“The History of the Antichrist” (The Ruler of Rome Rises) 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, Daniel 9:21-27, Revelation 13:1-17

TRANSCRIPT

Date: July 3, 2022 Author: Wayne J. Edwards

In 1983, Dr. Billy Graham published a book entitled “Approaching Hoofbeats,” describing the ride of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse during the first half of the Tribulation. Beloved, if Dr. Graham heard the sounds of those hoofs in 1983, what would he say about the events of our day? By every measure, we are well into the Laodicean church age. The apostasy the Apostle Paul said would come at the end of the church age is now here, as thousands of those who claimed to be Christians are turning away from God’s Word and embracing Satan’s lies. The Antichrist’s economic system is being instituted globally. We are being warned of global famine, perhaps as early as this fall. The nation of Israel is in existence, and the Jews are back in Jerusalem. The Gospel is being preached throughout the world. The evil authorities and spiritual forces in charge of this Satanic agenda are quick to tell us that we will never return to “normal.” While “normal” may not be coming back, the Lord Jesus is , just as He promised His disciples in John 14:1-3. According to the Apostle Paul in Galatians 1:4 and 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9, Jesus will soon rescue His bride from this present evil age and deliver us from the terrible Day of the Lord’s wrath. The rapture of the Church is the next event on God’s prophetic calendar. However, this does not mean that believers of this age will be exempt from persecution. I believe there is much suffering ahead for those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, including martyrdom. We will explain this further in our next sermon in this series – “Steadfastness in Light of our Lord’s Imminent Return” – This sermon is entitled: “The History of the Antichrist.”

In 1983, Dr. Billy Graham published a book entitled “Approaching Hoofbeats,” describing the ride of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse during the first half of the Tribulation. Beloved, if Dr. Graham heard the sounds of those hoofs in 1983, what would he say about the events of our day?

The evil authorities and spiritual forces in charge of this Satanic agenda are quick to tell us that we will never return to “normal.” While “normal” may not be coming back, the Lord Jesus is , just as He promised His disciples in John 14:1-3. According to the Apostle Paul in Galatians 1:4 and 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9, Jesus will soon rescue His bride from this present evil age and deliver us from the terrible Day of the Lord’s wrath. The rapture of the Church is the next event on God’s prophetic calendar.

However, this does not mean that believers of this age will be exempt from persecution. I believe there is much suffering ahead for those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, including martyrdom. We will explain this further in our next sermon in this series – “Steadfastness in Light of our Lord’s Imminent Return” – This sermon is entitled: “The History of the Antichrist.”

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Even though the Apostle Paul taught these first-century Christians the absolute truth about the end-times, they were still vulnerable to the deceptive spirit of the antichrist, and so are we today.

That warning should awaken us from our spiritual arrogance, lest we also become deceived by the false prophets in these last days.

In this second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, Paul assured them they were not living in the Day of the Lord.

However, since the Apostasy is now here, the next event on God’s prophetic calendar must be the Rapture of the Church.

Near the end of Israel’s 70-years of captivity in Babylon, Daniel was praying for God to forgive his people of their sins and to allow them to return to Jerusalem. As he was reading the prophecy of Jeremiah, the Angel Gabriel came and revealed unto him the future of the Jewish people from that day to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

The decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem was issued in the month of Nisan, in the 20 th year of the reign of King Artaxerxes, which on our calendar would be 444 B.C.

Daniel said , “the people of the prince shall destroy the city and the sanctuary…and confirm a covenant with many.”

In Daniel 2:31-35, Daniel interpreted a vision for King Nebuchadnezzar, who had seen an image of a man with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet part of iron and clay.

God revealed unto Daniel that human history would be divided into seven world empires, descending in their power, until they were destroyed by a “stone” – meaning the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

In Daniel 7, 8, and 11, he refers to the “Great Beast” as the Antichrist that will rise from the revived Roman Empire, which is known today as the European Union.

In Daniel 9:27, Daniel said, “He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.”

In Matthew 24:15, Jesus referred to this blasphemous event as the “abomination of desolation,” and in verse 21, He referred to these last 3.5 years as “ great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

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