Larger Than Life: An Exposé of the Spirit of the Antichrist

By Michael Cannon Loehrer

My purposes for this booklet are the following:

1. To expose the devils tactics of positioning government leaders as benefactors who bestow benefits in order to solicit support

2. To clarify a caution of prophetic scripture about fear-based forms of human government

3. To emphasize how God expects his people to publicly proclaim the superior way he runs his kingdom until the very end of this age

I hope devout disciples will faithfully preach Jesus Christ as king, especially to those the elite reject, whether the loser or the deplorable.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512773460

Michael Cannon Loehrer

Michael Cannon Loehrer holds an AB from California State University, Fresno, a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a PhD from Biola University. He served in pastoral ministry for nearly forty years. Presently, he is an adjunct professor of Bible at Multnomah University, Reno, Nevada.

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Copyright © 2017 Michael Cannon Loehrer.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-7345-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-7346-0 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 2/1/2017

Contents

Abstract: Overview

Preface: Orientation

Introduction: Terminology

Chapter 1: Understanding Human Government

Chapter 2: Clarifying The Confusion

Chapter 3: Decoding The Prophecy

Chapter 4: Examining The Evidence

Chapter 5: Extra Biblical Evidence

Chapter 6: Anticipation And Application

Chapter 7: Narcissism As Normative

Conclusion: A Simple Choice

Appendix: Preparing To Present The Kingdom

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

BibleWorks™ Copyright © 1992-2008 BibleWorks, LLC. All rights reserved. BibleWorks was programmed by Michael S. Bushell, Michael D. Tan, and Glenn L. Weaver. BWHEBB, BWHEBL [Hebrew]; BWGRKL, BWGRKN, and BWGRKI [Greek] Postscript® Type 1 and TrueType™ fonts Copyright © 1994-2008 BibleWorks, LLC. All rights reserved. Other specialized fonts used in BibleWorks, such as BWVIET, BWEESS, BWEETI, and BYSYMBOL are also Copyright © 1994-2001 BibleWorks, LLC. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The digital image of Papyrus 47 is used with permission from Philip Roe, Photographic Services Assistant of The Chester Beatty Library © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle, Dublin D02 AD92. This image (full collection number: CBL BP III, f.7r) was photographed by CSNTM (The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, www.csntm.org), which also granted permission for use of the digitized image as per Andrew Bobo, Assistant Research Manager, CSNTM, 2001 W. Plano Parkway, STE 1043, Plano, TX 75075 USA.

The digital image of Papyrus 115 (P.Oxy. LXVI 4499) is used with permission of Daniela Colomo, Research Associate/Curator of the Oxyrhynchus Collection Papyrology Rooms, Sackler Library

1 St. John Street Oxford OX1 2LG, and Carl Graves, Education and Public Engagement Manager, courtesy of The Egypt Exploration Society and Imaging Papyri Project, 3 Doughty Mews, London WCIN 2PG.

Books by Michael Cannon Loehrer

How to Change a Rotten Attitude

(Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press, 1998).

Egoless Elders

(Bloomington: WestBow Press, 2012).

Porch Talk with Gramps on Parenting

(Bloomington: WestBow Press, 2015).

James: A Reader’s Companion

(Bloomington: WestBow Press, 2015).

Hebrews: A Reader’s Companion

(Bloomington: WestBow Press, 2016).

Larger than Life: An Exposé of the Spirit of the Antichrist

(Bloomington: WestBow Press, 2017).

Dedication

To those who ready themselves

To refuse the mark of the beast

Acknowledgments

Many brothers and sisters in Christ helped improve this manuscript for which I offer hearty thanks, but especially Lora Doncea, editor par excellence. I also express deep gratitude to all those at WestBow Press for making publishing a pleasant task.

FIGURES

Figure 1: Roman Numerals

Figure 2: Hebrew Gematria

Figure 3: Greek Isopsephia

IMAGES

Image 1: Papyrus 47 (CBL BP III, f.7r)

Image 2: Papyrus 115 (P.Oxy. LXVI 4499)

ABSTRACT

Overview

My purposes for this booklet are: 1) to expose the Devil’s tactics of positioning government leaders as benefactors,¹ who bestow benefits in order to solicit support; 2) to clarify a caution of prophecy about beastly, fear-based—rather than faith-based—forms of human government,² and 3) to emphasize how God expects His people to share the good news—about the superior way He runs His kingdom—until the very end of this age.³ I hope devout disciples will faithfully preach⁴ Jesus Christ as King, especially to whomever the elite reject, whether the loser or the deplorable.

The problems I face are that many Christians fail to fathom or properly apply the prophetic Scriptures. Many are simply ignorant of the information. Some arrogantly form faulty conclusions. Others—who indeed grasp the sweeping panorama of prophecy—fail to properly apply what they know. However, exposing the Spirit of the Antichrist’s tactics can protect God’s people against deception, promote the assurance of faith, and prompt Christians to participate in His purposes.

My solutions come from interpreting Scripture using a historical-grammatical approach in order to expose the enemy’s tactics. God’s people can form sound conclusions from the following research; they can attune themselves to the themes of eschatology (i.e. the study of end times); and they can accept their responsibility to call the world to repent (i.e. to turn away from the world’s sinful way of doing kingdom).

The results of my research indicate that the mark of the beast in the first century Apocalypse⁵ identifies Nero as the Antichrist. Somehow Nero will return from the pit at the close of this present age.⁶ Prophetic Scripture (particularly the Book of Daniel and the Apostle John’s Apocalypse) confirms this thesis, when taken in its historical-grammatical context. Some hold that those living in the ancient world arrived at faulty conclusions in identifying the Antichrist as Nero. However, I found compelling evidence to the contrary.

My conclusion is that believers—armed with an understanding of prophetic Scripture in its historical-grammatical context—can confidently challenge the enemy’s bold attempts to render the Scriptures senseless and Christians ineffective. This booklet reveals how the Spirit of the Antichrist influences Bible believers through indifference, fear, or uncertainty about what the Scriptures teach, so they fail to fulfill their purpose of openly proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God as ruled by Jesus Christ.

PREFACE

Orientation

Would you prefer to be larger than life or lowly in life? Why? Oh, by the way: Who would you choose to lead the coming global government: a destroyer or a deliverer? Easy choice, you say? I say, with heaviness of heart, the tragic fall of Lucifer ripples through the sea of humanity (to say nothing of the heavenly host) as he makes beautiful beasts of all who seek to become larger than life. When Satan sought to become like the Most High, he fell to the very depths of death. Rebellion against the Source of Life demands the death penalty. Those who resist the Creator of Life walk with the destroyer. Separation from the Sustainer of Life seals in death those who love darkness. After humanity fell—following Lucifer—God purposefully left human beings as fragile, finite failures. Our surroundings persuade us we are fragile. Physical death convinces us we are finite. And our consciences condemn us as failures. God made the conclusion obvious: We are sinners in need of a Savior.

From Innocence to the Fall

After the Triune-God created our planet,⁷ He designed self-reproducing life forms to fill it,⁸ and—of them all—He gave humans the right to rule the earth, since they were fashioned like Him for that purpose.⁹ However, a supremely clever spirit—who presented himself as an extremely cunning serpent—prodded our first parents to break the rules,