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Restoring Original Christianity—for Today!
Christian Biblical Church of God
Post Office Box 1442
Hollister, California 95024-1442
(831)-637-1875
Fred R. Coulter,
Minister
September 12, 2014
Dear Brethren,
In the prophecies of the book of Revelation, God reveals that Satan the devil will intensify his guile as he unleashes the full force of his grand, final deception upon the whole world—leading up to the coming of the Antichrist. At that time the majority of humankind will be entrapped in the most powerful deception in history! Thoroughly deceived, they will worship the Beast of Revelation 13—and even Satan himself, as the "god of this world." The apostle John records God's prophecy of this astonishing worldwide event: "And I stood on the sand of the sea; and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon [Satan the devil] gave him his power, and his throne and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as ifit were slain to death, but his deadly wound was healed; and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, who gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who has the power to make war against him?' " (Rev. 13:1-4).
Today, Satan has power over the nations of the world, just as he boasted to Jesus when he was tempting Him for 40 days and nights: "Then the devil led Him up into a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time [this included Satan's final world government and religion]. And the devil said to Him, 'I will give You all this authority, and the glory of them all; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I desire. Therefore, if You will worship me in my presence, all things shall be Yours' " (Luke 4:5-7; Matt. 4:1-10).
When this final Beast comes on the scene, it will be a worldwide power or government. At that time the world will be divided into 10 major regions, which are the ten horns. The seven heads will be the governing elite. For a short time it will have the power to stop all wars, and no one will be able to make war against the Beast (Rev. 13:4). It will usher in the time of falsepeace that the apostle Paul writes about: "For when they say, 'Peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them, as travail comes upon a woman who is with child; and they shall by no means escape" (I Thess. 5:3).
Paul makes it clear that Jesus Christ will not return until after the Antichrist comes to full power. However, Paul warns us that until the end is actually here, there would be numerous false alarms about Christ's second coming—because most people will misinterpret the prophecies of the Bible: "Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as if from us, saying that the day of Christ is present" (II Thess. 2:1-2).
Two Major Events: Paul reveals that two key events must occur before Christ returns. Event #1: A great apostasy must come first. "Do not let anyone deceive you by any means because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first…" (II Thess. 2:3). What is this great apostasy? It cannot be anything other than the time when the whole world entirely forsakes the true God and worships the Beast and Satan the devil as god (Rev. 13:3-4).
Event #2: The man of sin, the son of perdition—the Antichrist—must be revealed! Then,"the man of sin shall be revealed—the son of perdition, the one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is an object of worship…" (II Thess. 2:3-4).
The Scriptures show that before the Great Tribulation begins the Antichrist comes into power and makes a treaty with the Jews, Muslims, and other nations. Once this pact is signed, the Jews can begin rebuilding their Temple. This begins the final seven years—the 70th week of Daniel 9. "And he [the prince of the people—the Antichrist] shall confirm a covenant with many for one week [7 years]…" (verse 27).
This will be the beginning of the time of "peace and security." Continuing in verse 27: "And in the midst of the week [after 3 1/2 years] he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease, and upon the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate [by entering into the holy of holies in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem]…." Paul describes the Beast's audacious action: "he [the Beast, undoubtedly possessed by Satan] comes into the temple of God and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God" (II Thess. 2:4). By this very act, the Antichrist causes the sacrifices and offerings to cease. Thus, the prophecy of Daniel 9:27 is fulfilled when this "man of sin, the son of perdition," comes into the Temple in Jerusalem proclaiming himself to be God. This is the "abomination that makes desolate."
In Matthew 24, Jesus told His disciples that the Great Tribulation would not begin until this key event happens. Notice: "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation [the Antichrist claiming to be God], which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (the one who reads, let him understand) [and the whole world will see this], then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house; and let the one who is in the field not go back to take his garments. But woe to those women who are expecting a child, and to those who are nursing infants in those days! And pray that your flight be not in the winter, nor on the Sabbath; FOR THEN shall there be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be again. And if those days were not limited, there would no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be limited" (Matt. 24:15-22).
From what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, it is quite clear that Satan wanted to bring on the man of sin and his lawless system during the time of the apostle's ministry—before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. However, Paul writes that it would not happen until just before the second coming of Christ: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already working; only there is one [Jesus Christ] Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst [of the system]. And then the lawless one will be revealed(whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming); even the one [the man of sin, the son of perdition] whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the truth, so that they might be saved" (II Thess. 2:7-10).
This cannot happen until the time of the end when Satan the devil will have the whole world in the grasp of His grand deception. Paul adds, "And for this cause, God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie [that the Satan-possessed Antichrist isGod], so that all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but who took pleasure in unrighteousness" (verses 11-12). These are the major end-time prophecies that must come to pass before the Great Tribulation can begin.
Now we can understand why Jesus first told His disciples, "Be on guard, so that no one deceives you. For many shall come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ'; and they shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you do not let these things disturb you. For it is necessary that all these things take place, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places. Now all these things are the beginning of sorrows" (Matt. 24:4-8). It is very important for us to realize that Jesus did not tell us how long the "time of sorrows" would be. Therefore, we must always be alert, and be faithful in all things, and be walking in the "way of the Lord."
Another Powerful Aspect of Satan's Deception: While Satan the devil is able to deceive the whole world, he is not satisfied. He wants to deceive true Christians—those who have the Holy Spirit of God and are to be in the first resurrection to receive eternal life. He wants to deceive them so they will lose their salvation! What tactics will he employ in his efforts to deceive the elect of God?
First: Satan will use powerful miracles and claim that Christ has already come! Jesus made this very clear: "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or, 'He is there,' do not believe it. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall present great signs and wonders, in order to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have foretold it to you. Therefore, if they say to you, 'Come and see! He is in the wilderness'; do not go forth. 'Come and see! He is in the secret chambers'; do not believe it' " (Matt. 24:23-26).
Without a doubt, these works of power and miracles will deceive the world! While there will be many false prophets performing miracles, the False Prophet will be the leading one. He will perform fantastic wonders—and the world will believe they are from God! Notice how John describes his satanic miracles: "And I saw another beast rising out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon; and he exercises all the authority of the first beast before him; and he causes the earth and those who dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed [the Antichrist, who claims to be God manifested in the flesh]. And he performs great wonders, so that he even causes fire to come down to the earth from heaven in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by means of the wonders that were given to him to perform in the sight of the beast, saying to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image for the beast, which had the wound by the sword, yet was alive. And he was given power to give life to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast also could speak; and he causes everyone who will not worship the image of the beast to be killed" (Rev. 13:11-15).
Second: Because Satan will be unable to deceive true Christians, he will use persecution and martyrdom against the saints, thinking that he can cause them to lose their salvation. John writes: "And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a great voice in heaven say, 'Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ because the accuser of our brethren has been cast down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb, and through the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death.
" 'Therefore, rejoice you heavens and those who dwell in them. Woe to those who inhabit the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, having great wrath because he knows that he has only a short time.' And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman [the Church] who had brought forth the man child. And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman [the part of the Church counted worthy to escape the Great Tribulation], so that she might fly to her place in the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast water out of his mouth as a river, so that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed up the river that the dragon had cast out of his mouth.
"Then the dragon was furious with the woman and went to make war [martyrdom] with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 12:9-17). This is the end-time martyrdom of the saints, which is also described in Revelation 6:9-11.
John also saw a vision of the saints of God and the martyrs for Christ's name, who throughout history have been killed for their faith—from Abel to the time of the end: "And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials came and spoke with me, saying to me, 'Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.'
"Then he carried me away in the spirit to a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, full of names of blasphemy. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and pearls and precious stones; and she had a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and the filthiness of her fornication; and across her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Rev. 17:1-6).
A Miraculous Conversion of a Muslim Imam to Catholicism: In June we witnessed the ecumenical outreach by the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Francis I to leading Protestant ministers. Among those who greeted the pope were Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, Utah Senator Mike Lee (R), a Mormon, Gayle Beebe, the president of the interdenominational Westmont College in California, and Pastor Tim Timmons, founder of South Coast Community Church, also in California. There is no question that this movement will continue to grow.
Satan is also working with the Muslims. As I have mentioned a number of times, in order for there to be a one-world religion that will consist of all the major religions of the world working together, the Catholic Church and the Muslims will have to accept each other—as well as other religions. This seems like an impossible task! But Satan can work miracles—even in Jesus' name! Jesus said this would happen: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord [or Jesus, Jesus],' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but the one who is doing the will of My Father, Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord [Jesus, Jesus], did we not prophesy through Your name? And did we not cast out demons through Your name? And did we not perform many works of power through Your name?' And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness' " (Matt. 7:21-23).
As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, in Satan's counterfeit "Christianity," his ministers already preach another Jesus and a counterfeit Gospel: "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent [Satan the devil] deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For indeed, if someone comes preaching another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive, or a different gospel which you did not accept, you put up with it as something good…. For such are false apostles—deceitful workers who are transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And it is no marvel, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his servants also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness—whose end shall be according to their works" (II Cor. 11:3-4, 13-15).
We recently viewed a startling video that originated in Spain called "Changing Tracks." It is a personal account by Mario Joseph, a former Muslim Imam, on how and why he converted to Catholicism. Because his birth was seen as miraculous, his mother and father dedicated him to Allah at the time he was born. They lived in India and he was sent to Muslim theological schools. At age 19 he was made an Imam, a Muslim religious teacher, fully believing in Allah.
Some years later, however, he converted to Catholicism because of what was written in the Koran about Jesus and Mary—you will be astonished at what it actually says! At the time of his baptism into the Catholic Church, he took the name Mario Joseph. When his family found out about his conversion, they attempted to kill him. He was chained, tortured, and imprisoned at home. After 20 days of no food and water, when his father came to kill him with a knife, he cried out, "Jesus!" Suddenly a bright light came over him, energizing him; throwing his father off, he was able to escape.
This is a clear example of a satanic "miracle"! It is important that you listen to the audio of his story (the accent may make it hard to understand) because this may be a key as to how the Muslims will be able to accept the coming one-world religion—which will embrace all religions. Undoubtedly, Mario's conversion adds credibility to the belief that the Catholic religion is right and that ecumenism is a good thing. Ultimately, however, his conversion is just a change from one deception to another, with Satan still in control. The key point here is that Mario's account shows how Satan will be able to use false miracles to bring the whole world into his final deception.
The Coming Fall Festival Season: Soon the fall festival season will be here: Trumpets, September 25; Atonement, October 4; the Feast of Tabernacles, October 9-15; and the Last Great Day, October 16. While the world views these days as outmoded and of little value for modern "Christianity," these commanded Holy Days and Feasts of God, as well as the weekly Sabbath, provide the very framework upon which God's awesome plan for mankind is built in the Scriptures. If you do not have God's Plan for Mankind—Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days, you need to order the book immediately. You will be absolutely amazed at how important the Holy Days are in understanding God's Master Plan for mankind. You will understand why God commands us to keep His festivals!
In This Mailing: We are sending you two CDs. One CD contains all the messages for Trumpets, Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day. These are all new sermons for this year. The other CD has a number of messages, including "Astonishing Things to Happen," which features the account of Mario Joseph, the former Muslim Imam.
Copies of Advertisements: Over the past several years, the CBCG has been regularly running advertisements in print and Web media. Many of these ads have been placed in the Washington Times (national edition). As a conservative magazine, the WT has a readership of over 120,000; some of our ads have also been placed with their Web media, which gives us exposure to over a half-million viewers. We also advertise with the two largest homeschool organizations in America, utilizing both print and digital media. Homeschool groups are quite receptive to our message, as they are typically conservative, very family oriented, and take their religious faith seriously. Both homeschool organizations have large followings, so our exposure is high. One of the groups utilizes a direct e-mail approach—which we are currently participating in—that reaches over 115,000 subscribers several times a year. We have also contributed editorial matter a number of times for one of the homeschool magazines.
Duncan MacLeod of the Canadian office and Roy Assanti of the Australian office have also been running ads in their areas.
While the content of the ads varies (see attached samples), our main goal is to increase traffic on the Church at Home Web site (and the traffic has dramatically increased over the past few years). Typically, we also offer a key book—Lord, What Should I Do?, The Day Jesus the Christ Died, Why "Christianity" Has Failed in America, and, of course, The Holy Bible In Its Original Order. We also just began promoting the new book, America and Britain.
The samples included are ads that have run in late 2013 through the middle of 2014. In a future mailing we will include samples of more recent ads. Of course, the actual ads run in full color; we had to convert them to black and white and reduce their size by about half in order to make them economically reproducible for this mailing.
Brethren, as you can see, all of us are striving diligently together to "feed the flock of God" from the spiritual Word of God and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. We are able to do this through our books, booklets, and sermon messages (audio and video). Our Web sites are consistently being used by over 120,000 people each month—and that number is growing rapidly!
Once again, we thank you, brethren, for all your prayers for us and the rest of the brethren, wherever they are in the world. Living in this wicked world, each one of us needs God's intervention, protection, and comfort at all times. While we may be the weak of the world, we need to be strong in God the Father and Jesus Christ. They will help us in all our trials and difficulties! As always, thank you for your continued faithful support through your tithes and offerings, especially in these difficult times. May God the Father and Jesus Christ continue to bless you and yours in everything. May God continue to pour out His grace, love, and spiritual strength for you personally. We pray for you daily.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Fred R. Coulter
FRC
P.S.: Because of the Fall Festival season, this is a combined September/October letter.
