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Home / Religion and Spirituality
Will the Real Antichrist Please Stand Up?
By:Christine Bettridge
Most of the world believes there is going be some end time battle of Armageddon where the Antichrist will be defeated. I hate to say it but society has been lied to again. Most of the people who are preaching this stuff are preachers who are trying to scare folks to death and the end result is sending in money. Folks feel they should send in more money so these end time doomsayers so they can get the message out to the rest of the world. They are playing on the fears and the goodness of other people. I am here to tell you today that just like there is no boogie man, there is no antichrist. In fact the explanation of the antichrist is a simple one. However there are many antichrists, they are here now and they were around in Christ’s day. That sentence just made a lot of sense. To find out who these men and women are we need to go to the logical and “only” source.
Most bibles have a concordance at the very back of the book. Look up the word antichrist and see how many scriptures you find. If you haven’t looked yet would you be surprised to know there are only four verses in the whole entire Bible that mention the antichrist? Well my friends there will be not be one man singled out as the Antichrist, nor one woman. Sorry to burst your bubble but it’s not one man like Ronald Reagan, or President Bush or even the Catholic Pope like some speculate however there are several antichrists. They were around in the first century and they are still here today and will continue to be here until Christ comes back for the second time.
Without even consulting the Bible we can break down word meanings to know what and who the antichrist is. This is the simple I was talking about in the opening paragraph. We all know who Christ is but the two words together “anti” and then “Christ” has thrown people off. What does the word actually mean? According to Webster’s this word anti means opposite in kind, position or action. Opposing or hostile toward. Defending against. This word “anti” has no different meaning then if you were using it with “anti-war” or “anti-abortion. So to be anti-abortion means to be against abortion. I think you understand now where I am going with this. This being so simple I am sure you are wondering why this hasn’t been explained this way before. It actually has been explained this way before but it is not the popular viewpoint. Usually it’s the things or concepts right in front of the face that we have the hardest time with. To find out what the Bible says about the antichrist please see, I John 1:7; I John 2:18; 22; I John 4:1-6.
Are you starting to get the picture here? The antichrist is just someone who opposed Christ. He or she did not acknowledge that Christ came in the flesh. There is not one antichrist there are many. These antichrists deny the father and the son. So plain and so simple. The antichrist is just someone who is “against” or “anti” Christ.
The books of I and II John is the apostle John were written sometime before his exile to the Isle of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation. John is known as and called the apostle of love because his writings always stress the importance of loving one another. John was an elder (i.e. bishop, pastor, shepherd) of the church in Ephesus. He was writing to second and third generation Christians who began to have doubts about Jesus. They wondered whether Jesus was really divine and the son of God. The new Christians did not have the chance to meet Jesus, to spend time with him, to know him, and also to see that he was real, in the flesh. John was an eyewitness of Christ and was able to help them because of this.
The antichrist’s had already been in the church and were former Christians. Rather they claimed to be Christians to their face but when they weren’t around their true colors revealed who they really were. On the outside they looked and talked the part. It could be easy to deceive some of the new converts. False prophets are popular with the world because they tell people what they want to hear, it was no different in the first century. He is warning them of the last hour. Please note that this in no way infers to the second coming, instead up until the second coming. Christians today are in the last hour along with them. However their problems were their own, even though they still exist today. John’s letters was to assure them that their faith in God is real and that it was real. He was giving them a warning of what to watch for and be careful of the teachings. He told them if they didn’t bring the teachings of God, they were not to receive them into their homes. According to the verses that mention the antichrist heres a recap of what they mean.
-John reminds them the antichrist is coming and many were already there among them.
-They were a part of the group, Christians who left the faith.
-Anyone who denied the Father and the Son were considered the antichrist.
-There just wasn’t one antichrist there were many.
-The world listened to the false prophets and antichrist because they told people what they wanted to hear.
-They do not speak the truth; they are liars, deceived and led many astray.
-Antichrists are false prophets coming in the name of the Lord, but actually never confessing Christ.
-Antichrists will not confess that Jesus is from God.
-The antichrists do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.
-The Christians knew who to believe because the real disciples or Christians would listen to John.
So who is the antichrist? When you sum up all of this you can come to the conclusion that the antichrist is simply anyone who opposes Christ. He who is not with me is against me. Matthew 12:30. Do you know anyone who opposes Christ? Anyone who goes too far in the teaching of God's word does not have God. II John 1:9. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. It may be your neighbor, friends, family or maybe even within your own household. It definitely will be not one man that will be singled out and defeated in the battle of Armageddon. It is plain and simple; he who is not with him is against him.
Fantasy and speculation will surely go away when the truth is revealed. If you want to get the word out about the truth I encourage you to do so. I hope that you are beginning to see the picture and the new light has been shed. Would you like to buy some tickets for the battle and see him get his butt kicked? This title fight would bring in a mint however there will be no antichrst defeated in an end time battle of armageddon.
Falsehood is so easy; truth so difficult… George Eliot
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Article keywords: antichrist, who is the antichrist, battle of armageddon, god, jesus, john the apostle, the antichrist
Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com
This an excerpt from the book titled End Time Secrets written by Christine Bettridge and she also is the editor of the article directory, Above All Content Visit her blog at: The Bible Sound Blog
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