What About the Antichrist?

There have been quite a number of cults (Heaven’s Gate, the Order of the Solar Temple, the Branch Davidians, and the followers of Jim Jones, for example) who have sought to leave this world in search of a better place by means of suicide.

Other preachers and teachers have publicly announced that they know exactly when the end of the world is coming. What does this all mean?

“Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (Matthew 24:11).

“But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end. Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and His true way will be slandered. In their greed, they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way” (2 Peter 2:1–3 NLT).

Clever deceptions

Why do people accept these crazy teachings? Don’t they know any better? The Bible tells us that in the last days, there will literally be a cult explosion—an ever-growing plethora of every belief system possible except the right one. The devil has his counterfeit power at work in the world. He is the father of lies (John 8:44).

“He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do” (2 Thessalonians 2:10–12 NLT).

You know something is popular when you start seeing the knock-offs or imitations. The devil is not very original. He has always seen the value of copying something, and, in so doing, confusing the issue. It seems that whenever there is a genuine work of the Spirit of God, Satan will have his imitation.

Consider Pharaoh’s magicians, who were able to duplicate the miracles of Moses, such as the plague of blood in the Nile, and the plague of frogs (see Exodus 7–8).

Jesus told the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24–30). In the story, a man planted wheat in a field, but his enemy came at night and planted tares (or darnel seeds) in the same field. Initially, this tare looks just like the wheat. But as time goes by, it actually uproots the wheat and ultimately destroys it.

These days while God is working, the devil is planting his tares. When they are exposed, people say, “See—they are all hypocrites!” As Peter said, “Christ and his true way will be slandered” (2 Peter 2:2) through this. Yet, the presence of so many imitations should actually prove that there is an original.

Whatever we have as Christians, you can be sure that Satan has a counterfeit version:

• He has a false gospel that tells you that you can make up the rules as you go.
• Along with this false gospel comes a false hope. People think that because they have gone through a certain religious ritual, they are eternally secure.
• He has a false messiah. Satan always wanted the top job in Heaven, and he has never gotten over losing his once exalted position. In these last days, he will thrust his imitation messiah—the Antichrist—on the world scene.