The Antichrist Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrist have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18). Jeffrey must deny the first century existence and presence of the antichrists and create one for the imminent future. Here is a clear case of an uninspired prophet (Jeffrey) calling an inspired prophet (the apostle John) a liar. For Jeffrey, John and the first century church did not know that it was the last hour! What else should we not believe about the Bible for the sake of future prophecy? John mentions the word antichrist(s) four times in the first general epistle (2:18, 19; 22; 4:3) and once in 2 John 7. In 1 John 4:3, he says that the Antichrist was already in the world, implies that it is not a single person, but anyone who denied that Jesus had come in the flesh. Equally important is the assurance he gave the church that they had overcome the Antichrist, not by the Rapture out of the world, but because they were of God, and God was greater than the Antichrist, (1 John 4:4). In summary, there is no coming world order in our immediate or remote future that is prophesied in scripture. To arrive at such conclusions one must ignore the evidence and the time statements for the near return of Christ to his original first century audience. In other words, the principles of hermeneutics must be abandoned. Gods kingdom is the New World Order. It has been present in the world since the first century. Its power is spiritual, the real power that influences all forms of power, --without hands. What we need are not more date-setters and fate-telling futurists, but more believers in the words of Christ, and a brighter outlook based on fulfilled prophecy and the fact that Christ has already taken care of the future in a gloriously victorious kingdom that never ends. |
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