Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us: but that it might be made manifest that they were not at all of us.
1 John 2:18-19
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
1 John 4:3-6
For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
2 John 1
The spirit of antichrist is rebellious like a wrathful son who doesn’t understand the reasons behind his father’s decisions, and doesn’t comprehend the fullness of a father’s role. Like unto Absalom in The Bible. The spirit of antichrist is jealous like a person who sees the good things God has blessed another person with and covets them for himself. The spirit of antichrist is conceited and believes that it knows enough to restructure the universe better than the way God made it. The spirit of antichrist is vengeful and attempts to punish those who stand in its way. The spirit of antichrist lacks full understanding, and can’t accept the necessity of personal sacrifice – either for humans or for Jesus Christ. The spirit of antichrist is selfish. The spirit of antichrist is obsessed with hate. And the spirit of antichrist seeks control of everyone and everything around it, believing its will is superior to all others, even God, and not counting the cost to any but itself as worthy of consideration.
I would like to present some examples that I personally believe exemplify this spirit at work in my life. I freely admit that these spring from my individual, limited human perspective but I hope they illustrate what to look out for when facing tribulation. First, the Common Core Standards are full of the antichrist spirit. They take something essentially good, higher standards for education, and run them to an extreme and cartoonish caricature that is so far removed from reality and common sense that they become unachievable. While at the same time removing many of the elements that can bring joy to learning about truth, the human condition, history and the greatest achievements of mankind. I believe the standards were written by people who dimly perceived education as a pointless exercise meant to deny power to the “unlucky” and unfairly reward the students who followed arbitrary rules – therefore, they attempted to redefine and restructure both what was taught and how it was taught to the point where all students would feel exactly the same way. It is a highly conceited, overbearing, jealous, and hateful take on education that does absolutely nothing positive for teachers or students. The antichrist spirit.
I also believe that extreme pandemic lockdowns exemplify the antichrist spirit. Once again, taking something that is essentially good and turning it into something bad by being overly conceited and controlling and not having a full understanding of life – certainly not carrying love of Jesus and obedience to the Holy Spirit. Of course everybody should wash their hands, pay attention to their personal hygiene, cover their mouth when they cough, and stay at home when they are feeling sick. But forcing a nation’s children to stay in their rooms for a year and a half is something only a highly selfish person, dare I say a even a sick person, would think is acceptable. The parents and grandparents in my life gladly accept risk and embrace hard work so their children can have a happy life and a bright future. The negative impacts of these excessive measures are only beginning to be felt, the reverberations will echo through the decades and down family trees for generations to come. But the pandemic will be all but forgotten, until next time.
Let’s hit the heart of the matter, Marxism and communism. This ideology and the political system it inspired are driven by jealousy, lack of full understanding, denial of any kind of sacrifice, misunderstanding of natural order, and screams “I know better than God!” Marx was a man who had the leisure to sit around at university observing society and culture around him with a jaundiced eye, very negative and critical of everything and everyone. Certainly sounds like a wonderful man that everyone would want to be friends with or have in their family. His idea was to turn society upside-down and make it fair. Might as well try to eliminate sin from the world, or sickness, or poverty. One thing Marx clearly did not do was read his Bible or consult with Jesus, or he would have known his goals would never be achieved by man on earth. Instead it has resulted in untold suffering, denial of natural rights, and allowing or placing humans filled with antichrist spirit in positions of untold power. The ultimate expression of communism will no doubt be with the ascension of the final antichrist to power over the world system. May the Lord come and take us before that horrible time!
And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
1 Chronicles 21
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isaiah 14:12-15