The New Age
Movement: Paving The Way For The
Antichrist
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I’m giving this teaching
the title “The New Age Movement, Paving The Way For The Antichrist”.
I always thought of the “New Age Movement” as something “way out”
there… I thought of transcendental meditation, crystals, witchcraft, and the
like. I thought new age beliefs
would be easily recognized and rejected by the church.
I had no idea how deceptive new age thought is, and how it is
infiltrating the church.
I became interested in
studying this after listening to a radio interview of Warren Smith.
Warren and his wife were practicing new-agers until they began to
question what they were involved in. The
Holy Spirit convicted them and showed them the truth and they became saved.
Warren now teaches about the new age movement and what it means to the
present day church. I encourage you
to read his books and to study the subject of the new age movement further for
yourself. It is a huge subject.
I was amazed as I listened
to Warren, that the new age movement is firmly entrenched in the church, and
that widely recognized church leaders have taken hold of this mindset, and are
teaching it as if it is directly from God.
à
This teaching will explore what this new age movement is, àwho
is teaching it and àwhat they are teaching, àhow
it is infiltrating our government as well as our àchurches, and how it is àpaving
the way for the antichrist.
Tonight we will mainly look
at scripture to get a foundational understanding of who the antichrist is, and
his characteristics.
à
Let’s look at the definition of “antichrist”:
G500
ἀντίχριστος
Antichristos
an-tee'-khris-tos
From G473
and G5547; an opponent of the Messiah:
- antichrist.
Of course
we understand that the “antichrist” will oppose the Messiah.
But will he do that by appearing as the opposite, or will
he deceive by appearing similar? Let’s
continue to look at the definitions:
à
G473
ἀντί
Anti
an-tee'
A primary
particle; opposite, that is, instead or because
of (rarely in addition to): - for, in the room of. Often used in
composition to denote contrast, requital, substitution,
correspondence, etc.
àG5547
Χριστός
Christos
khris-tos'
From
G5548; anointed, that is, the Messiah, an
epithet of Jesus: - Christ.
à
So the antichrist is instead of, or a substitution for, the
Messiah
à
In Hebrew thought, the “antichrist” is “Moshiach Tachat”.
Moshiach meaning Messiah, and Tachat, as follows: (The definition is
lengthy, I have only included the main parts.
Please look up for yourself):
à
H8478
תּחת
tachath
BDB
Definition:
1) the
under part, beneath, instead of, as, for, for the
sake
of, flat, unto, where, whereas
1a)
the under part (noun masculine)
1b)
beneath (adverbial accusative)
1c)
under, beneath (preposition)
1c1)
at the foot of (idiom)
1c2)
sweetness, subjection, woman, being burdened or oppressed (figuratively)
1c3)
of subjection or conquest
1d)
what is under one, the place in which one stands (noun masculine)
1d1)
in one’s place, the place in which one stands (idiom with
reflexive pronoun)
1d2)
in place of, instead of (in transferred sense)
1d3)
in place of, in exchange or return for (of things mutually
interchanged)
1e)
instead of, instead of that (conjunction)
1f)
in return for that, because that (conjunction)
1g)
in, under, into the place of (after verbs of motion) (in compounds)
1h) from
under, from beneath, from under the
hand
of, from his place, under, beneath
Part of
Speech: see above in
Definition
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from the same as H8430
Same
Word by TWOT Number: 2504
I’m not
going to trace this back any further… H8430 is another word that comes from an
unused root word. So the word
“tachath” H8478 contains the important meanings.
à
So we see from this definition the idea of being in the place of, or
instead of. We also see
something coming from beneath or below.
à
Let’s take a look at Genesis 3:13-15:
Gen
3:13-15
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have
done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and
I ate." (14)
The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On
your belly you will go, And dust you will eat
All the days of your life; (15)
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed
and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on
the heel."
Of course
we are familiar with this verse. It
is a Messianic prophecy about how Yeshua will defeat Satan, but in the process
Satan will bruise Messiah on the heel. The
picture is of something coming from beneath in order to bite
or bruise the heel.
à
Let’s look at the definition of the word “heel” in Gen 3:15:
H6119
עקּבה /
עקב
‛a^qe^b
/ ‛iqqeba^h
BDB
Definition:
1)
heel, rear, footprint, hinder part, hoof, rear of a troop, footstep
1a)
heel
1b)
mark of heel, footprint
1c)
hinder part, rear
Part of
Speech: noun
masculine
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H6117
à
H6117
עקב
‛a^qab
BDB
Definition:
1)
to supplant, circumvent, take by the heel, follow at the heel, assail
insidiously, overreach
1a)
(Qal) to supplant, overreach, attack at the heel
1b)
(Piel) to hold back
Part of
Speech: verb
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root
Same
Word by TWOT Number: 1676
Remember the word
“Yacob” or Jacob comes from this word.
Jacob took Esau by the heel, a picture of his supplanting him, or taking
his place as the firstborn.
So the word heel gives us
another idea of supplanting, or taking the place of another.
à
Are you familiar with what an understudy is?
à
An understudy is an actor that will take the place of the star of the play in
the event the star is unable to perform. That
is the perfect illustration of the desire of Satan, or the “antichrist”…
he wants Messiah NOT to be able to perform His starring role, and à
Satan wants to take His place. He
was unsuccessful when Messiah went to the cross.
Satan thought that would have done the trick, but Yeshua rose from the
dead! So the next best thing Satan
can do is to cause Messiah’s people to stop recognizing the truth of who
Messiah is, and then he can come in and take His place, à
hoping to play an award-winning role to deceive Messiah’s believers into
following him. He is practicing for
the perfect role as the understudy, and à
the new age movement is a major outlet that he is using to realize that goal.
à
(For more information on this, consult Brad Scott’s teaching on Moshiac Tachat).
à
Now let’s look at some scripture to get an idea of what the antichrist’s
characteristics are. The purpose of
this study is not to delve into detailed eschatological details.
We are not going to dissect these verses other than to get an idea of the
characteristics of the antichrist.
I‘m going to put the scripture references on the screen, but the
scriptures are too lengthy to put up all of them.
I will give you a handout later that lists all these scriptures, so
don‘t worry about trying to write them all down.
But please follow along in your bibles:
à
Dan 7:13-28
"I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of
heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him. (14)
"And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the
peoples, nations and men of every
language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not
pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
(15)
"As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the
visions in my mind kept alarming me. (16)
"I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him
the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the
interpretation of these things: (17)
'These great beasts, which are four in
number, are four kings who
will arise from the earth. (18)
'But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess
the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.'
(19)
"Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which
was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of
iron and its claws of bronze, and which
devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet,
(20)
and the meaning of the ten horns
that were on its head and the other horn
which came up, and before which three of them
fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts
and which was larger in appearance than its associates. (21) "I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the
saints and overpowering them (22)
until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the
saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession
of the kingdom. (23)
"Thus he said: 'The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on
the earth, which will be different from all the other
kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.
(24)
'As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise;
and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous
ones and will subdue three kings. (25)
'He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the
Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and
they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.
(26)
'But the court will sit for judgment,
and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever.
(27)
'Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all
the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of
the Highest One; His kingdom will be an
everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.'
(28)
"At this point the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts
were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to
myself."
à
Dan 9:20-27
Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin
of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in
behalf of the holy mountain of my God, (21)
while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had
seen in the vision previously, came to me in my
extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.
(22)
He gave me instruction and talked
with me and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with
understanding. (23)
"At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and
I have come to tell you, for you are
highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the
vision. (24)
"Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city,
to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for
iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy
and to anoint the most holy place.
(25)
"So you are to know and discern that
from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the
Prince there will be seven weeks and
sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of
distress. (26)
"Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have
nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city
and the sanctuary. And its end will come
with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
(27)
"And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in
the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and
on the wing of abominations will come one
who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is
poured out on the one who makes desolate."
à
Dan 11:29-45
"At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but
this last time it will not turn out the way it did before.
(30)
"For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be
disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and
take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy
covenant. (31)
"Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and
do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of
desolation. (32)
"By smooth words he will turn
to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the
people who know their God will display strength and take action.
(33)
"Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to
the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder
for many days.
(34)
"Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many
will join with them in hypocrisy. (35)
"Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge
and make them pure until the end time; because it is
still to come at the appointed time.
(36)
"Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and
magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God
of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which
is decreed will be done. (37)
"He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the
desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other
god; for he will magnify himself above them
all. (38)
"But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his
fathers did not know; he will honor him
with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. (39) "He will take action against the strongest of fortresses
with the help of a foreign god; he will
give great honor to those who acknowledge him
and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.
(40)
"At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and
the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and
with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them
and pass through. (41)
"He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries
will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the
foremost of the sons of Ammon. (42)
"Then he will stretch out his hand against other
countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape.
(43)
"But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and
silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will
follow at his heels. (44)
"But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and
he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many.
(45)
"He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and
the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help
him.
à
2Th 2:1-4
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ and our gathering together to Him, (2) that
you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit
or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord
has come. (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,
(4)
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.
à
1Jn 2:15-26
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.
(16)
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the
eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the
world. (17)
The world is passing away, and also
its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
(18)
Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is
coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know
that it is the last hour. (19)
They went out from us, but they were not really
of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they
went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.
(20)
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
(21)
I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because
you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
(22)
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
(23)
Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who
confesses the Son has the Father also. (24)
As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If
what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son
and in the Father. (25) This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal
life. (26)
These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying
to deceive you.
This is
the first verse that we have explored that points out that there were already
many antichrists. They went “out
from us” but were “not of us”. They
were trying to deceive. There is a
spirit of antichrist that tries to deceive.
So the antichrist is not just that one being who sets himself up in the
holy place in the middle of the tribulation declaring that he is god.
He is the ultimate manifestation of this antichrist spirit that was
already in the world. Remember Genesis 3:13-15?
The antichrist spirit began there in the garden when Satan deceived Eve.
à
1Jn 4:1-6
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. (2)
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses
that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
(3)
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this
is the spirit of the antichrist, of which
you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
(4)
You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because
greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
(5)
They are from the world; therefore they speak as
from the world, and the world listens to them.
(6)
We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from
God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of
error.
Now we see
again that the spirit of antichrist was already in the world, and that it’s
that spirit that directs the false prophets.
This spirit does not confess Yeshua has come in the flesh.
à
2Jn 1:1-11
The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and
not only I, but also all who know the truth,
(2)
for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:
(3)
Grace, mercy and peace will be
with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in
truth and love. (4)
I was very glad to find some of
your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to
do from the Father. (5) Now I ask you, lady, not as though I
were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had
from the beginning, that we love one another.
(6)
And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the
commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in
it. (7)
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not
acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the
antichrist. (8)
Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but
that you may receive a full reward. (9)
Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of
Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has
both the Father and the Son. (10)
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not
receive him into your house, and do not
give him a greeting; (11)
for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
So again,
the spirit of antichrist does not acknowledge that Yeshua came in the flesh.
That’s not to say that it denies that He ever lived.
Even Islam recognizes that Yeshua lived and they consider Him a prophet.
But it means the spirit of antichrist denies that Yeshua HAD to be born
and take on human form, remain sinless, die on the cross for our salvation, and
rise again. It denies that we must
accept His sacrifice to attain our salvation.
à
Rev 12:1-17
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the
moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
(2)
and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to
give birth. (3)
Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon
having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were
seven diadems. (4)
And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to
the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so
that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
(5)
And she gave birth to a son, a male child,
who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up
to God and to His throne. (6)
Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by
God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty
days. (7)
And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the
dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war,
(8)
and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place
found for them in heaven. (9)
And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called
the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to
the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
(10)
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and
the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come,
for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them
before our God day and night.
(11)
"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because
of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced
with death. (12)
"For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe
to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having
great wrath, knowing that he has only a
short time." (13)
And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he
persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.
(14)
But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she
could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time
and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
(15)
And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the
woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.
(16)
But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank
up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.
(17)
So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war
with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the
testimony of Jesus.
à
Rev 13:11-18
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two
horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. (12) He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his
presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first
beast, whose fatal wound was healed. (13)
He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of
heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
(14)
And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which
it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who
dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword
and has come to life. (15)
And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that
the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the
image of the beast to be killed. (16)
And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor,
and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on
their forehead, (17)
and he provides that no one will
be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either
the name of the beast or the number of his name.
(18)
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the
beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and
sixty-six.
It’s
interesting here to note that the beast (antichrist) has two horns like a lamb,
but speaks as a dragon. The
implication is that he appears good… he appears like a lamb, or like Yeshua.
But his speech is that of a dragon, or the devil.
Summary Of The
Characteristics Of Antichrist
Again, I will provide a
handout that lists these characteristics and the scriptures, so don’t worry
about writing them down. I found
that there are 6 categories of the antichrist’s characteristics, 6 being the
number of man:
à
1) Deceptive Speech
à
2) He Is Against Yahweh’s Covenant
à
3) He Makes War
à
4) He Exalts Himself As God
à
5) He Makes Signs & Wonders, and Controls Man
à
6) The Spirit Of Antichrist Was From The Beginning, And Denies Yeshua Has Come
In The Flesh
à
Deceptive Speech
à-
Uttering great boasts (Dan. 7:20)
à-
Speak out against the Most High (Dan. 7:25)
à-
By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the
covenant (Dan. 11:31)
à-
Exalt and magnify himself above every god (Dan. 11:36)
à-
Speak monstrous things against the God of gods (Dan. 11:36)
à-
False prophets (many are in the world) (1 John 4:1)
à-
Accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10)
à-
Deceives the whole world (Rev. 12:9)
à-
Has two horns like a lamb but speaks as a dragon (Rev 13:11)
à
Against the covenant
à
- Make alterations in times and in law (Dan. 7:25)
à
- Make a firm covenant for one week (Dan. 9:27)
à
- In the middle of the week will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering
(Dan. 9:27)
à
- Enraged at the holy covenant and takes action (Dan. 11:30)
à
- Show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant (Dan 11:30)
à
- Set up the abomination of desolation (Dan. 11:31)
à
- Does not confess Yeshua HaMachiach has come in the flesh (1 John 4:3) (2 John
1:7)
à
Makes war
à
- War and desolations (Dan. 9:26)
à
- Will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a
foreign god (Dan. 11:39)
à
- Go forth will great wrath to destroy and annihilate many (Dan 11:44, Rev.
12:12)
à
- Wages war with the saints to overpower them (Dan. 7:21)
à
- Devour, tread down, and crush the whole earth (Dan 7: 23)
à
- Destroys the city and the sanctuary (Dan. 9:26)
à
- Will enter the Beautiful Land and many will fall (Dan. 11:41)
à
- Went to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of
God and hold to the testimony of Yeshua (Rev. 12:17)
à
- Causes as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed (Rev.
13:15)
à
- Will parcel out land for a price (Dan. 11:39)
à
Exalts himself as god, and denies the true God
à
- Will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, the desire of women (Nimrod),
nor any other god (Dan. 11:37)
à
- Will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know, will
honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures (Dan. 11:38)
à
- Will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule
over many (Dan. 11:39)
à
- Takes his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God (2 Thess.
2:4)
à
- Denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22)
à
- Denies Yeshua is the Messiah (Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father)
(Does not acknowledge Yeshua Ha’Machiach as coming in the flesh) (1 John
2:22-23)
à
- From the world, speak as from the world, the world listens to them (false
prophets, spirits of antichrist) (1
John 4:5)
à
- Goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Machiach (2 John 1:9)
à
Signs, wonders and control
à
- Exercises all authority of the first beast (Rev. 13:12)
à
- Performs great signs (Rev. 13:13)
à
- Deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs (Rev. 13:14)
à
- Tells those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast (Rev. 13:14)
à
- Gives breath to the image so it would speak (Rev. 13:15)
à
- Causes all, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a mark
on their hand or forehead, providing that no one will be able to buy or sell
except they have the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his
name (Rev. 13:16)
à
- His number is the number of a man, 666 (Rev. 13:18)
à
Spirit of antichrist from the beginning
à
- Many antichrists have already appeared (1 John 2:18)
à
- They went out from us but were not of us (1 John 2:19)
à
- The spirit of antichrist was already in the world (1 John 4:3)
So we see many
characteristics of the antichrist. Most
importantly, we see that the spirit of antichrist was already in the world when
John wrote his first epistle. In
fact, the spirit of antichrist was in the garden of Eden, as we saw in Genesis
3:13-15 above. à
The enemy’s desire from the beginning was to exalt himself above God:
Isa
14:12-14
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how
art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! (13) For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of
the congregation, in the sides of the north:
(14)
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most
High.
The spirit of antichrist is
that that does not confess Yeshua has come in the flesh.
As I have learned from this study, many spirits use the name “Jesus”,
but they don’t necessarily confess that He has come in the flesh.
In other words, they don’t confess that you must believe and accept
that He came in the form of a man, took on the sinful nature of man yet without
sin, shed His blood for our atonement, and rose again as the first fruits of
many. They may freely use His name,
but what are they teaching about Him?
The scriptures are full of
warnings about false prophets. à
Let’s look at these warnings:
Warnings In The
Scriptures
à
Mat 7:13-23
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate
is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who
enter through it. (14)
"For the gate is small and the way is narrow
that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
(15)
"Beware of the false prophets,
who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
(16)
"You will know them by their fruits.
Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes
nor figs from thistles, are they? (17)
"So every good tree bears good fruit,
but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
(18)
"A good tree cannot produce bad fruit,
nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
(19)
"Every tree that does not bear good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. (20)
"So then, you will know them by their
fruits. (21)
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord,
Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father
who is in heaven will enter.
(22)
"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in
Your name perform many miracles?'
(23)
"And then I will declare to them, 'I
never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
This
is a difficult scripture to swallow. But
Yeshua makes it clear that fruit is how we detect false prophets, and that a
good tree cannot produce bad fruit and vice versa.
He also seems to indicate that things that we would think of as good
fruit (works being done in His name) are not necessarily so.
à
Mat 12:30-37
"He who is not with Me is against Me; and he
who does not gather with Me scatters. (31) "Therefore I say to you, any sin
and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall
not be forgiven. (32)
"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of
Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it
shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age
to come. (33)
"Either make the tree good and its
fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its
fruit. (34)
"You brood of vipers, how can you, being
evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the
heart. (35) "The good man brings out of his
good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his
evil treasure what is evil. (36) "But I tell you that every
careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day
of judgment. (37)
"For by your words you will be justified,
and by your words you will be condemned."
This is another scripture
that is hard to swallow. Yeshua
indicates again that a bad tree cannot produce good fruit.
He also seems to indicate that whatever is in the heart is going to come
out of the mouth as the spoken word, and that by those words we are either
justified or condemned.
These scriptures are crucial
to the understanding of the new age movement.
Yeshua has spoken one of the most difficult scriptures to accept:
that many people will stand before God “in that day” and declare that
they performed many works in His name. And
God will say “depart from Me, I never knew you, you who work iniquity”.
I have always had a terrible
time understanding this verse. How
is it possible for anyone to perform works in His name, but be someone that God
did not know? Why would anyone who
does NOT know God want to perform works in His name? And if anyone knows God, and is performing good works, how is
it that God does not know them? It
never made any sense to me.
Once I came into the
Messianic movement, and began to study the scriptures from a Hebrew perspective,
this verse made more sense. We know
that the word for “iniquity” is the Greek word “anomia” (G458), which
means “lawless” or “torahlessness“.
So this verse made more sense in that respect, that these people must be
ones that don’t understand or follow Torah.
But what about the sincere, saved Christians who don’t have that
understanding, but that love God and are serving him the best they know how?
Many of them are producing “fruit”.
à
Rom 2:13-16
for it is not the hearers of the
Law who are just before God, but the
doers of the Law will be justified. (14)
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of
the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
(15)
in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their
conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else
defending them, (16) on the day when,
according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
Would God cast those people
aside? I still had trouble
understanding it. Until I began to
study for this presentation. Next
week we will continue on with a study about producing “fruit”, and we’ll
keep reading the warnings in the scriptures.
Then we’ll look at what the new age movement is.
---- End Of First Hour ----
à
Review: first 3 slides
Remember how I explained
last week how these verses made no sense to me?
I never understood why God would cast aside someone who was bearing fruit
in His name. But I did not
understand the meaning of “fruit”.
So let’s proceed on and study the definitions:
à
Let’s look at the definition of the word for “fruit”.
à
G2590 καρπός
Karpos
kar-pos'
Probably
from the base of G726; fruit (as plucked), literally or
figuratively: - fruit.
OK,
that’s a straight-forward definition… simply “fruit” as we think of an
apple or a pear being plucked from a tree.
à
G726 ἁρπάζω
harpazō
har-pad'-zo
From a
derivative of G138; to seize (in various applications): - catch (away,
up), pluck, pull, take (by force).
We see now
the action of taking the fruit from the tree by force.
à
G138 αἱρέομαι
Airwoman
hahee-reh'-om-ahee
Probably
akin to G142; to take for oneself, that is, to prefer.
Some of the forms are borrowed from a cognate (ἕλλομαι
hellomai),
which is otherwise obsolete: - choose. Some of the forms are borrowed from a
cognate hellomai, hel-lom-ahee; which is otherwise obsolete.
Now we see
the action of choosing the fruit that we prefer. I’ll pluck the pear off that tree instead of the apple off
the other tree. We have a choice!
We can choose what fruit we partake of as well as what fruit we produce.
à
G142 αἴρω
airō
ah'ee-ro
A primary
verb; to lift; by implication to take up or away;
figuratively to raise (the voice), keep in suspense
(the mind); specifically to sail away (that is, weigh anchor);
by Hebraism (compare [H5375]) to expiate
sin: - away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make
to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).
à
Now we see a more complicated image… of raising the voice and bearing up or
lifting up something and taking it away. So
we have seen the à
fruit itself, à
choosing the fruit that we prefer, à
taking the fruit by force, àraising
our voice, and àbearing
or lifting up that fruit.
Sounds
like what Eve did in the garden doesn’t it?
She saw the fruit, made a decision to select it, took it purposely, spoke
out that the serpent deceived her, and then bore the consequences of the
decision.
This (G142
airo) is the word used in à
Matt 16:24:
Mat
16:24
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone
wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his
cross and follow Me.”
So
the picture we see is that of fruit on a tree being taken, or plucked.
Then carried or lifted up, taken up.
By implication of the meaning of Matthew 16:24, it is selecting for
yourself the truth of the Messiah, and carrying that for yourself in your life.
à
To do that, we must know Yeshua, confess with our mouths and
believe unto righteousness, and then follow him by obeying Torah. And that brings to mind Romans 10:9-10:
à
Rom 10:9-10
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as
Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved; (10)
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with
the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
From these
verses and definitions, we know that confessing is an important part of that
walk. Confessing, or speaking, is
an important part of the fruit in our lives. Again, not only do we have a choice
of what fruit we partake of, but what fruit we produce.
They are interconnected. If
we partake of bad fruit, we may become a bad tree, and then produce bad fruit!
Now, the
Hebrew word H5375 was referred to in the definition of G142 above.
Let’s look at that word (the definition is too long to put on the
screen, so please look it up for yourself.
I have put the most important parts up):
à
H5375 נסה /
נשׂא
na^śa^'
/ na^sa^h
BDB
Definition:
1)
to lift, bear up, carry, take
1a)
(Qal)
1a1)
to lift, lift up
1a2)
to bear, carry, support, sustain, endure
1a3)
to take, take away, carry off, forgive
1b)
(Niphal)
1b1)
to be lifted up, be exalted
1b2)
to lift oneself up, rise up
1b3)
to be borne, be carried
1b4)
to be taken away, be carried off, be swept away
1c)
(Piel)
1c1)
to lift up, exalt, support, aid, assist
1c2)
to desire, long (figuratively)
1c3)
to carry, bear continuously
1c4)
to take, take away
1d)
(Hithpael) to lift oneself up, exalt oneself
1e)
(Hiphil)
1e1)
to cause one to bear (iniquity)
1e2)
to cause to bring, have brought
Part of
Speech: verb
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root
So we see
much the same picture in this word as we did in the Greek word G142 “airo“.
Now to
gain a complete understanding of the concept of fruit, I decided to look up the
Hebrew word for fruit. It is:
à
H6529
פּרי
peri^y
BDB
Definition:
1)
fruit
1a)
fruit, produce (of the ground)
1b)
fruit, offspring, children, progeny (of the womb)
1c)
fruit (of actions) (figuratively)
Part of
Speech: noun
masculine
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H6509
So we get
the idea of fruit being our actions. Now let’s look at the root word, H6509:
à
H6509 פּרה
pa^ra^h
BDB
Definition:
1)
to bear fruit, be fruitful, branch off
1a)
(Qal) to bear fruit, be fruitful
1b)
(Hiphil)
1b1)
to cause to bear fruit
1b2)
to make fruitful
1b3)
to show fruitfulness, bear fruit
Part of
Speech: verb
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root
We get the
idea here of bearing fruit, which is more of a physical idea than just something
spoken. But let’s look at the
word picture to see if there is a deeper meaning:
à
Peh = mouth, speak, word, wisdom (17
- messiah)
Resh = head or first, person, highest (20 - redemption)
Hey = behold, revealed
(5 - faith, grace)
42 = 6 = mankind
Now let’s look at the gematria itself: Our redemption comes by grace through faith in the Messiah! 17+20+5=42, which when reduced = 6. 6 is the number of man. Mankind is supposed to bear fruit for Messiah.<