Rethinking Antichrist: What the Bible Actually Says

Welcome to the Kingdom Family Podcast, where

we rediscover our identity as sons and daughters

of Yahweh and learn to live the life of the Kingdom.

Let's jump in to today's episode. All right,

guys, we are diving into the Antichrist question

this week on our series, Rethinking the End Times.

So this week we're talking about the Antichrist.

So I want you to think about pause the video

if you need to and just really think about when

you hear the word anti -christ what comes to

your mind. A couple things that people will probably

throw around is a future world leader, a villain,

devil in human form, global ruler, political

dictator, all these different kinds of things

probably comes to your mind. Most people at least

in the church world, have a very clear picture

of the Antichrist in their minds. But what surprises

many people is that the Bible actually says less

about the Antichrist than we think. So I want

you to think about this question. Where does

the word Antichrist appear? Where does the word

Antichrist appear? Just think about that question

before I just throw the answer out to you. I

want you to think about it. So again, this is

foundational, very important. Where does it appear?

If you would have asked me this a few years ago

without studying it. I would have automatically

said Revelation has to be but the word antichrist

appears only in First John and Second John it

does not appear in Revelation It does not appear

in Daniel does not appear in Matthew some of

the scriptures that we've looked at over the

course of this series And sometimes that surprises

a lot of people to find this out. So let's read

the first one, 1 John 2, 18. It says, Dear children,

the end of this age is near. Again, we talked

about what age meant. It's not the end. He's

not talking 2000 years out. The end of this age

is near. You have heard that Antichrist is arising.

And in fact, many enemies of Christ have already

appeared. And this is how we know that we are

living in the closing hour of this age. Again,

one of my terms I like from David Thompson, don't

check your brain at the door. Notice here it

is not saying that one future antichrist is going

to appear, but that many enemies of Christ have

already appeared and are present right now. Scripture

speaks of many antichrists, not just one future

figure. So it's important I think to break down

this word antichrist and I'm sure that you can

probably tell it just means against Christ so

you have Antichrist is not just a violent opposition.

It is substitution. So it's anything that we're

tries to replace Christ distort Christ or misrepresent

Christ so it literally means against Christ or

in place of Christ See a couple terms on this

Antichrist means against or in place of Christ.

This is not just a person. It can refer to a

person, a system, a spirit, or any force that

opposes Christ and His truth. It's a counterfeit.

Anything or anyone that exalts itself above Christ

is antichrist in nature. So just remember, the

standard always is Christ. If it denies Him,

distorts Him, or replaces Him, then that is anti...

Christ. I hope that makes sense to you. Then

we have 1st John 2 22 and bear with me just a

moment let me fix something on my screen here

and of course i have made it to where i cannot

see my notes anymore oh wait a minute oh it's

okay so this is the fun part of a um trying to

remember how to do this I don't remember how

to do this. Trying to find my notes. Oh, show

present. There we go. OK, there we have it. Sometimes

you have to be smarter than what you're working

with and some of this is still new to me. So

again, first on 222 moving on here. Who else

or excuse me who is the real liar? But the one

who denies that Jesus is the Christ he is the

real Antichrist the one who denies the father

and the son so here in this verse we have a definition

of Antichrist that is anyone who denies the son

or denies that Jesus is the anointed Messiah

Because put simply to deny Christ is to reject

the father who gave him to us To reveal who the

father truly is think about when he's talking

I believe it's to Thomas in the scriptures When

Thomas says, you know show us the father and

Jesus says how long have I been with you? You

still don't get this if you've seen me You've

seen the father the son is the only way to appropriately

see the father Be careful bill Johnson quote

here. Be careful of anything that you believe

about God that you cannot find in the person

of Jesus. Why? Because the Father and the Son

are one. You cannot receive one and reject the

other. Denial of Jesus is the definition of Antichrist.

So just think Antichrist is anything that denies

or replaces Jesus. Again, just think about that.

Anytime you're hearing stuff that's opposing

Jesus, trying to replace Jesus, that is a spirit

of antichrist. It doesn't, listen, it doesn't

mean that individual is an antichrist. Maybe

they got some bad theology. Maybe they don't

understand, maybe they've not been revealed truth

yet. But that spirit there is a spirit of antichrist.

So let's talk about that spirit of antichrist.

We'll read 1st John chapter 4 verse 3. it says

John 4:3

everyone who does not acknowledge that Jesus

is from God has the spirit of Antichrist which

you heard was coming and is already active in

the world so pay attention again here we have

it already active in the world it's not referring

to a future man it is already present notice

also the Antichrist is not only a person but

again it's a spirit it's a mindset and it's a

false teaching Early believers they face things

like false teachers false doctrines denials of

Christ And that's what John is addressing and

it seems to me like in our 2026 here We like

to throw those terms around the false prophet

and false doctrine We throw those terms around

a lot without I believe actually understanding

What we're saying and I think we're gonna we

need to pump the brakes sometimes Think about

what we're actually saying and I could that could

do a whole nother lesson on that I've kind of

studied the whole false prophet thing and I could

do a teaching on that later But I think it's

really important that we don't just throw those

titles around without quite frankly understanding

What didn't what that means? so John is addressing

all of this he's addressing the false doctrines

the false teachers and the denials of Christ

So, antichrist is not referring to a future threat.

This was something already active in the early

church. So let's look on, let's continue here.

Let's look at second John 1 7 it says numerous

deceivers have surfaced from surfaced from among

us and Gone out into the world people who will

not acknowledge Jesus Christ coming as a man

these deceivers are Antichrist so again in the

context of love here John now mentions false

teachers. This shows us that love is the safeguard

against error The more that love flows through

us as we honor God's commands the more we are

kept from deception Our unity produced by love

enables us to recognize and resist false teachers

Again, I like to think about this is kind of

way I taught it when we did this in Bible study

I like to think about what is the teaching producing

inside of you? Is it producing you producing?

Excuse me. Is it producing union? Is it producing

love? Is it producing forgiveness? Is it producing

what we would call repentance, which is metanoia

coming back to your sense type thing? Is it producing

that? Is it producing freedom? Or is it producing

shame, guilt, condemnation, hatred? What is it

producing in you when you're hearing it? Think

about that. And that can help you determine what

kind of teaching this actually is. So then we

look into the man of lawlessness. This is found

in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 That I'm going

to get to here in just a moment because I want

to think about What about the beast in Revelation?

What about the beast in Revelation? And again,

we discussed some of them we discussed some of

this in a previous lesson, but I'll hit on it

briefly remember That beast was an imagery for

empire, for oppressive government, for political

power. Many scholars connect this imagery to

Rome, especially under emperors who demanded

worship. But Antichrist and the beast are not

identical terms, and that's important to remember.

They are not the same thing. In fact, if you

want to think about the beast represents power,

that opposes God and his people the beast receives

power authority and a throne the kingdom it rules

over the earth and all of its inhabitants so

again the beast and antichrist is not the same

thing it's it's it's symbolism it's imagery and

again we went over this before when we talked

about all the different things like stars following

suns setting moons right all this different kind

of things So the beast is imagery for something

and it's not the Antichrist typically It's typically

imagery for an empire an impressive government

or political power and again They would have

understood this to be Rome in that moment in

time That's just important for us to grab hold

of and understand So let's look at this whole

man of lawlessness idea, because this is often

connected to the Antichrist. So 2 Thessalonians

2 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, we're going to read verses 3 and 4.

It says, Don't let anyone deceive you in any

way. Before that day comes, the rebellion must

occur, and the outlaw, the destructive son, will

be revealed in his true light. He is the opposing

counterpart who exalts himself over everything

that is called God or is worshipped and who sits

enthroned in God's temple and makes himself out

to be a God. So God's temple, some see this prophecy

fulfilled in AD 70. During the Roman War which

again we've already talked about all this stuff

ties in together if you pay attention listen

to these podcasts Hope if you if this is your

first one go back and listen to the other ones

we talked about some of this stuff But again

some see this prophecy fulfilled in 8070 during

the Roman War when foreigners came into the temple

and desecrated it and declared themselves to

the the true rulers the true rulers of the Jewish

people Roman emperors were considered to be gods.

But the one who sits in God's temple, which was

not made with hands, is the sin of man, a sinful

nature that is traced back to Adam. So I want

you to think about that. The one who sits in

God's temple, which was not made with hands,

is the sin of man, that sinful nature, which...

Let me let me try to think how to best put this

because you and I don't have a sin nature This

would be more classified as original sin but

it would be the mindset of Adam it would be the

lineage that's traced back to Adam the fall the

fallen mindset if you will this is what Would

be the one who's sitting in God's temple. So

just And again, that's just my viewpoint. You

can believe whatever you want to believe. This

is not about you agreeing with me. This is about

giving you a different perspective, a different

point of view for you just to think and not check

your brain at the door. So Paul is describing

a lawless figure opposing God and exalting himself.

And again, to me, the mindset of the fallen nature

the mindset of the first Adam that chose to believe

that God is distant from him. That is what I

believe that this is referring to. The lawless

figure, it's opposing God. And then you have

Christ coming on the scene later to correct all

this. So. Again, many scholars suggest connections

to corrupt leadership, temple opposition, and

first century conflicts, not a distant future

figure. Now, scripture gives warnings about opposition,

but not always in the modern culture that we've

created, the modern culture imagines. And that's

just helpful to remember. So, Antichrist imagery,

I want you to think about this, especially, I'm

36, in the western part of the world, Antichrist

imagery became sensationalized. It has become

fear -based, politically weaponized. People have

identified kings, popes, presidents, political

leaders as the Antichrist over and over, and

pretty much most of those have been absolutely

wrong. just to throw some stuff out there. Who

has been compared to Antichrist? You've had various

popes who have been compared to Antichrist. Martin

Luther, Adolf Hitler. Ronald Reagan wasn't interested

because his full name had six letters in each

part. So you have the number 666 I'm not sure

what his middle name is, but apparently his middle

name is six letters Ronald and Reagan both have

six letters So he had to be the Antichrist because

his name was compressed His name had 666 in it

You have Barack Obama. You have Donald Trump.

You have Hillary Clinton Joe Biden, Emmanuel

Macron, Vladimir Putin, Elon Musk, Bill Gates,

all these different people have been compared

to being the Antichrist. And again, pretty much

all these would be incorrect. So what should

we watch for today and how do we bring this into

a practical life? So instead of watching for

one villain, watch instead for false teaching.

distorted truth and Christ replacing systems.

And think about what can replace Christ today

in our society, in our world. Power, politics,

religion without love, systems without mercy,

all these different things can replace Christ

in our society and in our world today if we're

not careful. So again, Ask yourself, what does

it produce within you? The teaching that you're

hearing, the favorite preacher that you have

that you're listening to, what is it producing

inside of you? Freedom or fear? Love or hatred?

What is it producing inside of you? Freedom or

shame and guilt? Is it producing condemnation?

Is it producing hope? I mean, what's it producing

inside of you? And allow that to judge whether

or not this is a false teaching or something

authentic from Christ And that Christ is not

just about who rules it's about what replaces

Jesus and that's just very powerful So just a

couple truths to close out again another very

short podcast here As we're running down to the

end of this series. It's just helpful to hit

these different things and sections and let you

sit with them and then we'll jump to the next

one. Truth number one, Antichrist appears in

1st John and 2nd John, not everywhere else that

people would assume, like I would have assumed.

Truth number two, many Antichrists already came

according to scripture. Truth number three, Antichrist

is about replacing Christ, not just opposing

Him. The greatest danger is not a future villain.

It is anything that replaces Christ, replaces

Jesus at the center. The spirit of Antichrist

is not just about power, it's about deception.

And the way we guard against deception is not

fear, but truth, faithfulness, and keeping Christ

at the center. It's that simple. So what is Antichrist?

Do I believe there's a future? person rising

that's going to do all the no, I do not I think

you already see Antichrist systems in place that

can be very deceptive if you're not paying attention

and really Not checking your brain at the door

But I do not believe in a actual Antichrist rising

up and then the world going out of hell in a

handbasket and all this I do not believe I do

not believe in the left behind version of how

this plays out. I think just as when Paul was

writing this, as far as the Antichrist then,

Antichrist were already present there. That system,

that opposing system, trying to replace Jesus,

all that was there then, and it's still in our

world today. And we just have to be on guard

against it. Let love win. Let light shine through

you and I and advance the kingdom here on earth.

Release the kingdom to the world around you.

You're the carrier. You are the carrier of the

gospel. It's Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Just think about that. I hope this blesses you.

I hope this causes you to rethink. Go back and

listen to it. Guys, it's been 20 minutes. You

don't get 20 minutes out of me. a lot I can be

very long -winded but I feel like this is how

I needed to do this structure it with just these

pieces next week we'll be talking about the mark

of the beast the whole 666 idea so we'll dive

into that next week and I will see what we go

from there I don't remember what's on my notes

for future but just I hope this helps hope this

helps bring you different a different point of

view I hope this helps give you some hope But

other than that be blessed guys Thanks for spending

some time with me today on the kingdom family

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