End-Time Insights

The Son of Man is revealed and comprehended in his sufferings and self-sacrificial death for others, including his enemies . This theme is found several times in the Gospel of Mark, namely, the inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Son of God until AFTER his crucifixion and resurrection, and most paradoxically, the first man to identify him as the “ Son of God ” was the Roman centurion on duty at his execution. His self-identification as the suffering “ Son of Man ” made him unrecognizable and distasteful to unregenerate men. He was the kind of Messiah no one expected or wanted.

The Antichrist is viewed as a political tyrant intent on world domination in many interpretations. Whether this proves to be true, Jesus and his Apostles expressed more concern about the deceivers who will ply their trade in the Assembly. Where the term Antichrist is found, it is applied to false teachers who were infiltrating the Body of Christ, distorting apostolic teachings, and raising false expectations about the future. The “ Spirit of the Antichrist ” manifests itself in deceivers, false prophets, and their deceptive activities.

There is a much larger and older story behind the visions of the Book of Daniel than meets the eye, one that remains relevant to this day. The Book focuses on the Empire that has been attempting to rule the world since the dawn of human history. We ignore this biblical narrative at our peril. Not only was ancient Babel alive and well in the prophet's day, but even now it is rising once more on the world scene.

ARE WE LISTENING? In his Discourse on the Mount of Olives, Jesus included several warnings about coming “ deceivers ,” “ false messiahs ,” and “ false prophets ,” men intent on misleading his followers. His warnings are reiterated and expanded in the writings of the Apostles. The ‘ Olivet Discourse ’ began with a stern warning - “ Beware lest anyone deceive you! ” - “ MANY ” deceivers will come and “ deceive MANY .” Deception in the Body of Christ is NOT a new phenomenon or an exceptional problem.

John identified false teachers IN THE CHURCH as ‘antichrists’, and their deceptive teachings confirmed that the Last Days had commenced . In the New Testament, the term “ antichrist ” occurs only in the second and third letters of John. Moreover, the Apostle applies the plural form of the Greek noun to deceivers who were causing dissension and spreading false teachings in his congregations. The presence of “ antichrists ” in the Assembly constituted irrefutable evidence that the “ Last Days ” were underway. These troublemakers were manifestations of the “ Spirit of Antichrist ,” and forerunners of the “ Antichrist ” who was (and is) yet to come.