The Antichrist

The Antichrist is part of the Satanic Trinity during the Tribulation Period. The Satanic Trinity will include Satan, referred in the Bible as the Dragon and is known as anti-God. He imitates the work of God the Father (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). The second member of the Satanic Trinity will be the Antichrist. He sometimes is referred in the Bible as the Beast. Antichrist imitates the work of God the Son (Rev. 13:1; 19:20. And the last member of the Satanic Trinity is the False Prophet. He is sometimes referred to as the Second Beast. The False Prophet imitates the work of God the Holy Spirit. Rev. 13:11; 19:20

The word Antichrist means an enemy of Christ or one who usurps Christ's name and authority. In Thessalonians 2:1-12, the Antichrist is referred to as "that man of sin" and states that He will oppose and exalt himself above God and will actually sit in the temple of God and claim to be God.

Antichrist will initially be welcomed by the Jews with open arms. Remember that the Jews rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah. In Daniel 11:36,37 we are told that the Antichrist will "...exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god..." The Antichrist will become very popular because of the prevaling lawlessness that occurs throughout the world after the Rapture of the Church.

Antichrist will not be revealed until after the Rapture of the Church. During the first 3 1/2 years Antichrist and the False Prophet will fool the world into believing that they are truly called of God and have truly brought peace to the earth and to Isreal, but it will be a false peace. The main proof of his identity comes when he sits in the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem and declares himself to be God. This is referred in Scriptures as the Abomination of Desolation (Daniel 9:27). Currently a Muslim Mosque sits on that spot of land. It is going to be interested how the Satan and the Antichrist will broker a deal with the Moslems to build the Temple on that site.

The Bible gives us some key characteristics that will expose his true identityy as Antichrist.
1. He will be popular and worshipped. Rev. 13:3,4
2. He will be fearless. Rev. 13:4
3. He will persecute the Tribulation Saints. Rev. 13:7
4. He will be a world dictator. Rev. 13:7
5. He will be a maker of a peace treaty. Daniel 9:27
6. He will not honor his peace treaty. Daniel 9:27
7. He will have no respect for the religion of his race; nor will he embrace any religious conviction. Daniel 11:37
8. He will change territorial boundaries. Daniel 11:39)
9. He will be a skilled negotiator. Daniel 8:23
10. His armies will be destroyed and he will be cast alive into the Lake of Fire.
Rev. 19:20,21.

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ begins with the Rapture of the Church in the air, followed by the Great Tribulation, during which time also will occur the judgments at the judgment seat of Christ, which constitute the giving of rewards for good works, consummating in His coming to the earth in power and great glory; the elapsed time for these momentous events will be at least seven years, the period of Daniel’s seventieth week (Dan.9:27), which corresponds to the time of the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:29,30).
1. The word Rapture is nowhere found in the Scripture; it is a word used to designate an event, and it comes from the root meaning “to be caught up.” The Rapture, Christ’s descent into the air to meet His caught-up Church, constituting every believer both living and dead, is the next event of divine prophecy to take place; there is no known prophecy yet unfulfilled between the present time and this tremendous event, mentioned my the apostle Paul in I Thessalonians 4:13-18.
2. Following the Rapture, Christ sets up His judgment seat, probably somewhere in the air, before which all His saints will appear one by one (Rom. 14:10; II Cor. 5. 5:9,10), for the judgment of their works, and the giving of promised rewards (I Cor. 3:11-15; 4:5). These will transpire in all probability during the seven years of the Great Tribulation on the earth.
3. After completion of the giving of His rewards, in Revelation 19:11-16, the Lord Jesus Christ is seen as He is leaving Heaven with His saints and angels, for the purpose of destroying His enemies, and setting up the kingdom of Heaven on the earth.
(Matt. 24; Isa. 2:12-21; 13:9-13; Zech. 2:10-13)
And so with power and great glory, Hew returns to the earth, establishing his throne, upon which He reigns, together with His saints for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4-6); after which the kingdom is turned over to God the Father.

Redemption

Redemption is “deliverance by paying a ransom.” Sinners are ransomed by the shed blood of Christ, who died in the place of all (Gal. 3:13; II Cor. 5:21; I Tim. 2:6; I Peter 1:18,19), and all would be saved if they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:30; see also John 3:18). Our Lord paid on the cross the ransom for our deliverance, while the Holy Spirit makes that deliverance real in the lives of believers (Rom. 8:2,11)

Grace

Grace is limitless love of God expressed in measureless kindness; it is “the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man, not by works of righteous which we have done” (Titus 3:3,5). The dispensation of grace began with Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection (Rom. 3:24-26; 4:24,25), and will continue until He comes again, during which time salvation is solely dependent upon the acceptance of Christ as Savior (John 1: 12,13; John 3:16; 3:36; I John 5:10-12); good works should follow salvation (Eph. 2:10; Titus 2:14; 3:8). Grace manifests itself through the redemption (salvation) in Christ (Rom. 3:24), and also in the daily life of the believer (Rom. 15).

Salvation

Salvation is the free gift of God to man by grace through faith, entirely aside from works:” For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8,9, R.S.V.; see also Rom. 3:27,28; 4:1-8; 6:23). The only condition of salvation is belief on the Lord Jesus Christ. “What must I do to be saved…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” (Acts 16:30,31). First comes salvation, and then works (Eph. 2:9,10; Titus 3:5-8).
The salvation offered in this age of grace embodies every aspect of God’s grace, such as redemption, propitiation, justification, forgiveness, imputation, sanctification, glorification, and reconciliation.

Justification

Justification is by faith, and not by works (Rom. 3:28-30; 4:5; 5:1; Gal. 2:16; 3:24). Justification starts in grace, and is through the work of redemption and propitiation that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24,25; Titus 3:4-7). It is God’s just act of counting as righteous everyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 4:3-5; 8:33).

Forgiveness and Confession

Forgiveness and Confession

Forgiveness (remission) is by the shed blood of Jesus Christ (Matt. 26:28), and is to disunite sin from the sinner. There is much difference between human and divine forgiveness; human forgiveness is to remit a penalty. Divine forgiveness is to all who believe in Christ (Acts 10:43); the penalty was paid in our stead by Him on the cross; for without the shedding of blood there is no divine forgiveness (remission) (Heb. 9:22). When a believer sins, his fellowship with the Father and the Son is disrupted; but God forgives us these sins upon confession, and cleanses us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:6-9); but only through Jesus Christ the righteous as our propitiation (I John 2:1,2). In human forgiveness, believers are called upon to forgive one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven them (Eph. 4:32).

Faith

Faith is that trust which does not ask to know all about God, but believes all that God has said; it is that belief which is the sole condition of salvation (Acts 16:30), 31), the belief which receives Christ as Savior and Lord (John 1:12), and takes the form of confessing with the mouth while believing in the heart (Rom. 10:9,10), influencing the saved to humble and loving obedience and meritorious works (James 2:14-26). The faith of salvation is the complete trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as having been “delivered for our transgressions and raised again for our justification” (Rom 4:20-25), entirely aside form works. By faith God gives the soul assurance and conviction of the reality of things never yet seen by the natural eye (Heb. 11:1-3).
The triumphs of faith in the daily life marvelously illustrated for the believer in Hebrews 11:1-39). For prayer, the believer is to “come boldly to the throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16), where faith is “the confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us…and we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him” (I John 5:14,15). Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17).

The Judgments of Believers

There are three types of judgments for believers that are mentioned in the New Testament.
(1) The judgment of sins. On Calvary’s cross according to God’s reckoning, the Lord Jesus Christ, substituting for man, died for man’s sins, so that all who have believed unto salvation will never come into judgment for sins (John 5:24; II Cor. 5:19-21; Gal. 3:13).
(2) The judgment of self. This is the believer’s judgment of himself for his own sinning, and should go on constantly. When the children of God judge themselves, then they confess theirs, they are freely forgiven, but failure to do so brings chastening (I Cor. 5:1-5; 11:21,32; II Cor. 2:5-7; Heb. 12:7; I John 1:9).
(3) The judgment of believer’s works, which will be at the judgment seat of Christ, soon after the rapture of the Church. This judgment won’t determine salvation but rewards for good works (II Cor. 5:10; I Cor. 3:11-15).

Born Again - The New Birth

“Ye must be born again!” (John 3:7). Who? Everyone, in order to enter into the kingdom of God; in order to enter into the kingdom of God; in order to be saved. The old natural birth does not count; it must be a new spiritual birth. The Lord Jesus Christ says, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). What did He mean? We search the Bible and find that water is the symbol for the Word of God (“born of water”) here has nothing to do with water baptism, as baptism speaks of death, not birth, so man must be born again of the Holy Spirit, using the Word of God. The Lord makes it very clear that there is a great distinction between the flesh and the Spirit when he says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6)’ flesh remains flesh to the very end.
The Lord explains that there are mysteries in nature which we cannot understand: “The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8, R.S. V.). You cannot see the wind, but you recognize its power; you cannot see the Holy Spirit, but you recognize His power. He is invisible, but He makes His presence felt in a mighty way as He convicts and regenerates sinful men. He changes men completely; you recognize the power, although you do not see it actually working; you see a vain, worldly woman suddenly become a quiet woman of prayer; you see a wicked, godless man changed into a saint; they become new creatures in Christ Jesus, with new desires, new hopes, new ambitions, and new hatreds too; for they hate the old things in which they used to live. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. You do not see the Spirit, but you see the power manifest in the life. In view of these truths we conclude that: (a) God requires the new birth in man because the natural man (I Cor. 2:14) cannot understand spiritual things; they are foolishness to him, no matter how educated, cultured or moral he may be; he entirely lacks the ability to “enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5), being absolutely unable to obey or please God (Rom. 8:7,8). (b) Turning over a new leaf is not the new birth, the new birth being a creation of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12,12;3:5; II Cor. 5:17; Eph.2:10; 4:24); not by producing “happy feelings” or ecstatic “experiences,” but solely by believing the Word of God; the Holy Spirit opens the Word to man’s spirit, as he hears and reads; he is made to understand his present relationship to God and his high destiny, learning that he who was once alien and outcast is now, through infinite grace, a child of God and joint heir with Christ (Rom. 8:16,17). (c) The requirement for the new birth is belief on Christ crucified and risen (John 1:12,12; 3:14,15; Gal 3:24), and it occurs at the instant of belief. (d) Through the new birth the believer lives in Christ, and Christ in the believer (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 2:10; 4:24; I Peter 1: 23-25; I John 5:10-12).
In summation, it is the Word of God received by faith and engrafted in the heart by the Holy Spirit that produces the new birth.