Every one of the men by whom The Reformation came, said that the papacy is Antichrist.
They said that the Pope is Antichrist, even the "chief Antichrist."
Yet he is not this only as a man, nor only as a bishop, nor even as Pope of himself; but because of his being the center and head of that body, that system--that hierarchical thing--that is composed of the many antichrists, which is more than the Pope, and by which even the Pope is more than only himself, and more than otherwise even he would be.
They said that there are many antichrists. Yet these are not allowed singly and of themselves to work their opposition to Christ. But under the moving of the great spirit of the original and ultimate Antichrist who is Satan, these many antichrists are manipulated, bound together, and centralized, so that the more readily they all can be swung by the one master-spirit against all that is of Christ.
And all of this in the name of Christ! all these passing as Christians! So that Antichrist is not composed of all the wicked as such--Pagans, Jews, Mohammedans-- but is composed of all possible of the wicked who, without change of heart, without the Spirit of Christ, can be brought under the name of Christian.
Therefore, this organized Antichrist is Satan's crowning work in the world against Christ.
This brief digest will enable the reader more readily to catch the thought of the words of the Reformers now to be given.
Wicklif said of the Pope: "He is ever taking money out of our land, and sends nothing back but God's curse for his simony, and some accursed clerk of Antichrist to rob the land still more for wrongful privileges."
Of the double-headed papacy he said: "Trust we in the help of Christ on this point; for He hath begun already to help us graciously, in that He hath clove the head of Antichrist and made the two parts fight one against the other.
"Let the rival pontiffs continue to launch their anathemas against each other, or should one of them prevail, in either case a severe wound has been inflicted.
"And so God would no longer suffer the fiend to reign in only one such priest, but for the sin which they had done made division among two; so that men, in Christ's name, may the more easily overcome them both:
"The Pope is not on Christ's side, who put His soul for the sheep; but on the side of Antichrist, who putteth many souls for his pride. This man feedeth not the sheep of Christ, as Christ thrice commanded Peter; but spoileth them and slayeth them and leadeth them many wrong ways.
Why is not the proud priest in Rome willing to grant full pardon to all men when they live in peace, charity, and patience, as he grants it to all who will engage in the work of destroying Christians?"
The Pope cited him to Rome to answer the charge of heresy. He replied: "So far as it depends on myself, I am ready to go to Rome: but Christ has bid me do the contrary, and taught me to obey God rather than man. And I hope of our Pope, that he will be no Antichrist nor act in direct contradiction to the will of Christ; for if he cites me against reason, and this unreasonable citation is followed up, then he is an open Antichrist.
"Therefore we pray God in behalf of our Pope Urban VI, that His holy purpose of old may not be hindered and frustrated by the fiend."
"The Pope is the chief Antichrist, for he himself pretends that he is the most immediate vicar of Christ and most resembling Him in life; and, consequently, the most humble pilgrim, the poorest man, and the farthest removed from worldly men and worldly things: when, however, the fact generally is that he stands first in the opposite sins."
Militz surveyed the realm of the papacy, in which "every description of vice and oppression" abounded. Then he said: "When I considered all this, I said to the Spirit, which spake within me, Who is Antichrist?
"And he answered, There are many antichrists. He who denies Christ, and the authority of Christ, is an antichrist. And as many who say they know Him, deny Him by their works; while others deny Him by keeping still and not daring to confess Him and the truth of His cause before men; conclude from this who is Antichrist."
All of this was so plain to Militz, and the way of the truth of God that delivers from it all, was also so plain and so good, that he thought that the Roman church, and especially the Pope, would be glad to know it and to take the way of deliverance.
Therefore He went all the way from Prague to the City of Rome "to testify first of all in the ancient seat of the papacy and the chief city of Christendom concerning the revelation of Antichrist and the preparation for Christ's second coming."
When he had waited in Rome a month for the Pope to come from Avignon, and still he did not come, Militz "caused a notification to be posted up at the entrance of St. Peter's church, that on a certain day he would there make his public appearance and address the assembled multitude and announce the coming of Antichrist."
He was waylaid and captured by the Inquisition, and so was prevented from delivering his address at the time announced. Loaded with chains he was delivered to the Order of the Franciscans to be kept in close confinement.
His Christian demeanor in the prison so softened his keepers that after he had been there a long time he was asked what it was that he was going to speak that day in St. Peter's. He asked that paper, pen, and ink, be given him, and he would write it all out.
This was done, and his fetters were removed. Then he wrote down what he had intended to say. And strangest of all he was actually allowed to speak it all publicly in the great church of St. Peter's. There, "before a large assembly of prelates and learned men he delivered a discourse in Latin, which produced a great impression."
Then he was taken back to the prison. And there, in his own words, "a prisoner in chains, troubled in spirit, longing for the freedom of Christ's Church," he wrote a work "On the Antichrist."
By some miracle of God's care he was released from prison by the Inquisition! He returned safely to Prague. Several bulls were issued against him by the Pope from Avignon. In 1374 he went to Avignon, and died there while his case was pending.
Matthias wrote: "The Lord Jesus instructed me how to write all this which relates to the present condition of priests, that is, the carnal ones, and which throws light on the character of these times. But what the end is in which all this is to result, He only knows who set me to work.
"And He sent me: His Spirit, who shoots the fire into my bones and into my heart, leaving me no rest till I expose the son of iniquity and perdition, and lay bare the hidden shame of the mother of harlots." Jer. 20:9; 2 Thess. 2:3.
"It is one of the cunning tricks of the arch-enemy to persuade men that Antichrist is still to come: when, in truth, he is now present and so has been for a long time. But men are less on their guard against him, when they look for him as yet to come.
"Lest the abomination of desolation should be plainly manifest to men, he has invented the fiction of another abomination still to come: that the church, plunged still deeper in error, may pay homage to the fearful abomination which is present, while she pictures to herself another which is still in the future. "It is a common, every-day fact, that antichrists go forth in endless numbers, and still they are looking forward for some other and future Antichrist.
"It is not to be imagined that Antichrist will form a particular sect, or particular disciples and apostles. Nor will he come upon the church preaching his own name, in the open and obvious manner with which Mohammed spread abroad his doctrines. That would be a tyranny too strikingly apparent: not at all fitted to deceive mankind.
"Antichrist must be more cunning than all that. His organs must stand forth in the name of Christ, and profess to be His ministers. He is thus to deceive men under the mask of Christianity.
"The multitude of carnal men, led on by the most subtle artifices of wicked spirits, have been brought to think that, in following fables, they are pursuing the right way; to believe that in persecuting Christ's believers, or Christ and His power, they are persecuting Antichrist and the false doctrines of his agents.
"Just as it happened with those Jews and Pagans who called Christ a deceiver, and put Him and His apostles to death, supposing that by so doing they did God service; thus too the actual Antichrists will dream of another Antichrist to come.
"An antichrist is every evil spirit, who in any way, directly or indirectly, opposes himself to the Christian faith, and Christian manners among Christians.
"Although Christ is eternal, and therefore all opposition to the divine being is in a certain sense opposition to Christ, still, in the proper sense, there was no Antichrist before the Incarnation.
"Hence the devil, although a liar and murderer from the beginning, first began to be Christ's murderer and Antichrist at the beginning of the Christian Church. Yet then not everywhere, but only in The Church which is the Body and kingdom of Christ.
"Before the time of Christ's appearance, Satan did not need many arts to maintain his dominion over men. For he had already brought mankind once under his yoke; and strongly armed, he kept watch over his palace; his goods were in peace, and he needed not give himself much trouble or use much deception. Luke 11:21.
"But when Christ appeared, and the Spirit was poured out in seven-fold gifts; when everything visible and invisible was made ministrant to their salvation; the case was altered. Luke 11:22.
"And as the evil spirit was now disarmed and laid bare by Christ, Satan must summon to his aid the collective host of most malignant spirits and employ their busy and cunning natures in the work of deceiving and warring against the saints of God. Rev. 12, 13.
"And so he has continued to do, down to the present day. Nothing is more imbecile than Satan when exposed to the light. He works through worthless monks, carnal priests, the wise of this world, great teachers; for these are his most efficient tools of mischief.
"In these times also, Antichrist deceives and draws men to himself by false miracles: wonders wrought by Satanic agency, thus turning the love of the miraculous to his own ends. But Satan and his instruments are allowed to perform miracles by demoniacal agencies, on account of them that perish because they would not receive the love of the truth. Rev. 16:14; 13:14; 2 Thess. 2:9, 10.
"They who are apostles and preachers of Antichrist, oppress the apostles, the wise men, and prophets of Christ: persecuting them in various ways, and boldly asserting that these ministers of Christ are heretics, hypocrites, and antichrists.
"And since many and mighty members of Antichrist go forth in a countless variety of ways, they persecute the members of Christ who are few and weak, compelling them to go from one city to another by driving them from the synagogues and excluding them from the fellowship of the church.
"As to the person of Antichrist, he will not be a Jew, nor a Pagan; neither a Saracen, nor a worldly tyrant persecuting Christendom. All these have been already: hence they could not so easily deceive. Satan must invent some new method of attacking Christianity.
"He is and will be a man who opposes Christian truth and the Christian life in the way of deception.
"He is and will be the most wicked Christian: falsely styling himself by that name;
"assuming the highest station in the church, and possessing the highest consideration, arrogating dominion over all ecclesiastics and laymen;
"one who, by the working of Satan, knows how to make subservient to his own ends and to his own will the corporations of the rich and wise in the entire church;
"one who has the preponderance in honors and in riches, but who especially misappropriates the goods of Christ--the Holy Scriptures, the sacraments, and all that belongs to the hopes of religion, to his own aggrandizement and to the gratification of his own passions;
"deceitfully perverting spiritual things to carnal ends, and in a crafty and subtle manner employing what was designed for the salvation of a Christian people, as means to lead them astray from the truth and power of Christ." One of the charges that the Roman church brought against Huss was that he "styled Rome the seat of Antichrist."
When Bethlehem Chapel was closed against his preaching, Huss said: "Nothing else can be at the bottom of this but the jealousy of Antichrist."
In a list of fifty-one articles drawn up against Wicklif and Huss--though Wicklif had been dead more than a quarter of a century--it was declared:--
"That in these days, to suppose that Great Antichrist is present and rules, who, according to the faith of the church, and according to Holy Scripture, and the holy teachers, shall appear at the end of the world, is shown by experience to be a manifest error."
Huss said: "The goose must flap her wings against the wings of behemoth, and against the tail which always conceals the abominations of Antichrist. The Lord will reduce the tail and his prophets to nothing: [i.e.] the Pope and his prophets, the masters, teachers, and jurists, who under the hypocritical name of holiness, conceal the abominations of the beast.
"The papacy is the abomination of self-deification in the holy place. Woe then is me, if I do not preach of that abomination, if I do not weep over it, write about it."
In the Council of Constance, composed as it was of the church and all the States of Europe, he saw before his own eyes "fulfillment of the prophecy of Revelation, that the kings of the earth would commit fornication with the great whore of Babylon--the corrupt church. For they have fallen away from Christ's truth, and embraced the lies of Antichrist; yielding to seduction, or to fear, or induced by the hope of an alliance, and of obtaining the power of this world."
Luther said, "The time of silence is past: the time for speaking has arrived. The mysteries of Antichrist must at length be unveiled.
"The Pope should be ready to renounce the popedom, and all his wealth, and all his honors, if he could thereby save a single soul. But he would see the universe go to destruction sooner than to yield a hair-breadth of his usurped power.
"The church of Rome, formerly the first in holiness, has become a den of robbers, a place of prostitution, a kingdom of death and hell: so that Antichrist himself, were he to appear, would be unable to increase the amount of wickedness. All this is as clear as day.
"I know that the Pope is Antichrist, and that his see is that of Satan himself.
"Two years ago I attacked indulgences; but with so much fear and indecision that I am now ashamed of it. . . . I denied that the papacy was of God; but I granted that it had the authority of man. Now after reading all the subtleties by which these sparks prop up their idol, I know that the papacy is only the kingdom of Babylon, and the tyranny of the great hunter Nimrod.
"I therefore beg all my friends, and all book-sellers, to burn the books which I wrote on this subject, and to substitute for them the single proposition: The papacy is a general chase, by command of the Roman pontiff, for the purpose of running down and destroying souls."
These statements of the Reformers, strong as they are, were not uttered as mere blatant epithets, nor in resentment to pile up reproach.
Both from the circumstances and the writings of all, it is perfectly plain that all of it was spoken and written, out of an overwhelming conviction of truth that could not be kept back.
Also it was all said and written in genuineness of Christian solicitude, and in a longing that individuals and the church should be delivered from an enormous evil.
Remember Wicklif, praying for the Pope whom he must denounce.
See Militz, making that long journey to Rome and patiently enduring unjust and cruel imprisonment only for the privilege to tell at the place where it was most needed what was in his heart.
See Huss, persecuted and pursued to his death at the stake yet weeping as he tells this truth, and under the "Woe is me" if he does not tell it.
Matthias's every sentence witnesses of the deep conviction that called it forth, and shows that it was but the setting forth of the truth of the Scriptures under the pressure of the Spirit of God.
Luther's sledge-hammer blows are but the result of his mighty assurance from the study of the Scriptures that "the reign of Antichrist predicted and described in the Bible is the papacy."
What particular Scriptures were these that so moved upon all alike?--They were the Scriptures in Daniel 7 and 8 touching the "little horn." 2 Thess. 2:1-10; Rev. 13 and 17.
In Daniel 7 the prophet saw four great beasts in succession coming up out of the sea--a lion, with eagle's wings; a bear with three ribs in his mouth; a leopard with four wings; and the "fourth beast dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, having great iron teeth and nails of brass, devouring and breaking in pieces and stamping the residue with his feet." These symbolized in their succession, the world-empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome.
The fourth beast had ten horns. These represent the Ten Kingdoms into which the territory of Rome proper--Western Rome--was divided; and in which, except England, many of the laws and much of the spirit of Rome were continued.
While the prophet was considering these ten horns, he saw come up among them "another Little Horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and behold! in this Horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking very great things," and his "look was more stout than his fellows." Vs. 8, 19, 20.
This Horn continued through "a time and times and the dividing time"--1260 years--and even till the judgment was set and the books were opened and his dominion was taken away to consume and to destroy it even unto the end. Vs. 9, 10, 25, 26.
And all this time this Horn
"made war with the saints, and
"prevailed against them;
"until the Ancient of days came, and
"judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and
"the time came that the saints possessed the Kingdom." Vs. 21, 22.
He spoke "great words against the Most High," he wore out the saints of the Most High, and thought even "to change times and the Law" of the Most High. Vs. 25.
In view of only the preceding chapters of this book, can any one fail to see that the "Little Horn" symbolizes the papacy? Isn't that plain enough? And the fuller the history should be written or read, the plainer this would be.
In the description of the closing of the career of the "Little Horn," there is a remarkable change of expression. The prophet says: "I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame." V. 11.
He was considering only the "Little Horn" and is telling only what the "Little Horn" did and of the destruction that finally came to the "Little Horn." Yet when the doom came, the word is not that the "Little Horn" was destroyed and given to the burning flame, but that "the beast was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame."
This tells most forcibly that the "Little Horn" is only another phase of what is symbolized in the "great and terrible beast": that the "Little Horn" is but a variant form of the manifestation of the beast: that the beast and the "Little Horn" are in essence one--so entirely one that the destruction of the "Little Horn" is the destruction of "the beast."
This is confirmed, and the application made unmistakable, by latter Rome, the papacy, herself.
Leo the Great was Pope A. D. 440--461: in the very time when former Rome was falling rapidly to ruin. And this Pope declared in a sermon, that--
The former Rome was but the promise of the latter Rome: that the glories of the former Rome were to be reproduced in the latter Rome; that
Romulus and Remus were but the forerunners of Peter and Paul: that the successors of Romulus therefore were the precursors of the successors of Peter; and as the former Rome had ruled the world, so the latter Rome by the see of the holy blessed Peter must dominate the earth.
This conception of Leo's was never lost from the papacy. And when, only fifteen years afterward, Rome as such had perished, and only the papacy survived the ruin and firmly held place and power in Rome, this ambitious conception was only the more strongly, and with the more assurance, held and asserted.
That conception was also intentionally and systematically developed. The Scriptures were industriously studied and ingeniously perverted to sustain it.
By a perverse continuance of the Mosaic order, the authority and eternity of the Roman priesthood had already been established. And now by perverse deductions "from the New Testament, the authority and eternity of Rome herself was established."
Upon the ground that the papacy is the only true continuation of original Rome, she asserted that wherever in the New Testament the authority of original Rome is recognized or referred to, the Papacy is now meant; because she is the true continuation of original Rome.
Accordingly, where the New Testament enjoins submission to "the higher powers," "the powers that be," or obedience to "governors," it now means the papacy; because the only powers or governors that then were, were the Roman, and the papal power is the true continuation of that power to which all are by the Scriptures commanded to "be subject."
"Every passage was seized on where submission to the powers that be is enjoined; every instance cited where obedience had actually been rendered to the imperial officials: special emphasis being laid on the sanction which Christ Himself had given to the Roman dominion, by pacifying the world through Augustus, by being born at the time of the taxing, by paying tribute to Caesar, by saying to Pilate, 'Thou couldst have no power at all against Me except it were given thee from above'." --Bryce. [1]
And since Christ the Lord had recognized, and submitted to, the power and authority of Rome, as represented in Pilate the governor, then who could dare to deny the power, or disregard the authority, of the papacy which is the true continuance of that power and authority to which had submitted even the Lord from heaven!
It was only the logical extension of this argument to its culmination of assumption, when Pope Boniface VIII pronounced ex cathedra:--
"We therefore assert, define, and pronounce, that it is necessary to salvation to believe that every human being is subject to the Pontiff of Rome."
By this industrious insistence that she is the continuance of original Rome, the papacy has fastened upon herself beyond all escaping, that in fulfillment she is the power that is symbolized in the "Little Horn" of the prophecy of Daniel.
And than this no further proof is needed. All that remains is to set down the specifications; for the application is unmistakably fixed by the Roman church herself.
In Daniel 8 the prophet saw a ram having two high horns: one of them higher than the other, and this one coming up last. This, the angel said plainly, means the kingdoms of Media and Persia.
Next he saw a he-goat coming from the west. He came so swiftly that "he touched not the ground." He came to the ram, brake his two horns, cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him. The goat had a notable horn between his eyes. Presently this horn was broken, and in place of it came up "four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven."
Of this the angel said, "The rough goat is the king of Grecia; and the great horn between his eyes is the first king"--Alexander the Great. "Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in power." Vs. 5-8, 21, 22.
Next the prophet saw that out of one of these four, there "came forth a Little Horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." This "Little Horn" too continues till the end, and is "broken without hand." Vs. 9, 25.
These three chief symbols--the ram, the goat, and the "Little Horn," correspond to the last three of the four great beasts of chapter 7: Babylon having passed away when this vision was given.
The "Little Horn" in chapter 8 corresponds to the "Little Horn" and the beast of chapter 7. And as in chapter 7 the "Little Horn" and the beast are the manifestation of Rome in its ancient and modern phases, so in chapter 8 the "Little Horn" includes the manifestation of Rome in both these phases. For all that Rome was in the former phase, continues and is intensified in the latter phase.
And here is what Rome is always:--
"A king of fierce countenance, and
"understanding dark sentences.
"His power mighty, but not by his own power.
"He shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and practice.
"He shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
"Through his policy also,
"he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand.
"He shall magnify himself in his heart, and
"By peace shall destroy many.
"He magnified himself even to the Prince of the host.
"By him the daily [of the Prince of the host] was taken away, and
"the place of His sanctuary was cast down.
"An host was given him against the daily [of the Prince of the host],
"by reason of transgression, and
"it cast down the truth to the ground, and
"it practiced and prospered.
"The transgression of desolation,
"to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot."
"He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but
"he shall be broken without hand." Vs. 23-25, 11-13.
In further explanation the angel calls it "the abomination of desolation" and says that "The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary" of Jerusalem; that the "overspreading of abominations" would be "even until the consummation"; and that then that which is determined shall be poured upon the desolator." Dan. 9:26, 27; 11:31; 12:11.
It is true that Josephus applies this prophecy to Antiochus Epiphanes who was king of Syria and subject to Rome, B. C. 175-164. It is true also that Josephus was a Jew. But it does not follow that he understood the Scriptures. There never was a people in the world, who had the Scriptures at all, who had less understanding of them than had the Jews.
Besides, we have the plain word of two Jews who did understand the Scriptures; and both of these show that it has no reference whatever to Antiochus Epiphanes.
The first of these is Jesus the Messiah. In His discourse on the then soon coming destruction of Jerusalem, and telling His disciples how to know when to escape, He said: "When ye shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." Matt. 24:15, 16.
And what the abomination of desolation was He makes plain by saying, "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains." Luke 21:20, 21.
The armies that compassed, destroyed, and desolated, Jerusalem were the armies of Rome. This therefore makes it certain that Rome was then the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. And that Rome being continued and intensified in the papacy, this makes it certain that in the papacy there is continued and intensified "the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet."
The second of these Jews who certainly understood the Scriptures was Paul. At Thessalonica, in a synagogue of the Jews, "three Sabbath days" in succession Paul "reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Jesus must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ.
"And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few." To these, Paul wrote the first letter to the Thessalonians.
In this letter he wrote so personally of the coming of the Lord--"we which are alive and remain unto that, not well remembering what he had preached when present, they began to suppose that the coming of the Lord was to be expected in their very day while they were personally alive and remaining.
To correct this mistake, Paul wrote the second letter to the Thessalonians, saying, "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as the day of Christ is at hand.
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. who opposeth and exalteth 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.
"Remember ye not that when I was yet with you I told you these things?" That is to say, that all of this Paul had preached to them while he was at Thessalonica those three Sabbath days. In that preaching he "reasoned with them out of the Scriptures." The only Scriptures that were then written, where the Old Testament Scriptures.
In the Old Testament Scriptures, then, Paul found, and from those Scriptures he preached, that word concerning the falling away and the revealing of the man of sin, the son of perdition, and that manifestation of self-exaltation above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that a man would pass himself off for God!
Where, then, in the Old Testament Scriptures did Paul find this?--Just where Jesus found it: that is, in the book of "Daniel the prophet." Note the parallels in Paul's words with those in the book of Daniel.
Daniel: "an host was given him by reason of transgression," "the transgression of desolation."
Paul: "that man of sin;" for sin is transgression. 1 John 3:4.
Daniel: "he shall think to change the Law"--of the Most High, thus putting himself above all law and making himself independent of God.
Paul: "that Wicked"--"the Lawless one."
Daniel: "he shall destroy wonderfully," "he shall destroy," "by peace shall destroy."
Paul: "the son of perdition"--because perdition is "utter destruction."
Daniel: "he magnified himself."
Paul: "exalteth himself."
Daniel: "magnified himself even unto the Prince of the host."
Paul: "exalteth himself above all that is called God."
Daniel: "he shall stand up"--reign--"against the Prince of princes."
Paul: "Opposeth himself above all that is called God."
Daniel: "understanding dark sentences:" "through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand."
Paul: "the mystery of iniquity."
Daniel: "he shall be broken without hand," "given to the burning flame."
Paul: "whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His coming."
From this series of unquestionable parallels it is plain beyond all fair question that when Paul wrote 2 Thess. 2:3- 8, his mind was on the seventh and eighth chapters of "Daniel the prophet;" and that it was from these chapters that he "told these things" when he was at Thessalonica.
And from the specifications given, it is equally plain that the prophecy is fulfilled in Rome alone: and in Rome in its latter phase, more than in its former: that latter Rome only intensified all of the essential characteristics of the former.
This is seen yet more fully in others of the specifications: for Paul did not by any means exhaust the list.
Note in the list, the statement of the dealing of the Little Horn power with the sanctuary and ministry of the Prince of the host.
The "daily" of the Prince of the host was taken away and the place of His sanctuary was cast down;" both "the sanctuary and the host" of the Prince of the host was by this power "trodden under foot;" and "it cast down the truth to the ground."
And these heavenly and divine things were all "taken away," cast down," and "trodden under foot," by that horrible power, in order to "place the abomination that maketh desolate." Dan. 11:31.
What, then, is the meaning of all this? Here is the word in which it all centres : "We have such an High priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man." Heb. 8:1, 2.
On earth there was a sanctuary which man made, and which man pitched. This sanctuary was made and pitched by men under the particular directions of the word of the Lord, and through wisdom specially bestowed for the purpose. Ex. 31:2-11.
Nevertheless, that sanctuary was far different from the sanctuary and true tabernacle "not made with hands" and "which the Lord pitched, and not man"--as far different as is the work of man from the work of God.
That "worldly sanctuary" was never anything but "a figure." And as only a figure, it was a figure only "for the time then present." In it priests and high priests ministered and offered both gifts and sacrifices.
But all this priesthood, ministry, gift, and sacrifice, equally with the sanctuary, was only "a figure for the time then present" till "Christ being come an High priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb. 9:9-12.
Thus Christ was the true substance and meaning of all the priesthood and service in the sanctuary on earth. Any part of it that ever passed without this as its meaning was simply meaningless.
And as certainly as Christ is the true High priest of Christianity, of whom the Levitical high priest was a figure; so certainly the sanctuary of which Christ is minister is the sanctuary of Christianity, of which the earthly sanctuary of the Mosaic order was a figure.
And so it is written: "If He were on earth He should not be a priest, seeing, that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle; for see, said He, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the Mount." Heb. 8:4, 5.
"It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these animal sacrifices; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these"--even the sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ.
"For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that He should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood of others.
"For then he must often have suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Heb. 9:23-26. And in "heaven itself" in all Christian times there is seen the throne of God, and a golden altar, and an angel with a golden censer offering incense with the prayers of all saints. "And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand." Rev. 8:3, 4.
Also in all Christian times there is seen in "heaven itself" "the temple of God," and "in His temple the ark of His testament." Also there is seen there, "seven lamps of fire burning before the throne." There too is seen "one like unto the Son of man" clothed in the high priestly garment. Rev. 11:19; 15:5-8; 4:5; 1:13.
Therefore, the earthly sanctuary was not a figure for the time then present, in the sense of a type of something to come that did not yet exist; but it was a figure for the time then present, in the sense of a visible representation of that which then existed but was invisible, to train them up in experience and faith to a true spirituality in which they could see the invisible.
By all this, God was revealing to men forever that it is by the spiritual High priesthood, ministry, and service, of Christ in the true sanctuary or temple in heaven, that God dwells with men.
He was revealing that in this faith of Jesus, forgiveness of sins and atonement is ministered to men: so that God dwells in them and walks in them, and thus they be separated from all the people that are on the face of the earth--separated unto God as His own true sons and daughters to be built up unto perfection in the knowledge and righteousness of God. Ex. 33:15, 16; 2 Cor. 6:16-18; 7:1.
This true Priesthood, ministry, and sanctuary, of Christ in heaven is too plain in the New Testament to be by any possibility denied. Yet it is a thing very little if at all thought of by professed Christians; and a thing almost unknown, and hardly believed, in the Christian world today. Why is this? how came it about?--It is because that "the man of sin," the "Little Horn" power "spoken of by Daniel the prophet," took away the daily ministration of Christ the Prince of the host, cast it down, and gave both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot.
In Daniel 8:11-13; 11:31; and 12:11, it will be noticed that in both the King James and Revised versions there is a supplied word after the word "daily." In the King James the supplied word is "sacrifice," in the Revised it is "burntoffering." And in either case, the word is wholly supplied; for in that place in the Hebrew there is no word at all.
In the Hebrew the only word that stands there is the word "tamid" that in the King James version is translated "daily," and in the Revised is translated "continual."
In these places the word "daily" or "continual" does not refer to the daily sacrifice or burnt-offering any more than it refers to any other part of the daily ministry or continual service of the sanctuary, of which the sacrifice or burnt-offering was only a part.
The word tamid in itself signifies "continuous or continual," "constant," "stable," "sure," "constantly," "evermore." Only such words as these express the thought of the Hebrew word that in these places in Daniel is translated "daily." In Numbers 28 and 29 alone, the word is used seventeen times in reference to the continual service in the sanctuary.
And it is this daily continual ministration of Christ the true High Priest "who continueth ever" and "who is consecrated forevermore" in "an unchangeable priesthood"-- it is this continual ministry of Christ, that the "man of sin"--the "Little Horn" power--has taken away from men.
It is this sanctuary and true tabernacle in which Christ the only true High Priest exercises His continual ministry, that has been cast down by this "transgression of desolation."
It is this ministry and this sanctuary of Christ that the "man of sin" has taken away from the knowledge of men and shut away from the world, and has cast down to the ground and stamped upon. And in place of it the mystery of iniquity has set up her own self and her own invention-- "the abomination that maketh desolate."
And thus, what the former Rome did physically to the visible or earthly sanctuary which was the "figure of the true" (Dan. 9:26, 27; Matt. 24:15), that the latter Rome has done spiritually to the invisible or heavenly sanctuary that is itself "the true."
In preceding chapters there has been told how that the bishops, presbyters and deacons, of the order of "the clergy" were made to be the continuation of the high priest, the priests, and the Levites, of the Mosaic order. In that same connection, and to fit that perverse invention, the Lord's Supper was made to be a "sacrifice" so that this new "priesthood" should "have somewhat also to offer." Heb. 8:3.
Now by every evidence of Scripture it is certain that in the order of God it is Christ and His ministry and sanctuary in heaven, and this only, that in truth was ever the object of the Mosaic order, and that is truly the Christian succession to that order.
Therefore when in and by the apostasy the system of bishops as high priests, presbyters as priests, deacons as Levites, and the Supper as a sacrifice, was insinuated as the Christian succession to the Mosaic order, this of itself was nothing else than to put this false system of the apostasy in the place of the order of Christ and of God, was completely to shut out the true, and, finally, to cast it down to the ground and stamp upon it.
And this is how it is that this great Christian truth of the priesthood, ministry, and sanctuary, of Christ in heaven is not known to the professed Christian world of today. The "Little Horn" power has taken it away, as Daniel foresaw.
The mystery of iniquity has hid this great truth from the churches and the world during all these ages in which the man of sin has held place in the world and passed itself off as God, and its iniquitous host as the church of God.
And yet even the man of sin, the mystery of iniquity, itself bears witness to the necessity of such a ministry in The Church in behalf of men. For though he has taken away from men the priesthood, ministry and sanctuary of Christ, and has hid these all from the eyes of the Christian world; yet he did not throw away the idea.
He threw away the true, and cast down the true to the ground. But, retaining the idea, in the place of the true he built up in his own realm an utterly false structure. He did not put away the true to exclude the idea; but only to put himself and his falsity in the place of the true.
In the place of the Priesthood of the true and divine High Priest of God's own appointment in heaven, he has substituted a human, sinful, and sinning priesthood of his own on earth.
In the place of the continual heavenly ministry of Christ in His true Priesthood upon His true sacrifice, he has substituted only an interval ministry of a human, earthly, sinful, and sinning, priesthood, in the once-a-day "daily sacrifice of the mass."
In the place of "the sanctuary and the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man," he has substituted his own meeting places of wood and stone, to which he applied the term "sanctuary," with its "altar," and "sacrifice," "and incense," and "priestly office."
Instead of the one continual High Priest, the one continual ministry, and the one continual sanctuary, of Him who "ever liveth to make intercession for us" in "an unchangeable Priesthood" of the "oath of God," and which is the only true, he has devised of his own heart and substituted for the only true, many "high priests," many ministries, many sacrifices, and many "sanctuaries," on earth, and which in every possible relation are only human and utterly false.
And it can never take away sin. No earthly priesthood, no earthly sacrifice, no earthly ministry or service in any earthly sanctuary, can ever take away sin.
In the book of Hebrews it is repeatedly declared that even the priesthood, ministry, sacrifice, and service, in the sanctuary, which the Lord Himself ordained and established on earth, never took away sin. The word of Inspiration is that they never did take away sin, and that they never could take away sin. Heb. 9:9; 10:1-4, 11.
It is only the Priesthood and ministry of Christ in His own Person that can ever take away sin. And this is a priesthood and a ministry in heaven, and of a sanctuary that is in heaven. And it is written that even "if He were on earth, He should not be a priest."
Thus so certainly, by plain word and abundant illustration, God has demonstrated that no earthly priesthood, sacrifice, or ministry, can ever take away sin.
Therefore by the plain word of the Lord it is certain that the priesthood, the ministry, the "sacrifice," and the "sanctuary," that the papacy has set up and operates on earth can never take away sin; but, instead, only perpetuates sin, is a fraud, an imposture, and the very "transgression and abomination of desolation" in the holy place.
By thinking to "change the Law" of the Most High, as far as in him lies the man of sin has taken away that Law from being the Law of God, and has made it his own law which is just no law at all. Thus as far as lies in him he has taken away the Law.
By taking away the sanctuary, the Priesthood, and the ministration, of Christ, as far as in him lies he has taken away the Gospel.
By taking away the Law, he has taken from men the means of the knowledge of sin.
By taking away the Gospel, he has taken away from men the means of salvation from sin.
Taking away from men the means of both the knowledge of sin and of salvation from sin, this is desolation.
Putting in the place of the Law of God and the Gospel of Christ, only the vain and sinful invention of forms and ceremonies as the way of salvation, this is abomination. Isa. 1:13.
These two together plainly show the Roman system to be the fulness of "the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet."
There is one specification of the prophecy that remains to be more fully noticed. That is, "his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power."
The power of the papacy is more than only human or the power of men. Yet it is not divine. It is the opposite of the divine; for he "opposeth all that is called God."
The source of this mysterious "power" is clearly given in Revelation. In the twelfth chapter there is described "a great red dragon" standing ready to devour Christ the "manchild" as soon as He was born.
And when that "child was caught up unto God and to His throne" the dragon persecuted His Church.
The actual governmental world-power that thus wrought against Christ at His birth and onward, was the Roman empire as represented first in Herod the king and Pilate the governor.
Herod's power was as truly the Roman as was that of Pilate. For, though Herod was an Indumean--a descendent of Esau--it was by a vote of the Roman senate, upon the special advocacy of Antony supported by Octavius, that he was made king: and this most unexpectedly to himself.
And even when thus made king in Rome, he never could have been king in Jerusalem for an hour except by the power of Rome and the presence of her legions.
While Rome was the actual working governmental power in this opposition to God and to Christ, the inspiration of this power is declared to be "the great dragon, that old serpent which is called the devil and Satan." Rev. 12:9.
While the actual open working power of the "great red dragon" was Rome, the great dragon himself is "that old serpent called the devil and Satan."
Accordingly, at the centre of the Roman power was "Satan's seat" or throne and where he "dwelt." Rev. 2:13.
But Rome in that original phase passed away: the Roman empire was annihilated. When that occurred, there was no power in all that vast region that Satan could use in his enmity to Christ.
In this situation, Satan in his anxiety rose up from his "seat" and "stood on the sand of the sea:" "took his stand on the sea shore:" eagerly looking for the appearance of some worldly power that he might possess for his supreme purpose. Rev. 13:1 Revised Version; Twentieth Century.
And lo! there rises up out of the sea," a beast having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. "And the beast was like a leopard, and his feet as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion." Rev. 13:1, 2. This beast is exactly suited to Satan's longing wish; for there are the very characteristics of the world-powers that he had once controlled. Dan. 7:4-6.
Joyously he welcomes the newcomer. He invites him into his own dwelling-place: into his very throne-room. He entertainingly presents his own throne, and deferentially indicates, Please be seated.
The newcomer is flattered by this so marked attention, and readily accepts the gift of "Satan's seat" or throne with Satan's "power" and "authority" that ever attaches to the gift of that see. Luke 4:5-7.
And so it is written: "And the dragon ['that old serpent called the devil and Satan'] gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority." Literally, tan dunamin autou-- the power of himself, kai ton thronon autou--and the throne of himself.
There is the power and the secret of the power of the Little Horn whose "power is mighty, but not by his own power." His power is more than only human. Yet it is not divine. It is Satanic.
"And all the world wondered after the beast." Literally, "followed the beast wondering:" as if hypnotized.
"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and
"they worshipped the beast, saying,
"Who is like unto the beast?
"Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth
"speaking great things and blasphemies; and "power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And
"he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,
"to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them which dwell in heaven"--"the sanctuary and the host" of Dan. 8:11, 13. And it was given unto him to
"make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and
"power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And
"all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him,
"whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
"If any man have an ear, let him hear." Rev. 13:3-9.
And there is the Antichrist of The Reformation.
The manifestation of the whole Spirit and Truth of Christianity is this: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God thought it not robbery--thought it not a thing to be seized upon, to be violently striven for and eagerly retained; thought it not a usurpation to be meditated--to be equal with God; but emptied Himself and took upon Him the form of a servant." Phil. 2:5-7.
The manifestation of the whole spirit and falsity of the papacy is exactly the working of the mind which has thought it a thing to be seized upon, to be violently striven for and eagerly retained: which has thought it a usurpation to be meditated: which has magnified and exalted himself to be equal with God.
From the inception of the papacy in the days of the apostles unto the proclamation of the essential divinity of the papacy, in the dogma of the infallibility of the Pope in 1870, and the ex cathedra declaration of Leo XIII, June 21, 1894, "to the princes and peoples of the universe" that "It is We who hold the regency of God on earth," every step of the way has been but the manifestation of the mind that has thought only of seizing upon and eagerly retaining equality with God.
And that is nothing else than the manifestation of the spirit of the original and continuing Antichrist. Isa. 14:12-14.
In the Bible there are two mysteries--the Mystery of God, and the mystery of iniquity.
The Mystery of God, is "God manifest in the flesh," "Christ in you the hope of glory." 1 Tim. 3:16; Col. 1:27.
The mystery of iniquity, is Satan manifest in the flesh "as God," the papacy in men in the place of Christ.
The Mystery of God will be finished in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.
The mystery of iniquity will then also be finished.
When the Mystery of God shall be finished, God through Christ will see His own image perfectly reflected in all who are His.
When the mystery of iniquity shall be finished, Satan through the beast and his image will see his own image completely reflected in all who are his. Rev. 13:11-17; 2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 16:14, 16.
The culmination of the Mystery of God will be in Christ's personal appearing in glory.
The culmination of the mystery of iniquity will be in Satan's personal appearing in glory as Christ.
And this is the ultimate Antichrist, of the Scriptures and of The Reformation.
Note:
1. "Holy Roman Empire," chap. vii, par. 17.