This message demonstrates that Antiochus Epiphanes is the little horn of Daniel 8-9-11. --In Daniel 2-32, 37-38, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is represented as the head of gold- in Daniel 7-4, he is a lion with a human heart.--In Daniel 2-32, 39, The empire of the Medes and Persian is represented as the chest and arms of silver- in Daniel 7-5, it is a bear. --In Daniel 2-32, 39, Greece is represented as the belly and thighs of brass- in Daniel 7-6, it is a leopard with four wings.--In Daniel 2-33, 40-43, Rome is represented as legs of iron with feet of iron and clay- in Daniel 7-7, it is a terrifying beast with iron teeth and ten horns. A little horn comes up out of one of these horns. This is the Man of Sin -Daniel 7-8- 2 Thessalonians 2-1-4-.--Two of these empires are singled out for a closer look in Daniel 8. The empire of the Medes and Persians is revealed as a two-horned ram -Daniel 8-3-4, 20-, and Greece is a goat -Daniel 8-4-8, 21-25-. The goat has one horn, Alexander the Great- he dies in 323 B.C. and is replaced by four of this generals- Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy. Out of the dynasty of Seleucus arises the little horn, Antiochus Epiphanes -Daniel 8-9-14, 21-25-.--Antiochus sacrifices a pig to Zeus and stops the Jewish sacrifices for several years until he is defeated by the Hasmoneans and then dies mysteriously -Daniel 8-25-.--Hanukkah celebrates the cleansing of the Jewish temple -John 10-22-.--As one studies the persecutions of the Jewish people under Antiochus Epiphanes, it become very apparent that he is the greatest foreshadowing of the Man of Sin.

The Man of Sin of 2 Thessalonians 2-3-4 is not identical to the Beast of Revelation 13-1-2.----The Beast out of the Sea is an amalgam of the world empires foretold in Daniel chapters 2 and 7. The Man of Sin is an individual who comes out of that system of empires, as is evident in Daniel 7-8, but he is not identical to it.----As we attempt to identify the beast from Revelation 13-1-2, we go back to Daniel 7-1-7. Once there, it is easy to identify which beast represents which empire.----The first empire is Babylon -Daniel 7-40- because Nebuchadnezzar stands out as a world ruler who is given a new heart -Daniel 4-34-37-. Before he looked up to God, Nebuchadnezzar was insane. Insanity in varying degrees is the characteristic of political leaders from the dawn of civilization.----Before he is humbled by God, Nebuchadnezzar is a picture of virtually all political leaders in all ages. He is told that God has put him in power, not because he was a noble person, but for God's own ends. Indeed, God puts over humankind, the basest of people ------- shef-al-- -wretched, humble, lazy,- Daniel 4-17-.----It should never surprise us when faced with the evil choice of two lessers, such is the story of history.

The Man of Sin has had many forerunners in history, from Antiochus Epiphanes to Gaius and Nero.----Gaius, -Caligula- --Little Boots-- had ordered the commander of all Rome's armies in greater Syria to install a statue of himself in God's holy Temple in Jerusalem. When he delayed, Caligula ordered him to commit suicide. However, Caligula was assassinated and word reached this Roman commander first.----These are people who did not only want offerings, they wanted to be worshipped as gods.----There is a final figure who stands in line with them, one who demands to be worshipped exclusively.

As we begin a study of Bible prophecy, it is essential that we take an approach that rejects unproven speculation. The Bible is the only ruler for measuring truth, and we must be skeptical about everything else -2 Timothy 3-16-17- Matthew 15-7-9-.--Furthermore, the Bible is not a piece of abstract art, where everyone's opinion about its meaning is valid. Difficult passages must be understood by those that are clear and simple -2 Peter 3-15-16- 1 Corinthians 2-12-14-.--A classic example of imposing an interpretation on a passage of Scripture is how St. Augustine of Hippo -proved- from Ezekiel 44-1-4 that the Virgin Mary remained a virgin after giving birth to the Lord Jesus----It is written -Ezekiel 44, 2-- 'This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it. Because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it-' What means this closed gate in the house of the Lord, except that Mary is to be ever inviolate- What does it mean that 'no man shall pass through it,' save that Joseph shall not know her- . . . And what means this - 'It shall be shut for evermore,' but that Mary is a Virgin before His birth, a Virgin in His birth, and a Virgin after His birth.---We must adopt a skeptical approach to such statements by asking, -What does this passage actually teach-- Indeed, the -Fathers'- statements are contradicted by Matthew's affirmation regarding Joseph and Mary -Matthew 1-24-25- 12-46-50-.--Another example of someone imposing their ideas onto a text is found in the interpretations of Seventh Day Adventist -prophetess,- Ellen G. White who declared that the Mark of the Beast is worship on Sunday.

Once again we looked at the brief creedal statement in 1 Timothy 3-16.----We reflected on Jesus' baptism with water when his Father spoke from heaven and the Holy Spirit baptized him with power -Matthew 3-16-17-.----God's name was never Jesus. Jesus was the name that God took when he became a real human being. It is identical to Joshua.----The baptism of the Lord Jesus was not a case of his being a ventriloquist, as an anti-Trinitarian preacher friend once told me. The baptism of the Lord Jesus illustrates that there are three distinct persons who are God.----Jesus never did a miracle until after his anointing with the Holy Spirit, leaving us an example.----We then considered the third statement, -He was seen of angels- -1 Timothy 3-16-, and we began to think about the role of angels in our lives today.----For a variety of reasons, we are surrounded by angels, and 1 Peter 1-10-12 gives us one of those.----According to Acts 12-6-16, angels are sent to protect us. And the Lord Jesus told us regarding little ones- -Their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. -Matthew 18-10-.

This sermon explores the importance of short summaries of the Christian faith as found, for example, in 1 Timothy 3-16, a verse is part of a larger context dealing with how we are to act in God's house -- not the building in which people meet, but God's people and how we are to conduct ourselves as we worship -1 Timothy 3-14-15-.--Paul is quoting a familiar saying in 1 Timothy 3-16. Whether it was sung, chanted, or simply recited, we may call it a creed.--As we dealt with the first point, we took up the issue of the text of the New Testament. Did Paul write, -Who ---, hos- was manifest in the flesh,- or -God -----, theos- was manifest in the flesh----I shared the story of German-born, Russian count, Tischendorf, who -obtained- the very oldest complete Greek Testament, now called Codex Sinaiticus. He claimed that the monks at Saint Catherine's Monastery were using old manuscripts to start fires.--If his story is correct, it would point to the likelihood the reason this 4th century document survived is that it had been put on the shelf and unused because it was not as accurate as other constantly used manuscripts.--I then shared why I believe that the oldest manuscripts do not necessarily point to the original writings, because those upon which the vast majority of existing Greek manuscripts are based were worn out over the centuries.--We then looked at the first statement in light of John 1-1-3, 14. --Then we considered how the whole life of our incarnate God was through the ministry of the Holy Spirit -Matthew 1-18- 3-16-17- Romans 1-4-.

As we continued our look at the relationships people were to have with each other in early Christianity, we turned to the relationship of children and their parents -Ephesians 6-1-4- Colossians 3-20-21-.--The fifth commandment is the first commandment with a promise -Exodus 20-12- Deuteronomy 5-16- Ephesians 6-2-3-.--As we ponder why this is so, we can see how it is the first commandment that we must instill in children. Children learn to respect and obey God by learning to respect and obey their parents.--Whether we are teaching our children the first four commandments -Exodus 20-3-11- or the last five -Exodus 20-13-17-, they all begin with our instilling in them respect for divinely established authority.--The promise of a blessed life is set against the curse that is promised for those who disrespect their parents -Proverbs 30-17-. Indeed, parents who love their children train them to obey -Proverbs 23-13-14-, and those who do not train their children to do this hate their children -Proverbs 13-24-.--In times of difficulty, some people think that it is better not to bring children into the world. But such thinking is utterly contrary to God's Word. The uncertainties of life during the things related to COVID-19 are nothing to compare with the persecutions believers faced under the Roman emperors of the first century. Yet the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy to encourage young widows to remarry and bring more children into the world -1 Timothy 5-14-.--How can this be- --God has given wonderful promises to us regarding children -Acts 2-38-39- Acts 16-31-, promises that continue those given to Abraham -Genesis 17-7-.

Living as we do in a fallen world, we look to the example of how the church of the first century served God in a hostile environment.----We continued our examination of the relationship of men and women from the week before in 1 Peter 3-1-7 and Ephesians 5-18-26, and turned out attention to 1 Corinthians 11-3.----There we discovered the absolute equality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -what theologians call the Ontological Trinity, referring to what God is in himself- that is expressed in unique roles -the Economical Trinity-, where the Son submits himself to the Father in order to win salvation for us.----This helps us understand biblical authority- The Father is the head of the Son, the Son is the head of the man, and the man is the head of the woman.----When a woman is under proper male authority, and expresses that symbolically -1 Corinthians 11-4-6-, she is permitted to pray and -prophesy- in public worship.----Acts 21-9 mentions Deacon Philip, the Evangelist, as having four virgin daughters who exercised this gift.----And the Prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum -2 Kings 22-14-20-, was the person to whom the greatest king of Judah turned for guidance when he read the curses recorded against God people -Deuteronomy 28-.----This prophetess was so honored by the Jewish people that they named a gate after her when they rebuilt the Temple after returning from Babylonian captivity.

Why has God not sent relief from the contagion, chaos, and crimes related to COVID-19-----Are the prayers of huge numbers of professing Christians being hindered as we continue to live under this pandemic- -1Peter 3-7-----As we continued to reflect on how the first century church coped in dealing with the often hostile authorities under whom they lived, we began a look at the differences between males and females.----Peter describes women as delicate vases as over against old clay pots -1Peter 3-7-.----Peter's words are similar to Paul's in Ephesians 5-22, where he describes believers who are filled with the Holy Spirit as those who regularly submit to one another.----Wives are to submit to their own husbands, and husbands are to submit to their own wives- mutual submission. But they submit differently.----Wives are to submit to their husbands' desires, unless such submission would force them to sin against Christ -Ephesians 5-22-24-.----But husbands are to submit to their wives' needs, and this calling is modeled on Jesus Christ who made himself nothing for the sake of his bride, the Church -Ephesians 5-25-.

Civil authority has been established by God for two purposes- To restrain evil by means of force, including deadly force -1 Peter 2-14- Romans 13-4-, and to create a climate where law-abiding people receive a measure of the fruit of their labors -1 Peter 2-14- Romans 13-3-4-.----We must always obey authority whether that authority is just or unjust -1 Peter 2-13-14- 1 Peter 2-18- Romans 13-1-2-.----But there are two exceptions.----As private citizens, we must always disobey civil authority when it requires us to sin, but we must always do so respectfully -Acts 4-19-20- Acts 5-29- 1 Peter 2-17- Romans 13-7-.----It is the duty of those who hold office to protect those under their care. They -bear the sword- against those who are under them, but they may also use that deadly force against those who are over them. In both cases they are to do this in order to protect those for whom they are responsible.----This is ONLY for those who hold office- it is never for private citizens.----It is why one must not call the American War for Independence from England a revolution. It was not a revolution- it was the representatives of the people protecting those people from tyranny.----What happened in France when the common people beheaded Louis XVI and in Russia under the Bolsheviks were revolutions.----In the United States, the Continental Congress authorized the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, not private citizens.-----Following John Calvin, -Institutes of the Christian Religion-, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, vol. 2, The Library of Christian Classics -Louisville, KY- Westminster John Knox Press, 2011-, 4.20.29-32- pp. 1517-23-.