Ingredients of Antichrist

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 72:1-8
• Hymn — Hail to the Lord's Anointed
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — Exodus 34:6-7
• Scripture Reading — Luke 6:37-42
• Hymn — I Surrender All
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Hymn — Faith of Our Fathers
• Sermon
• Hymn — A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
• Benediction

---

Sermon Title: Ingredients of Antichrist

Scripture: Daniel 11:21-45

I. Antichrist Is Self-Deifying

A. Antiochus Epiphanes deified himself — his title Epiphanes means "God manifest," and he placed this on his coinage

B. The final Antichrist surpasses Antiochus: he exalts himself above every god (Daniel 11:36-37)

1. He pays no attention to the gods of his fathers or to any other god
2. He magnifies himself above all — including the pagan god beloved by women (likely Adonis or Dionysus)

C. This reflects the original temptation of the serpent in the garden — "You will be like God" — the usurpation of God's throne

D. The Enlightenment illustrates this pattern: Reformation concepts of freedom and individuality, stripped of Christian foundations, become a vehicle for glorifying man apart from Christ

E. Antichrist is the intensification of counterfeit Christs already present — borrowing Christian concepts to draw worship to themselves (1 John 2:18)

II. Antichrist Is a Man of War

A. Like Antiochus Epiphanes, Antichrist wages international war; the kings of the south and north (Daniel 11:40-45) represent world powers challenging him — not literal modern Egypt or Syria

B. His god is war itself — "the god of fortresses" (Daniel 11:38) is an idiom for war as his religion

C. Two wars are in view:

1. International warfare against world powers
2. War against the covenant people of God — the "glorious holy mountain" (Daniel 11:45)

D. Those who conform to Antichrist receive honors and comfort; those who resist face destruction (Daniel 11:39)

E. The enmity originates in Genesis 3:15 — God placed enmity between the serpent's offspring and the woman's offspring

F. The spirit of Antichrist operates this way today: conform and keep your comfort; resist and face ruin

III. Antichrist Exposes the True People of God

A. Antiochus Epiphanes used flattery to gain power (Daniel 11:21); many covenant people apostatized and became Hellenized

1. The Jew Menelaus conspired with Antiochus, had the high priest Onias III killed, and took his place — likely "the prince of the covenant" of Daniel 11:22

B. Antichrist similarly loads those who acknowledge him with honor (Daniel 11:39)

C. Edom, Moab, and Ammon (Daniel 11:41) — spared by Antichrist — symbolize those connected to the covenant people by birth but who are actually enemies of God

1. Edomites: descendants of Esau; Moabites and Ammonites: descendants of Lot
2. Like the Pharisees who claimed Abraham as father but were called sons of the devil (John 8)

D. Antichrist separates wheat from chaff, sheep from goats — 1 John 2:19: "They went out from us, but they were not of us… that it might become plain that they are not of us"

E. As in Elijah's day, 7,000 who have not bowed the knee are illuminated by contrast with the surrounding darkness

F. God has sovereignly decreed this suffering (Daniel 11:36) as an instrument to expose those truly baptized and circumcised in the heart, not merely externally

IV. Antichrist Is a Servant of Evil, Not the Emperor of It

A. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 — "The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan"; Antichrist is Satan's servant, not the emperor

B. Genesis 3:15 — the people of God do battle with the offspring of the serpent, not Satan directly

C. Christ alone goes face to face with Satan:

1. In the wilderness — Satan offers him all the kingdoms of the world
2. At the cross — Christ destroys "the one who has the power of death, that is the devil" (Hebrews 2:14)

D. The book of Job illustrates the point: in Job 1, God restrains Satan — "do not stretch out your hand against him." At the cross there is no such restraint; Satan touches Christ fully as sin-bearer

E. Christ's resurrection is the guarantee that Satan will never ultimately touch his people

F. Antichrist is only a minion — "one little word shall fell him": Christ