Are we in the end times ?
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I respectfully disagree with you.
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.
Any one of these "little antichrists" will be glad to step into the position of "Big Antichrist" as soon as the Holy Spirit in the church is no longer in the world to put a stop to it.
My point is that we don't know if the Antichrist is alive on the earth today.
But as soon as the Holy Spirit leaves, taking the church with Him...that will create a vacuum that the person who was predestined to become the Antichrist will step into...of course the church will be taken out of the world at a particular point in history.
If the Holy Spirit were to be taken out earlier than the preordained time...I am speaking hypothetically...then the person who is predestined to become the Antichrist will not become the Antichrist...he will not yet have been born...but someone in this time, who has the spirit of antichrist, will step into that position.
My point to all of this being that the church must remain vigilant because we do not know who the real Antichrist will be...
For he will not be allowed to reign "until the power of the holy people has been scattered." (Daniel 12:7)
So, for those who believe that "the" Antichrist is alive today...that may or may not be true according to your theology...and we do not know the answer to this question...
Therefore let us accept the following exhortation in holy scripture.
Nah 2:1, He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
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.
Any one of these "little antichrists" will be glad to step into the position of "Big Antichrist" as soon as the Holy Spirit in the church is no longer in the world to put a stop to it.
My point is that we don't know if the Antichrist is alive on the earth today.
But as soon as the Holy Spirit leaves, taking the church with Him...that will create a vacuum that the person who was predestined to become the Antichrist will step into...of course the church will be taken out of the world at a particular point in history.
If the Holy Spirit were to be taken out earlier than the preordained time...I am speaking hypothetically...then the person who is predestined to become the Antichrist will not become the Antichrist...he will not yet have been born...but someone in this time, who has the spirit of antichrist, will step into that position.
My point to all of this being that the church must remain vigilant because we do not know who the real Antichrist will be...
For he will not be allowed to reign "until the power of the holy people has been scattered." (Daniel 12:7)
So, for those who believe that "the" Antichrist is alive today...that may or may not be true according to your theology...and we do not know the answer to this question...
Therefore let us accept the following exhortation in holy scripture.
Nah 2:1, He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.
There is only one Christ...that is, Jesus. And He is coming in the clouds...there will be no confusion.
There are many antichrists....those who have the spirit of Antichrist.
All of them have the potential of becoming the one Antichrist who will be coming, perhaps in 5 years, perhaps in 50 years, perhaps in 500 years, perhaps even longer.
I am contending in prayer for a longer church age.
There are many antichrists....those who have the spirit of Antichrist.
All of them have the potential of becoming the one Antichrist who will be coming, perhaps in 5 years, perhaps in 50 years, perhaps in 500 years, perhaps even longer.
I am contending in prayer for a longer church age.
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Yes and my point is that there is only one Revelation 13 Antichrist. It cannot be someone from some list of other antichrists as you claim. There are many antichrists but only one final one and who that is has been known by God for a long time.
The church age will never end. However, the Earth age shall end.
The church age will never end. However, the Earth age shall end.
And I think that you have entirely missed my point...
Which is that we do not know who the Antichrist is or will be...whether he is alive today or whether he will be alive 500 years from now...
My point is that it will take for the Holy Spirit in the church to be removed from the world for the vacuum to occur which will be filled by the Antichrist.
I think that we can agree that whoever the Antichrist is, he will be an antichrist (someone with the Antichrist spirit) before the church is removed and will become the Antichrist when the church is removed?
For only then will that person, whoever he is, have the opportunity to step into his position.
By the church age I mean the times of the Gentiles.
That time will surely come to an end (Luke 21:24).
Which is that we do not know who the Antichrist is or will be...whether he is alive today or whether he will be alive 500 years from now...
My point is that it will take for the Holy Spirit in the church to be removed from the world for the vacuum to occur which will be filled by the Antichrist.
I think that we can agree that whoever the Antichrist is, he will be an antichrist (someone with the Antichrist spirit) before the church is removed and will become the Antichrist when the church is removed?
For only then will that person, whoever he is, have the opportunity to step into his position.
By the church age I mean the times of the Gentiles.
That time will surely come to an end (Luke 21:24).
I don't think so.
The Antichrist is going to be satan's man...and I don't think that God has anything to do with making the Antichrist who he will be.
Most assuredly, God knows who he will be...but God isn't the one who made the decision as to who he will be.
The Antichrist is not called by God to be the Antichrist. His calling will be of satan, not God.
Whoever he is or will be, he is or will be someone who wants to be the Antichrist...he will be the Antichrist by his own choice; and his power to rule and reign will be given to him by satan.
But he will not be allowed to rule and reign "until the power of the holy people has been scattered" (Daniel 12:7).
The Antichrist is going to be satan's man...and I don't think that God has anything to do with making the Antichrist who he will be.
Most assuredly, God knows who he will be...but God isn't the one who made the decision as to who he will be.
The Antichrist is not called by God to be the Antichrist. His calling will be of satan, not God.
Whoever he is or will be, he is or will be someone who wants to be the Antichrist...he will be the Antichrist by his own choice; and his power to rule and reign will be given to him by satan.
But he will not be allowed to rule and reign "until the power of the holy people has been scattered" (Daniel 12:7).
No.
That would indicate that if the Antichrist doesn't want to be the Antichrist, then he would still have to fulfill that role or else he will be rebelling against the ordination of God.
Whoever he is or will be, he is going to be someone who wants to be the Antichrist...and he will not fulfill that role in obedience to the Lord. He will fulfill that role because that is what he wants to do.
It gets into deeper issues of whether God is the originator of sin.
Did God cause those who sin, to sin? How then can He rightly judge them since they did not have a choice in the matter but He is primarily responsible for their behaviour?
Do you see that the Antichrist will be the Antichrist by his own choice and that God is not responsible for his sin?
The rule and reign of the Antichrist is going to inherently be a rebellion against God...it is most certainly not of God.
That would indicate that if the Antichrist doesn't want to be the Antichrist, then he would still have to fulfill that role or else he will be rebelling against the ordination of God.
Whoever he is or will be, he is going to be someone who wants to be the Antichrist...and he will not fulfill that role in obedience to the Lord. He will fulfill that role because that is what he wants to do.
It gets into deeper issues of whether God is the originator of sin.
Did God cause those who sin, to sin? How then can He rightly judge them since they did not have a choice in the matter but He is primarily responsible for their behaviour?
Do you see that the Antichrist will be the Antichrist by his own choice and that God is not responsible for his sin?
The rule and reign of the Antichrist is going to inherently be a rebellion against God...it is most certainly not of God.
We have been living in the end times since the time of Christ -esp since his death and resurrection. Jesus is with the Father.
I am Amillennial which means we are already in the millennium. We have access to Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. We can commune with God whenever we want, and he will guide and direct us.
I am also a partial preterist, meaning I believe many of the prophecies were already fulfilled at the time of Christ, and in the generation after that! So many prophecies, like the burning down of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD when Titus and his men broke down the gates of the city. That was the beginning of the Disapora, which James refers to in the introduction of his book. But Jesus did not return then. That awaits a future time, when God has gathered all those who heard the gospel and believed, and followed him!
Everything totally changed when Jesus took our place on the cross, died for our sin, then showed the true power of God, when he raised him from the dead. That was the inauguration of the New Covenant.
Dispensationalism has been a blight on eschatology since it was invented by Darby & Scofield in the last 1800s. There absolutely is no rapture anywhere in the Bible. 1 Thess. 4:17 has been so badly translated as to make it impossible to interpret without a good knowledge of Koine Greek. Rapture, heaven, secret a- none of those words appear in that verse. I can exegete the Greek again and show you what it means, just ask! I took a course last week from a renowned NT Bible Scholar last week. His last talk was on "Dispensing with Dispensationalism!" He systematically went through the Greek in many passages and showed how wrongly translated dispensationalism is. In particular, he went through 1 Thess. 4:17, brought up every word in Greek and shows how it is not about a rapture, but the Second Coming of Christ. No secret rapture, just one return.
So are we living in the last days? Well we are living in expectation of the return of Christ to judge the living and the dead. That is the last days. But are we to live trying to figure out how every sign says Jesus is returning on x day, y month and a year? Never! We are to live in the presence of God, and stop trying to interpret the Bible like God was giving us little cues to interpret 2000 years later. No! Those were addressed to people living in the the time of Christ, and all the things that happened then. It is so egocentric to say any events happening today are for us living a comfortable and blessed life in North America! No, although we are following a God, that doesn't just focus on us, but his many mansions. No, I don't believe end times scenarios at all. We are only living in the end times as much as any believer has since the time of Christ.
I am Amillennial which means we are already in the millennium. We have access to Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. We can commune with God whenever we want, and he will guide and direct us.
I am also a partial preterist, meaning I believe many of the prophecies were already fulfilled at the time of Christ, and in the generation after that! So many prophecies, like the burning down of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD when Titus and his men broke down the gates of the city. That was the beginning of the Disapora, which James refers to in the introduction of his book. But Jesus did not return then. That awaits a future time, when God has gathered all those who heard the gospel and believed, and followed him!
Everything totally changed when Jesus took our place on the cross, died for our sin, then showed the true power of God, when he raised him from the dead. That was the inauguration of the New Covenant.
Dispensationalism has been a blight on eschatology since it was invented by Darby & Scofield in the last 1800s. There absolutely is no rapture anywhere in the Bible. 1 Thess. 4:17 has been so badly translated as to make it impossible to interpret without a good knowledge of Koine Greek. Rapture, heaven, secret a- none of those words appear in that verse. I can exegete the Greek again and show you what it means, just ask! I took a course last week from a renowned NT Bible Scholar last week. His last talk was on "Dispensing with Dispensationalism!" He systematically went through the Greek in many passages and showed how wrongly translated dispensationalism is. In particular, he went through 1 Thess. 4:17, brought up every word in Greek and shows how it is not about a rapture, but the Second Coming of Christ. No secret rapture, just one return.
So are we living in the last days? Well we are living in expectation of the return of Christ to judge the living and the dead. That is the last days. But are we to live trying to figure out how every sign says Jesus is returning on x day, y month and a year? Never! We are to live in the presence of God, and stop trying to interpret the Bible like God was giving us little cues to interpret 2000 years later. No! Those were addressed to people living in the the time of Christ, and all the things that happened then. It is so egocentric to say any events happening today are for us living a comfortable and blessed life in North America! No, although we are following a God, that doesn't just focus on us, but his many mansions. No, I don't believe end times scenarios at all. We are only living in the end times as much as any believer has since the time of Christ.
This sounds like it could confuse people. Since God knows all things, and the end from the beginning, He knows exactly who will be the Antichrist. The choice to be Satan's tool will be entirely of this Wicked One's. But just as Christ knew Judas Iscariot was "the son of perdition" and yet chose him, this man will not be a random antichrist. He will in fact be the Man of Sin the Son of Perdition because he made that choice of his own volition and God this know exactly (looking into the future).
And the Antichrist must be a renegade Jew (probably from Iraq since the Bible speaks of an ""Assyrian") so that he can not only fool the Jews, but enter the future temple as a Jew, claiming to be both Messiah and God. A third temple has already been planned for in Jerusalem, and is spoken of as a future reality by many Jews (including their present prime minister). Orthodox Jews are waiting for their "true" Messiah (since they have rejected Jesus of Nazareth). This is one of their fundamental tenets as Orthodox Jews. And the Antichrist will fulfill their wishes. The word "antichrist" means both opposed to Christ and in place of Christ. And since the Muslims are waiting for their Mahdi-Messiah, he may fulfil both roles, since he will be claiming to be God.
There are many from the Reformed school of theology (as well as Seventh Day Adventists) who claim that the papacy is the Antichrist. That is simply nonsensical. A future pope will probably be a staunch ally of the Antichrist, but there is no way that the papacy is the Antichrist [who is given total power on earth for only 42 months (3 1/2 years)]. And that power extends throughout the world because it is in fact Satan's power working through this man.
And the Antichrist must be a renegade Jew (probably from Iraq since the Bible speaks of an ""Assyrian") so that he can not only fool the Jews, but enter the future temple as a Jew, claiming to be both Messiah and God. A third temple has already been planned for in Jerusalem, and is spoken of as a future reality by many Jews (including their present prime minister). Orthodox Jews are waiting for their "true" Messiah (since they have rejected Jesus of Nazareth). This is one of their fundamental tenets as Orthodox Jews. And the Antichrist will fulfill their wishes. The word "antichrist" means both opposed to Christ and in place of Christ. And since the Muslims are waiting for their Mahdi-Messiah, he may fulfil both roles, since he will be claiming to be God.
There are many from the Reformed school of theology (as well as Seventh Day Adventists) who claim that the papacy is the Antichrist. That is simply nonsensical. A future pope will probably be a staunch ally of the Antichrist, but there is no way that the papacy is the Antichrist [who is given total power on earth for only 42 months (3 1/2 years)]. And that power extends throughout the world because it is in fact Satan's power working through this man.
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