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The
Antichrist |
Who
is the Antichrist? Is he living in the world today?
When will he make himself known? Where will he
come from? What is the spirit of Antichrist that
St. John wrote about? Is his identification 666?
Will he be a homosexual?
These are some of the questions people ask about
“the Antichrist.” From time to time
a preacher or would-be prophet announces
who the Antichrist is, but alas all have been
proven to be false. I do not claim to know. I
am not a prophet. However, I can share with you
what I believe the Bible teaches.
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The Holy Spirit
illumines and gives understanding to God’s
people to, “rightly divide the Word of truth”
( 2 Timothy 2:15b).
It
should be noted that the Protestant Reformers of the
sixteenth century placed little emphasis on eschatology.[1]
They were consumed with the need to reform the institutional
Church that had become corrupted by false dogmas,
dead formalism and elaborate ceremony. Through the
centuries this Church had incorporated numerous pagan
practices into its belief system and had developed
a hierarchy that wielded undue power and position
thus robbing local churches of their original simplicity.
The elaborate structure that came into being in many
respects duplicated the fallen Roman Empire. The Reformers
believed that the pope (the chief bishop residing
in Rome) was the Antichrist. Few Protestants today
hold this position. However, before condemning the
Reformers keep in mind how corrupt the institutional
Church had become. It is understandable why the Reformers
and their followers took the position that they took.
Whether or not the Antichrist will come from the papacy
is secondary. I certainly do not know. It is not my
intent to identify or to name any individual as the
Antichrist. Rather, it is my intent to Scripturally
prove that there will be a powerful world leader possessing
incredible charisma who will be the Antichrist.
IS THE ANTICHRIST
LIVING TODAY?
Whether
or not he is living today we do not know. We do know
that he will be a human being. We also know that he
will present himself as the Messiah, i.e., declaring
himself God’s Anointed One. Initially he
will be accepted by Jews and Gentiles alike. However,
there is but one Christ, the Messiah who is Jesus
[Yeshua] of Nazareth. He alone is God’s Anointed!
He is God’s only begotten Son. Jesus warned
His followers that false christs would come. “For
false christs and false prophets will arise and show
great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible
the elect” (Mt. 24:24).
However,
one will come forth as the Antichrist. See - Daniel
chapters 7, 8 & 11; Mt. 24; 2 Thess. 2; 1 Jn. 2:18,
22; 4:3; 2 Jn. 7 and Revelation chapters 13, 17 &
18. This person is referred to in Scripture in a number
of ways such as “the beast,” “little
horn,” “false Christ,” “wicked
one,” “the man of sin” and “the
Antichrist.”
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The
Bible teaches that this individual will be both
a political as well as a religious figure. He
will advocate “One World - One People -
One Religion.” His one world religion will
be an ecumenical faith drawing together the religions
of the world into one fold under one head; himself.
It should be noted that an increasing number
of politicians and religious leaders are advocating
“a New World Order.” This
is just one of the numerous ways of conditioning
people for the coming Antichrist.
The
Antichrist will come against God, the believing
remnant and the Word of God. Theologians may scoff
at this teaching but one day they will wake up
to discover their error of not accepting what
Scripture teaches regarding end time events. See
John 17:6; 14:8-9; Revelation 13:6.
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Like
Satan, the Antichrist will be a persuasive deceiver. He
will preach love, compassion and other godly virtues whereas
in reality he will be filled with hate, deception and
will oppose all that is righteous and holy. The unbelieving
religious system will believe and accept his lies. He
will be backed up by the greatest preacher/prophet and
miracle worker that this world has ever seen or known.
This coming false prophet will have unbelievable charisma
far exceeding the most charismatic personality who has
ever lived. Antichrist and the false prophet will work
hand-in-hand. See - 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
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A
False Three-some:
There will be a false tri-unity [trinity] on earth
during the Last Days. This false three-some will
consist of: Satan, the Antichrist and the false
prophet. The Antichrist and the false prophet
will work closely together with Satan being the
chief honcho. Their ID will be 666 according to
Revelation 13:18. Whether or not this number is
literal or figurative is secondary. The number
6 in the Bible is symbolic of “man,”
whereas the number 7 speaks of perfection
and completion in God.
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The
Spirit of the Antichrist:
The
apostle John commented on an ever present spirit of antichrist
on earth before the actual person of Antichrist reveals
himself in the Last Days. This spirit of antichrist has
been present since the days of the apostles. This
spirit is alive and well in our day. See - 1 John 2:18-27;
4:3; 2 John 7.
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Incredible
Political Power:
Revelation 12 portrays the dragon [Satan] being
cast from heaven. He will seek to destroy the
woman who is symbolic of the Church. The dragon
[Satan] will become angry because the Child [Jesus
the Christ] of the woman, is caught-up into heaven
before the devil is able to destroy Him. The devil
will then spit his poisonous bile on this woman
[the Church]. This will take the form of persecuting
believers. Satan has sought to destroy the believing
Church since its beginning. He continues to seek
to destroy the Bride of Christ, i.e., the believing
Church, even as he continues in his endeavors
to destroy Israel and the Jews. His attempt takes
many forms: persecution, heresy, compromise, indifference,
lukewarmness, counterfeit signs, wonders and miracles,
false prophets with their false prophecies, unbelieving
theologians who pervert Scripture, apostasy, selfseeking
leaders and unconverted church members.
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One
of Satan’s most effective means in seeking to destroy
the Church has been the growing indifference among Christians
to the necessity of holding the tenets of biblical
teaching, i.e., sound doctrine. See - Jude 3-4; 1 Timothy
4; 2 Peter 2:1-3. With each generation Satan, the master
of deceit - the father of lies, tries new tactics.
Today he is cleverly seeking to undermine sound teaching
especially biblical Christology, i.e., the doctrine
of the Person (deity) of Christ. He is also seeking to
undermine the credibility of Scripture as God’s
inspired written Word. He is using unbelieving ‘biblical
scholars(?)’ who question the validity of Scripture,
cast doubt on the foundational tenets of the faith and
bring increasing unbelief into churches and into entire
denominations. Many churches have forsaken biblical belief
by substituting a false gospel in lieu of the true Gospel
of Christ. See – Gal. 1:6-9.
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Fact
or Fiction?
With the popularity of the “Left Behind”
series of books on the market many people wonder
what is fact and what is not. Readers of this
series of books must sift-out that which is
in accord with biblical teaching and that which
is fanciful thinking, the opinions and bias
of the authors. As to the sexual orientation
of Antichrist, we do not know whether he will
be homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual. Some
teachers use an obscure biblical passage claiming
that he will be a homosexual. This is a poor
hermeneutical approach.
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Satan
will eventually set in place the Beast who will “come
out of the sea.” In Scripture the sea is symbolic
of the Gentile nations. See - Isaiah 57:20 and Revelation
7. The nations of the world will accept him as the Christ.
Humankind is looking for a strong and powerful leader
who can unite the world. This coming world leader [Antichrist]
will blaspheme against God and will seek to destroy the
remaining believers. See - Revelation 17:3 compare
with Revelation 13 and Daniel 7.
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He
will usher in the New World Order. The world’s
political and religious leaders will acclaim him
to be “the Messiah!”
In
days ahead we can expect increasing pleas for
a new world order, a single monetary system, increased
military ‘peace-keepers,’ religious
ecumenism, universal language and universal world
peace. I believe that the New Age Movement and
the United Nations may well be a formidable part
of this. Christians need not fear. Jesus Christ
will be final Victor! Until that time when these
events come into full fruition let those of us
who are believers in the Christ of God be about
glorifying God.
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[1]
Eschatology is the doctrine of last things.
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