Anti-Christ Sitting in the Temple

WOULD THE REAL ANTI-CHRIST PLEASE STANDUP!

What do Pope John Paul II, Henry Kissinger, Adolf Hitler, Nero, Saddam Hussein, Mikhail Gorbachev, King Juan Carlos, Anwar Sadat, Ronald Reagan, Pat Robertson and a host of others have in common?

At some point in time, by some segment of Christianity, each has been identified as THE ANTICHRIST. Everyone is trying to be the first to pick the AntiChrist!

Will it be Lord Maitreya, who is now alive and maturing for his appointed time? Or... will it be a Syrian Arab? Or...?? Who is your best guess?

What does the Bible have to say about the identity of THE ANTI-CHRIST? Actually, ....not as much as you might think, ...if we stay within the confines of scripture.

The phrase "THE ANTI-CHRIST" is not found in scripture; but, nevertheless, it has become a common title for Satan's diabolical False Prophet Beast. Let's notice how the scripture actually reads.

1 John 2:18 .... even now are there many antichrists; (Plural antichrists)

1 John 2:22 .... He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the

Son. (He, Those who deny, don't serve, honor or

obey Jesus as the Christ are antichrist.)

1 John 4:3 ...... and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (not He, but, ...IT, the antichrist spirit was then and still is in the world.)

2 John 1:7 ...... For many deceivers are entered into the world, This is a deceiver and an antichrist. (Antichrist are the many [plural] deceivers in the world)

These four passages include all the "antichrist" references found in scripture which use the term ---"antichrist". They speak of the Spirit of antichrist, ...of plural or many antichrists, .and ...never of ONE individual PERSON! That may explain why Bible teachers have difficulty pin-pointing and identifiying the specific individual Antichrist. Maybe if they would focus upon the Spirit of AnitChrist and upon the aspect of MANY DECEIVERS, ...his IMAGE would become clearer. Watching any particular individual, ...even the Pope, ....will lead to deception about Satan's real schemes.

The Bible does speak of, ...That Man of Sin, ...The Son of Perdition, ...The False Prophet, ...The 1st Beast, ...Another Beast, ...Mystery Babylon the Great, ...The Wicked One, ...That Wicked, ...Mystery of Iniquity, ...Antichrists, ...The Spirit of Antichrist; but never, ...THE ANTICHRIST. Search it out for yourself.

Satan is smoke-screening his work by focusing everyone's attention upon 1 individual. Upon 1 position. Upon 1 church. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus wants to direct your attention away from A PERSON, ...and ....TO A SPIRIT. Am I saying that Satan won't use a person. No. Satan today is not only using a person, but, ...MANY PERSONS.

The scripture does not teach that at the end of time that ONE individual would appear who would be Satan Incarnate, as Bible teachers have led us to believe. That explains why many miss, and will continue to miss Satan's schemes of Antichrist in the world today.

It should become evident that the Old Serpent, in the earth today, is using a NEW STRATEGY, ....a NEW IMAGE, ....a NEW REPRESENTATION, ...a NEW BEAST from a different source. It is the same spirit..., but a different mask! (Rev.13:11-17)

Fellow believer, I encourage you to adjust your vision and begin to search out the Spirit of Antichrist, ...the Spirit of Mystery Babylon, ...the False Prophet Spirit, ...the Lamb-Dragon Spirit. All of these are different facets or manifestations of Satan's work in the earth through all peoples, nations, and tongues. Just as in any war, ...there are many battle fronts and theatres of operation, ...yet it is all the same war.

The Mystery of Iniquity is Revealed

I know we've been persauded to believe to look for one person, BUT, consider this; ...what person will be thrown into the lake of fire as the beast in Rev. 19:19? This beast is not be a person. This beast's life span has continued across centuries and the rise and fall of civilizations. We should not become involved in this witchhunt. But, we should begin to pray, asking God to help us to discern ...WHERE the Spirit of the Beast and False Prophet ...IS encroaching upon ....YOU and the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Taken Out of the Way

A Strong Delusion is upon the endtime people today "because they received not the love of the Truth". (2 Thess 2:10-11) "The Mystery of Iniquity" was at work in AD 55, even as the Holy Spirit said, and "he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way". (2 Thess 2:7) If you can receive it, HE.....HAS BEEN TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY! "That Wicked" HAS BEEN REVEALED, "whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." (2Thes.2:6-9)

You may say, "Well, I believe that the power of Satan is being restrained today; that "HE" (whoever He is, is not clear, and is thus debatable) is still in the way and holding back the evil of the Wicked One.

If you believe that, ...then the Spirit of the Lord would have me to ask you a question. Just what evil is being held back? In just which areas ...of lust, ...wicked imaginations, ...sexual perversions, ...violence, ...family discord, and etc. ...could Satan be doing a better job than he is doing. Satan is attacking human behavior from every possible avenue. Do you believe that there are any restraints upon evil today? A flood of filth has gone forth and none can stop it! There is no control or restraint today EXCEPT in the individual hearts of individual born again believers by the power of the indwelling Spirit of Jesus Christ.

There is no restraint to evil within the unregenerated hearts and untransformed minds of unsaved men and women today upon this earth. There is nothing sacred, holy, or off-limits anymore. Blasphemy reigns. Every facet of human existence is under demonic bombardment. Try to think of an area that Satan has left untouched or where he is doing an inept job. There is no safe haven except in an overcoming Jesus Christ life! The attack has been escalating for generations. Satan has come "with all power" to effect "deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish".

That Wicked has been REVEALED! That MAN OF SIN, ...THE SON OF PERDITION IS REVEALED! The spirit of Antichrist was allowed to go without restraint and dominated the earth through the Roman Catholic church for over 1200 years. Read history a little and consider. The constraints were removed and the world went into what historians called the Dark Ages. Can you see him? (Many saw Jesus in the flesh but they did not have the revelation, as Peter did, of his Spirit, ...the Christ or Messiah.) Innumerable believers are looking Satan right in the natural eye, so to speak, but they don't have the revelation of the Spirit of Antichrist which faces them. They do not realize what they behold. Nevertheless, a remnant see the Devil and his Harlot, ...the spirit of Antichrist is UNVEILED.

It is not an individual you need to search out or to fear. It is the spirit of antichrist which uses every human vessel he can. Jesus turned to Peter one day and said, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me." (Matt.16:23) Was Jesus calling Peter, the Devil? No! Peter had just allowed his mind and mouth to be used as instruments by Satan. Jesus recognized the spirit which spoke to him out of Peter's voice and rebuked it. Peter was not the Devil; he had just been a tool of Satan.

We are identifying a spirit, ...not one person. But the scripture says, " man". What man? Even though the spirit of Antichrist is called a "MAN" it refers not to ONE INDIVIDUAL. Neither does the "woman" of Mystery Babylon refer to ONE INDIVIDUAL woman. Neither does "the Lamb's WIFE" refer to ONE INDIVIDUAL wife. Neither does " the stature of a perfect MAN", ...which " we all" shall come to (Eph.4:13), refer to ONE INDIVIDUAL man! References to putting off the "Old Man" and putting on the "New Man" in the epistles do not refer to one INDIVIDUAL MAN either. Scripture revealed by the Holy Ghost is always the best commentary on Scripture.

The Son of Perdition Principle

How can we say that the Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, is presently revealed? Because all the earmarks which the scripture speaks of, are in operation today.

The "falling away first" which preceded the revealing of the Man of Sin took place over 18 centuries ago as the Christian church, as a whole, went into Apostasy. This revelation came to the saints of those days by the Holy Ghost (as all revelations come) as they watched truth gradually choked out. They watched the Spirit of Antichrist mature and gain control until the True Church of God was tortured, persecuted, and became martyrs for Jesus. A little time in a library will make it all too clear what happened in those early centuries. We should not fall for Satan's deception by looking to the future to fulfill that passage.

Remember the Mystery of Iniquity has not been on the back burner for nearly 2000 years, since the Holy Ghost wrote these words. Satan's Mystery has been unfolding; ...iniquity has been abounding, ...just as the Mystery of God has been developing in righteousness.

Studying the life and ministry of the one man in the Bible called, ..."the son of perdition", ..."Judas Iscariot"; ...reveals to us the whereabouts of the "Man of Sin" Spirit.

The Judas Spirit

Who was the Son of Perdition? He was Jesus' friend! "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, ....hath lifted up his heel against me." (Psa.41:9) He was one of the 12 apostles! "He was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry." (Acts 1:17) Jesus identified him as Judas in John 17:12, ..."those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition;" ....he spoke of Judas Iscariot. The scripture does not say that Judas was born the son of perdition; however, it clearly teaches that Satan put betrayal into Judas' heart and later the Devil entered into him. (John 13:2,27)

What made Judas the Son of Perdition? Was it the natural man himself? Was he born with a sinister evil nature about him? No. I don't believe so. Judas became the Son of Perdition when he yielded his mind, thoughts, and energies to Satan's control. Judas knew it not. It was not Judas' human nature which made him "of Perdition". It was the spirit of Satan which entered Judas that made him what he became; ...not his fleshly natural man. Judas' own lusts, values, and mind made him susceptible to Satan's devices (thoughts) and therefore he was overcome.

Do you think that Jesus was ignorant as to who Judas was during those nearly 3 years of ministry? Of course not. However, the other 11 apostles were ignorant of who he was, until he betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Why? They discerned his outward natural man, but they never discerned the weakness in his spirit as Jesus did.

What type of spirit did Judas have? Judas' spirit was a partaker of the ministry spirit. It was a sleep, eat, and live as a disciple spirit. It was a sell-you-out betrayal spirit. It was a lustful, greedy of gain ...spirit.

In summary, those individuals who are partakers of the ministry of Jesus Christ, those who are friends of Jesus, those who have been chosen by Jesus to be anointed, those who are greedy of gain, those who allow their hearts to be manipulated by Satan's ideas, ....will be the kind of people who will offer themselves to the Spirit of Antichrist and betray their Lord and master whom once they loved. The Man of Sin comes from within the ranks of the church, ....not outside!

Sitting in the Temple of God

For some reason, Bible teachers and ministers have wanted to make this passage read, ..."He as God sitteth in the temple of God" ...as the Jewish temple which was in the city of Jerusalem at the time this was written in 2nd Thessalonians. (2Thess. 2:4) But it's obvious that it does not say that. Why should the Holy Ghost speak of the temple (naos) as a building in Jerusalem in this passage, when in ALL of the other Pauline passages, ...he teaches that WE, THE BELIEVERS, are the TEMPLE (naos) of God?

"Know ye not that ye are the temple (naos) of God?..." (1 Cor 3:16) "...for the temple (naos) of God is holy, which temple ye are."(1 Cor 3:17) "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple (naos) of the Holy Ghost.."(1 Cor. 6:19) "...for ye are the temple (naos) of the living God."(2 Cor.6:16) "In whom (Christ) all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy (naos) temple in the Lord.(Eph 2:21)

DO YOU NOT KNOW ...that the Jerusalem temple is not the TEMPLE OF GOD for New Testament believers? DO YOU NOT KNOW ...that Holy Ghost filled believers are the TEMPLE OF GOD? DO YOU NOT KNOW ...that Jehovah God, the LORD, "dwelleth NOT in temples made with hands?" (Acts 17:24) The Holy Ghost made that statement in Acts 17 around A.D. 50 while Herod's Temple in Jerusalem was still standing. Even though the Jerusalem temple still existed at the time of these words, ....the Holy Spirit excluded it from being the temple of God. DO YOU NOT KNOW ...that God does not live in buildings of stone anymore, ...not any! ...not ONE!

Mystery Babylon wants to emphasize elaborate church buildings; ...but, never again will God inhabit a natural wood or stone structure! When the Word was made flesh and dwelt or was tabernacled among us, God chose humanity over buildings. And even now, ...Jesus Christ lives in the hearts of His Redeemed!

Today the Spirit of AntiChrist has come to SIT in the Temple (naos) of God. The Wicked one sits upon the throne of the heart in multitudes of believers. Within their hearts, AntiChrist sits to oppose everything God is trying to accomplish in their lives. Multitudes have declared themselves as God's temple by their own confession, ....but the spirit working within them continually opposes and works against all efforts of the Holy Ghost ...to convict of sin, ...to convict of what is righteousness, ...to give them spiritual discernment and judgment, ....and to reveal to them Jesus Christ as the 12 Apostles preached.

The Holy Ghost says, ...take up the cross and deny self, ...but they listen to the Wicked One who says, ...Don't be a fanatic, you know that isn't necessary ...OR Hey, I'm a believer, ...that's all that God asks of me.

The Holy Ghost says, ...worship me, put me first in your life; but the Wicked One says, ...love those pleasures, ....worship, adore, and covet materialism. God doesn't expect you to give up anything. All the good things of life are here for you.

Satan is truly "the God of This World" as he incites believers to worship and exalt "self" as God. They have taken the reins of their lives into their own hands, ...which then becomes the Devil's reins. The leadership of the Holy Ghost is replaced with the leadership of the spirit of Antichrist, which denys that Jesus Christ is come to live in their fleshly tabernacle to make it a holy, dedicated and separated temple unto God. Thus much of the christian community finds itself living a life-style which contradicts Jesus' New Covenant teachings of the Scripture. So they seek prophets who speak ...smooth words, .....materialism, ...psychological programs, ...prosperity seminars, ...a type of country-club christianity.

THEY OPPOSE GOD AT HIS EVERY MOVE! Thus Satan is exalted in the earth! Thus Satan does sit in the temple of God. Thus the Wicked One does sit as God in believers hearts. Thus Satan does sit in the temple of God showing himself to be as powerful as God in the life of many believers.

This explains why Jesus said in Revelation that he was on the outside of the Laodicean church, ...knocking, ...trying to get in. Jesus Christ is not on the ruling throne in the temple of multitudes of believers. ...Satan's spirit of rebellion, ....that Judas' betrayal spirit, ....that Son of Perdition, that Mystery of Iniquity SITS IN THE TEMPLE! They have been partakers of Jesus' anointing, labor, and fellowship; (just as Judas) ...but, ...their covetous nature was never brought into subjection. (Judas' wasn't either) So they have SOLD OUT their walk with God for a religious walk rather than True Christianity.

The Hour of Temptation

We are witnessing the conclusion of the 20th century and "time" as we know it. The souls of men are facing the climax of the ages, as well as the temptation of the ages.

The culmination of good and evil was described as a trial, a test, a temptation to try all who dwell upon the earth. "I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."(Rev. 3:10) Not 1 country, ...not 1 continent, ...not 1 hemisphere is exempt --- it comes upon the whole earth.

Jesus Christ stated there was one means of deliverance unto those who would face this tide of evil. It was the keeping of the "Word of His Patience". Each of us should do a little inventory to see how the Word is holding up in our life? Is he losing or gaining ground?

Spirits have gone forth upon the globe bringing believers and sinners alike into the "valley of Jehosaphat". A place of threshing -- where all the husks of man's ideas and traditions must be winnowed away --- a time of threshing. Since the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when Peter stood and said, "This is that"; (...preaching the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy), ..the Spirit of Truth has had to do battle with the Spirit of Error. God has had countless victories over the centuries. Yet multitudes are still being overtaken by the spirit of error and find themselves in the "valley of decision".

The Spirit of Truth, ...the Holy Ghost, ...the comforter, ...is still accomplishing in the hearts of believers what Jesus said he would do nearly 2000 years ago. He reproves and convicts the heart of sin, righteousness and gives judgement as to what is right in God's sight. The Holy Ghost fire purges and burns out the dross of the carnal mind and the flesh. Believers who have been filled with the Spirit of God still manifest the fruit of that seed from which they were conceived. They are born of that incorruptible seed which is the word of God and continue to hear "us" (the apostles). (1 John 4:6)

At the same time, ...the Spirit of Error, ...the Spirit of Antichrist has entered the hearts of men and women transforming them into deceiving images, deceiving ministers and deceiving apostles of light. As a strange fire burns in their heart, ...signs and wonders are accomplished by these ministers and apostles whose spirit is dominated by the Mystery of Iniquity.

Many false spirits have gone forth. The spirits of devils working. Doctrines of devils seducing. False Christs, ...false anointed ones are everywhere within the pulpits of the christian community. Many of those who say they have the spirit of God betray themselves by their own confession. Revealing that their spirit is the spirit of error -- that they have received the spirit of the world. The anointing they have has power; ...yes! ....signs; yes! ....wonders; yes! -- but they are lies. They say that the spirit they have is the Spirit of God -- yet it opposes the Word of God -- it opposes holiness and separation from the world.

We are living in "perilous times" when multitudes of God's people are being deceived by " seducing spirits". Many Holy Ghost filled believers have been overtaken by this "strong delusion" which has come upon the earth during this time of "The Hour of Temptation."