The Rise of the Antichrist
Over the last seventy or more years people have been looking for a demonic person set to wreak havoc on the world before Jesus destroys him. Even people who are not Christians know about him and dread his coming. They probably get their knowledge from watching movies. Candidates for antichrist have been Stalin, Hitler, various Popes, Putin, Obama, and Trump. It depends which side of the fence you are on. However, when I study the Bible, I get a different view of the subject.
Only the apostle John mentions the antichrist by name and discusses the coming of the antichrist. “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” 1 John 2:18. He continues later in the epistle, “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 it in the world.” 1 John 4:3.
To connect these two verses, John first says Christians heard that the antichrist would come, then later he identifies what they have heard would come, the spirit of antichrist. They did not hear about the coming of a man, but of a spirit. The early Christians believed a spirit would come and poison the world. That spirit is with us, and the minds of millions of people have been poisoned.
John states that the antichrist denies that the Christ (the Messiah) has come in the flesh. He denies Jesus Christ. As a modern Christian song asks, “Do you believe he was just another nice guy?” Millions of people believe just that. They are under the spell of the antichrist spirit. There are many categories that people fall into to deny the Son of God.
Non-Christian religions such as Judaism and Islam deny Jesus. Atheism denies Jesus and his Father. Agnostics say they have not made up their minds, but they do not believe in Him. Some cults disguised as Christianity say He is “a son of God,” not “the Son of God.” Within Protestant churches there are people including clergy that do not believe in the miracles of Jesus. I heard one clergyman say, “I do not believe that was God walking around in Galilee.” They deny His miracles, His deity, His virgin birth. What do they believe about Him? They believe whatever the antichrist spirit tells them to believe. It has poisoned our world.
The Reformers believed the Pope is the antichrist because of the mention of the man of sin in second Thessalonians. “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.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. I agree with the reformers that it refers to the Pope. He calls himself “the Holy Father,” which is a title reserved for God the Father. (John 17:11. However, the Popes never denied that Jesus was the Christ. Therefore, I believe the Pope does not fit the definition of the antichrist.
I believe we are in the very last time. “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;” 1 Timothy 4:1. The antichrist spirit can make people believe almost anything, even that they are descended from apes. The theme of the argument is to leave God out of the picture. They believe they are highly intelligent, even if they believe nonsense.
The antichrist spirit is closely tied to humanism. We know that Jesus is the only hope for humanity, but the antichrist spirit says humans can do anything on their own. There is no mention of Christ’s Salvation or His coming kingdom. He is not needed. However, the truth is that all sinners, like you and I, need Him.
