Antichrists and THE Antichrist
(topical)
1. We were all shocked to hear of the horrible massacre at a Colorado movie theater.
2. I don’t know if violence is growing, but it seems to be. If it things continue to deteriorate, society will probably surrender some of our freedoms for security. This will create an impetus for stronger government control.
3. Europe already has a common currency, and is moving toward a common bank.
4. All of this may have nothing to do with end time prophecy; but it might.
5. The Scriptures are clear that a world ruler will one day arise who will unite mankind; we call this man the Antichrist.
6. In Jewish literature, the Antichrist was sometimes referred to as Belial. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, “in Jewish circles in the pre-Christian period the expectation was prevalent of the appearance of Belial (one of Satan’s lieutenants) if not of Satan himself; and that his activity was imagined as being almost identical with that expected of the Antichrist in Thessalonians.”
7. In Jewish literature after the time of Jesus, the Antichrist is given a number of names, like Haramlet, Tarmila, and Armilus. “They call him Armilus….[he will] say to them, “I am your Messiah, I am your god!” And he will mislead them and they will instantly believe in him.” [T’fillat R. Shim’on ben Yohai, BhM [Bet haMidrash] 4:124-126]
7. Indeed, the theme of the antichrist has tendrils throughout the OT as well as the New.
Main Idea: Many people have set themselves up in direct opposition to Christ, but the most successful opponent is yet to come.
I. The General PRINCIPLE of Antichrists
A. FALSE Messiahs
Mark 13:22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
Luke 21:8 And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.
B. Overt DENIERS and Deceivers
2 John 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist.
1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
1 John 2:22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
C. False PROPHETS within the Church
1 John 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
Application: False teachings abound: atheism, JW’s, New Age, Neo-Paganism; within Judaism, Jews started to think the Messiah appeared repeatedly in various incarnations
II. Prefigures of THE Antichrist
A. The Pattern of MULTIPLE fulfillment
1. Virgin Birth
2. Coming of Jesus Christ
3. Joel’s Locust Plague and the Day of the Lord
4. Pentecost and the Tribulation (Acts 2)
5. Psalm 2, Solomon and the Messiah
6. Jerusalem’s temple destroyed twice on the same day (9th of Av)
B. The FINAL fulfillment is the most literal one
C. EXAMPLES
1. Nimrod
2. Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 11)
3. Judas Iscariot
John 17:12, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction…”
4. Titus who destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD
III. The Antichrist of the TRIBULATION
A. A SMOOTH talker (Daniel 7:8, the “little horn”)
B. Probably ITALIAN leader of the revived Roman Empire (Daniel 9:26)
C. Will control the world ECONOMY (Revelation 13)
D. God will send a spirit of DELUSION as an act of judgment (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12)
E. Will commit the ABOMINATION of Desolation (Daniel 9:27, 12:11-13)
F. Will persecute CHRISTIANS (Daniel 7 and Revelation 13)
G. Will be judged at Jesus’ RETURN to earth (I Thessalonians 2:8)
H. Is the antichrist alive TODAY?
• I have a friend who is sure the antichrist is Romano Prodi.
Application: There are many ways to oppose Jesus Christ. One way is to be complacent, to be uninvolved. There is an ultimate choice: to be with him or, in some way at least, against him.
CONCLUSION
Perhaps you are living your life for yourself; perhaps you even profess to be saved. But are you diving in with both feet? Soldiers who are AWOL during a war are not aligned with the enemy, but they are not for their own country, either. Some of you are probably AWOL.
You are absent from Bible study w/out leave. You are absent from prayer w/out leave. You are absent from church w/out leave. You are absent from seeking opportunities to share Christ w/out leave. Sometimes we are all AWOL.
Others of you have never enlisted as part of our Lord’s army.
Zechariah 11:17, “Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded!”
Daniel 7:8, “I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.”
Daniel 11:21, “In his place shall arise a contemptible person to whom royal majesty has not been given. He shall come in without warning and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.”
Daniel 11:37, “ He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or to the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all.”
2 Thessalonians 2:4, “Who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?”
Revelation 13:1-8
“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?’”
And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.”
Revelation 13:16-17, “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.”
Revelation 17:8, “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.”
Revelation 19:20, “And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.”
