Disciples Digital Library

Human society and institutions are part of Babylon’s domain, but God is summoning His children to separate from her while there is time . ‘Come out from her and be separate, and do not touch the unholy thing!’ This is the command of Scripture to the followers of Jesus Christ, to leave the Great Whore, Babylon, not to rush into the defiled city and embrace her evil ways. Without holiness, we will never see the Lord!

Jesus warned of coming deceivers who will mislead many by pointing to natural and manmade disasters as signs of his imminent return . Jesus began his final discourse with a sharp warning: Beware of the “ many deceivers ” who will come and spread false information about his return, including rumors of wars, earthquakes, and other calamities. They will “ deceive many .” Likewise, “ false prophets ” and “ false anointed ones ” will propagate lies about the whereabouts and the “ coming of the Son of Man .”

After decades of disappointed expectations and false predictions, it is time to reexamine popular ideas about the last days and the return of Christ . In my youth, I was greatly impressed by the book, ‘ The Late Great Planet Earth ’, authored by Hal Lindsey . It was exciting to discover that Bible prophecies were being fulfilled before our eyes and reported in the daily news headlines, or so we were told.

Jesus warned of coming deceivers who will mislead many and spread false information about his return . Jesus began his final discourse with a sharp warning: Beware of the “ many deceivers ” who will come and spread false information about his return, including rumors about wars, earthquakes, and other calamities. They will “ deceive many .” Likewise, “ false prophets ” and “ false anointed ones ” will propagate lies about the whereabouts and the “ coming of the Son of Man .”

The Antichrist Spirit is working to destroy the church from within with lies, false prophets, and deceitful teachers . We commonly assume the  Antichrist  will be a political tyrant intent on world domination. However, the New Testament is more concerned with the  deceivers  working to disrupt the Church from within rather than with political developments in the larger world. The Apostle John attributes the driving force behind these deceitful activities to “ the Spirit of Antichrist .”

God performs supernatural acts for His people but signs and wonders of themselves are no guarantee of Divine Approval . Many “prophetic” voices are claiming that God is about to pour out tremendous “signs and wonders” the likes of which no man has ever seen, supernatural displays so overpowering that billions of souls will prostrate themselves in repentance before the awesome power of God. Indeed, this super revival will be defined and characterized by mighty signs and wonders.

The Spirit of the Antichrist is raising up deceivers in the Church, but a final Master Deceiver will appear at the end of the age . The Apostle John applied the term “ antichrists ”, plural, to false teachers who were disrupting his congregations, deceivers who denied that “ Jesus is the Christ ” and “ came in the flesh .” They were driven by the “ Spirit of the Antichrist ” that has been operating in the world since the beginning of human history.

The New Testament warns of an apostasy before the Day of the Lord caused by the Son of Destruction, the Man of Lawlessness . The New Testament warns us that before Jesus returns, his Church will be invaded by deceivers, including “ false anointed ones ” and “ false prophets .” Before the “ Day of the Lord ” begins, we will be confronted by the “ Man of Lawlessness , ” whom the Apostle Paul links to the “ Apostasy ,” the great “ falling away ” from the faith. That time is upon us.

The Spirit of Antichrist is working to destroy the church through deceptions spread by false teachers and charlatans . In popular preaching, the Antichrist is a political tyrant determined to conquer the world. However, only the Apostle John uses the term ‘Antichrist’, and he applies it to false teachers who originated in his congregations.

The presence of false teachers in the Church demonstrates that the period known as the Last Days is underway . In his first epistle, John declares it is the  Last Hour . As evidence, he points to the presence of false teachers who are disrupting his congregations. The deceivers are the instruments of the “ Spirit of Antichrist ” that is active in the world. These same men are forerunners of the final “ Antichrist ” who is yet to come.

Believers watching for apostasy to occur outside the Church will miss the real thing since it is operating stealthily inside our congregations . The New Testament warns of coming apostasy and deceivers. This warning is to the Assembly, the Church composed of Christ’s true followers. It is not a message for outside groups, organizations, society, or the government. Satan is determined to destroy the Body of Christ, not the world system that serves his agenda, and he uses his human agents in the Church to deceive as many believers as possible.

The term Antichrist is applied in the New Testament to deceivers who work in the Church to “ make merchandise ” of God’s sheep, false teachers who infiltrate the Assembly to distort the Apostolic Tradition and introduce “ doctrines of demons .” The Apostle Paul confronted “ false brethren who  slithered in stealthily  to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might enslave us ,” for example. He did not give so much as an inch to these false teachers.

The New Testament warns of a future apostasy caused by deceivers, false prophets, and the Lawless One before the return of Jesus . The New Testament warns us that before Jesus returns his Church will be under assault from within by deceivers, “ false anointed ones ,” and “ false prophets ,” and it does so repeatedly. Before the “ Day of the Lord ” begins, his disciples will be confronted by the “ Man of Lawlessness ,” a figure linked to the final “ Apostasy ,” the final great “ falling away ” from the true faith.

The contemporary church is plagued by famine for hearing the words of God, but a famine that is a self-inflicted wound . Many credible men of God have warned that the Church of Jesus Christ will experience a “ famine for the word of God .” I initially took this as a prediction that the Bible itself would be suppressed even in Western-style democracies as governmental authorities persecuted the Church. The reality is rather different.

Many voices claim that God is about to pour out tremendous “signs and wonders” the likes of which no man has ever seen, supernatural displays so overpowering that billions of souls will prostrate themselves in repentance before the awesome power of God. Indeed, this super revival will be defined and characterized by great “signs and wonders,” or so say the “prophets and apostles.”

Since it was founded, Satan has sent counterfeit christs and false prophets to destroy the Body of Christ from the inside . Popular preaching portrays the Antichrist as a totalitarian global leader bent on subjugating the nations of the Earth. While this may turn out to be the case, the New Testament is far more concerned with deceivers and “ false anointed ones ” who work inside the Church, causing confusion and apostasy.

Church leaders warn us of the dangers posed by groups outside the church in the surrounding society; “liberal” politicians, “Woke” ideology, the “gay agenda,” and the like. Forces that are destroying society, perverting the culture, and undermining the “Judeo-Christian” values on which the United States of America was founded, supposedly.

According to Moses, “ When the prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh and the word does not come to pass, that is the word Yahweh has NOT spoken .” If this guideline remains applicable, many churches have embraced an interpretive school of prophecy that does not represent what the Bible says, namely, Dispensationalism, and this is demonstrated by its long history of failed predictions, speculations, and expectations.

ARE WE LISTENING ? In his Olivet Discours, Jesus warned of coming “ deceivers ,” “ false anointed ones ,” and “ false prophets ” intent on misleading his disciples, and his repeated warnings are expanded in the writings of his Apostles. His Discourse began with a stern warning - “ Beware lest anyone deceive you! ” - “ MANY ” deceivers would come and “ deceive MANY .”

“ If any man preaches any gospel other than that which you received from us, let him be accursed! ” As a young believer, I listened to voices from different churches exposing me to divergent interpretations within the church world. However, despite occasional differences, most churches were proclaiming the same Jesus, the Son of God who gave his life for the sins of the world.