An increase of authority, part 2

On March 26, 1986 an angel appeared to me as I was having breakfast in a restaurant in Arkansas and transported me to an underground “dungeon” (as I called it) in Saudi Arabia. There I saw my own angel guarding a bear-like beast with glowing red eyes. I wrote more about this in The Wars of the Lord, chapter 6.

That was the revelation that informed me that there would be two wars in the Mideast that were connected to each other. The first was the Gulf War in 1991 and the second was in 2003. Both were directed at Iraq.

In the months ahead, as I pondered and prayed about what I had seen, I came to understand that the ruling prince of that entire area governing Islam was the Prince of Persia. In Revelation 9:11 John gives us his personal name: Apollyon in Greek, and Abaddon in Hebrew. The ninth chapter of Revelation is a prophecy about the rise of Islam from Muhammed to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, a period of 844 years. (See my commentary, The Revelation, Book 3.)

Though I had seen only one “bear,” the angel said that there were two of them, and he said that their commission was “to devour much flesh.” My immediate thought was that this was a “Russian” bear, but later I realized that the angel had quoted Daniel 7:5 KJV and that the bear was Persia. Technically, the two bears were the Medes and Persians, at least in the original application of the prophecy.

On May 14, 1987 the word of the Lord came to me again to tell me more about Apollyon:

“He is the one who empowered Mohammed to destroy one-third of the Roman Empire Church in the Middle Ages. He is the one empowered by the Church to bring destruction upon itself. He seeks to destroy and conquer the Church by promising great wealth to men of materialistic minds. He entices by lust those whose eyes are insatiable as a bottomless pit.

“Destroy this foe and you shall set free a whole people, the entire Muslim world… For he is the Muslim strong man who guides their destiny and keeps them in bondage.”

Islam is God’s Judgment on the Unrepentant Church

Apollyon’s control and influence are seen in both Islam and Christianity. Revelation 9 speaks not only about the rise of Islam but also the fact that God raised up Islam to bring judgment upon the church. Unfortunately, the church did not repent. Revelation 9:21 says,

²¹ and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.

As we have shown so often, the Church has been a manifestation of King Saul, as both of them were “crowned” on the day of Pentecost, i.e., “wheat harvest.” In 192 A.D. Pope Victor attempted to claim authority over all the other bishops, but Irenaeus reprimanded him for his arrogance, and he had to back off from that claim. Nonetheless, 414 years later, that original claim of papal supremacy was used successfully when Pope Boniface III took the title of “Universal Bishop,” even though his predecessor, Pope Gregory I (590-604) had written, “whosoever calls himself universal bishop or desires to be called so, was the forerunner of Antichrist.”

Philip Schaff, the church historian, tells us,

“Boniface III (606-607) did not scruple to assume the title of ‘universal bishop,’ against which Gregory, in proud humility, had so indignantly protested as a blasphemous antichristian assumption” (History of the Christian Church, Vol. IV, p. 220).

Schaff knew nothing about the principle of Cursed Time (414), but we can see from history that Boniface III claimed to be “Universal Bishop” at the end of 414 years from when Pope Victor had first arrogantly claimed papal supremacy.

Three years later (in 609) Muhammed received his revelation in a cave, where he claimed that Gabriel had appeared to him and told him that he was the Comforter that Jesus had prophesied who would come after Him (John 14:26 KJV). In my view, the Prince of Persia, or Apollyon, appeared to Muhammed, claiming to be Gabriel. He also masqueraded as a counterfeit Holy Spirit.

Years later, crude oil was discovered in Persia near the city of Abadon (same as Abaddon, the Hebrew name for Apollyon). I realized that this was the place of crude oil, not olive oil, and that this represented a counterfeit version of the Holy Spirit. In other words, because the Church had rejected the Holy Spirit by 606 A.D., God raised up a counterfeit to judge the Church by its own false view. The Church never claimed to reject the Holy Spirit, of course. Instead, Church leaders claimed to have the Holy Spirit without experiencing the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Was it a mere coincidence that Muhammed was raised up just three years (606-609) after Boniface III claimed papal supremacy? Muhammed’s famous “flight” occurred in 612, and so this is the beginning date of the Islamic lunar calendar, much like Christians date events according to the birth of Jesus.

The Evil Spirit from the Lord

By 606 A.D., the Church had long believed that the baptism of the Spirit, along with the gifts of the Spirit, had ceased with the death of the last apostle (John) in 100 A.D. It did not actually end, of course, because history records many miraculous events occurring long after John had died. Nonetheless, the idea of “Cessationism” was later assumed to be true, as the Church became more and more politicized and carnal.

Most Christians did not realize that from God’s point of view they were rejecting the Holy Spirit much as Saul had rejected the Holy Spirit in his day. In fact, we read in 1 Samuel 16:14,

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrorized him [“troubled him,” KJV].

Saul must have known that he had a problem, but he did not repent. I believe that he was really blind to the cause of his problem. He was so convinced of his calling as the legitimately anointed king that he could not see that his anointing might depart from him. I believe that he mistook the “evil spirit from the Lord” for “the Spirit of the Lord.” That “evil spirit” caused him to throw his spear at David. We see this in 1 Samuel 19:9, 10,

⁹ Now there was an evil spirit from the Lord on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was playing the harp with his hand. ¹⁰ And Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he slipped away out of Saul’s presence, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

Saul saw David as his rival and was jealous of him. But in his own mind he thought that David’s anointing was the counterfeit Holy Spirit, rather than his own. Samuel’s record shows, however, that the Spirit of Lord had departed from Saul and had gone to David. Saul then functioned by the power of “an evil spirit from the Lord,” but Saul himself never understood the difference.

Such is also the case with the Roman Church and its popes, who persecuted the overcomers (“David”) throughout the centuries. God then raised up Muhammed to judge the Church by the righteous law, which demands that the judgment should always fit the crime (Exodus 21:23-25).

The main evil spirit troubling Saul was Apollyon, the counterfeit Holy Spirit. This established the pattern for the Church later when God brought judgment for its rebellion. The Church had essentially redefined the “Comforter” to fit its carnal view, so God raised up Muhammed to reveal the heart of the Church itself.

Unfortunately, the Church in its arrogance saw Islam as an enemy to be overcome, rather than as a divine judgment. If the Church had repented, Islam would not have been a problem. And this problem has persisted to this very day. Islam is not the problem. The rise of Islam in the past century is strong because the Church has been weak, for “the evil spirit from the Lord” still predominates in most Christian denominations.

The Purpose of the Pentecostal Revival

The Pentecostal outpouring in the early 1900’s saw the rise of many anointed men of God. Their callings were genuine, at least for the most part, but they did not see the big picture, nor did they understand the root problem that their own movement was supposed to resolve. Perhaps the abundance of miracles and healings blinded them from seeing a deeper purpose.

They had been given the opportunity to resolve the original problem of Saul (were this possible). Saul’s problem was that he was made king because the people had demanded a man to rule them. God’s point of view was that “they have rejected Me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

When the Pentecostals formed denominations in 1910-1912, they reverted back to the original problem that had brought Saul to the throne. The Church failed to change the situation, and for this reason, the Church went into captivity to Mystery Babylon in 1913-1914 with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act. John calls it the Laodicean Church.

We are now in a post-Laodicean era as we transition from Pentecost to Tabernacles. The overcomers, who are being given the greater anointing of Tabernacles, will not make the same mistake. That is why I refuse to create a denomination, and I certainly do not want anyone to submit to me or to any man. I have no desire to be king or pope. My desire is to point only to the one true King, Jesus Christ. Submitting to me would only limit you from entering fully into your own calling. My calling is to help you with your own calling and to teach the word that will equip you and sustain you in your own direct relationship with Christ.

My declaration is that I do not want a man to reign over us as in the days of Saul and Pentecost. Certainly, there are positions of authority in the Church, the most prominent of these being the five-fold ministry described by Paul in Ephesians 4:11, 12. I recognize that God has indeed established authority in the earth. The problem is not authority but the improper use of authority. When authority is treated as the right to exercise sovereignty, it usurps the place of Christ.

So if I have any position or spiritual authority, I hold it as a trustee under authority. I am not free to do as I see fit but am responsible to seek the will of God and then agree with Him in its implementation. As the revelation of God increases, God has seen fit to impart more and more authority to deal with the problems in the Church and in the world. This increase has been incremental over the years, beginning in 1993.

But this increase in anointing has a purpose. It is not to glorify men but to empower the overcomers to overthrow “the evil spirit from the Lord” and to replace that spirit with the Holy Spirit, the true Comforter. When the true Comforter is poured out in that last great outpouring of the Spirit, then all counterfeits will fall to the ground, and those who have been deceived by those counterfeits will see the glory of God and declare that Jesus is King.