Sermon Tone Analysis

*/ “Are We Living In The Last Days”/*

*The Man Called Antichrist*

I searched the internet while preparing for this series and was surprised to find that so many people throughout history have been labeled as being the Antichrist.

The names include: Nero, Domitian, Adolph Hitler, Pope Paul VI, Prince Charles of England, George W. Bush and even David Hasseloff from Bay Watch.

Although some of the reasons that these were potentials were silly, it does show that people have a deep desire to know things concerning the end of time.

Last night we looked at a question and answer session between Jesus and His disciples concerning Jesus future return to the earth.

Jesus disciples wanted to know just as we do when He will be returning.

I hope to show you today that the man we called Antichrist otherwise known as the Pirnce in the book of Daniel and the Beast in Revelation, has not yet appeared on the scene but could be revealed at any time.

The coming Antichrist will symbolize and personify all that stands against God.

There are many other references to him in the Old Testament prophets, that the first

prophecy of the Antichrist may well occur in Genesis 3:15.

God tells the serpent

of Eden, ''And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your

offspring [a possible reference to the Antichrist, the "offspring" of Satan] and

hers [Jesus, the offspring of the woman]; he [Jesus] will crush your head, and

you will strike his heel [a reference to the Crucifixion Jesus--is wounded by

death but rises again, a costly victory that crushes the head of Satan]."

The powerful and ominous figure we know as the Antichrist appears throughout

Scripture under various names and guises.

As we examine this man in the Old and New Testaments, we find a portrait of a powerful man of remarkable personal appeal and deceptive powers.

He is a political ruler and the human incarnation of Satan on Earth.

He is the one who will gather up in himself all the humanistic philosophies of the earth, receive the worship of all the nations of the earth, and set himself in

opposition to the worship of the one true God.

I would like to point out three aspects of this man know as the Beast as we try to determine who he could be and when he will arrive.

*1.

The Restrainer Recalled*

* *

Before the Antichrist comes upon the scene, the world must be prepared to accept him.

I think this can only occur when someone called the Restrainer is removed.

 

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.”

What is this “restraining”?

It is an invisible force holding back the gathered might of ultimate evil.

As bad as it is today in our world, it could (and will) get worse.

A restraining influence in our world holds this evil – this dark satanic tide of perversion and lawlessness – in check.

Who has the power to restrain Satan?

Only God.

And it is God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who draws the line today and keeps the ocean of evil at bay. 

 

Paul said to the Thessalonians, “Friends, don’t be troubled by these letters purporting to come from me.

You are not in the midst of the Tribulation.

The day of the Lord has not come, and will not come until the rebellion against the truth has reached full force, and until that restraining power that holds evil in check is finally removed.”

(2 Thes.

2:2-3)

When will that restraining influence cease?

When the Holy Spirit no longer has the ministry He has now.

And when will that happen?

When the church is taken out of the way at the Rapture.

Where does the Holy Spirit live?

He lives within the believer.

When the Rapture comes, all the believers will be swept up into heaven and the Holy Spirit will no longer have a resident ministry on this earth.

His role will revert to what it was in the Old Testament.

If you think conditions are dark and vile now, just try to imagine the way things will be when all the restraints are suddenly removed.

It will be like the bursting of the levees in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina.

Sin and death and hatred and perversion will suddenly rush in to fill the vacuum left by the departure of the church and the presence of the Spirit.

When that occurs, the Great Tribulation isn’t far behind.

Since Paul says plainly that the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the world

before the Antichrist is revealed, we know that His removal from the world

occurs somewhere between the events recorded in Matthew 24:14 and the events of

verse 15.

It will occur sometime before the "Abomination that causes

Desolation," spoken of by the prophet Daniel, stands in the holy place of the

restored temple.

* The Church Raptured

 

This event known as the Rapture will set the stage for Antichrist to be revealed and he will be accepted as a peacemaker and leader.

He will have the answers to the world’s problems and will be the one to bring peace to the nation of Israel.

That the church will be removed before the Great Tribulation the Bible says is coming upon the earth, has been under much debate for several years.

Some scholars say that this Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory was first made popular by  John Darby in the 1840’s.

Others say that the word Rapture is not even in the Bible, which is actually true.

The word rapture come from a translation of the Greek word in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 hapadzo which translators have rendered “caught up” and was later termed the rapture.

Lets look at this 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 to get the full effect of what Paul was saying.

3 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.

14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will be with the Lord forever.

18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

I want to let you know that I do believe in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church and I would like to give you a few reasons why I do.

*First*, God has already raptured someone.

In Genesis 5:24 we read “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

“

 

*Second*, God rescued His own before times of destruction.

Think back to what He did with Noah and Lot before His wrath was poured out.

*Finally*, Jesus Himself gives the following assurance to the Church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3:10   “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.”

*2.

The Beast Revealed*

* *

Jesus made a fascinating prophecy to the religious leaders who opposed him.

In John 5:43 we find these words “I have come in my father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”

Jesus was telling the religious leaders of the day that although they do not accept the real Messiah coming in the name of the Father, they would accept the false Messiah that will come in his own name.

The evil man known as Antichrist will not be accepted by the world unless the conditions are right.

The removal of the Holy Spirit will allow Satan to show his representative to the world and the world will be waiting for just someone like him.

* *

The prophet Daniel had a vision of the end times and much of it concerned this man known by names such as the king, the prince, the beast and the antichrist.

Let’s look at a few passages that tell us what this man will be like.

“The king will do as he pleases.

He will exalt and magnify himself above every

god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods.

He will be

successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined

must take place.

He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the

one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above

them all.

Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to

his fathers he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly

gifts.

He will attack the mightiest fortresses with the help of a foreign god