All of us can expect Christ to come back sometime in the future, so therefore anytime in the future is fair game for his coming. So if he can come back at anytime, then why is the term "at an hour you do not expect", stated so many times in the Bible. In other words, if he can come at any time in the future, then why would we be so surprised when he does come?
One possible reason why his coming would be so unexpected, is because most of us might believe that he is already here. Chapter 24 of Matthew, as does so much of the entire Bible, talks at great length about false teachers, preaching false information, turning many people into false believers having false beliefs. So in the last days many of us may be mislead so badly that we will think that Jesus Christ has already arrived, that he is already here on earth, when in fact the one who many believe is Christ, is actually the anti-christ.
Because of false teaching and false doctrine, many will be so mislead that they will believe the anti-christ when he says that he is God. Many of us would have been so indoctrinated by all the false and ungodly information, the down right lies, all the smoke and mirrors thrown up in front of us, the twisting and the bending of the truth that is being spread through out the world in these end times, that we won't know what to believe. So if the anti-Christ spins a good story, which he will, then many of us will readily accept it. Many will look to the anti-christ as God himself. That will be the time when verses like the following, concerning the anti-christ, will really have significance.
2 Thessalonians 2:4 "He who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
1 John 2:18 "Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour."
1 John 4:1-3 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus, is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world."
2 John 1:7-8 "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. These are the deceivers and the antichrists. Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what you have accomplished."
Daniel 11:36 "The king will do as he pleases, exalting himself and claiming to be greater than every god there is, even blaspheming the God of gods. He will succeed – until the time of wrath is completed. For what has been determined will surely take place."
Revelation Chapter 13
Chapter 13 of the book of Revelation has a number of very interesting verses describing the power and authority that the anti-christ will have in the final days. As you read some of these verses, think of the incredible trust that mankind will have placed in satan.
1) Revelation 13:7, "And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him."
Who gives him this power? The people themselves because they have become convinced that he is God.
2) Revelation 13:8, "And those that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, those whose names are not written in the book of life."
Why is there no fear or hate of the Antichrist here, and no resistance? So many willingly worship him because he promises wonderful things to them. Sadly, they believe that he is the real Jesus.
Why is it so easy for him to take control? Because so many people have been led by false shepherds who have not prepared their flocks to see who he really is. They have not been taught that the first Jesus to come is a fake.
3) Revelation 13:13, "And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men."
The things that he does will be absolutely incredible and very, very convincing. People all over the world will flock to this man who declares that he is the returned Jesus. They will all ask, who else but Jesus could possibly do the things that he does?
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