Since I was a young child, I’ve heard a great many things about “The
Antichrist.” Everyone from Hitler to Atilla to Stalin has been accused
of being “The Antichrist.” I can remember when Ronald Reagan was
running for President. I was a very young boy and my friends were convinced,
and had convinced me, that Ronald Reagan was “The Antichrist,” and
that if he won the race, we would all be doomed. I must admit, I was “scared
to death.” Each time there is a tumult in the Mid-East, or another part
of the world, someone is accused of being “The Antichrist.” When
the Gulf War began, several books were published by religionists on the Revelation
of the Bible. Saddam Hussein, of course, was portrayed as “The Antichrist,”
and thousands of people in our great nation were terrified.
After reading some of these books, these “Bible teachers” would
have us believe that the Antichrist was mentioned on every page of the book
of Revelation. The truth of the matter is, the word “antichrist”
isn’t even found one time in the book of Revelation. You can read it for
yourself and see that this is true. In fact, the word “antichrist”
is found only FOUR times in the entire New Testament. It is found three times
in John’s first epistle, and once in his second epistle. Allow me to quote
the references so that you can learn some facts for yourself about what the
Bible teaches about “The Antichrist.”
1 John 2:18-19 "Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that
the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know
that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for
if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out
that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”
1 John 2:22-23 "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does
not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”
1 John 4:2-3 "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does
not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this
is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now
already in the world."
2 John 1:7 "For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not
confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist."
Notice that an antichrist is defined as one who denies that Jesus was the Christ.
Secondly, there were many antichrists living on the earth when John wrote those
words almost two thousand years ago. This contradicts the teaching that there
is only one “Antichrist,” and that he is someone who will appear
in future events. An antichrist is anyone who opposes Christ in any way. The
word’s definition is: “Anti” meaning “against,”
and “Christ,” meaning “Christ.” Against Christ! Even
modern day Jews are antichrists because they clearly deny that Jesus was the
Christ. Ever since Christ lived, there have been many antichrists, and sadly,
there shall be many more. Don’t you be one!
By Michael Pickford
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