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My opinion is that the term; "antichrist" does not necessarily mean that this system or man would be against Christ, it could, and most likely means that he/it will appear and would try to take the place of Christ. It is interesting that one of the meanings of "anti" in the Noah Webster's Dictionary of 1828 is; 'in place of'. This definition fits in well with the warnings of Christ in Matthew 24:4-6, 24. "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.....for there shall arise false Christ, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it was possible, they shall deceive the very elect". According to the these warnings from the lips of Christ Himself, it is very clear that this system will, rather than engage in a conflict with Christ, will appear on the scene pretending to be Christ, and will be successful in his scheme of deceit. Notice that this "antichrist/in place of Christ" system of deceit will be so effective, that if was at all possible, even the elect, the followers of Christ would be deceived. Why would a system use deceit if it is going to use force? The coming of the anti Christ will be satan, who used the serpent in the garden to deceive Eve, who used deceit to convince one -third of the angelic host to rebel against God in heaven, will, in what will be His final attempt to usurp the position of God Himself, (Is. 14:12-14) stage his grandest show of miracles and lying wonders to sweep as many as he possibly could under his control in preparation for the "Battle of Armageddon", the final conflict between Christ and satan, light and darkness, truth and error, the genuine and counterfeit.
First John 2:18 speaks of the Antichrist: "Dear 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 ...
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