In one of the greatest and PLAINEST of the great prophecies of the Bible, St. Paul predicted that 2 things must happen FIRST before the 2nd Coming of Christ and the end of the world:

1.
A falling away or apostasy from Apostolic Christianity.
2.
The Antichrist or Man of Sin to be revealed.
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of Joshua the Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth (restrains) that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let (restrain), until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. (II Thessalonians 2:1-12).

One of the main characteristics of this falling away or apostasy was the prohibition of marriage:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (I Timothy 4:1-3).
Up to Vatican Council II in 1962, meat was forbidden on Fridays.

The Emperors at Rome were hindering the coming of Antichrist!!

Saint Paul referred obscurely to something mysterious that was hindering or restraining evil and holding back the revelation of the Man of Sin.

The removal of the capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine in 330 A.D., greatly facilitated the coming of Antichrist. That "Eternal Rome" would allow a rival capital city to exist is truly remarkable.

The Emperors were persecuting Christians, but their presence in Rome hindered the rise of the Papacy. Christians prayed for the Emperors, and the stability of the Empire, but they never dreamed of creating another rival capital.

Beginning from his home in Britannia, Constantine conquered Gaul and northern Italy; then he laid siege to Rome. Emperor Maxentius was drowned in the Tiber and Constantine entered Rome on October 29, 312.

The Battle of Milvian Bridge
The Battle of Milvian Bridge
outside Rome in 312 AD.

Roman Emperor Maxentius was drowned during the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 212.

Constantine then built a new capital at Constantiniple and the bishop of Rome assumed the purple and the title: ponifex maximus.

This was the removal of the let or hindrance to the coming of Antichrist.


Emperor Maxentius
Emperor Maxentius
(278–312).
The Papal Roman Empire was born in January 313, when the Roman Senate recognized the roughneck Roman soldier Constantine as the first "Christian" Emperor. Constantine melted down all the gold from the pagan temples, and he used that money to bribe the Roman Senate into moving to his new capital of Constantinople.

Emperor Constantine.
Emperor Constantine.
Emperor from 306–337.

Emperor Constantine's removal of the capital from the imperial city left the bishop of Rome free to vault into the seat of the Caesars.




Constantinople became the new capital of the Roman Empire.
Constantinople became the new capital
of the Roman Empire.
After the removal of the capital, the Greeks continued to call themselves ROMANS (Gk. Romaioi), while the people in the western part of the Empire became known as LATINS.

When the bishop of Rome assumed the purple, he also assumed the title PONTIFEX MAXIMUS, which was the official title of the Caesars as head of the pagan Roman religion.

Pagan Rome persecuting the saints was no mystery to Saint John, but here a professing "Christian" bishop, as head of the pagan Roman religion, was a MYSTERY and a WONDER indeed:

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 17: 6-7).
This great prophecy . . . and its fulfillment . . . is so CLEAR that even a BLIND man could see it!

An edict of Roman Emperor Theodosius linked Saint Peter with Rome!!

Emperor Theodosius, with the help of bishop Ambrose of Milan, laid the groundwork for the 2 main Latin Church heresies:

1. The Primacy of St. Peter.
2. The civil power or government is subservient to the Latin Popes and their clergy.
St. Paul mentioned that the Mystery of Iniquity linking St. Peter with Rome was working even during his lifetime....However, this heresy was sub rosa or covert and did not manifest until the predicted time—after the removal of the capital to Constantinople.

Emperor Theodosius I (347-395).
Emperor Theodosius I (347–395).
Emperor from 378 to 392.

Emperor Theodosius I was a roughneck Roman soldier from Spain.

Pope Damasus I (the first Pope to be called Pontifex Maximus) was also from Spain.


Pope Damasus I (305-384).
Pope Damasus I (305–384).
Pope from 366 to 384.
In 380, Theodosius issued an edict that everybody in the Empire MUST believe that Pope Damasus was the successor of St. Peter.

Very soon after becoming Emperor, Theodosius issued a decree that everybody in the Empire MUST believe that Pope Damasus was the successor of St. Peter:

On January 19, 379, the emperor Gratian raised Theodosius to the rank of emperor and gave him charge of the eastern half of the empire. Theodosius was a general from Spain and a convinced partisan of Nicene orthodoxy. He did not wait long to show his colors. On February 28, 380, Theodosius issued an edict saying that anyone who did not follow the faith of Pope Damasus of Rome and Peter of Alexandria was a heretic. (The Church of the Ancient Councils, p. 104).
Here is a copy of that edict :

It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue in the profession of that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it hath been preserved by faithful tradition; and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe the one deity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgement, they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation, and in the second the punishment which our authority, in accordance with the will of Heaven, shall decide to inflict. (Theodosian Code, Book XVI, The Catholic Faith).
[link to www.reformation.org]