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will exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God (the rebuilt temple at Jerusalem) and sheweth himself that he is God. 2 Thes. 2:4. Doubtless he is the king described in Dan. 11:36, etc.,1o who shall do according to his own will and magnify himself above every god. Again, he is seen as the beast described in Rev. 13:11-1811 whose number is the number of a man, 666, and who performs "great wonders and deceiveth them that dwell upon the earth," by means of his miracles, and has the power to kill those who will not worship the image of the beast. And again he is seen in Lucifer, or the day star, of Isa. 14,12 of whom the king of Babylon was a type, and who

sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

18. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

(10) Dan. 11:36. And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

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(11) Rev. 13:11. And I beheld another beast coming out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

13. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire some down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should

make an image to the beast, which had the wound by & sword, and did live.

15. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast 'should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed,

16. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

(12) Isa. 14:12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

13. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: J will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

14. I will ascend above the

weakens the nations, exalts his "throne above the stars of God," and sits "upon the mount of the congregation."

Such, in brief, is the awful picture which Scripture gives us of this great opponent of Christ. Many think that he has already been manifested in Antiochus Epiphanes-or the Popes of Rome-or Mohammed and his successors, all of which we regard as erroneous. The Popes have received their exaltation and power, as the pretended vicars of Christ, and not as His opponent. It is a great mistake, therefore, to call them the antichrist, or the opposing one. Antiochus was doubtless a type of antichrist. And in his opposition to the worship of Jehovah, his sacrifice of the hated swine in the temple and his merciless treatment of the Jews, he has given us a miniature picture of what the final antichrist will do. But he passed away long before Paul and John wrote of the antichrist to come. Likewise Mohammed may be in some sense a type, but that is all.

No, antichrist is still in the future, and he will not be manifested until the true Church has been taken away, at the rapture, as described in 1 Thes. 4.13 For Paul says,14 "We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him,"that is, by this very fact of the rapture, of which he had previously written them,13 and which must first occur be

heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.

15. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

16. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms.

(13) 1 Thes. 4:16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds,

to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

(14) 2 Thes. 2:1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2. That we be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

7. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.

fore the apostasy should come to the full, and the man of sin be revealed. This is confirmed by verse 7. The Holy Spirit, who, while he is gathering the Bride,15 reproves the world of sin, righteousness and judgment,16 will, when he is taken out of the way, catch up the Bride to meet the Lord in the air, leaving the apostate church, adulterous Israel and the ungodly world, to believe a lie,17 and then shall the lawless one be revealed. Praise God, that the Church is to be kept from this awful hour of temptation.18 She shall be with her Lord,19 while the world is ruled by antichrist.

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But, though antichrist shall so greatly exalt himself and rule over the world with such power, yet "shall he come to his end, and none shall help him."20 The Lord shall destroy him "with the brightness of His coming," literally "will paralyze (him) with the forthshining of His arrival' (See Rotherham's translation), when He shall

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(15) 1 Cor. 12:12. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members' of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

13. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Eph. 4:30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

(16) John 16:8. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

(17) 2 Thes. 2:11. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.

(18) Luke 21:36. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Rev. 3:10. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I

also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

(19) 1 Thes. 4:17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thes. 5:9. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

10. Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

(20) Dan. 11:45. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

(21) 2 Thes. 2:8. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming.

come, with His saints, to execute judgment upon the un godly.22 Yes, he shall "be brought down to hell (sheol), to the sides of the pit." They that see him shall narrowly look upon him and consider him, saying, "is this THE MAN that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof?" Isa. 14:15-17.

We would call special attention to the fact that antichrist denies the Father and the Son,23 and that the Greek words in 2 Thes. 2:7-8 should be rendered "the mystery of lawlessness"-"the lawless one." This, we think, gives an alarming significance to the atheistic and lawless trio of socialism, nihilism and anarchy, so rapidly spreading in our day, and which seeks to wipe out all law relating to marriage, property, etc.

It may be that these are the immediate precursors of antichrist. At any rate, he is surely coming, and sad indeed is the thought of a godless world, rushing on to such a culmination of evil.*

*For a more extended statement of this subject of the antichrist; the rebuilding of Babylon, as Satan's earthly capitol and the headquarters of commercialism, its complete overthrow and destruction, and other co-relative events, see the author's pamphlet, "Satan, his kingdom and its overthrow." F. H. Revell Co., Chicago, New York, etc.

(22) Jude 14. And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousand of his holy ones,

15. To execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have un

godly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sin ners have spoken against him.

(23) 1 John 2:22. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

CHAPTER XIII.

The Principal Event.

We believe that the foregoing outline of the order of events will commend itself to every careful student of the Word. However, we persistently urge but ONE POINT, and that is the PRE-MILLENNIAL COMING OF CHRIST AND RAPTURE OF THE SAINTS. This we believe to be the GREAT HOPE for the church, and the principal event for which believers wait.1

Much has been revealed in regard to the Tribulation, the Kingdom, etc., which follow the Rapture; but it is, as it were, only an outline. And, dear reader, let us not be discouraged if we cannot fully understand it.

Do not forget that THE KING is coming. And when HE comes it will be time to make known, in detail, the manner of the Kingdom.2

Post-Millennial Questionings.

Post-millennialists apparently forget this altogether, and because they cannot fully understand those things in regard to the Lord's coming, which we now see through a glass darkly, they reject what is plainly revealed.

If, even in the present dispensation, we cannot explain the doctrines of "Free Will," and "God's Sovereignty," to our mutual understanding,-much less can we comprehend the glory, which shall be revealed in us, in the coming

(1) 1 Thes. 1:9. For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

10. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

(2) 1 Sam. 10:24. And Sam

uel said to all the people, See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.

25. Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.

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