Interestingly the word antichrist is one in which you read many times in books about the Second Coming of Christ, but it only appears four times in the entire Bible (I John 2:18, I John 2:22, I John 4:3, and II John 1:7).  It did not take authors of books long to tell that people were interested in this topic.  Yet, the lack of material on the topic is so great that observation and guessing had to play in.  Authors started relating Matthew 24:1-35 and the signs of the Destruction of Jerusalem (which occurred in AD 70) to add to the topic.  What they failed to see in Matthew 24, was that Christ was asked two questions in which he answered in order.   Matthew 24:1-2 reads as follows:  “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”  Now, the disciples are going to ask two questions.  (verse 3) “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, (1) when shall these things be? [One stone not being left upon another.] (2) and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”  As you read the rest of the chapter you will notice signs given up to verse 35.  Then a turn in verse 36 that says: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”  Christ gave signs of the destruction of Jerusalem, when there would not be one stone left upon another, but as for the Second Coming and end of the world, only God the Father knows.  That is why it is unwise to use the words of men as the final authority when studying God’s word, it does not work.  For instance, Nave’s topical Bible takes this very topic and applies it to the Second Coming and Satan being bound. 

Who is the “antichrist”?  The Bible defines this very plainly.  (I John 2:22) “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”  (I John 4:3) “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.”  (II John 1:7) “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”  Now that the term is defined, we can see as even was in the first-century, there are many (I John 2:18), even at that time.  Why is it that folks are waiting for the “Anti-Christ” to appear?  It is because they have bought into the lies of false teachers wanting to sell this false theology.  Over the years “religious” leaders have predicted who the anti-Christ was.  It seems as though they thrived on military issues, claiming men from Hitler on down, were the Anti-Christ. 

Simply defining the term helps understand who it is. Look at the prefix “anti”.  The prefix “anti” simply means against.  Then you add in the second part of our subject and you have Christ.  The Anti-Christ is anyone against Christ.  The Bible reveals a simple way to declare whom the anti-Christ’s among us are.  (Luke 11:23) “He that is not with me is against me…” How many anti-Christ do you know? 

There is an old lady whom lives in a neighborhood and loves all of the little children.  Each bright day she welcomes them over to her house.  The children love her.  She bakes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.  The children would come over and have a cookie or two, and listen to stories about Jesus.  These stories were a little different than the ones mom and dad told.  Mrs. Smith would tell them how that Christ never did exist.  That Jesus was just a myth.  She would fill the bellies and their heads at the very same time.  Friend Mrs. Smith is an “Anti-Christ”!  She takes the opportunity to fill children’s heads with doctrine against our Lord.  There are men and women all throughout our country that are like this.  Some of them even teach our children in our school systems.  They teach our children that God did not create the Heaven’s and the Earth (Genesis 1:1).  Therefore, they teach that Christ was not what he was (John 1:1-5).  These teachers teach that humans mutated into what they are today and that millions of exploding gases created the earth.  Help shape the minds of our children and teach them the truth!  Teach them that anyone against Christ and the truth will be judged in that final day (John 12:48).

Stand against the Anti-Christ’s among us today!  These are the false-teachers, the Mrs. Smith’s, and all those that reject the doctrine of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.  Teach them to be prepared for the coming of the Lord by obeying the Gospel (II Thessalonians 1:8-9 and Matthew 7:21-23).
 
 
 
 

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