by Brad Sherman

10

  The Spirit of Antichrist?




... And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming,
and is now already in the world.   — 1 John 4:3 (NKJV)



     As mentioned in the previous chapter, I am of the opinion that the person known as The Antichrist has been over inflated to the point that the mere mention of the term sometimes generates fear and overshadows Christ in the minds of many. Though I have read some very interesting works on this subject and it is a subject that we should watch closely, I still find it very speculative when dealing with who the Antichrist (singular) will be at the end of the age.  Therefore, this chapter will deal with the spirit antichrist rather than the person known as The Antichrist.

Where Jesus Got His Power
     Jesus Christ is God. His deity is established. He said of Himself, “Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58). He is God incarnate, the eternal Word of God become flesh (see John 1:1,14). These things are not in question among believers.  However, we also read that He laid aside His heavenly glory and humbled Himself in the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7). Sometimes we forget that all the powerful things Jesus did, miracles, healing, and even raising the dead, He did from the position of a man, not as God. The Son laid aside His Heavenly glory and lived life as a man. In other words, He put Himself in our shoes. So where did He get His power?  The Bible tells us:

 ... God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. — Acts 10:38 (NKJV)

     Jesus did what He did not because He was God, but because He was a man, anointed with the Holy Spirit and power. Then He paid the price for our sin, rose from the dead, and sent the Holy Spirit so we could also be anointed with the same Holy Spirit and the same power. In doing this, He became the firstborn among many anointed ones (see Rom 8:29). It was part of His purpose to reproduce Himself many times over.

Satan’s Worst Nightmare
     When Jesus came to earth operating under the anointing, He presented a big problem for Satan. Through His death and resurrection Jesus nullified Satan’s lease on the planet, which Adam had relinquished in the garden. Jesus, as the Son of Man, now holds full authority in heaven and on earth (Matt 28:18).

     But that was just the beginning of Satan’s problems. On the day of Pentecost, Satan’s worst nightmare came true when 120 people received the same Holy Spirit and the same anointing that was in Jesus! Now, instead of just one Anointed One, there were 120.  But it got even worse! Later that same day, 3000 more people believed and were told: “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins and you too shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” In one day, God’s army of anointed soldiers went from one to 3120!

     Under the New Covenant, every believer can operate in the same anointing that Jesus Christ operates in. Now, every believer can have a direct connection to God the Father through the blood of Jesus. That is why Peter said we are all priests.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; — 1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)

The Anti-Anointing Plan
     At first, Satan simply tried to kill everyone who was anointed, and he continues to do so when he can. He is a thief who steals, kills and destroys. But intimidation through violence and murder was not enough because this anointed army of priests did not fear death. The more Christians he killed , the more they multiplied.  This army was too powerful to attack head on so Satan needed an additional strategy that would attack from a different angle. So he came up with a plan to infiltrate their ranks and sabotage the source of their power.

     Satan's plan was an anti-anointing plan and, like the thief he is, he began to infiltrate the church to steal the anointing. The Apostle John addressed this anti-anointing plan when he said, “...even now many antichrists have come...but you have an anointing from the Holy One. (1 John 2:18,20).  The word antichrist comes from the Greek words anti (“opposite” or “instead”) and christos (“anointed” or “the Anointed One, Christ”). Therefore, antichrist could be defined as: (1) instead of or against Christ or, (2) instead of or against the anointing.  The anti-anointing plan promotes a lie which denies that Jesus is come in the flesh. John wrote:

For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.  Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.  Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. —2 John 1:7-11 (NKJV) 

     The deception that John is talking about here is a subtle one.  Notice that these deceivers do not deny that Jesus is the Christ, but that Jesus Christ is (present tense) come in the flesh. Many people revere Jesus Christ, and even call Him God, as they should. But they think and operate as if Jesus no longer dwells in human flesh, but is far away in heaven. They fail to abide in the doctrine of Christ, the mystery that has been revealed which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (see Col 1:27).  In doing so, they unconsciously deny that the same anointing that enabled Jesus to move in power can and should operate in us - who live in the flesh. The doctrine of Christ also says that, if we believe on Jesus, we will do the same works He did and even greater ones! (John 14:12). When we read about the miraculous works of Jesus and think He was able to do them because “He was Jesus,” we err. He was and is certainly special, but the works He did, He did as a man, not as God. This is why Jesus almost always referred to Himself as “the son of man.”

     Satan rebelled against God and lost. Since he can’t win against God, he tries to win against man, who is created in God’s image. Satan hates humans — period. He was able to deceive the first Adam, and tried to do the same with Jesus, the second Adam. But he failed because Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power. Now Satan is trying to deceive us, the multiplication of the Anointed One, and convince us that we do not have the anointing in us. The very idea of the anointing residing in human flesh really burns Satan. He resists the idea of humans being anointed with Holy Spirit power in all forms:
    •    He resists the fact that Jesus Christ, as an anointed human, existed.
    •    He resists the idea of humanity in general having the anointing and power of God
    •    He resists the idea that Jesus will return in human flesh with other anointed humans to establish an earthly Kingdom, and he resists our preparation for it.

Footprints of the Antichrist Spirit
     The anti-anointing plan seeks to prevent Christians from moving in the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit and ultimately seeks to replace the person of Christ with the Antichrist. This mystery of iniquity was already at work in the early church.

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. — 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 (NKJV)

     Perhaps the clearest example of an antichrist is Diotrephes, whom John exposed in his third epistle written to Gaius.  Diotrophes had gained control of a local church. He was malicious toward John and anyone who wished to receive John was also thrown out of the church. The root of Diotrophes’ error is found in the fact that he loved preeminence.

I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. —3 John 1:9-10 (NKJV)

     In Diotrophes, we see an early example of the church moving away from servant leadership in the church encouraging all believers to walk in the anointing and leading of the Holy Spirit, to church hierarchy. These elevated leaders resisted the priesthood of the believer and made themselves priests over others and made the people of God dependent upon their leadership. By the 3rd century bishops over cities were being set up in the 4th century, we see the marriage of the church to Rome, which reinforced the idea of hierarchy in the church and sought to consolidate power and authority in a few.

     As we look at the footprints of the antichrist spirit in history, one thing is quite clear: there are many antichrists who have manifested in church government and civil government. All of these people have been motivated by the same spirit that is anti-Christ or anti-anointing, and have sought to replace Christ in the individual and individual dependence upon the Holy Spirit with dependence upon themselves. Socialism, which forcefully consolidates wealth and property in the hands of government to be distributed by government is satanic antichrist and can only be effectively countered by Christ and Christianity. It is an antichrist system that destroys individualism and creates dependent slaves.  To be individually led by the Holy Spirit is the very definition of liberty and freedom (see 2 Cor 3:17).

     The antichrist spirit denies that the same power and anointing which Jesus operated in during His earthly ministry is in you and will operate through you. Through history, as well as today, we can see Satan’s anti-anointing plan at work. Through lies, deception, tricks, intimidation, and elaborate systems of  counterfeit religion he seeks to keep us from operating as the anointed priests that we are called to be. Therefore, where ever there is a religious system or a governmental system that denies, belittles, or discourages us regarding the authority and power that Jesus Christ made available to us, there is the antichrist spirit. It is a spirit that seeks to neutralized or deactivate the powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Antichrist Spirit Revealed in a Dream
     Preparing the way of the Lord and His Kingdom is a major reason we are given the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we should not be surprised if the antichrist spirit seeks to hinder our work of Kingdom preparation. Through a dream, the Lord gave me a glimpse of this spirit and I believe the interpretation of that dream will help us recognize, avoid, and stand against the spirit of antichrist.

My wife and I were driving down the road in a car. We looked to the side of the road and saw two large cats the size of cougars, yet having coats the color of common domestic house cats. They were on the ground and were running side by side away from us into the woods, as though they had been lurking by the road but now had been discovered.

As we continued a little farther down the road we saw, in a big tree on a high limb, a large pure white cat the size of a leopard, or larger, with huge fangs like a saber-toothed tiger. It also had large blank saucer-like eyes that were completely black. It sat arrogantly and majestically, watching the road.

 We looked in amazement as we drove past and then stopped to get out and look. At first it seemed that it did not notice us, but when I made a noise it turned and looked straight at me. It was very intimidating. As we watched, it leaped off the limb and began to fly, revealing that it had wings. It swooped behind some trees and we lost sight of it.

Feeling a bit nervous, we got back in the car. But before we could continue down the road, the large white cat suddenly appeared right in front of us, swooping down and attacking my feet with outstretched talons, like an eagle attacking its prey. It was as though the car was not there.  

     I awoke with this dream clearly in my mind.

The Interpretation
The White Cat Watching the Road
     Through prayer, I came to understand that the large white cat represented the antichrist spirit. It was a high level demonic principality in the heavenly realms as indicated by its position high in the tree overlooking the road. It had huge fangs, which indicated its purpose was to tear and devour. The road we were traveling on represented the path of progress in the preparation for the kingdom of God to appear on earth.

     Hosea speaks of a similar picture of a large cat lurking by the road. Daniel also saw a vision of a large cat that could fly, revealing similar biblical symbolism. Though these passages are referring to different visions and circumstances, they demonstrate similar biblical symbolism.

So I will be to them like a lion; Like a leopard by the road I will lurk;  I will meet them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their rib cage, And there I will devour them like a lion. The wild beast shall tear them.  —Hosea 13:7–8 (NKJV)

After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.    —Daniel 7:6

     The large cat in the tree was pure white, which represents the antichrist spirit that controls large religious systems, presenting themselves as pure and righteous.  However it is full of humanistic and intellectual reasoning. Though it may present itself as good and right, it’s empty. The black eyes reveal that there is no light within. It is full of darkness and deceit.

     This white cat also sat arrogantly in a very prominent position so that all could see it. At first it didn’t seem to notice us at all, until I made a noise. Such is the nature of the antichrist spirit. It loves preeminence and causes people to love preeminence and desire to be seen and noticed.

     As mentioned above, Diotrephes was probably one of the many antichrists that John spoke of, saying that many antichrists have come (see 1 John 2:18). Regarding Diotrephes, John wrote, “I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not” (3 John 1:9). Just as the antichrist spirit loves positions of importance and prominence, so others, if they cannot be prominent themselves, often fall into the trap of desiring to be noticed by those whom they perceive to be important.

Don’t be Distracted from the Journey
     In the dream we stopped to look at the white cat. When we made a noise to get its attention, it attacked us. We should have just kept going down the road. This represents an immature attitude concerning spiritual warfare. Spiritual warfare is more effective as we focus on the Lord Himself and His work instead of on the principality or power. Demonic spirits seek attention and we should give them little. The more we give them, the less attention we give to the Lord and we can easily be distracted and led off track. Too much attention given to the antichrist spirit, or too much speculation as to the prophetic fulfillment of the person known as the antichrist, can overshadow the authority and power made available to us through Christ.

     The apostle John spoke of the antichrist spirit and then made the main point: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). We have overcome the Antichrist and the antichrist spirit! Remember that we do not wrestle with flesh and blood or some person who is the Antichrist, but with principalities and powers in heavenly places.

     The allure of being powerful, even in spiritual warfare, is a trap of the enemy that will hinder us from doing the Lord’s work. It is easy to become inflated in our natural minds with pride (false humility). Colossians speaks of those who delight in false humility and intrude into those things which they have not seen, being vainly puffed up in pride, not holding fast to the Head (see Col 2:18–19). This opens us up to spiritual attack.

     Even though the demons were subject to His disciples, Jesus instructed them not to rejoice in that, but rejoice that their names were written in heaven. In the Day of the Lord many will have the claim of casting out demons, but Jesus will say, “Depart from me. I never knew you!” (see Matt 7:22–23)

The Two Large House Cats
The two large cats running together on the ground represent the operation of the antichrist spirit in a more down-to-earth way than the large religious systems that are full of darkness. Though they had the markings of common house pets, they were as large as a mountain lion and obviously dangerous. I  believe this represents wrong doctrines or ideas that we hold to as truth. Though we readily welcome them into our houses (churches) as we would a common pet, they are of the antichrist spirit and hinder our work. Though many churches may be genuine and serve the Lord, we sometimes embrace more than one doctrine that hinders the work of preparation for the kingdom of God.

The Attack on the Feet
     The final point of interpretation from the dream was when the big white cat attacked my feet. This happened after it focused on us and saw that we were about to continue down the road. Continuing down the road speaks of carrying on the work of preparation and moving toward our destiny. Since we are to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (the kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace), the attack on the feet represents an attack on the work of preparation for the coming kingdom of God.

     Any soldier knows that foot care is of high priority. If a soldier’s feet are unprotected, He can’t march far or engage the enemy in battle. Therefore, the enemy’s strategy is to rip your boots off, that is, to strip you of the theology of preparation. So lets take this idea of preparation and get it in our hearts. Lace it on tight and let’s start marching!

Paradigm Builders
     Socialism, which forcefully consolidates wealth and property in the hands of government to be distributed by government is satanic antichrist and can only be effectively countered by Christ and Christianity. It is an antichrist system that destroys individualism and creates dependent slaves.  To be individually led by the Holy Spirit is the very definition of liberty and freedom (see 2 Cor 3:17).


How would you describe your position regarding this concept:
    Before reading the chapter :
        1- I disagreed
        2- I was unaware or ambivalent
        3- I already agreed

    After you read the chapter/book:
        1- I disagree
        2- I am considering
        3- I agree   





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(c) Copyright, 2013, Brad Sherman