THE ANTICHRIST OF PROPHECY by Dr. R.O.Corvin ©1966 by R.O.Corvin - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
First John 2:18 says: "Antichrist shall come." Such is the inspired announcement. Hence the superman for whom all the world is waiting will soon
be here. Even now he may be alive. But who is he? Where does he come from?
How will we recognize him? What will be the chief characteristics of his fearful
reign? How soon may we expect him? Are we nearing the Great Tribulation?
Is America headed for dictatorship? Is Jesus coming soon? What will happen
next? Are there answers to these great questions? What saith the Scriptures?
Is there an answer in the Word of God? Yes, God’s Book alone holds the key.
It alone can lift the veil and reveal the future. The Bible is God’s forecast of
the future.
The 13th chapter of "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" gives us a vivid
picture of Tribulation events. Verse 9 of this great chapter says, "If any man
have an ear let him hear." The Lord wants us to know what is going to happen
next. Repeatedly He has urged, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye
may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of man." For the lack of faith and understanding
there will be millions of human beings who will accept the leadership of
Antichrist. Men and women, God wants us to hear, to understand and to know
what is going to happen in the future. Through the Scriptures we can know
God’s exact teaching on the appearance, the workings, the lying wonders of
Antichrist and thus be in a position to meet any eventuality.
The next event on the calendar of prophecy will be the catching away
or Rapture of the believers at His Second Coming. The signs of the times are
being fulfilled and serve as signposts pointing to the Lord’s soon return. In
fact, the Scriptures indicate that the Lord Jesus is getting ready at any moment
to catch away His redeemed, Spirit-filled people from this world of sin and
sorrow. Many believe that Christ could come now and not destroy a single
verse or prophetic Scripture that relates to the Rapture. The next voice we
may hear could be the voice of our Saviour. First Thessalonians 4:16, 17 says:
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. . . and the dead
in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."
The Church will be caught away before the Tribulation Period begins.
I believe the redeemed will taste none of its actual horrors. They shall never
face Antichrist and his blasphemous mobs. The Rapture means deliverance
before, and absence from the Tribulation sorrows. It behooves us as God’s
people to live soberly and righteously in this present world. Let us watch and
pray that we might be counted worthy to escape all these dreadful things that
must shortly come to pass upon the earth.
Immediately after the catching away of the redeemed Church, the devil
shall be cast out into the earth to personally take charge of the Tribulation
Period. I know, of course, that there is a tendency today to reject the teaching
of the Bible regarding the existence and activity of a personal devil. But I
believe God’s Book just as it is and that Satan is just as real as you or I, and
that he is still as active as ever.
Several of the Devil’s names are "the dragon, that old serpent, the
Devil, and Satan." Thus, the Great Tribulation will be introduced, in which
the devil himself personally commandeers and leads. Great will be his wrath,
for short will be his time. He will have only a few years in which to work. He
will work feverishly. Terrible will be his ravaging, destructive activities.
There will be living at that time a majestic being, a mighty man of
cleverness and power. To this great character will Satan go and they shall enter
into a conference. Satan will make an unusual offer, an offer that he has made
to only one other man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us turn to Matthew 4:8-11
and read. "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and
sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto
him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then
saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him."
This is a very important Scripture and throws much light on the way
that Antichrist shall rise. The facts are that Satan sought Christ to be the
Antichrist! For so doing, he offered to grant Him the kingdoms of this world,
which he now holds in sway, and in return Christ was to fall down and worship
him. Jesus turned his offer down. Satan retreated and left Him. But this same
scene shall happen again in the Tribulation, the only difference being, Christ
won’t be in on the subterfuge. Another person shall be sought. And on being
found this personage shall enter into conference with the devil!
Think of it! A man going into conference with Satan. He shall be shown
the glittering glory of this world’s kingdoms. The offer Satan made to Christ
will be repeated and offered to this man.
It won’t be long until the political stature of this great individual will
begin to enIarge. His skill, ability, and power will be increasingly displayed.
Daily will he climb the ladder of influence, steadily rising higher. His shadow
will be cast across the nations.
All this time Satan will be working invisibly behind the scenes. He will
walk about with virtually unbridled power. With the redeemed people gone, with
the Holy Spirit’s restraining influence gone, remaining respect for law and
decency will begin to disappear.
Heads of nations will become desperate concerning the pressing problems
of the day. Mounting distress and perplexity will arise in the area of international
economics. Endlessly drawn out cold-war economies will sap the strength of
the strongest nations. The insoluble world conditions will become unbearable.
The resources of all nations shall be exhausted. Ominous depressions will
threaten to spread rapidly.
In weakened desperation, peace treaties may be signed. Nuclear
stockpiles will presumably be destroyed, blockades ended and tariff barriers
eliminated in large portions of the world. The common-market philosophy will
spread, creating new problems, which will demand unusually gifted leadership
to make it successful.
From such a situation, nations shall pool their resources and form an
amalgamated empire. Ten nations will federate in an effort to survive. The
rulers of these nations shall bend every effort to meet all the needs, but will
fail. One of them shall suggest that they consult this gifted, dominant personality
that they have been hearing so much about. By logical reasoning they will conclude
that only through world dominance by a single leadership will prosperity for all
and safety from nuclear war be established.
At once the ten kings are deeply impressed with the superior intelligence
of this master man to whom they have come with their urgent problems. They
are astounded to find that he already has a definite program worked out that has
the markings of a political genius. The plans are laid before them and explained
in the minutest detail. It is a superb policy, a superior program.
One of the main features of the policy of Antichrist shall be his
unilateral rearmament program. All the nations will agree to disarm. The
exception will be Antichrist’s army which will control the world, ostensibly for
peaceful purposes. Armies will be provided with instruments of destruction.
According to Revelation 9:16, it appears that some two hundred million soldiers
will take part in the Battle of Armageddon. While verbally crusading for peace,
the Antichrist will actually be preparing the world’s largest army for his mighty
battle to fight against the Son of God.
Antichrist will not stop with merely the rulership of the ten kingdoms
that sought his help. These will prove to be a stepping-stone to world domination.
Starting with ten nations and as a ruler over an amalgamated empire, he finally
will become the military genius who successfully overruns the earth.
But the spirit of Antichrist is already In the world. First John 4:3
indicates, “And this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that It
should come; and even now already is it in the world.”
But, thank God there is another Spirit sweeping around the world and
this is the greater Spirit of Jesus Christ. He is girdling the globe, empowering
men and women to quit sin, love righteousness, and serve God. God’s Spirit is
preparing them for the Rapture, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and the
Millennium, when the saints rule and reign with the Lord. First John 4:4 says:
“Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the wurld.” If we have the Spirit
of God’s Son in our hearts, we are more than conquerors over sin, for greater is
the Spirit of Christ than the spirit of Antichrist. God’s power in our lives makes
us victorious and triumphant. The spirit of Antichrist cannot lull us to sleep
as long as the greater Spirit of Christ rules and reigns in our hearts. This
Holy Spirit shall finally cause us to eternally triumph over Antichrist, for when
our Saviour comes riding down on the clouds of heaven, He shall defeat Antichrist
and all his formidable forces and cast them into hell, where they will defy God
no longer.
Friends, are you on the winning side? Do you have the greater Spirit
of Christ mastering and mananging your heart and life? This is real living,
both for time and eternity.
To begin an indepth study on this subject, click here.
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