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I.THE
PROMINENCE OF THE ANTICHRIST
A. The Antichrist is first alluded to
as Satan’s “seed” in Genesis 3:15.
1. He will be cast
into the lake of fire—Revelation 20:10.
B. The Antichrist will be a man
empowered by Satan.
1.There is a
“spirit of antichrist.”
2.There are many
types of antichrist.
3.The Antichrist is
the beast, the man of sin, and the son of perdition
—I John
4:3; Revelation 13:1-10.
C.The Antichrist will be revealed after
the overcoming Church is raptured
—II Thessalonians
2:3,4,7,8.
1.God’s people are
the salt of the earth which prevents the decomposition
of
the carcass (Satan’s evil imitation of the Body of
Christ)
—Matthew 24:28.
D.After the Rapture, the Antichrist
will quickly become a powerful world
leader.
1.The Antichrist will
affect the whole world to some degree, but he will not
rule every country nor control every commercial market.
2.His power will be
focused around the Mediterranean Sea.
II.WHO
IS THE ANTICHRIST?—PART I
Following is a partial transcript of
Marilyn’s
dramatized “interview” with an
actor portraying the Antichrist.
Q. Who are you, really?
A. Every spirit that does
not acknowledge that Jesus
came in the flesh is not of God. I’m not of
God. That is what is meant by Antichrist—I John 4:3.
Q. Where will you come
from?
A. The two witnesses say
the beast will come from
the bottomless pit. I am the
beast—Revelation 11:7.
Q. Who gives you your power
and authority as the
Antichrist?
A. My father is Satan.
Through his power people are
going to say, “Who can stand against the
beast? How great is the beast!”—Revelation 13:4.
Q. When will you appear?
A. If you look around, my
secret power is already at
work in the world. As a matter of fact, this
current power is only temporary until the
restrainer of the Church is off the scene.
The Church is the salt of the earth, but it
is poison to me because the Church holds me back
—II Thessalonians 2:7.
Q. You are going to be
evidenced in great power. Who
is going to help you and stand up with
you when the church is gone?
A. In Daniel, there is a
dreadful and powerful beast
with iron teeth and claws of bronze; a beast
that will trample upon anything that’s left.
It will be a beast like no other that has
preceded it. It will have ten horns
(or ten countries) that will be my confederacy.
I am the small horn rising out of the
ten, and I will uproot three of those
countries. These ten countries will share
their royal authority with me.
Their sole purpose is to confer their
power and authority on me—Daniel 7:7,8;
Revelation 17:12,13.
Q. You don’t conquer the
whole world, do you?
A. Let’s not forget,
I’m exceedingly strong with the
power to devour.
Q. If we were to watch
today to see where the
Antichrist will come from, where would we
look?
A. Examine the old Roman
Empire. Out of the four
prominent countries there shall be a
small horn that will rise up and show tremendous
strength to the south and to the east and to
the fairest of all lands (Israel)
—Daniel 7:8; 8:8,9
Q. I notice you have your
head covered and you have
on a dark hat. All I can really see are
your eyes and your hands. According to the Bible,
you’ve got a wound in your head.
How did you get it?
A. You understand that I
will be able to perform
signs and wonders, great
miracles.
These will be used to deceive the
inhabitants of the earth and they will adore
me so much. They will create an image in my honor. You
see,
the wound is merely a counterfeit, something
to take away from this death and resurrection
of your Christ
—Daniel 8:24; 11:37-39; Matthew 24:24;
II Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 13:2.
Q. Who is the false prophet
that’s going to help you?
A. He too will be a beast
that will come forth from
the mouth of the earth with great power
—Revelation 13:11-16.
III.WHO
IS THE ANTICHRIST?—PART II
A. The Antichrist will have great
ability to make
war.
1.He will conquer
three nations (Turkey, Egypt,
Israel) which will frighten seven other
nations into peacefully joining his new empire
—Daniel
7:24; 8:9; Revelation 17:12,13,17.
B. After he builds his empire, armies,
and
reputation, the Antichrist will focus his
attention on Israel.
1.He will offer his
help to make peace with
Israel’s surrounding nations.
2.Israel will eagerly
enter a seven-year covenant
with the Antichrist
—Daniel 9:26,27; 11:22.
3.The Antichrist will
help the Jews rebuild the
Temple.
C. The Antichrist will there declare
himself to be
god.
1. He will set an
idol of himself in the Temple
—II Thessalonians 2:9.
IV.
WHO IS THE ANTICHRIST?—PART III
A. The Antichrist’s personality is
fundamentally
opposed to Christ’s.
1.The Antichrist will
exalt himself.
2.He will say great
things, but he will not speak
the truth.
3.He will be very
experienced in commerce and
making money
—Psalms
52:7.
B. Jesus’ personality shows He is the
very Son of
God.
1.Jesus humbled
himself.
2.Jesus spoke the
truth (the sword) to cut people
free from their sins and let them know the
truth.
3.Jesus became poor
to make us rich.
V.THE
PERSON OF THE ANTICHRIST—PART I
A. The Antichrist is Judas Iscariot
reincarnated.
1. Psalms 55 is a
prophecy of both Judas’ betrayal
of Jesus and the Antichrist’s
betrayal of Israel.
B. Judas was more than a man (Matthew
26:24); he was
the devil—John 6:70.
1. Jesus did not call
Judas a demon.
2. The Greek word
daimon denotes an evil spirit and
is the English word“demon.” Demons are
inferior pagan deities, spiritual agents that
cause worship and sacrifices to idols,
disseminate errors among men, and seduce
believers.
3. The Greek word for
“devil” is diabolos, which
means “accuser, a slanderer” and is
one of the names of Satan. There is one devil,
but there are many demons.
4.The Bible contains
no other passage where the
word “devil” is applied to anyone but
Satan himself. Judas, then, was the devil incarnate, just
as the Lord Jesus was God incarnate.
C. In John 17:12 Jesus called Judas
“the son of
perdition.”
1.Paul clearly calls
the Antichrist “the son of
perdition” in II Thessalonians 2:3.
VI.
THE PERSON OF THE ANTICHRIST—PART II
A. The Antichrist is called “Death
and Hell”
—Revelation 6:8.
1. Jesus is “the
Resurrection and the Life”
—Isaiah 28:18.
2. The Antichrist
will come from hell.
B. The Antichrist will be
“superhuman,” a man with a
fallen and unclean spirit that has previously
been on earth—Matthew 12:43-45.
1. The history of
this unclean spirit is divided
into three stages: First, it dwelt on earth
as a man; second, it went out of a man and walked
through dry places, seeking rest and
finding none (this refers to his present dwelling
place, hell); and third, he will return to his
“house,”which is earth, and more specifically,
Israel.
C. In Revelation 11:7 the Antichrist is
seen coming
out of the abyss, which is the abode of lost
spirits, the place of their incarceration
and torment—Luke 8:31; Revelation 20:1-3.
1.The Antichrist is
in the abyss because that is
where he was sent when he died as Judas
Iscariot.
2. Acts 1:25 says
because of Judas’ transgression,
he fell from his ministry and apostleship
and went to his “own place.”
3.“His own place”
was the abyss.
D. Revelation 17:8 tells us four things
about the
Antichrist.
1.First, he was on
the earth. At the time John
received his revelation, the beast was not
then on the earth but had formerly dwelled here.
2.Second, he is not
now on the earth.
3.Third, he shall
ascend out of the bottomless
pit, where he is now.
4.Fourth he will go
into perdition, which means he
will be cast alive into the lake of fire
which is the FINAL abode of the damned
—Revelation 19:20; 20:10,15.
E.Satan will be cast into the abyss at
the end of
the Millennium.
1.The Antichrist is
already now in the abyss as
Judas Iscariot.
VII.
NAMES OF THE ANTICHRIST—PART I
A.Names are important because they have
to do with a
person’s character; titles show us a
person’s relationship to us.
1."Antichrist”
signifies that he will oppose and
mimic Christ.
2.The Antichrist is
called the “man of sin” and
the “man of perdition.”
3.Sin is his
character; but perdition shows his
relationship to mankind as a destroyer,
murderer, and thief—II Thessalonians 2:3.
B.Other names of the Antichrist
1.The beast (the
Greek word means “wild beast.”)
The Antichrist will be cruel and heartless,
unfit for sacrifice—Revelation 11:7.
2. Bloody and
deceitful man—Psalms 5:6
3. Wicked
one—Psalms 9:17
4. Man of the
earth—Psalms 10:18
5. Mighty
man—Psalms 52:1
6. Adversary—Psalms
74:10; Amos 3:11
7. Evil man—Psalms
140:1
8. Crooked
serpent—Job 26:13; Isaiah 27:1
9. Spoiler—Isaiah
16:4
10.Assyrian—Isaiah
10:5
VIII.NAMES
OF THE ANTICHRIST—PART II
A.The names of the Antichrist show his
role in the
world and the end times.
1.King of
Babylon—Isaiah 14:4,11-20
2.Rod of God’s
anger—Isaiah 10:5
3.Profane and wicked
prince of Israel
—Ezekiel 21:25
4.King of
princes—Hosea 8:10
5.Merchant—Hosea
12:7
6.Head of the
Northern army—Joel 2:20
7.Proud
man—Habakkuk 2:5
8.Idol
shepherd—Zechariah 11:17
IX.THE
GENIUS OF THE ANTICHRIST
A.The world will accept the Antichrist
because he
will be a genius in seven areas.
1.Seven is the number
of completion: the
Antichrist will be completely evil.
B.Intellectual genius—Ezekiel 28:3;
Daniel 8:23
C.Oratorical genius—Daniel 7:20
1.Revelation 13:2
says the Antichrist will have a
mouth like a lion, which is considered the
“king” of the animals.
D.Political genius—Daniel 11:21;
Revelation 13:1,2; 17:17
E.Commercial genius—Psalms 52:7;
Ezekiel 28:4,5;
Daniel 8:25; 11:38,43; Revelation 13:17
1.The world is
looking for someone to feed it
(currently 60 percent of the world’s
population goes to bed hungry).
2.People are looking
for an answer to the world’s
poor economy. The Antichrist will get
people jobs.
3.His positive
changes put him in control of most
of the world’s economy, so he makes people
wear his mark before they can buy or sell anything.
F.Military genius—Isaiah 14:16,17;
Daniel 8:24;
Revelation 6:2; 13:4
G.Governmental genius
1.He will weld
together opposing forces and unite
conflicting countries.
2.He will create an
empire out of the former
Roman, Greek, Medo-Persian, and Babylonian
empires (which currently cover Europe,
the Middle East, northern Africa, and parts of
Asia and the former Soviet Union).
H.Religious genius—II Thessalonians
2:4;
Revelation 13:3,14,15
1.As the son of Satan
he will have the same
command of the Scriptures and be able to
pervert them for his own gain, just as Satan
did with Jesus in the wilderness
(compare Psalms 91:11,12 with Matthew 4:6).
X.CONTRASTING
CHRIST & THE ANTICHRIST
A.Jesus’ names show His loving, warm,
and caring
character; and His titles show His humility—
Philippians 2:8.
1.The names of the
Antichrist show his rotten
character; and his titles show how he
will try to exalt himself and have an overpowering,
manipulative relationship over mankind
—Daniel 11:36.
B.Jesus is the Son of God—John 1:34.
1.Antichrist is the
son of perdition (perdition
means “destruction”)
—II
Thessalonians 2:3.
C.Jesus is the seed of the
woman—Genesis 3:15.
1. Antichrist is the
seed of the serpent
—Genesis 3:15.
D.Jesus is the Lamb—Isaiah 53:7.
1.Antichrist is the
beast—Revelation 11:7.
E.Jesus is the Holy One—Mark 1:24.
1.Antichrist is the
wicked one
—II Thessalonians 2:8.
F.Jesus is the truth—John 14:6.
1.Antichrist is the
lie—John 8:44.
G.Jesus is the Prince of Peace—Isaiah
9:6.
1.Antichrist is the
profane wicked prince
—Ezekiel 21:25.
H.Jesus is the glorious branch—Isaiah
4:2.
1.Antichrist is the
abominable branch
—Isaiah 14:19.
I.Jesus is the mighty
angel—Revelation 10:1.
1.Antichrist is the
angel of the bottomless pit
—Revelation 9:11.
J.Jesus is the Good Shepherd who leads
His flocks
—John 10:3; 11; 14.
1.Antichrist is the
idol shepherd who neglects
his flock—Zechariah 11:17.
K.Jesus came in God’s name—John
5:43.
1.Antichrist will
come in his own name—John 5: 43.
L.Jesus cleansed the Temple—John
2:15.
1.Antichrist will
defile the Temple—Matthew 24:15.
M.Jesus was slain for the people—John
11:51.
1.Antichrist will
slay the people—Isaiah 14:20.
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