While there is indeed one man in particular to whom the scriptures point as
being the ultimate fulfillment of this role, it is important to understand
that there will be many lesser manifestations of the phenomenon. Hence
the answer to your question is two-fold: one being on the ultimate level, and
one on the individual level.
Let me first address your question as it pertains to the individual level.
The man of sin who sits in the temple of God saying he is God (2 Thes. 2)
is anyone who we place in preeminent over God himself. I'm talking
almighty God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the Holy One of Israel; who
manifested himself in the flesh through the Son, Jesus Christ.
God is the father of our spirits; we are his offspring; and as a child
should obey its parents, we should obey God.
Anyone or anything that comes between us and God, taking a more exalted
role, is anti-Christ -- not necessarily because the person or thing itself is
anti-Christ by nature, but because we allow it to be so in our heart.
So on this level, the man of sin for a Catholic could be the Pope if that
person places more trust in him than he does in his own relationship with
God. For the Mormon, the man of sin might take the form of the president
of their church if the person places more trust in him than in their own
relationship with God. For a Protestant, the man of sin could be their
pastor if they rely more on him or her than they do on God.
The principle is not confined to religion. The man of sin for a
willful victim wife would be the abusive husband who she allows to exercise
unrighteous dominance over her. For the employee, it could be the boss,
who they fear more than doing what is right. For the corrupt politician,
the man of sin might be the one who pulls the strings of control by blackmail
and bribery. For the body politic, the man of sin might be a pompous
leader who the people set before them as a god, such as the role Chairman Mao
played in China, or Hitler in Germany.
With this in mind, let us now address the question of who the ultimate man
of sin is to whom the prophecies point. In other words, in the above
list of examples, if we were to list them in order of their effect on the
destiny of the planet, who would come out on top of that list?
Clearly, we are yet speaking of a future manifestation, inasmuch as THE man
of sin's emergence will coincide with the reign of the beast, which is yet to
manifest itself fully, though we are certainly on the brink of the socialist
New World Order coming into full power -- a global dictatorship that will
surpass in size and extent any tyranny that has ever come to this planet.
In contemplating a list of candidates, we would tend to look for someone
who appears very evil. However, you must remember that the wording of II
Thes. 2 in combination with its parallel
prophecy in Isaiah 66 is such that this man of sin is one who deceives the
Lord's people. They have refused to hearken to the voice of God, so God
gives them the voice of a man who sets before them in God's place and leads
them to the brink of Hell before God steps in to set things in order.
Let me explain what I mean by "Hell." In terms of earthly
kingdoms, I think we can readily agree that Satan's kingdom on earth would be
Hell on earth -- by very definition. What is Satan's kingdom?
Well, for starters, it is based on compulsion and manipulative control versus
freedom and responsibility. Translated into political terms with which
we are familiar, this amounts to a socialist world government, for in
socialism force is used to accomplish what should be a voluntary offering of
free will -- in the name of "no one will be lost, i.e. fall through the
cracks." The safety net of socialism is no safety net at all but
the establishment of a totalitarian regime destined to topple of its own
unrighteous weight. Meanwhile as it comes into power, it has all the
trappings of worldly credentials and respectability.
So we have discussed how that this man of sin is prophesied to come among
the Lord's people and be revered by them, and we have discussed how the
political kingdom Satan is being establishing in these latter days. What
do these two elements have to do with one another? Are we not told that
church and state are not to have anything to do with one another? So why
then would the man of sin be a religious figure, when the kingdom Satan is
establishing is a political entity.
For the first connect, let us realize that in socialism, the state is
God. I sat on a plane recently next to a woman from China who said that
Communism (the ultimate expression of socialism) was her "religion"
as she grew up. She wasn't trying to convert me, she wasn't trying to be
a propagandist. She was speaking matter-of-factly, as if this was the
most normal thing in the world.
For the second connect, let us realize that the most formidable foe of
world socialism is not political but spiritual in nature. Christianity
in general and Mormonism in particular contain richly in their theology the
most effective antidotes to tyranny. Hence, a primary target of the
conspiracy to establish world socialist government is the churches, especially
those whose theology pose the greatest threat to their ascendancy.
In my studies, it is my firm conclusion that the LDS church (the Mormons)
-- the Church of Jesus Christ restored by Joseph Smith in these latter-days --
has in its theology the most powerful opposition to tyranny that exists on the
face of the earth. That is the highest complement that could be
paid. However, with that knowledge also comes responsibility.
Because they have the best knowledge, they also have the greatest burden to
stand in opposition to the kingdom of the devil.
It has also been my sad conclusion through study of prophecy and of current
events and societal trends that the members of the LDS Church in general have
not only NOT lived up to their responsibility to be a light to the world in
these matters, but they have in many cases actually bought into some of the
most damning lies of the socialist New World Order so that they are actually
promoting the establishment of Satan's kingdom on earth.
Unfortunately, this phenomenon is not limited to the lay membership but
actually extends to and is even in large part due to some of the key
leadership figures of the LDS church. Instead of supporting the cause of
freedom and those who are fighting for freedom and against tyranny, they, in
many instances actually, persecute these patriots.
This has grown to such an extent that now the dominating influence of the
LDS church culture is more in favor of the instruments of global tyranny than
they are in favor of the freedoms they were supposed to uphold.
Combine this with the false teaching that has also crept into the church
that the prophet of the church is not able to lead the church astray, and the
spiritual laziness that scripturally unsupportable dogma creates, and you have
the ground laid for the man of sin to sit in the temple of God in fulfillment
of II Thes. 2 and Isaiah 66.
Only the Lord is an unshakable foundation. There is none other.
To put a man in that position is the height of folly, as will be manifest when
the Mormon prophet fulfills II Thes. 2 and Isaiah 66.
True religion is the spiritual antidote to Satan's kingdom. Shut off
that voice of warning, and Satan has free reign. That such warnings
regarding this conspiratorial new world order have been almost completely
absent in the last decade from top LDS leaders among mainstream Mormonism is
an ominous sign indeed. Instead they seem to be courting the communist
so that they can in turn preach the gospel in those countries where true
Christians are put to death.
The primary culpability for the successful rise of Satan's kingdom in the
latter days lies with those who were in the greatest position to stand in
opposition to it.
At the first coming of Christ it was the Jewish hierarch of the 'one true
church and people of God of the day' that was most to blame for the rejection
of their God.
So will it be at this second advent as the Lord sets his hand again the
second time to recover his people who are of the house of Israel. And
leading that rejection will be the man who was supposed to stand as God's
witness to the people -- the Mormon prophet.
See on-line book: Man of Sin
Revealed.
Sterling D. Allan
