Antichrist—The False Prophet

“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’” Luke 4:5-7.

“Antichrist” means “against Christ.” Satan tried to keep Jesus from becoming Christ—God’s anointed. Instead, he tried to make Him Antichrist by getting Him to worship him.

The devil was unsuccessful in doing this, so he had to try a different approach. He too had to produce a son, just as God had manifested His Son. But Jesus’ work was so powerful that the devil could not reveal his son right away. Just as the wolves dared not reveal themselves while Paul was still alive, the Antichrist could not be revealed until Christ had left this earth. Therefore, the devil had to begin working through his spirit—the spirit of Antichrist—to prepare the people. As we have already seen, this spirit has been active through the harlot since the days of the apostles. But there are still those who restrain him so that he cannot be revealed. And when they (the salt which has power) are taken away, then he can be revealed.

We have already seen that the beast rises out of the sea. Through the harlot, the devil has managed to make Christianity powerless so that people no longer have faith in it, and thus the devil has prepared the way for the beast. Just as the beast rises up out of the sea, so the Antichrist (the false prophet) rises up out of the earth—the body of the beast.

“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” Rev. 13:11-13.

This beast had horns like a lamb. In other words, it resembled the Lamb, though it spoke like a dragon. This is the false prophet. Rev. 19:20. This is the prophet of the beast, and now the beast can really make progress. His coming is “according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” 2 Thess. 2:9.

The beast is manifested through the powerful activity of Satan. Afterwards, the false prophet arises from the beast. By means of its politics the beast is able to accomplish many good things for the people—things that “Christianity” was not able to accomplish because it has been corrupted by the spirit of Antichrist. “Christianity” has only been a confession without works. Now the beast is coming with “christianity in practice”—but no confession of faith, and the false prophet comes along and says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” Who is it then, who will enter in? Those who do God’s will. Just look at the “Christian” nations and see how they exploit one another and gather to themselves. They say, “Lord, Lord,” but they seek their own. Doesn’t Christianity mean sharing with one another? God does not ask whether you have gone to church regularly or have prayed many prayers. Not at all! The requirement is much more basic than that. Jesus said it in simple, straightforward words: “I was hungry.” What have you done about that? “I was sick.” What have you done about that? Look what our politics have achieved. We have done God’s will. The sick have free medical care and hospitalization with full pay. Everybody has work, food, and clothing. This is Christianity!

As we can hear, the prophet speaks like a dragon. He offers all the glories of the earth just as Satan did to Jesus. By his powerful work, Satan has led people into one ditch by getting them to say, “Lord, Lord” without doing His will. Now the false prophet comes along and reveals this deception and then he leads them into the other ditch of doing “His will” without confessing Him as “Lord, Lord.” This is how the Antichrist has removed Christ.

People have fallen away from God. They worship themselves. They have created their own heaven without help from God. They have produced salvation by their own hammer which they have lifted up together.

This backlash is a consequence of false Christianity, because by confessing Jesus and not doing His will, people have, in fact, removed Him, and Satan is just waiting for the moment when he can remove the name “Jesus” as well.

Now they no longer need a redeemer or one who mediates for them. They have advanced so far that they can carry out “righteousness” and have created heaven on earth. The false prophet can perform incredible signs and wonders, and the people will believe a lie. They will not receive a love for the truth so they might be saved. They have no interest in using the cross in their daily life—that dying to themselves that brings transformation. They don’t want to hear that they themselves are evil. They blamed society for everything. The beast has remade society so that everybody has equal rights. When Jesus spoke, He came with the cross. First the sacrifice and then the glory. But the false prophet offers glory without the cross and sacrifice. All those who do not want to acknowledge their own folly believe the false prophet. “That they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thess. 2:12.

Jesus says that He is the true vine. By contrast, the Antichrist is also a vine that has many branches, yet he is a false vine, an earthly vine. It will be a terrible day when it is harvested. Rev. 14:18-20.

The fruits of these two vines can be very similar and many people cannot tell the difference. They allow themselves to be deceived by this “christianity in practice” which does not say “Lord, Lord,” because they love the glory of this world. Many people today find comfort in their charitable and social work without being converted to God. You can hear mothers say about their children, “They do so much good; they live just like Christians. In fact, they are even better than many of them. The only thing they lack is repentance.” As if repentance were just an “only.” The fact is, it is everything! Otherwise they are a branch on the earthly vine—a branch of Antichrist.