Arianism, The Age of Apostasy, and The State of the World at the End of Time.
For those who care and seek to help. May the light guide all of God's children so they may not be deceived in the darkness of an evil world.
The Root of Apostasy is Rooted in the Pope and Arianism
In 312, the Edict of Milan was implemented in the Roman Empire. The Edict legalized Christianity and declared Christianity the Roman Empire's official religion. Constantine was the Emperor of Rome, and after legalizing Christianity, he noticed the heresy uttered by followers of Arianism and organized the first Ecumenical Council. Constantine believed the proper way to address the Arianism spreading throughout the empire was to follow the example provided by The Apostles. (diplomatic meeting of clergy and bishops) Arius, whose followers were called "Arians," challenged the divinity of Christ by arguing Christ was not God in the flesh. Arius' reasoning was that God could not be born of a woman. Arianism was rooted in a similar heretical tactic applied prior to Christ's arrival:
"when it was expected that God would be born of the Virgin, Satan, with evil intent, perverted the truth by means of a fabled teaching among idol worshippers that false gods give birth and are born of women, in order that when this lie was received, people would believe it, instead of the truth (Archimandrite Panteleimon, p.40)."
Thus, Arias continued a disinformation tactic deployed by Satan prior to Christ's known arrival. The world at the time of the Antichrist will be filled with heretical churches rooted in the papacy. The Edict of Milan and First Ecumenical Council included the first portion of the Nicene Creed, which was adopted in the 8th century AD. The widespread Arianism heresy played a role in the Great Schism, with Rome's refusal to adhere to the Nicene Creed rooted in the refusal to accept Christ is God in the flesh.
Arianism and its predecessors have, since before Christ, warred and rebelled against God. The Prophets predicted Christ's arrival. Herod ordered newborn babies and infants to be slaughtered in an attempt to murder Christ before He became a political threat to the regime. At the same time, heretics were already discrediting the claim that God could be born of a woman and become Incarnate in the flesh in the hopes of deceiving the masses when The Messiah returned. When Christ arrived and began His ministry, heretics plotted to murder Christ. Christ humiliated self-proclaimed religious scholars and theologians. Ultimately, a group of Pharisees, Sadducees, and other co-conspirators falsely accused Christ of declaring Himself King of the Jews. This accusation warranted a charge of treason and the death penalty. The conspirators used religious experts as testimony that the Jews were ruled by the Caesar, not Christ, and that Christ was a heretic. The conspirators then leveraged their threats of insurrection and rebellion against Rome to compel Pontius Pilate to charge and convict Christ of treason. When given the opportunity to free an incarcerated Jew, the conspirators ensured democracy would be victorious, riling up the crowds to demand the release of political revolutionary Barabbas instead of Christ.
Rome caved to the threats because the empire could not endure civil unrest. When Christ was resurrected, the same individuals who conspired to murder Christ, despite knowing He was God, engaged in a multi-century disinformation campaign to deny that Christ was resurrected. Denying Christ is God was a core justification for the behavior of the murderers of Christ, which is essential "we didn't know He was God so we did not commit sin." This ideology existed prior to Christ's and after Christ's arrival (Archimandrite Panteleimon, p. 31, p. 40).
Rome choosing to change the Nicene Creed to de-divinize Christ was a continuation of the original disinformation campaign that was released prior to Christ's birth, in which false claims that only "fake gods" are born of woman was meant to delegitimize future claims of the Virgin birth:
“Just as before His Incarnation, when it was expected that God would be born of the Virgin, Satan, with evil intent, perverted this truth by means of a fabled teaching among idol worshippers that false gods give birth and are born of women, in order that when this lie was received, the people would believe it, instead of the truth (Archimandrite Panteleimon, p. 40).”
Rome likewise has attacked The Theotokos' status as the God-bearer. Vatican disinformation campaigns challenged the literal and allegorical claims of The Theotokos' virginity. Thus, Rome rejects the belief that God became man so that man might become God. Despite this blatant heresy, the Roman church remains very popular today. Between indulgences (donations for sins to be forgiven) and a denial of the divinity of Christ, Latin heretics have, like the daemonic forerunners that spread heresies before Christ’s birth, preemptively launched assaults against The Church to deceive people. With theosis, the core teaching of the Church of Christ, omitted by the largest organization claiming to represent Christians in the West, the institution of Rome itself, since leaving The Church to change doctrine to conflict with Ecumenical decisions and the Nicene Creed, has acted as a synagogue of Satan to mislead, confuse, and destroy the souls of as many humans as possible. Rome endorsed the Arianism heresy and sought to spread it to every region it could. This, like the falsehood God could not be born of a woman, is meant to plant the seed of distrust in the Word of God. If someone will deny God became man as Christ then they will reject any other teaching of Christ. While the one word that was at the center of the Great Schism of the 11th century AD, that difference has since led to constant war, human rights crimes, genocides, and moral turpitude throughout Europe and spreading to the Americas like a disease.
Since those who aided and abetted the murder of God have no intent to repent, their aim is to justify their actions or convince others that they committed no sin. These individuals were likewise fixated on an earthly King with a Pax Romana-type empire. They rejected the Truth that Christ was God as man. The heretics and persecutors of Christ did not care whether Christ was truly God as man, as they hated what He had to say. And as Christ said, those who hate The Son hate The Father (John 15:23). Thus, they chose to die in sin when they chose to reject God, falsify criminal charges against Him, and then use democracy and the threat of rebellion to ensure Rome crucified, Christ. Then, to avoid being accused of killing God, they denied the claims that Christ was resurrected from the dead.
Their Messiah is thus the Antichrist and the son of perdition, who will rise from the sea of politics after a great apostasy, pretending to be pious while never acknowledging the divinity of Christ or that God became flesh. The masses who yearn for an earthly leader to provide for their materialist needs will give away the authority of earth to someone who promises to fix war, famine, and poverty. The reason the mark of the beast is placed on the right hand or forehead is to prevent people from making the sign of the cross or receiving anointments/blessings on the head, as the Antichrist can not tolerate the sign of the cross.
Thus, the Antichrist impersonates Christ by giving the sinners what they wanted when Christ came: miracles on demand, worldly comforts, and an earthly empire. The empire can not accept the divinity of Christ without validating the New Testament, which would tip off potential recruits to the deceptive advertisement of their death cult. Hopelessness is a tool of Satanic forces. Thus, convincing people God is not real or that Christ was not God tempts them to accept the Antichrist as a solution to their earthly problems and is leveraged against their love and faith of God. Thus, the Antichrist wants to create a world without love that has no faith in God and does not value truth.
A Ray of Light
Archimandrite Panteleimon’s A Ray of Light: Instructions in Piety and the State of the World at the End of Time is a concise guide to discerning the signs, characteristics, and temptations that will occur before, during, and after the Antichrist.
The book is available for $4.95 via the Holy Trinity bookstore and is just under 100 pages.
This is an excellent read for anyone interested in better understanding Revelation and the New Testament. As the state of morality continues to decline, politicians increasingly present themselves as demagogues that will save mankind, and with growing apostasy, the hour of The Messiah’s return draws ever nearer. Deception by demonic and Satanic forces will continue to accelerate and spread until The Return, from the sky, of The Messiah.
The author presents the following summary of the book:
“It is said that they who are strangers to the illumination of truth walk in the worldly vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18); they have their portion in this life (Ps. 16:14); who mind earthly things, and whose end is destruction (Phil. 3:19. The truth of God calls such people the faithless and perverse generation (Matt. 17:17), and for that reason says to us: save yourselves from this untoward generation (Acts 2:40). And, so, man, life and death are up to you. Select whichever you want; search for what is better for you - to remain now in spiritual darkness and the shadow of death (Matt. 4:16), and then to go to eternal suffering, or to turn from evil and to enter the ever-present life and light - the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34). And so? Light is come into the world, says the Lord, and men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19). The prophets, too, appealed: Who believes our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed (Is. 53:1)? Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God (Matt. 22:29). These are the barriers to our enlightenment and achievement of eternal life, i.e., not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God…
“In presenting this book to the reader we, with God’s help, have decided to reveal the true signs of the coming of Antichrist which will occur before the world’s end. This is especially important for ordinary people, who, like leaves, waver in their understanding about the Antichrist, credulously blown about, accepting various false explanations (p. 1-2).”
The first three chapters summarize how the righteous and sinful are judged after physical death and after The Return of The Lord of Lords. The next two chapters summarize the importance of Holy Relics and veneration of icons, especially for healing illness, disease, and spiritual injuries. These rituals connect Christians with not only God but also all of the Saints and Martyrs of The Church. Holy relics are a method in which God ensures the Saints and pious remain with His children, providing an everlasting source of healing.
The sixth chapter defines what is meant by The Church of Christ and who is, and is not, a Christian:
“The name of the Church of Christ is used in two ways, either in a general sense or in a more inclusive manner. In a general sense, the Church is a society of all free, intelligent beings, of both angels and people, believing in Christ the Saviour and united to Him as its one head. The holy Apostle Paul understands the Church in this way when He says that God ordained the union of all things in heaven and earth under Christ the Head and to place Him as the Head of the Church (Eph. 1:10,23; Coloss. 1:18), to which therefore people and angels belong….In a narrower sense the Church of Christ is composed strictly of people professing the faith of Christ, whether they live on earth, or have already passed into the future life. Those living on earth compose the kingdom of grace, while the departed compose the kingdom of glory, the heavenly, triumphant Church…according to St. John Chrysostom, they must ‘enter within, pass through the courtyard, see Holiness, penetrate into the Holy of Holies, and be with the Trinity (pg. 25-26).”
Additionally:
“In order for the Lord to be truly our Saviour, we must be cleansed of sins, change from sinners into saints, and be liberated from all destructive consequences of sin, temporary and everlasting. Without fulfilling these conditions, we not only shall not attain that bliss which Christ prepared for us, but on the contrary, we shall find eternal destruction here. Eternal grief will befall us, the present children of the Church, if we, hearing the teaching of Christ, shall not adopt it with all the powers of our souls, shall reject the grace-filled powers granted to us, which are for our life and piety, and by our sins and unbelief smother within ourselves the voice of the Spirit, which instructs us in every truth.” Thus, “I was blind and now I see.” Mankind blinds itself to the truth because all those who believe in Him will, like Christ, be persecuted. When mankind is focused on the material more than the eternal, they become willing to compromise their values in exchange for temporary, tangible needs being fulfilled. More materialistic people will accept as payment the promise of the deprivation of the tangible.
Chapter 7 begins a section devoted to describing the state of the world and mankind prior to the arrival of the Antichrist. The author summarizes the core signs of Christ’s return and the end of the world as follows:
1. Sign: “Universal awareness of Christ’s gospel. The message about Christ will spread to all nations of the world.”
Prophecy:
“The last commandment of Jesus Christ will be fulfilled - Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations (Matt. 28:19).”
2. Sign: “A lack of faith and love in the world: “The primordial enemy (the devil), sowing the weeds of falsehood and delusion amid the good seed of God’s Word, before the end of the world will direct all his powers and means in order, if possible, to unconditionally tear away from the Kingdom of God all those who are called to it or have already entered It, and to subjugate them to his destructive dominion.”
Prophecy:
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before: Wherefore, if they say unto you, Behold he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not (Matt. 24:23-26, Mark 13:21-23 ).
“many will be seduced (Matt. 24:23-26, Mark 13:6) and deceived (Matt 24:10).”
“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold (Matt. 24:12).”
“There shall follow the abomination of desolation, spoken of by David the prophet, stand in the holy place (Matt. 24:15).”
“in latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1).”
“Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof (II. Tim. 3:1-5).”
“Remember the words which were spoken before by apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How they told you there should be mockers in the last days, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, not having the Spirit (Jude 17-19).”
“Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many (Matt. 24:11).”
Internecine wars
Great calamities
Prevalence of heretics
Next, Chapter 8 addresses “Apostasy in the Last Days of the World:
“Bountiful worldly progress and huge earthly enterprises, visible to all are described by the Word of God as a sign of the last days and the fruition of mankind’s sinfulness. This state, for the most part, will not be obvious to mankind at first glance. Mankind never will admit itself to be a disciple of evil, even though it be drowning in evil; it continually aspires to express itself as virtuous (like “virtue signaling”). Attachment to materialism and to material success can easily seize the whole person, seize his mind, his heart, and capture all of his time and strength: As a result of my fall, my soul hath cleaved unto the earth from my youth, instead of abiding above. This attachment distracts man from the Word of God and thoughts of death and eternity, diverts him from faith and knowledge of God, and destroys him with eternal death.
The Holy Spirit of God announces to everyone without exception: If any man love the world (i.e., the earthly life with its successes and pleasures), the love of the Father (God) is not with him (1 Jn. 2:15).”
“As ancient Israel sacrificed the spiritual dignity offered it by the Redeemer for earthly advantages and futile hopes of super-abundant earthly success, so the new Israel, as witnessed by Holy Scripture, will reject its spiritual dignity, already granted by the Redeemer, for the sake of fleeting material success.”
“When the Gospel reaches all people living on earth and attracts all those capable of accepting its message and being reborn through the grace of the Holy Spirit, then there will be no more reason for the present order to continue…the world continues because not all who are suitable for the Kingdom of Christ have entered it, or, not as many as are necessary have yet entered.”
“Since the Antichrist will have as his main task the goak if attracting people away from Christ, he, therefore, will not arrive if monarchy is still in control. This power will not allow him to appear; it impedes his negating spiritual activity. This is the withholding power. When the monarch falls, and everywhere nations institute self-government (republics, democracies), then the Antichrist will be able to act freely. It will not be difficult for Satan to prepare voters to renounce Christ as experience taught us during the French Revolution There will be no one to veto the movement. A humble declaration of faith will not be heard. Thus, when such a social order is instituted everywhere, making it easy for antichristian movements to appear, then the Antichrist will come forth. Up until that time he will wait; he is impeded. St. John Chrysostom’s words lead us to this thought when in his time monarchy was understood to mean the Roman Empire, ‘When it is said that the Roman government has ceased to be, then the Antichrist will appear. Until that time the government (monarchy) will be feared. No one will easily follow the Antichrist. After this time, when such control will be liquidated, anarchy will triumph, and the Antichrist will try to capture all human and divine power.”
“Hate among brothers is already an invitation for Antichrist. For the devil first promotes discord among people, in order that when the Antichrist comes, they would more easily accept him.”
“The true Christ, the Only-Begotten Son of God, will not again come from this world…the Master will descend from heaven, not alone, as before, but escorted by many myriads of angels; but secretly, as rain in the dark, but He will openly shine like lightning.”
Chapter Nine provides 5 signs of the “nearness of the Second Comings of Jesus Christ:”
“An increase of catastrophes,” which includes wars, rumors of war, famine, earthquake, disease, and degeneracy (Matt. 24:6-22).
“Preaching of the gospel in all the world (Matt. 24:14).”
“The lessening of faith and love among people (Matt. 24:12, 24:15, Luke 18:8).
“Conversion of Jews to Christ (Rom. 11:25-26).”
The appearance of the Antichrist.
In Chapter Ten, The Coming of the Antichrist, the author provides a description of the types or miracles and tricks the Antichrist will perform, as well as the Satanic deception that will be widespread. Because the Antichrist can display signs of powers and wonders, many will be deceived into believing the Antichrist is Christ. “Antichrist will present a disgraceful spectacle to mankind by a contrived theatrical display of astonishing miracles, unexplainable by present-day science; he will terrify all by the awesome wonders of his miracles, and will satisfy the vanity and pride of man through these miracles.” Once the Antichrist obtains power, they will viciously persecute Christians and all those who refuse to accept the Mark of the Beast. Fleshly suffering, such as hunger, will afflict mankind.
The signs of the birth of the Antichrist are covered in Chapter Eleven, while the prophecy of the arrival of the Antichrist is discussed in Chapter Twelve (Malachi 4:5, Rev. 11:4, Rev. 11:3,11). Chapter Thirteen explains the actions and name of the Antichrist, stating that nobody will know the name. The Antichrist will murder Prophets Elijah and Enoch and proceed “to rule a year and another two years and yet a half year (Dan. 7:25).”
The seal of Antichrist is detailed in the next chapter and “will have a threefold appearance: a plain imprint or seal, the imprint of the name of Antichrist, and finally, the number of the name on the right hand or forehead.” The mark has an allegorical element of denial of truth, as well as a physical outer sign, which “will contain the number of the name of Antichrist, 666, but the grace of God has not given us to know the name…St. Ephraim the Syrian explains it will be on the right hand in order to hinder the followers of Antichrist from using their right hands to make the sign of the cross of the Lord, which is especially fearful for the Antichrist.” Additionally, “when the Antichrist places this seal then by this mark of resentment the heart of man becomes faint…their hearts will become as if dead…those who are sealed, though they can buy bread, will devour the dead. For, when a man is imprinted with the seal, his heart will become insensitive; not being able to bear hunger, people will carry off corpses, and sitting at the side of any road devour them.”
Next, the author describes why, according to The Holy Fathers, the Antichrist “will be a great magician and sorcerer. Satan, who will reside in him from birth, will, through him, arrange false miracles; some imaginary, others naturally, as the Egyptian sages did at one time. St. Andrew of Caesarea says: ‘It is written that demons often spoke by means of statues and pictures, waters and trees, through the statue of Apollo, and others. Also, by means of dead bodies, as, for instance, Simon the Magician, in Apostle Peter’s presence, showed to the Romans movement a dead body which moved. The Apostles exposed him, showing how the dead arise whom he resurrected. Antichrist shall pretend to die, and will then arise - by such indicated miracles he will astonish the whole world!”
The reign of the Antichrist will be filled with sorrow, pain, hunger, and greed. The Antichrist will target not only Christians, but the poor, farmers, and those who are non-compliant:
The book details more about the mark of the beast, the arrival of the Antichrist, and the end of the world, including a lengthy conclusion by Holy Father Ephraim of Syrian. Despite the evil and suffering prior to the Return of Christ, “the tormentor, with all of the demons bound by angels, all who received the seal, all the ungodly and sinners, will be bound and brought to judgement. The King will issue a sentence of eternal condemnation in unquenchable fire. However, all who had not accepted the seal of Antichrist, and all who had been hiding in caves, will rejoice together with the Bridegroom in the eternal and heavenly mansions with all the saints unto the ages of ages. Amen.”