The UPLOOK (February 2005) pt. 2
Beyond
Babylon
May we escape . . .???
even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us:
I John 2:18,19
W
hen the US went into Afghanistan, in a War on Terror, one of the most disconcerting finds was that of local insurgents ready, willing, and able to fight back . . . because of weapons earlier provided by our own country. The US, with the most advanced weapon systems in the world, found an enemy entrenched with similar arms, pointed our way.
Our purpose, here, is not to focus on betrayal . . . [but] on undermining the spiritual roots of Antichrist,
. . .
a tall order, indeed . . .
It was not, of course, our intention to supply the enemy with weapons(!). It was just that, on an earlier battlefield, these soldiers seemed to be fighting a common cause. We found it to our advantage to fund and enable them, at that time, and they in turn rewarded us by returning our ammunition to us, at the point of loaded guns and RPGs! Such is a possible concern to anyone rendering aid and assistance to others. When you give someone aid, and render assistance, will that act of mercy one day be turned against you? The stronger the one aided, and the closer the relationship, the deeper the wound should betrayal take place. This also, our Lord experienced when going to the Cross. He was betrayed into the hands of sinners.
For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:
But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.
We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
Psalm 55:12-14
As we honestly look into the future, and consider the landscape to judgment and the returning of our Lord, this is one of the most difficult subjects to consider and look into: that every Scriptural reference to Antichrist and to the machinery that makes him tick, will have its roots in some form of Kingdom activity. Antichrist, the man from hell, will have found much of his weaponry and allegiance within what is presumed to have been the body of Christ. The Authorized Version gets it right: the man of sin will wage war with the saints, to overcome them (Rev. 13:7).
“If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em,” as the old adage goes. In short political terms, this means that we should, for example, expect those who formerly fought against the Church within our own country (proposing homosexual marriage, and the like) to soon cozy up to the fellowship in professed affiliation, while seeking to gain an entrance into our hearts.
"Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; . . .”
Daniel 11:32a nkjv
Our purpose here, is not to focus on betrayal, however, or on the darkness of the pit from which Antichrist crawls. No, it is to consider something even more daring than would at first be imagined—when reading the latter half of the above verse. For the last part of that verse reads that we will be strong and do exploits (vs. 32b). Further, since we serve a big God, Who can do more than we ask or think —the exploit I propose here, is that we undermine the spiritual roots of Antichrist, so that we may acquire a window of light, at the end of this age, to clearly see souls pour into the Kingdom, and turn back the darkness of our age..
Such is a tall order, indeed, and one that we may only dare attempt by forcing ourselves to look more fully into the seriousness of that which confronts us. For the truth will set us free, when realizing that Scripture clearly states that it is only after the Church goes to sleep (Matt. 25:1-5) and there has been a great falling away, that Antichrist may arise (II Thes. 2:1-3 AV).
†
