1. Three weeks ago we started a series on Bible prophecy. One of the most fascinating subjects in Bible prophecy is the antichrist.
2. Listen to this quote from P.H. Spock, who was the premier of Belgium.

"The truth is that the method of international committees has failed. What we need is a person, some one of the highest order or great experience, of great authority, of wide influence, of great energy. Let him come and let him come quickly. Either a civilian or a military man, no matter what his nationality, who will cut all the red tape, shove out of the way all the committees, wake up all the people and galvanize all governments into action. Let him come quickly. This man we need and for whom we wait will take charge of the defense of the West. Once more I say, it is not too late, but it is high time."

3. Here is a statement from Henry Speck, an organizational leader for the European Common Market: "We don’t want another committee. We want a man of stature to hold the allegiance of the people and lift us up out of the economic morass we have gotten ourselves and into which we are now sinking. Send us a man whether he be God or a devil, send him."

4. The word "antichrist" is only found four times in the Bible, all in the epistles of John (I John 2:18,22; 4:3; II John 7). However, there are many other references to him in both the Old and the New Testament.

I. DIFFERENT NAMES FOR THE ANTICHRIST

1. "The little horn" (Dan.7:8,24). See Scofield notes, pp. 910, 1349.
2. "A king of fierce countenance" (Dan.8:23-25). This is a prophecy about Antiochus Epiphanes (cf. Scofield margin). But the passage goes beyond him and foreshadows the antichrist. This blending of two personalities is not unusual in Scripture (cf. Isa.14:4-17; Ezek.28:12-19).
3. "The prince that shall come" (Dan.9:26). This is one of the most important prophecies in the Bible.
4. "The king" that exalts himself (Dan.11:36-45). The earlier part of Dan.11 is historic but there is a break here at verse 36. The previous verses deal with the Persian and Greek Empires, and these prophecies have been accurately fulfilled.

• verse 37 –"Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers" – many Bible teachers take this to mean that the antichrist will be an apostate from Judaism, but this is not necessarily so.
• "nor the desire of women" – two possibilities.

1. he repudiates the natural desire of Jewish women to become the mother of the promised Messiah (cf. Haggai 2:6,7).
2. he will be a sodomite.

• verse 38 – "the God of forces" – military power.
• verse 39 – His combination of self-worship, militarism, and materialism suggest communism, new age, and deluded ecumenicalism.
• "king of the south" = Egypt. "king of the north" = Russia (cf. Ezek.38,39).
• verse 41 – "the glorious land" = Israel.
• verses 42,43 – the antichrist is victorious for a while.
• verse 44 – "But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him" (cf. Rev.9:13-21; 16:12).
• verse 45 – "and none shall help him" (Rev.19:19-21).

5. "The idol shepherd" (Zech.11:15-17).
6. "The abomination of desolation" (Matt.24:15).
7. The one who comes "in his own name" (John 5:43).
8. "that man of sin" (II thess.2:3).
9. "the son of perdition" (II Thess.2:3).
10. "The beast" (Rev.13:1-9; 14:9-11; 16:13; 17:3,11-18; 19:19,20; 20:10). This "beast" is the antichrist (cf. Rev.6:2).
11. Historically, most Protestants and Baptists have identified the antichrist with the papacy. "Vicar" means "substitute," and so does the prefix anti (as well as "opposed to"). However, it seems more likely that the second beast, the false prophet, will be the pope of Rome (Rev.13:11-18; 16:13; 19:20; 20:10).

II. THE ANTICHRIST IS PRESENTLY BEING RESTRAINED

1. The antichrist, aka "that man of sin" and "the son of perdition" (II Thess.2:3) will not be revealed until after the rapture.
2. "Only he who now letteth (hindereth – see margin) will let (hinder), until he (the Holy Spirit) be taken out of the way" (II Thess.2:7).

III. THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE THE FALSE MESSIAH (John 5:43)

1. He will be worshipped (II Thess.2:4; Rev.13:4-10).
2. He will perform miracles. There is a big emphasis on the miraculous in Pentecostalism (II Thess.2:9-12; Rev.13:11-18).

CONCLUSION:

1. Back in 1944, M.R. DeHaan wrote these words, "A Jew said to me, ‘The Jews could accept a man that claimed to be God, but the Jews will never be ready to accept one who claims to be the son of God. That would mean more than one God and they will never accept that. There is only one God to the Jews and whether he be a man or God in human form, such a one might get a hearing.’ That is precisely what the Antichrist will do. He will deny all other gods and declare himself to be the one and only God."
2. In I John 4:3, John speaks of "that spirit of antichrist" that was already "in the world."