Thoughts on Discipleship by Dr. W. A. Dillard - HTML preview

ANTICHRIST IS HERE!!

Our dearly beloved apostle, John wrote: “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” I John 2:18. Now, hold on just a minute! What is he saying? What does he mean? Think with me!

Since “ …man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” Luke 4:4, it is imperative that every word of God be thoroughly understood to achieve correct theology and proper discipleship. Therefore we understand that "antichrist” is a compound word. “Anti” is a prefix meaning “against,” “Opposite,” “In the negative.” “Anti” in this case does not necessitate harshness, but simply a mild twisting of the truth into error, and propagating it as truth. Moreover, “Christ” is a Greek term transliterated into English. It means “anointed.” So, the apostle John is telling us that there are many who are anti-(the)anointed in the world already in his time. Of course, that number has been multiplied exponentially over the last two thousand years.

Now a proper application of the compound term that is totally in harmony with all the rest of the Word of God must be understood. Greeks would use the term “Christ” while Hebrews would use the term “Messiah.” Hence, the meaning of these terms go deep into Hebrew history. The anointing of a new king or high priest was accomplished with a public ceremony wherein oil was poured over the head of the designated person. Oil is consistently symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Upon the anointing, the Holy Spirit empowered the anointed one with sufficient wisdom and power to properly fulfill the office for which he was being installed.

In the New Testament, only two entities were anointed with the Holy Spirit, imparting to them the power to fulfill their designated role. Those two are the head of the body and the body of the head. Specifically, these are Jesus, the head of His body, the church, at His baptism and His body, the church, on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2. The Head of the body, and the body of the Head stand for the same principles. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life while the church is the pillar and ground of the truth,and it is the propagator of the faith once delivered to the saints by and through the Head.

Finally, if every word of God is important, and true (which it is), and if the anointed body of Jesus is heaven’s agency on earth standing for, and propagating that word of truth, then it follows that every institution and person on earth seeking to pervert, deny, and twist that word of truth out of its context to make it seem to say something it does not, is indeed antichrist. Indeed many antichrists are here, and they will play a significant role in propelling THE COMING MAN OF SIN into international prominence. Therefore while it is today, call on the name of the Lord in repentance from sin, placing faith in Christ instead of one of the many antichrists.

FOR THOUGHT: Does this article promote different ideas of antichrist in your mind? If not, why not? If so, what have you done, or what are you going to do to correctly position yourself in the will of God? What you accept at truth, and what you do with it matters.