After the supposed rapture on the earth,
and during these seven years of tribulation,
several things are supposedly going to happen.
First of all, they would tell us that the Jews will return to Jerusalem and Israel,
and the Old Testament temple will be rebuilt.
Now that's supposedly going to take place during the first three and a half years.
Secondly, they say that there will arise a powerful world ruler that
they identify as the Anti-Christ.
He is supposed to be a powerful political personality,
perhaps a dictator of world influence.
They say he will
make a dramatic appearance in history.
Well, this Anti-Christ
is going to make a covenant with the Jews to guarantee their safety.
But after three and a half years,
the Anti-Christ will be revealed for who he truly is, and then he will begin
to persecute believers in Christ.
He will break his covenant with Israel.
Then the Anti-Christ will enthrone himself in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem
and he will demand to be worshipped as a God.
Now, they would say that anyone who is converted during this period
will be persecuted severely.
In fact, they would say these converts,
they would refer to them as "tribulation saints."
Now, they link that back to the discussion of
the Great Tribulation.
Now, I want to mention to you
every verse in the Bible that mentions the Anti-Christ or an Anti-Christ.
First, there are none in the Old Testament.
Secondly, there are none in the book of Revelation
Now, you might be surprised to hear that, since you hear so much talk
about the Anti-Christ and Revelation.
Actually, there are only four passages in the Bible that mention
the Anti-Christ or an Anti-Christ.
They're all in the New Testament,
and they are all in the epistles of John.
Here they are.
Number 1: I John 2:18.
The Bible says,
"Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that
the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come,
by which we know that it is the last hour."
The second passage is I John 2:22.
It says, "Who is a liar but he
who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son."
The third passage is I John 4:3,
"and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is not of God.
And this is the spirit
of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming,
and now is already in the world."
Here's the fouth passage - it is II John 7
"For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess
Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.
This is a deceiver and an antichrist."
Now, we understand that if any passage of scripture
is going to be properly understood, it needs to be studied in its context.
Because if you pull it out of its context, you can make
it say nearly anything you want it to say.
So, what is the message in these two epistles, that we have referenced -
all of these passages - have come from?
What is the message of John?
Well, John was living in Ephesus and he was concerned about a problem
that had arisen in that area.
The problem was that some people were apparently
teaching that Christ did not come to this earth in the flesh, and in so doing
they were denying that he was the Messiah.
They apparently believed that matter was impure
and so they refused to believe that Christ had taken on the form of human flesh.
Now, John, by inspiration, calls these people: Liars - I John 2:22.
False Prophets - I John 4:1.
Deceivers - II John 7.
And Antichrists - I John 4:3.
Now friends, that doesn't sound anything like what you've been hearing
today about the Antichrist, does it?
Now, let me point out one more important fact here.
In I John 2:18, John said, "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard
that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come,
by which we know it is the last hour.
And so, John did not even remotely have the idea in his mind
that some world ruler would come in the future,
thousands of years later, who would be the Antichrist.
John said that there were false teachers, and he said
there were many of them, and that they existed even in his day
and that they were antichrists.