25. In Antichrist’s Temple, P1 - Pastor Stephen Bohr - His Way Is In The Sanctuary

[Music] [Music] so we pray almighty father we want to thank you first of all and praise your name because you have given us your word a sure guide a certain compass in uncertain times we thank you father that we are able with freedom to open that word to study it and to practice it in our lives and father as we study this very important subject on antichrist sitting in the temple of god we ask that you will soften hearts and that you will open minds that we might receive the truth as it is in jesus and thank you father for hearing and answering our prayer for we ask it in jesus name amen one of the churches that the apostle paul established was the church of thessalonica the church of the thessalonians and in 1st thessalonians chapter 4 and verses 15 through 17 the apostle paul wrote to the thessalonians about what would happen with those who died in christ and those who were alive when jesus comes as we begin our study i would like to read from first thessalonians 4 and verses 15 through 17 because in this passage evidently the thessalonians got the impression that jesus was coming in the days of the apostle paul in their days notice what we find in verse 15. for this we say to you by the word of the lord that we who are alive and remain notice he's including himself we who are alive and remain until the coming of the lord will by no means precede those who are asleep that is those who are dead for the lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of god and the dead in christ will rise first and now verse 17 repeats the same thought that we found in verse 15 then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them that is with those who died and resurrected in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the lord twice in this passage the apostle paul gives the impression that he and the thessalonians were going to be alive when jesus comes in verse 15 he says that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the lord and then in verse 17 he repeat repeats then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together so the thessalonians got a wrong impression of what the apostle paul was really saying what the apostle paul was saying is that if we are alive then we are going to be translated he's not predicting that that generation was going to be alive but they misunderstood him and so the apostle paul felt it necessary to write a second letter to the thessalonians where he explained a little bit better what needed to happen before jesus would come and so we want to study second thessalonians chapter 2 and basically the first 13 verses in our study today and also in our next lecture so let's go to 2nd thessalonians chapter 2 and verses 1 and 2. here the apostle paul says now brethren concerning the coming that's a word you need to remember that's the word parusia that's a greek word very important word parusia now brethren concerning the parochia or the coming of our lord jesus christ and our gathering together to him notice it's not him gathering to us it's us gathering together to him remember first thessalonians 4 where it says will be caught up to join him now which coming is this referring to it's referring to the second coming of christ so he says now brethren concerning the coming of our lord jesus christ and are gathering together to him we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled either by spirit that would probably mean by a prophetic dream or vision or by word that is because somebody told you so or by letter a supposed letter that i have written as from us as though the day of christ had come so if somebody tells you if they had a vision or a dream or if somebody tells you that you know that they heard somebody say that jesus has come or if you even see a letter that appears to be signed by me don't believe it and so we find that the apostle paul says don't believe the idea that jesus has come yet because certain things have to transpire before jesus comes let's go now to 2nd thessalonians 2 and verse 3 and we're going to spend a lot of time in verses three and four and five and then in our next lecture we're going to study verses six and following now notice second thessalonians chapter two and verse three let no one deceive you by any means for that day which day would that be the day of the what of the parusia the day of the coming of christ is the context so that day will not come unless the falling away comes first now there are several things that we need to say about this first of all falling away is preceded by the definite article we this is not just a general falling away this is a specific falling away that the apostle paul had spoken to them about and which is predicted we're going to notice in the old testament and so the apostle paul is saying that the falling away has to come first not just a falling away but the specific falling away now i need to say something also about that expression falling away it actually is a translation of one greek word and that greek word is apostasia now what word do we get in english from apostasia we get the word apostasy now the question is what is an apostasy can you apostatize from the faith if you did not belong to the face faith to start out with of course not apostasy means that you embrace the truth at some point and then you forsook the truth or you fell away from the truth that's the reason why it's translated here in the new king james the falling away but the word is apostasy in other words the apostle paul is saying don't let anyone deceive you the apostasy is going to come before jesus returns and then he says and the man of sin is revealed the son of perdition so do you understand what we're dealing with when we talk about the apostasy did this mean that originally those who were going to participate in this apostasy belonged to the christian faith and were genuine christians absolutely and this is a specific apostasy not just apostasy is going to come or an apostasy is going to come this is the explicit and definite apostasy now let's go to the next phrase once again verse 3 let no one deceive you by any means for that day that is the day of the coming of christ will not come unless thee falling away that is the apostasy comes first and the man of sin is revealed now let's discuss the expression the man of sin of course we need to ask the question what is sin according to the biblical definition if this is the man of sin this is a system that personifies sin and enjoys sin so the question is what is sin first john chapter 3 and verse 4 has the biblical definition of sin it says there whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness that's a very important word because it's used in second thessalonians too and so it says whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness and sin is what sin is lawlessness or as the king james version says sin is the transgression of the law so the man of sin is going to teach people to do what to transgress or disobey god's law now this brings to mind the little horn that we studied about remember the little horn that is mentioned in daniel chapter 7 and verse 25 who spoke blasphemies against god and persecuted the saints of the most high and he ruled for a period of 1260 years and we're also told that the little horn thought that he could change what god's law you see the man of sin and the little horn are the same power but with a different name let's read daniel chapter 7 and verse 25 he shall speak pompous words against the most high shall persecute the saints of the most high and shall intend to change what times and law is he going to attack god's law absolutely then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time and so this apostasy is going to involve the law of god the man of sin is a is a system or a power that has an onslaught against the law of god because sin is transgression of the law now let's notice another expression that we find here once again verse 3 let no one deceive you by any means for that day that is the day of the coming of christ will not come unless the falling away or the apostasy comes first and the man of sin which we've noticed is transgression of the law is revealed the son of perdition now i need to tell you something about that word revealed uh it's the word apocalypse the same word that is translated revelation in revelation chapter one and verse one the revelation of jesus christ what does this mean revealed well it would help us to know what the antonym of revealed is what is the antonym or the opposite of reveal it is concealed so the question is was this power concealed even in the days in which the apostle paul wrote absolutely in fact the word revealed means to unveil it means to take away the veil in other words in the days of the apostle paul this power was already wanting to manifest itself if you read for example the three epistles of john he deals a lot with the law and with the commandments doesn't he if anyone says i know him and does not keep his commandments he is a what he is a liar and he says his commandments are not what are not burdensome time and again in the epistles of john john is saying we need to keep what god's commandments so was there a problem already in the days of the apostles with uh with lawlessness wanting to show its ugly head absolutely it wanted to manifest itself it wanted to unveil itself or reveal itself but at that time it was under the surface it was concealed just waiting a certain moment to reveal itself and that we're going to talk about in the second lecture of this two-part series now let's go once again to second thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 3 and take a look at another expression it says here once again let no one deceive you by any means for that day that is the coming the day of the coming of christ the parusia will not come unless the falling away that is the apostasy comes first and the man of sin which is transgression of the law somehow this system is going to teach people to transgress the law is revealed which means that he's already concealed according to the epistles of john and also acts chapter 20 speaks about apostasy wanting to show its head and then notice the name that is given to this system the son of what the son of perdition now we need to dwell for a while on that one that's a very important expression very important name do you know there's only one other person in all of the bible that is called by that exact name the son of perdition and that person was judas iscariot go with me to john 17 and verse 12 and we're going to take a look at this name as it is given to this apostate disciple it says there in john chapter 17 and verse 12 while i was with them in the world i kept them in your name here jesus is praying to his father those whom you gave me i have kept and none of them is lost except whom the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled so what is judas called judas is called the son of perdition now in christendom there is a fundamental misconception about the antichrist most christians either believe that the antichrist was a fellow that lived in the past named antiochus epiphanes but most conservative christians believe that the antichrist is a future nasty individual perhaps an atheist or perhaps an in a blasphemer openly against god that will sit in the jerusalem temple rebuilt by that time and he will curse god that's the view that most conservative christians have concerning the antichrist but when we examine the bible carefully we notice that this is not an accurate description of the antichrist let me just share with you four reasons why the antichrist is not an apostate blasphemer who curses christianity and is anti-christian but rather the antichrist is an insider who claims to serve jesus christ but actually betrays the cause of jesus christ i'm going to give you four reasons reason number one all theologians are agreed that the man of sin the little horn and the beast represent the same power they represent the antichrist now if the beast is the same as the little horn and the little horn is the same as the man of sin that must mean that the beast represents a system not a person you say why is that because we've already studied that beasts in bible prophecy represent what they represent not individuals they represent kingdoms so in other words very clearly because the beast is the same as the man of sin and a beast represents a kingdom the man of sin must represent a what must represent a kingdom secondly we are told that the little horn and the beast ruled for 1260 years we already studied that prophecy they ruled for 1260 years let me ask you how could this be a literal individual do you know anyone who has lived 1260 years in recent times absolutely not and so it cannot be a literal individual in the future number three the bible tells us that this man of sin already was there in the days of the apostle paul just wanting to show he said wanting to manifest himself in other words he was already there but he was what he was concealed according to what we studied the mystery of lawlessness it says was already at work in the days of the apostle paul but you know what's interesting the bible says that the man of sin will be destroyed by the brightness of the coming of christ so how is it possible that that this could be an individual a person if this was already trying to manifest itself in the days of paul and it's going to be destroyed at the second coming of christ that would mean you would have to have a person that lived from the days of paul till the times of the coming of christ it cannot be a literal individual now number four the argument that is used to try and prove that this is an individual person who will rise it will arise in the future is the fact that he is referred to with the masculine personal pronoun he the man of sin he will manifest himself but that's not a good argument because the fact that that the personal pronoun he is used does not necessarily mean that this is one individual person let me give you some other biblical examples for example in hebrews chapter 9 and verse 7 which we're not going to read the expression the high priest is used to describe the whole succession of the priests in the old testament system it's not referring to a specific individual high priest it uses the generic term the high priest it applies to all of the priests of the hebrew system another example in first samuel chapter 8 and verse 11 it speaks about the king but if you look at this verse it's not describing one particular individual king the expression the king is referring to all of the succession of kings in the hebrew theocracy revelation chapter 12 uses the expression the woman this is not speaking about an individual woman it's talking about god's corporate church and in first timothy chapter 3 and verse 17 it says that the bible was given that the man of god might be complete now is that referring to one particular man that's going to be complete by reading the bible no it's speaking about everyone who what everyone who reads and studies scripture are you with me now scripture makes it very clear that this antichrist is going to be like judas he's going to be covetous conniving politically ambitious an insider who professes loyalty to jesus christ while he is working in secret behind the back of jesus and undermining and betraying his truth now an author that i have read several books from and i totally disagree with his futuristic methodology was right on target when he described what the antichrist is going to be like the name of this author is dave hunt some of you must have probably read something from him you know there are several things that he says that are right on target but of course his view that the jews are going to be restored and the temple is going to be rebuilt and you know the literal nations are coming against jerusalem and and the antichrist is a literal individual who's going to sit in the temple well we don't agree with that methodology but notice how he described the antichrist i think he's right on target in his book global peace pages seven and eight he said this while the greek prefix anti generally means against or opposed to it can also mean in place of or a substitute for the antichrist will embody both meanings he will oppose christ while pretending to be christ instead of a frontal assault against christianity the evil one will pervert the church from within by posing as its founder he will cunningly misrepresent christ while pretending to be christ and right here is where the plot thickens if the antichrist will indeed pretend to be christ then his followers must be christian that's a very perceptive description of the antichrist i don't know why dave hunt can't see that that has been fulfilled in the middle ages probably because his futurism has blinded him from the possibility of considering that the roman catholic papacy fulfills this picture or this portrayal of the antichrist now if this system is going to be like judas then we have to study the character of judas and once we know what judas was like then we're going to know what this system that claims to follow christ and claims to exalt christ but really betrays him looks like the first thing that i would like us to notice about judas is that he was a high octane administrator we're told in the book desire of ages page 294 he was of commanding appearance a man of keen discernment and executive ability and they that is the disciples commended him to jesus as one who would greatly assist in his work they were surprised that jesus received him so coolly so here was a man who had great cunning and great administrative and executive ability he was a natural-born leader in other words [Music] now one of the great defects that judas had is that he coveted political power he wanted jesus to occupy the literal throne he wanted him to take over the kingdoms of this world you remember when jesus fed the five thousand you remember that episode the story is told in john chapter six and the bible tells us in verse fifteen that when he fed the 5000 the multitudes wanted to grab jesus and wanted to force him to become king of a literal kingdom let's read that verse john chapter 6 and verse 15. therefore when jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king he departed again to the mountain by himself alone now if you go down to verse 71 we're going to come back there in a few moments you're going to see that the ring leader in this movement was judas iscariot because judas always wanted jesus to take over political power and to rule the world now notice what we find in desire of ages page 718 on this particular point concerning the aspirations of judas when jesus fed the five thousand it says they're not withstanding the savior's own teaching judas was continually advancing the idea that christ would reign as king in jerusalem at the feeding of the 5000 he tried to bring this about so who was behind this idea of jesus taking the throne and exercising political power on earth it was judas iscariot he was the ringleader he was at the head of this movement so one of the great defects of judas is that he wanted power he wanted political power another defect that judas had is that he was covetous he feigned a love for the poor but it wasn't love for the poor that moved him he was covetous and he loved money notice john chapter 12 and verses 4 through 6 this is when mary washed the feet of jesus and judah sanctimoniously said oh you know couldn't we have spent this money on something better to help the poor let's read that passage john chapter 12 and verses four through six but one of his disciples judas iscariot simon's son who would betray him said why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor this he said not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief and had the money box and he used to take what was put in it and what did judas betray jesus for he betrayed jesus for money notice luke chapter 22 and verses three through six luke 22 and verses three through six it says then satan entered judas surnamed iscariot who was numbered among the twelve so he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray him to them and they were glad and agreed to give him what ah to give him money so he promised and sought opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the multitude so he wanted political power and he wanted to control the resources he had the purse he was covetous he wanted money money and power now the bible also makes it very clear that judas was satan's representative you say really absolutely after jesus spent the 5000 and judas tried to make jesus king we find a very interesting declaration of jesus in john 6 and verses 70 and 71 john 6 and verses 70 and 71. jesus answered them he's speaking to his disciples did i not choose you the twelve and one of you is a devil wow what a way to refer to judas one of you is a what is a devil he spoke of judas iscariot the son of simon for it was he who would betray him being one of the twelve in fact it was satan who prompted judas to deliver jesus notice john chapter 13 and verse 2 john 13 and verse 2 and at this point judas had not has not crossed the line he can still change his mind and repent at this point it says there in john 13 and verse 2 when jesus is sitting with his disciples to have supper before the last supper it says and supper being ended the devil having already put it into the heart of judas iscariot simon's son to betray him so who was it that put it into the heart of judas to betray jesus christ it was satan so whose emissary or representative was judas he was the visible representative of whom of satan do you know where he actually crossed the line we're told in john 13 and verse 27 when jesus gave judas the piece of bread he said whoever i give this piece of bread to he's the one who's going to betray me the bible says in john 13 verse 27 now after the piece of bread satan entered him in other words he was demon possessed did he claim to be a follower of jesus yes was he a part of the inner circle absolutely and yet underhandedly he was trying to betray jesus christ interesting desire of ages page 295 ellen white explains judas became a representative of the enemy of christ he was the representative not of christ but the representative of the enemy of jesus christ but do you know that he was hypocrite and he had even the disciples fooled even the inner circle was fooled as to the identity of this antichrist matthew chapter 26 and verse 25 when jesus said one of you is going to betray me each disciple asked is it i notice what judah said matthew 26 25 then judas who was betraying him answered and said rabbi is it i the disciples did not have the foggiest idea that this was the antichrist he had them deceived till the very end in fact notice john 13 verses 26-29 this is an interesting passage it shows that the very followers of jesus themselves were oblivious as to the identity identity of antichrist is that true of the religious world today absolutely notice what we find in john 13 26 jesus answered it is he to whom i shall give a piece of bread when i have dipped it and having dipped the bread he gave it to judas iscariot the son of simon so it's so obvious isn't it he says to whoever i give the bread that's the antichrist but now notice now after the piece of bread satan entered him then jesus said to him what you do do quickly. how did the disciples understand that listen but no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to him for some thought because judas had the money box that jesus had said to him by those things we need for the feast or that he should give something to the poor were the very followers of jesus oblivious to what was going on in terms of the fulfillment of prophecy till the very end fortunately they woke up at the end now how did judas betray jesus christ notice luke 22 and verses 47 through 48 when the mob comes to arrest jesus christ in the garden of gethsemane notice how judas betrayed christ luke 22 verses 47 and 48 it says there and while he was still speaking behold a multitude and he who was called judas one of the twelve went before them and drew near to jesus to what to kiss him but jesus said to him judas are you betraying the son of man with a kiss how did judas betray christ with a what with a kiss the epitome of being a traitor according to scripture now the antichrist is called the son of perdition why is he called the son of perdition the word perdition in greek means destruction or annihilation he is the son of annihilation he is the son of destruction have you ever read in the bible about the end of judas as a result of betraying jesus christ matthew 27 verses 3 through 5 speak about the perdition of judas or his destruction or annihilation which is what perdition means notice then judas his betrayer seeing that he had been condemned was remorseful this was crocodile tears it was not repentance it was an admission and brought back the 30 pieces of silver silver to the chief priests and elders saying i have sinned by betraying innocent blood and they said what is that to us you see to it then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself do you know what the real intention of judas was it was not the intention of judas to deliver jesus to death it was the intention of judas to force the hand of jesus so that jesus would escape once they arrested him to proclaim himself king in other words if it had been a judas's purpose to betray jesus to death why would he commit suicide why would he throw the money there in the presence of the priests the fact is that it was his purpose that when jesus would find himself between a rock and a hard place when he was arrested and perhaps mistreated that jesus would arise and he would take care of him and he would establish his kingdom but his plan backfired and when he saw that jesus allowed himself to be arrested and beaten and as he saw him uh going to pilate's court and and suffering there's when he says i betrayed innocent blood this guy is not going to be the king and the bible says that he won went and hung himself so are you catching the picture of what kind of antichrist we're talking here it is an antichrist an insider not a blasphemous outsider who is an atheist and curses god now let's go to the second third thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 4. there's an interesting expression here we're going to study now expression by expression in verse 4. speaking about this antichrist it says who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called god or that is worshipped so it says that he opposes god you say but you just said that that judas you know is an insider did judas really oppose god did he oppose jesus christ of course he did but he didn't do it openly he did it how underhandedly in fact this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the christian world they say see the antichrist is going to oppose christ and so they say he's going to openly oppose christ and he's going to curse him to his face no that's not what scripture says what does it mean to oppose god notice john chapter 16 and verse 2 john chapter 16 and verse 2. here jesus is speaking to his disciples and he says they will put you out of the synagogues yes the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers god service are you catching the picture those who were going to kill the disciples they were thinking that they were going to do god what a favor were they really opposing god while they claim to serve god absolutely according to scripture incidentally did the enemies of jesus who led him to his crucifixion claim to serve god yes but by crucifying jesus christ they were really what they were really opposing god how about saul of tarsus did he claim to be serving god of course he claimed to be serving god but was he really opposing god most certainly so now notice acts chapter 5 verses 38 and 39 acts chapter 5 verses 38 and 39 here it's speaking about what it means to oppose god even when you say that you're serving god and that you're following god it says there and now i say to you this is gamaliel speaking he's recommending something to the uh to the sanhedrin to the hebrew sanhedrin telling them don't deliver peter and john uh to death don't make any drastic decisions and now i say to you keep away from these men and let them alone for if this plan or this work is of men it will come to nothing but if it is of god you cannot overthrow it lest you even be found to fight against god is it possible for people who claim to serve god to be fighting or opposing god according to scripture absolutely so and so the antichrist will be opposing god at the same time that he claims to be what that he claims to be supporting the cause of god in the book education page 92 ellen white said this that judas manifested a continuous secret and subtle antagonism against christ notice the words she uses continuous secret and subtle antagonism to christ now let's notice another expression so it says the antichrist opposes and exalts himself above all that is called god or that is worship so that he sits as god in the temple of god now what does that mean he sits in the temple that word sits is the greek word catizo it's very important word he sits he cathesos if you please in the temple of god now that is the verb the noun that is equivalent to that verb is the word cathedra so cathedral means to sit it's the verb cathedra means the seat itself it's the noun now i want you to notice that there's a very interesting nuance here when it says that he sits as god in the temple of god what did jesus do when he sat in the temple he what you can read in the gospels he taught god's word when he sat in the temple now go with me to matthew chapter 23 and verse 2 and this is a very interesting verse matthew chapter 23 and verse 2. it says then jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples saying the scribes and the pharisees sit in moses what see now the word sit there is cathedral that's the verb they sit in the what in the cathedral that's the seat that's the noun so in this verse you have the verb and you have the noun so what does this mean that the religious leaders the scribes and the pharisees sat in moses seat let me read you a couple of statements from bible commentators one is adam clark and the other is the jerome bible commentary a roman catholic bible commentary so i'm reading from a protestant and from a roman catholic notice what adam clarke had to say by the seat of moses we are to understand authority to what to teach the law moses was the great teacher of the jewish people and the scribes etc are here represented as his what interesting word as his successors so what gave the scribes and the pharisees the authority to teach they claimed to be the successors of whom of moses in fact the jews believed in an unbroken succession of religious leaders from moses till the days of christ and they said that moses spoke many things that were not written and they said that they were authorized to bring these oral traditions to light that were never written but they said we have preserved the deposit of truth that has been handed down or has been passed on and so they claimed to have the authority of moses to teach and they actually believed that their teachings were infallible now what does this have to do with the antichrist the antichrist sits in the temple of god to teach just like jesus sat in the temple to teach what does that mean if you look at roman catholic theology you're going to find that they substitute peter for moses and they say that peter and the apostles not only wrote what we have in the new testament but they spoke many oral things that were never committed to writing and they say that through an unbroken line of successors bishop laying hands upon bishop from generation to generation these oral traditions were preserved till this day and when the church teaches things that are not in the bible like the assumption of mary or the immaculate conception or the baptism of infants or things like that they say the bible doesn't say that we're supposed to do this but but the apostles did say it they passed it on by oral tradition and that has been preserved through a succession of leaders in the church and we're just bringing that to light now are you understanding what i'm saying now the word that is used here for moses seat is cathedra interesting so they sit on moses cathedral and they speak in the name of whom of moses have you ever heard that that the pope when he speaks from his throne which is when he speaks ex cathedra what he says is infallible because it's part of the deposit of tradition that has been passed on from the apostles till his day interesting that you would have the word cathedra as applied to the religious leaders of christ's day who claim to be successors of moses and claim to teach infallibly and in the roman catholic church you have one who sits in the church and he claims to speak ex cathedra what was given supposedly to the disciples now notice the second statement this is from the roman catholic jerome bible commentary the phrase sit in moses seat is most probably a metaphor for the authority of the scribes to teach in rabbinical tradition the interpretation of the law was carried on listen carefully in a scribal tradition that theoretically went back through an unbroken chain of scribes to moses and then this roman catholic commentary says this view is of course entirely unhistorical but it's also unhistorical as it applies to peter and apostolic succession as it called in the roman catholic church are you understanding this picture now where does the antichrist sit well let's go back to verse 4. it says who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called god or that is worshipped so that he sits as god now listen carefully as god in the temple of god showing himself that he is what god where does this antichrist sit in the temple you know what most christians say that's got to be the rebuilt jerusalem temple after the rapture of the church it can't be let me explain why matthew chapter 21 verses 12 and 13 speaks about the triumphal entry of jesus into jerusalem after the triumphal entry he entered into the temple and i want you to notice how the temple is called when jesus went into it verses 12 and 13. then jesus went into the temple of whom into the temple of god is it still the temple of god at this point absolutely and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves and he said to them it is written and how does he refer to this temple my house is this still his house absolutely my house shall be called a house of prayer but you have made it a den of thieves and then you know what's interesting in the rest of chapter 21 and chapter 22 and chapter 23 jesus gives all sorts of teachings and parables about the rejection of the messiah by the jewish nation you have the fig tree you have vineyard workers you had the son who said that he was going to go and then he didn't go you all parables that have to do with the apostasy of the jewish nation and while he's teaching in the temple his words go over like a lead balloon people don't they don't want to listen the religious leaders reject him so he pronounces his woes upon the scribes and pharisees and he ends in matthew 23 and verse 38 with some very significant words when he entered the temple it's called the temple of god and he says this is my house but at the end after his teaching in the temple concerning the apostasy of the jewish nation he says in verse 38 see your house is left unto you what desolate and then he walks out of the temple the shekinah has forsaken the temple are you with me or not was the temple god's temple at that point anymore it wasn't god's temple anymore so the question is what is the temple where the antichrist sits well do you think it might be a good idea to let paul explain paul i think it would be a good idea paul must know what he's talking about by comparing another verse go with me to ephesians chapter 2 and verses 19 through 22 you see the temple that the apostle paul is talking about is not a literal temple of stones it is a spiritual temple which takes the place of the literal temple notice ephesians chapter 2 and verses 19 through 22 here the apostle paul same one who wrote ii thessalonians 2 says this now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of god now notice he's talking to the church having been built on the what and the foundation of the apostles and prophets are these stone foundations or these foundations people this is a spiritual temple jesus christ himself being the chief what cornerstone so the cornerstone is a person the foundations are persons they're the founders of the christian church and then what are the blocks that are being built as a wall of the temple notice verse 21 in whom that is in jesus the whole building being fitted together grows into a what into a holy temple in the lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of god in the spirit so what is the temple of god according to the apostle paul the temple of god is what is the christian church built upon the writings of the apostles and prophets jesus christ the chief cornerstone each member is a stone that is built up and the one who dwells the shekinah who dwells in the temple is whom is jesus christ through his holy spirit so when it says that the antichrist is going to sit in the temple of god where is he going to sit in a rebuilt jewish temple in the middle east no he's going to sit where he's going to place his throne in the very church i'm going to say something very reverently but it's the truth benedict xvi when he celebrated the week of uh christian unity he had a special service in saint paul's outside the wall of vatican city this is a large cathedral and there's this picture that that shows him sitting on a giant white throne and on each side of the throne is a cherub now is that pretty telling it's amazing it's blasphemous if i must say so myself because the bible says that god sits between the cherubim and it's god who sits on a white throne but most people are oblivious to what the bible teaches and it just goes over their heads they don't understand the symbolism behind this do you remember when we studied about the little horn how the little horn was going to meddle with the sanctuary of god you see in daniel chapter 8 verses 11 and 12 and we'll read this quickly speaking about the little horn it says even exalted himself as high as the prince of the host and by him that is by the little horn the daily was taken away that has to do with the functions of jesus in the court and in the holy place because of transgression an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily the army is the state the power of the political state and he cast truth down to the ground and he did this and prospered revelation 13 5 and 6 describes the same thing how he meddled with the sanctuary because he sits in the temple he can't take christ's place in the heavenly sanctuary so he sets up his headquarters in the shadow on earth he sets up his headquarters in the church on earth notice revelation 13 5 and 6 and he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and he was given authority to continue 42 months then he opened his mouth and blasphemy against god now notice this to blaspheme his name his what his tabernacle and those who dwell where in heaven do you remember that we define blasphemy what is blasphemy according to scripture it's when a mere man claims to be whom claims to be god and claims to have the power to forgive sins allow me to read you some statements by popes of rome and this is only a little sampling of many that i could read this is from a famous uh bible encyclopedia pramta biblioteca what the definition is of the pope the pope can modify divine law since his power is not of man but of god and he acts in the place of god upon earth with the fullest power of binding and losing his sheep notice what pope nicholas the first said by the way he ruled from 858 to 867 a.d notice what he had to say and you have the references the books where i found these quotations he said this it is evident that the popes can neither neither be bound nor unbound by any earthly power nor even by that of the apostle peter if he should return upon the earth since constantine the great has recognized that the pontiffs held the place of god upon earth divinity listen divinity not being able to be judged by any living man he's claiming to be divine we are then infallible and whatever may be our acts we are accountable for them but to ourselves wow more recently pope leo the 13th in an encyclical letter which was written january 10 1890 said this but the supreme teacher in the church is the roman pontiff union that means the pope by the way union of minds therefore requires together with a perfect accord in the one faith complete submission and obedience of the will to the church and to the roman roman pontiff as to god himself and leo the 13th also said on june 20 1894 and you have the source there we hold upon this earth the place of god almighty and this is only a sampling of statements now there are those who are going to be watching this that are going to say wow you know you're attacking roman catholics no i'm not attacking roman catholics when we speak about this we're talking about the system there are many sincere loving christians in the system they don't know these things they just basically do what their priest tells them to do they don't know but when they hear these things they start asking questions and they start searching for answers and many of them are willing to step out and embrace the truth as it is in jesus this is no reflection on individuals within the roman catholic church we're speaking about the system the hierarchy you say how can you separate the system from the people in the system well let me ask you did jesus rebuke the scribes and the pharisees in the sanhedrin most certainly was he rebuking all of the sincere people in judaism absolutely not in fact if you read in acts chapter 6 and verse 7 it says that multitudes embraced the christian faith and even a multitude of priests accepted christianity in other words they forsook the apostate system and they joined god's true system now repeatedly roman catholic sources refer to the popes as vikers of christ that means representatives of christ vice regents of christ representatives of christ and also they've called themselves vikar of the son of god vicarious filiday roman catholic church claims that not only the pope but also the priests have the power to forgive sins is that true it most certainly is true the roman catholic church has claimed that they have a right to set up kings and to remove kings who is the one in the bible who has the right to set up kings and remove kings just read the references here in the material daniel 2 21 says that god sets up kings and remove king removes kings does the pope accept people bowing down to him absolutely even in revelation chapter 19 and 20 the angel did not allow john to bow before him and yet this man insists that people fall down before him and at certain stages in the history of the church he even demanded that they kiss his feet he allows himself to be called holy father even though jesus explicitly said in matthew 23 verse 9 that we should call no one on earth our father and he's not talking about our physical fathers he's talking about us calling someone our father spiritually speaking during the middle ages the pope claimed to have the right to to execute the death penalty against dissenters the papacy claims to have had the right to change god's law to change the sabbath to sunday the roman catholic church claims that the pope is the supreme judge in earth heaven and even hell and furthermore the roman catholic church claims since uh the dogma of infallibility was proclaimed that when the pope speaks ex-cathedra his declarations cannot be questioned or reformed because he has spoken infallibly scripture tells us there is only one who is infallible and that one who is infallible is god so what the pope is claiming is to exercise all of the prerogatives that belong to whom that belong to god where are we to look for the antichrist then has the antichrist already appeared oh yes he ruled 1260 years in the past and the bible says that his deadly wound which he received in 1798 will be healed and once again he will wield world power and the bible says that the whole world will marvel and wander after the beast so don't miss part two the next exciting episode [Music] [Music] [Music] you

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Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 25 2021