As you may know by now, I have been trying to sound the warning to my brethren that the promised “rapture” of the church will be happening after the last tribulation period, and not before it. Satan has been promoting this lie of an unknowable, any-moment, pre-tribulation rapture as a groundwork to deceive the world into thinking that when the antichrist comes, that people will accept him as the Christ. Antichrist will come at just such a time as one might hope for the real Christ, with lying signs and wonders, and thereby deceive the world- AND the great majority of Christians.
My purpose in this article is not to again try and convince people about the Biblical timing of the end; that ground has already been covered in the blog, Rapture Readiness. You may also consult the King James Bible in Luke 17:26-37; I Thessalonians 4:15-5:10; II Thessalonians 2:1-12; and the book of Revelation 16:12- 19:15.
God has warned us heavily about the deceitful nature of these last days. In preparing his deception, Satan has greatly promoted a “pre-tribulation” view of the rapture, but he has also sought to destroy the Christian’s foundation of God’s Word, as there are now over 300 different Bible versions: all but the King James Bible sprang forth from the Bible revision efforts in about the last 30 years of the 1800s. This Bible revision has ultimately changed our view of scripture, so that it is now seldom really regarded as God’s word- it is simply the differing opinions of learned men. Christians seem to regard the Bible more as friendly advice than that of sure instruction. Sunday after Sunday, in church after church, passages from scripture are routinely being ripped apart and re-translated for the “benefit” of congregations. This Word of God issue is of the utmost importance, for by its testimony we are saved, and by it we will be able to discern and resist the antichrist. It is the criteria of God’s Word that I wish now to set before you, so that you will be able to distinguish the real Christ from the false one, and be eternally saved.
So this is the set-up that I see; World War III will hit, devastating the planet and killing billions. It will be from the ashes of this war that a cohesive world government will come openly into being. More importantly, the antichrist will come forward. I cannot say which of these two will come first, or if it will be simultaneous. But when the antichrist comes, he will not appear to be evil, but a savior! He will pose as the “Christ” for every religion, thereby uniting them. With the technology available, I believe it is possible that a FALSE 2nd coming of Christ will occur; each region of the earth seeing the “messiah” that they expect. This same technology may even produce for many an inner, audible voice that they believe to be God’s voice. I do not say that this will be, but it is a real possibility.
And then shall that 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. –II Thessalonians 2:8-10 (Bold type added to emphasize).
You can see why such a presentation would be nearly impossible to resist. Without good grounding in the Word of God, the Christian will have no foundation with which to weather the storm (Matthew 7:24-27). In uniting the world’s religions, the antichrist must say that all of them are acceptable, but also that all have gone astray from what he intended. For the Christian religion, the antichrist’s coming may be portrayed as a jump into the millennial reign of Jesus here on Earth. His coming, just after this terrible war, will seemingly be meant to save mankind from destroying himself. An undiscerning world will readily accept this “happy ending,” almost scripted from Hollywood! But it is just such a circumstance that God has warned us of in His Word…
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him…For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. II Corinthians 11:3,4, and 13-15.
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. –Galatians 1:6-8.
BELOVED, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. –I John 4:1.
Brethren, how will you fare in that evil day? The pre-tribulation rapture teaching, being far less harsh, is greatly preferred by most, I know- that’s why people won’t turn from it even when presented with the plain teaching of scripture. And when the antichrist comes, posing as God: using great signs & wonders, and bringing peace, things will look very good on the surface.
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. –John 7:24.
What follows next is a list of things to look for that can help you to distinguish between the antichrist and the real Jesus. All of this is Biblically based. I can’t even begin to know how the antichrist will handle the scriptures: some things he may claim to fulfill, other items he will no doubt refute as only the mistaken words of men. But if you can see some BIG discrepancies between the Bible, and the antichrist’s preaching and practices, you’ll know that something is amiss. With that in mind, please consider the following points;
1) Jesus is the only way. This has always been a main contention against Christianity; exclusiveness (John 14:6). Not only is Jesus the only way of salvation, but His is the only name to be saved by, as well (Acts 4:12). In trying to get along with others, many have taken up the false notion that all religions are the same. The antichrist will make such a claim! But Biblical Christianity clearly stands apart from all the rest- there could be no mistaking one for another.
2) The world will mourn. When the antichrist is revealed, there will be great joy (the world will not see him as evil, but as God); he will appear as an angel of light to save humanity, and bring peace to the Earth at long last. Daniel 8:25 & I Thessalonians 5:3 refer to the “peace” brought by the antichrist. The real Jesus, however, will cause mourning. This is largely because when He comes, everyone will realize that they have been duped by the antichrist.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. –Matthew 24:30.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. –Revelation 1:7.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? –Revelation 6:15-17.
3) Purpose of the mark of the beast. This is an important point, because the Bible not only refers to the mark of the beast (which can be on either a hand or the forehead), but it also says that God will seal His servants in their foreheads in several places. We find God’s “mark” mentioned in Ezekiel 9:4, Revelation7:3, & 22:4. These marks seem to be more of an invisible, or spiritual nature, with God seeing those that are His. The first two listed save the Lord’s own from wrath, and the third shows that we are His in eternity. The “mark of the beast” has a different purpose;
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. –Revelation 13:16&17.
The antichrist’s purpose is to denote those loyal to him, and to CONTROL their commerce: without being able to buy or sell, people can’t eat! The “beast” will seek to literally hold life or death in his hands. Does the God of the Bible do this? But note also that the scripture says he (the false prophet) causes (causeth) all to receive the mark, rather than caused, which would be past tense. The message is clear: the beast will not succeed in putting his mark upon all of humanity. Obviously, a few real Christians will be here until the rapture. After World War III, infrastructure will be down, and take some time to rebuild: technologically advanced nations will be able to recover more quickly. As the antichrist’s kingdom becomes more established, this “mark” will be set up, seemingly like a credit card account (no cash). But this one will require you to worship the beast.
Yet there is still some good news; I have seen nothing, Biblically, that says repentance will not be possible to those who have taken the mark. It’s true that almost no one will, but if you’ve taken the mark, and later become convinced of your error, there is hope.
4) An image of the beast. In Revelation 13:11-15 we read about the false prophet of the beast, and how he sets up an image of the beast to worship. This directly conflicts with God’s view on idols, as found in the 2nd commandment;
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. –Exodus 20:4-6.
5) Are all people good? One tenet of the “new age” faith of the antichrist is that all of mankind is really good, and a part of God. This is in sharp contrast to Biblical teaching! According to God, all men are sinners by nature: we are utterly separate from God. This is the very reason that Jesus came, and why we need the atonement for sin that He accomplished on the cross…
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. –Mark 10:18.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.-Romans 3:10-12.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. –Romans 7:18.
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. –I Timothy 1:15.
6) Sequence of events. As the antichrist comes to “save the world,” and to set up the millennial kingdom, this sequence of events should be troubling to professing Christians, even those of the pre-tribulation doctrine. There was supposed to be the rapture, the antichrist, and Armageddon coming before that! How this will be explained, if at all, is unknown. But to the church of the last days, which has so little faith in the Bible as God’s Word, it won’t be hard to get around it. I honestly believe that these days are also the famine of God’s Word, prophesied in Amos;
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. –Amos 8:11&12.
7) God gives us a choice. When it comes to repentance for sin, and trusting Christ for salvation, God does not force it upon us. The eternal destiny of our soul and spirit will be the reward or consequence for the choice made. Under the antichrist, there will ultimately be no choice- we must serve him, or die. We can see this in that he wants to control our buying and selling, and therefore would control even our food supply. How he will push his exclusive religion will probably not even seem to be hostile at first, but it will become increasingly so as time goes on. Even now, concentration camps and death camps have been set up across our country for this coming purge. There are six such camps in my state alone.
Contrast this behavior with that of Christianity (not Catholicism), where we are to love even our enemies! While we are instructed to share the truth with the unsaved, the acceptance or rejection of it is still their choice: we do not force it upon them.
But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. –Matthew 15:13&14.
Numerous other potential examples could be cited, but more specific points will only come to light when the antichrist (a.k.a. “the beast”) finally comes forth. Our best weapon, as Christians, is to study God’s Word, and take it to heart. If we can know God’s Word, then that which is contrary to it will usually set off a disturbance in our spirit, even before we know the particular area in which it has gone wrong.
Print a copy of this blog for future reference, and file it away safely. Study the Word, the King James Bible, and imbed it in your heart. Practice it. Preach it. Cling to it for your life. The time is at hand.
I CHARGE thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. –II Timothy 4:1-4.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. –Matthew 7:24-27.
And then shall that 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. –II Thessalonians 2:8-10 (Bold type added to emphasize).
You can see why such a presentation would be nearly impossible to resist. Without good grounding in the Word of God, the Christian will have no foundation with which to weather the storm (Matthew 7:24-27). In uniting the world’s religions, the antichrist must say that all of them are acceptable, but also that all have gone astray from what he intended. For the Christian religion, the antichrist’s coming may be portrayed as a jump into the millennial reign of Jesus here on Earth. His coming, just after this terrible war, will seemingly be meant to save mankind from destroying himself. An undiscerning world will readily accept this “happy ending,” almost scripted from Hollywood! But it is just such a circumstance that God has warned us of in His Word…
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him…For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. II Corinthians 11:3,4, and 13-15.
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. –Galatians 1:6-8.
BELOVED, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. –I John 4:1.
Brethren, how will you fare in that evil day? The pre-tribulation rapture teaching, being far less harsh, is greatly preferred by most, I know- that’s why people won’t turn from it even when presented with the plain teaching of scripture. And when the antichrist comes, posing as God: using great signs & wonders, and bringing peace, things will look very good on the surface.
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. –John 7:24.
What follows next is a list of things to look for that can help you to distinguish between the antichrist and the real Jesus. All of this is Biblically based. I can’t even begin to know how the antichrist will handle the scriptures: some things he may claim to fulfill, other items he will no doubt refute as only the mistaken words of men. But if you can see some BIG discrepancies between the Bible, and the antichrist’s preaching and practices, you’ll know that something is amiss. With that in mind, please consider the following points;
1) Jesus is the only way. This has always been a main contention against Christianity; exclusiveness (John 14:6). Not only is Jesus the only way of salvation, but His is the only name to be saved by, as well (Acts 4:12). In trying to get along with others, many have taken up the false notion that all religions are the same. The antichrist will make such a claim! But Biblical Christianity clearly stands apart from all the rest- there could be no mistaking one for another.
2) The world will mourn. When the antichrist is revealed, there will be great joy (the world will not see him as evil, but as God); he will appear as an angel of light to save humanity, and bring peace to the Earth at long last. Daniel 8:25 & I Thessalonians 5:3 refer to the “peace” brought by the antichrist. The real Jesus, however, will cause mourning. This is largely because when He comes, everyone will realize that they have been duped by the antichrist.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. –Matthew 24:30.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. –Revelation 1:7.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? –Revelation 6:15-17.
3) Purpose of the mark of the beast. This is an important point, because the Bible not only refers to the mark of the beast (which can be on either a hand or the forehead), but it also says that God will seal His servants in their foreheads in several places. We find God’s “mark” mentioned in Ezekiel 9:4, Revelation7:3, & 22:4. These marks seem to be more of an invisible, or spiritual nature, with God seeing those that are His. The first two listed save the Lord’s own from wrath, and the third shows that we are His in eternity. The “mark of the beast” has a different purpose;
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. –Revelation 13:16&17.
The antichrist’s purpose is to denote those loyal to him, and to CONTROL their commerce: without being able to buy or sell, people can’t eat! The “beast” will seek to literally hold life or death in his hands. Does the God of the Bible do this? But note also that the scripture says he (the false prophet) causes (causeth) all to receive the mark, rather than caused, which would be past tense. The message is clear: the beast will not succeed in putting his mark upon all of humanity. Obviously, a few real Christians will be here until the rapture. After World War III, infrastructure will be down, and take some time to rebuild: technologically advanced nations will be able to recover more quickly. As the antichrist’s kingdom becomes more established, this “mark” will be set up, seemingly like a credit card account (no cash). But this one will require you to worship the beast.
Yet there is still some good news; I have seen nothing, Biblically, that says repentance will not be possible to those who have taken the mark. It’s true that almost no one will, but if you’ve taken the mark, and later become convinced of your error, there is hope.
4) An image of the beast. In Revelation 13:11-15 we read about the false prophet of the beast, and how he sets up an image of the beast to worship. This directly conflicts with God’s view on idols, as found in the 2nd commandment;
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. –Exodus 20:4-6.
5) Are all people good? One tenet of the “new age” faith of the antichrist is that all of mankind is really good, and a part of God. This is in sharp contrast to Biblical teaching! According to God, all men are sinners by nature: we are utterly separate from God. This is the very reason that Jesus came, and why we need the atonement for sin that He accomplished on the cross…
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. –Mark 10:18.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.-Romans 3:10-12.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. –Romans 7:18.
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. –I Timothy 1:15.
6) Sequence of events. As the antichrist comes to “save the world,” and to set up the millennial kingdom, this sequence of events should be troubling to professing Christians, even those of the pre-tribulation doctrine. There was supposed to be the rapture, the antichrist, and Armageddon coming before that! How this will be explained, if at all, is unknown. But to the church of the last days, which has so little faith in the Bible as God’s Word, it won’t be hard to get around it. I honestly believe that these days are also the famine of God’s Word, prophesied in Amos;
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. –Amos 8:11&12.
7) God gives us a choice. When it comes to repentance for sin, and trusting Christ for salvation, God does not force it upon us. The eternal destiny of our soul and spirit will be the reward or consequence for the choice made. Under the antichrist, there will ultimately be no choice- we must serve him, or die. We can see this in that he wants to control our buying and selling, and therefore would control even our food supply. How he will push his exclusive religion will probably not even seem to be hostile at first, but it will become increasingly so as time goes on. Even now, concentration camps and death camps have been set up across our country for this coming purge. There are six such camps in my state alone.
Contrast this behavior with that of Christianity (not Catholicism), where we are to love even our enemies! While we are instructed to share the truth with the unsaved, the acceptance or rejection of it is still their choice: we do not force it upon them.
But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. –Matthew 15:13&14.
Numerous other potential examples could be cited, but more specific points will only come to light when the antichrist (a.k.a. “the beast”) finally comes forth. Our best weapon, as Christians, is to study God’s Word, and take it to heart. If we can know God’s Word, then that which is contrary to it will usually set off a disturbance in our spirit, even before we know the particular area in which it has gone wrong.
Print a copy of this blog for future reference, and file it away safely. Study the Word, the King James Bible, and imbed it in your heart. Practice it. Preach it. Cling to it for your life. The time is at hand.
I CHARGE thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. –II Timothy 4:1-4.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. –Matthew 7:24-27.
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