Antichrist Spirit

It's come to my attention that there's yet another "new" truth circulating out there. It depends greatly on a lack of knowledge of the bible. It's concerning the antichrist. Some are now saying that he's not a individual, but a spirit. And that the traditions of men have caused us to believe in such a fictional character.

They usually start out quoting the only verses in scripture that use the actual words "antichrist". Those being:

1 John 2
18 Little children, it is the last time. And just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, from which we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out so that it might be revealed that they were not all of us.

1 John 4
2 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 antichrist you heard is coming, and even now is already in the world.

Now, perhaps it's our fault for using the word "antichrist" to refer to Satan's coming man of sin. Certainly this Beast does indeed possess the antichrist spirit mentioned in the verses above. But to completely dismiss the "antichrist" of Revelation as being symbolic because of the above verses is the grossest misapplication of a verse I've ever seen.

Daniel 8
5 And as I was watching, behold, a he-goat came from the west, over the face of the all earth, and did not touch the ground. And the he goat had an outstanding horn between his eyes.
8 Then the he-goat became very great. And when he was strong, the great horn was broken. And in its place came up four outstanding ones towards the four winds of the heavens.

Daniel 8
3 Then I lifted up my eyes, and looked. And behold, a ram with two horns stood before the Canal having two horns, and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.
7 And I saw him come close beside the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram and shattered his two horns.

Daniel 8
15 And it happened when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me the form of a man.
16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called and said, Gabriel, make this one understand the vision.
17 So he came near beside my place. And when he came, I was afraid and fell on my face. But he said to me, Understand, O son of man, for the vision is for the time of the end.

Daniel 8
20 The ram which you saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
21 And the shaggy goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king.
22 And as for that being broken, and four stood up in its place; four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in its power

Clearly the horns are referring to individuals, the angel is giving the correct interpretation of the vision.

For even more proof, this particulary prophesy has already been fulfilled. The Greek Empire conquered the Medo-Persian Empire and had a notable ruler, Alexander the Great. After the end of Alexander the Great's reign, the Greek Empire was divided among four rulers.

Daniel 8
9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which became very great, toward the south and toward the east and toward the bountiful land .
10 And it became great, even to the host of heaven. And it made fall some of the host and of the stars to the ground (Rev 12:4), and trampled them.
11 Yea, he magnified himself, even to the ruler of the host, and the daily sacrifice was taken away by him, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

Daniel 8
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full, a king, fierce of face, and skilled at intrigues, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power. And he shall destroy marvelously, and shall prosper and work, and destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And also through his understanding, he shall cause deceit to succeed in his hand. And he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many. He also shall stand up against the Ruler of rulers. But he shall be broken without a hand.

This horn should not be any different, it's being described as a king, just like all the other horns. And we also know from history that the other horns turned out to be real kings.

And there's more:

Daniel 7
8 I was thinking about the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom three of the first horns were uprooted. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

20 and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking very great things, whose look was greater than his fellows. I watched, and that horn made war with the saints and overcame them.

Revelation 13
4 And they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with it?
5 And a mouth speaking great things was given to it, and blasphemies. And authority was given to it to continue forty-two months.
6 And it opened its mouth in blasphemy toward God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and those dwelling in Heaven.
7 And it was given to it to war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given to it over every tribe and tongues and nation.

It's an individual, and it's the same individual being referred to in both Daniel and Revelation.

I presented this verse to one of these new converts in a chatroom. Someone who thought they had a new truth. He kept going on and on about how what I know about the antichrist being an individual is something I've been taught. A "tradition" of men. But I have no need of anyone teaching me such a doctrine. From the verses I've quoted, it's clearly there.

So we've been calling this figure the antichrist. That is a convention of the church. That doesn't mean the 1 John verses can now be used to overthrow all of Daniel and Revelation.

Whoever this individual is, they are definately real. We've just been calling him the antichrist because of the spirit he has. But some have gone totally off the edge and are claiming there is no antichrist, but only an antichrist spirit as stated in 1 John.

Nowhere in the bible is the antichrist actually called the antichrist, so 1 John doesn't apply. It is merely a human convention that we've been calling him the "antichrist". But now people are launching a whole new escatology. A fearful one because they are not expecting an antichrist to appear. They are instead waiting for Christ. And if they don't expect an antichrist to appear and one does appear, who do you think they are going to believe it is? And they have interpreted any opposition to this christ as "antichrist". Could they be the one's addressed in this enigmatic verse:

Matthew 7
22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works?
23 And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart from Me, those working lawlessness!

Perfect isn't it. They could fall right into the hands of the antichrist, helping him to persecute Christians. Calling them "antichrist".

There was no way I could convince this person in the chat room. No matter how many verses I plainly quoted. He kept going on how I had been taught that, not even considering that some teachings may be true. In their quest to get away from the traditions of men, they have thrown the baby out with the bath water, now they think everything everyone ever taught is false.

I could not convince him, and here I had plain evidence. The scripture couldn't be clearer, and it made me rethink my fight. The one I've been having with people who oppose the rapture. If I can't convince someone on a subject with clear verses to support it, how can I possible convince somebody of the truth of something that must be inferred.

Truly this verse applies:

2 Timothy 4
3 For the time will be when they will not endure sound doctrine, but they will heap up teachers to themselves according to their own lusts, tickling the ear.
4 And they will turn away their ears from the truth and will be turned to myths.

I've even seen worse corruption then this. They are now starting to use the verse in a whole new way.

They now think this verse talks not about those who deny Jesus came physically in his first coming, but instead applies to those Christians who don't believe Christ is incarnating in the body of believers right now. Returning in his Church, instead of returning for his Church. That Christ is incarnating physically in his Church. If no one believes this, they are now calling them "antichrist".

In effect they are calling anyone who doesn't believe in their heresy, "antichrist". This is very dangerous indeed.

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