Antichrists

Many teach that "in the last days," one man called "the Antichrist" will gain control of the world. Jesus didn't warn people about "one man," but rather said, "... there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Mat.24:24). This is consistent with the apostle John, the only writer to use the word "antichrist;" and it only appears in the following verses, not in Revelation.

1Jo.2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists: whereby we know that it is the last time.

1Jo.2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

1Jo.4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

2Jo.:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

Notice in 1Jo.2:18 that "antichrists" is plural, which shows that there will not be just one big antichrist that deceives people, but MANY ANTICHRISTS. John wrote these scriptures in the first century A.D. In his time there were already MANY ANTICHRISTS! He was NOT prophesying about a time in the future, but even in the first century there were already MANY ANTICHRISTS.

The prefix "anti-" simply means "against;" and "Christ" comes from the Greek word "christos," which means "anointed." So an antichrist is simply one who fights against the anointing of God. For example: Act.4:26-27, "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou (God) hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together." (This is the fulfillment of Psa.2:2.)

Just as there is no need for antiaircraft missiles unless there are aircraft to fight against, neither is there a need for the spirit of antichrist to fight unless it has some spirit of christ to fight against. This is because when a person begins to get the spirit of christ (Rom.8:9) within his or her mind, the spirit of antichrist will always rise up to fight against it to try to stop it from growing.

Jesus began his anointed (Christ) ministry as recorded in Luk. 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." There are several scriptures to show the spirit of antichrist rising up in various people to fight against the anointing in Jesus and against, the anointing in his followers. Here is a list of some of these scriptures

Luk.4:28-29 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him (Jesus) out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

Mat.5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my (Christ's) sake.

Mar.3:6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him (Jesus), how they might destroy him.

Luk.5:30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?

Joh.13:18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He (Judas) that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.

Act. 7:54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him (Steven) with their teeth.

1Co.8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.

2Co.10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Gal.5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

1Ti.5:11 But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;

Heb.12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Jam.3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

1Pe.2:12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

3Jo.1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he (Diotrephes) doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

In 1Jo.2:22 John states, "He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son" and equates such a person with "a liar." One who denies the anointing power working through Christ is also fighting against the Father who gave Christ the words (Joh.7:16,14:10) and the power (Luk.4:18,32; Act.10:38) moving through the words.

Christ told Peter that he would deny him three times, but Peter had a spirit of antichrist that even denied that he would deny Christ (Mat.26:34,35). After he denied Christ three times, Peter wept bitterly (Mat.26:75). But Peter overcame the spirit of antichrist (1Jo.4:3,4) that had denied Christ and became a pillar of the first century church (Cephas: Gal.2:9).

In 1Jo.4:3, John mentions the "spirit of antichrist." It does not say 'spirit of an antichrist' or 'spirit of the antichrist,' but "spirit of antichrist." In this verse, John also says, "even now already is it (the spirit of antichrist) in the world." This is the same thing he said in 1Jo.2:18, "even now are there many antichrists" (first century A.D.). Jesus pointed out these evil spirits in his own disciples when they wanted to destroy a city: "But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of." (Luk. 9:55)

Jesus told his disciples, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Mat.18:3). Like Peter, Paul is another good Bible example of how someone can believe in God but have a spirit of antichrist working in him. As the Pharisee Saul working under the Moses law, Paul fought against the believers that had the spirit of Christ in them. Then his mind was converted (transformed) into the mind of Christ (Rom.12:2; 1Co.2:16). After his transformation, the spirit of antichrist in other people fought against the spirit of Christ in him. Notice in the following scriptures, Saul definitely had antichrist spirits.

Act.9:1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

Act.26:9-15 "I (Saul) verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities... went to Damascus ... saw in the way a light from heaven... And...heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying... Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest."

Once converted, Paul had the spirit of Christ (anointing) dwelling in him and the spirit of antichrist started rising up in the people to fight against it.

Act.13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.

Act.13:50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.

Act.16:22 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

Act.25:7 And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.

In 2Jo.:7, an antichrist is called a deceiver. During John's time, there were many who were teaching false doctrines, thus fighting against the anointing power of God working through Christ's teachings. Jesus had warned the people about false prophets calling them corrupt trees that bring forth evil fruit and preach "broad is the way." He said they will "come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." (Mat.7:17,13,15)

John warned about false prophets in 1Jo.4:1: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." The word "try" means to test, discern, or examine. He went on to explain that a spirit that confesses that Jesus is come in the flesh is of God; but a spirit of antichrist would not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh (v.2,3). These are two opposite spirits that speak out of people. In v.6 he calls them the "spirit of truth" and the "spirit of error." Discernment is given to discern spirits (1Co.12:10), and the word of God is a discerner of thoughts (Heb.4:12). Spirits are discerned and thoughts are discerned, so spirits are thoughts. "Try the spirits" means to examine (discern) thoughts to see whether they are the spirit of God (spirit of truth) or the spirit of antichrist (spirit of error). The so-called 'antichrist' is not just one big bad guy, but each one of us needs to discern the thoughts (spirits) in our own minds to see if they are what Christ taught or if they are against what Christ taught.

Jesus said, "...many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many" (Mat.24:5). These deceivers are saying that Jesus is the Christ, but then they proceed to teach something contrary to what Christ taught. They deceive people about what it takes to be saved, how Christ is going to return, the battle of Armageddon, what sin is and how to get rid of it, the New Testament requirement of perfection, etc. The deceivers have also been deceived by believing the falsehoods of their own teachers. The motives of false prophets are not being judged by this body of people; that is between them and God. Sincere people can mistakenly teach lies. The splits and divisions in so-called "Christianity" are not the single-mindedness of Christ (1Co.3:3; 1:10). They can't all be teaching Christ's true understanding because true understanding does not contradict itself. Therefore, there are many doctrines of devils to discern and resist (1Ti.4:1).

To Summarize:

1. "Antichrist" means against God's anointing spirit, whoever God may be moving it through.
2. The "spirit of antichrist" is the spirit of error (evil).
3. The spirit of antichrist was active in the 1st century fighting against the Christ growing in people's minds.
4. There were many antichrist spirits.
5. Antichrist spirits fight during the "last times."
6. Antichrist spirits are liars.
7. Antichrist spirits deny Jesus is the anointed Son of God.
8. Antichrist spirits deny the Father and the Son.
9. Antichrist spirits confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
10. Antichrist spirits are deceivers.

One other Bible word that conveys this same meaning is "enmity." Enmity means "hatred". The spirit of antichrist hates the spirit of christ within someone's mind, and the spirit of christ hates the spirit of antichrist.

Rom.8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Col.1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

Jam.4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

1Jo.3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.