LESSON 27

THE APOSTACY, THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY

THE ANTI-CHRIST

1.   What did Paul say would occur before Christ’s second coming?

2 Thessalonians 2:3

2.   How soon was this apostacy to come?

2 Thessalonians 2:7

3.   What prophecy was thus fulfilled?

Daniel 7:25; Matthew 24:24; Acts 20:29, 30.

4.   What other satanic powers have arisen in opposition to the truth?

1 John 2:18; 1 John 4:3; 2 John 7.

5.   How does history prove the rise of the Apostacy?

Answer:  “There is scarcely anything that strikes the mind of the careful student of ancient ecclesiastical history with greater surprise, than the comparatively early period at which many of the corruptions of Christianity which were embodied in the Romish system took their rise”. [History pf Romanism, page 65; by Dowling].

“Pagans flowed into the churches, taking with them many of their pagan habits of life and thought, so that by the time of Diocletian the church was corrupt and worldly as never before….Gnosticism led the way in the amalgamation of Christian and pagan thought and life that was to transform the religion of Christ and His apostles….” [Manual of Church History” by A.H Newman pp.167, 194]

From Schaff-Herzog “Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge”.  “The Sabbath had no rival in the church until about the middle of the second century when Sunday began to be observed as a festival day…..along with Wednesday, Friday, and numerous other festival days of the Latin Church, then beginning to drift upon the first great wave of its APOSTACY”.  Volume 4, p.2166]

From “Growth of the Christian Church” by R. H Nichol:    “Paginism affected Christian worship…..because many entered the churches who were pagans under the surface.  SAINT WORSHIP is the chief example of this tendency.  The saints became to be regarded as something like lesser DEITIES WHOSE INTERCESSION AVAILED God. PLACES connected with their lives were considered especially sacred.  PILGRIMAGES to such places naturally followed.  To venerate RELICS or MATERIAL OBJECTS connected with the saints, parts of their bodies or properties, and to believe that in them was the power to work miracles, came easily to those in whom pagan superstition still remained”.  P.61

“The celebration of the EUCHARIST [the MASS] became an imposing ceremony with fixed forms and much attention to details, emphasizing the idea that the sacrament was a sacrifice offered by the PRIEST for the people efficacious for their salvation”.  Ibid.p.60

“Changes took place in the position of the ministry.  The distinction between clergy and laymen, unknown in the first century, was gradually marked.  The office of the Bishop was magnified and authoritative power was centralized at the imperial capital, Rome”. Ibid. P.41.

“The growth of the idea of the higher morality [of ministry] caused the belief that the clergy ought to be UNMARRIED.  This became LAW in the church in the west in the fourth century”.  Ibid. P.41.

“More liturgies and forms of prayers were produced…. Church buildings became larger and more decorative….Church walls were covered with paintings, mosaics and embroideries.  Dignity and impressiveness was sought in the services as well as stately ritual and solemn music”.  Ibid. pp. 41, 59, 60.

6.   How does John describe the fall of the ApostateChurch, and what are we told to do in view of this condition?

Revelation 18:2-4.

7.   What will be the final fate of the ApostateChurch system as well as the Anti-Christ powers?

Revelation 17:1-5, 15-18;  18;6-10, 15-24; 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

Note: The APOSTACY, also called the MYSTERY OF INIQUIRY is headed up in the CATHOLICCHURCH, who is called the MOTHER OF HARLOTS and includes false Protestantism, her DAUGHTERS.

The present ONEWORLDCHURCH movement will be a FEDERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE once more to persecute the saints and will go into perdition.

Revelation 17:3, 8, 11.