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Transcript 330B — Who Will the Antichrist Be?
HC: Good evening. Welcome to Open Forum.
CALLER: Yes. I'm wondering, is the antichrist going to be a real Jew, or is he going to be a Gentile?
HC: The question is raised, "Who will the antichrist be?" For many many years I was under the impression, because of what I had read in the Bible, as well as books I had read about the antichrist (and it's amazing how our minds are influenced by books that we read), and I was quite certain, that the antichrist would be some human being that God would raise up. And this man in time would be in-filled by Satan, much as Judas was in-filled by Satan at the time that he betrayed Christ.
But as I began to study the Bible more closely, I began to see that this is an impossibility. There were too many scriptures that could not be reconciled to this kind of an idea. Finally it dawned on me, and I began to see that the antichrist is not a man, that is, not a human being. But the antichrist is Satan himself.
You see, the big drama that the world unfolds is the drama between the enmity that exists between Satan on the one hand and Christ on the other. Now Christ has His followers, who are called Christians, or they're called prophets, or ambassadors of Christ. But Satan, whom I believe is the antichrist, who heads up the kingdom of darkness, has his followers. And they are called in the Bible false prophets or pseudo-christs, or antichrists.
Now the Bible teaches, in Revelation 20, that right near the end of time Satan will be loosed, so that he can deceive the nations again. In Revelation 13:4 it speaks about the dragon being worshipped, that is, Satan, being worshipped. In Second Thessalonians 2 it speaks about the man of sin taking his seat in the temple. Now I believe the man of sin is Satan. He is called a man here because of language that we read in Isaiah 14, where it talks about the fall of Lucifer, who became Satan, as near as we can tell in the Bible. And it says of him, "Is this the man that caused the nations to tremble?" and so forth.
Now he's called man there because he was typified by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He is called the man of sin, who takes his seat in the temple, and causes himself to be worshipped as God. Now Satan takes his seat, that is, he rules. To take one's seat in the Bible means to rule or have authority over. He takes his seat in the temple. The temple is the body of Christ. We are the building stones in the temple of God.
And so through false prophets, through false christs, Satan rules in the church, where the true Gospel ought to be proclaimed. He comes with a gospel that is very much like the true Gospel, but it's another gospel. And so, ultimately, he himself is worshipped rather than Christ. Those who worship think they're worshipping Christ, but effectively they're worshipping him, because it's his gospel.
Now God also speaks about this in Matthew 24:24: "False prophets and false christs will arise with signs and wonders, to lead astray if possible even the elect." It's the activity of Satan as he rules in the congregations. This is spoken of in Matthew 24:15, where God says that the abomination of desolation will stand in the holy place. The holy place is the body of Christ. We are the only holy place in the world. Same think that the temple will be built again, and it will be the holy place. That's impossible. No physical building could ever be the holy place again, because when Christ hung on the cross and the veil of the temple was rent, that forever ended the temple's existence as a holy place where God came down to man.
In the New Testament we read not of a physical building as the temple, but as Christ being the temple, or His body being the temple. We are the temple. And the abomination of desolation, I believe, is speaking of the fact that the church will be overrun by prophets and pseudo-christs, false prophets and pseudo-christs, convinced they are serving the Lord Jesus Christ, but in actuality, because they are coming with gospels that are not the true Gospel, they are emissaries of Satan. And this is the time that we're really coming into right now.
I really believe the antichrist is here. Because he is the very master of deceit, most people do not recognize this. They're fondly thinking, or blindly thinking, or sleepily thinking, or something, that some day there will be a man, Jew or Gentile, who will stand up and be the antichrist. And that will give us plenty of warning to do this or to do that. Actually, I believe that the antichrist is on the scene.
His spirit has always been present, as we read in First John: "The spirit of antichrist is already here," the Bible said at that time. That is, the spirit of Satan, the spirit of wickedness, was always present in the earth. But the antichrist will came. That is, Satan will be loosed, and wickedness will multiply. I believe he has came, and this accounts for the terrible things that are happening not only in the secular world, but also in the church, as other gospels are gaining the ascendancy like wildfire.
CALLER: I thought that this man would also be a false prophet, in the physical.
HC: Satan is a spirit, and therefore he cannot manifest himself as an individual. He is only one angel. He could fill one man, as any demon could fill a man. When he filled Judas, Judas didn't look any different than anyone else. The disciples still thought that he was a true disciple, in the upper room.
But Satan has his followers, his emissaries the false prophets, the false christs, who are eloquent in proclaiming their false gospel. They are convinced of course that they are proclaiming the true Gospel. They are convinced they are bringing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Bible teaches that the church will be overrun by these, and I believe it is in this fashion that Satan rules in the congregation.
Now you see, he can rule in every church in the world, through false prophets. As any congregation begins to follow another gospel, as any denomination succumbs to a gospel that is not the true Gospel, then Satan is ruling that congregation or that denomination, is he not? And in this way he can completely bring desolation to the church. The Bible predicts that this will happen.