History has never been more ripe for the appearance of the antichrist.

But the most sure and holy way to make sense of who the antichrist is is by setting our gaze on Y’shua Christ (Colossians 3:1). The antichrist will be His dark opposite;

a.) seeking his own glory (John 8:50),

b.) breathing contra Sermon on the Mount threats (Matthew 5:3-12),

c.) doing his supernatural best to keep humanity from taking up their cross (Luke 9:23-24; Matthew 16:23),

d.) The religious pharisees and scribes will hail him (John 6:41-71),

e.) He will promise humanity bread (Matthew 4:3), security (Matthew 4:6) and glory (Matthew 4:9) just like he did our older Brother,

f.) He will arise to public acclaim (Luke 23:21); in response to humanity’s cry for a king Barabbas (John 6:14-15),

g.) and in turn he will feed on the praise of men (John 5:41),

h.) Whereas Jesus’ anointing is of the Father (Psalm 2:6-7) the antichrist’s anointing will come from the world and from men,

i.) His heart will wholly be antithetical to the ways of the Father (John 14:9 and 1 John 2:15-16).

Beloved. It is vital that in all our ways we give ourselves to beholding Jesus so that we may understand the heart of the Father. This is our one and true source of strength and wisdom in this hour. The rest will be apparent to us.

JSB • October, 2021

Here are two articles and a reprint of a third article about the antichrist that I posted exactly one year ago today (October 19, 2020)

FIRST ARTICLE

(Proverbs 16:18) tells us that “pride goes before destruction…” but most often, pride and destruction arrive together in an unholy, catalytic mixture.

Our culture is currently being torn between millions rising up to burn the civic and economic systems down, and millions who are rising up to take a wrecking ball to deep state and conspiratorial world orders. BOTH are looking for special exemptions from the Sermon on the Mount.

Beloved, we’re being primed.

In the heat of the chaos, and the emboldening of self, the earth has never been more ripe for the ascendancy of the anti-Christ. Nor has it been more stirred with an anti-Christ-spirit (which I believe is laden with the anti-beatitudes) to hail his dominion. We dare not be deceived that the factions of the devil would rise against each other. The kingdom of satan, though united in its destructive purpose is administrated through perpetual chaos, fear, deceit, prideful intimidation and hostility. Both factions (yea, other factions as well) will promise economic peace, or peace that comes through command, or a peace that comes through a new social order, but in the end, the spirit itself (in apposition to Jesus’ leadership of love) can only produce the fruit of compounding destruction.

“Now when they are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

This anti-Christ spirit is a spirit that entices both the “haves”, and the “wanna haves”.

“Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” (1 Timothy 6:9)

It will also be a “contra-Christ” spirit endorsed by the “prophets” who refuse to advocate first-commandment cross-bearing as the way of Christ.

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber..” (2 Peter 2:1-3)

Although each faction vows the destruction of the enemies that oppose their order of peace, the end of both is borne from the same animating principality that is fomenting their rise in this hour: “destruction”.

“They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon (the destroyer).” (Revelation 9:11)

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)

Beloved, there’s no other way. The day is far spent. We may have a willing rhetoric, but our flesh is indeed very weak. We cannot afford to let our eyes wander to the left, to the right, or be closed in slumber. This is the hour to watch Him and pray with Him.

“Could you not stay awake with Me for one hour?” – Jesus (Matthew 26:40)

ARTICLE TWO

“When the wicked come against me to eat up my flesh… though an army may encamp against me… though war may rise against me…” (Psalm 27:2,3)

One of the key objectives of the “enemy” is to foment soul-destroying attitudes in our emotions and relationships. At the end of the age, he will raise up the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:2) – a real man – who will massively foment these destructive attitudes in humanity across the earth. By nature, these unrighteous attitudes will have the power to “war” against our “heart and flesh”, and grow stronger and stronger within us, so that they actually corrupt and “devour” our soul.

These attitudes (listed in the graphic above) will be the mirror opposites of those that Jesus blessed in the beatitudes. What’s more, these issues are deeply deeply engrained in our culture (meaning, we’ve become blind to them, and accept them and reenforce them as our social status-quo) – and they are mounting all the stronger…

It’s so vital that the redeemed learn to let the Holy Spirit guard their hearts against these attitudes today. We need the “light” (Psalm 27:1) of the Lord to illuminate us so we can agree with where HE sees them, and how He wants to “save” (Psalm 27:1) and “strengthen” us (Psalm 27:1) against these wicked (Psalm 27:2) attitudes growing in our hearts.

Being “saved” from these destructive heart-attitudes won’t just happen to us in our casual, on-the-run, Christian lives. This is why it’s SO critical that we be people of “one thing” (Psalm 27:4) who see the great value in seeking His Face (Psalm 27:8) in this hour.

We need to immobilize our fearful and restless hearts, posture ourselves before the Lord, and let Him shine His light upon us so He may graciously remove these cancerous attitudes from within us.

If I let the Holy Spirit identify the anti-Christ ways within me, I will have no need to fear an anti-Christ in the world. If I give myself to identifying all the clues about the anti-Christ in the Word and the world, thinking my detective skills will keep me safe from the power of anti-Christ, but give no vigilance to that which is anti-Christ within me, well……we don’t wanna be that guy.

THIRD ARTICLE

What I’m learning through the last few weeks of turbulence and prayer is that even more important than furtive signs that point to the identity of the “anti-christ” (1 Thessalonians 2:8-9), are the character traits of the many “anti-christs” that (1 John 2:18) tells us have already gone out into the world.

If “Christ’s” character was/is marked with the beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-12, it stands to reason that the character of the “anti-christ” (as well as the anti-christ spirit ref. 1 John 4:1-6) will be marked by the opposite of Jesus’ heart attitudes:

If Jesus is marked by Poverty of spirit Antichrist is marked by Narcissism & Pride

If Jesus is marked by Meekness Antichrist is marked by a Ruthless, Self-determination spirit

If Jesus is marked by Compassion Antichrist is marked by Bloodlust, revenge & retaliation

If Jesus is marked by Righteousness Antichrist is marked by Sinful Appetite

If Jesus is marked by Mercy Antichrist is marked by Acrimony and Condemnation

If Jesus is marked by Purity of Heart Antichrist is marked by Defilement

If Jesus is marked by Peacemaking Antichrist is marked by Hostile Alienation

These anti-qualities should tell our evangelical family more about the identity of “anti-christ”, (and all that we should steadfastly identify as hostile to the glory and reign of our Lord) than any speculative event.

“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that theAntichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18)