Dear Brother Faull, 

Who is the antichrist?  I have heard that it was Hitler!  Stalin!  Mussolini!  Even Sadam!  Who do you believe it is?  How about Bin Laden?

I personally suspect your next door neighbor!!! Why would I say such a thing as that?

The word antichrist appears five times in four Scriptures.  All we can know about the antichrist must appear in the verses that speak of “him.”  We will quote those verses for you and then study them.  We can know no more than God has revealed about the subject.  All else is speculation.

I John 2:18, “Little children, it is the last time:  and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”

I John 2:22, “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?  He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”

I John 4:3, “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God:  and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that tit should come; and even now already is it in the world.”

II John 1:7, “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.  This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”  [The Greek word has “the antichrist.”]

Now what do these verses reveal to us about the antichrist?

1.                  The disciples had heard that the antichrist (the opponent or the adversary of Christ) was coming in the last times.

2.                  John corrects their thinking by pointing out:

A.                             There are many, not one.

B.                             They are present now, not future.

C.                             These are the last times now!!!

3.                  He reveals who the antichrist is.

A.                             The liar who denies that Jesus is the Messiah is the antichrist.

B.                             The denier of the Father and the Son is the antichrist.

C.                             The spirit that denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is the antichrist.

D.                             The deceiver who will not confess that Jesus, the Messiah, has come in the flesh is the antichrist.

Do you see why I suspect your next door neighbor?  There is nothing sensational, and no great fanfare about the antichrist.  It is very simple.  If you know someone who holds to the Jewish or Mohommedan religion, he is the antichrist, for they do not believe Jesus is the Messiah.  If you know a Jehovah Witness or one in the “Jesus Only” cult, he is the antichrist, for they deny either God the Father, or God the Son.  If you know a Christian Scientist, he is the antichrist, for they believe flesh is a mere allusion and thereby deny that Jesus came in the flesh.  If you know an atheist, an agnostic or anyone who will not confess that Jesus is the Messiah who came in the flesh, he is the antichrist.

This little, brief article should alarm you.  You should not believe all you hear about the coming antichrist, who is coming to rule the world and fight against Christ.  The one referred to as “the man of sin” by Paul, or “the little horn” of Daniel’s vision are not the antichrist.  These are also “against Christ,” but it is not biblically correct to call just one man or system “the antichrist.”  There are many, and they are all around us now.  Do not be misled by “sensationalists” and “time setters” who are always calling your attention to some political leader as the antichrist.  Convert your neighbor and there will be one less antichrist. Remember, one opposes Christ when he denies that God the Father has sent His Son in the flesh to save us from our sins.

John 3:35-36, “35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.  36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:  and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of god abideth on him.”