Under the chapter heading of “Antichrist: The World Teacher,” Gail Riplinger writes in her 1993 book “New Age Bible Versions”:

“The antichrist hides, not only under the cover of ‘Christ’ but a second title—‘Teacher.’ Roy Livesey, author and publisher of ‘New Age Bulletin’ in England explains what New Agers believe:

‘Christ, however doesn’t refer to the Lord Jesus Christ but to the World Teacher.’

“Other books like Harriet and F. Homer Curtiss’ ‘Coming World Changes’ also connect the anticipated new Christ with the title ‘long expected Great Teacher.’ Alice Bailey describes the ‘Emergence of the World Teacher of the New Age’:

“ ‘In June 1945 at the time of the full moon, He . . . too over (from Jesus) as the Teacher during the Aquarian Solar Cycle. He is the first of the Great World Teachers to cover two zodiacal cycles. This inflow of Aquarian energy is one of the factors which will enable the Christ to complete his task as world Savior and world Teacher . . . (and) the Teacher that he will work . . . not Christian Teacher.’ ”

*****

From his recent sermon, “His Majesty the Devil,” Jordan concludes:

“What you have in Satan is not just some creature that runs around thinking how he can needle you and make life miserable for you. He’s a dude with a plan. He’s a supernatural, spiritual being who has a plan whereby he believes he ought to be the rightful ruler of the universe and seeks to get you to buy into it by being just like him.

“When Satan says he has a plan, we’re not just talking about him trying to damn a few people to hell. No, he has a plan to take over the universe from God himself.

“People say sometimes, ‘Well, doesn’t he know he’s going to end in destruction?’ He knows God SAYS he is, but he doesn’t believe what God says. He believes he’s wiser and smarter and got a more beautiful plan than God does. His plan is more ergonomic; it’s more beautifully synchronized in his mind, and God says, ‘It’s iniquity. It’s just a twisted mess.’ ”

Jordan continues, “When you look at that passage in Revelation that says the power, the authority is given to him by the dragon, what that passage does is look at where Satan came from. Who’s the real power behind the throne in the administration of the Antichrist.”

The crucial passage for understanding where this ultimate rebellion—the one Christ destroys upon His return—stems from is Ezekiel 28, where Ezekiel reveals,

“Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[12] Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
[13] Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
[14] Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
[15] Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
[16] By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
[17] Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
[18] Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
[19] All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.”

Jordan explains, “By saying, ‘Take up a lamentation,” what God’s fixing to tell us here is a very sad story. A sad song. When he says, ‘Thou sealest up the sum,’ He’s saying (of Lucifer), ‘You’re the cat’s meow, buddy. You’re the sum total of everything. Nobody can add anything to you. You’ve got it all when it comes to mental capacities; you’re full of wisdom. You’re a genius.’

“You look back at verse 3 and it says, ‘Behold thou art wiser than Daniel. There’s no secret that can be hid from thee.’ I mean, this guy, he’s a genius when it comes to mental things.

“It says he’s ‘perfect in beauty.’ Physically, he’s the most beautiful, attractive, appealing creature in all of the universe that God ever made. He’s got this physical beauty and this beauty of his wisdom; his great mentality.

“God says, ‘Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God.’ Do you think Eden would be a good environment to be in? Lucifer lived in a perfect environment. He didn’t just live in a perfect world, he lived in the garden of God.

“He had the privileged access—you know, when God made the garden of Eden for Adam to live in, Eden is the territory, and the garden is this very special place eastward in Eden for Adam to come and have communion with God.

“When we studied about heaven, we discovered that the ‘third heaven’ where God lives, and the country where God manifests the glory of His presence—the environment of heaven is what God replicated on earth for man to live in. And the garden in Eden in Genesis 2 was patterned after the garden in the third heaven that Lucifer’s in. He’s in the original. The garden on the earth is made after the pattern of heavenly things.

“And when he’s in the garden of God, he’s not just in a perfect environment, but he’s in this special position of having communion. The garden is where you would go and rest and relax and just kick back, take your shoes off and enjoy yourself. The business is done and the garden is the place where the king would just kind of, you know, it’s his patio—

his family room.

“What he was saying was, ‘You weren’t just someone who served God; you had personal access to the most intimate position and fellowship and enjoyment together of God in His Creation.

“It’s the kind of place where God would go back and sit and say, ‘Have you looked at that and seen how wonderful it’s working?’ and Lucifer would say back, ‘Yeah, I know!’ He had a privileged position of intimate fellowship with the godhead. That’s the point there.”

******

From verse 13 we know that for Lucifer, “the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.”

Jordan explains, “Tabrets are percussion instruments and pipes are wind instruments. They were in Lucifer. It wasn’t just something he went and beat on over there. This guy had it internalized. God had fixed him so that inside of him, internalized in him, was the capacity to be filled with joy; the capacity to take and lead creation in the worship of the Creator. Music is a universal language. It’s purpose was to extol Jehovah.

“This guy was created in all of the intricate details—his position, his capacities—

to be the one who would lead all of creation in worship of God.

“It says, ‘Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth.’ If you go back to Genesis 3 when God put Adam and Eve out of the garden, it says He set the cherub to guard the way. And in the tabernacle—with the mercy seat over the arc—it has the cherubim on either side. Psalm 80 says that God Himself dwells between the cherubim in Israel. That’s where he met with Israel.

“Cherubim in the Bible have a function of guarding the holiness of God; the integrity of God. There are four cherubim today each at the corner around the throne of God and originally there was a fifth cherubim (Lucifer). He covered over the throne of God.

“He was in that exalted position so that all of creation could see him and he could lead them in the praise and worship of God Himself. He was there to protect and to promote God’s integrity.

“From the very beginning, the issue of God’s integrity was made clear, and that’s really the reason that when Lucifer fell, all that he did in the lie program was aimed at the integrity of God.

“The issue has never been the power of God; it’s always been his right to exercise that power. It’s never been God’s ability to control all things; it’s always been his right to do so.

“And Lucifer understood all along that the issue was God’s integrity. You notice he’s called ‘the anointed cherub’? That’s interesting. What does the name Christ mean? The anointed one. God Himself commissioned Lucifer to be a Christ.

“Every time God would choose a king in Israel they were anointed. The priests and the prophets, too, were anointed. Lucifer himself was anointed into each of those three positions. He was chosen by God and set up by divine appointment. That’s why you’ll find over in Luke where they talk about ‘the Lord’s Christ.’ You see, there’s another Jesus; there’s another Christ. . .”

(Editor’s note: To be continued)