For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Jeffery Bowden
I really don't think that we will see the antichrist, we the church will be raptured before that snake raises his ugly head or see the apocalypse.
Vin Smith
...I have a feeling the antichrist has not yet been born, but will soon be. Since much of the world worships youth, I believe the antichrist will be revealed in perhaps twenty-five years, and will prove to be quite young. Possessing great power, he will sweep a large percentage of young people into his orbit. Older folks who yearn for a lost youth will think this person little short of a savior. We are despoiling our planet, so he will likely have real solutions for us. He will have great political sway, be a veritable genius in whatever field of service he wishes to use to bring in converts. Maybe a techie, if not a traditional preacher. Solutions to a lot of problems. Very persuasive and influential. Many will be deceived.
Garrick Merriweather
I see a lot of good comments to this question. But THE important factor everyone seems to be missing or purposely glancing over is the the FACT that all TRUE Christians will not be on Earth when the Antichrist is revealed. That's a Biblical fact. ALL scripture is literal and true (Yes including Revelations). 1 - Who he is shouldn't be important to true Christians (during the Church Age/Age of Grace), because we will never meet him or have to deal with him. And 2 - Having a clear and discerning understanding of scripture will allow you to realize that we won't physically see the Antichrist and that we shouldn't want to see him or know him or know who he is.
One of the Holy Spirit's functions (besides convicting sinners) is holding back pure evil while the Church still occupies the Earth. One of these "pure evils" is the revealing of THE man of sin AKA; The Antichrist. Without giving a sermon on the subject, the events surrounding the Antichrist; in short order; are:
01. PART 1 of Christ's Second Coming -The Rapture of the church. Also known as The Blessed Hope. The timing of this event is UNKNOWN but imminent (could happen at any moment). It will be global, it will be sudden, and it will be "in an instant". There are NO signs that precede it.
***ALL OTHER EVENTS ARE PREDICATED UPON THE ONE ABOVE HAPPENING FIRST**
02. The Revealing of who the Antichrist IS. He will seeming come out of nowhere to "save the day" (The global disappearance of millions of people will have caused a breakdown of every civilized structure of daily life and the suddenness of the rapture will have caused mass deaths, mass confusion & mass chaos). He will be supernaturally convincing and most of those left behind will believe every word of the super-lie he will tell. He will bring about a one-world government, a one-world religion, and a one-world economy (the seeds of these things can already be seen and felt in our current society). He will then accomplish something NO OTHER man has EVER been able to do (SEE #3)
03. The signing of a peace accord between Israel and her enemies spearheaded by the Anti-christ. This "peace agreement" is actually what triggers/starts the 7-year tribulation period of which the last 3.5 years are referred to as the Great Tribulation. During the mid-point of the Tribulation, Satan/The Devil will directly possess the Antichrist and it will literally be "Hell on Earth" (Hence the "Great" additive to the Tribulation). The persecution of the Nation of Israel and those who become Christians during this period will be unimaginable. This 7-year period will culminate with the Battle of Armageddon. Which will be interrupted by (see #4)
04. PART 2 of Christ's Second Coming - The Glorious Appearing. Also known as The Day of the Lord. The timing of this event is KNOWN. There are multiple signs that precede it. The Antichrist will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, and Satan/The Devil will be locked away for 1,000 literal years during which time Christ will establish His Earthly Millennial Kingdom.
Good day and God Bless you all.
A F
He is the one who denies that Jesus is the true Son of God and has come in the flesh to save us from our sins. He is the Lawless one. And it is evident in our society that there are many of these, even today. Just think, how many Christians think that Grace need not be followed up with obedience (called Works in Scripture). The Scripture says very clearly faith without works is dead, and works without faith is dead. Yet they go about sinning without consideration of their sin making a mockery of God and hanging Jesus all over again. This is the unforgivable sin, to deny the Holy Spirit control of your new life in Christ; your life graciously given to you by God's Grace. Your life paid for by the blood of Christ. That's why Paul was so conflicted. He recognized his sin and was frustrated by his actions. So many pray forgive us our sins but never consider sin in their own lives, what it is and what not to repeat. We should always be training ourselves to turn from sin so that we become fully developed, even though not perfect, to become Christ like in our character. This event is why those who reject Christ hate Him and us. They don't want to control their flesh nor give themselves over to God's Holy Spirit to form.
I too must be watchful as was Paul.
Bob Schenck
wow!!! WHAT A GREAT SUMMARY OF THE ENDTIMES. thank you so VERY MUCH!! God bless you, brother. For some unknown reason, lately, I have been told, heard on the radio or received e-mails on the endtimes....have had contact with at least two ENDTIME PROPHETS....one questionable and the other obviously in tune with God's Word. You cleared up som important details. Again, thank you so much.
Myrtle Maness
At this time I only know in part...I believe that we are truly living in perilous times...the beginning of sorrows is upon us that is for sure.
All we can do is be ready for the return of Jesus our Lord..be about His business...winning souls for Christ...and Obeying God's Word.
Endure til the end...and be saved...
john waltrowicz
I am not much of a Bible scholar but have sometimes wondered whether the antichrist foretold was in fact the prophet Mohamed. I do not like to suggest intolerance but it seems true that in the early history of the church, Islam did a good job of replacing Christianity in a lot of the Middle East and parts of Europe. Most of the churches established by Paul seem to have been taken over by the Moslems.The Qran does mention Isa or Jesus as a prophet but denies he is the son of God. Next to materialism Islam seems to be the chief competitor to Christianity today. Islam seems to deny the God of the New Testament and worships a non triune god. Perhaps some of those things supposed to be in the last days may have happened already?
john waltrowicz
I am not much of a Bible scholar but have sometimes wondered whether the antichrist foretold was in fact the prophet Mohamed. I do not like to suggest intolerance but it seems true that in the early history of the church, Islam did a good job of replacing Christianity in a lot of the Middle East and parts of Europe. Most of the churches established by Paul seem to have been taken over by the Moslems.The Qran does mention Isa or Jesus as a prophet but denies he is the son of God. Next to materialism Islam seems to be the chief competitor to Christianity today. Islam seems to deny the God of the New Testament and worships a non triune god. Perhaps some of those things supposed to be in the last days may have happened already?
john hurren
He, the anti-Christ, will not acknowledge the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So it is NOT the Catholic Church. It is of course Islam...
David Robinson
The answers I have read so far are insightful and well thought out indicating that the contributors are sincere believers who have intelligently sought answers and arrived at conclusions to this interesting biblical question. St. Augustine is credited with saying: “In the essentials, unity; in the non-essentials, liberty; and in all things charity.” I repeat the quote here in an attempt at pre-emptive self-defense and with a plea for charity as I dare to offer a different perspective on this “non-essential,” yet important Christian topic.
It is critical, as we study scripture, to remember that the texts referenced in the above answers and, in fact, most scripture was written for us, but not to us. For example, in the Olivette Discourse, Jesus made it abundantly clear that His prophesies on that occasion were directed specifically to the generation of people He was addressing as He answered His disciples' questions (see Matt:34, Mark 13:30). The specific timelines, the context references, and the first-person verbiage all confirm that Jesus prophesies on that day were directed to the people alive then, not two thousand years later.
This common sense approach to the text totally changes our perspective on these prophesies and requires us to look at something besides our daily newspaper for their meaning. History clearly and abundantly documents an event within one generation (roughly 40 years) of the discourse that perfectly fulfills Jesus’ prophesy in Matt 24 and Mark 13; that is the total destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. The loss of the temple, the destruction of all their genealogical records, the great tribulation brought on by the protracted siege, the wholesale slaughter of the Jews who survived the siege, the ending of the sacrificial system of worship, the upheaval of the political/religious powers (see apocalyptic language in Matt 24:29-30 and Mark 13:24-26), and the return of the Son of Man in glory and with vengeance upon the recipients of His grace and blessings who had rejected and murdered Him. This was truly a cosmic event and a turning point in redemptive history; the end of the Jewish age and the beginning of Christianity as a religion and world view in its own right, separate from Judaism.
I am not proposing that all prophesy has already been fulfilled. I only labor the above point as an illustration of the approach we should apply to other questions of prophesy such as “who is the Antichrist?” Simply consider who the author is addressing, pay close attention to the timelines imbedded in the text, and read with understanding (common sense).
Now in the case of the Antichrist, the beast, and other apocalyptic figures we find most of our information in the Book of Revelation. We should not ignore the fact that the book is written as a direct letter to a specific group of people in specific churches that were alive and functioning at the time of writing. Jesus addresses the churches and some of the individuals by name. Several times in the book, Jesus pointedly tells those people that these are the things that must happen soon, that will take place quickly, and that the time is near. Did He intentionally deceive His followers, knowing that fulfilment of these things would take thousands of years? Also, the blessing associated with the reading and hearing of this book (Rev 1:3) comes from the good news that the trials and tribulations that those Christians were currently experiencing are explained to them in the context of their current cultural/political/social environment and in OT language they understood. Best of all, they would emerge from those tribulations as victors through Christ their Lord.
When read with this perspective, Revelation and other scripture like 1 John 2:18 and 22 (which plainly and directly answer your question) begin to make sense and come alive to us, bringing a halt to the seemingly endless speculations of the "Left Behind" crowd and other prophesy profiteers.
Dan Calixte
The worshiper of the falling star
Ben Zickefoose
Let’s quote the Holy Spirit through the Apostle John about who the antichrists are.
1 John 2:18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
1 John 2: 22Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. 23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
1 John 4: 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
2 John 1: 7Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Summary
Who are the antichrists? They are those who:
1. Deny Jesus is the Christ. 1 John 2:22
2. Deny the Father and the Son. 1 John 2:22
3. Deny Jesus came in the flesh. 1 John 4:2 & 3; 2 John 1:7
4. Deceive and lie about Jesus Christ. 2 John 1:7
Brian Ansell
Ben the whole point of the message of Jesus was love, a love for ourselves and an equal love for everyone else, our neighbours. Your comment seems to not love certain people because they do not believe what you believe. That is NOT a Christian Response based on the example set by Jesus.
We can each in every moment of our lives, LOVE, WORRY or HATE the last two are a wast of time. The message of what Christianity is about can be summed up in 14 words. "I am the way the truth and the life" "love your neighbour as yourself"
if I cannot love a NON Christian then I am NOT a Christian!!! Everyone is my neighbour not just those I share beliefs with. try reading what the bible MEANS not what others say it Means.
Paul Zarvis
Today I read a question in the daily reading asking if Barrack Obama is the antichrist. The response was well thought out and correctly stated that Obama could not possibly be the antichrist as he fills none of the required criteria.
BUT...The writer went on to say that " The Bible nowhere says anything about the ethnicity, religion, or age of the antichrist." I beg to disagree.
In Micah 5:5-6 I believe the bible clearly describes the coming antichrist as "assyrian". Also in Isaiah 10:5-6 lend to this theory.
Using the biblical study standard of expositional constancy, the bible describes the type of the antichrist in the book of Daniel in the form of Antiochus Epiphanes IV who invaded Jerusalem and desecrated the temple. That king was an Assyrian King, and if the tpye should hold, then the antitype (the coming antichrist) should be of Assyrian background as well.
James Vessels
"THE ANTICHRIST" is not even a biblical term. Anti means against, so anyone that is against Christ is ANTICHRIST. All Muslims are ANTIChrist & I could name lots of natural born Americans that are against Jesus & his teachings.
1 John 2: 22 it says "He is antichrist, that denieth the Father & the Son." In I John 2:18 "even now there are many antichrists".
The USA has been declared we are no longer a Christain Nation, so that is about as ANTI as you can get!
John Matthews
It doesn't matter who or what the Antichrist is or will be.
If your relationship with Jesus Christ is secure, your salvation is secured. You will suffer because of your love, but you will be victorious in the end.
Isn't that what this all boils down to? Your relationship with God?