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"Children it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they are not of us."
I John 2:18-19
The apostle John again, was warning the true Christians about these false teachers whom he called antichrist. "Anti" means "against" and to be "false" is to be "against the truth". He says that it is the "last hour" because the truth of Christianity was being strangled by these weeds or false teachers. John says that there were "many antichrists" and because of this they knew that it was the last hour of true Christianity. The field of the world was becoming overrun with these horrible destructive antichrist weeds!
One of the misconceptions of Christians today is the expectation of "An Anti-Christ". An individual who will, alone and by himself, arise and be "The Anti-Christ".
| The only place in the bible that uses the phrase "antichrist" is the first and second letters of John. No where else. The reason most people believe in this concept is because they misinterpret the prophecies and the words used, and as there was an individual who was "Christ", then there logically must be an individual who will be an "Anti-Christ". This might seem like the "logical" conclusion, but it is not in accord with what the bible teaches. |
| The apostle John teaches that
the "antichrist" was not any individual person,
but "many antichrists...", and not that the
antichrist will come in some not so distant future, but
that "many antichrists have come", meaning that
there were a lot of them and they were around at the time
the apostle John was alive, almost two thousand years
ago! |
| So, exactly who are these antichrists? John says that the antichrists, "went out from us, but they were not of us;" what does this mean? "went out from us" is describing how these people were among the ranks of the original true Christians, but they "went out" or became dissident to the teachings of the real form of Christianity and thus were not of the truth. These antichrists or antichristians fell away from the true Christian communities and began spreading their lies of deceitfulness. |
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day will 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 to be God. Remember ye not, that, when I was still with you I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall the wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie."
II Thessalonians 2:3-11 (KJV)
| What’s this? It says that God will send upon the people a strong delusion?! But think! This is also like the question in the parable of the weeds and the wheat, that is asked to the sower of the good seed by the servants, "then do you want us to go and gather them [the weeds]." And the reply is: "No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest;,,," Here the order is given to purposely allow these false teachers to remain in the world spreading their lies until the close of the age. But what is the lie that is being spread? |