Continued from The Present Antichrist By Rev. Fred J. Peters.

THE EVIDENCE EXAMINED

Lying Wonders

“Him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.’—2 Thess. 2:9.

The Antichrist evidently was to be characterized by the deepest kind of satanic working, with much deception and apparent miracles. They were to be lying wonders not real wonders. Keep this fact well in mind as you read the following elucidation of the prophecy from actual happenings past and present. These lying wonders or false miracles would be believed by the credulous, those who were willing to be deluded by them, and to them they would seem to be wonderful, and yet they would be lies, deceptions. We now ask, has such a thing as this existed during the past 1800 years since the Apocalypse was written? Is there anything like this existing today? Is it possible that such a thing could endure the searching light of the twentieth century? Yes, it is only too true that there exists today, and has existed for over twelve centuries, a system literally loaded with these lying wonders; and sad to relate millions of people still believe in them. The following is a very brief suggestion of what deceptions have been and are found in the Church ruled by the Roman Hierarchy.

“In the church of All Saints at Wittemburg there was shown a fragment of Noah’s Ark, some soot from the furnace of the Three Children, a piece of wood from the cradle of Jesus Christ, some hair from the beard of St. Christopher, and nineteen thousand other relics. At Schaffhausen was exhibited the breath of St. Joseph which Nicodemus received in his glove. In Wurtemberg you might meet a seller of indulgences, his head adorned with a large feather plucked from the wing of the Angel Michael.”

We have ourselves seen a renowned “Lord of the Earthquakes,” a black image of Christ, in Cuzco, Peru, which is reputed to have put an end to a terrible earthquake, and ever since has been venerated and worshipped by multitudes in that region. In Callao they have a “Lord of the Sea.” In Lima there is a weeping Virgin, whose head moves and whose eyes shed copious tears on a certain set day in the year. In many churches we have met with images covered with gold and silver medals which have been given by credulous persons who are reputed to have been healed by praying to those images.

In Italy there is a “Holy House of Loreto,” proclaimed by the priests to be the house in which Mary was born and grew up, and where the Angel Gabriel spoke to her. The Virgin herself announced to the Bishop of Modrino (so the priests teach) that this house was translated, through the air, from Nazareth in Palestine to Tersatto in Fiume, and then to Loreto in Italy; a journey of over 1500 miles. This story is believed by all faithful Catholics, and is a source of enormous revenue for the Pope, and the poor deluded pilgrims “have worn a furrow all around it, by making the circuit of it on their knees” if we are to believe the Catholic Herald of Aug. 30, 1895.

In the church of St. Prassede, Italy, they have a regular museum of relics, of which the following are but a fraction. They profess to have a tooth of St. Peter and another of St. Paul. They have the chemise (undergarment) of the Virgin and the girdle of the Lord Jesus. They do not blush to declare that they have the rod of Moses, and the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul. The towel with which Christ wiped the feet of the disciples happens to be in their possession. And strange to say, they claim to possess the swaddling clothes of the Lord Jesus and three thorns from the crown of thorns. They claim to have the stone which killed Stephen and four pieces of the true cross. And all these objects are supposed to have miraculous powers. And who has not heard of the miracles of Treves and Lourdes and a hundred other places.

Who can fail to see in these deceits the complete fulfilment of the prophecy of the “Lying wonders” that Antichrist should invent? The fulfilment is so exact and minute that no person who really knows these depths of Satan by experience would think of looking for any other. And we believe it is a fact that, most missionaries who work in Catholic lands sooner or later come to hold this view of prophecy.

The Apostasy

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for the day of Christ shall not come except, there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.”—2 Thess. 2:2, 3.

Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians clearly shows that Antichrist was to be head of an apostasy, a falling away. This is also referred to in I Tim. 4:1-3. Paul is not concerned about apostasies in pagan religion, but he does frequently warn as to the coming of declensions in the Church. He says to the Ephesian elders, “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.” Acts 20:29, 30. In like manner the falling away, mentioned in 2 Thess. 2, is a falling away in the Christian Church, and the revelation of the man of sin is also in the church. It was to be some abnormal development in the Church that would be altogether foreign to the teachings of the founder of it. It was not to be an openly atheistical system as some would have it. Nor was Antichrist to be an open unbeliever, but a Vice-Christ which is the meaning of the word in I John 2:18. The most approved meaning of the Greek prefix anti, (αντι) is “over against, instead of, in place of.” Thus Antichrist is a person who opposes Christ by putting himself in the place of Christ, usurping the authority and power of Christ.

The following quotation, from an article by the Rev. A. H. T. Clarke, M.A., of Devises, England, which appeared in “The New Menace” of Sept. 1, 1923, reveals the true sense and use of the word “antichrist” in the original:—

“When the term ‘Antichrist’ is applied by Protestant writers and speakers to the papal system, occasionally some Protestant objects, because the word sounds harsh, and because it does not seem applicable to a church professedly Christian. ‘Antichrist’ however, must not be understood as being against Christ, but rather as one who takes the place of Christ. Here is a paragraph from an ancient document that makes the matter very clear:—

“In the year 5, when Justin the King, that old man of whom we related above, that he came from the country of Illyricum, he made his sister’s son, who was general, anti-Caesar; and Justinian became anti-Caesar on the fifth day of the week in the last week of the fast. And, after he had governed for three months his uncle died, at the end of July, and he became emperor.’ Chronicles of Zachariah, of Mytilene, written in the 6th century, in the days of Justinian, chapter 1, paragraph 1 (Bury’s Byzantine Texts.)

“Anti-Caesar does not therefore mean one against Caesar, it means one in the place of Caesar—his deputy, his representative, his vicegerent. Latin usage would have called Justinian vice-Caesar. In English we have vice-president, vice-chairman, etc., which in Greek usage would be expressed as anti-president, anti-chairman meaning one ruling in the place of another.”

Dr. Hale, an old English writer, says this of the papacy:

“The vicegerent of Jesus Christ, which by a singular coincidence, meant the same as the obnoxious ‘Antichristus,’ originally signifying a pro-Christ, or deputy-Christ, or false Christ, who assumed his authority and acted in his stead.’ This is the kind of Antichrist referred to by John in his epistle. And who can deny that this is what the Papacy lays claim to today? To deny this would be to reveal a woeful ignorance of facts and of simple church history.

The Roman Church was a true Church of Christ at the beginning, but as the centuries passed it gradually forsook the truth, or buried it under a mass of errors. It was not content to be one of the Churches of Christ, it must be the only Church, and dominate all the rest. This was the end it sought. For this it worked and planned and schemed until it was attained, and this process was the very falling away which the apostle Paul foretells in the text at the head of this section. In this awful manner the apostasy had its revelation and the Anti-christ had his epiphany, and today is found masquerading under the title of “The True and Only Church Of Christ.” Hundreds of millions blindly follow its teachings and submit to its claims. Thousands of millions have gone into eternity trusting its blind leaders, only to awaken to the terrible truth of Christ’s words, “If the blind lead the blind both shall fall into the ditch.”

Brother teacher of prophecy, consider we beseech you, the vast multitudes that have gone into eternity trusting in the sacrament of Rome instead of the “Precious Blood of Christ.” Trusting in the Pope instead of Christ. Trusting in Mary as the Queen of heaven and mother of God. Think of this traffic in “the souls of men,” Rev. 18:18, extending over a millennium and a half, and ask yourself honestly, “Can there be any Antichrist in three and a half years that can possibly do a fraction of the harm that this one has caused?”

“Art thou he that should come or look we for another?”

Pope of Rome, art thou the Vice-Christ, Antichrist, Man of Sin, that should come?

History answers loudly, yes!

Thine own claims say, yes!

The souls under the altar clamouring for vengeance say, yes!

Fidelity to the Truth of God’s word demands that we say yes! Thou oh! Vicar of Christ at Rome art the very Antichrist, and it is vain to look for another, for no other will appear.

The Son of Perdition

“And that Man of Sin be revealed, The Son of Perdition.”— 2 Thess. 2:3.

This is the startling title that St. Paul gives to this great opposer of the Christ, who is to have a revelation (apocalypse) in this falling away or apostasy, and become the leader thereof.

Who is he? Where shall we get light upon his identity? Who is this Son of Perdition?

There is only one other place in Holy Writ where the name is found, and it will at once occur to Bible students. It is in John 17:12, “Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition.” These are Christ’s words. Who is the son of perdition to whom He refers? It is Judas. And who was Judas? An apostle, a bishop (Acts 1:20), a companion of Peter, and an equal of Peter in the days of the Lord. But without a doubt the Lord refers to him as fallen in this phrase. It is Judas the traitor that Jesus refers to here.

In like manner St. Paul must use the title; his “Son of Perdition” is a fallen apostle, a fallen bishop. Is this not exactly what we have in the Pope? But if Judas was a son of perdition, then this “Son of Perdition” spoken of by Paul must be a Judas. As this undoubtedly refers to the Pope, The Papacy (or dynasty of Popes) must be a Judas. He is not an open enemy, but as Judas, professing love and friendship for Christ, calling Him Master, yet betraying Him with a kiss.

Those of you readers, who have any knowledge of the lives of the long line of Popes, ask yourselves if this picture of Antichrist does not correspond to him as the print to the negative.

You will recall that, there is scarcely a teaching of Christ’s that has not been perverted by the papacy; while the Bible, itself God’s Word, has been prohibited and put in the list of immoral books. Pope Pius IX in his encyclical letter of 1850, speaks of Bible study as “poisonous reading.” Many a colporteur (book seller), in Catholic lands, has witnessed an priests collect all the Bibles he has sold and burn them in the public square. The writer has been through such an experience. Is this not treason to Christ? Is it not the work of a Judas? “The Son of Perdition?”

Furthermore, call to mind the perversion of Baptism into baptismal-regeneration, robing (clothing with a robe) the priest with supernatural powers. Think of the travesty of the Mass in place of the simple love-feast of the Lord’s Supper. What a work of a Judas! What about the imposition of purgatory, never mentioned once under any form in God’s Word. Call to mind also the institution of auricular confession, salvation by works, worship of saints and relics, etc., etc. Is it not clear as day that, the one who authorizes all this and who calls himself the Vicar of Christ, is a traitor to Christ? A Judas? The Antichrist?

The fulfilment of this sign also, answers the cry of a multitude of hearts today,—“Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?”

It answers in the affirmative, “Yes, thou Oh! Fallen Bishop of Rome art the Antichrist, and it is vain to look for another.”

Antichrist as God

“Who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”—2 Thess. 2:4.

It is here that one of the greatest difficulties has arisen in the minds and teaching of some of our dear brethren. They have from this passage, coupled with Dan. 9:27 drawn a picture of a single, superman in the future, who is to make a covenant with the Jews for a week (of seven years). In the midst of the last week of Daniel (after 3_1/2 years) he is to break the covenant, overthrow the restored Jewish sacrifice, sit in the literal, restored Jewish temple, and be worshipped by the Jews in their restored temple. As we find it impossible to accept this teaching, we propose to enter the study of it somewhat at length, as such vital issues depend upon it.

Now let our brethren honestly look at the above passage with an un-biased mind if they can, not following blindly any system of teaching, however popular, and then carefully consider the following:

THE LAST WEEK OF DANIEL

Exposition by Dr. Grattan Guinness

In the first place let us deal with the popular interpretation of Dan. 9:27, which we are convinced is a grievous error, and is responsible for much of the mischief and confusion of thought. We will appeal to the words of Dr. Grattan Guinness, one of God’s ablest prophetic expositors, if not the greatest. In his famous work, “The Approaching End of the Age,” he says:

“One of the gravest evils of futurism is the terrible way in which it tampers with this great fundamental prophecy (Dan. 9:27), applying to the future doings of some ideal Antichrist, its Divine description of the past deeds of the historic Christ.

“To hear their disquisitions on the subject, one would suppose that ‘Antichrist’s seven year’s covenant with the Jews was as unquestionable an event as God’s covenant with Israel on Sinai! Few would surmise how frail the foundation on which this cardinal doctrine of Futurism rests. Few would suppose that the notion has really no solid ground at all in Scripture, but is derived from an erroneous interpretation of one single clause of one single text. The only basis for the idea is the expression in the 27th verse of the 9th chapter of Daniel. The sentence occurs in the midst of Daniel’s celebrated prophecy of the 70 weeks, a prophecy that does not even allude to Antichrist, but is exclusively occupied with the first advent of Christ, His rejection and death, and the Roman destruction of Jerusalem which was the result.

“Interpreted in the light of history, as a fulfilled prophecy, this remarkable chronological prediction affords conclusive evidence of the Messiahship of Jesus, of the inspiration of Scripture, and the divine origin of the Christian faith.

“What are the words of this sacred and marvellous prediction given between five and six hundred years before Christ?

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall even in troublous times. And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of a prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.’

“‘And He (Messiah) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (Or during the one or last week): and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations He shall make it (i.e., the city) desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate or desolator.’ Dan 9:24-27.

“This prophecy was given just as the 70 years’ captivity in Babylon was drawing to a close. It announces the duration of the restored national existence of Israel up to the great epoch of all history, the advent of Messiah the Prince. It was foretold that within 490 years from the date of the decree to restore and to build Jerusalem, the long foreshadowed, long predicted supreme atonement for sin was to be accomplished by the advent of Messiah the Prince, reconciliation for iniquity effected, and everlasting righteousness brought in; that vision and prophecy should be sealed up, and the most Holy anointed.

“This period was then subdivided into three parts: 7 weeks, 62 weeks, and 1 week; i.e., 49 years, 434 years, and 7 years. The rebuilding of the city, and the re-establishment of the Jewish polity would occur in the first forty-nine years or ‘seven weeks.’ Four hundred and thirty-four years more would elapse, and then Messiah the Prince would appear. After that, at some time not exactly specified, but within the limits of the seventieth week or last seven years of the period, Messiah would be cut off; but not for Himself. It is further foretold that Jerusalem and its temple would subsequently, and as a consequence, be destroyed, and that a flood of foreign invasion would overflow the land. But though thus cut off, Messiah would confirm the covenant with many (not the whole nation) during the course of the ‘one week’; in the midst of it He would ‘cause sacrifice and oblation to cease.’ Jerusalem should then be made desolate, until a certain pre-determined doom should fall upon the power that should desolate it; a fact which our Lord afterwards foretold in the words, ‘Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.’

“All this was accomplished with wonderful exactness. The edict to restore and build the city was issued by Artaxerxes, and Ezra and Nehemiah were the two great restorers of the Jewish people, polity and religion. Their joint administration occupied about ‘seven weeks’ or forty-nine years; the wall and the street were rebuilt in troublous times. After a lapse of 434 years more, Messiah the Prince did appear, saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;’ i.e., the time indicated by this very prophecy. He came unto His own, but alas! His own received Him not! He was cut off; but not for Himself! Shortly after the Roman Soldiery—‘the people of a prince that shall come’—(Titus) did destroy the city and the sanctuary; the end of Jewish independence came with a flood of foreign invasion, and predetermined desolation fell on land and people. But though the nation was thus judged, Messiah did ‘confirm the covenant’ with many.

“What covenant? and how did He confirm it? ‘This is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you,’ said He to his disciples the night before His passion (Luke 22:20); or as Matthew and Mark give the words: “This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’ ‘He shall confirm the covenant with many,’ said the angel to Daniel. ‘My blood of the new covenant shed for many,’ said Christ. Is not His blood declared to be ‘the blood of the everlasting covenant’ And is not He Himself repeatedly styled ‘the Mediator of the new covenant’? Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24. And can any Bible student doubt what is the event predicted, when in immediate connection with the coming and cutting off of Messiah, it is added, ‘He shall confirm the covenant with many’? (See also Heb. 8).

“What excuse is there for introducing into this most solemn and touching prophecy of the life and death and work of CHRIST, the political action of some future Antichrist? It is needless, groundless, unpardonable discord! Antichrist making a league with the Jews! What? in a prophecy which speaks of the accomplishment of atonement, of the making an end of sin, of the effecting of reconciliation, of the bringing in of everlasting righteousness!

“What has Antichrist to do here?

“Oh! he is the ‘prince that shall come’ of v. 26, it is answered.

“Impossible! That prince was the prince of the people who did the deed here predicted, destroyed the temple and city of Jerusalem in consequence of the Jewish rejection of Messiah. That must be Titus, for it was his soldiery that did this. ‘Then where is Antichrist in this prophecy? It is replied that even granting the earlier reference to be to Titus, still it is Antichrist who in the midst of the week causes the sacrifice and oblation to cease. No! the Actor is one and the same in all the clauses of v. 27—Messiah Himself. Who else put an end to the sacrifices offered by the law continually, and caused them to cease by the offering of one sacrifice for sins for ever?

“What was it that did actually as a matter of historic fact, cause the Jewish sacrifice and oblation to cease? ‘The offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,’ that offering which took place ‘in the midst of the week’—that is, in the course of the seventieth of Daniel’s predicted weeks, the one week which stands alone at the close,—the week which comprised the earthly ministry and the atoning death of the Son of God, the giving of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, and the formation of the Christian Church.

“Christ and His work is the one great theme of this prophecy. The judgement that should overtake the Jews for rejecting Him, and Titus and the Romans by whom these judgements were to be inflicted, are mentioned, but there is no allusion to Antichrist.

“How could there be? 490 years includes chronologically the events foretold here, and Antichrist is not yet come according to futurist views! How then could he figure in a prediction which expired 1800 years ago? Oh, it is said, ‘The angel said 490 years but he meant plus 1800 or 2000 years; there is a chronological gap of this length between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth weeks. The last week has not begun yet. When it does begin, Antichrist will appear and make his covenant with the Jews.

“To state such a theory ought to suffice for its refutation. Language has lost all meaning if a definite period of 490 years, interposed between two great historical events, may be extended by two thousand years. Prophetic revelations of such a character would be worse than none; for they would be misleading and deceptive.

“Not thus was the forty years wandering in the wilderness lengthened! Not thus was the Babylonian captivity measured! If God condescends to give chronological predictions at all, they will be truthful, accurate, divinely exact. The events mentioned as occurring in the midst of the last week, occurred within 490 years from the Edict of Artaxerxes. They are long, long past. The prophecy is a fulfilled prophecy. The judgements on the Christ-rejecting nation continue, it is true, and will continue till the end of this age; ‘even until the consummation, and that determined be poured upon the desolator.’ But the object of the prophecy was not to announce these judgements, but to measure the interval to Messiah the Prince. It was given to intimate beforehand the period of the greatest events of all history, the greatest events of time, not to say the greatest events of eternity, the atoning death of the Son of God, and the establishment of the new covenant.

“The great anti-christian power, symbolized as ‘the little horn’ and called the ‘man of sin,’ and the eighth head of the beast, being the last form of Gentile power, and belonging to these ‘times of the Gentiles,’ has little to do with the literal Israel, or the literal Jerusalem, or the literal Temple.

‘He (Antichrist) co-exists not with a recognized Jewish nation, but with the rejection and dispersion of the Jews, and with a recognized professing Christian Church. His sphere is not Palestine, but Christendom; his throne is not Jerusalem, but Rome; his victims are not Jews, but Christians; his end and doom are brought about by that event which marks the commencement of the restoration of Israel to God’s favor —the second advent of Christ; when Israel shall look on Him whom they pierced, and mourn because of Him, and when the times of the Gentiles shall be ended.”—End of the Age, pp. 711-717.

We quote this passage so extensively because it is so unanswerable. In our opinion it is the last word on that passage. We believe it ought to be continually at work among the rank and file of our people, and so we herewith launch it forth.

There is then no last week of Daniel in the future, and therefore all the teaching that hangs around it as future, falls to the ground. It is well to face the issue at once. All prophetic teaching based on the theory that the last week of Daniel is still future, is based on a false premise. It is therefore unscriptural. Why go on any longer building up a system of teaching that will certainly never be fulfilled? We appeal to all our dear brethren who are innocently teaching it, to prayerfully reconsider the whole subject.

Antichrist is here. He has been on the stage his allotted time and has fulfilled his predestined awful career. The next event is the coming of the King to destroy him whom He has been consuming with the Spirit of His mouth since the glorious Reformation.

We are now free to consider the true Protestant interpretation of the Scripture that heads this section.

Continued in The Present Antichrist By Rev. Fred J. Peters – Part 3