Disciples Global Network

The subject of the “ Antichrist ” raises certain questions. Who is he? When will he appear? How will we recognize him? What is his “ mark ” or “ number ”? In popular preaching, he is a global political leader who uses military might to subjugate other nations and attack Israel in the Middle East. However, if Satan is truly cunning, why would he do the things we expect?

In his first epistle, John declares it is the Last Hour, a period elsewhere called the “ Last Days .” As evidence, he points to the false teachers in the Church who disrupt the congregations under his care. They are the products and instruments of the “ Spirit of Antichrist .” They are the forerunners of the final “ Antichrist ” who is yet to come.

The Antichrist is presented in popular preaching as a political tyrant bent on world domination. However, Jesus and his Apostles expressed more concern about the deceivers who would spread false teachings in the Church. Where the term ' Antichrist ' is found in the New Testament, it is applied to false teachers infiltrating the Body of Christ, distorting apostolic teachings, and raising false expectations about the future.