“Many shall come in My Name, saying, I am Christ … and many false prophets shall arise and deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5, 11)
The yuletide is my seminal season; that period of the year when I usually wax spiritual and philosophical. That is why today’s piece is a departure from politics and other passing worldly concerns. In this piece, I interrogate (with intent to explode) a long-held myth about one of the signs of the end times – the coming of the Anti-Christ. After reading this piece, some will choose to call me a bland Satanist, while others will prefer to be non-committal. To both schools of thought I say:” it is better to do the bidding of the Most High God, rather than those of mere mortals”. Please, read on!
Image: Benjamin A. Wendelboe via Flickr
When the words, “Battle of Armageddon”, number “666” and “Anti-Christ” are mentioned, a cold sensation usually runs through the spine. For many, these words conjure up striking pictures of some end of the world apocalypse. Some of these frightening images include fire, mass disorder, and Old Nick – the Devil – himself taking political control of the world through organizations such as the United Nations. Some of the major signs of the end times are the appearance of false Christ’s, false religions and New Age movements around the world proclaiming many ways to eternal life. Leading these new age movements are the many false prophets and leaders in “Christian” churches, such as the “Prosperity Gospel Preachers” and personalities such as Oprah Winfrey et al. Regrettably, multitudes have been unwittingly won over and misled by these false prophets.
Before continuing with this discourse, let’s define our operational concept – Anti-Christ. Who is an Anti-Christ? The Greek word from which our English word “Anti-Christ” is translated is very simple to understand. It is a simple compound word and means “Anti” + “Christ” = “antichrist”. We use the same compound word every day. We have people who are “anti-smoking” or “anti-gay” or “anti-hunting” or “anti-Semitic” or “anti-abortion”. There really is no big mystery as to what the word means. “Anti-Christ” is anyone who opposes Jesus, The Christ and His gospel.
A peep through the following biblical verses will help in throwing further light on who an Anti-Christ really is: 1 John 2:18-19 “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.” 1 John 2:22-23 “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses 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 from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” 2 John 1:7 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist.”
From the Bible we can clearly decipher 3 basic facts about the Anti-Christ: First, the “Anti-Christ” is defined as anyone who doesn’t believe Jesus is the divine son of God. Second, “Anti-Christs” appear to actively teach against Christ. Third, there were many “Anti-Christs” in the world when John wrote the book. This directly contradicts the teaching of modern pundits who say that one Anti-Christ will arise at some still future time.
Now, a juxtaposition of the biblical interpretation of who the Anti-Christ is, with unfolding realities in the contemporary world, will startle us into realizing that the Anti-Christ, that son of perdition, is already here with us. But contrary to commonsensical belief, the Anti-Christ is not just a single ethereal being, but a simulacrum of the multiple evil personalities controlling the affairs of the world through the human contrived system of global management. Unfortunately, some of these dark lords have infiltrated the body of Christ to wreck havoc from within; spooky characters whose arcane, inglorious and ungodly conducts have turned Christianity into a huge joke. There are so many ‘sheep in wolves clothing’ disguised as arrowheads of the Christian faith today; pulpit puppeteers who preach half-truths to lull the bewildered into following them into apostasy! Yes, this particular sign of the end times has certainly been fulfilled.
Anti-Christs include all apostate prophets of damnation masquerading as church leaders; the spirit mediums acting as agents of lights; the rebranded bible bearing tyrants hiding behind masks of righteousness; the uncouth shylock businessmen (and women) in cassock who have taken thievery to pernicious heights. They are the real Anti-Christs. They are the ones we ignorantly call the shepherds of the flock, but who are actually devil incarnates masquerading as angels of light; demon-possessed ogres dressed in the garbs of saints; blind herders leading the flock astray. Yes, the Church is full of these reprehensible characters…these blasphemous hawkers of salvation; these merchants of opiate whose infamies are as sacrilegious as they are damning.
In the book of 1st Timothy 4:1, Paul spoke prophetically about a time in the last days when false teachings will lead many astray: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” Paul warns us that at the end of the age inside the church there will be teachings of demons. That it will be extremely dangerous to believers who do not know the word correctly and do not watch what they are being taught.
The Devil has tailor made deceptions for every church; he knows their weaknesses and propensities to do wrong in certain areas. He will use whomever he can in whatever capacity he can to bring confusion, falsehoods and destruction. He is of high intelligence, power and
some people are deceived by not having the knowledge of the truth to discern what is being introduced as false, they do not care to hear a different view that may challenge them. How do you tell the difference? It is how they respond to the word. They will either ignore what the word says and continue listening to the false teacher of their liking and stay as willing subjects to be manipulated to their own destruction, or they will react by acknowledging they were wrong and repent, getting right with God.
Most of us have been socialized into believing that the Anti-Christ the bible speaks about is the legendary monster with two horns, red glowing eyes and a pitch fork. But contrary to folklore, Anti-Christs have no horns, red glowing eyes and pitch forks. Neither is the Anti-Christ some demon possessed super-intelligent human clone. Rather, the Anti-Christ is that sweet-looking, ever smiling, smooth-talking pastor in your church who openly teaches that heaven and hell exists on earth (or don’t exist at all). Most Christians are oblivious of the fact that the real enemies of the gospel are its supposed propagators. Anybody, group or organization that acts or propagates ideas that are contrary to the undiluted gospel of salvation, are enemies of Christ. Any taking away from – or addition to – the original teachings of Christ, is the work of Anti-Christs. Anybody who causes a falling away from the body of Christ is an Anti-Christ.
Any church leader who preaches earthly prosperity that leads nowhere, at the expense of spiritual prosperity that leads to eternal life, is an Anti-Christ. Preaching or Confessing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God does not literally make you pro-Christ. Being “Born Again” does not automatically transform you into a true follower of Christ, when you are not ready to leave your old ways behind. Casting out demons in the name of Jesus, does not make you his ally, when you don’t reflect His light in your daily conduct. While these are attributes of discipleship, they don’t detract from the fact that the conduct of some sanctimonious Christians are at best despicable, and that their claims to discipleship are born, not out of any form of loyalty to the Lord, but chiefly out of selfishness and greed.
Many self-appointed mouthpieces of Christ deny him through their evil conducts. These infidels don’t practice what they preach. They are hypocrites who love listening to their own blasphemies. When you listen to the teachings that are dished out in some of our worship centeres today, you wonder whether these are houses of God or positive thinking classes. Some of these tics have developed egos as large as cathedrals to the extent that they now equate themselves with the Most High Himself. They are 99% Religious and 1% spiritual; empty shells without substance; clanging cymbals whose heresies are taboos against the perfect standards of the Most High.
Brethren! The Antichrist is the ultimate embodiment of what it means to be against Christ. In these end times/last hour, men have already arisen who are opposing Christ and His true followers – overtly and covertly – more than at any time in recorded history. Claiming to be the true leaders of the church, these Anti-Christs are working towards controlling the whole body of Christ, with the sole motive of destroying all followers of the Lord by leading them astray. More churches of human contrivance are being established in contemporary times to deceive the flock. The mesmerizing False Prophets herding these whore houses are using great miracles (Rev. 13:13-14) to lead the world to worship the Beast as god (recall II Thes. 2:3; Rev. 16:13; 19:20)! The deceptions of these lieutenants of Lucifer, are so seductive, so convincing, so extensive, and so massive, that they have succeeded in deceiving mankind into opposing Jesus Christ as he prepares for His Second Coming (see Revelation 13:4; 16:9, 13-16 and 17:13-14.)
The spirit of Anti-Christ already blankets the world as mankind continues to rely on itself to bring world peace, justice and prosperity—denying the power of Christ and rejecting His help and rule in their lives. Paul wrote that in the perilous last days many would have “a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (II Tim. 3:1, 5)
There is no coming “clash between good and evil,” as so many envision about what lies ahead. The WHOLE WORLD is foretold in Revelation 16:14 to sell out to the antichrist, and only Christ’s “little flock”—His true Church—the one you have come in contact with—will not be deceived, and will be protected. I repeat yet again: There is a way of escape for those who diligently seek Him (Rev. 12:7-9, 13-16). Like actors on a stage, characters are quietly moving into their different positions. The seeds of events that will stagger the world have been sown. They will soon germinate!
I have made several impassioned, uncensored submissions on this page in the past, castigating the intransigencies of some of the leaders of the modern church. I have always resisted the urge to be economical with the truth in these submissions because of my conviction that only the truth can set us free. This piece was written in the same mold as the previous ones. I am urging all true adherents of the faith to ponder seriously on all the points so far raised in these discourses, together with other scathing attacks by other dispassionate writers against the intransigencies of the apostles of doom in our midst. They are life and death issues on which our very salvation depends.
May the Holy Spirit of the living God continue to enlighten and move us to start doing the right things in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen! MERRY CHRISTMAS in advance!
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Image: Benjamin A. Wendelboe via Flickr
