Good morning church,
Today want to briefly touch on ANTICHRIST.
There are one too many speculations, books, theses, theories on this person and I wish to focus on the scriptures. We may examine theories some other time.
The word Antichrist appears four times in the scriptures, thrice in 1 John (1 John 2:18,2:22,4:3) and once in 2 John(2 John 1:7) The word Antichrists appear once in 1 John( 1 John 2:
So we can confidently say that the Antichrist is uniquely Johanine.
1 John 2:18 (KJV)
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 2:22 (KJV)
Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
1 John 4:3 (KJV)
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.
2 John 1:7 (KJV)
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 The prefix 'anti' means opposed, against. So we understand that Antichrist simply means something/somebody that opposes Christ.
A few crucial points from these verses
1. Antichrist was already in the world in the first century. John speaks of Antichrist as having come
2. Antichrist essentially is denial of the central claims of Jesus and Christianity. The first is reject Jesus' Messiah claims, the other one is denying Christ came in the flesh, or Jesus was fully human. And another still is denying his Sonship as Islam is fond of doing.
Looking at #2, it's quite possible to have some form of belief in Jesus and still be antiChrist. For instance, if you believe he was anything but a 100% man you would be a deceiver. If you believe in a historical Jesus, another Galilean but reject his Sonship, you'd be AntiChrist. And of course if you completely reject Jesus' historicity, you'd have rejected all his claims of Messiah and Sonship.
So when men are busy looking for AntiChrist in technology and such, they may miss the point. Secularism and atheism rejects all central tenets of Christianity. Some religions as mentioned above are quite clear in their opposition to Jesus' claims. Some liberal Christians are so irritated by the supernatural, they think Jesus was just another good guy,and that the miracles including his resurrection are embellishment of some ancient myths. These are AntiChrist.
In conclusion, before you look too far, ponder on your belief in Jesus. Does it match John's description of AntiChrist?
Have a Christ filled Lord's Day as we adore the root and offspring of David and the bright and morning star (Rev 22:16)
Topic: Let's Pray (Read 4952 times)