The Antichrist Is Hidden In Plain Sight
This article is an exact copy from http://christianitybeliefs.org/end-times-deceptions/the-antichrist-is-hidden-in-plain-sight/ Nothing of the content has been edited. The appearance differs slightly because of the format code (CSS) on this site. I received permission to post it from the webmaster, David Nikao. Thanks David! I wanted to share it because I consider it one of the best exposes of the Antichrist I have ever read.
This end times deception study will reveal how the Antichrist beast has hidden its presence from today’s Christians.
For 1300 years, Christ’s Church knew exactly who the Antichrist is.
Today, Christians speculate about Obama, Prince Charles, etc..
How has the church become so blind during the last 200 years?
In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul told the church that the ‘Son of Perdition’ would be revealed after the Roman Empire was taken out of the way, so the church witnessed the Antichrist rising into power and knew who it was in 500 A.D.
During the Thyatira church era, which occurred from 538-1514 A.D., people groups called the Waldenses, Albigenses, Vaudois, Bohemian Brethren, and Wycliffites, witnessed against the Antichrist beast, and they were killed for their testimony.
During the Sardis church era, which occurred from 1514-1798 A.D., the Protestant Reformers and great theologians such as John Calvin, Martin Luther, Sir Isaac Newton, John Bunyan, John Foxe, John Wesley, Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, and many others, testified about who was the Antichrist beast of Revelation, the Little Horn of Daniel, Mystery Babylon, and the Son of Perdition.
During the Philadelphia church era, which occurred from 1798-1900 A.D., people like Charles Finney, Charles Spurgeon, Adam Clarke, Phillip Mauro, and many others, identified the Antichrist.
To understand how Jesus prophetic words to the seven church eras have been fulfilled. Read The Seven Churches of Revelation
But today, Christians in the Laodecian church era don’t have a clue.
How is that possible?
Christians today don’t know for many reasons:
Most Christians don’t diligently study the Word of God, which gives a clear description of when the Antichrist would appear, what it would say, what it would do, etc.
Most Christians don’t know world history well enough to see how the Biblical prophecies about the Antichrist have been fulfilled.
Most Christians have never read the book of Daniel, so they just blindly trust what Pastors teach about it.
Most Christians have never studied the book of Revelation, even though Jesus promised that those who read it and follow it will be blessed.
Most Christians blindly trust Pastors because they’ve been to seminary.
And there’s the rub…
Most Pastors have been misled about prophecy fulfillment at seminary, because the enemy has infiltrated seminaries to corrupt their teachings.
Christians hear prophecy teachings from their Pastors and they blindly trust them.
Christians hear the prophecy teachings on radio and TV from popular Pastors like David Jeremiah, Chuck Swindoll and John MacArthur, and they blindly trust them.
To read a study that shows how the Pastors have been deceived,
click on End Times Antichrist Deception
But Jesus commanded us to be Bereans, to search the Word of God and prove what Pastors teach is true.
And let’s be honest…
There’s another reason why Christians don’t know who the Antichrist is…
Most don’t really care because they believe that they are going to be raptured out before he appears.
If that’s you, then I’ve got bad news…
The pre-tribulation rapture is one of the Antichrist’s deceptions.
So who is the Antichrist beast?
None other than the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church.
You can dismiss that answer as absurd… or you can look at the facts.
Christ’s Church knew the fulfillment of these prophecies for 1300 years, but during the last 200 years, the Jesuits of the Roman Catholic Church have infiltrated seminaries to sow seeds of deception, so that Christians don’t understand.
This brief timeline will help you see how prophecy has been fulfilled, and the studies on this website give you much more proof.
You’ll notice prophecy terms and explanations that Pastors have said mean one thing, actually mean something very different.
The Roman Catholic Church rose to power after the Roman Empire collapsed.
This fulfills 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7, “And now you know what is restraining, that he (the Son of Perdition) may be revealed in his own time… For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He(the Roman Emperors) who now restrains will do so until He (the Roman Empire) is taken out of the way.”
When the Roman Empire (the 4th beast of Daniel 7) collapsed, it split into 10 kingdoms. Then the Little Horn (the Roman Catholic Church) appeared. Three of the kingdoms were destroyed (plucked up) by the Papal Church because they wouldn’t bow down to their authority.
This fulfills Daniel 7:8, “I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots.”
Daniel 7:24-25 gives us more detail about the Little Horn of Daniel
“The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.”
They subdued and destroyed three of the ten kingdoms (the Heruli, Ostrogoths and Vandals) who did not bow down to them.
The Popes have spoken pompous words against the Most High:
Pope Pius IX said “I alone… am the successor of the apostles, the vicar of Jesus Christ. I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (Source: History of the Christian Church, by Henry Charles Sheldon, p. 59.)
Pope Boniface VIII said “We declare, say, define, and pronounce, that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.” (Source: Bull “Unam Sanctum,” as cited in “Apostolic Digest, Book V: The Book of Obedience”)
Pope Innocent III said “We may according to the fullness of our power, dispose of the law and dispense above the law. Those whom the Pope of Rome doth separate, it is not a man that separates them but God. For the Pope holdeth place on earth, not simply of a man but of the true God.” (Source: “Decretals of Greogory IX,” Book 1, chapter 3.)
Pope John Paul II said “Don’t go to God for forgiveness of sins: come to me.” (Source: Los Angeles Times, December 12, 1984.)
Current Pope Francis I said “You cannot find Jesus outside the Church.” (Source: EWTN Global Catholic News, pronounced on April 23 in the Apostolic Palace’s Pauline Chapel.)
During the Dark Ages and the Inquisition, historians estimate that the Roman Catholic Church killed over 100 million people they deemed as heretics, most of which were true Christians.
The Pope blasphemes by proclaiming to be God, claiming to forgive sins, and saying that salvation is only through the Catholic Church.
In 1302 A.D., Pope Boniface VIII in an ex cathedra in his Bull Unum Sanctum said “…that it is altogether necessary to salvation for every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.”
In 1824 A.D., Pope Leo XII declared “Everyone separated from the Roman Catholic Church, however unblamable in other respects — has no part in eternal life.”
The Pope is declaring that He alone is the way to salvation, which removes Jesus as the way to salvation. And if a Pope’s declaration was not renounced (which it hasn’t been), it applies to all Popes. To see all of the Pope’s who have declared this, read Salvation Is Only Through The Roman Catholic Church
This fulfills Daniel 7:8, “And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words.”
In 538 A.D., they gained religious and civil power when Emperor Justinian issued a decree making the Pope head of all churches.
The Pope was captured and imprisoned by Napoleon in 1798 A.D., which ended their power.
This is the deadly head wound referred to in Revelation 13.
Mussolini restored the Pope and the Papal Church back to power in 1929 A.D..
This fulfills Revelation 13:3, “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed.”
The Roman Catholic Church reigned for 1,260 years from 538 A.D. until 1798 A.D.
This fulfills Daniel 7 (time and times and half a time) and Revelation 13 (forty-two months), which state that the beast will reign for 1,260 days, which is 1,260 prophetic years.
They banned Bibles, relentlessly sought to eliminate God’s Word by burning Bibles, and only allowed the priests to read their version of the Bible in Latin.
Pope Innocent III issued the decree, “We prohibit laymen possessing copies of the Old and New Testament. …We forbid them most severely to have the above books in the popular vernacular.” (any language other than Latin).
In 1559 A.D., Pope Pius IV said, “The Bible is not for the people; whosoever will be saved must renounce it. It is a forbidden book. Bible societies are satanic contrivances.”
This fulfills the need for the Little Book of Revelation 10. Christ’s Church was deprived of the Word of God by the Papal Church, so God had his servants write the Bible in English, and then with the advent of the printing press, millions of Bibles were available for Christ’s Church to read.
Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformers used the Bible to measure the temple of God, which is not a physical temple, but it is Christ’s Church.
This fulfills Revelation 11:1-3, as they compared the teachings of the Catholic Church to the Word of God, and determined that the Catholic Church was a false church, and placed it outside the temple in the court of the Gentiles (meaning unsaved).
The Catholic Church was drunk with the blood of the saints, as they killed over 50 million people they deemed as heretics, most of them were Christians from Christ’s Church.
This fulfills Revelation 17:6, “I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.”
To read how the Papal Church has been killing Christians since the 6th Century, click on Killing The Two Witnesses Of Revelation 11
The Popes sit in the temple of God (in the midst of Christ’s Church) pretending to be Christian, and proclaiming to be God.
The Popes proclaim to be God and declare that
Salvation Is Only Through The Roman Catholic Church
This fulfills 2 Thessalonians 2:4 about the Son of Perdition, “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
The Pope’s title, Vicar of Christ, means “in place of Christ.” Anti-christ doesn’t just mean “against Christ“, it means “substitute for Christ.”
In Latin, “Vicar of Christ” is spelled “VICARIUS FILII DEI”, which equates numerically to 666.
This fulfills Revelation 13:18, “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.”
The word ‘vatican‘ means ‘divining serpent‘ from Latin ‘Vatis’ = diviner, and ‘can’ = serpent.
This fulfills Revelation 13:14,”So they worshiped the dragon (serpent) who gave authority to the beast (the Roman Catholic Church).”
Can you see how prophecy about the Antichrist has been fulfilled?
Can you now see that the Roman Catholic Church is the Antichrist beast of Satan?
That is why she is called Mystery Babylon. She appears to be Christian, but she is really the old Babylonian religion of Sun and Satan worship.
You can read a more detailed Bible study about the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation to identify the Catholic Church as the Antichrist, by reading
The Beasts of Daniel and Revelation.
So how did our current Church age become so blind?
By 1514 A.D., the Catholic Church had killed so many Christians and burned so many Bibles, that at the Fifth Lateran Council they proclaimed that Christ’s Church was dead.
Then 3 1/2 years later, the Two Witnesses stood up in great power, causing the Catholic Church to have great fear.
To read more about how Christ’s Church overcame the Antichrist Catholic Church in 1517 A.D, read The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11
During the 16th century, Protestant Reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther, testified that the Roman Catholic Church is the Antichrist Beast of Revelation, the Little Horn of Daniel, Mystery Babylon, and the Pope, the Son of Perdition.
They told people, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.“ Revelation 18:4
And millions left the Catholic Church to be saved by the pure Gospel of Christ, and went on to form the Protestant Churches.
The Roman Catholic Church convened at the Council of Trent to create a counter-reformation plan.
They plotted how to divert Antichrist accusations away from the Pope.
They plotted how to take control of God’s Word.
And they plotted how to bring the Protestant Churches back under the control of the Mother Church.
They continued to kill millions of Christians through the Inquisition, but they developed a new strategy…
They empowered the Jesuits to infiltrate the ranks of Christians to deceive and destroy Christ’s Church from within.
Christians believe that the Jesuits are only Catholic priests.
It’s true that many on the lower ranks serve as priests, but they are teaching a false message of works for salvation. There are 1.2 Billion Catholics in the world, who believe that they are saved by works, through the Catholic Church. That is a huge deception.
But at the higher ranks, the Jesuits are the covert army of the Catholic Church, who steal, kill and destroy, in order to bring the world under the power of the Papacy.
“This (American Civil) war would never have been possible without the sinister influence of the JESUITS. We owe it to popery that we now see our land reddened with the blood of her noblest sons.” Abraham Lincoln
“So many plots have already been made against my life, that it is a real miracle that they have all failed, when we consider that the great majority of them were in the hands of skillful Roman Catholic murderers, evidently trained by JESUITS.” Abraham Lincoln (The Jesuits were finally successful in their assassination of Lincoln.)
Since then they have infiltrated seminaries, Bible schools, Bible publishers, church denominations, etc.
The Jesuits of the Roman Catholic Church have created many deceptions about prophecy, which hinder the Churches ability to identify it.
Here’s a quick list of deceptions, which show how the Jesuits hide who the Antichrist is.
Studies on this website cover all of these topics in more detail.
By causing Christians to not understand the fulfillment of the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation,
Christians believe that they are about an end-times one-man Antichrist, which removes the blame from the Roman Catholic Church.
By causing Christians to think that the 70th week of Daniel is future,
They look toward a future one-man Antichrist, instead of understanding that the Papal Church is the Antichrist beast system that it rose to power in the 6th century.
Read The 70th Week Of Daniel is Fulfilled by Jesus Christ NOT the Antichrist
By causing Christians to think that 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says that the Son of Perdition will sit in a rebuilt Jewish temple,
They don’t realize that the Pope is already seated in God’s temple, claiming to be Christian, hidden in the midst of Christ’s Church.
Read Antichrist In The Temple Deception
By causing Christians to think that 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 says that the Holy Spirit will be removed after the rapture,
It reinforces the false premise of the pre-tribulation rapture.
Read The Pretribulation Rapture Myth
And it hides the fact that Paul was describing the Catholic Popes, the Son of Perdition, who came to power after the Roman Empire was taken out of the way.
By causing Christians to believe that Jesus words to the seven churches only apply to the churches in 95 A.D., instead of realizing that they are seven church ages which span until Jesus returns,
They do not see the historical battle of good verse evil, Jesus vs. Satan, as the true Church of Christ and the false Papal church have battled against each other. Read The Seven Churches of Revelation
And Christians don’t understand that Jesus called our Church era lukewarm, wretched, miserable, naked, poor and blind; and He threatened to vomit us out of His mouth, unless we repent and are clothed with His truth.
By causing Christians to believe that the Antichrist will persecute the saints during 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation,
It hides the historical fact that the Papal Church was drunk with the blood of the saints, and killed over 50 million people from Christ’s Church during their 1,260 reign from 538 – 1798 A.D. Read The Beasts of Daniel and Revelation
By causing Christians to think that the Two Witnesses are Moses and Elijah who appear in the end times tribulation,
They hide the fact that the Two Witnesses are the Word of God and Christ’s Church, both of which testified against the false Papal Church.
Read The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11
By causing Christians to not understand Jesus command to the Two Witnesses,
It removes the historical fact of Martin Luther measured the Temple of God (Christ’s Church), and identified the false church of the Papal Church.
Today’s Church should also be comparing the teaching of the Catholic Church to the Word of God, and declaring that they are a false Church, that they are antichrist, because they claim that people can only be saved through them.
Read Salvation Is Only Through The Roman Catholic Church
By causing Christians to believe that a future Antichrist will sustain a deadly head wound,
They hide the fact that the Roman Catholic Church sustained the deadly head wound when the Pope was imprisoned in 1798 A.D., effectively ending their power.
If hides the fact that the Pope was restored to power in 1929, meaning the deadly head wound has been healed and the Antichrist beast is more powerful than ever and is intent on causing the whole world to worship their False Messiah.
By causing Christians to focus on fake Ashkenazi Jews in Israel,
Christians think they are God’s chosen people and give them a free pass, all the while they are controlled by the Jesuits, who seek to destroy Christianity and true Jews. Read Jews Who Are Not Really Jews and Christians Should Not Support Israel
By causing Christians to believe that the star on the Israel flag is the Star of David,
They don’t realize that it is the most evil Satanic symbol that is used to invoke the power of demons. Read The Star Of David Deception
By causing Christians to not understand who the 2nd beast of Revelation 13 is,
They don’t understand that it is the United States of America, which is controlled by the Jesuits, and is conquering countries for the Antichrist Papal Church, to bring them into submission and into the New World Order, where everyone will be forced to worship the image of the beast, or die.
By causing Christians to believe that they will be raptured out before a supposed seven year tribulation,
They are unprepared to face the Antichrist beast when it makes a last effort to deceive the world, and they may choose to save their life (and lose their salvation), instead of glorifying Christ with their testimony, and even their death.
By getting people to believe that the Battle of Armageddon is when countries like Russia and China attack Israel,
Christians don’t understand that the true battle will be Satan using the Jesuits to line up the countries of the world against Jesus and Christians, who are spiritual Israel.
By getting Christians focused on a future Antichrist that will prevail over the world during a time of Great Tribulation,
Christians don’t realize that Christ is gathering a remnant of believers to overcome the Antichrist Beast and destroy it, once and for all.
If Christians understood the powerful testimony of those who have gone before us…
It would provide strength when they face tribulation.
If Christians understood the price our brothers and sisters in Christ paid, so that you could have a Bible in your hands…
They would cherish them more.
If Christians understood that previous church eras overcame Satan and his Antichrist beast, “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…
They would boldly proclaim truth and testify against the Antichrist beast.
If Christians understood that they loved Christ more than they loved their lives, and even in their being killed by the Antichrist beast, Christ was glorified…
They would understand what real love causes them to bring honor and glory to Christ, not matter what the price.
If Christians understood that we are the Laodecian church age, and Christ has nothing good to say about us, and He calls us lukewarm and has threatened to spit us out of His mouth…
They would pray for eye salve that they may see the truth; they would repent and be clothed with Christ’ righteousness.
If Christians understood that Christ has promised the overcomers of the Laodecian church age, “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne“…
They would spread the truths on this website, so that Christians would understand the truth and stand in opposition to the Antichrist beast in the power of the Lord.
Amen!
To see how the Roman Catholic Church sought to eliminate the Word of God and kill Christ’s Church, click on Killing The Two Witnesses Of Revelation 11
To see how the Jesuits end times prophecy deceptions have become so popular today, click on End Times Antichrist Deception