EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

Our Prophetic Legacy

 

Part XI – The Prophetic Sequence

 

By

Doug Krieger

 

There is no last days’ person known as THE Antichrist; thus, there is no individual known as the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, the Lawless One, the Willfull King, nor, for that matter:  The Beast!  There is no Seventieth Week of Daniel yet future—there isn’t even one-half of the Seventieth Week to come; and, certainly no full-blown, full-length seven-year period known as Daniel’s Seventieth Week in the future.  There is no “Covenant with Death and Hell” (a.k.a. “Peace Treaty”).  There is no future “Abomination of Desolation.”  There is no future for Jews in some ethereal 1,000-year Millennium on the earth with Jerusalem its capitol.  There’s no revived Roman Empire—ad nausea, ad infinitum—in fact, we’re not even sure there’s an actual reappearance or Second Advent of Jesus Christ, let alone a final day of “judgment.”

 

All these prophetic misnomers were never held by the Church; and, in the main, are heretical concoctions of the Jesuits to counteract the Protestants—i.e., the Counter Reformation back in the 1500s in order to take the heat off the Papacy as the seat of Antichrist who proclaimed himself as “God in the temple.” 

 

Problematic with these phantasmagoric historicities is this:  The Jesuits didn’t concoct this so-called eschatological balderdash.  These eschatological concepts were enunciated by none other than the Early Church Fathers—Polycarp, Justin Martyr, the Bishops Irenaeus and Hippolytus and many more, nigh 1,300 years prior to the Jesuits—and that is precisely what we are going to validate in this exhausting tome!

 

For example, there is no greater advocate, none whose commentary is as clear, nor ancient among the brethren in Christ who is as formidable and convincing as the noble and erudite expositor and defender of the faith once delivered and of the prophetic text than:  Hippolytus of Porto (Italy) (170-235) and the first ANTIPOPE (if you would, PROTESTANT). 

 

Furthermore, he stood upon the shoulders of the Bishop of Lyon (France), Irenaeus (130-202), whose journey to Gaul commenced in Asia Minor—for he was a disciple of Polycarp (Church in Smyrna) (69-155), a disciple of John the Beloved (d. cir. 100), who was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, the Christ, the Logos—the “Word was made flesh and dwelt among us!” (Introductory Notice to Hippolytus) 

And, to all these, we add Justin Martyr (100-165), who having, as Hippolytus and Polycarp, laid down his life for the faith, holds title to “Martyr” in honor of the Lamb upon the Throne—the Faithful and True Witness.  The continuity of their exegesis regarding the historical Jesus—juxtaposed to the supercilious and abhorrent absurdities and heresies of those known today as the Historical Jesus Theorists (who, like their ancient counterparts, the Gnostics, condemned by Irenaeus as heretics, deny that Christ is come in the flesh; and most assuredly deny any future incarnation into the body of one, entitled:  The Antichrist).

 

CHURCH FATHERS VALIDATE THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST AND ANTI-CHRIST

 

It is our ambition to illuminate the writings of our Church Fathers and the eschatological wisdom handed down from their abundant writings (many recently unearthed)—to validate the “Prophetic Sequence” and to expose the errors of those who, like The Watchman Report—and other Post-Millenarian (and some Amillenarian) brethren, seek to conform the historical record to their own limited knowledge of history (so called).  Their outrageous claim that the personification of the Antichrist is a Jesuit plot to discredit Protestant Historicism (which claims the entire Papal System is the Antichrist or “antichrists”) is pathetically flawed in light of those who are interconnected to the Apostle John and the Revelation. 

 

Frankly, I hold no prejudice to this historicity in that I was baptized Lutheran, confirmed Lutheran, and am a direct descendant of Martin Luther!  Sadly enough, Brother Martin could only get free from Rome once he associated the “system” to that of the Antichrist.  Perhaps he was so taken up with this “revelation” that he dispensed with the somewhat limited understanding he had of the wisdom and insight of the Early Church Fathers?

 

Likewise, he and his Protestant historicists present a flagrant denial of the literal Millennium on this earth, along with the futurity of the entire Seventieth Week of Daniel and of Antichrist’s Satanic incarnation as the “abomination of desolation” in the midst of Daniel’s week—to say nothing of BOTH the triumphant testimony of the Two Witnesses and of the three-and-one-half years of suffering to be endured by the Church at the close of this age—all prior to the Second Advent of Christ—and, all confirmed by the Early Church Fathers—has absolutely nothing to do with the alleged Jesuit plot to subvert Protestant Historicism; an alleged plot which took place nigh 1,300 years later! 

 

Alas! How could these brethren so boldly affirm their error—claiming historic accuracy in their tenuous “discoveries” – and, to acclaim them as confirmations of the Holy Spirit?  This is an embarrassment to the Body of Christ at best, and at worst it borders on apostasy, even blasphemy—for their pretensions to accord credibility to these erroneous patterns of history as “divinely transmitted” . . . as if, and even, the Spirit of God allegedly bearing witness to these inaccuracies and blatant contrivances whereby they manipulate history to suffice their awkward platitudes.  Behold, the shameless historical malfeasance of these people—what spurious accounting we witness hereunder from the B.S. we’ve grown to abhor:

 

“Watchman Comment: When I wrote the message ‘The Scriptural Truth About The Antichrist’ I said that the term Antichrist was changed from its original meaning to point to a one world leader by the Catholic Church. I had no previous knowledge of this statement, as I had received the message by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

I actually questioned God if I should even write the paragraph containing that information, as I had no proof, other than the actual revelation given by the Holy Spirit, and we all know how people doubt contemporary “inspired writings”—and rightfully so, considering how many “false” supposed inspired writings there are these days.

 

“Steve Wohlberg, whom I (B.S.) have never met, has done an excellent job of researching the origin of not only the ‘one world leader’ Antichrist false doctrine, as well as the true origin of the pre-tribulation rapture theory. I was blessed to see that in his historical research he absolutely confirms my earlier message.” (The Watchman Report)

 

This, having said, and although the Watchman Report decries the Papacy as the embodiment of the Antichrist, this is not to say that we, nor our likeminded  Post Tribulational brethren exonerate the Papacy’s persistent endeavors to impersonate Luther’s pronouncements:

 

“The early Church believed that the Antichrist, the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, its defilement by the man of sin, the persecutions he was to bring, the commitment of the ten kings to this man and a final attack on Jerusalem and the Jews were to happen at a future time within the confined period of time known as Daniel's 70th week. What must be remembered is that the early Church fathers received what was handed down by the apostles AFTER the destruction of the Jewish temple and the dispersing of the Jews, yet spoke of the Antichrist and his evil system as in the future. Arguments against Futurism state that since this view places the Antichrist in the future, it negates the Catholic Church and its head from being at the base of a world religio-political system with the Pope at its head as the Antichrist. How this all plays out, we will have to see, but there is nothing to say that even in Futurism there is no reason why there cannot come a future time where Pope and the Catholic system could fulfill those roles.” (Ed Tarkowski, Historical Perspective on Pretribulationism, The Early Church was Futurist in its Prophetic Outlook—Note:  An excellent recordation of Early Church Fathers’ Futurism.)

 

THE DENIAL OF THE COMING PRINCE:  THE ANTICHRIST WILL COME IN THE FLESH

 

What verbal kaleidoscope, ever-changing its serpentine form, as they twist and turn it to capture “new light” through the prism of incarnate denial of the Coming Prince . . . behold what manner of plausible denial is this . . . for the “system of the Papacy” as the Antichrist has now transferred to the “American New World Order System” and our brethren in Christ have become “little antichrists” gone out into the world to effect THE LIE on behalf of the American New World Order System—especially those who are in support of Israel whereby they “politically lobby” on behalf of Zion!

 

“The term Antichrist has been purposely twisted to mean something that the scriptures do not say, and we have believed a lie regarding this term rather than what the Word says on the matter. I often wondered, why would Satan do this? For what purpose would he twist the scriptures to make the term Antichrist point to some endtime world leader instead of what the Bible says?  Now I understand, and the truth is both shocking and frightenly sad and will lead many who think they are right with God to great, great disappointment.

 

“If you look up the word antichrist, you will notice the term is never used in the Book of Revelation or the Book of Daniel, the two primary books regarding end time events. However, EVERY scripture that does speak of the antichrist speaks of many, not simply a one world leader.

 

“So why did Satan twist this term to equate to a one world leader? To take the eyes of the believer off of the truth regarding endtime prophecy, as the antichrist spirit plays a key role in endtime events, however, this antichrist spirit is not a world leader at all, but leaders within the Christian church who lead many of God's people into becoming antichrists also. How? By getting them to compromise the teachings of Yahshua in favor of supporting the ungodly and un-Christlike atrocities done by their government (the beast) and thereby they fall into the trap of worshipping the beast, rather than God. That is what is transpiring in America right now with many well meaning, yet totally compromised, Christians. The great end time deception is in full swing, and many there be who have been caught in it's (sic.) snare.” (The Watchman Report, The Watchman Report News Editor: Micahyah, Babylon Times, News from the Front, October 14, 2006)

 

Is there any wonder then that the Apostle Peter would pronounce “YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL WALKS ABOUT LIKE A ROARING LION, SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR—resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (I Peter 5:8b-9)?

 

Alas!  The identity of the so-called Watchman is not the only concealment—so is their nefarious desire to shroud the Son of Perdition in unapproachable ambiguity . . . and to lay claim that YAHSHUA (a.k.a. Jesus) has given us this up-to-date warning, to wit:

 

“Stop focusing so much on what Satan is doing and going to do...Learn, prepare and begin to focus on what I am going to do!  I give you these stories and revelations, not that you would be ensnared by them, to be so caught up in investigating, but that you would simply understand what time it is and how close your redemption is. Do not spend your precious time investigating the deep things of Satan (Revelation 2:24), but the deep things of My Kingdom, which is coming very soon - even in troublous times. (Ibid.)

 

THE DENIAL THAT ISRAEL IS COME IN THE FLESH vs. THE LITERAL MILLENNIUM

 

Yes, not only do their sophomoric interpolations of church history annoy—for they who deny the coming of the Lawless One, the MAN OF SIN—also deny the “Valley of Dry Bones” – the ingathering of the exiles; Israel’s materiality—yet, they do not deny their CHRISTIAN KINGDOM NOW!  Oh, yes, the manifestation of the Christian Kingdom on this earthly clod—the one “which is coming very soon – even in troublous times”—for there is no future millennium according to this bunch of Augustinian anthropologists—the “violent” are about taking it “by force”; for the perfidious and anachronistic Jew is a covenantal throwback, utterly rejected and despised, given over to the Father of Lies; and, those who think otherwise need an “eschatological lobotomy” to circumvent the truth found in Holy Writ, as well as in the writings of the Early Church Fathers! 

 

Why hasten the Premillenarian Kingdom when Israel’s accursed counterfeit intrudes its despicable nose into the affairs of Gentile World Powers; and, worse yet, extends the rapier of the Beast, while the Mother of Harlots (a.k.a., the pro-Israel Christian Zionists) enjoys the ride!  What you witness on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea is a Western concoction—an illegitimate colonial splice inserted into the belly of Islam!  Thence, all Christians who accord the Jew prophetic interplay are themselves caught in “Kingdom denial” and have taken the bait of Satan!  Furthermore, all Christians who deign to “bless Israel” politically are at best destined for the trash bin of eschatological irrelevance and, at worst, directly participate in the apostate orgy of the American New World Order Beast System full of Christian antichrists who support Israel!

 

“Israel over there is not the Israel of God! You are —aren't you, Christian? Were not those who rejected Yahshua PRUNED from the tree of the seed of Abraham? Were not you and all those who accept Yahshua GRAFTED INTO the tree and are now counted as the TRUE seed of Abraham—this includes the Jews that accept their Messiah also, but not those who do not. Israel has no hold on ANY ancient covenant, as the covenant, according to God's Word, which I assume you all have, speaks of the seed of Abraham and heirs to the covenant is only active for those who have accepted THE SEED (singular) of Yahshua.”

 

“Israel, as a nation, has not been under ANY covenant with God after they rejected the Covenant (Word) made flesh! It is impossible!

“The modern, 1948, nation of Israel does not want you to know this, but it is written plainly in your Bibles, so that you will continue to support them, regardless of how wicked their actions may be, even as wicked as the massacre of your fellow Christian brothers and sisters in Lebanon! I don't have ANYTHING against supporting Israel, even if the covenant with God has been voided (B.S., please see my last article and designation of this entitlement), as Yahshua stated, but don't try to manipulate me into supporting you by perverting the Word of my God! What a blasphemous scam! And it has worked marvelously.” (Ibid.)

 

The more “you get into this web site/mind-set” – the more the doctrines of the Church Triumphant echo their rancorous discordant tones.   No, no, no – Israel’s materiality, her physicality has absolutely NOTHING to do with covenantal fulfillment; nothing to do with a covenant-keeping God.  The rage and the candor of that rage, with its verbosity and phantasmagoric pontificating, astounds and deeply disturbs. 

 

And, all of the above, in total denial of Justin Martyr’s remarks made to the Jew, Trypho, in his attempts to convert him to his real Messiah:

 

The Jew, Trypho speaks to Justin Martyr:

 

“I remarked to you sir (Justin Martyr), that you are very anxious to be safe in all respects, since you cling to the Scriptures.  But tell me, do you really admit that this place, Jerusalem, shall be rebuilt;  and do you expect your people to be gathered together, and made joyful with Christ and the patriarchs, and the prophets, both the men of our nation, and other proselytes who joined them before your Christ came? Or have you given way, and admitted this in order to have the appearance of worsting us in the controversies?” (Justin Martyr on the Literal Millennial Reign of Christ on the Earth, Early Christian Writings)

 

Reply of Justin Martyr to Trypho:

 

“I am not so miserable a fellow, Trypho, as to say one thing and think another.  I admitted to you formerly, that I and many others are of this opinion (i.e., Premillennial) . . . Moreover, I pointed out to you that some who are called Christians, but are godless, impious heretics, teach doctrines that are in every way blasphemous, atheistical, and foolish . . . For I choose to follow not men or men’s doctrines, but God and the doctrines [delivered] by Him.  For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this [truth] (i.e., Premillenialism), and venture to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do not imagine that they are Christians. . . But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare.” (Ibid.)

 

And, in case you are not clear—Justin Martyr confirms the literal millennium by quoting, no less, than a “certain man with us” by the name of the Apostle John:

 

“Now we have understood that the expression used among these words, ‘According to the days of the tree [of life] shall be the days of my people; the works of their toil shall abound’ obscurely predicts a thousand years.  For as Adam was told that in the day they ate of the tree he would die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years.  We have perceived, moreover, that the expression, ‘The day of the Lord is as a thousand year,’ is connected with this subject.  And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all men would likewise take place.”

 

PRO-ISRAEL EVANGELICALS EQUATE TO ANTICHRISTS

 

It may be true that the pro-Israel Lobby comprised of pro-Israel Evangelical political activists like John Hagee who have made common “political cause” with philo-Evangelical American Zionist Jews is not countenanced by Biblical injunction; however, to ascribe these joint pursuits (Christian Zionist pro-Israel rallies, etc.) as “antichrist” and “blasphemous” and that these Christian Zionists now ride the Beast, the real antichrist of the end times—the American New World Order System—stretches the prophetic chord to its maximum elasticity.

 

In point of fact – the Islamo-fascist haters and the anti-Christian Zionist haters are BOTH caught in a spiraling deception – with, I am certain, some from both wings destined to greater apostasy as the day approaches; but many will join the harmonious chorus of the Two Witnesses in Daniel’s Seventieth Week . . . much to the chagrin of the hard core Islamo-fascist haters among the pro-Israel Zionists, as well as the “Jew-haters” among the “replacement theologians” Kingdom Now, Church Triumphant, Covenantalists and Post-Millenarians (though they, in their pious facades would have you to believe, as did Germany’s bankrupt theologians under Hitler, they are NOT anti-Semitic, just Biblical; living under the liberating New Covenant, whereas the Christ-rejecting Jews have no part in any relevant eschatological Weltanschauung—aside (perhaps)—of a final and isolated climactic torture wrought by the “antichrists” under the headship of the Beast—a.k.a., the American New World Order System—prior to their bludgeoning conversion to a returning Christ (probably posing as “the christ” will be the New Covenant Post-Millenarian Church Triumphant).

 

Thus, His Second Advent will be naught but “His coming in the saints” – not His personal appearance (i.e., “coming for the saints”)—the ultimate Gnostic denial of the humanity of Jesus, the Son of David.  Don’t think this a cockeyed notion amongst the Triumphalists—no, no, no—they wholly plan to “overcome him” (the American New World Order System (the Beast) and apostate Israel, along with the pro-Zionist Christians, as the Mother or Harlots and/or the Second Beast, False Prophet) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (whatever that may be).

 

Their typology and Biblicism is so convoluted and distorted that whatever consistency abides in their fluid minds has long ago diluted their senses—whatever framework serves the destruction of the Jew, serves their “doctrines of demons”—that’s just fine.  Times change—whatever’s prophetically convenient to fit the hour does as well.

 

Indeed, their rhetoric and accusations, denials and denunciations, have certainly taken on an air of sophistication heretofore unimagined—even the appropriation of the Hebraic name for Jesus—YAHSHUA—is fraught with grandiose distortion surrounding the “Sacred Name” (viz., the name of “Jesus” is incorrectly linked to Zeus); yet, when the masks are stripped from their surreptitious despite of the Jew, and their claims to immediate Kingdom Now are understood as the fulfillment of real prophecy, then their agenda a strides not only the laughable but the dangerous. 

 

The intensity of their animas is interwoven into their message—and, if you fail to observe their defamations as but benign neglect of the truth of Scripture, let me disabuse you of that superficial notion.  For just as theology has played a dominant role in the political machinations of the pro-Israel “right” in America; even so, theology now plays a magnanimous debilitating distinction in galvanizing the left.  Hatred for the “antichrist Beast system” of the New American World Order has become a virulent potion of the secular, now mixing with the theological left—an ever-merging compatibility of mutual dialogue and interest with common cause and trepidation driving the two in concentric alliance while spiraling ever deeper, from rung to rung, into Dante’s Inferno.

 

But enough of their blather—yet, let us focus on their denial of the Church Fathers—perchance we will discover from whence they have fallen, for the seeds of their modern-day Gnosticism have infiltrated their prophetic structures, undermining their entire eschatological house of cards.  And, I might indulge their outrage from the commencement of this address by suggesting they have unwittingly succumbed to the prophetic fulfillment adumbrated in the message to the persecuted Church in Smyrna—from whence John, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Hippolytus derive their clarity:

 

“I know your works, tribulation and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who SAY THEY ARE JEWS AND ARE NOT, but are a synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 2:9).

 

HIPPOLYTUS—THE ANTIPOPE

 

We initiate this discourse at the latter-end of our Church Fathers—Hippolytus:

 

“Hippolytus was presbyter of the Church of Rome (Note:  Some say Porto/Portus, a bit north of Rome.) at the beginning of the third century.  There is no difficulty in admitting that he could have been a disciple of St. Irenaeus either in Rome or Lyons . . . In the reign of Pope Zephyrinus (198-217) he came into conflict with that pontiff and with the majority of the Church of Rome, primarily on account of the Christological opinions which for some time had been causing controversies in Rome.  Hippolytus had combated the heresy of Theodotion and the Alogi (Note:  Please reference a summary of

heresies @ http://users.binary.net/polycarp/heresy.html); in like fashion he opposed the false doctrines of Noetus, of Epigonus, of Cleomenes, and of Sabellius (Jesus Only), who emphasized the unity of God too one-sidedly (Monarchians) and saw in the concepts of the Father and the Son merely manifestations (modi) of the Divine Nature (Modalism, Sabellianism—the Father became the Son, and the Son became the Spirit).

 

“Hippolytus, on the contrary, stood uncompromisingly for a real difference between the son (Logos) and the Father, but so as to represent the Former as a Divine Person almost completely separate from God (Ditheism) and at the same time altogether subordinate to the Father (Subordinationism).  As the heresy in the doctrine of the Modalists was not a first clearly apparent, Pope Zephyrinus declined to give a decision.  For this Hippolytus gravely censured him, representing him as an incompetent man, unworthy to rule the Church of Rome and as a tool in the hands of the ambitious and intriguing deacon Callistus (Note:  A most unlikely Holy See), whose early life is maliciously depicted (Philosophumena, IX, xi-xii—major writing of Hippolytus which was discovered in the 1850s). 

“Consequently when Callistus was elected pope (217-218) on the death of Zephyrinus, Hippolytus immediately left the communion of the Roman Church and had himself elected antipope by his small band of followers.  These he calls the Catholic Church and himself successor to the Apostles, terming the great majority of Roman Christians the School of Callistus.  He accuses Callistus of having fallen first into the heresy of Theodotus, then into that of Sabellius; also of having through avarice degraded ecclesiastical, and especially the penitential, discipline to a disgraceful laxity . . . he continued in opposition as antipope throughout the reigns of two immediate successors of Callistus, Urban (222 or 223 to 230) and Pontius (230-35), and during this period, probably during the pontificate of Pontianus (a.k.a., Pontius), he wrote the “Philosophumena.”

 

“He was banished to the unhealthful island (insula nociva) of Sardinia at the same time as Pontianus; and shortly before this, or soon afterward, he became reconciled with the legitimate bishop and the Church of Rome.  For, after both exiles had died on the island of Sardinia, their mortal remains were brought back to Rome on the same day.” (Catholic Encyclopedia, St. Hippolytus of Rome)

 

The reconciliation of Hippolytus to the Church in Rome appears a reasonable conjecture; however, this schismatic Bishop of Rome must needs be brought under Papal authority, lest his dispersions allow for intemperate ecclesial promiscuity.  Notwithstanding these shadowy historicities regarding Hippolytus’ reentry under Mother Rome’s embrace; she is altogether pointedly correct in her following assumption:

 

“Hippolytus was the most important theologian and the most prolific religious writer of the Roman Church in the pre-Constantinian era . . . his works deal with several branches of theology . . . His exegetical treatises were numerous:  he wrote commentaries on several books of the Old and New Testaments . . . the fullest extant commentary on the Book of Daniel in 4 books (“Werke des Hippolytus,” ed. Bonwetsch, 1897, 343 sqq.).  Eight of his works, known by their titles, dealt with dogmatic and apologetic subjects, but only one has come down entire in the original Greek.  This is the work of Christ and Antichrist (“De Antichristo,” ed. Achelis, op. cit., I, II, 1 sqq.); fragments of a few others have been preserved.  Of his polemics against heretics the most important is the ‘Philosophumena,’ the original title of which is kata pason aireseon elegchos (A Refutation of All Heresies).” (Ibid.)

 

Now, wouldn’t you know it—and for prophetic posterity—the two nigh complete works left by this voluminous pre-Constantinian writer to the church would (much to the chagrin, I am quite confident, of my protagonists) be those commentaries relative to the physicality of Antichrist—his whereabouts and futurity, as well as the mysteries surrounding the Seventieth Week of Daniel and the Coming Prince?

 

And, for the Christian Historicists, we have the initial Antipope—hardly one to embrace Papal Rome’s deceits and theological misgivings.  Surely, here is one who stood against Rome herself—even Martin Luther would have accorded to Hippolytus preliminary accolades to his primordial efforts in reforming Rome’s theological devolution; although, Luther would not have concurred with the personification of the Antichrist yet future, when the Roman Beast was seen sniping at his ecclesiastical cloth as the Antichrist Papal Bull!

 

PREFACE TO DANIEL’S COMMENTARY BY HIPPOLYTUS

 

“As I wish to give an accurate account of the times of the captivity of the children of Israel in Babylon, and to discuss the prophecies contained in the visions of the blessed Daniel, (as well as) his manner of life . . . I too shall proceed to bear my testimony to that holy and righteous man, a prophet and witness of Christ, who not only declared the visions of Nebuchadnezzar the king in those times, but also trained youths of like mind with himself, and raised up faithful witnesses in the world” (Hippolytus of Rome, The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus [translated by the Rev. S. D. F. Salmond] and the Catholic Encyclopedia on St. Hippolytus of Rome – and throughout).

 

The immediate effort by Hippolytus is to delve into the prophecies contained in the visions of the blessed Daniel – and he does so immediately by validating the Fourth Beast as Rome present and yet future!

 

“Then he (Daniel) says, ‘The fourth beast (was) dreadful and terrible:  it had iron teeth, and claws of brass.’  Who, then, are meant by this but the Romans, whose kingdom, the kingdom that still stands, is expressed by the iron? ‘For,’ says he, ‘its legs are of iron.’  (Note:  These commentaries are either from “The Book of Daniel in 4 Books (“Werke des Hippolytus,” ed. Bonwetsch, 1897, 343 sqq.); or from Christ and Antichrist (“De Antichristo,” ed. Achelis, op. cit., I, II, 1 sqq.) (My emphasis.)

 

Thus, to the chagrin of higher biblical criticism (I am sure) Hippolytus—brave citizen of Rome that he was—unabashedly targets the Roman Imperium as the Fourth Beast (not the Greek Alexandrian Empire).  But, Hippolytus goes much further into the future—where he unequivocally identifies the 10-yet-future kingdoms which arise and the Eleventh Horn to be the personification of a yet-future Antichrist:

 

“After this, then, what remains, beloved, but the toes of the feet of the image, in which ‘part shall be of iron and part of clay mixed together?’  By the toes of the feet he meant, mystically, the ten kings that rise out of that kingdom.  As Daniel says, ‘I considered the beast; and, lo (there were) ten horns behind, among which shall come up another little horn springing from them;’ by which none other is meant than the antichrist that is to rise; and he shall set up the kingdom of Judah.” (Ibid.)

 

Indeed, Antichrist shall establish himself in the Beautiful Land, as I have said, betwixt and between “the sea” (Mediterranean Sea) “and the glorious holy mountain” (Jerusalem) as per Daniel 11:45.

 

“And when he has conquered all, he will prove himself a terrible and savage tyrant, and will cause tribulation and persecution to the saints, exalting himself against them.  And after him, it remains that ‘the stone’ shall come from heaven which ‘smote the image’ and shivered it, and subverted all the kingdoms, and gave the kingdom to the saints of the Most High.  This ‘became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.’”

 

Under obligation—may I be so presumptions to acclaim “Holy Spirit directive”—allow me to further discredit my KINGDOM NOW brethren who are so historically remiss to assume that the early church acclaimed the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ as the once and final stone which would topple the Image of Nebuchadnezzar!  Observe their convolutions and ascribe to them “this worldly prize” – for they are well-deserving of what they are about to take by force of “spiritual will” . . .

 

KINGDOM NOW

 

Allow their insidious nomenclature to describe their many disguises:

 

“*There is a movement about that is casting a long shadow for its size. It is known as Reconstructionism, Kingdom Now theology, Theonomy, and/or Dominion theology, and it is a curious blend of Reformed/Calvinist theology and Charismatic influence. While there are relatively few who would call themselves reconstructionists, a number of the movement's ideas have infiltrated the thinking and actions of many professing believers, often without them knowing it. The movement is led by such theologians as Rousas J. Rushdoony; Gary North; Ray Sutton; Greg Bahnsen (deceased); David Chilton, and by Charismatic leaders such as Earl Paulk. But their ideas are often reflected by non-reconstructionists such as Pat Robertson, D. James Kennedy, John Whitehead, Franky Schaeffer, and Jerry Falwell. [In spite of the fact that many Dominionists-Reconstructionists-Theonomists are hyper-Calvinists, yet at the same time they write and speak as if they believe that they must help God get things under control down here on earth, so that the kingdom (their version of it) can be set up in order that the King Himself can reign properly (through them, of course!).]

“Dominion theology (the belief-system behind the Reconstructionist movement) teaches that through the coming of Christ the believer has dominion over every area of life. We are now in the Kingdom of God (note the similar view of the Kingdom that the Vineyard movement takes, as well as the plethora of Christian songs being written implying that we are in the Kingdom at the present time), and as a result, we should be reigning with Christ over the earth (as Rev. 5:10 says). The question is when we will reign. If the Kingdom is on earth now, then we should have dominion now, so say the Dominionists. Many of us non-Reconstructionist proclaim this same thought when we sing the popular Charismatic song ‘Majesty’ (written by hyper-charismatic Jack Hayford), which invites us to ‘Come glorify Christ Jesus, the King’ -- after all, ‘Kingdom authority flows from His throne unto His own.’ With this authority from the King, we are to reclaim the earth for Christ, not just spiritually, but socially, economically (it is no accident that one of the Reconstructionists’ organizations is called ‘The Institute for Christian Economics’), and politically. The dominion of the earth is accomplished not only through prayer and evangelism, but through political process and social reformation. [The Dominion/Reconstructionist organization Coalition on Revival (COR) (Jay Grimstead, Founder and Director) was established for this purpose.] Christ will not (and cannot) return to earth until the church has accomplished this task, so say the dominionists.” (* Unless otherwise indicated, some of the material in this and companion reports has been excerpted and/or adapted from three sources: (1) "Dominion Theology," Pastor Gary E. Gilley, Southern View Chapel, January, 1996; (2) Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?, by Thomas Ice and H. Wayne House; and (3) Vengeance Is Ours: The Church in Dominion, by Albert James Dager. Biblical Discernment Ministries, 1997)

 

Now, hear from the Theonomists themselves, who speak of the “Pessimillenialist” with derisive contempt:

 

“This inheritance is the kingdom of God. It is a kingdom visibly manifested by growth in history. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar: 

‘And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure’ (Dan. 2:44–45).

 

“Modern evangelicals are pessimillennialists: premillennialists and amillennialists. They deny that the Church, prior to the bodily return of Christ, will not inherit anything like what the Bible explicitly prophesies (sic.). Premillennialists think that Jesus must be present to empower His kingdom. Amillennialists think that the kingdom of God will not be sufficiently empowered in history for Christians to collect the promised inheritance. In effect, they are arguing that Satan holds the promised inheritance in trust for covenant-breakers. Both groups deny that the presence of the Holy Spirit is sufficient to empower the Church to fulfill the Great Commission. The Great Commission is really a great burden — so great that no Christian should feel a more than twinge of guilt or remorse about the failure of the Church in his day — or any day — to fulfill it.

 

“The doctrine of the ascension is systematically ignored because its implications call pessimillenmnialism into question. If Christ is now seated at God's right hand, why shouldn't we expect a victory in history for the Church, a victory whose magnitude is analogous to Christ’s victory over the limits of history, yet nevertheless in history, at the ascension?” (Christian Reconstructionism, Is The Holy Spirit a Loser in History?, Gary North, January/February, 1996)

 

To the Church Triumphant, Hippolytus’ assumptions that “it remains that ‘the stone’ shall come from heaven which ‘smote the image’ and shivered it, and subverted all the kingdoms, and gave the kingdom to the saints of the Most High” had NOT occurred—why wait, why does it “remain?”  Because the Second Advent had not yet happened and if anyone was an eye witness to Roman persecution, it was Hippolytus who, according to Church history was martyred for his faith, after being exiled to the Isle of Sardinia.

 

GENTILE WORLD POWERS AND THE ANTICHRIST vs. THE SECOND ADVENT

 

Allow me to pessimillenialize on behalf of the establishment of the future projectile that shall yet smash the image—much to the chagrin of the phantasmagoric Kingdom Now post-millenialists like Gary North

 

Hippolytus in his Second Tractate articulates the prophetic sequence in no uncertain terms—targeting Rome as the ultimate harbinger of Antichrist’s coming, only to be destroyed by the “stone uncut with human hands” that is destined to smash these Gentile World manifestations (even democracies) and ultimate power brokers:

 

“As these things, then, are destined to come to pass, and as the toes of the image turn out to be democracies, and the ten horns of the beast are distributed among ten kings, let us look at what is before us carefully, and scan it, as it were, with open eye.  The ‘golden head of the image’ is identical with the ‘lioness,’ by which the Babylonians were represented.  ‘The golden shoulders and the arms of silver’ are the same with the ‘bear,’ by which the Persians and Medes are meant. ‘The belly and thighs of brass’ are the ‘leopard,’ by which the Greeks who ruled from Alexander onwards are intended.  The ‘legs of iron’ are the ‘dreadful and terrible beast,’ by which the Romans who hold the empire now are meant.  The ‘toes of clay and iron’ are the ‘ten horns’ which are to be.  The ‘one other little horn springing up in their midst’ is the ‘antichrist.’  The stone that ‘smites the image and breaks it in piece,’ and that filled the whole earth, is Christ, who comes from heaven and brings judgment on the world.” (Ibid.)

 

What more clarity do we need?  I will be happy to suffice you with abundant contradictions to the blithering numbskulls who pronounce the historical record to confirm to their vision of the past, while utterly rejecting the realities of the Church Fathers!

 

Hippolytus, Tractate 7 (The Visions of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar):

 

“When the times are fulfilled, and the ten horns spring from the beast

in the last (times), then Antichrist will appear among them.  When he makes war against the saints, and persecutes them, then may we expect the manifestation of the Lord from heaven.”

 

Remember, Hippolytus’ ultimate martyrdom occurred under Roman tyranny—therefore, for him to announce the following undoubtedly contributed to his sacrifice:

 

“The fourth kingdom of the Romans will succeed, more powerful than those that went before it; for which reason also it was likened to iron.  For of it is said:  ‘And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; as iron breaketh and subdueth all things, so shall it break and subdue all things.’  And after all these kingdoms which have been mentioned, the kingdom of God represented by the stone that breaks the whole image.  And the prophet, in conformity with this, does not see the kingdom which comes at the end of all these things, until he has in order described the four dominions mentioned under the four beasts.  And I think that the visions shown, both to the king and to the prophet, were visions of these four kingdoms alone, and of none others, because by these the nation of the Jews was held in bondage from the times of the prophet.” (Tractate 32)

 

Likewise—to speak of the Image’s feet/toes and the ten horns yet future . . . Hippolytus expounds:

 

“In the vision of the prophet, the ten horns are the things that are yet to be. . . ‘Thou sawest till that a stone was cut.’  Thou sawest, as it were, a stone cut without hands, and smiting the image upon its feet.  For the human kingdom was decisively separated from the divine; with reference to which it is written, ‘as it were cut.’  The stroke, however, smites the extremities, and in these it broke all dominion that is upon earth.”

 

And, lest you surmise these “ten toes/horns and ‘little horn’” are not yet future . . . Hippolytus is altogether too clear:

 

“And behold a fourth beast.’  Now, that there has arisen no other kingdom after that of the Greeks except that which stands sovereign at present, is manifest to all.  This one has iron teeth, because it subdues and reduces all by its strength, just as iron does.  And the rest it did tread with its feet, for there is no other kingdom remaining after this one, but from it will spring ten horns.

 

“‘And it had ten horns’ . . . so also now we ought to look for the ten horns which are to spring from it, when the time of the beast shall be fulfilled, and the little horn, which is Antichrist, shall appear suddenly in their midst, and righteousness shall be banished from the earth, and the whole world shall reach its consummation.  So that we ought not to anticipate the counsel of God, but exercise patience and prayer, that we fall not on such times.  We should not, however, refuse to believe that these things will come to pass.  For if the things which the prophets predicted in former times have not been realized, then we need not look for these things.  But if those former things did happen in their proper seasons, as was foretold, these things also shall certainly be fulfilled.” (Tractate 7)

 

Finally, Hippolytus sees in Daniel the ultimate destruction of the Desolator at the close of the Seventieth Week of Daniel:

 

“For when the three beasts have finished their course, and been removed, and the one still stands in vigor,--if this one, too, is removed, then finally earthly things (shall) end, and heavenly things begin; that the indissoluble and everlasting kingdom of the saints may be brought to view, and the heavenly King manifested to all no longer in figure . . . ‘and I inquired about the fourth beast.’  It is to the fourth kingdom, of which we have already spoken, that he here refers:  that kingdom, than which no greater kingdom of like nature has arisen upon the earth; for which also ten horns are to spring, and to be apportioned among ten crowns.  And amid these another little horn shall rise, which is that of Antichrist.  And it shall pluck by the roots the three others before it . . . with the view of acquiring for himself universal dominion.  And after conquering the remaining seven horns, he will at last begin, inflated by a strange and wicked spirit, to stir up war against the saints, and to persecute all everywhere, with the aim of being glorified by all, and being worshipped as God . . . ‘Until the Ancient of Days come.’  That is, when at length the Judge of judges and the King of kings comes from heaven, who shall subvert the whole dominion and power of the adversary, and shall consume all with the eternal fire of punishment.  But to His servants, and prophets, and martyrs, and to all who fear Him, he will give an everlasting kingdom; that is, they shall possess the endless enjoyment of God . . . ‘Until a time, and times, and the dividing of time.’  This denotes three years and a half.” (Tractates 17, 19, 22, 25)

 

THE SEVENTIETH WEEK OF DANIEL—HIPPOLYTUS

Well do I know they who deny the futurity of Daniel’s entire Seventieth Week—they who boldly testify that no citing can be made by the Church Fathers which would accord such legitimacy to the futurity of the entire week!

 

Let these historical midgets spurt their intellectual growth by ingesting these morsels into their miniscule memories …

 

Regarding the archetype of the Antichrist yet future, Hippolytus in Tractates 38-40 devastates the aforementioned Early Church Fathers revisionists:

 

“For he (Ptolemy of Grecian Egypt) died, and received not honour from all as king . . . the prophet then, after thus recounting the things which have taken place already, and been fulfilled in their times, declares yet another mystery to us, while he points out the last times.  For he says: ‘And there shall rise up another shameless king; and he shall exalt himself above every god, and shall magnify himself, and shall speak marvelous things, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished;’ and so forth . . . thus, then, does the prophet set forth these things concerning the Antichrist, who shall be shameless, a war-maker, and despot, who, exalting himself above all kings and above every god, shall build the city of Jerusalem, and restore the sanctuary.  Him the impious will worship as God, and will bend to him the knee, thinking him to be the Christ.

 

“Daniel has spoken, therefore, of two abominations; the one of destruction, and the other of desolation.  What is that destruction, but that which Antiochus (IV) established there at the time?  And what is that desolation, but that which shall be universal when Antichrist comes? . . . He (Antichrist) shall be proclaimed king by them, and shall be magnified by all, and shall prove himself an abomination of desolation to the world, and shall reign for a thousand two hundred and ninety days.  ‘Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days;’ for when the abomination cometh and makes war upon the saints, whosoever shall survive his days, and reach the forty-five days, while the other period of fifty days advances, to him the kingdom of heaven comes.  Antichrist, indeed, enters even into part of the fifty days, but the saints shall inherit the kingdom along with Christ.” (Ibid.)

 

“He (Antichrist)( shall cut off the two witnesses and forerunners of Christ, who proclaim His glorious kingdom from heaven, as it is said:  ‘And I will give (power) unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.’  As also it was announced to Daniel: ‘And one week shall confirm a covenant with many; and in the midst of the week might be shown to be divided into two.  The two witnesses, then, shall preach three years and a half; and Antichrist shall make war upon the saints during the rest of the week (i.e., three-and-one-half years), and desolate the world, that what is written may be fulfilled:  ‘And they shall make the abomination of desolation for a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” (Ibid.)

 

Hippolytus clearly understood the connection of the confirmation of the one-week covenant as the commencement of the Seventieth Week of Daniel; furthermore, he perceived that the initial three-and-one-half days/years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week were committed to the Testimony of the Two Witnesses; whereupon in the midst of the week would be “the abomination of desolation” and the revealing of the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, the Antichrist-Beast and the commencement of the “rest of the week” (and/or “a thousand two hundred and ninety days”), along with the persecution of the saints.

 

In Tractate 21-22 Hippolytus initially clarifies the Seventieth Week as follows:

 

“Then he says:  ‘After threescore and two weeks the times will be fulfilled, and one week will make a covenant with many; and in the midst (half) of the week sacrifice and oblation will be removed, and in the temple will be the abomination of desolation.  For when the threescore and two weeks are fulfilled, and Christ is come, and the gospel is preached in every place, the times being then accomplished, there will remain only one week, the last, in which Elias will appear, and Enoch, and in the midst of it the abomination of desolation will be manifested, viz., Antichrist, announcing desolation to the world.  And when he comes, the sacrifice and oblation will be removed, which now are offered to God in every place by the nations.” (Ibid.)

 

Furthermore, Hippolytus gives commentary on Daniel 12 and the “Man clothed in linen” and declares him to be our Lord Jesus Christ (Tractates 24-26) Who stands over the river and “by the stretching forth of His two hands He signified His passion; and by mentioning ‘a time, and times, and half, when the dispersion is accomplished,’ He indicated the three years and half of Antichrist.  For by ‘a time’ He means a year, and by ‘times’ two years, and by an ‘half time’ half a year.  These are the thousand two hundred and ninety days of which Daniel prophesied for the finishing of the passion, and the accomplishment of the dispersion when Antichrist comes.  In those days they shall know all these things.  And from the time of the removal of the continuous sacrifice there are also reckoned one thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Then) iniquity shall abound, as the Lord also says, ‘Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.’”

 

“THE TRIBULATION SAINTS”

 

It must be obvious to all by now that Hippolytus—and, trust me, most of the Early Church Fathers—was NOT privy to a “Pre-tribulation Rapture” of the Church—to the contrary, he/they saw the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” as the final three-and-a-half years of suffering at the hands of the Beast as “filling up the sufferings of Christ!”

 

“‘There shall be a time of trouble.’  For at that time there shall be great trouble, such as has not been from the foundation of the world, when some in one way, and others in another, shall be sent through every city and country to destroy the faithful; and the saints shall ravel from the west to the east, and shall be driven in persecution from the east to the south, while others shall conceal themselves in the mountains and caves; and the abomination shall war against them everywhere, and shall cut them off by sea and by land by his decree, and shall endeavor by every means to destroy them out of the world; and they shall not be able any longer to sell their own property, nor to buy from strangers, unless one keeps and carries with him the name of the beast, or bears its mark upon his forehead.  For then they shall all be driven out from every place, and dragged from their own homes and haled into prison, and punished with all manner of punishment, and cast out from the whole world . . . ‘They shall awake to everlasting life.’ That is, those who have believed in the true life, and who have their names written in the book of life.  ‘And these to shame.’  That is, those who are attached to Antichrist, and who are cast with him into everlasting punishment.  ‘And they that be wise shall shine.’  And the Lord has said the same thing in the Gospel:  ‘Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun.’ ‘For a time, times, and an half.’  By this he indicated the three and a half years of Anti-christ.  For by a time he means a year; and by times, two years; and by an half time, half a year.  These are the ‘one thousand two hundred and ninety days’ of which Daniel prophesied.” (Chapter XII, Tractates 1-3, 7).

 

THE BISHOP OF LYON:  IRENAEUS 

 

The consternations relative to Antichrist exposed through the pen of one, Hippolytus, are lucid, copious in their disclosures, and irrefutably the eschatological compact of the early Church.

 

“The Savior appeared in the form of man, and he (Antichrist) too will come in the form of a man.  The Savior raised up and showed His holy flesh like a temple, and he (Antichrist) will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem.  And his seductive arts we shall (further) exhibit in what follows” (Tractate 6, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist)

 

I do not know how on earth Protestant Historicists can distort their alleged historical renditions in light of such exhaustive historical evidence.  How?  Simply put—because they have their own agenda and could care less about those who initiated the gospel’s declarations to the Roman World!

 

Hippolytus delineated the Four Kingdoms—drawing peculiar and relentless denunciation to that of the Roman Empire of the “ten democracies” which would consummate the Image—while announcing the Second Advent as the “stone that smote the image” ultimately to fill the whole earth.

 

“As these things, then, are in the future, and as the ten toes of the image are equivalent to (so many) democracies, and the ten horns of the fourth beast are distributed over ten kingdom . . . and the beast dreadful and terrible, expressed the Romans, who hold the sovereignty at present; the toes of the feet which were part clay and part iron, and the ten horns, were emblems of the kingdoms that are yet to rise; the other little horn that grows up among them meant the Antichrist in her midst; the stone that smites the earth and brings judgment upon the world was Christ.” (Ibid., Tractates 27-28)

 

May I urge you to read the entire text on the “Treatise on Christ and Antichrist” by our dear brother Hippolytus.  While it is most certain that his mentor, St. Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyon, Gaul (modern France), who received of Polycarp the message of the Apocalypse directly from the Beloved John the Apostle, directly influenced Hippolytus’ impressions of the Latter Day personification of the Antichrist:

 

“And not only by the particulars already mentioned, but also by means of the events which shall occur in the time of antichrist is it shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as god; and that, although a mere slave, he wishes himself to be proclaimed as king.  For he (Antichrist) being endued with all the power of the devil, shall come, not as a righteous king, nor as a legitimate king, [i.e., one] in subjection to God, but an impious, unjust, and lawless one; as an apostate, iniquitous and murderous; as a robber, concentrating in himself [all] satanic apostasy, and setting aside idols to persuade [men] that he himself is God, raising up himself as the only idol, having in himself the multifarious errors of the other idols.  This he does, in order that they who do [now] worship the devil by means of many abominations, may serve himself by this one idol, of whom the apostle thus speaks in the second epistle to the Thessalonians:  ‘Unless there shall come a falling away first, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called god, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of god, showing himself as if he were God.’  The apostle therefore clearly points out his apostasy, and that he is lifted up above all that is called god, or that is worshipped-that is, above every idol-for these are indeed so called by men, but are not [really] gods; and that he will endeavor in a tyrannical manner to set himself forth as God.” (Chapter XXV, see below)

 

This exposition of the impressions of the Early Church Fathers regarding Antichrist is not exhaustive—therefore, for your greater research and influence upon Hippolytus, I suggest you consider the works of the Bishop of Lyon, Irenaeus, as follows:

 

(1)  Chapter XXV – The Fraud, Pride, and Tyrannical Kingdom of Antichrist, as Described by Daniel and Paul (Early Church Writings).

 

(2)  Chapter XXVI – John and Daniel Have Predicted the dissolution and Desolation of the Roman Empire, which Shall Precede the End of the World and the Eternal Kingdom of Christ.  The Gnostics are Refuted, Those Tools of Satan, who Invent Another Father Different from the Creator.

 

(3)  Chapter XXVII – The Distinction to Be Made Between the Righteous and the Wicked.  The Future Apostasy in the Time of Anti-Christ, and the End of the World.

 

(4)  Chapter XXIX – All Things Have Been Created for the Service of Man.  The Deceits, Wickedness, and Apostate Power of Antichrist.  This Was Prefigured at the Deluge, Afterwards by the Persecution of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

 

(5)  Chapter XXX – Although Certain as to the Number of the Name of Antichrist, Yet We should Come to No Rash Conclusions as to the Name Itself, Because This Number is Capable of Being Fitted to Many Names.  Reasons for this Point Being Reserved by the Holy Spirit.  Antichrist’s Reign and Death.

 

CONCLUDING WORD

 

If you have managed to survive this laborious excursion into ancient Church History—approbations are hereby extended!  Such a journey is exhaustive in and of itself—let alone determining the latest maneuverings of those who would gladly lead you astray into “endless genealogies” wherein they “lie in wait to deceive.”

 

Listen – these brethren . . . John, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Hippolytus lived and died for the Savior—their words pierce this present darkness . . . light the way for millions who in these Last Days do well to heed their straightforward and uncompromised stand for the truth.  Yes, we stand upon their shoulders to reach the excellency that is in Christ Jesus our Lord . . . with unwavering clarity, we too examine our course, take hold of the life that is eternal, and resist the devil that he may flee from us!

 

Theirs was no milquetoast Christianity finding compromise with the Fourth Beast—to the contrary—“whom resist steadfast in the faith” – they rose up against that Roman Prince in their day and exposed his end-time expansion and “little horn” with vehement resolve – even unto the death!  Why?  Because they knew and they saw what Daniel and John had seen . . . the Ancient of Days come to destroy, as the stone uncut by human hands, to smash the Image and Antichrist once and for all:

 

“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom

which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to

other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,

and it shall stand forever,

Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain

Without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay,

The silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king

What will come to pass after this . . .”

“I was watching in the night visions,

And behold, One like the son of Man,

Coming with the clouds of heaven!

He came to the Ancient of Days,

And they brought Him near before Him.

Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,

That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion,

Which shall not pass away,

And His kingdom the one

Which shall not be destroyed.”

(Daniel 4:44-45; 7:13-14)