Antichrists in
the End Time
Paul Wong
The only place in the Holy Bible where the word “Antichrist”
appears is in the epistles of John the
Apostle. Here they are:
“Little children, it is
the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many
antichrists have come, by which we
know that it is the last hour. They went
out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would
have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that
none of them were of us.” (1 Jn.
2:18-19)
There are three important truths we can learn
from these verses.
A. There are “many antichrists” and not just one as some modern-day eschatologists believe
and teach.
B. The “antichrists” have already existed in the First Century.
C. The “antichrists” have left the Christian
Church. They were never saved.
“Who is a liar but he who
denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father
and the Son. Whoever denies the
Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father
also.” (1 Jn.
2:22-23)
The “antichrist” is defined as a “a liar who denies that
Jesus is the Christ.” The “antichrist” also “denies the Father and
the Son”.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether
they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 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 spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard
was coming, and is now already in the world.” (1 Jn. 4:1-4)
The “spirit of the Antichrist” had already
existed in the First Century.
Gnosticism
has the
spirit of the
Antichrist
Gnosticism is a philosophical and religious movement which started in
pre-Christian times. The name is derived from the Greek word "gnosis" which literally means "knowledge." However, the English words "Insight" and "enlightenment" capture more of the meaning of "gnosis."
Gnosticism is not factual, intellectual, rational
knowledge, such as is involved in mathematics and physics. Rather, Gnosticism thrives on mythology and
it involves the relational or experiential knowledge of the supernatural and of
the divine or spiritual nature within humans.
Ancient Gnosticism is revived in modern time as the New Age Movement. It is a religious cult in the true sense of
the word.
Gnostics believe that they have secret knowledge about God
and humanity and the rest of the general population is either ignorant or
unaware of. Some of their beliefs have
infiltrated First Century Christianity.
·
Deity They believe in a Supreme God of Truth who is remote from
human affairs; he is unknowable and undetectable by human senses. They also believe in other lesser gods and
goddesses. They acknowledge YAHWEH, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) as the
Creator of the earth and its life forms, but He is viewed by Gnostics as
fundamentally evil, jealous, rigid, lacking in compassion, and prone to
genocide.
·
Christ They do not believe the Lord Jesus
Christ is the One True God manifested in the flesh. The apostle John has warned the
·
Salvation The Gnostics seem to have looked upon Jesus Christ as a revealer or
liberator, rather than a Savior or Judge.
His purpose was to spread knowledge which would free individuals from
other gods’ control and allow them to return to their spiritual home with the
Supreme God at death. To the Gnostics a person attains salvation by learning
secret knowledge of their spiritual essence: a divine spark of light or spirit.
They then have the opportunity to escape from the prison of their bodies at
death. Their soul can ascend to be reunited with the Supreme God at the time of
their death. Gnostics divided humanity
into three groups:
A. The spiritual, who would be saved irrespective of their
behavior while on earth.
B. The Soulish, who could be saved if
they followed the Gnostic path.
C. The
carnal who are hopelessly lost
Resurgence of Gnosticism in
the End Time
The Gnostic Movement and its literature were essentially
wiped out before the end of the 5th century CE
by the Catholic Church. Its beliefs
are currently experiencing a rebirth throughout the world, triggered in part by
the discovery of an ancient Gnostic library at Nag
April 9, 2006 is the day the traditional Christian
churches celebrated Palm Sunday, and also the day of the Lord Jesus Christ’s
triumphal entry into
The Gospel of Judas
The word “Gospel” which means Good News is completely misplaced in its connection
with Judas. The so-called “Gospel of Judas” is actually a perverted gospel (Gal. 1:6-9) because there is
no Savior, no atonement, no remission of sin and no redemption, and it ends with his betrayal
of the Lord Jesus Christ in the
The “Gospel of Judas”, written in the ancient
Coptic script in the Third or Fourth Century, is believed by its promoters to
be the translation of an original Greek text belonging to an early Christian
sect sometime before AD 180. No Greek manuscripts
have ever been found. It is highly
questionable that Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed the Lord Jesus
Christ, had ever written any document at all.
In fact none of the twelve apostles, who have been following their
Master closely for about three and half years, have ever written any document
before the Crucifixion. The Gospels of
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the Acts of the Apostles were written several
years after the Lord Jesus Christ had ascended to heaven.
In the “Gospel of Judas” he described his conversations with the Lord Jesus Christ
just days before the Crucifixion. For obvious
reasons Judas could not have written such a document because it is documented
by the Gospel writers that Judas had committed suicide not too long after his
betrayal of Jesus Christ (Mt. 27:3-5; Acts
The “Gospel
of Judas” does not claim that the other disciples were in agreement
with its content. On the contrary its
message is that the disciples have not learned the true gospel, which Jesus
taught only to Judas Iscariot, which this part of the “gospel” exemplifies:
"Knowing that
Judas was reflecting upon something that was exalted, Jesus said to him: Step
away from the others [the disciples] and I shall tell you the mysteries of the
kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal.
For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve [disciples] may
again come to completion with their god."
Did the Lord Jesus Christ specially chose Judas Iscariot to tell him
exclusively “the
mysteries of the kingdom.”? Absolutely
not! Matthew wrote: “And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak
to them in parables?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been
given.” (Mt. 13:10-11). Acts of the Apostles recorded after the
Lord’s resurrection “He presented Himself alive after His sufferingby many
infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” (Acts
1:3) The Lord Jesus Christ had openly
declared the Kingdom of God to all His disciples and never exclusively to only
one of them. The claim of the “Gospel of Judas” that Jesus had given the
“mysteries of the kingdom” only to Judas
Iscariot is typical of Gnostic theology and literature.
There are two key
passages in the “Gospel of Judas” that Jesus compares Judas with the other disciples. One states: "You
will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me." Jesus also
indicates that Judas will be despised by the other disciples. "You
will be cursed by the other generations — and you will come to rule over
them." The Lord Jesus Christ could not have made
such statements because of two principal reasons.
1. The Lord Jesus Christ had
taught His disciples they should not compete against one another for positions
in order to rule over others (Lk.
2. The statements would conflict
with what are recorded in the canonical Gospels (Mt. 26:20-25).
20 When evening had come, He sat down with the
twelve.
21 Now as they were eating, He said,
"Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."
22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each
of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"
23 He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.
24 The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written
of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have
been good for that man if he had not been born."
25 Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered
and said, "Rabbi, is it I?" He said to him, "You have said
it."
The apostle John had
written a more sinister description of Judas (Jn.
21 When Jesus had said these things, He was
troubled in spirit, and testified and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
one of you will betray Me."
22 Then the disciples looked at one another,
perplexed about whom He spoke.
23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of
His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask
who it was of whom He spoke.
25 Then, leaning back on Jesus' breast, he said to
Him, "Lord, who is it?"
26 Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall
give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread,
He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered
him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
28 But no one at the table knew for what reason
He said this to him.
29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box,
that Jesus had said to him, "Buy those things we need for the feast,"
or that he should give something to the poor.
30 Having received the piece of bread, he then
went out immediately. And it was night.
The “Gospel of Judas” ends abruptly. "They [the
arresting party] approached Judas and said to him: 'What are you doing here? You
are Jesus' disciple.' Judas answered them as they wished. And he received some
money and handed him over to them."
Here is the true story
of how Judas Iscariot’s life came to an end (Mt. 27:3-10).
3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was
remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and
elders,
4 saying, "I have sinned by betraying
innocent blood." And they said, "What is that to us? You see to
it!"
5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in
the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.
6 But the chief priests took the silver pieces
and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they
are the price of blood."
7 And they consulted together and bought with
them the potter's field, to bury strangers in.
8 Therefore that field has been called the Field
of Blood to this day.
9 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by
Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver,
the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of
10 and
gave them for the potter's field, as the LORD directed me."
The bishop
of Lyons, Irenaeus, described the “Gospel of Judas” in some detail in 180 AD and denounced it as heretical. Irenaeus was an aggressive advocate of there being only four authoritative gospels
– Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – reflecting the consensus of the
Although the promoters
of the “Gospel of Judas” have
attempted to authenticate the Coptic manuscript by stating the fact that Scientists at the University of Arizona's Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
(AMS) lab in Tucson, Ariz., have radiocarbon dated it to be between A.D. 220
and A.D. 340, it is still questionable whether or not Judas Iscariot had
actually written it himself. There is
overwhelming and compelling evidence that he did not because he could not have
possibly written it. The “Gospel of Judas” is
definitely a document of deception that was fabricated by the heretical sect of
Gnostics long after Judas the betrayer of the Lord Jesus Christ had committed
suicide.
What
is The Da Vinci Code?
The Da
Vinci Code is a novel by Dan Brown
that has held one of the top two or three places on best-seller lists since its
publication with more than 4.5 million copies sold.
In Brown's novel, the "Da Vinci
code" refers to cryptic
messages supposedly incorporated by Leonardo Da Vinci
into his artwork. According to the
novel, Leonardo was a member of an ancient secret society called the
"Priory of Sion" dedicated to preserving the
"truths" that Jesus designated Mary Magdalene as His successor, that
His message was about the celebration of the "sacred feminine," that
Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and had children and that the Holy Grail
of legend and lore is really Mary Magdalene, the "sacred feminine,"
the vessel who carried Jesus' children.
Who
was Mary Magdalene according to the Scriptures?
Mary Magdalene is mentioned 12 times in the Gospels. She was healed of demon possession by Jesus (Lk. 8:2), was present at the Crucifixion (Mt. 27:55-56),
and the tomb (Mt. 27:61; Mk. 16:1-8), and was the first disciple to see the
Risen Jesus Christ (Mk. 16:9; Jn.
Who
was Mary Magdalene according to Dan Brown?
Brown says Mary Magdalene was of royal blood, of
the tribe of Benjamin, and the wife of Jesus Christ. According
to Brown, after the crucifixion, Mary, pregnant with Jesus' child, moved to
He also says Jesus intended for Mary to be the head of His
Church (celebrating the sacred feminine, remember) but that Peter wrested power
from her, suppressed evidence of Jesus' real intentions and set into motion a
2,000-year conspiracy to demonize Mary Magdalene.
An Assault on the Divinity
of the Lord
Jesus Christ
Much attention has been given to The Da Vinci Code’s claim that Jesus was
married to Mary Magdalene. But an even
more audacious claim of the novel is that the divinity of Jesus was first
raised and established at the Council of Nicaea in
A.D. 325, and that prior to that time, no one—not even Jesus’
followers—believed Jesus was anything more than a “mortal prophet” and great
man. The fact that this has caused hardly a ripple among fans of the novel indicates
a revealing (and hardly surprising) lack of knowledge about early Church
history and belief.
The Lord Jesus Christ is
the One True God
Here are clear and indisputable biblical evidences to prove that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the One True God manifested in the flesh.
Isaiah 9:6 is one of the
most powerful prophecies that the One True God would manifest Himself in the
flesh:
"For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given:
and the government willl be upon His shoulder: And
His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace."
The terms “Child” and “Son” refer to the Incarnation or manifestation of the “Mighty God" and the “Everlasting Father."
Isaiah also prophesied
that the Messiah would be called “Immanuel”, that is,
“God with
us” (Isa.
Micah 5:2 proves that
the Messiah is God. "But you, Bethlehem Ephratah .
. . yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel, Whose
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."
Thus the Old Testament
clearly states that the Messiah and Savior who is to come would be the One True
God Himself.
The
Holy Spirit has inspired the apostle John to write:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God." (Jn 1:1)
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us, and we have beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth." (Jn. 1:14)
The "Word" is "Logos" [ Greek ] , a conception or idea. God had in the very beginning of time
conceived the idea of man's redemption through His becoming man. The idea materialized when "the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us". The Lord Jesus Christ is God coming in the
form of man. This is the greatest
mystery of all time.
“And without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by
angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in
glory.” (1 Tim. 3:16)
Here
again the apostle Paul concurred with the apostle John that Jesus is God who "was manifested in the
flesh".
The test of true discipleship
is the acceptance that "Jesus Christ has come in the flesh" (1 Jn. 4:2-3). The
apostles had warned the Christians in their days about those who preached "another Jesus whom we have
not preached.” (2 Cor. 11:4). One thing we need to remember is that the
apostles knew the Lord Jesus Christ more intimately than anyone else in another
century (1 Jn. 1:1-2). They were
eye-witnesses to all the works of the Lord Jesus, who not only claimed to be
God but was prepared to make a stand for His claims (Jn. 5:17-29, 10:33).
After
His resurrection the Lord Jesus appeared to His disciples. (Jn. 20:19-20) The apostle Thomas was not present at the
first appearance, so he had doubts about the risen Christ. When the Lord Jesus appeared to them again, "then He said to Thomas,
Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put
it in My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.' And Thomas answered and
said to Him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Thomas, because you have
seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have believed"' (Jn.
The Holy Bible recorded in many places the Lord Jesus was worshiped as
God. We find the wise men worshiped Jesus as a child (Mt.
The Greek word for worship is proskeneo which is the same word used for
worship of Yahweh God. It is rendered 16
times to Jesus Christ as a beneficent superior; at least 24 times to God or to Jesus
as God. "The root idea of bodily
prostration is much less prominent than in the Old Testament. It is always
translated "worship." (International Standard Bible Encylopaedia) In Matthew
May God bless
you
This research article is a presentation of Paul Wong
to the ARK Forum on
For
comments please write first to: arkpw@sbcglobal.net
Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International. |