This blog originated from Pastor Jack Hibbs' Sunday Morning message dated 4/30/2023. The coming of the antichrist. Can we see that he is coming?

This blog is based upon Pastor Jack Hibbs' Sunday Morning message dated 4/30/2023. It is NOT meant to disrespect the Pastor, but I, too, have been challenged by people telling me that the rapture is not in the Bible, while others ask me who will be the antichrist, even though they have their own ideas of who this man will be. 

For several years I have struggled to remember specific scriptures that would decisively answer what seems like the simplest of questions, but then, I have been studying these things for many years. As I write this, I am aware of how I used to talk to people when I was involved with the Faith movement. Don't get me wrong, I think faith is an essential part of our lives as believers. Accosting people for their lack of faith does not represent God and is abusive. Teaching people to act this way is false teaching and should be avoided.

So, being put on the spot to define where we can find this removal of the church from the earth and when we might see the antichrist, I have, at times, struggled to define passages that clearly demonstrate Jesus coming back for His bride. (If you are willing to look at things that do not specifically say “rapture,” then you will find extensive references that speak of the harpazo, our catching away, and statements that Jesus made about coming back for His own.) It is obvious to me that our removal from the earth unleashes: the antichrist, God's wrath for seven years, a time of tribulation that will be more deadly and destructive than your imagination could come up with and will culminate with Jesus returning as the warring Messiah that the Jews have been looking for. Do not be misled; God's wrath continues up to and including the great white throne.  

I will have to break this up into 3 or 4 posts as it is currently 15 pages long. If you want to see Pastor Jack's notes for the purposes of assisting you in your study, they are available at https://calvarycch.org/wp-content/uploads/JHX566-Signs-Of-The-AntiChrist-Part3.pdf. 

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12  Is one the most definitive sections of scripture that speak about Jesus' return for His bride, the church, and then the entrance of the Antichrist.

I am NOT looking for the antichrist, for I have come to understand that as a follower of Christ, I will not be here when he comes, and neither will anyone else who belongs to Jesus. The reason that I have this expectation is my knowledge that the antichrist cannot come until the church – the bride, is lifted out of here.

If this puzzles you, consider Lot and Noah. In both cases, the devastation was coming; however, both were removed prior to the destruction.

This next statement, “In Light of Signs of The Coming Antichrist and The Imminent Rapture of The Church,” is one that Pastor Jack made as an introduction to his sermon. 

I find it uncomfortable to read as I have never been looking for the antichrist, as church gave me a healthy fear of this guy. I have, however, been looking for the prophetic signs that we are in the last days of the church on this earth.

Do you want a major sign that we are in those last days?

Then consider Israel becoming a nation in a day.

“Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children.” (Isaiah 66:8 TLV)

Well, this is what happened with Israel.

“At midnight on May 14, 1948, the Provisional Government of Israel proclaimed a new State of Israel.”

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/us-israel#:~:text=At%20midnight%20on%20May%2014,on%20January%2031%2C%201949).

Prior to that moment in time, Israel was never thought of as a nation. Oh sure, for a time, there was Israel, the “Northern “kingdom” and, in time, the two kingdoms – Judah and Israel, were eventually unified, but it was, as always, a monarchical kingdom, most of which was evil. Both the Northern and Southern kingdoms were sent into 70+ years of Babylonian captivity but eventually returned to become a unified kingdom.

“And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a mighty nation; and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from thenceforth even for ever.” (Micah 4:7 JPS)

If you cannot accept Israel as the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, then what other signs or prophecies do we have?

Occasionally, I choose alternate translations of the Bible because they, in my mind, portray what the Holy Spirit is saying. The Literal Standard Version leans toward a 1500s translation that holds to one of the earliest and correct translations of the Greek word apostasia. The Geneva Bible, published in 1587, was in usage for almost 172 years before the King James Bible, which was demanded by the State Church of England at the compulsion of the Catholic Church, with the agreement of King James as the corrections made by church leadership reflected how the church felt about people leaving for Protestantism.

In my opinion, the King James Bible's usage of the word apostasy is unclear and leaves one thinking, at what point is this "leaving" deemed enough. The terminology departure, one of the word choices that could have been used, conveys the departure of the church from this earth. This event can be summed up in a word, the rapture. The unfortunate thing about the word rapture is how foolish people constantly want to tell you that the word rapture is not in the Bible. When the unlearned try to use this argument, they demonstrate how little they understand about this event, and they express their lack of desire to learn, for the word, Harpazo means the same thing. The word rapture is a transliteration of the Latin term rapio or rapturo; both point to the catching away of the church – a departure. 

2 Thessalonians 2:3 reflects one of the clearest of those changes demanded by the early Catholic church. 

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 LSV  “And we ask you, brothers, in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of our gathering together to Him,  (2)  that you are not quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither through spirit, neither through word, neither through letters as through us, as that the Day of the LORD has arrived;  (3)  do not let anyone deceive you in any way, because if the departure may (does) not come first, the man of lawlessness may (will) not be revealed—the son of destruction,  (4)  who is opposing and is raising himself up above all called god or worshiped, so as for him to have sat down in the temple of God, proclaiming that he is God.  (5)  Do you not remember that, yet being with you, I said these things to you?  (6)  And now, you have known what is restraining, for his being revealed in his own time,  (7)  for the secret of lawlessness already works, only the One now restraining will do so until He may come out of the midst,  (8)  and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the LORD will consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and will nullify at the appearance of His coming,  (9)  whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and lying wonders,  (10)  and in all deceitfulness of the unrighteousness in those perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth for their being saved,  (11)  and because of this God will send to them a working of delusion, for their believing the lie,  (12)  that they may be judged—all who did not believe the truth, but were well pleased in the unrighteousness.”

Verse 3, from the NASB, reads like this.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 NASB (3) Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

If I use the NASB, it also conveys that “it” - the antichrist, will not come unless one or the other takes place. It is unfortunate that the NASB pushes us to be looking for the churches, in general, to fall away; ah, but from what?

The assumption is that the churches and there are a number of denominations involved in this falling away are falling away from some moral or denominational standards.

So, if we find, as we study the scriptures, that we should be focused on the departure of the church from Earth instead of the church turning its back on Jesus and morality, then we are looking for Jesus to return to collect His bride, the church. If you are still waiting for a greater number of churches to fall away, then you need to know that we have adequately surpassed that adequate number.

If your church is letting you know that they are going to have a transgender entertainment night, your church has thrown off its moral boundaries and accepted lawlessness as its standard. Wisdom, if nothing else, is telling you that it is time to find another church. The one that I currently attend teaches the Bible in almost every service, in a line-by-line, word-by-word manner.

This verse above, prompting us to await for what we already see, makes no sense, that is, until you get to verses seven and eight. So let me give you those verses from the ESV. 

2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 ESV  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.  (8)  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

What can we gather from verses 7-8?

That the spiritual entity that we call the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.

So the logical assumption here is that there is NO NEED to wait for a total and complete apostasy - a falling away of the church; as it is, the apostasy, along with an exponential rise in lawlessness, is already at work.

Based on scripture, we know that something is restraining that mystery of lawlessness.

The scriptures imply that the spiritual entity will enter a human once again.

(The Bible has been telling us that this demonic entity has been entering men throughout the course of human history, almost as if Satan, under the guise of the beast or dragon, has been testing the waters to see if the time was right. Well, it wasn't then, but it is now.) 

If saying that Satan has only placed this beastly demon in men bothers you, then you need to study your Bible. You need to go back to the beginnings of the narrative, Genesis, where you not only see God giving man dominion over the earth (who in turn gives it away,) but you also see God admonishing Eve and telling her that a descendant (only in terms of a baby being brought into the earth) will be a man. If Satan is looking for someone specific to eliminate, then it has to be a man. If Satan is going to mimic God, then it makes sense for it to be through a man, also as God's redemptive plan for humanity comes through a man, Jesus.

“I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make your descendants and her descendant hostile toward each other. He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 GW)

The only thing resisting Satan's plans and the unleashing of the antichrist in full force has been Holy Spirit-led followers of Christ, who not only prayed but took action, which for some meant death.

This restraining action continues until “he” who now restrains is taken out of the way.

The “he” in Genesis 3:15 is not only the church but Jesus Christ.

Considering that we are in Christ, it is relatively easy to understand how the church, a rather large number, can be thought of as a solitary unit.

How is it that we (the church) will be taken out of the way?

The world is trying to sell you the idea that aliens, which they claim are already here, will be the thing that removes the church. That is NOT the case, as Jesus will return to collect His bride. So this leads to one of the loudest questions/challenges.

Does the Holy Spirit leave the earth along with the church?

The simple answer is NO, as the Holy Spirit remains and continues to lead and guide others into the truth. Obviously, the church is gone, but an untold number of people will continue to come into a relationship with Jesus. Since the age of Grace is over, then these people will enter the kingdom through, in many cases, a violent death - martyrdom.

Once the restrainer is removed, then the one who receives his power from the dragon (Satan) will emerge in full force and will be identified.

We seem to plead; tell us who this antichrist is?

The problem is, no one can tell you with authority who this will be, but I can assure you there are many front-runners, and they have, albeit unwittingly, been interviewed.

Why should we study what the Bible has to say about a coming world leader - the Anti-Christ, if he has no immediate impact on the church?

The primary answer to the question is that no one with qualifications, as this man will have, would be thrown into the fight without training (If you think that Barack Obama slipped off quietly into the night, you are wrong, as he is still discretely dominant in American “politics” as well as having a global influence.) Whoever this man is, he has already been trained. His power(s) will be given to him by Satan, the serpent, and evil people.

The secondary answer to the question is that this drive for such a world leader leads to the full onslaught associated with the antichrist, a time that will be filled with death and torment. 

If you are sitting comfortably at a hamburger stand, sipping your morning coffee with your “friends,” while thinking, what is this guy talking about as my life is relatively good; then consider yourself fortunate that you were raised in America and not Nigeria. I can almost assure you that the actor Jamie Foxx felt the same way, but as of 6/02/23, we have learned that his recent medical emergency had everything to do with a movie production company insisting that he get vaccinated, which he did under protest. The vaccination, in short order, created a blood clot in his brain and he is now paralyzed and blind.

For a long time, we have been protected from having fire bombs thrown at us as we tried to go to church, and we, in America, have yet to go full digital currency, as Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa have.

Nigeria, which only recently transitioned to full digital currency, had warned the people to turn in their old paper cash as it would become illegal when the switch took place. Those that did not believe or listen began violently rioting after the cutoff date – to no avail.

CryptoSlate, an online “news” source about the progress of CBDCs, says this on their website.

“Since October 2021, 99.5% of Nigerians have refused to use the central bank’s digital currency, the so-called e-Naira, preferring to continue using cash. So what did the central bank do? It doubled down.“

Drawing parallels with what happened in India in 2016, in which high-value bills were demonetized, Corbishley pointed out that Nigerian officials ruled a similar move in December 2022.

“The goal is to make it much more difficult for Nigerians to use cash. And it’s working like a dream/nightmare.”

This policy has culminated in a severe cash shortage triggering anger and disruption as businesses refuse to accept old denominations. Incidentally, a general election is set to occur on Feb. 25.

CBDC global expansion on the way

Corbishley said people would die, as they did in India, and businesses will close, turning daily life on its head in the country. However, according to Corbishley, the Nigerian government and central bank “say the pain is worth it.”

https://cryptoslate.com/nigerias-cbdc-program-called-a-very-dark-experiment/

It will help if we have some definition as to who he is and what he tries to accomplish.

Let me be very clear, the Anti-Christ can only be revealed after the Holy Spirit has removed the church, the Bride of Christ, to meet Her Groom.

Just recently, we were having lunch with a “Christian couple” when his wife says to my mine, I don't want to talk about the rapture, as we have been looking for the rapture for over 2000 years, and He is NOT coming back anytime soon. Obviously, this woman has no hope and may soon be looking down the barrel of God's wrath.

Is this what scripture tells us to do? Look for the antichrist?

No, for we have an admonition to remember that we are to be always “looking for” and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Jesus Christ – not the Anti-Christ.

Titus 2:11-13 NASB “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, (12) instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, (13) looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,”

When you are new to this thing called Christianity, it is wise to build a firm foundation.

You do that by investing time in reading the scriptures but don't just do it casually, read and study like your life depended upon it. To do that, you may have to read slowly, learning to take apart even the simplest of words by looking at a concordance like the Strong's, where you frequently find alternate words that make more sense. If you don't know by now, the Bible many of us use was heavily influenced by the motives of the Catholic church – the state church, and the politics of 15th-century England. Another good reason to read the Bible is that you might say something to your unbelieving friends, only to have your words angrily thrown back in your face. If you have spent time studying the Word, then you won't be so challenged in your flesh and spirit; and, worse, give up.

Run-ins like this evoke another question, and that is,

“Can We Trust The Bible?”

One of the primary validations, proving that we can trust the Bible, is the Word of God itself. This is also addressed as The Authority of the Scriptures.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” (2 Timothy 3:16a NASB)

That's great, but who did you convince when you started angrily spewing scriptures at them?

So learning specifics in which Jesus told His own disciples things like: I will be put on a cross, die and rise again. Again, this did not mean much until the events happened to Him just as He said. They all knew He died, and many watched this with their own eyes.

“And He (Jesus) began to teach them that the Son of Man (Jesus) must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." (Mark 8:31 NASB)

“As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way, He said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up." (Matthew 20:17-19 NASB)

Peter, a disciple himself, later writes that the Holy Spirit is to be trusted as well.

“So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:19-21 NASB)

This gets brought up frequently in religious circles, and that is the fact that we have hope.

Ah, but hope in what and why do we have it?

On the Authority of:

Jesus Christ.

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3 NASB)

Keep in mind what we just covered, Jesus said and then did exactly what He said. He established credibility.

The Apostle Paul.

“When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4 NASB)

And,

“For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” (Galatians 5:5 NASB)

The Apostle John.

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3 NASB)

The end of part one. 

What is going to happen after the church is gone will make anything we have experienced look like a board game. I strongly suggest that you turn to the Lord now while you can.

If I did not tell you, let me do so now. Jesus is coming, and it could be today. If you read this blog, then you know full well that today is a perfectly good day for the rapture, but, He is only coming for those who are looking for Him.

Is that you? 

His name is Jesus, call upon Him, and He will hear you.