Antichrist Part 2

Study: Antichrist Part 2 (AC2)

Purpose of Study: Identify the Antichrist.

Center It: We are all going to make a decision to either follow Jesus Christ or the antichrist. This study identi- fies without doubt who the antichrist is and what he is doing.

Know It Mark It:

Names of Antichrist: 1. 1John 2:18, 22; 2:22; 4:3; 2John 1:7 - Antichrist 2. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 - Man of sin - Son of Perdition

3. Revelation 13:1-3 - Beast

4. Daniel 7:8 - Little Horn

5. Daniel 7:1-3 a. Winds = Strife and war (Jer 49:36-37) b. Waters = Populated area (Rev 17:15) c. Beasts = kings or kingdoms (Dan 7:17,23)

6. Daniel 7:4 (Babylon)

7. Daniel 7:5 (Medo-Persia)Raised up on one side because the Persians were stronger. Three ribs represent Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt.

8. Daniel 7:6 (Greece) Four wings = Conquered quickly, Four heads = Generals that took over after death of Alexander the Great. Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, Ptolemy

9. Daniel 7:7 (Rome) Iron teeth matches the iron legs of Daniel 2. Rome also followed Greece in the order of kingdoms in history.

10.Daniel 7:8, 24(Little Horn = Antichrist) a. Little kingdom (Dan 7:8, 24) Located within Rome, Vatican City is the smallest state in Europe and in the world. It is a roughly triangular area of 0.44 sq km(0.17 sq mi) lying near the west bank of the Tiber River and to the west of the Castel San- t'Angelo. (Nationsencyclopedia.com)

b. Comes up among others (Daniel 7:8) Located in Italy Rome is in the center of the old Roman Empire or modern Europe

c. Comes up after Rome is divided in 476 AD (Daniel 7:8) Rome divided in 476 AD When Odoacer, king of the Heruli, deposed Romulus Agustulus (last western Ro- man emperor) in 476 A. D., the fragmentation of the Roman Empire was complete

d. Plucks up (destroys) three horns (kingdoms) (Daniel 7:8, 24)

The Papacy comes to power in 538. The Roman Church did uproot three of the ten kingdoms. The Vandals(in 534 A.D.), the Heruli (in 493 A.D.) and the Ostrogoths (in 538 A.D.). These three Arian kingdoms were a threat to the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome [later called the Pope]. To make a long story short, these three king- doms eventually were uprooted by the imperial power acting under the influence of the Bishop of Rome. It is of great significance that in 533 A. D. Justinian proclaimed a decree which recognized the Pope’s headship over all the churches of east and west. This decree was actually a letter written by Justinian to Pope John. But the Ostrogoths were still a threat to the supremacy of the Pope. They were uprooted in February 538 A.D. Thus Justinian’s decree went into effect making the Bishop of Rome supreme. Read History of the Christian Church Vol3 by Philip Schaff - (1819-1893), German-American theologian and church historian

e. Different than the other kingdoms (Daniel 7:24) The Bishop of Rome, in the seat of the Caesars, was now the greatest man in the West, and was soon forced to become the political as well as the spiritual head. To the Western world Rome was still the political capital — hence the whole habit of mind, all ambition, pride, and sense of glory, and every social prejudice favored the evolution of the great city into the ecclesiastical capital. Civil as well as religious disputes were referred to the successor of Peter for settlement. Alexander Clarence Flick “The Rise of the Medieval Church” p168

f. Prominent man speaking (Daniel 7:8) Pope is the head and has complete authority over the church.

11. Daniel 7:25 (Mark 2:7; John 10:30-33)

g. Commits Blasphemy (Daniel 7:25; Mark 2:7; John 10:30-33) And God Himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of His priests, and either not to pardon or to pardon, ac- cording as they refuse or give absolution... "The Dignity and Duties of the Priest" (excerpt) page 27 “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Pope Leo XII

12. Daniel 7:21,25

h. Persecuting Power (Daniel 7:21,25) “That the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among man kind will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history.” The History of the rise of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe Vol. 2 Page 32

i. Think to change time and law (Daniel7:25) “The Pope is of great authority and power, that he is able to modify, declare, or interpret even divine laws. The Pope can modify divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts as vicegerent of God upon earth...” Lucius Ferraris in “Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica” Papa, Article 2 Volume 5

j. Rules 1260 days = 3 1/2 Prophetic Years (Daniel 7:25) Day = Year (Ezra 7:7; Numbers 14:34; Luke 13:31-33) David Simpson (1745-1799) theologian and religious writer, educated at St. Johns College, Cambridge, a Methodist, wrote in 1798: "Is it not extremely remarkable, and a powerful confirmation of the truth of Scripture prophecy, that just 1260 years ago from the present 1798, in the very beginning of the year 538, Belisarius put an end to the empire of the Goths at Rome, leaving no power therein but the Bishop of that Metropolis? Read these things in the prophetic Scriptures; ... and then, I say again, deny the truth of Divine Revelation, if you can. Open your eyes, and behold these things accomplishing in the face of the whole world. This thing is not done in a corner." (Page 166 "A Plea for Religion and the Sacred Writings). The 1260 years foretold in prophecy were therefore A.D. 538-1798.

Appeal: 13. Joshua 24:15