https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/Antichrist.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tText: I John 2:18-29<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. A good mystery thrills many people. It stirs the imagination. It gives puzzles to work on.<\/p>\n A. Mysteries within the Bible are popular with false teachers because they can use\nthem as the launching point of all sorts of fanciful ideas.\n B. “Scripture teaches Antichrist to be a political, religious individual, yet to come in\nthe future (as of this writing), who is opposed to God and God’s Christ and God’s\nchurch.” Barry Gritters, “The Antichrist”, 2000\n C. “The appearing of the Antichrist is a most appalling and momentous subject, and in\nthe past, many well-meaning writers have deprived this impending event of much\nof its terror and meaning, by confusing some of the antichrists that have already\nappeared at various intervals on the stage of human history, with that mysterious\nbeing who will tower high above all the sons of Belial, being no less than Satan’’s\ncounterfeit and opposer of the Christ of God, who is infinitely exalted above all the\nsons of God. It promotes the interests of Satan to keep the world in ignorance of\nthe coming Super-man, and there can be no doubt that he is the one who is\nresponsible for the general neglect in the study of this subject, and the author, too,\nof the conflicting testimony which is being given out by those who speak and write\nconcerning it.” – Arthur W. Pink, “The Antichrist”, 1999\n
II. Who is the antichrist?<\/p>\n A. The word antichrist comes from a Greek word that means either “against Christ”\nor “substitute Christ”.\n 1. One dictionary describes it as a person who either claims to be Christ or is\nopposed to Christ.\n 2. Jesus used a similar word which is translated as “false Christs” in Mark\n13:21-23 in discussing the events leading up to the destruction of\nJerusalem.\n B. I John 2:18 shows it is not a single individual, but a classification of many\nindividuals.\n C. I John 2:18 also shows that the antichrists were already arriving, which matches\nJesus warning about the rise of false Christs before the destruction of Jerusalem.\n
D. Any person who is not with Christ is against Him – Matthew 12:30<\/p>\n
1. The apostles represent Christ – Luke 10:16<\/p>\n 2. One test is whether the person listens to the teachings of Christ – I John\n4:1, 6\n
3. Only by keeping the commandments can we know Christ – I John 2:3-6<\/p>\n
E. Anyone who loves this world is against God – James 4:4<\/p>\n
III. Spotting the antichrist<\/p>\n
A. Denies that Jesus is the Christ – I John 2:22-23<\/p>\n
1. It is a sure fact that God made Jesus the Christ – Acts 2:36<\/p>\n
2. Salvation in no other name – Acts 4:12<\/p>\n
3. Unless we believe, we will die in our sins – John 8:24<\/p>\n
B. Denies that Jesus is the Son of God (Deity) – I John 2:22-23<\/p>\n
1. Jesus was born of God – Luke 1:31-35<\/p>\n
2. Many testified to this fact – Matthew 16:16-17; 27:54; John 1:49; 20:28<\/p>\n
3. One day everyone will acknowledge this fact – Philippians 2:8-11<\/p>\n
C. Denies that Jesus came in the flesh – I John 4:1-3; II John 7<\/p>\n
1. Philippians 2:5-8 – God took on the form of man to die for man<\/p>\n
2. John 1:14 – God dwelt among us.<\/p>\n 3. It was denied because some thought that anything connected with this\nworld was sinful and God could not take on the aspect of sin.\n
4. But it was necessary for the rescue of mankind – Hebrews 2:14-18<\/p>\n
IV. Where do these people get such fanciful ideas about this evil superhuman?<\/p>\n
A. Daniel 7:7-8, 11-12<\/p>\n 1. The fourth beast is the Roman empire – not some yet to be future empire. –\nDaniel 7:23\n 2. Horns represent rulers and here we have a small ruler who gains the\nappearance of greatness by its great boasts.- Daniel 7:24\n 3. This king will persecute the church, but will eventually be destroyed –\nDaniel 7:25-27\n 4. Basically this is a prophecy about the fall of the Roman Empire which\nwould occur after it persecuted the church.\n 5. While you can say that the king is an antichrist, we are talking about a past\nevent, not a future one.\n
B. II Thessalonians 2:3-10<\/p>\n
1. A religious leader who exalts himself above every idol – II Thessalonians 2:4<\/p>\n
2. Sits in the temple of God, pretending to be God<\/p>\n
3. It had already started – II Thessalonians 2:7<\/p>\n 4. Many see this fulfilled in the Catholic popes, but I know of nothing that\ncalls the Vatican the temple of God.\n 5. The Roman emperors set themselves up as gods and demanded the people\nworship them.\n 6. The signs of the persecution was already beginning in Paul’s day. In fact,\nPaul died in the first wave of persecution conducted by Nero.\n 7. It was the Roman emperors who defiled the temple and destroyed\nJerusalem.\n 8. Again, these men would be antichrists, but we are talking about a past\nevent.\n
C. Revelation 13<\/p>\n
1. Actually two beasts are described. <\/p>\n
a. One is the political arm of the Roman Empire<\/p>\n
b. The other is the religious arm that supported the politics of Rome.<\/p>\n 2. Revelation was something that would soon happen – Revelation 1:1-3;\n22:6-7\n
V. What does it mean for us?<\/p>\n
A. There have been antichrists since the foundation of Christianity. <\/p>\n
B. They will remain until Christ returns to put an end to all lawlessness<\/p>\n
C. Will you be persuaded by such men? Do you love the truth?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Text: I John 2:18-29 I. A good mystery thrills many people. It stirs the imagination. It gives puzzles to work on. A. Mysteries within the Bible are popular with false teachers because they can use them as the launching point of all sorts of fanciful ideas. B. “Scripture teaches Antichrist to be a political, religious individual, yet…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[868],"class_list":["post-7836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-antichrist"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58460,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/origin-and-meaning-of-antichrist\/","url_meta":{"origin":7836,"position":0},"title":"Origin and Meaning of Antichrist","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 25, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Garreth L. Clair The English word\u00a0Antichrist is taken from the Greek \u1f00\u03bd\u03c4\u03af\u03c7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 (ant\u00edkhristos), which literally means\u00a0\"instead of Christ\". The words \"Antichrist\" and \"Antichrists\" appear only five times in the Bible - in two of the Apostle John's three letters in the New Testament, I John and II John: Who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7833,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/he-is-antichrist\/","url_meta":{"origin":7836,"position":1},"title":"He Is Antichrist","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton Few words bring to mind such fear as those who look for an \u201cAntichrist\u201d to lead the forces of Satan against the Son of God in a great apocalyptic conflagration in the final days. The dramatists of the left behind religions of our day predict the terrible\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/antichrist.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27618,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-dont-understand-the-antichrist-is-coming\/","url_meta":{"origin":7836,"position":2},"title":"You don’t understand. The antichrist is coming!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My Friend, I think you better do some further research on your position. The son of perdition is the coming antichrist. You seem to be a little uneducated on current world affairs. This is but a taste of what you need to look into- The EU, Tony Blair, Javier\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19425,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-all-prominent-theologians-saying-obama-is-the-antichrist\/","url_meta":{"origin":7836,"position":3},"title":"Are all prominent theologians saying Obama is the antichrist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was just talking to a friend of mine (who also happens to believe in UFO's) saying that Obama is the antichrist and going on and on with all these flimsy arguments. He claims that all these prominent theologians are all saying the same thing. Is this true? What\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31828,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-man-of-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":7836,"position":4},"title":"The Man of Sin","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Thessalonians 2:1-12 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Have you noticed that when little is said on a particular topic that it generates more discussion than when much is said? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Of course, when little is said the range of possibilities is wide open. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It generates strong opinions (not truths,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7828,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-believe-in-regards-to-premillennial-and-dispensational-theories\/","url_meta":{"origin":7836,"position":5},"title":"What do you believe in regards to premillennial and dispensational theories?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just came across an article on your website that talked about premillennialism. Current events seem to have got them talking. Basically, I'd like to ask you several questions about premillennial and dispensational theories that these people believe. Do current events in the Middle East, particularly those between Israel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7836\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}