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THE RISE OF ANTICHRIST - IS HE HERE YET? WHO IS IT? - TIMING AND IDENTITY REVEALED!

There are many in Christian circles today who believe the antichrist has not yet risen and that it will be some man who will rise to power in the near future. Others believe the antichrist is already here, but have wild speculations as to who it is. As usual, there are many different opinions regarding this and that is where the problem lies. They are simply opinions and are not based on Bible truth and historical evidence. So on this page, I am going to share with you an important Biblical truth regarding the rise of antichrist, a truth that gives us the very timing and identity! Let us look at what the apostle Paul said to the church in Thessalonica:

2 Thessalonians 2:1-10 ...'Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.'

Now there are a number of things in the above writing of Paul that gives us solid evidence to the rise of antichrist and I pray that you will carefully and prayerfully examine this with me. The above scripture reveals the timing and the identity of antichrist. So let us take a look.

The Falling Away - Paul stated two things must happen before the return of Christ. The first was the falling away and the second was the revealing of antichrist, that man of sin. Now who was Paul writing to? The church in Thessalonica around the year 50AD. And what was to happen first? The falling away. It amazes me that many professed Christians place this falling away in our day today. Do you know what they are ultimately saying? That there was no falling away during the past 2000 years! Astonishing! And yet what did Christ reveal to John in Revelation 2, to the church at Ephesus?

Revelation 2:4-5 ...'Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art FALLEN, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.'

The falling away had already begun during the time of the apostle John.

The apostle Paul even said himself in 2 Thessalonians above that 'the mystery of iniquity doth already work.' This 'mystery of iniquity' (Mystery Babylon?) was already at work. So do you really think it took 2000 years for it to be revealed? No my friend, it didn't need anywhere near that length of time to develop and be revealed. The Thessalonians knew from Paul that the 'mystery of iniquity' was already at work and the falling away was to take place very soon, because Paul said in Acts 20:29-30 ...'For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.' The falling away was to take place VERY SOON after Paul. Now let us look at another important piece of information in Paul's 2nd letter to the Thessalonians above.

The Thessalonians knew what was 'withholding' the man of sin! - Did you catch what Paul said to the Thessalonians? He confirmed that he already spoke to them about this issue and that they knew what was holding back the man of sin, and that this 'entity' which was holding back the man of sin was going to be 'taken out of the way', so that the antichrist man of sin could rise and be revealed. So if the Thessalonians knew what was holding back the man of sin, how could it be another 2000 years before the antichrist would rise? It's impossible. Now from what did Paul speak to the Thessalonians?

Acts 17:1-2 ...'Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures.'

What scriptures would Paul have used in speaking to the Thessalonians? The Old Testament scriptures. So is there anything in the Old Testament scriptures that matches this antichrist man of sin which was to rise that Paul said "I spoke to you about" to the Thessalonians? Yes! In the book of Daniel, we have a prophecy of 4 beasts in chapter 7. Out of the fourth beast was to rise a 'little horn' power with 'eyes of a man' that would 'speak great things against God' and 'persecute the saints.' This is none other than the antichrist man of sin. Now Daniel 7:23 tells us that a beast represents a kingdom. More specifically, a world ruling kingdom. But many professed Christians today place those 4 beasts in the end times, and yet this is a great mistake, because Daniel 7:23 says that the 4th beast is the 'fourth kingdom upon earth', meaning the 4 beasts are the FIRST FOUR world ruling kingdoms on earth. So it is impossible for those 4 nations of Daniel 7 to be nations in the end times, as this would contradict what the Bible clearly says regarding them.

So who are those 4 world ruling kingdoms of Daniel 7? Well, who was the first world ruling kingdom? If you study this in line with Daniel 2 regarding Nebuchadnezzar's image, you will see that the first kingdom was Babylon, the very nation Daniel was taken captive to. The second was Medo-Persia. The third was Greece and the fourth kingdom was ROME, that 'terrible beast' of which Daniel speaks about in chapter 7.

Which kingdom was ruling the world in Paul's day? ROME, in it's Pagan form.

For a deeper study on those 4 beasts, please see our page THE FOUR BEASTS OF DANIEL 7

The Thessalonians knew what power was to be 'taken away' to make way for the rise of antichrist, as Paul had "spoken to them" concerning this from the Old Testament scriptures, specifically from the book of Daniel. In Daniel 8 we shown a ram and goat, which represented Medo-Persia and Greece (Daniel 8:20-21). But after Greece fell, another power came forth to conquer the world (Daniel 8:8-12), which was ROME. But Daniel 8:11 mentions the 'daily' that was to be 'taken away', which was that entity Paul was speaking about that was 'withholding' the man of sin. The Thessalonians knew from the prophecy of Daniel that this 'daily', the entity which was 'withholding' the man of sin was the Roman Empire in it's Pagan form, because the Caesars of Pagan Rome were 'in the way', stopping that man of sin coming to power. But a change was to take place, and what happened when Pagan Rome fell [taken away] and split into the various nations of Europe? That very man of sin, the Pope and Papal Rome rose to power over the world.

Pope Francis"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work : only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way ... For a time paganism by persecution kept the church partially pure, but when Constantine was nominally converted, and Christians were favored with position, power, wealth, and popularity, pride entered, and the process of apostasy was rapidly completed. Then the papacy was speedily developed, till the pope of Rome became the mightiest potentate on earth, and with a strong hand sought to put down all religion not according to his creed. He became arrogant, cruel, tyrannical, and blood-thirsty, exalting himself above every object of worship, claiming to be the vicar of God on earth, sitting highest in the temple or church of God. The kings of the earth did his bidding, not daring to do otherwise. Thus the so-called church of the meek and lowly Jesus became the greatest persecuting power ever seen among mankind." (The Review and Herald, May 10, 1892, Vol.69, No.19, p.298)

The falling away that Paul spoke of culminated in the rising to power of the Roman Catholic Church. Constantine had already paved the way for the Bishop of Rome, by professing conversion to Christianity and uniting both Christianity and Paganism into one pot! The popes then filled the void that the Caesars left after the fall of Pagan Rome. Constantine moved his capital to Constantinople and the pope sat on his throne in Rome, declaring to be 'God on earth' just as Paul said the man of sin would do. The world was then plunged into spiritual darkness at the hands of Papal Rome. But what else did Paul say in 2 Thessalonians which matches with Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 concerning Rome?

The man of sin was to continue until the coming of Christ and be destroyed at Jesus' return - Paul confirmed in 2 Thessalonians 2 that the man of sin was to be destroyed by Jesus Himself when He returns. Now this is where many misunderstand and think the man of sin must solely be an end time antichrist who rises in the last days. But in Daniel 2, we see that the iron legs (Rome) continue into the feet till the end of time and is destroyed by the Rock - the coming of Christ. Also, in Daniel 7:11, concerning the 4th beast (Rome), we are told that it is destroyed in the 'burning flame' at the end of time. So we see that Rome continues until the return of Christ. But Pagan Rome fell in the 5th century, so how does Rome continue until the return of Christ? In it's Papal form, with the pope, that man of sin at the helm. The very one whom the world is looking to today for 'moral guidance.'

The Roman Empire in it's Pagan form had to be 'taken out of the way' in order for that apostate Christian power, the Roman Catholic Church to gain control over the world. And this is a key point to understand. The antichrist man of sin was to be an apostate Christian power that would lead people away from the truth that is in Jesus Christ. Look at the testimony of the apostles on this point:

1 John 2:18-19 ...'Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.'

Acts 20:29-30 ...'For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.'

Friend, do you see what the apostles knew regarding antichrist? They knew that antichrist would profess to be Christian, but would draw people away from the truth unto 'another gospel.' And this is exactly what the Roman Catholic Church did. The popes and priests drew disciples after them, away from the truth, away from Christ, into spiritual darkness. And even gained control over the civil power to enforce their false teachings upon the world for thousands of years! Antichrist indeed!

The Protestant reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, Thomas Cranmer, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, etc, all knew the truth that the pope and Papal Church of Rome was that prophesied man of sin and antichrist. Sadly, the churches today have been deceived by Jesuit futurist doctrines, which takes the focus off the Roman Catholic Church onto a 'future' antichrist. But the Bible and history is clear. That man of sin and antichrist which was to rise, is the pope and Papal Rome, which rose to power and took the place of Pagan Rome, after the Roman Empire fell and was 'taken out of the way.'

"The leader of the Catholic church is defined by the faith as the Vicar of Jesus Christ (and is accepted as such by believers). The Pope is considered the man on earth who TAKES THE PLACE of the Second Person of the omnipotent God of the Trinity." (Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 3, 1994).

Do you know what 'ANTI-christ' means in the original language? Someone who puts himself IN PLACE OF CHRIST! Surely, that man of sin and antichrist is none other than the Pope and Papal Rome!

For further evidence of the Papacy being that antichrist, please see the following:

THE MAN OF SIN REVEALED

29 CHARACTERISTCS OF ANTICHRIST

THE 7 HEADED BEAST OF REVELATION

WHO IS THE ANTICHRIST TODAY?