The New Covenant Church came into being in Jerusalem in an upper room on the Day of Pentecost, A.D. 31. Resistance from both Jewish and Roman quarters began immediately. The death of Stephen and the scattering of the new converts marked the beginning of Satan’s war on God’s people–His church–that would end with the return of His Son to earth to put down all rebellion and to establish the Kingdom of God in that same geographical area known by His people as “the Holy Land.”

As the apostles began to fulfil the Lord’s commission to take “… THIS (and only this) gospel of the kingdom” into all the world “as a witness to all nations,” men began to come to the “light” (Mat. 5:14) of the Lord’s gospel. One such man was Simon Magus (the magician) who lived in Samaria where Philip had gone to preach following the scattering of believers that had resulted from Stephen’s death. Having been put out of the local congregation in Samaria (Acts 8:1-24), the miracle-working former Babylonian priest traveled to Rome where he established the first official counterfeit church, a religious body designed to embraced the various religious beliefs and practices of everyone on earth. Being all-inclusive, he named his religious order “catholic,” meaning “universal.” Thus, Simon became the first pope–the first leader of Satan’s false church. Because he had assumed the name and reputation of Simon Peter, the world believes that the Apostle Peter was the first pope. Being the leader of the new “church,” Simon was also the devil’s first human false prophet. See Simon of Samaria–. With this information in mind, let us turn to 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12.

Here we find the Apostle Paul writing to the church at Thessalonica concerning the time leading up to Christ’s return to establish His Father’s kingdom. Concerning the end of the present era, Paul wrote: “And then that Wicked (one-the man of sin-vss 3,4) shall be revealed (to the world), whom the Lord will consume with the spirit of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming; whose coming is after (will reflect) the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” Note that the word “Wicked” is capitalized, meaning that it is both a description and a title. Note also that his “coming” (arrival on the world scene) will be accompanied by the “working of Satan” who will confirm (bear witness to the fact that) this “Wicked” (one) is the man for which the world will have been waiting. Satan will announce this man’s arrival on the scene by using his False Prophet (vs 9) to perform “all powerful signs, miracles and lying wonders.” The world will witness this phenomenon in real time by way of television, the internet, etc. Satan will use this powerful tool to convince the masses to accept the man standing before them. Few things can capture the human mind like witnessing a bonified, provable miracle. The False Prophet will not use “slight of hand” and illusions as do today’s magicians. His acts will be true “signs, miracles and lying wonders.”

Before continuing, let us be reminded that, though the letters (epistles) written by the apostles were in many cases written to specific churches for specific reasons, they were in some cases shared with other church bodies. The sharing of epistles also helped to insure that the apostles were all preaching the same gospel. It was for this reason that they met periodically to discuss the Lord’s gospel and to answer any questions that had arisen. To be continued. L.J.