doing YOUR FATHER’S work.’
‘We are not illegitimate!’ (or born of fornication) they retorted.  ‘We have one father, God.’
‘If God were really your father’, replied Jesus, ‘You would have loved me.  For I came from God, and I am here.  I did not come of my own accord.  He sent me, and I am here.  Why do you not understand My words?
It is because you cannot hear, (learn, or be informed by), what I am really saying.
Your father is the devil, and what you are wanting to do is what your father longs to do.  He always was a murderer, and has never dealt with the truth, since the truth will have nothing to do with him.  Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks in character, for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
And it is because I speak the truth that you will not believe me.
Which of you can prove me guilty of sin?  If I am speaking the truth, why is it that you do not believe me?
The man who is born of God can hear the words of God.
And the reason that you cannot hear, (understand), the words of God is simply this;
THAT YOU ARE NOT THE SONS OF GOD!!”       (John 8:37-47. Phillips Translation.  Emphasis added.)
“Then came the dedication festival at Jerusalem.  It was wintertime, and Jesus was walking about inside the temple in Solomon's cloisters.  So the Jews closed in on Him and said, ‘How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense?  If you really are Christ, tell us so straight out.’
‘I have told you’, replied Jesus, ‘and you do not believe it.  What I have done in My Father's name is sufficient to prove My claim.
But you do not believe,
BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT MY SHEEP!”                                                                        (John 10:22-26)
 The above words from the gospels of Matthew and John are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  They are spoken to, and about, His enemies.  And it is these same enemies of whom John is speaking in 1 John 2:19, which I will quote from three separate translations:-
"They went out from us, but they were not of us.  For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.  But they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us"
(Authorised version.)
"Those rivals of Christ came out of our own number, but they had never really belonged.  If they had belonged, they would have stayed with us.  But they left us, to prove that not one of them ever belonged to us."
(Jerusalem Translation.)
"These men went out from our company, it is true, but they never really belonged to it.  If they had really belonged to us, they would have stayed.  In fact, their going proved beyond doubt that men like that were not ‘our men’ at all.”
(Phillips Translation.)
 Added to all this, we have the identity of ‘anti-christ’ quite clearly stated by John as being those who:-

1.     Deny that Jesus is the Christ, that is, THE ANOINTED OF GOD.

2.     Deny the existence of BOTH the Father and the Son.

3.     Deny that Jesus Christ, (the Messiah, or Anointed One), is come in the flesh.

 When we add this to what has already been recorded of Christ's own statements as to the real identity of the Scribes and the Pharisees and their followers, there would appear to be no room for any further doubt as to who ANTI-CHRIST really is today.
 One further point.  The present followers and supporters of Judaism, the religion of the Pharisees, claim to worship the God of the Old Testament, thus claiming, and being credited by today's Christian leaders, with being the foundation upon which is built our Christian belief and ethic.  This principle is called “the Judaeo/Christian Ethic”, and is a complete  deception, being a lie straight from Satan.  The statement is a downright contradiction in terms, Judaism being founded on ‘their father the Devil’, whilst Christianity is based on ‘the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’.  The purpose of Judaism is to deceive God’s people, by associating themselves with Christianity, and confusing them as to the true identity of God’s enemies.

 Consider the following.
 

STATEMENT.
 
God willing, in our next issue, we will look at the subject of
“The Man of Sin”.
       (To be Continued).


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