Light Over the Antichrist

Light Over the Antichrist

Seeing that we are living in the last days, it is profitable to seek light, so that we can be in a position to interpret these times and receive clarity concerning the things to come.

We must go the same way by which all wisdom is obtained—in the body, where the spirit of the word of prophecy is activated, giving us light that is for our profit.

By the grace that God gives, let us take a little glimpse at the inner development of the Antichrist.

The Origin of the Antichrist

Before Christ, there was no Antichrist, but as soon as Christ came, the spirit of Antichrist arose. We find its origin in the midst of the church of God. John writes in 1 John 2:18-19: “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 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 they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

Even in John’s days many antichrists had made their appearance. John says, “They went out from us.” This tells us that they had been together in the church until the day when they were revealed.

John discovered the spirit of Antichrist in the church through the Word, because he says, “We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” 1 John 4:6. John did not bow to all kinds of opinions, saying they were acceptable; instead he proclaimed: “He who is not of God does not hear us.” He did not practice the fashionable tolerance of our days. He knew that the gospel is a separating gospel; therefore he said, “They went out from us.” The modern, free, religious tolerance is most satisfied when as many as possible can come “to us.” It expands all the boundaries and looks more at the masses than at the spirit of truth. Out from us! Where truth reigns, error does not find a place to grow. Therefore they go away to find it in other places.

Even among those who are most highly esteemed in the church we find some who did not hear John. In 3 John 9, John writes, “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us.” Here we find the spirit of error among the most eminent in the church. In our days it is not difficult either to find the spirit of Antichrist on platforms and behind pulpits.

From Paul’s letters we can see that it is easy for the spirit of Antichrist—the spirits of error—to find room to grow. To the Corinthians he writes, “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it.” 2 Cor. 11:4. Despite the fact that the Corinthians had been baptized with the Spirit of God and had received gifts, they put up gladly with having another Jesus preached to them; they received a different spirit and a different gospel. How was this possible? To all appearances it was the same Jesus, the same Spirit, and the same gospel. Therefore the Corinthians were fooled. However, Paul’s sharp, spiritual eyes discovered that it was another Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel. The deception can be so well hidden that even those who have been baptized with the Spirit fall prey to it. The antichrists develop in the midst of the churches; that is where the spirit of Antichrist arises. Those who have received the anointing from the Holy One and have received enlightened eyes will also find much of the same sort in the assemblies of our days.

However, the cross is the parting of the ways.

Departing From the Truth

The difference between Christ and His Spirit and the Antichrist and his spirit is found in John’s word: “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” 1 John 4:2-3.

To confess Christ does not mean that you simply say something good and nice about Him. What it does mean, though, is that you confess Him as He is, without adding anything or taking anything away. (Compare Revelation 22:18-19.) The one who attributes qualities to Jesus which He does not possess does not present the Son of God, but rather another Jesus. The one who takes away qualities which He does possess does the same.

What does it mean that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh? We read in Hebrews 2:14: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil . . . .” He became like one of us. What did Christ manifested in the flesh, do? What was His task and purpose? God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin, and condemned sin in the flesh. Read Romans 8:3. What did God do? He condemned sin in the flesh. In whose flesh? In Jesus’ flesh. Paul says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.” 2 Cor. 5:21. Christ voluntarily partook of the human body of sin. Even before He was baptized in the Jordan River, John the Baptist pointed Him out, saying, “Behold! The Lamb of God who bears the sins of the world!” Where did He bear it? In His flesh. Why did He bear it? So that God could condemn it. Some people believe that Christ had the nature of angels. But in Hebrews 2:16 we find the following words: “For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.” Jesus Christ did not come to save angels. There are some people who still believe that He was like Adam before the Fall. However, Adam before the Fall did not need salvation, but we do. Therefore He became like His brethren in all things. Christ fought His battles against temptation like one of us who has a body of sin; He overcame and He could say, “Who can convict Me of sin?” By God condemning sin in the flesh, Jesus consecrated a new way through it all—out of all of it and into liberty and glory.

If Christ had not been manifested in the flesh, if He had the nature of angels or the nature of Adam before the Fall, as many false teachers from the time of the earliest church fathers until now have proclaimed, then His entire work would have been nothing but a sham.

Now we understand what Christ manifested in the flesh means and what transpired in that flesh. The Spirit of God testifies to this work. He testifies to the fact that all sin has been condemned in Christ’s flesh, so the one who belongs to Christ must accept that all sin must also be condemned in his own flesh. Just as God condemned sin in Jesus’ flesh, so He condemns it even today in every man who receives Him as His Savior. Whenever He enters a person, He condemns sin in that person’s flesh.

This is the point on which the spirit of Antichrist departs from the truth. It is a spirit that tolerates sin in the flesh, a spirit that does not require the death of the old life. We read the following words in 1 John 5:6-8: “This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth . . . . For there are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.” Water and blood signify death. When Jesus died, both blood and water came out of Him. The Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, now testifies to the water and the blood; i.e., that Jesus died for all sin. The Spirit desires to see water and blood—it is His desire to see the old life die. He desired water and blood—sacrifices from Christ. Now the Spirit desires the same from us. The spirit that does not desire water and blood (death over all self-life)—which does not require sacrifices—that spirit is satisfied without a sacrifice. It disregards the sacrifice. In other words, it abolishes the daily sacrifice that Daniel speaks about.

When Paul says that the Corinthians put up well with another Jesus that was preached to them, that they received a different spirit and a different gospel, he understood that it was because this “other Jesus and different spirit” spared their old self life, which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and His Spirit would not have done, because wherever He is revealed, sin is condemned in the flesh. This “other Jesus and different spirit” were a Jesus and a spirit without requirements, a spirit that spoke about grace and love, peace and tolerance, but it did not require a judgment over self, a spirit that did not testify to the water and the blood. This was that other gospel which the Spirit-filled church in Corinth tolerated. They had already been deceived by the tolerant spirit of Antichrist. And in this spirit, “another Jesus” is also preached in our days in many places.

One result of this spirit is found among those who say that all their indwelling sin has been taken away. Consequently, the Spirit of God cannot condemn sin in their flesh because by their doctrine they have removed all acknowledgment. Since sacrifices are for sin, they have thereby abolished the continual sacrifice in their life. Among such people we find that words of tolerance and love serve as a deception that covers their former life. Nevertheless, there is disunity among them despite the fact that they speak about love and peace. However, where the Spirit of Christ condemns sin in the flesh—as the light reveals it—the result is unity, because it is sin that is the cause of separation between God and us, and among believers in general. Where sin is put away, the outcome is unity. But in order to put away sin, you have to acknowledge it. That other spirit that does not require a judgment over the things that separate, but covers them with love and forbearance in order to have peace and co-operation on top of all impurity—that spirit is the spirit of Antichrist.

This is where the departure from the truth has its beginnings. John says, “They went out from us.” The spirit of Antichrist had its beginning in the midst of the church as it would not acknowledge Christ manifested in the flesh for the purpose of condemning all sin in His body.

Paul says, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh . . . .” 1 Tim. 3:16. Indeed, this is a great mystery of godliness as everyone has to acknowledge. In spite of its simplicity, it is difficult to discover. Yet what can lead to more godliness than that the Spirit of Christ is now also permitted to condemn sin in our flesh?

Notice what Paul writes about this in Romans 6:5: “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” It is therefore unprofitable what many people teach, namely, that Christ died so that we are free, that we do not have to die. Here it is written that we are to be united with Him in the likeness of His death in order to be united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. I have to make up my mind to die as He died when sin was condemned in His flesh. This is Christ manifested in our flesh as a Savior from sin. What a glorious salvation this is!

After the Separation

John says, “They went out from us.” It is wonderful that it is not written, “They came in to us.” That would have been worse. God knows how to separate.

The Spirit of God testifies to the fact that the body is dead (to sin) and because of sin (Rom. 8:10), because the Spirit requires the death of the old life. However, we have seen that the spirit of Antichrist is not so particular; it does not require the old life to die—that the body should be kept in subjection or denied so that it cannot follow its lusts. On the contrary, it says that God is love; therefore He will not deny us anything “good.” Whereas the Spirit of God leads us through death to everything that is human, to an inner glory and joy on the narrow way, the spirit of Antichrist leads people to an outward life by permitting the old life to have contact with things that are outside the body. We know that it is this contact with the things that are in the world that produces sin when the desire for these things is fulfilled. On the other hand, being set free in Christ from the world and the things that are in the world produces salvation.

The spirit of Antichrist permits a person to have contact with the world and the things that are in the world without that person acknowledging it as sin. Only the Spirit of God convicts the world of sin; only He judges sin. But if one simply accepts the spirit of Antichrist, one is no longer receptive to this conviction and judgment of sin.

From the above we can see that the spirit of Antichrist gives peace in the heart—namely, the peace of death. A person has peace in the midst of living in sin, thus living in comfort and the glories of this world without feeling any judgment because the conscience, which is kept awake by the Spirit of God, has been stilled by the spirit of Antichrist. The Antichrist gives peace—a peace that the world gives; Christ gives peace by separating a person from sin. The spirit of Antichrist leads a person to external things; Christ leads a person to that which is internal. Since the spirit of Antichrist gives peace by making it appear that sin is no longer sin, it thereby removes the sacrifice of Christ (the daily sacrifice), which is there because of sin, as also Daniel says. Dan. 12:11.

Once you have removed sin and thereby the sacrifice, you are left with a gospel that suits everyone. Then Christ becomes a loving person who wants everyone to have a good time here in this world, a person who did the good to those who suffered, a person who was just and exercised Himself in righteousness. This is the Christ the world is now longing for. His spirit is very active. Just as Christ had His prophets who testified beforehand about His sufferings and the glory to follow, so the Antichrist has his prophets who testify beforehand about his glory; however, the prophets of God witness to his downfall afterward. They can testify to it in their spirit in order to comfort all those who mourn in Zion.

The spirit of Antichrist wants to make peace in a person’s inner life by abolishing sin; but he goes even further—he wants to make peace outwardly by abolishing war. We know that Satan wants to be like the Most High. He presents a false church, the harlot, and a false Christ, the Antichrist; and here we find him making preparations for a false kingdom of peace. The Antichrist is also called “the son of perdition.” 2 Thess. 2:3. Seeing that God has a Son, likewise Satan wants to present a son. Whereas the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Jesus, the fullness of Satan, i.e., all his ambition to be like God, will dwell in the Antichrist. We can also see this from 2 Thessalonians 2:4 where he exalts himself above everything that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits in the temple of God, pretending to be God. Just as Christ had a body prepared for Him in order to do God’s will, so the Antichrist will come to do Satan’s will. He will be Satan manifested in the form of man. Christ did not count it a robbery to be equal with God. The goal of the Antichrist is to be like God. They are going opposite ways.

In the next issue of Skjulte Skatter we will see how the spirit of the Antichrist and even more, the Antichrist himself, will make contacts and alliances in pursuit of peace and false love; he will even pursue a false righteousness, and how with this as a foundation, he will become the ruler of this world.