Beware the Antichrist, which is the Pope in Rome

This explains briefly why the Pope is antichrist, a great deceiver and fulfillment of the prophecies in the New Testament.

If we want to know God and avoid confusion, we must not let ourselves be fooled by false religion. Jesus said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:4-5) We do not want to be deceived. And no one who is deceived realizes his situation. Therefore we must be very careful. Many false teachers have already come in the name of Jesus and are luring millions of people to hell. The Bible teaches us how to recognize and avoid them.

One of the greatest deceivers mentioned in the Bible is called the "Antichrist". He has other titles as well. The Bible shows us how to recognize him. Let us look at one of the prophecies about him, in which he is called “the Man of Sin”. He was predicted to arise, deceive many people, and finally be destroyed at the second coming of Jesus Christ. The Bible says,

Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [of Jesus Christ’s return] 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, shewing himself that he is God…
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
(2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 8b-12)

Reading the passage above carefully, we can objectively see that "the Man of Sin" (the Antichrist) will meet several requirements, as follows:

1. First there would be a general “falling away” from the faith. This means that the pure Christian faith taught in the Bible would be abandoned or mixed with falsehood. That falling away began in the early centuries of the Christian church, when the church began to allow false practices to creep in. These included the worship of relics and images, prayers to Mary and the saints, superstition, as well as the corruption of the church when it became an accepted religion within the Roman empire.

2. After that time the man of sin would appear. This therefore would most likely happen sometime after the 5th or 6th century A. D.

3. He would be a false Christian, a cunning Judas. Most people would not recognize that he is an impostor. He is called “son of perdition”, the same title that was used for the false apostle and traitor Judas Iscariot.

4. He would make himself important, even exalting himself over God. He would not submit to God but do his own will.

5. He would rule over the Christian church. The Bible says that he would sit as God in the temple of God, which is the church (2 Corinthians 6:16).

6. He will be fully destroyed when Jesus returns. That means he must remain in power until a yet future time, since Jesus has not returned yet. But how could one man live and rule from, say, the 6th century until the second coming of Christ? We must understand that the title “Man of Sin” is similar to the title “Caesar” or “Emperor”. It represents a succession of rulers who have held this same position, and not a single individual.

7. He would do miracles and counterfeit wonders by the devil’s power.

8. He would deceive people to do evil in the name of God.

9. Many people would follow him because they did not know the truth.

10. Those who followed him and his ways would be condemned by God because they loved to do wrong.

Other Bible prophecies mention that he would be a tyrannical emperor, an enemy of God’s true followers, and that he would be a ruler in Rome. (see the “little horn” of Daniel 7, and “Babylon the Great” and the “Beast” of Revelation 13-14, 16-18). But from the prophecy above we already know enough to identify him without doubt.

Who is this person? Consider this wisely: What person arose as a great leader in the Christian church sometime after the 6th century and has continued in power to the present day? Who appears to rule over the Christian church and actually sits on a throne? Who receives worship from kings and religious leaders as if he were God? Who do millions of people follow, thinking that they are pleasing God? And who has been responsible for promoting all kinds of evil in the name of God, such as torture, wars, corruption, superstition, idolatry, and blasphemy?

The facts of history are easy to verify. When the Roman Empire in the West fell in 476 A.D., the only person who rose up afterward to lead it was the Bishop of Rome. Through several remarkable events, the Bishop of Rome gradually rose in prestige and power until he became the Pope, the world religious and secular leader who held sway over all Europe and many other countries. In the papacy, the Roman Empire had resurrected in a new and supposedly Christian form. The pope was considered the head of the Christian Church on earth. For long centuries the pope held total dominion over the Christian church and over worldly kingdoms. He exalted himself above the laws of God and the Bible, and he was followed by millions of people who believed in his superstitions. It is plain that only one leader fits all of the prophecy’s requirements: the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. It does not merely refer to a specific pope, such as Gregory VII or Innocent III, but the position of the papacy itself. The papacy has presumed to rule over the Christian church for more than 12 centuries and fits the description above.

But is the pope really sinful? Is he the Man of Sin? Let us examine his “fruits”. We are not saying that the popes never did any good thing. But on the whole, history shows that the popes have lived in great wealth, luxury and corruption. Many of them got their office by wickedness and bribery. Their lives were marked by such sins as greed, lies, ambition, adultery, murder, sleeping with prostitutes, and even incest. Especially wicked were popes John II, John XIII, Sixtus IV, and Alexander VI.

As for their policies, the popes gave the world the terrifying cruelty of the Inquisition, in which multitudes were tortured and killed for not submitting to Rome. They launched wars and conquests. They offered indulgences for those who fought in their Crusades. They forced conquered peoples in the New World to build their cathedrals. They instituted all kinds of religious customs and superstitions that were directly opposed to God’s commands in the Bible. They prohibited the use of the Bible itself. And if anyone opposed Rome, they were labelled “heretics” and were subject to torture and death. Our Saviour Jesus Christ never behaved that way nor endorsed such evil.

Does the pope exalt himself? At his coronation, he is seated on the high altar of St. Peter’s and worshipped as the representative of Deity. The titles that the popes have accepted include “Our Lord God the Pope”, “another God upon earth”, “king of kings and lord of lords”, "neither God nor man, but both", “not merely man, but as if God”, and “Infallible”. Gregory II said, “All the kings of the West reverence the pope as a God on earth.” Pope Boniface VIII declared, “The pope is of so great dignity and excellence, that he is not merely man, but as if God, and the vicar of God. The pope alone is called most holy... Divine monarch, and supreme emperor, and king of kings… The pope is as God on earth.” Certainly, pagan kings in ancient times took exalted titles as well. But the pope, who is supposedly God´s representative, should know that only Jesus Christ is worthy of such honor. The pope´s titles are nothing but blasphemy.

In the Unam Sanctum of Pope Boniface VIII, obedience to the pope is falsely said to be necessary for entrance to heaven:

All the faithful of Christ by necessity of salvation are subject to the Roman pontiff, who judges all men, but is judged by no one… This authority is not human, but rather Divine… Therefore we declare, assert, define, and pronounce, that to be subject to the Roman pontiff is to every human creature altogether necessary for salvation.

The pope and his hierarchy of priests have promoted sinful teachings and practices such as the worship of images, salvation by works, purgatory, prayers to the saints, indulgences, penitence, Mary worship, confession of sin to priests, and the adoration of the Eucharist. They observe pagan traditions in place of the commandments of God. What Jesus said to the Pharisees is true of the Pope’s religious system: “In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Mark 7:7)

All of this fulfills the prophcey. The popes’ words and deeds plainly contradict the commands of God in the Bible and take over the place of Jesus Christ, who is the only head of the church, and the only mediator between God and humankind. The papacy therefore is the Man of Sin, the Antichrist. It is a massive lie, a fraud arranged by the devil. That is why the Bible says that anyone who follows him is deceived and condemned by God, “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Today, many people expect a future Antichrist to come and do not realize that the papacy is the fulfillment of the prophecies. They forget that the world will go on seemingly as normal until the return of Christ (Matthew 24:37-39). Many people are unknowingly following Rome’s own Futurist Interpretation of prophecy that was invented by the Jesuit Ribera to deflect accusations away from the papacy. But all the major church Reformers of the 16th century understood that the pope was the Antichrist, and that “Christian” Rome was actually “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth”. They discovered this truth from the Scriptures and it gave them courage to resist the powerful hierarchy of Rome. The Reformation of the 16th century was a breakaway from the Antichrist’s dominion, and many faithful followers of Jesus paid for our freedom with their lives. Many of us have been unaware of that, and the precious victories that our brothers won have been buried under the sands of time.

Today, many evangelical Christians are seeking to have unity with the Roman Catholic church. It is a dreadful mistake. It is partnering with the Antichrist. God says, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4)

Much more could be said on this matter if space permitted. I highly recommend that you study the Scriptures for yourself, and read Romanism and the Reformation, by H. Grattan Guinness (available free online at www.historicism.com).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesus Christ said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) If you follow Jesus with all your heart, you will find that he is so wonderful that he is beyond comparison with the false religion of the Man of Sin. Therefore,

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
(Isaiah 55:6-7)

Come to Jesus Christ. Study the New Testament. Be baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit. Pray to God. Pray for your city. Find some true followers of Jesus Christ. Love one another. Love your enemies and pray for them. Trust in God. May God bless you in your pursuit of Him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

© 2005 A. H. Phillips. This publication may be copied, posted or distributed as long as its content is not modified.

All Bible verses quoted from the Authorized (King James) Version. Written from Cusco, Peru.