THE COMING OF THE ANTICHRIST. HIS SCHEME, HIS PLOT, HIS PEOPLE As the culmination of spiritual wickedness spirals out of control; the Bible says a man called the antichrist will step on the stage of life. He is determined to bring a false sense of peace as the answer to the world’s dilemmas. What many will not know is; the same enemy, who attempts to bring peace to the world, is the same imposter who’s responsible for creating the chaos within the world. It is also good for us to understand; that although the antichrist as a physical presence has not yet made his entrance into society, his spiritual presence has been here for a very long time (2 Thess 2:2:7; 1Jn 4:1-3). The spirit of antichrist has been here since the very beginning. The entire function of this wicked spirit is to cultivate the hearts and minds of all people to comply with the antichrist when he appears. Nevertheless, before he can be accepted by society, his spirit must first convince society (2 Thess 2:7). Anything that promotes godly living and establishes holy standards must be brought down before his sinister scheme can climax. The spirit of antichrist has been doing this by spewing his web of worldwide demonic influence also known as the mystery of iniquity. “The mystery of iniquity” is the hidden work of Satan to turn every holy standard of God into an unholy thing. It is a spirit that’s at war with anything God centered; and will seek to tear it down by any means necessary. The reason why Paul called it the ‘mystery’ of iniquity is; its wickedness is deeply covert and is not discernable to the natural eye. This is Satan’s ultimate weapon; the one that he has been waiting for millenniums to release. It is his futile and suicidal attempt to make good on his proud words uttered at the Lord, “…I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isa 14:13,14). This will be Satan’s time to exploit his wickedness like no other generation has ever experienced it. This is Satan’s inner workings within the hearts of humanity deceptively making them tolerable for things unholy and restless and impatient with things godly. Satan’s entire operation is to ultimately turn the hearts of all people from God and unto himself. This is exactly what we see happening today. Paul states the motive behind the antichrist, his sole plan and purpose saying: 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, showing himself that he is God (2 Thess 2:4). Everything that the unsaved and sinful person loves will epitomize through the antichrist. He will state his plan, his vision, and his desire; and because the hearts of unregenerate mankind is set on complete independence from God, they will fall passionately in love with this man who “…opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped” (2 Thess 2:4). The antichrists entire vision is to exalt himself above God by opposing everything God represents. The word ‘opposes’ denotes ‘to lie opposite to, to be set over against’. This reveals that he will not remove the things of God, but will exalt himself above them. Like Jesus Christ (during His earthly ministry) exercised authority to truly define the Law of God (Matt 5:27, 28) and bring meaning and interpretation to it, the antichrist is going to think to do the same. He will exercise authority; not by changing what Jesus said, but by redefining what Jesus meant; and as a result deceives the masses. He will perform lying signs and wonders before the masses, and those who are not rooted and grounded in the truth of Christ will not stand a chance. He will not minister politics as we know it to gain control over the hearts of man; but rather he will minster deception directly into the already deceived hearts of man. As Hitler who through a series of speeches and a thriving economy gained entrance into the hearts of the Germans, even so shall the antichrist lead countless multitudes into an all-out and unrestrained rebellion against the God of heaven. 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 (2 Thess 2:6,7). The underlying wickedness of unrestrained immorality is working overtime to move from mystery into reality and gain complete access into the hearts and lives of all mankind. But Gods mercy is withholding its full manifestation until He (the Holy Spirit) be taken out of the way. Right now the Holy Spirit is striving with every man, women and child. He is pleading with the world and warning those within His church to stop living according to the dictates of their own hearts. This is why He is holding back the full plan of Satan from manifesting. This is Gods manifested mercy! Nevertheless, there is a time which is upon us when the Holy Spirit will no longer stand between disobedient mankind and Satan’s plan. He will cease striving with mankind. There will come a time when the Holy Spirit will cease warning unregenerate humanity and give them over to the desires of their own hearts. All who have refused to turn to God in full surrender will fully surrender to their own deceitful hearts. It is at this time many will become full blown children of the devil. And then shall that Wicked be revealed… 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 strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thess 2:8-12). Once the Lord removes the restraining power of the Holy Spirit, everyone who resisted Him (professing Christian or unsaved sinner) will no longer have God striving with them. In other words, the mercy which God sent by striving with them to repent and to obey the truth will not be present anymore. The removing of the Restrainer (the Holy Spirit) doesn’t mean that He will leave the earth. What it means is that His influence in the lives of those who continued to reject Him will suddenly cease. The warnings which are coming now, must be taken seriously now. When the Holy Spirits influence has ceased to strive against the rebellion of mankind, Satan’s influence will then epitomize in full. This is when the restraints of both the Holy Spirit and the conscience of man will no longer interfere with the desires of man’s heart. When Satan’s plan of unrestrained immorality climaxes, the unsaved will not only have spats of envy, jealousy, murder, pride and such like; but they will be filled to overflowing with these sins (Rom 1:28-32). It is then that the floodgates of the unregenerate heart will pour forth without restraints. A spirit of delusion will come like a blanket upon these individuals and they will believe the lie. They will believe that they have finally reached their desired end, to be God to themselves! A false peace will further seal and heighten the deception. This false peace comes as a direct result of the Holy Spirits loss of influence (conviction). Unsaved humanity will think to have finally reached a place where their hearts have always desired to take them; a place where they can do whatever it is they want without any intervention from the Lord. When they reach that climatic place in their lives, thats when sudden destruction will fall upon them, For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape (1 Thess 5:1). As believers in Christ living in this darkened time in history, we must guard against deception by embracing the truth of God. Embracing truth is not just knowing godly facts, but walking in the things the Lord has graciously entrusted to us. The scriptures are clear, if we keep the things the Lord has entrusted to us, those things will also keep us (Pro 2:10-12; 3:21-23; 4:4-6; 2 Pet 1:8). Be strong in the Lord and do not fear. We win in the end!
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 08:17:38 +0000
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