How Can We Recognize the Antichrist?

The Bible has a great deal to say about the Antichrist, and not just in Revelation. Below we'll compile a number of verses that talk about the Antichrist, and what we should know about him.

1 John 2:18: "Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour."

For those unfamiliar with the study of typology, there are many types of the Antichrist. We've seen many antichrists come into the world such as Antichocus Epiphanes IV and Nero. Anyone who boldly opposes God and attempts to remove the mouthpieces of God is a type of antichrist (confirmed in 1 John 4:3). But the Antichrist (with a capital A) has yet to be determined. 

1 John 2:22: "Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son."

The Antichrist is of the Devil, who is the Father of Lies. We will see no truth within him.

Daniel 7:25: "He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time."

He will attempt to change the times and holidays. We saw this occur with Antichos Epiphanes IV before the Maccabean revolts, and we will see it again in the End Times.

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We've touched on some of this briefly in the previous section. The Antichrist lies and comes against the people of God. We also know from the Daniel passage that the Antichrist will attempt to change the laws, calendars, and the timing of things. But what else do we know about this figure from the End Times?

Daniel 7:8: "I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things."

These horns have crowns on them (Daniel lists 10 horns in a later passage). In other words, the Antichrist will rule over a great deal of land. We hear the phrase "One world order" tossed around a lot these days in Christian circles. This essentially means that the Antichrist will falsely unite the nations under the guise of peace. However, he will wage war against the people of God.

Revelation 13:13-14: "It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived."

Great signs and wonders will be performed to lead people astray. We should also note that people will find the Antichrist to be attractive, appealing, likable. He (or she) will sway them with their false words and empty promises.

We could dive far deeper into the characteristics of the Antichrist, but due to limited space, I highly suggest consulting this article on the Antichrist here.

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The Bible warns us that many false prophets and antichrists will come, before the False Prophet and the Antichrist step onto the scene. So how can we recognize these types of people?

According to this Crosswalk article, a false prophet will not consult the Bible first, "True teachers will reach for the Bible first, second, and always. They may use other sources of information to help explain what Scripture reveals, but the foundation of their message is always built upon “Thus says the Lord….” If you start hearing more from other sources than God’s Word, you may need to hit the door."

Secondly, even if they do read the Bible, they may cherry-pick. They may mention Jesus or the Gospel as a sprinkled-in flavor on occasion, but they twist the words of Scripture to fit an eisegetical standpoint they want to make. If someone plucks certain verses but throws out the rest, you've likely found a false prophet.

Thirdly, a true teacher will seek after God. No pastor or Christian influencer can claim perfection. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. But does this person appear to be puffed up with pride. Instead of love, joy, peace, patience, etc., do they choose hate, anger, division, etc.? 

Finally, do they encourage you to live in sin, indulge in it? A true teacher consults Scripture first and shuns evil. A person of darkness, on the other hand, will delight in evil works and will tell you to "do you." Even when "doing you" is contrary to what Scripture says.

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We could write entire books on this, but let's address some examples of false teaching that has infiltrated the church today.

"God won't give you more than you can handle."

God does, in fact, give us far more than we can handle on our own. Take a look at the life of Job. He loses his family, his home, his wealth. And so he turns to the Lord. But even his own wife told him to curse God and die. Because he cannot handle that much tragedy on his own.

Passage that combats this false teaching: Job 1 and Job 2

"God helps those who help themselves."

In other words, "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps." God wants us to rely on him, not ourselves, in the midst of trials. This phrase encourages us to chase after works, instead of chasing after God.

Passage that combats this false teaching: Proverbs 3:5-6

"God makes no mistakes, so keep being you."

This is not to say that God did not create us with individuality and with special talents and purposes (especially spiritual gifts for those who have the Holy Spirit indwelling them). But the church has fallen prey to saying, "Well, you're born that way. So own it."

We seem to forget that we're born into original sin as well. We have a sinful nature that we cannot overcome on our own. Celebrating sin goes against what the Gospel commands us to do. 

Passage that combats this false teaching: Psalm 51:5 and Romans 3:10

We obviously could keep going, but a false teaching sounds like the Gospel but is actually the farthest thing from it. How we combat it is by turning to Scripture on a daily basis and seeing what the Lord actually says. 

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False teachers have plagued the church since the very beginning.

Acts 20:29 (cataloging the earliest events of the church) states, "I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock."

We will not escape the grasp of false teachers infiltrating the church until Jesus comes again. But we can make sure to ready ourselves as much as possible whether we combat false teachers or the Antichrist himself.

In addition to consulting the Scripture, I suggest going to the Lord in prayer. I also suggest consulting Christians who may have the spiritual gift of discernment. This gift allows someone to differentiate between false teaching and one that aligns with Scripture. But make sure to do this step after prioritizing Scripture and prayer, as even those with discernment may be prone to error.

According to this Bible Study Tools article, we do have even more ways of diagnosing a false teacher, "Paul provides us with some diagnostic tools to recognize false teaching. He instructs us to observe their character(insubordinate, empty talkers, deceivers, etc.), their tactics (upsetting whole families, playing to the culture), and their motivation (shameful gain)."

As believers, we must always be watchful and vigilant, placing our trust in the Lord rather than our trust in men. We cannot tolerate false teaching in the church and must do our best to turn to what the Gospel says.

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