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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
January 1926
Is the Antichrist at Hand? W ha t of Mussolini? An address delivered by Dr. Louis 8. Bauman, Pastor o f the First Brethren Church, Long Beach, California, at the ber Monthly Meeting of the Soumern California Premlllennlal Association. Dr. Bauman s able treatment of this timely theme aroused much Interest in those who heard It, an interest which has been mtensifled by tne l events which have followed since. The eyes of all nations are now centered upon Mussolini, The Man of Mystery.” The conclusion of the address—dealing with points of resemblance between Mussolini and the Antichrist—will appear In the February issue. M USSOLINI, Premier of Italy, Is a strange and won derful character. He Is occupying more attention these days than any other statesman in the world. We do not affirm that Mussolini will prove to be before Jesus Christ can reign on this earth, there must come a great false Christ, a world prince, reigning on this earth, setting himself up as God, with a world worshipping him. We presume you know that the Antichrist will become the head of the great League of Nations, whose armies will at last gather against Jerusalem to battle. We presume you understand that the Lord Jesus will descend with1His armies from the skies, and overthrow that “ beast”— as the Book of Revelation calls him— the Antichrist.
the Antichrist, for, according to 2 Thess. 2:6-9, Antichrist is not to be revealed to the world until after "that which restraineth is taken away;" and, "that which restraineth” undoubtedly is the Holy Spirit dwelling within the body of the Church. When the Church, spirit-fllled, is removed, then "the man of sin,” “ the son of perdition,” “ the lawless one,” shall be revealed to the world. So no man can pos itively say that any man is the Antichrist until after the translation of the Church. Nevertheless, it is our privilege to know that the Coming of Christ is near, for very definite signs are given us; and, inasmuch as Antichrist must appear on the scene before that event, we may be privileged to scan, without undue pre sumption, any man presenting the characteristics of the world’s last Caesar. If Mussolini does not prove to be Anti
We presume you know that Jesus Christ said to the Jews, “ I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive!” "Another" is the Antichrist. We are presuming that you know that when the Antichrist appears on the scene, the Jews are going to receive him as their Messiah and make covenant with him,— that he probably will help them to rebuild their temple. Then, after three and one half years, he will break his covenant with them, and for another three and one half years will bitterly persecute and attempt
to destroy the Jews. The result will be Armaged don! Is the Stage Set? Is the stage set for the coming of such a one? Let us see. Christ’s dis ciples c a m e , to H i m (Matt. 24) a n d s a i d , “ What shall be the sign of Thy coming?” Jesus replied: "There will be wars and rumors of wars; nation shall rise against nation and k i n g d o m against kingdom: a n d t h e r e shall be famines and p e s t i l e n c e s and earthquakes in d i v e r s places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” He was talking of the sor rows that are to come to the world when Anti christ shall begin his reign. Jesus said, “ Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:21). Jere miah, Daniel, Christ, and J o h n , all foretold the time of trouble w h e n Antichrist s h a l l -reign. That reign will be ush ered in by those signs,— wars, pestilences, famines,
christ, he is certainly a magnificent fore-shadow of Antichrist! Some people will think it presumption to speak upon a subject like this. Well, we happen to have a Bible that, in speaking o f the events of the last hour, says, “ B u t ye, brethren, are not in dark ness that that day should overtake you as a thief” (1 Thess. 5 :4 ). We are "children of -the light” ; and if we are not to be “ in darkness” then cer tainly we must have some perception or knowledge on this subject. The Sure Word of Prophecy So we will turn, first of all, to the “ sure word of prophecy” to see whether the stage is set for the coming of the Antichrist, — "the man of sin.” We have not the time to take up the Scriptures to show you what sort of person Antichrist is to be —his reign, the length of it, character of it, and all that. That is apart from our subject. We are speaking to you now as to those who know that
(Courtesy Los Angeles Times)
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MUSSOLINI DIVIDES THE WORLD "The whole world U divided into two comps, for and against Fascism."— Mueaolinl
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