Dying in the Lord~ 2
The Antichrist spirit is man making himself God.
It is humanism. It is libertarianism. It is freedom of expression-man doing whatever he feels is proper. In the last days the Antichrist spirit will be summed up in one man (or woman), but the spirit of Antichrist has been with us from the first century.
Mankind is born in lawlessness. We humans drink sin like water. God knows our frame, that we are dust. He has given Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins and is ready to receive all who repent and turn to him.
Man attempting to make himself God, seeking the liberty to do whatever he feels is correct, rejecting the eternal moral law of God, will be visited with awful punishment. Such will drink an undiluted wine of Divine wrath. The wrath will not be mixed with mercy. The smoke of their torment will ascend forever.
The stamp of Antichrist will be put on the forehead or on the hand. Perhaps the mark will be an actual inscription or the implanting of a computer chip of some kind, but the symbolism is clear: the marked individual belongs to the world spirit and thinks and acts accordingly.
This is in contrast to the perfected remnant who have Christ's name and the Father's name inscribed on their forehead.
There is coming a split in the ranks of Christians. The majority of believers will become part of the world organization of Christians. A remnant will discern the presence of Satan in Antichrist and in the spirit of religious seduction and refuse to cooperate with the world secular-religious leadership.
The holy remnant will be forced to flee from civilization. They will experience many hardships and then emerge from the wilderness a perfected Bride, leaning completely on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The process of separating the remnant from the remainder of the believers has begun. It is more than the customary breaking off from the established churches of fervent believers whom the Spirit is using to bring forth fresh doctrine and experience, a pattern that has been repeated throughout Church history. Rather it is the separating of the firstfruits of the Bride from Babylon.
We in America do not understand how much a part of the Antichrist spirit we are. For several hundred years Western philosophy has been spreading the concept that man is God. The American Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights reflect the idea that man must not be hindered in his pursuit of personal happiness.
Continued. Dying in the Lord~ 3