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ANTIXPICTOC In lesson one of this topic we learned from the Bible and history that the doctrine of "a future antichrist" arose due to a period of conflict between Protestant Europe and Papal Rome. Although there never was any solid Biblical ground which endorses the teaching of "a coming personal antichrist", there are still those who isolate certain Bible verses in trying to support this doctrine. Any doctrine can be invented by verse picking. Some correctly call it "one verse Christianity". In applying such a premise we could, for example, argue in support of cigarette smoking for women. In Genesis 24:64 we read, "And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, SHE LIGHTED OFF THE CAMEL." How many endless Bible study gatherings do we spend in debating whether this cigarette was a filtered or non filtered Camel? The same silliness is debated among Christians trying to discover exactly who the antichrist is and if "he" is among us at the present. If Christians would get out of the Baal (Lord) churches and begin obeying the laws of their Heavenly Father they would immediately see that antichrist (the world system) will persecute them as it has persecuted real Christians for thousands of years. "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." IITimothy 3:12, also see Lu 14:26,27 Joh 15:19-21 16:2,33 17:14 Ac 14:22 1Co 15:19. If one is sitting around all comfy cozy not having any conflict with family, friends, or the state, concerning their faith then something is wrong with their spiritual position. We're not talking about being argumentative with people, but if you obey God's laws you will definitely rub those of the world system the wrong way. One Bible section used by the "personal antichrist" promoters is that of II Thessalonians 2:3,4 "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." Yet something much more than one single man has to be the focal point of what antichrist is. If it IS only an individual man then we would have to stay within that parameter within the Bible and conclude that Judas is the antichrist because in John 17:12 we read that Jesus uses that title ("son of perdition") to describe Judas who betrayed Him. However, since Judas died and "the antichrist" is to be with us in the last of the last days, it is obvious that the Scriptural antichrist is more than simply Judas. Judas was AN antichrist among many "antichrists" (as John mentions in I Jn.2:18) which make up THE antichrist. It matters not that the antichrist system is personalized by John the Apostle as a "he" or "the son of perdition". This method of allegory is used quite often by those men who wrote the Scriptures as a way of drawing the reader into a more personal level of how events will affect individual believers. We see this as well with the description of "Mystery Babylon" the religious/economic system of evil that has engulfed the world. In Revelation chapter 17 this system is described as an individual "her", as a "whore", and as "a mother of harlots". We would not think to organize a massive world wide search party to find this individual woman who is causing so much trouble. All Bible students know that "she" is actually a system of ungodly influence among the nations. Yet when it comes to "the antichrist" all reasonable thinking is discarded and people want to find a dracula type of person in order to either kill him or get as far away from him as possible! In reality, Mystery Babylon and "antichrist" are one and the same entity seen from two different symbolic Biblical approaches. Furthermore, the belief that II Thess.2:3 says that antichrist is coming in the future is in error. Let's read it again: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" This verse has been misread to mean "antichrist will appear soon". However, Paul says here that this "man of sin" will be REVEALED, not "appear" suddenly on the scene. "Revealed" does not mean "appear". The word for "revealed" here is the Greek word ap-ok-al-oop'-to (Strong's Greek ref.#601) It's definition is: 1) to uncover, lay open what has been veiled or covered up; 1a) disclose, make bare; 2) to make known, make manifest, disclose what before was unknown. When something has been revealed it is something which had been with us quite some time, yet hidden from our understanding and awareness. With the explosion of the Israel Kingdom message all across America beginning in the 1970's there has come a tidal wave of information from many independent ministries on just who the modern day money changers are (The houses of Rothschild, Kuhn-Loeb, Warburg, etc. world bankers) and how they work with their denominational "Christian" bedfellows to destroy God's laws in America. (I.E. preachers teaching "Christ has done away with The Law"; "The Law has been nailed to the cross"; etc.) In this regard we have witnessed the antichrist system (the man of sin) exposed for all to see as never before. For anyone seeking the truth as to what is going on in the world of economic/religious manipulation, there is plenty of information "out there". Only those who do not want to hear or see the truth now remain in darkness where world events are concerned. The "man of sin" has today definitely been revealed, and "he" has been with us since the days that Christ drove them out of the temple. This "man of sin" is a combined economic/religious system today promoting a government of a New World Order by which their elite rulers will attempt to control the planet. (Of course, they are doomed to failure as they are trying to dethrone Jesus Christ as King of Kings) Continuing on, let's read II Thessalonians 2:4 again: "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." The Futurists are waiting for the arrival of a personal antichrist who supposedly will soon make his appearance and build a throne in Old Jerusalem from where he will become dictator of the world. Nonsense and unscriptural! The Bible clearly teaches that the present Temple of God is within the body of Christ's believers. 1 Corinthians 3:16 "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" 2 Corinthians 6:16 "And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" The antichrist brags that "he" will sit in the temple and declare that "he" is God. We must remember that John told us that antichrist is "many"( I John 2:18) and that Christ said in Matthew 24:5, "For many will come in my name, saying I (meaning Himself) am Christ, and shall deceive many." In other words they would appear as "professing Christians" yet would actually be deceivers. So we note that the antichrist would even invade the "temple of God" (Christianity) and fool a large number of people. How can this be, one may ask? It's rather easy to grasp if we just stay within the Scriptures to define the characteristics of the antichrist instead of being persuaded to look for the Hollywood movie screen antichrist. So let's continue once again with II Thessalonians chapter 2: 4 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (emphasis added) 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." The emphasis is added to verse 7 above because that is the key characteristic Paul uses to describe this enemy of The Almighty. The antichrist operates by "the mystery of iniquity" and this is how we may identify "him". The Greek word translated "iniquity" in verse 7 is the word an-om-ee'-ah (Strong's Greek ref.#468) and it is defined as: 1) the condition of without law 1a) because ignorant of it 1b) because of violating it. 2) contempt and violation of law, iniquity, wickedness The Bible says that antichrist operates on a system that both promotes ignorance of and violation of God's Law. The Bible expressly states that antichrist will invade Christianity, the Temple of God; and will be right inside the Temple itself. Do we know of any movement or group of people within the body of believers of Christ who teach that "God's Law is no longer in affect", that "Christ nailed the law to the cross", and that "they are New Testament Christians who do not need to learn or obey God's Laws for family and nation as given to Moses"? If so we have found an arm of The Antichrist of the Bible, revealed by the Scriptures themselves, which inform us that "antichrist" embodies a hidden system of lawlessness (that is "the mystery of iniquity") Of the Biblical laws for the nation contained in the Old Testament found in the judgments, statutes, commandments, and ordinances -- only the ordinances (the animal altar sacrifices) were done away with by the New Testament in Christ. (see Hebrews ch.9 & 10) [All the other divine laws given for our own good, including but not limited to, the prohibition of eating pigs and other unclean meat, the warning against an interest bearing money system, forbidding of making treaties with the heathen nations, prohibiting of race mixing/prostitution/sodomy, desecrating the Sabbaths of rest, following after pagan holidays such as Christmas and Easter, defiling the Name of Yahweh in calling Him the heathen god "Lord" (Baal), working the ground to exhaustion agriculturally without letting it go fallow each 7th year, and many more, are still in effect! Violation of these righteous laws is defined in the NEW TESTAMENT AS SIN! (I John 3:4)] "The Antichrist" is collectively a world system comprised of non-Christians and "Christians" alike; which system operates within governments, finance, religions, even extending inside "the church" (the Temple) for the purpose of eliminating God's Laws from the Earth. Contrary to this anti-law movement Jesus (Yahshua) Himself declared that he did not do away with God's laws: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." (Matthew 5:17) Simply because He fulfilled the promises concerning the arrival of the Messiah was no reason to suggest that He would do away with God's laws. Paul confirmed this when he stated: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." (Romans 3:31) Our eternal salvation is secured by faith in the blood of Christ, and of course the law could never achieve that salvation (Eph.2:8). However, the blessings and curses for our nation and our families still follow the law. (Ecc.12:13; Mat.5:19; Rev.14:12) Violate one of God's laws and we can each expect to pay the price. Violate the whole lot of them and the nation will be destroyed. Obey them and receive blessings galore! Finally, Paul adds that that the particular evil wrought by the "man of sin" (antichrist) in II Thessalonians is that of "unrighteousness"(2:10) which the Bible further defines as opposition to God's Laws: "And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" (Deut.4:8) "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." (Psalm 119:142) "Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law." (Psalms 119:53) The Psalmist, if he would have been writing in the New Testament, could have also stated without losing any Biblical meaning, "Horror hath taken hold upon me because of "the antichrist". It is the horror of what happens to a nation of people who lose their freedom and liberty because of not obeying God's laws. They become easy prey for the wicked and become enslaved under a system of tyranny and cruelty. Yet with all that the Bible tells us about the "Antichrist", the churches have turned Americans away from God's Laws and looking for their own "horror show type of antichrist" that will never appear because he only exists in the pulpit message of the Sunday preacher and on the silver screen. May Yahweh's judgment rest upon those who have used false doctrine to direct Christian America away from His Laws! BACK
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