by Pastor Joseph Chambers
There has never been a deceiver more subtle than the Antichrist. He is "right now" preparing our world for the greatest deception in human history. The church world that the misses the Rapture will actually take Satan's mark and believe it is of God.
The Antichrist will convince a multitude that he is the true Christ and they will happily take his mark. The mark will be a badge of honor to those that sell him their souls. The church world is probably 95% lost at this time and going in the direction of an even greater deception.
The mark of the Antichrist has more to do with his "nature" than the tattoo he will demand on your forehead or right hand. The Bible clearly identifies five aspects of the Antichrist that will deceive the world and cause an incredible multitude to be eternally damned. Many are concerned about his "MARK 666" but never give a thought to his nature.
Notice how the Bible clearly warns us of this truth. As John watches he sees "... the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand... And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:9, 11).
In both verses, we are warned that men will follow him in worship and receive his mark. There is no question but that our world is experiencing a deluge of the nature of this future beast. This article has one goal of helping you identify his nature. When the Rapture occurs, the world left behind will have already been prepared for his "MARK".
HIS NATURE IS THE PRELUDE TO HIS MARK OR TATTOO. We call his nature that is gripping our world, "THE SPIRIT OF THE ANTICHRIST."
The Scripture says, "... this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (1 John 4:3).
We must recognize the spirit of this beast that is preparing our world for his mark. There are millions that have so surrendered to the nature that it will make no difference when they take the mark. The mark cannot be received until the man of sin, the beast himself, is revealed, but the nature and his worship can be experienced already. Let's try to identify his nature to the best of our understanding of truth
Revelation 13:11-13: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."
The FIRST expression of his nature is to dilute the Bible so that truth becomes relative instead of authoritative. Almost the entire church world has bought into the new Bible versions that shatter the infallible source of His glorious truth. This is clearly Satan's design. The devil does not want to destroy the Bible, that would cause a revolution; he wants to create a spirit of denial of numerous parts of the Scripture.
The Antichrist does not need for you to reject the entire Bible, just a small part of it. You will be just as eternally lost by turning away from some Scripture that you call cultural, outdated, or some other adjective as if you rejected the whole. This nature of the beast is on a binge to get you questioning God's absolute Truth.
SECOND: The beast nature is to destroy the beautiful sense of our sacred temple of the human body. The body or the temple of every living person is a sacred creation intended to be the temple of His Holy Spirit.
"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Corinthians 3:17).
The appearance, the dress, the morality, the language and the treatment of your body as a holy temple is a biblical requirement; and you cannot serve God if you treat this truth lightly.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." (1 Corinthians 6:4-17).
"Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:13, 19).
The church world has rejected the beauty of a godly life lived so tenderly that the temple/body is filled with His glory and power and looks like a light from His transforming grace. The world cannot see inside the temple, they can only see the outside reflection.
2 John:9-11: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
THIRD: The Antichrist nature is to deny all of the laws of God, and His commandments. The new religious philosophy says, "Free as a breeze to do as you please." It is from the enemy of truth, the beast. I call this "religious philosophy" because it surely is not "religious theology." It's the nature of the beast.
The Bible says, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3-4).
Those words are utterly rejected by most of the church world because of the spirit of the Antichrist. This Antichrist spirit wants everyone free of any restrictions because restrictions are how we discern right from wrong, good from bad and darkness from light.
FOURTH: His nature is to promote biblical knowledge without a Biblical experience. Our world is full of religious people that know a lot about the Bible but have no experience with the person of Jesus Christ. Religious colleges and universities are abounding. Religious books line the walls of religious bookstores and all types of communication methods are flooded with religious teachings.
All of this is empty until the soul has a transforming experience of being born again - a radical change - and surrenders to a cross-bearing life with Jesus Christ. Satan and his beast love religion, but they are terrified by the Holy Spirit's transformed relationship with the Lord of the church. Satan and his angels have never ceased to be religious. The Beast that gives life to the image has a nature of false religion.
"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon" (Revelation 13:11).
"Horns on a lamb" is the exact opposite of the Lamb of God.
The FIFTH nature of the new beast and his new religion is righteousness without godliness. Righteousness is imputed; it is the work of grace; and no amount of good works can earn righteousness. The saving grace is His gift and we come to Him without trusting anything of ourselves.
But, the new theology flooding the church is to deny the effect of that righteousness and to leave the religious man free of the radical change demanded by Scripture. Christ's righteousness is not a head matter, it's a heart matter; and it will totally alter your life.
"For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews 10:26).
"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).
Our churches are full of religion but very few are living examples of Jesus Christ. This is the design of the Antichrist. Can you hear it in John's description of the Beast: "Horns like a lamb but sounding like a dragon?"
Zechariah 14:12-13: "And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor."
The nature of the beast is to promote programs without power and emotions without the supernatural works of His Holy Spirit. The life of the church is the resurrection life of Jesus Christ and that life is supernatural. The Church must be alive with His presence or it becomes a tool of the new religion that the coming beast loves. It's amazing to watch how quickly the Church begins to welcome the strange fire of psychology, psychiatry, and even false spirits of witchcraft.
Every action of Satan is only slightly removed from its original beauty in the Creator. Hypnotism is a counterfeit of the gifts of discernment, the strange fires of the Charismatic world are only slightly removed from the pure gifts of the Holy Spirit. Satan is a deceiver and can imitate the real very cleverly. The Word of God must always be the basis of discernment.
Conclusion: We are living on the edge of His return, and deception is everywhere. A pure Bible and a faithful church to that Word is our guide and hope. Be a radical Christian and cling to truth with all your life. The coming of our Lord can be expected at any moment. John saw this dark Antichrist spirit and a wide-awake Christian can certainly see the "lurking" presence now spreading his venom.
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