Posted on 12/12/2020 6:23:40 AM PST by Roman_War_Criminal
Grace Community Church Pastor John MacArthur has warned that today’s world is “perfectly suited for the Antichrist to come” amid the chaos and “lawlessness” stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
MacArthur, whose Sun Valley, California-based church has repeatedly sparred with authorities over COVID-19 worship restrictions, said on Sunday that world governments “have done something that's never been done in human history” by making the pandemic issue and the response “global.”
“Now we are a global world. And that is a setup that we've been waiting for through redemptive history since the Lord promised that there would come, in the future, an Antichrist who would have a global government,” the 81-year-old pastor said.
“We literally have such power over people globally that we can shut them down so they can't function,” he said.
“This suits the world of Antichrist. As you look at the book of Revelation, there's the mark of the beast, the number, and if you don't have that, you don't buy, you don't sell, you don't exist. Everything about you, they know — the people who have access to all your data. They know all of it. You can go out of existence virtually any moment [and] somebody decides that. This is the kind of world that appears to be perfectly suited for the Antichrist to come, bring a certain amount of peace, [and] the world falls at his feet.”
(Excerpt) Read more at christianpost.com ...
I don't normally believe in such things but its becoming more and more obvious to me and difficult to refute that there is an increasing level of demonic forces at work.
“Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”—1 John 2:18
Note, he said “last hour” twice in the same sentence, and whatever your conception of “anti-christ” is, the time for the appearance of the anti-christs was upon them, not thousands of years in the future.
And if you read the next verse, it identifies the anti-christs as coming out of the church, not some exalted government entity. That is one of the reasons that Peter (I Peter 4:17) said judgement must begin at the house of God.
James 5;8 “...for the coming of the Lord draws near,” the “last hour,” referred to by John.
When I was a teenage, I could not read the New Testament with any comfort for what I was taught because it was so obvious that All the writers of the New Testament, and Jesus, believed He would return during their day.
If one accepts that premise, one can figure things out for themselves from there. Keep in mind though, there is no news in the evening news.
Correct. Then God shut the door on Israel as His conduit to the nations and gave Paul the revelation of the mystery and that “last hour” was postponed...to be rejoined when the events of revelation unfold.
“Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:”—Colossians 1
Anyway, bless you and have a good weekend!
“Notice that he did not cite scripture and verse, because no such promise was made by the Lord.”
To satisfy my curiosity how will the antichrist/false prophet govern a world wide universal mark, manage the murder of millions that won’t worship the living image, and facilitate a world peace deal with Israel if he hasn’t a managing government in your view?
Second, satan counterfeites everything that is GOD, he wants to rule and reign his very own kingdom just like the King of kings.
If he doesn’t have a government then he’s not counterfeiting the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ nor His coming world wide millennial Kingdom ruled from Jerusalem?
“All the writers of the New Testament, and Jesus, believed He would return during their day.”
Paul and Peter clearly disagree with your analysis and since they did I’m betting all the others did too.
2 Peter 3:8
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
2 Thessalonians 2:3
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,
First scripture has nothing to do whatever with the return of the Lord. It referred to a matter of divine perspective.
The early church was plagued with apostasy and the early church fathers thought he was referring to Nero.
Unfortunate that you were not around to correct the misunderstanding of James.
“...if he hasn’t a managing government in your view?”
Because the anti-christ won’t exist.
The one-world government conspiracy exists, and if Trump leaves, it will have a chance to take over. But that doesn’t mean it was God-ordained to function as part of his plan, or foreseen by John.
I heard Malichi Martin say one time that the present conspiracy of the world world government started 400 years ago. Inside of that time span, God raised up the United States.
The first words out of Jesus’s mouth when he returned from his resurrection were that all power and authority on earth had been granted unto Him. Which means it was a new concept.
I just think Trump was put in place by God to stop the evil.
Thank you, I’ve been saying the same thing. The skids are being greased for the anti-Christ. Compliance and “respect” shame so many into wearing the mask. Fear of the government over this issue has caused many churches to roll over. What will they do when told not to speak against abortion?
Biden didn’t pick Chlamydia. The DNC puppet masters picked her, because they will control her.
Van you please add me to the ping list?
Then how do you reconcile that with Mark 13:10, “but first the gospel must be preached to all nations”?
Bookmark for later.
Already here....DEMOCRATS!
Even before them......
http://www.redeemerfw.org/resources/reformers_antichrist.pdf
“Namely the anti-Christ.”
The name does not appear in Revelation.
It does in the form of the beast power (Rev 13 and 17).
I agree with both of your Scripture quotes.
Four instances of preaching the gospel unto all the world:
“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith…” [Romans 16:25-26]
“…the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing…” [Col. 1:5-6]
“…not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven…” [Col. 1:23]
“But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for ‘Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” [Romans 10:16-18]
The beast is not a man. And any tyrant worth the name has always been “anti-christ.” The beast was understood by early church fathers to refer to Rome, Nero, etc, the main power that slaughtered Christians.
So there’s the difference between how a Pharisee sees it and how God sees it, wanting everyone to come to repentance as in 2Pet3:9.
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