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Messages From |
In order to understand the subject one must first understand that "the antichrist" is not a person! In fact the phrase "the antichrist" does not appear anywhere in scripture. The word "antichrist appears five times in scripture, and only in the books of First and Second John. Contrary to popular belief, antichrist is neither connected to the book of Revelation or to the number 666. They have nothing to do with what we are talking about.
The word comes from the Greek antichristos and literally means "against Christ." John gives a very good definition of who is antichrist:
"And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this it that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world," (1 John 4:3)
The passage does not focus on some singular historical personage. It is the attitude a person - any person -- has toward Christ that will determine if he is antichrist or not.
For those who are looking for the antichrist to be some ominous individual coming in the future to form a new world order, a little more Bible and a little less Hollywood will help. The Scriptures paint a very plain picture:
"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" (1 John 2:18
For those looking to the future for an antichrist, the Bible plainly says that even in John's day there were many antichrists! The fact that antichrists were present in John's time rules out the notion that "the antichrist" is yet to come.
The amount of error surrounding this subject is another clear indicator of how people reach conclusions on Bible subjects with little or no knowledge of what the Scriptures actually say. The truth is easily understood if- if we simply stick to the inspired world as our source and avoid the foolish conjecture of men.
