In
the last forum article, I talked about the sign of false prophets as
Jesus describes them in Matthew 24:24-28. I think I will quote it again
so that you have it in your minds: “For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders;
inasmuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Behold I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you,
Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the secret
chambers, believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east,
and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be
gathered together.”
The
Lord makes a distinction in this text between false prophets and false
Christs. I talked about these false prophets in the last article when I
wrote about the terrible theory of evolutionism, which denies the coming
of Christ. False prophets spread their false doctrine everywhere: in
homes, in books, in schools, and even, sad to say, in churches that
claim to be Reformed and Presbyterian.
But
included in these false prophets are all those ministers in the
churches, televangelists and teachers who spread false religion. They
too are false prophets, for a prophet is supposed to speak the Word of
God; and there are so many that do not do this. When Antichrist finally
comes and everyone will have to make that final and decisive choice
between Christ and Antichrist, these false prophets will go with
Antichrist.
But
our Lord speaks also of false Christs; that is, men who claim to be
Christ himself. From very early times the church has always had to
contend with men like this. Here and there, throughout history, have
appeared men who claim to be the Messiah. In our more modern day, these
who literally claim to be the Messiah or Christ are cult leaders. And
these men claim not only to be Christ, but to have received special
revelations from God.
All these false Christs will reach their climax in Antichrist himself. Antichrist is called Anti Christ
because the word “anti” means “in the place of” as well as “against.”
Antichrist not only is against Christ, but he takes the place of Christ.
He is against Christ because he claims to be the true Christ Who is in
heaven.
Paul makes this clear in II Thessalonians 2:1-4: “Now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled,
neither by spirit, nor by word, not by letter as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that
day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man
of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he
as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
The final, great, false Christ comes in the person of Antichrist. He
will literally claim that he is Christ, and that therefore, he is God.
We could stop a minute to notice this. Antichrist will not deny that
Christ is the Son of God, the most basic truth of the Christian faith.
But he will claim that he is Christ, and therefore, God.
He will say, “Christ has promised to come again. I am Christ and have
now come.” He will say, “Christ performed miracles. I too perform
miracles.” (II Thess. 2:9, Rev. 13:13, Matt. 24:24). He will say,
“Christ came to establish a kingdom of peace and prosperity. I too
establish such a world-wide kingdom of peace and prosperity” – for,
under his rule, there will be indeed world-wide peace and world-wide
prosperity.
And so he will claim to be God and demand that all men worship him and
take the mark of the beast. Those who refuse will be killed.
Jesus warns strongly against being deceived by these false Christs. He
puts an exclamation mark behind His warning by saying that, if it were
possible, even the very elect would be deceived. That is frightening! It
means that the deception will be so great that we also will be sorely
tempted to believe Antichrist. We will think about it, consider
seriously his words, almost be persuaded that what he says is true, and
come within a hair’s breadth of joining him by taking the mark of the
beast.
Don’t forget: God’s people will be sorely persecuted. One by one they
will be killed as traitors and apostates. They will be shown how
attractive the kingdom of Antichrist really is: no more war, no more low
wages, miracles of healing and scientific and medical wonders
everywhere; pleasure as much as one wants, no more watching your
children and babies die a slow death by starvation, no more running into
the mountains, no more inability to find work or purchase groceries, no
more trying to run a successful business and enjoying the fruits of
one’s hard work -- and Christ himself does not come! In Matthew 25, in
the parable of the virgins, the bridegroom does not come when everyone
thought he would come. He seems to delay his coming, until it appears as
if he is not coming at all, but that Antichrist is right when he claims
to be the Christ, for Christ does not come when expected. He comes as a
thief in the night.
And, in additional to all this, so many choose to go with Antichrist.
Our parents or one of them, our children or most of them, our closest
friends, our fellow members in the church, our brothers and sisters in
our families and in our congregation – they are all persuaded that we
are fools to expect another coming of Christ than the one who has
already come.
That is why, among the signs of the coming of Christ, is also the sign
of the great apostasy, what Paul calls in II Thessalonians 2, a great
falling away. When the world’s billions and the church’s thousands all
go after this one man and believe him, and you stand almost alone, if
not alone, then you are going to ask yourself the question: “Is the
whole world wrong, and I am the only one who is right?”
The only, absolutely only, reason why God’s people are not deceived is
that they are elect. If any part of the decisions were left up to them,
they would follow the Antichrist. But they are elect. They cannot be
deceived. God holds on to them tightly by His almighty grace and power.
It is, as it were, that we are straining on a tight leash to run after
the world’s and church’s throngs; but God holds us back and prevents us
from destroying ourselves.
And He holds us back by giving us grace to suffer for Christ’s sake, to
rejoice and be very glad that we are not deceived, and to continue to
look towards heaven, from whence our Lord will come.
There is one way that we will know that Antichrist is Satan’s tool and
not Christ at all. But we will wait with that till next time. The reason
why we will know is in verses 27-28. But in the meantime, let us obey
Peter’s command in II Peter 1:10: “Wherefore, the rather, brethren, give
diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall.”
Prof. H. Hanko
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