Jesus had warned, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).
Counterfeit Christianity
(Matthew 24:4-5)
From the very beginning; increasing in the end
AntiChrist – What John meant by it
The term only appears in four verses, all in John’s epistles
John meant “against Christ”; talks of the spirit of antichrist
All teachings that contradict Christ’s identity or teachings are antichrist.
1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
John also speaks of the singular word “antichrist.” When antichrist is singular, the original Greek gives us no indication as to whether or not, in English, we should capitalize the word antichrist.
1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
1 John 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
1 John 4:3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
It simply means against Christ
It is a wrong “spirit”
Antichrist is not limited to one person, there are MANY antichrists
Antichrist denies:
- Jesus Christ came in the flesh
- Jesus is the Christ [Messiah]
- The Father and the Son
Many say He wasn’t flesh when He came – who today says that?
In fact, Jesus made it clear that He had no supernatural power of Himself while a man. He said it all came from the Father (John 5:30; John 14:10). And His ability to resist sin in the face of temptation came from His constant closeness to the Father. The doctrine of antichrist promotes lawlessness, as it maintains that Jesus was able to obey God because He was an omnipotent being while flesh and that it is impossible for us to obey so we shouldn’t even try. The truth, however, is that we can succeed in obedience by following the example Jesus set of always staying close to God.
How could we be antichrist? By What We Say; How We Act; By Opposing Authority; By Dismissing the Power of God; By Contradicting the Truth; By Doubting the Faith
Summary:
So it can actually refer to the Beast and False Prophet AS WELL AS others in the end-time.
Who is the End-time False Religious Leader
Another Horn / Little Horn
He is also referred to as “another horn” who will “persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law” in Daniel 7:8, Daniel 7:20-22, Daniel 7:24-25.
Daniel 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
Daniel 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.
Daniel 7:20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.
Daniel 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Daniel 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
The reach and scope of this end-time religious leader will be great. This alone greatly narrows down the list of candidates.
Daniel 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
This end-time religious leader is also called the:
Man of Sin
Changes times and laws – this is sin
Some man is going to put himself in the place of God, effectively claiming to be God—and people will believe him. Why? (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11).
Worshipped by the world.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, [means utter destruction] 2 Thessalonians 2:4 who opposes [against and contrary to; so antichrist] and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Notice
Isaiah 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
Isaiah 14:13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
Lucifer was trying to set himself up to be the Most High
2 Thessalonians 2:6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. [in the end].
2 Thessalonians 2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
REF: Daniel 7:25 …and think to change times and laws….
Here is why many will fall for this guy; believe him and believe in him:
2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Miracles are not proof in of themselves
Job 1:12 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
Job 1:15 when the Sabeans raided them and took them away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
Job 1:19 and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Deuteronomy 13:1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,
Deuteronomy 13:2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—’and let us serve them,’
Deuteronomy 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 13:4 You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.
Deuteronomy 13:5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst.
Isaiah 8:18 Here am I and the children whom the LORD has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel From the LORD of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion.
Isaiah 8:19 And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?
Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Prince of Tyre
Ties him in with the “man of sin”
Ezekiel 28:2 “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
The religious leader sits “in the midst of the seas.”
False Prophet
Revelation 16:12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.
Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Revelation 16:14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
Revelation 16:16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
Harlot
Woman can be symbolic of a religion or church
Of course a harlot would be symbolic of a false church
He is also the leader of this false religion
We also see that it harmonizes with Daniel 7
Revelation 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,[ties in with Ezek 28]
Revelation 17:2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
Revelation 17:3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Revelation 17:4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
Revelation 17:5 And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Revelation 17:6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.
Ties in with Daniel 7:21 …the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Revelation 17:7 But the angel said to me, “Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
Revelation 17:8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. [same word as 2 Th 2:3; means utter destruction] And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Revelation 17:9 “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.
Revelation 17:10 There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.
Revelation 17:18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
Another Beast
The False Prophet is the same as the one called “another beast”
Revelation 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
Revelation 13:4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
Beast power military econ political
Revelation 13:11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb [professing to be of Christ] and spoke like a dragon. [:4]
Revelation 13:12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. [:3]
This will bring about the final revival of the Holy Roman Empire. This is crucial to the formation of the end-time beast power.
Why will everyone fall into line:
Revelation 13:13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
So if this religious leader says American Catholicism is bad…True Christianity…Islam…whatever….
Revelation 13:14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth—by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs,
Revelation 16:14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs
Revelation 13:15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
Revelation 13:16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,
Revelation 13:17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Revelation 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
Identifying Signs
Has been in alliance with the 4th Beast
This is Rome. Makes the last 7th resurrection “holy”
Will be the leader of a false church that will spawn other false churches
- She has powerful influence over “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues”
- She is a “harlot” prostituting herself to political leaders
- The origin of her teachings are in the Babylonian mystery religion
- The church is that great city which reigns over the kings
Will Work Closely with the State
enabling them to become the beast power
will proceed and facilitate
Image of the Beast
Changes Times and Law
Holy Days and the laws of God
“But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.”
James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of our Fathers, 88th ed., pp. 89.
“Some theologians have held that God likewise directly determined the Sunday as the day of worship in the New Law, that He Himself has explicitly substituted the Sunday for the Sabbath. But this theory is now entirely abandoned. It is now commonly held that God simply gave His Church the power to set aside whatever day or days she would deem suitable as Holy Days. The Church chose Sunday, the first day of the week, and in the course of time added other days as holy days.”
John Laux, A Course in Religion for Catholic High Schools and Academies (1 936), vol. 1, P. 51.
“Is Saturday the seventh day according to the Bible and the Ten Commandments? I answer yes. Is Sunday the first day of the week and did the Church change the seventh day -Saturday – for Sunday, the first day? I answer yes . Did Christ change the day’? I answer no!
“Faithfully yours, J. Card. Gibbons”
James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore (1877-1921), in a signed letter.
“The Catholic Church, . . . by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.”
The Catholic Mirror, official publication of James Cardinal Gibbons, Sept. 23, 1893.
“For example, nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible.”
Catholic Virginian Oct. 3, 1947, p. 9, art. “To Tell You the Truth.”
“Question: Which is the Sabbath day?
“Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.
“Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
“Answer. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.”
Peter Geiermann, C.S.S.R., The Converts Catechism of Catholic Doctrine (1957), p. 50.
Doing Signs and Wonders
Great miracles with the wrong message
Midst of the Seas
Four different seas border the peninsula of Italy The Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea more towards the south, Mediterranean Sea and the and the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ligurian Sea in the west.
Makes War with the Saints
Who is he persecuting and martyring
What do they believe
Speaks Great Things
After he has been around
In the temple in Jerusalem
Not too late
Must change
Gathering at Armageddon
Later in the piece and in conjunction with the military, economic, political beast power – will facilitate the armies coming together to prepare to fight Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
His End
“The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore” (Revelation 18:9-11).
Revelation 19:20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
The Real Antichrist
Revelation 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
How to Avoid being Deceived
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Not against but with
Stand With Christ!
Follow entire bible
live by every word; love the truth ( “did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
Revelation 12:17 describes God’s true people as those who love and live the truth—“who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
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