Jesus Is Coming Again
Chapter 12
Antichrist
This name introduces to us one of the most solemn and
foreboding subjects in the Word of God. An antichrist-
one absolutely opposed to Jesus Christ-we are told, shall
come. The spirit of antichrist is already in the world, denying the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, either in the
past or in the future.
This spirit of antichrist, now possessed by many, will
culminate in one person, the Antichrist, who will deny both
the Father and the Son.
That he is a single individual is plainly taught in 2
Thes. 2, where he is called "that. man of sin" . . . "the
son of perdition"-"that wicked," or properly, "the lawless one."
As Christ is the express image of God, so it appears
that antichrist is the culminating manifestation of Satan,
"the prince of this world." His coming is "after the
working ( energy, or inward working) of Satan, with all
power and signs and lying wonders and deceivableness of
unrighteousness."
He will be a "strong (or inward working) delusion;"
to them who believe not the truth.
This mystery of Lawlessness (so the Greek) already
worked in the days of the apostle, but there has been a
hindering power, which, we believe, is the Holy Spirit,
in His present manifestation, or office, viz.: as the reprover of the world and gatherer of the Church. When
He, the restraining one, is taken out of the way (or oui
of the midst), at the rapture of the Church, then shall the
mystery be unveiled, and the Lawless one be revealed.
(Verses 7 and 8).
He will be received, even by the Jews, who, having returned to their own land and rebuilt their temple, will
make a treaty with him, called by the prophet "a covenant
with death and an agreement with hell." And antichrist
will exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God
(the rebuilt temple at Jerusalem) and sheweth himself
that he is God. 2 Thes. 2 :4. Doubtless he is the king described in Dan. 11 :36, etc., who shall do according to his
own will and magnify himself above every god. Again,
he is seen as the beast described in Rev. 13:11-18 whose
number is the number of a man, 666, and who performs
"great wonders and deceiveth them that dwell upon the
earth," by means of his miracles, and has the power to
kill those who will not worship the image of the beast.
And again he is seen in Lucifer, or the day star, of Isa.
14,12 of whom the king of Babylon was a type, and who
weakens the nations, exalts his "throne above the stars of
God," and sits "upon the mount of the congregation."
Such, in brief, is the awful picture which Scripture gives
us of this great opponent of Christ. Many think that he
has already been manifested in Antiochus Epiphanes-or
the Popes of Rome-or Mohammed and his successors, all
of which we regard as erroneous. The Popes have received
their exaltation and power, as the pretended vicars of
Christ, and not as His opponent. It is a great mistake,
therefore, to call them the antichrist, or the opposing one.
Antiochus was doubtless a type of antichrist. And in his
opposition to the worship of Jehovah, his sacrifice of the
hated swine in the temple and his merciless treatment of
the Jews, he has given us a miniature picture of what the
final antichrist will do. But he passed away long before
Paul and John wrote of the antichrist to come. Likewise
Mohammed may be in some sense a type, but that is all.
No, antichrist is still in the future, and he will not be
manifested until the true Church has been taken away, at
the rapture, as described in 1 Thes. 4 For Paul says,
"We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him,"-
that is, by this very fact of the rapture, of which he had
previously written them, and which must first occur before the apostasy should come to the full, and the man of
sin be revealed. This is confirmed by verse 7. The Holy
Spirit, who, while he is gathering the Bride, reproves the
world of sin, righteousness and judgment, will, when he
is taken out of the way, catch up the Bride to meet the
Lord in the air, leaving the apostate church, adulterous
Israel and the ungodly world, to believe a lie, and then
shall the lawless one be revealed. Praise God, that the
Church is to be kept from this awful hour of temptation.
She shall be with her Lord while the world is ruled by
antichrist.
But, though antichrist shall so greatly exalt himself and
rule over the world with such power, yet "shall he come
to his end, and none shall help him." The Lord shall
destroy him "with the brightness of His coming," literally
"will paralyze (him) with the forthshining of His arrival", when He shall
come, with His saints, to execute judgment upon the un.
godly. Yes, he shall "be brought down to hell (sheol),
to the sides of the pit." They that see him shall narrowly
look upon him and consider him, saying, "is this THE MAN
that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the
cities thereof?" Isa. 14:15-17.
We would call special attention to the fact that antichrist
denies the Father and the Son, and that the Greek words
in 2 Thes. 2 :7-8 should be rendered "the mystery of lawlessness"-"the lawless one." This, we think, gives an
alarming significance to the atheistic and lawless trio of
socialism, nihilism and anarchy, so rapidly spreading in
our day, and which seeks to wipe out all law relating to
marriage, property, etc.
It may be that these are the immediate precursors of
antichrist. At any rate, he is surely coming, and sad indeed is the thought of a godless world, rushing on to such a culmination of evil.
