What do we know about the end time? I mean really know about them? Actually a lot by what the Bible tells us.
The Bible says in 2 Thes 2:3-4: “Let no one deceive you in any way (any way!!!). For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son, of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every s0-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
The spirit of the antichrist which is a satanic empowered opposition to God Almighty, and all God has accomplished through Jesus. (Read 1 John 2:18)
This satanic being we understand to be the antichrist will be represented in a bodily form as a very influential, international leader. He is going to be very persuasive and although he is of the devil…people will believe him because they have been deceived. This person will engineer Satan’s final attempt to overthrow Christ, his work, and his followers before Christ returns to establish His kingdom on earth for the last thousand years of time as we know it. (Read Rev 19-20)
In the Bible Paul uses a couple of terms for the antichrist: “the man of lawlessness, and the son of destruction.” (Read 2 Thes 2:3) Some other terms are also used in the Bible such as: “the beast rising out of the sea” (Read Rev 13:1-10), “a scarlet beast” (Read Rev 17:3) and “the beast” (Read Rev 17:8, 16, 19:19, 20:10)
So what are some of the signs of the antichrist coming? Unlike the rapture, the coming of the antichrist will not be without warning, for there has been great talk about the antichrist, but more will be told as well. Several signs will point to his appearance and his rise to power.
There has (not maybe) to be at least three events that needs to occur before he appears on this earth:
- The mystery of lawlessness which is already at work in the world and note this…it will greatly increase. If we are honest and look around we see so much lawlessness our minds can hardly contain it all. (Read 2 Thess 2:7)
- The rebellion must come (Read 2:3)
- He who now restrains it must be taken out of the way (Read 2:7)
There is a mystery going on regarding lawlessness. It is what is going on behind the scenes. It is the activity of evil and it will go on increasing and increasing until it reaches the climax.
Evil will increase more and more and with it complete ridicule, rejection, and rebellion against the very standards and the commands of the Bible. (Stop….read that again, and now look around at what you are seeing in America and around the world)
Because of what is happening in the world and the evil growing larger and larger the spirit of rebellion and lawlessness means that large numbers of people will lose any sense of true love and compassion. (Read Matthew 24:10-12, Luke 18:8) Yet there will always be a remnant church of Almighty God no matter what is going on in this world. There will always be people who will not bow to the devil and evil and stand firm on the word of God. Many will remain faithful to God Almighty no matter what is going on. (Read Matthew 24:13, 25:10, Luke 18:7) It is through the faithful people who love God, truth, and stand firm in their faith that we will withstand the very forces of evil and we will use thw sword of the Spirit…the very word of God to fight. God is our weapon (See Ephesians 6:11)
The rebellion (GK. Postasia) means the departure, the falling away, the abandonment…and this will occur. Think on this: It is said that in the last days, many people who had walked with God will walk away. They will abandon biblical truth and reject faith in God/Jesus. Paul and Jesus painted a dark picture of the condition of man and the visible church as the church comes to a close. “Read matt 24:5, 10-13, 24, 1 Tim 4:1, 2 Time 4:3-4) These things will be greatly evident: moral degeneration, spiritual loss, doctrinally they will leave the truth for a lie and for a deception. Corruption will be all around us and it will be found even in the church which will be invaded by the wolf and many immoral things will be taught as truth. True foundational truths will be covered over with the lies of satans and declared that sin is now okay and that God is okay with it all. No, God is not okay with any sin! The church will be invaded by evil and many within the church will think what they are doing is okay.
For many in the church, there will be theological apostasy…spiritual rebellion, and faithlessness, and people will turn away from part or all of the teachings of God Almighty. (Read 1 Tim 4:1, 2 Tim 4:3)
There will be false teachers wiggling their way into the church. Maybe they sound good, look good, and tickle your ears to tell you what you want to hear…but not the truth because to know the truth should mean that you need to change something in your life.
These so-called false teachers will offer you salvation and cheap grace without true devotion to Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. They will claim that people can be spiritually saved even though they sin, or even reject Jesus. After all…the Bible to these false teachers is nothing but a fairy tale they tell the people and is outdated and things need to be changed. GOD DOESN’T CHANGE! Repentance and confession will be outdated to them and the people will no longer turn from evil and sin, nor will they surrender to God. (Read 2 Pet 2:1-3, 12-19)
There will be offered false hope that the person has been deceived by. The love for Christ and pleasing Him will stop for these people because they will be so tied into the lies they can’t, nor want to, see the truth any longer. False centers on human desire, activities, and goals of self-interest will be everywhere. (Read 2 Tim 4:3-4)
There will be immorality off the charts and God’s moral law and standards will be rejected and replaced with out and out lies and evil. These people might believe they have a relationship with God while all the time if they are living like this…that relationship is severed. People who have abandoned God’s ways and are want to remain living in sin and believing it is okay now, are so much deceived that they can’t and don’t want to believe the truth. They claim to believe the right things, and to accept the Bible’s teaching, yet they reject and replace whatever they don’t want to believe or go along with. They corrupt the truth and embrace lies and deceptions. (Read Isa 29:13, Matt 23:25-28)
Listen up people: A church which as the wolf/false teachers in it will tolerate almost anything for the sake of attendance, money, success, and honor. (Read1 Tim 4:1)
The true measure of Christ with its call to suffer (Read Phil 1:29) to radically renounce sin (Read Rom 8:13) to sacrifice for God’s kingdom and to deny one’s own selfish way will be more unpopular than ever. (Read Matt 24:12, 2 Tim 3:1-5, 4:3)
Both the history of the church and the predicted end-time rebellion within the church should challenge all followers of Christ not to be naïve. However, know this that in these last days at some point in this time the rebellion against God and His Word will reach an unimaginable level. The day of the Lord will bring wrath as never seen before. God’s anger is totally justified and He is the judge. Punishment will come to all who reject Jesus no matter who they are, how rich they are, how famous they are, the color of their skin tone, where they live, and so on. Doesn’t matter how good you think you are or someone is…that is not the criteria for getting into heaven. The only way to heaven is if Jesus is your Lord and Savior…not just in saying it…but in living it.
Pay attention here…no matter what you think of God…God’s plan will go on, His purposes in the world will happen, and God will prevail over all things. God’s judgment of mankind is fair…in fact, He is the only fair judge ever. (Read Rev 19-22, 2 Thess 2:7-8, 1 Tim 4:1, 2 pet 3:10-13, and the book of Jude)
There is a final and indisputable event that must occur before the man of lawlessness can be revealed and the day of the Lord begins (Read 2 Thes 2:2-3, 1 Thes 5:2), note on the day of the Lord…that event involves the taking out of the way of someone (Read 2 Thes 2:7)or something that currently holds back, or restrains the secret power of lawlessness and man of lawlessness (Read 2:3-6)When the restraining influence is taken out of the way the day of te Lord can begin (Read 2 Thess 2:6-7)
God is the one who restrains it. He alone has the power to hold back evil, the man of lawlessness and satan.(Read Thess 2:9)
At the beginning of the final seven years of tribulation, the restraining influence of God’s Spirit will be lifted, or taken out of the way. This does not mean that the Holy Spirit is taken out of the world completely, but that He will cease to exercise his restraining influence against the lawlessness and the antichrist’s rise to power. All of God’s restraints against sin will be removed and the satanically-inspired rebellion will begin. However, the Holy Spirit will still remain on earth during the tribulation to expose people’s sins and convince them of their need for God because without the Spirit’s enablement and life-renewing power, no one could be saved. (Read John 3:6, 16:7-8, Titus 3:5)The Spirit will enable those who show faith in God to turn from their own way and to follow Him, and the Spirit will empower those who choose to follow Christ during this time of widespread suffering and persecution. (Read Rev 7:9, 11:1-11, 14:6-7)As God removes the restraining influence, the man of lawlessness then come on the scene.
The rapture is when Christ returns to take His faithful followers, both those who have already died and those who are still living, out of the world before He unleashed His end-time judgments on the earth (Read 1 Thes 1:10, 4:17)Following this event, the dreaded day of the Lord begins(Read 1 Thess 5:2)and the man of lawlessness will be revealed.
The antichrists’ activities are as the day of the Lord begins (Read 1 Thess 5:2) the man of lawlessness is revealed. He will be a world ruler who will make a covenant/treaty, a formal agreement with Israel (Read Dan 9:27)seven years before the end of the age (i.e. when Christ will literally return to earth to destroy the wicked and reign on earth). His true identity will be confirmed three and one-half years later as he breaks his covenant with Israel, becomes the world ruler, declares himself to be God, defiles the temple in Jerusalem, forbids the worship of the Lord (Read 2 Thess 2:4, 8-9) and brings devastation to the land of that region (Read Dan 9:27)
The antichrist will declare himself to be God and will become a ruthless dictator, severely persecuting those who turn to and remain loyal to Christ during this time (Read Rev 11:6-7, 13:7, 15-18, Dan 7:8, 24-25)He will demand worship evidently from a great temple that he uses as the center for his prideful announcements. (Read Dan 7:8, 25, 8:4, 11:31, 36)In their ungodliness, humans have attempted to achieve this god-like status since the beginning of creation (Read 2 Thess 2:8, Rev 13:8, 12)The man of lawlessness will be empowered by satan to perform great signs, wonders and miracles in order to deceive people and make his lies believable (Read 2 Thess 2:9) False signs and wonders refer to actual supernatural occurrences that deceive people into accepting a lie. It is possible these supernatural happenings will be seen around the world through various forms (tv, internet and so on) Million will be impressed, deceived, and persuaded by this charismatic leader because they have no deep commitment to or love the truth of God’s word. (Read 2:9-12) Caution: Not all miracles come from God. Every expression of the supernatural gifts needs to be tested by the standards given in God’s word to be sure whom the miracle is coming from.
Listen: The antichrist will be defeated. At the end of the tribulation period, satan will gather many nations at Armageddon under the direction of the antichrist. He will prepare to make war against God and the people in a battle that will involve the entire world (Read Dan 11:45, Rev 16:16. When that time comes Christ will return to earth and supernaturally intervene to destroy the antichrist, and his armies and all who defy God and His Word (Read Rev 19:15-21). Christ will then bind satan and confine him to the bottomless pit, establishing his kingdom of peace on earth for the last thousand years of time as we know it (Read Rev 20:1-6). Following this final period of history, satan will be released for a brief time to deceive anyone who is not completely loyal to God, and he will gather them for a final battle against Christ (Read Rev 20:7-9). This battle will be brief and decisive, as the enemies of Christ will be consumed with fire and the devil will be thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented for eternity (Read Rev 20:9-10). A new heaven and a new earth are then created in which God will live with His people forever (Read 2 Pet 3:13, Rev 21:1)Our earth as we know it, and time as we know it ends…and heaven, for believers will begin and an eternity time begins. Thank you Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, and Father God.
I did not write all this, but I believe what is here. All one can say here is to study the word of God, look up things in the word of God, and research it (not by mans’ books but by God’s own words). Let God lead your study and fill you with the truth of His word. Use discernment and gain more and more knowledge. Our God is so wonderful and He never leaves us or forsakes us. We can always trust Him and His Word.