Firstly let me say that I do believe that Antichrist is a person.
Scripture pinpoints some means of identification for us and also the time that he appears.
Notice the preposition "anti" that appears before the name Christ.
"Anti" can mean "against" and it can mean "instead of."
"Anti" can also be a substitute for something or it could be "in place of" or "an imitation of."
For this very reason I do not like to hear the interpretation of the Bible that uses the expression that we are "to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ."
1 John 2:18 "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that anti-christ shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."
The apostle John does not only say that there will be an Antichrist, he also says that there are already - in his day, many antichrists.
HOW CAN WE IDENTIFY THE ANTICHRIST?
1 John 2:22 "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-christ, that denieth the Father and the Son."
Antichrist is against Christ.
He denies the deity of Christ.
He is an imitation of the real Christ Jesus and therefore he is a deceiver and an enemy of Christ.
WHAT IS THE SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST?
It is that which denies the deity of Christ. Therefore I can say dogmatically that the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar is antichrist. Then there are the liberal preachers who also deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are antichrist. These are the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ but they are not the Antichrist. The Lord Jesus Himself said that many would come in His name and that they would deceive many. These are pseudo-christs. They pretend to be the true Christ and they are excellent imitators of Him.
1 John 4:1-3 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is in the world."
The Lord Jesus Christ, who is very God, came down from heavens glory to this earth and He took upon Himself a human body. He came to bare our sins in His own body on the tree of Calvary and because He is very God He is able to save to the uttermost all who simply come to Him for salvation. Those who come must hear about what He did when He came to this earth to die and they must believe that He is very God.
It is a basic doctrine of the New Testament that after His resurrection the Man Jesus was declared by God to be both LORD AND CHRIST, and that He was invested by the Father with absolute Lordship over the church which is His Body.
ALL AUTHORITY IS HIS IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH.
In His own proper time He will exert it to the full, but during this period in history He allows His authority to be challenged or ignored.
Today it is being challenged by the world and ignored by the church.
The Lordship of Jesus Christ is forgotten by many who profess to be Christians today.
Christ is to them little more than a beloved symbol and they love to sing about His Lordship from the hymnal in a glow of religious emotion.
In fact, 'All Hail the Power of Jesus Name' is the National anthem of the church and the cross is her official flag but in the day to day conduct of her members someone else other than Christ makes all the decisions. Those in actual authority decide the moral standards of the church, as well as her objectives.
Christ has little or actually in some cases, NO SAY IN THE MATTER.
His authority, has been reduced, and He has been likened to a "Big brother."
WHEN WILL THE ANTICHRIST APPEAR?
Today, people have such a low conception of the Person of Christ that they will actually accept any man who promises to bring peace to this world.
I do not think that they would mind if this person came from heaven or from hell. Antichrist will be that person. He will bring in a period of peace.
There are two men presented on the pages of Scripture and both men represent Antichrist. These two men will confirm everything that Scripture has to say about Antichrist.
Read Revelation 13. This refers to the kingdom of the "beast" - the Roman Empire that fell apart and will come back together again.
It is like a resurrection but, not a resurrection.
The beast will not be raised to life because SATAN CANNOT RAISE THE DEAD.
John 5:21 "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will."
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO IS THE SON OF GOD, IS THE ONLY ONE TO WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN THE POWER TO RAISE THE DEAD.
Only God can give life. The Lord Jesus, who is God, gives life - eternal life.
John 5:25 "Verily, verily I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."
Whose voice will they hear?
They will hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Son of God.
He alone is able to raise the dead.
Some people believe that Judas Iscariot is the Antichrist and that he will be raised from the dead but Antichrist will have to be a new person because SATAN CANNOT RAISE THE DEAD.
John 5:28-29 ".........for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
WHAT DOES IT MEAN THEY THAT HAVE DONE GOOD?
They came to the Lord Jesus with this question.
John 6:28-29 "Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD, THAT YE BELIEVE ON HIM WHOM HE HATH SENT."
Today, the good work that God asks you and me to do, is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
IT IS THE TRUE BELIEVER WHO WILL HEAR HIS VOICE AND BE RAISED.
The Old Testament saints are to be raised to enter the kingdom and they will be raised during the Millennium - at the end of the Great Tribulation Period.
THE LOST, ARE TO BE RAISED FOR JUDGEMENT, AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM.
The "faith-healers" that are amongst us today are not raising the dead. The apostles were given the power to heal the sick and to raise the dead and that power has not been given to anyone else.
Only the Son of God has the power to raise the dead.
This is a tremendous fact.
Therefore the Antichrist cannot be anyone who has already died.
HOW CAN THE ANTICHRIST IMITATE CHRIST?
2 Thessalonians 2:8-9 "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,"
Antichrist will perform miracles.
He will be a miracle worker.
He is the only miracle worker that the Scriptures promise for the future, that is, with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is much spiritualism in the world today and it seems to be so exciting because things are happening.
Spiritualism does have power, but
WE MUST QUESTION THAT POWER.
WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THAT POWER?
We are to discern the spirits and see if they are of God or not. There are no miracle workers today except the one that will finally come from Satan.
THE TRUE BELIEVERS TODAY ARE TO WALK BY FAITH.
Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."
2 Corinthians 5:7 "(For we walk by faith and not by sight:)"
We are not to let our emotions be our guide and therefore we must not act according to our feelings.
When we are obedient to God's Word - just do as God says, we know with certainty that Christ Jesus is living His life through us.
THIS IS THE ALL IMPORTANT TRUTH IN THIS WORLD TODAY.
There are so many Christians who are ever wanting to see something, or hear something, or feel something or to experience something.
WHY NOT JUST TRUST THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND TAKE HIM AT HIS WORD.
Why are folk ever trying to prove who the Lord Jesus is or what He did for us on the tree of Calvary or that He arose bodily from the dead on the third day.
WHY NOT JUST SIMPLE BELIEVE GOD.
PLEASE WILL YOU JUST SIMPLY TRUST THE LORD JESUS TO MAKE HIMSELF REAL TO YOU, AND GIVE YOU A NEW HEART, AND THEN LIVE HIS LIFE IN AND THROUGH YOU?
WHY NOT BELIEVE GOD, WHEN HE SAYS, THAT WE WHO ARE BELIEVERS, ARE TO REPENT - TURN FROM THE UGLY THINGS THAT WE SAY AND DO THAT DESTROYS THE LOCAL ASSEMBLY.
WE ARE TO CLEANSE OURSELVES DAILY, BY TAKING A SPIRITUAL BATH.
WE ARE TO PRESENT OUR BODIES TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS A LIVING SACRIFICE.
When we do this we will practice lowliness of mind, we will esteem other believers better than ourselves. We will show them our respect as we seek to serve them. We will not just barge into their lives and expect then to accept us the way we are - in the flesh just because we are "in the family."
I do believe that it is through the lack of respect that many people are estranged from their own families.
Some folk just are very private people, they do not like people to fuss over them or to praise them up continually.
The Lord Jesus never ever fusses over anyone and neither does He ever force His presence on anyone.
We have to ask Him to come to us and when He comes to us, He comes in gentleness and kindness. He comes in SPIRIT and in TRUTH and He guides us in the path of righteousness.
He rests us beside the still, still waters and He fully restores our souls.
He fills us with love, joy and peace.
When we spend our time with Him we learn that we love Him more and more and we long to spend more time with Him because He fulfills all the desires of our hearts.
Dear reader the Lord Jesus Christ is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.
If believers have this mind of Christ in them they will not do anything through strife and vainglory.
If we truly have the desire to serve others we must ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us to those who are in need of our help physically, financially, or spiritually according to the Fathers will.
We must serve them with the same mind - attitude as the Lord Jesus Christ.
We must serve one another because we love one another.
The Lord Jesus saw us when we were afar of and He loved us and gave Himself for us while we were yet sinners.
This is true love and the only way that we are ever able to serve in this way is through the Lord Jesus living His life through us.
We are to offer Him our lives - cleansed lives, as a living sacrifice and HE WILL LIVE HIS LIFE IN AND THROUGH US. He will use our lives for His glory. To fulfill His divine purpose in this present world.
He will open the door of the hearts of those whom He desires to comfort or provide for physically, financially, or perhaps even lead to true repentance.
HE WILL ENABLE US TO PRAISE HIM FOR HIS MARVELOUS GRACE AND MERCY.
And we can trust Him that whatever is said or done in His name will lead to His honour and His glory for His own dear names sake.
As we share the goodness and the mercy of the Lord Jesus with others, we will experience His sincere love.
This is true fellowship.
Fellowship with Christ and fellowship with each other and as we acknowledge that we depend entirely on the Lord Jesus for everything because we are weak and helpless and actually quite vulnerable, we will find that we have a lowly mind and we will all have the same mind - one mind - the mind of Christ operating in our daily lives and the world around us will see - when we all have a lowly mind, THAT WE ARE INDEED THE BODY OF CHRIST - HIS TRUE DISCIPLES.
WHEN WE GET TO KNOW THE TRUE LORD JESUS CHRIST WE WILL BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE THE THE ANTICHRIST.
John 5:43 "I am come in my Fathers name, and ye receive me not: If another shall come in his own name, him will ye receive."
This is the one that the prophet Zechariah calls the worthless shepherd. This shepherd is identified as being the Antichrist.
After the true church - the body of Christ is removed from the earth,
WE COME TO THE TIME WHEN THE WORTHLESS SHEPHERD WILL PRESENT HIMSELF TO THE WORLD AND HE WILL BE ACCEPTED.
He will bring in the Great Tribulation Period.
The Word of God teaches us quite plainly, that THE DAY OF THE LORD begins with the Great Tribulation Period which will be ushered in by the Antichrist and towards the end of the Great Tribulation Period - the time of Great trouble - Jacobs trouble - on the earth, the Lord Jesus will usher in the Millennium.
THE DAY OF THE LORD IS AN IMPORTANT EXPRESSION AND IT IS NOT A TWENTY FOUR HOUR DAY.
2 Peter 3:8 "But beloved be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
The Day of the Lord is actually a period of time.
It includes the Great Tribulation Period and the Millennium Kingdom. There are many prophecies concerning the Great Tribulation Period and they are all to be fulfilled.
The Day of the Lord is more than a thousand years.
THE OLD TESTAMENT, CLOSES WITH THE DAY OF THE LORD, YET IN THE FUTURE.
The Old Testament pointed towards the Day of the Lord and the New Testament anticipated the Day of the Lord.
The apostle Paul made it very clear that the day of the Lord had not yet come.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."
THE DAY OF THE LORD IS GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS.
The bad news is that the Great Tribulation will begin and the good news is that the millennial kingdom will soon be ushered in by the Lord Jesus Christ.
God says that He will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling - a burdensome stone for all the people.
Then, He also gives some good news and He says that "living waters" shall go out from Jerusalem.
The prophet Jeremiah called this period of time, "the time of Jacob's trouble."
Jeremiah 30:5-7 "For thus says the Lord; we have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."
Jeremiah told the people that there would be NO PEACE.
The false prophets had said, "Peace, Peace."
THERE WAS NO PEACE.
THIS WAS A DAY OF DARKNESS AND NOT OF LIGHT.
The people would go through a day of darkness before they would see the brightness of the day.
God was saying, that the Great Tribulation Period would be far worse than anything they had ever experienced.
Yet coming out of that awful "time of trouble" the people Israel, will return to that land. David will be raised from the dead and he will rule over them as they enter the kingdom age.
THIS IS A VERY SURE PROMISE FROM THE LORD.
WHEN WILL THIS TAKE PLACE?
Jeremiah 30:24 "The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until He have done it, and until He hath performed the intents of His heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it."
THIS PROPHECY REFERS TO THE KINGDOM AGE WHICH IS, OF COURSE, STILL FUTURE IN OUR DAY.
WHY?
THE REMOVAL OF THE TRUE CHURCH MUST FIRST TAKE PLACE.
The prophet Daniel also wrote about this time. God gave the prophet Daniel a great vision. A vision of Christ glorified.
Daniel 10:5-6 "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose lions were girded with fine gold of U-phaz. His body also was like the beryl , and His face as the appearance of lightening, and His eyes as lamps of fire, and His arms and His feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of His words like the voice of a multitude."
There is a striking similarity to the vision of Christ, after His ascension into glory, that the apostle John had on the isle of Patmos.
Revelation 1:12-16 "And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.
And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one like unto the the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and His hairs were like white wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire. And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters.
And He had in His right hand seven stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead."
The vision that Daniel saw, had a transforming effect on him.
The apostle Paul had a similar experience on the road to Damascus. He was blinded - he had seen the glorified Christ.
Acts 9:7-8 "And the men that journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Soul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus."
What a conversion, this man Saul was right down in the dust. He that hated the Lord Jesus and did everything that he could against Him, now CALLS HIM, LORD.
Daniel 10:8 "Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, AND I RETAINED NO STRENGTH."
Daniel saw the post incarnate Christ in His office as priestly Intercessor and Judge and the great Shepherd of the sheep.
Both Israel and the church are called His sheep.
Perhaps Daniel was not at the transfiguration of Christ that Moses and Elijah were present at, because he had already witnessed it.
Often the true man of God feels all alone.
Daniel was left alone.
Abraham felt alone when he left his kindred.
Moses felt alone when he was in the Midian desert yet God spoke with him at the burning bush.
Elijah was alone at the brook Cherith.
Jeremiah walked a very lonely path.
John the Baptist was alone in the desert.
The apostle Paul was alone when he spent two years of solitary confinement in that same desert.
The apostle John was alone on the isle of Patmos.
Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
Oh this is absolute truth. No matter how alone we may feel. If we truly belong to the Lord Jesus, we are never ever alone no matter how we feel.
We need to just believe God and take Him at His Word.
We need to believe Him - Trust Him to keep His promise to us.
Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the DAY OF JESUS CHRIST."
THIS MEANS THAT THE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WHO BEGAN THE GOOD WORK - OUR SALVATION IN US IN THE FIRST PLACE WILL CARRY THAT WORK THROUGH - CONSUMMATE WHAT HE BEGAN UNTIL THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST.
This is the absolute truth, and I can truly say with confidence that I have gone through many little tribulations in my own life and that I have felt very, very alone at times,
YET GOD HAS ALWAYS, ALWAYS, REMAINED WITH ME. HE HAS GRACIOUSLY KEPT ME.
Today, I can truly say that I am learning to lean heavily on Him as my body becomes frail and weak. Sometimes I feel that there is no more strength left in me to continue in this world that is so dark and seems to be getting darker by the day.
As we look around us, and we see how many, many little children are suffering in this dark, dark world of sin because of the "loose living" of men and woman.
The day of men and woman's rights to do just as they please,
YET GOD IS IN FULL CONTROL OF THE SITUATION AND HE WILL NOT FAIL
WE CAN COMPLETELY TRUST HIM THAT ALL THINGS ARE GOING TO WORK OUT FOR THE GOOD ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN AND HIS PURPOSE.
HE IS THE ALL KNOWING GOD, NOTHING IS HID FROM HIS EYES.
EVERY TRIAL THAT WE GO THROUGH IS BY HIS PROVIDENCE AND HE WILL USE THAT TRIAL TO TRAIN US IN RIGHT LIVING AND TO TRUST HIM EVEN MORE.
HE WILL KEEP HIS OWN IN THIS WORLD FOR HIS OWN NAMES SAKE.
Dear reader, we are living in the Day of Grace, His grace.
We are not living in the Day of the Old Testament, we are not living in the Day of the Millennium and we are not living in the Day of eternity.
We are living in the Day of grace.
The Day of grace will end when the Lord Jesus comes to receive unto Himself, those whom He has called, to be His own special people - His bride, out of this present world.
All those who belong to Him are sealed until the Day of Redemption.
OH HE IS SO WONDERFUL.
HE IS THE MIGHTY GOD AND WE ARE IN HIS HANDS.
CHORUS.
He will carry you through!
Jesus is a wonderful Saviour!
He will carry you through, my brother,
Jesus is a wonderful Saviour!
He will carry your through
And when the battle is done
And the victory is won
My Lord Will carry you through
My loving brother,
When the world is on fire,
You'll need my Jesus,
TO BE YOUR SAVIOUR.
He'll ever hide you,
In the Rock of ages,
The Rock of ages,
THAT WAS CLEFT FOR ME,
THAT WAS CLEFT FOR YOU.
AMEN.
Dear reader, have you truly trusted Christ as your personal Saviour?
Will you ask Him, the one and only true God, the Lord Jesus Christ to give you a new heart, a heart that will seek after God?
Daniel 12:1 "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book."
Daniel the prophet warned us about that time.
THE LORD JESUS HIMSELF SPOKE OF THIS TIME.
Matthew 24:21-22 "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And accept those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elects sake those days shall be shortened."
Michael is identified here. He is the only angel given the title of archangel (Jude 9). His name means "who is like unto God."
He is the one who is going to cast Satan out of heaven (Revelation 12:7-9) and he is the one who protects Israel and stands in her behalf. His strategy is outlined for us in Revelation 12:14-16.
This can only be the nation Israel.
The "time of trouble" is the Great Tribulation Period as our Lord so labeled it in (Matthew24:21).
THE BELIEVING REMNANT OF ISRAEL WILL BE PRESERVED (Matthew 24:22, Romans 11:26, Revelation 7:4).
Revelation 7:4 "And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and they were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel."
A SHORT SUMMARY OF ANTICHRIST.
1) He denies the deity of Christ.
2) He is a deceiver and the people believe his BIG LIE.
WHAT IS THE BIG LIE?
That the beast will be resurrected.
He will offer peace to the world.
The world will put him in power.
He will come disguised as a humanitarian - a big talker promising anything.
He will have charisma - talk his way into the good graces of this Christ rejecting world.
He is against Christ Jesus and His true Church which is in heaven.
He will be a world dictator - no one will be able to buy or sell or travel without his permission.
WE ARE LIVING IN DAYS OF APOSTASY.
THE APOSTASY IS A FALLING AWAY.
The apostle Peter tells us to give diligence to make our calling and election sure.
2 Peter 1:10 "Wherefore the rather, brethren , give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall."
The apostle Paul tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith or not.
2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"
DEAR READER LET US MAKE OUR OWN PERSONAL INVENTORY AND LET US BE SURE THAT CHRIST JESUS IS IN US.
Reply to Caryl@cherith.co.za.
THIS PAGE UPDATED: 9-4-2007.