In this piece, we are going to be doing an expository study on what has been titled: The Revelation of the Antichrist. It is going to be an exposition and we are going to be considering some Scriptures. Who is the antichrist? What does the Bible say about the antichrist? These are the questions we are going to be examining as we progress further in this piece. Let us start our observation from the book of 1 John 2:18-23. 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…” There are two things I quickly want us to pay attention to in that verse. The first one is the phrase: “the Antichrist.” If you look at the word “Antichrist’ in that context, it begins with a capital letter ‘A’. So, that simply shows us that this antichrist we are talking about is a specific person, or a thing (a system) which shall be revealed. The definite article ‘the’ is usually used to refer to a specific person or thing.

 

If I say, for example, “the man is coming”, that means I am talking about a specific man. But if I say “a man is coming”, that means I am talking about any man out of a myriad of men. So, the Antichrist is a person or a thing (a system). So, if the Bible says “the Antichrist” is coming, it simply means that we are looking at a specific person or thing which is going to come. So, John said “you have heard that the Antichrist is coming” meaning that he has not come but he is coming.

 

The second thing I want us to pay attention to in that verse is the phrase: “even now many antichrists have come.” The word ‘antichrist’ in this second rendering is a small letter ‘a’ meaning that it is different from the first one that he mentioned. Meaning that although, the real deal may not have shown up, but there are trappings of it already around us. There are elements of the antichrist around in the body of Christ. It is like when they say “go and prepare the way for the Master.” It simply shows us that the master hasn’t come but there are people already preparing his way. For example, in Jesus’ case, He was supposed to come to the world but John the Baptist was sent to prepare His way.

 

So, the Antichrist have not come, but there are many antichrists and activities and people currently in the world that are preparing the way for the real thing to come. And in verse 19-22, John described further by saying:

 

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the son does not have the father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

 

Here, John is simply saying that anyone who denies the father and the son is antichrist. So, if you deny Christ Jesus, you have denied the Father as well, and you are an antichrist. And what John described here is actually a simple and plain English. If you are not for Christ, it simply means you are antichrist, not the real the Antichrist, but your activities and disposition simply shows that you don’t belong to Christ and I believe there are many of them in our world today.

 

In order to buttress this earlier point, John also wrote in the book of 1 John 4:1-3. It says:

 

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 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 is now already in the world.”

 

There is something fundamental in this place for our knowledge. Here, John is saying again that the spirit of the antichrist is already in the world (not the Antichrist but his spirit) and it is operating in those who are denying that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh or that God manifested in the flesh through Christ Jesus. 2 John 1:7 also says: “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, from all these writings of the apostle John, what exactly can we glean from them? Number one, John showed us that the antichrist is coming. Number two, even though the real Antichrist hasn’t come, the activities and the trappings of the antichrist is already in the world. He called it “the spirit of the antichrist.” Number three, John showed us that anyone who deny the father and the son is antichrist, not the Antichrist; meaning that they oppose everything that has to do with God and His son.

 

Now, let us look at the writing of the apostle Paul on the REVELATION OF THE LAWLESS MAN. It is going to buttress further everything that we have read in the writings of the apostle John. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10. The Bible says:

 

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, ² not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed (NIV, NLT & AMPC calls him: THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS), the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. ⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work...”

 

The mystery of lawlessness here corroborated what John wrote that the spirit of the Antichrist is already in operation even though the Antichrist himself have not been revealed. In the writings of Paul here, he said: the mystery of lawlessness is already at work but the lawless man have not been revealed. If you read the earlier verses, it says there is a restraining, something has not allowed him to be revealed yet, but his activities is already at work.

 

“...only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

 

So, in these verses of the Scripture that we just read, Paul made mention of the man of Sin or the Lawless man. WHO IS THE MAN OF SIN or THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS according to what we just read? Now, let me show us four things from those verses.

 

(1) The man of lawlessness is actually a man, a human being. He is not a demonic spirit, not Satan himself, and definitely not an angel. He calls him ‘the man’, he didn’t say ‘the angel of lawlessness or the demon of lawlessness’. So, the first thing we would see here is that the man of lawlessness that would be revealed is actually a man, and not a spirit.

 

(2) The man of lawlessness is the ANTICHRIST. How do we know this? Verse 4 shows us: who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. When the Antichrist is revealed, one of the things that is going to characterize his time and reign is that he will assume to be god, he would want to be worshipped and bowed to. So, the lawless man in that Scripture is actually the antichrist that John wrote about,

 

(3) The man of lawlessness is a destroyer. Verse 3 calls him: The Son of Perdition. What does perdition mean? Perdition has to do with destruction, something that destroys. That means he going to take his reference point from Satan and not from God or anything that has to do with God. John 10:10 says: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

 

(4) The man of lawlessness will operate by the power of Satan. Where exactly the Antichrist will get his power from is from Satan. He is not Satan himself, but he will get everything he will use to rule and reign in that period of time from Satan. Verse 9 says: The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” He will want to do everything trying to deceive people that he is actually god. You know, when you claim to be God, you want to do signs, wonders and all that God could also do. If you go back to the story of Egypt and the children of Israel, remember the Pharaoh guys were able to do the same things that Moses did, the only difference is the source of their powers. So, the antichrist would come with all sorts of powers from Satan so that people could believe and follow him.

 

WHEN WILL THE LAWLESS MAN BE REVEALED?

 

John said ‘he is coming’, right! So, when exactly will the lawless man, the  Antichrist be revealed? Now, let me show us a few things according to the Scripture. The Lawless man, THE ANTICHRIST will be revealed immediately after the saints of God are taken away from the scene (the earth) in an event known as the RAPTURE. That is when he will be revealed. Now, it is important we understand the difference between the rapture and the second coming of Christ because many times, the Christian folks confuse the two terminologies: Rapture and the Second coming of Christ.

 

Now, the rapture is not the second coming of Christ, the rapture is an event that precedes the second coming of Christ. When the rapture occurs, Jesus would appear in the cloud and receive the saints unto Himself. But the second coming of Christ would witness Christ coming to walk on the face of the earth once again. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8

 

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord!

 

This Scripture above describes the rapture. Now, somebody may be thinking: what exactly are we going to be doing with Christ Jesus in the clouds? That is exactly where Christ will give us our rewards. What you are doing in the body, this is when you will receive the reward. The judgment of the saints, the church will take place, whether you will be rewarded or not.

 

Let us look at 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8. Paul said: And you know what restrains him now... he is talking about the lawless man. What is restraining him, why has he not been revealed? Paul showed us. It says: And you know what restrains him now [from being revealed]; it is so that he will be revealed at his own [appointed] time... So, there is an appointed time that the man of sin, the lawless man, will be revealed. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness [rebellion against divine authority and the coming reign of lawlessness] is already at work; [but it is restrained] ... So, the antichrist has not been revealed because he is being restrained. There is something that is preventing from being revealed right now. So, what is restraining him and why has he not been revealed? It says: only until he who now restrains it is taken out of the way...  So, there is a being, a personality that is behind it that he has not been revealed yet. Otherwise, he would have been revealed.

 

But he has not been revealed because there is a spiritual restraining order on him. Even though, there are his minions, his activities are everywhere, but he himself has not been revealed because of a restraining order on him. You know, when the court places a restraining order on your properties, it simply means you cannot go near those properties. So, the antichrist has not been revealed because there is a spiritual restraining order, a spiritual injunction is restraining him. The moment that restraining order or injunction is removed, he will be revealed, at an appointed time, according to that Scripture.

 

⁸ Then the lawless one [the Antichrist] will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by the appearance of His coming. That question: Why has he not been revealed? Because a restraining is on. The moment that restraining is taking away after the rapture, the man of sin, the antichrist will swing into action. He will come out with full force. So, after the rapture, the ANTICHRIST will be revealed and his assignment would be to unite the whole world under his rulership, control and authority. Don’t forget where we read, he is coming to sit as god. He wants to be worshipped; he wants to be adored. He will put in place systems, he will put in place all manner of things that would make the whole world to bow to him, to revered him and to worship him.

 

Now, after the lawless man is revealed, the Bible showed us that what will follow his revealing is: THE GREAT TRIBULATION. The great tribulation according to the prophecy of Jesus Christ, would follow the event of the revelation of the antichrist. Now, the great tribulation is not the same thing as tribulation because if you read the Scripture that talks about the great tribulation, the Scripture uses the word “great” to qualify it. This particular part, I want us to pay attention because we are going to read the Bible so that we can understand it right now.

 

Believers, saints right now, we not be part of the great tribulation. There are many schools of thoughts on this subject matter of the great tribulation, but based on my studying and extensive reading of the Scriptures, the believers will not witness the great tribulation. There are other categories of tribulations that we are passing through right now. But the Bible was careful enough to show us that this particular tribulation that will follow immediately the man of sin is revealed, is great. As a believer right now, are you going through tribulation? The answer is, yes! Jesus said to us: In this world, you will have tribulation. So, we are currently going through tribulation, we face it every now and then, the devil is always after us. Many things are happening to believers right now across the world. Believers are being persecuted and killed after the order of the apostles.

 

But the great tribulation that will follow the activities of the antichrist, the Bible says will come upon the whole world. Let me show us the Scripture, Matthew 24:15-31, Jesus was the one that spoke about this and I am going to show us another Scripture in Revelation that reveals that shows us that you and I, the saints of God, will not be part of this great tribulation. Matthew 24 from verse 15, Jesus said:  

 

“Therefore, when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), ¹⁶ “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. ¹⁸ And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. ¹⁹ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

 

Meaning that there would have been other tribulations that would have been experienced before this one. But this is like the mother of all tribulations.

 

²² And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. ²³ “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

 

Somebody may be wondering, which elect again was He talking about? I thought the elect had been raptured and have escaped the great tribulation? The elect He is talking about in that context aren’t believers. Those ones would have gone with the rapture. The elect He is talking about are the Jews, the children of Israel and as many who do not believe and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour (Isaiah 65:8-9).

 

²⁵ See, I have told you beforehand. ²⁶ “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ²⁸ For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together. ²⁹ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

 

This even will actually mark the second coming of Christ physically on the earth. Why will the believers not take part in this event that we just read? Revelation 3:7-10 showed us. This is the revelation of John to the FAITHFUL CHURCH. Don’t forget that John wrote to seven churches in the book of Revelation, this particular one was written to the faithful church. Don’t forget you and I are the church right now and it will give you the confidence that we will not be part of the great tribulation. It says:

 

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things say He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: ⁸ “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, ^[f]and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹ Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. ¹² He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. ¹³ “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’

 

The point is exactly in verse ten: ¹⁰ Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Please, the great tribulation, is coming where? The Bible says upon the whole world. It says I will keep you from that hour. In other words, you will not witness it because you have been faithful.

 

WHAT MUST BE OUR ATTTITUDE AS BELIEVERS!

 

1Thessalonians 5:1-10 says:

 

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. ² For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. ³ For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. ⁴ But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵ You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. ⁶ Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. ⁸ But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. ⁹ For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁰ who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”

 

1. Don’t sleep as others do. This is not talking about the kind of sleep you sleep in the night. It is talking about spiritual death, don’t fall into spiritual death. Don’t be insensitive to God.

 

2. We must be watchful all the time. Don’t forget the Bible says we are soldiers. In the midst of it all, we must be watchful and pray.

 

3. Let us be sober. Don’t be arrogant. Don’t be full of yourself. Be sober.

 

4. We must put on the breastplate of faith and love. This should be our attitude.

 

5. We must stay true to the hope of our salvation. We must not lose our salvation and all that Christ came to do for us for our sake.

 

May God help us to stay till the end in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

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