Nuggets from Countdown to the Second Coming—Preparation for Delusion

The world must be prepared both religiously and politically to embrace the Antichrist when he suddenly rises to power. If “Christianity” is to be the official world religion (which must be the case if the Antichrist claims to be Christ returned), then it must become broad enough to accommodate all of the world’s faiths. As for the political climate, the world must be united in the twin causes of global peace and ecological rescue when this man appears.

Through the many astonishing events of recent years, political leaders have found themselves suddenly and almost miraculously transported into a new world where worldwide peace and unity seem within reach. For decades, Westerners lived in fear lest communist totalitarianism move west to swallow the free world. But suddenly, before our very eyes we see a surprising new picture emerging, taking even the most brilliant strategists completely by surprise: Democracy is moving east! The united response to terrorism is forging a new world. At the same time, the competition for a share of the exploding world market is forcing change upon even communist nations.

China has suppressed those seeking democratic reforms, yet even she must eventually succumb to world opinion or suffer increasingly costly isolation from an emerging and growing international community, which has become remarkably united commercially. The Islamic world, too, remains tied to its own agenda and is still susceptible to the sudden call for a “Holy War” against the rest of mankind. But in Arab countries as well as the rest of the world there is a fermenting opposition to autocratic rulers, both religious and secular, and a great longing for democracy that cannot be denied much longer. The native dictatorships  in Africa have proven to be worse than the overthrown colonialism, and it may be only a matter of time until these and fundamental Islamic movements are pushed out by popular uprisings. The expulsion of Charles Taylor from Liberia; the death by cancer of the former murderous dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin; the ousting and death of murderer and embezzler of billions, Nigeria’s former military dictator General Sani Abacha; and the ouster of Indonesia’s ruthless and corrupt General Suharto (and others suffering similar fates) may be encouraging indicators of how autocratic third-world rulers (Zimbabwe’s Mugabe et al.) and regimes will fare in the near future.

Within a surprisingly short time, it may actually seem that mankind has at last, in the name of freedom, united to eliminate the threat of major war from this planet. Global peace will have been achieved at last. Strangely enough, that may be the worst thing that could happen, as we shall see.

In the following pages, we will trace Antichrist’s grand entry onto center stage. The curtain is soon to rise upon the final act of human history as we have known it. Although God has deliberately hidden much from our eyes, He has told us what He wants us to know about the incredible face-to-face confrontation between Christ and Antichrist toward which events now hasten—and concerning the part that each of us must play.

Prophecy is a difficult subject, and many people have been disillusioned by conflicting and often sensational interpretations. Others feel that the subject is necessarily morbid and depressing and therefore to be avoided. But the true picture is not all gloom and doom, since prophecy also offers an unprecedented opportunity for those who, understanding the “signs of the times,” are willing to believe and act upon what the Bible declares for our day.