Automatic Transcript Generated:
Speaker 2
Which is related.
Speaker 1
Alright. So Barry is asking can the Antichrist be in the form of something other than human form?
Speaker 2
I love this question, Barry. That’s a really, really good question. And I think the answer might depend on what they mean by Antichrist. So it might depend. But let’s take a look where Antichrist the term really comes from. It comes from the letters by John, the Revelator. And so we start off in John. Sorry. First John not his gospel, but in his letter one John two, starting at verse 18. And maybe, Wendy, you would like to read that.
Speaker 1
We have it up here.
Speaker 2
One John 218 to 19, the little children.
Speaker 1
It is the last time. And as you have heard, that Antichrist shall come. Even now, are there many Antichrist whereby we know that it is the last time they went out from us, but they were not of us, or if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us.
Speaker 2
So he’s talking about Antichrist and was there even Antichrist in his time, or is he waiting for Antichrist to come.
Speaker 1
Saying that they are even in that time?
Speaker 2
Yeah. So he says you’ve heard Antichrist is coming. So there’s a future Antichrist. And it says even now there are many that have come. And he also says they went out from where verse 19 says they went out from us. So who would be that us? Who would John identify with and who is he writing to?
Speaker 1
Good question.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Basically the way out of a Christian entity.
Speaker 2
Right, exactly. So he’s talking about the Christian Church. So even within the Christian Church, we’re Antichrist. These people were coming out, they were Christians claiming to be Christians, acting like Christians, looking like Christians. But he says they were never of us. They’re not really Christians. So if they’re Christians, we’re talking about people Antichrist, very much people. And if we could go on to one John 222, couple verses, Ford, it says who is a liar, but he or she, let’s say, who denies that Jesus is the Christ. He is in a Christ that denies the Father and the Son, trying to say two different things. So he who first denies that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus was the Messiah, he who denies that Jesus came and fulfilled all those prophecies of the one who was to come, that person is Antichrist. And then he who denies the Father and the Son also is Antichrist. What does it mean to deny Father and the Son? Well, we could go on about that. Right. But whenever Jesus said, Anybody who denies me, I will deny someone who I would think about Peter, who denied Jesus, denied knowing Jesus, I’m not associated with them.
Speaker 2
So this could be people within the Church who really at the end of the day don’t really follow Jesus and the teachings of the Father and is going completely different direction. And so that’s going to be a theme that we’re going to hear about more. Let’s take a look at first, John four, first three. And this goes more to the question of can anybody other than a human be Antichrist? What does one John four three say?
Speaker 1
And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of Antichrist whereof Ye have heard that it should come. And even now already is it in the world here.
Speaker 2
Now John is using different language, right? He’s not just saying humans, he’s using the word maybe I’m wrong, but maybe this is also the chapter where John talks about testing the spirits. I think John’s here warning us that it might not just be people, but you also could have spirits that we communicate with. You might think they’re Angels. We might think there’s something else. But those two could also be either confessing that Jesus has come into flesh. But if they deny that, what does he say that is Antichrist, denying that Jesus came into flesh, that Jesus was a human being, he suffered like we suffered. And that’s an important point, because if you think Jesus didn’t come in the flesh, that Jesus was more or less just always 100% God as God, not to say he ever ceased to be God. What I’m saying is if he also did not fully take on humanity and experience what we experienced, there’s this argument out there that Satan could say, well, Jesus, you cheated. Of course, you could have lived the perfect life because you were God. You experienced this as God. And so it’s still impossible for humans to live a perfect life and to not sin.
Speaker 2
Jesus had to walk as a human being, go through all the temptations and struggles as we did, and do it in the flesh in order for that to really count. So it’s a very big, important doctrine. And to say Jesus. Yeah, it didn’t. Wow. So John saying that then I Christ.
Speaker 3
Just to kind of piggyback on that point. No, I totally agree with what you’re saying. And you’re talking about testing the spirits. And I think too, when the Bible talks about testing the spirits, it’s talking about testing the spirit in which doctrine is being said, is this from God’s spirit or is this from the spirit of the enemy? And I think that’s such a valid point, saying that Jesus Christ is coming the flesh, because if Jesus Christ is not coming the flesh, guess what? We have no hope of ever being able to be sinless. And it says in Jude, chapter one, verse 24 and 25, now unto him being God, who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory was exceeding joy. So basically it’s saying that God is able to present you faultless, you are able to overcome sin through Jesus. That is the point of the gospel. And the Bible warns us about another gospel, which is basically saying that you can sin and you’re just going to keep sinning until Jesus comes. And that is heresy. That is unbiblical. And I know that’s a huge lie that has come about in the Christian Church.
Speaker 3
Well, all these people, they’re struggling with sin and they’re not getting victory. It must be that they can’t get victory. And that’s basically saying, well, Jesus blood, there’s no power in it, and that’s not true. And so I totally agree with what you’re saying, that it’s so important that we understand that Jesus Christ is coming the flesh. And like it says in Hebrews 415, it says, for we have not high priest Jesus, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted, like, as we are yet without sin. So Jesus Christ was able to overcome all sin, all temptation, and yet he had no sin, and he lived that perfect life to be an example and to strengthen his brethren, which is you and me to be able to overcome sin. And I think that’s such an important piece of Christianity and knowing what it really means to follow Jesus. And obviously, I know you’re not going to just, oh, I said, Jesus, help me to stop sinning. And it’s like magic. You’re going to stop. No, you’re going to struggle. You’re going to struggle with sin until Jesus comes unsure.
Speaker 3
But it doesn’t mean you have to give in to sin. And the whole purpose of Jesus coming was to save us from our sins. Isn’t that Matthew, chapter one, verse 25? The angel tells Mary, you shall call his name Jesus, because he shall save his people from their sin, not in their sin, from their sin. That’s the whole purpose. Jesus’s name means savior. He’s saving us out of the terrible situation that we’re in anyways. That’s my two cent, when it comes to the Antichrist is you have to be very careful that you’re not basically saying, yeah, this gospel or this ideology of lasciviousness, the Bible calls it of just, yeah, you can just keep sinning and that’s fine. And God just keeps forgiving you. It doesn’t matter. That’s not true. And I know that we can still fall. Adjustment falls sometimes, but they get up again. They keep trying. Definitely. We have to be careful that we’re not letting those easy Christian doctrines that don’t come from Jesus, they come from the devil into our belief system, into our Church.
Speaker 2
Actually, that’s pretty huge. Yeah. If we think Jesus cheated and made it easy, then it gives us an excuse to think we get off easy in a sense. I mean, God makes it easy, but because he took it upon himself, he went through all this hard part, and that was great, Tina. Good clarification. And so, yeah, that’s very true. When we’re talking about the spirits. I think you’re right. That’s usually talking about that voice. Right. We were talking about earlier is the Holy Spirit, our mind. But no, it’s more the voice speaking to us. But there could be other voices also speaking to us. And how do we test whether it’s really God or not? And John’s giving us one of those tests and then let us come to second Corinthians 1113 to 14. I want to end on this because I think this is a really important thing to be mindful of.
Speaker 1
For such are false Apostles, deceitful workers transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ.
Speaker 2
Next verse, verse 14.
Speaker 1
And no Marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
Speaker 2
Paul here is talking about false Apostles. Where are those people located? Where do you find a false Apostle? Are they outside the Church?
Speaker 1
They wouldn’t be an Apostle if they were outside.
Speaker 2
Yeah, it was just interesting. There’s so many warnings about deception and falsity that comes within the Church. The New Testament is trying to warn us, Antichrist the deceptions. All these things are really within our Church. We’re not looking at Islam, we’re not looking at Buddhism. We’re not really necessarily need to be worried about the other religions. The real deceptions we need to be worried about are within Christianity itself, masquerading as Christianity. Paul, even Satan could appear and look like an angel of light. And if he did, will we know the Bible well enough to know that Satan, the father of all lies, the great deceiver? Will we be able to spot that?
Speaker 1
Yeah. I mean, we usually have a picture in our mind of Satan being this red horned devil or some kind of dark, evil looking creature. But yeah, the Bible doesn’t say that. It says that he is an angel of light.
Speaker 2
Or he could appear as that appears. If he was an angel of light, he could make himself look like it again.
Speaker 1
Right. What are we looking for? What are some of these key things then that help us distinguish that body of light from God as a body of light?
Speaker 2
Yeah. Tina would know the verse. Right. But to the law and the testimonies that which they not agree it is because there’s no light in them. Great. The law and the testimonies that’s the Bible, that’s our touchstone, our ruler, our method of being able to assess was right and wrong, because without that, you’re stuck like so many people today, struggling. What is truth? Do I believe this person, that person? Do I believe this agency or this person with a documentary? What’s truth? What’s not? You could go crazy. You don’t have to go crazy. You don’t have to be blown by every wind of doctrine because the Bible can be your anchor that holds you firm because you got the truth. And now anything that’s inconsistent with that now is Antichrist or Satan wherever you want to go with it. And talking about just finishing the thought we’re talking about so Satan himself could look like an angel of light. Let’s talk about Satan. Revelation twelve talks about this Dragon with seven headed Dragon and it says this is a serpent of old. That’s Satan. We come to revelation 13 and it talks about this beast that comes out of the sea and it has seven heads, ten horns, ten crowns.
Speaker 2
And it says, now this beast was like a leopard, bear, lion. This beast that comes out which is also referred to in the book of Daniel. Often this beast and the Horn that comes out of his head, one of them is referred to as Antichrist. So this is that Antichrist that John was saying is going to come. And we read in revelation 13. Two, if we could put that up, let’s read the last sentence. Revelation 13. Two, they have colon.
Speaker 1
And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard and his feet were as the feet of a bear and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the Dragon gave him his power and his feet and great authority.
Speaker 2
So where does this Antichrist, this entity gets its authority from the Dragon who is the devil? The devil. Yeah. So it all comes together. So there’s not much of a difference at the end of the day between whether it’s say to himself speaking or someone being motivated with false truth. I mean, call Antichrist whoever you want. The spirit do you want to call it the individuals affecting it? It’s all part of this Antichrist system, this Antichrist ideology. I guess maybe that’s better. Look and talk about Antichrist ideology really that we need to be mindful of. But this is going to tie into our last question, right? Maybe. Tina, this made your job a little bit easier. We touch on maybe a couple.
Speaker 3
Yeah, that was really great. And I think you’re spot on with saying anything that’s Antichrist is basically anything lies. Satan is the father of lies. That’s really kind of the basis of Antichrist. Anything Antichrist because Christ is truth. Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life. And so anything that’s false, anything that’s deceit is from Satan because he’s a liar and the father of life. So I think that’s definitely the contrast. And it always comes down to that controversy between Christ and the truth and the devil and lies. And so it’s really up to us to decide and discern is what I’m hearing the truth or is it not? And the only way we can know that for sure is by judging it by every word of God’s. God’s Holy word. The Bible. Just like you’re quoting Isaiah eight, verse 20.
Speaker 2
Oh, that’s a great recap.
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