93 The Revelation of Jesus Christ During this period of time there will be four great confed~ eracies: ( 1) The Roman Empire, under the leadership of the Antichrist; (2) those European nations that were not in the old Roman Empire, under the leadership of the last ruler of Russia, the king of the north; (3) Egypt, taking in the sur rounding territory in North Africa, under the leadership of the king of the south; and (4) the "Sunrise kingdoms," the nations of the East, doubtless under the leadership of the last ruler of Japan. Greatest of all these leaders will be the Antichrist. He will be a dictator such as the world has never before seen. You ask if it is possible that the world will ever see such an absolute dictator? This world today has a population of over a billion people, hundreds of millions of whom are governed by dictators. But these men are insignificant indeed compared with the "man of sin" who will appear as soon as the church is taken away. He will be the devil's christ. And let me say this: If you have never bowed the knee to God's Christ, you will one day bow the knee to the devil's christ. If you refuse God's Christ, and are alive and upon the earth when the saints are taken away, you will be left to acknowledge the devil's christ. Our Lord said, referring to the Antichrist, "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" (John 5:43 ). 2. The Second Seal-The Red Horse and War (verses 3, 4 ). The temporary peace which the rider of the white horse will bring in his train will be of short duration, for there can be no permanent •peace until the Prince of Peace comes to rule. The people will think they have found the solution for their problems when the Antichrist begins his reign. But alas for them! It will be only a false peace, and will be followed by war and bloodshed. Not only will there be war between nations, but there will also be war between classes. The world has never seen such conflict as will arise after the restraining power of the Holy Spirit has been removed. Listen to the words of this prophecy: "And when he had opened the sec ond seal. I heard the second living creature say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from
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