CHRISTIANS MAKING NICE WITH THE ANTICHRIST [Part 1: You’ve Been Warned]
Though many Christians believe otherwise, the New Testament does not actually refer specifically to any individual as the antichrist but rather to a demonic spirit…
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FRAUD ALERT
In the Gospel accounts, the Lord Jesus often gave direct warnings to His disciples to prepare them for what was surely to come their way. He was obviously well aware of the tempter and his myriad ways of deception and knew His men would need future help in discerning the true from the false. Sometimes the difference between the two looks slight but depending on the observer can also appear as indistinguishable (there’s a scary thought). In the following passage from His Olivet Discourse the Lord told His disciples that the soon to emerge trickery of the enemy would be so effectively sly it would almost deceive His mature chosen followers:
“…For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.” [Mark 13:22-23][1]
The operative phrase here is “in order to lead astray.” This is forever the plan of the enemy, to lead one away from the Lord and keep anyone and everyone from getting close to Him. The last three words of that phrase are from the Greek word ἀποπλανάω apoplanáō (ap-op-lan-ah’-o). It is defined as “to lead astray (figuratively); passively, to stray (from truth):—err, seduce. Further, it means “to cause to go astray,” “to lead away from the truth to error,” “to go astray, stray away from.”
Because the antichrist spirit opposes the Lord Jesus as Messiah and wars against the Truth, it is always his intent to deceive. According to the preceding passage of Scripture, the enemy will thus employ false Messiahs and false prophets to do what they do best regarding the deception game. Of course, if one is not aware that these people are false then one will not defend against them and will be much more likely to be taken in, as it were, and believe something entirely false as if it were true. We currently have many well-accepted and established ministers that qualify as such with large followings proving a great many Christians remain none the wiser which further proves they have been deceived.
Such deception among Christians by the faux bros has long since reached epidemic proportions over the many centuries of the Christian era in that there are many more deceived Christians in the world who believe and act on things that are false rather than those who successfully follow the Lord Jesus in the way of Truth. To simplify the reason why, it is due primarily to trusting authority figures far beyond the level of trust they deserve. Wisdom demands that every authority figure must be held to account and this cannot be done unless they are properly vetted. And if you want to know how to vet a Christian minister it is simple:
A real Christian authority figure ALWAYS yields to the ultimate authority of the Lord Jesus and will not knowingly teach something other than what the Lord taught or not teach something He taught.
Therefore, New Testament ministers are vetted by the New Testament itself since it is the written Word of God. There is always the additional possibility that the Lord may speak directly through spiritual means or revelation but if it is actually His voice whatever He says will always agree with His written NT Word.
Though such a vetting process may appear simplistic, it is actually not all that difficult to discover areas of transgression or straying from the Lord’s clear curriculum if one is well versed in NT Scripture. Consequently, this means all real Christians must acknowledge and accept the fact that it is their responsibility to make sure they know the New Testament and thereby be able to notice when Christian ministers veer off course or were never on course to begin with.
In the final analysis, since a Christian must vet ministers, it proves he or she must also be a minister (and also be subjected to proper vetting). And this in fact is what the NT teaches in that every real Christian is a minister of the Gospel. Remember, the Lord never invented a clergy-laity division. Therefore, any refusal to accept one’s responsibility as a Christian and as a Christian minister regarding knowledge of the Word means one will not have the necessary ability to remain above deception. This is exactly why so many Christians, the majority, have been deceived by false ministers and their false doctrines.
Such irresponsible and effectively lazy Christians—those who place their spiritual responsibility upon Christian authority figures and yield to their total unvetted control, especially those who are most happy with such an improper arrangement—cannot help but be used and reap a harvest of trickery.
This is also precisely why millions of Christians are presently making nice with the antichrist…
© 2025 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]
[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
WEBSITE ADDRESS: rjdawson.com
Posted on January 9, 2025, in Current Events and tagged America, antichrist, Deception, Discipleship, False Christs, False Prophets, False Religious Authority, Lord Jesus, Prophetic Warning, Real Christianity The Nature of the Church, spirit of antichrist, Spiritual Warfare, The Great Awakening, The New Testament, Unreal Christianity. Bookmark the permalink. 17 Comments.
Real Christianity 
Thank you, RJ. Mark Chapter 13 paints a sobering and terrifying picture of the end times and Christ’s second coming: “the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel.” Jesus mentions “the elect” a couple of times. The elect, whom He has chosen.
Real Christians are the elect who are not dissuaded or deceived by the false Christs (as you state, demonic spirits), in spite of the unbelievable persecution and suffering they will go through in the end times. Yes, Jesus wants us to heed the warning, and to watch for we do not know when He is coming again. When He does come, it is for the elect He is returning, when He sends His angels to gather His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth. This will be the reward of those who have been stalwart in following Jesus Christ to the end.
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18
For sure each of us would want to be part of the select group of the elect. I fully agree that it is imperative that we know the New Testament fully in our hearts and minds. Thanks again RJ for this message.
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Thanks Dee. The issue at hand regarding these warnings of the Lord is the level of discipleship He demanded in order to fulfill our callings and do His will.
Mark 13 is one of the three Gospel accounts regarding what is referred to as The Olivet Discourse or The Olivet Prophecy. This took place during the final week of the Lord’s life prior to His resurrection. One might say these were His final warnings and concerned what His disciples must be especially prepared for concerning the final times, which referred primarily to events a generation into the future during 66-70AD. Remember, the Lord said this would be the final generation of the outward nation of Israel/Judea, otherwise known as the End of the Age. What the Lord taught here was also taught by the apostle Paul on several occasions and it concerned, as Peter wrote, to “give diligence to make your calling and election sure” [2Peter 1:10 KJV]. Paul wrote of a soon coming event that all believers must prepare themselves for in order not to miss, which refers directly to the Lord’s parable about the Ten Virgins. This certainly refers to a select group, as you state, but the membership thereof is based strictly on an individual’s discipleship and preparation.
In other words, again, He warned everyone to be ready and do all that is entailed in such according to His teachings. Why? Because the deception of the enemy would grow to very high levels and many would be fooled.
If you would like more information, I suggest a series I wrote five years ago about the Olivet Discourse/Prophecy, in which I explain the Last Days in greater detail. Here are the links:
Blessings to you my friend
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Thank you, RJ for expounding on the End of the Age. I will read your series on the Olivet Discourse/Prophecy. Blessings to you too, my friend.
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Thank you very much, Dee. I appreciate your support and hope the series is edifying. I will be touching on this theme in part as this current series continues. Blessings to you also
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RJ, are you saying here that there will not be just one person known as The AntiChrist, but that it will, perhaps, be a cabal, a group, that gains power and imposes restriction on true believers? I can certainly see how that would be a possibility.
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Hi Linda. I’m basically relaying what the apostle John wrote about in his first two letters which I will get to later in this series. He was the only New Testament writer that mentioned the word antichrist and it is most likely the case that he coined this term. Please continue to follow. I may be posting Part 2 on Monday depending on my readers. Speaking of which, I posted this on Thursday (Jan 9) but it appears that it was somewhat invisible that day and still has not been seen by many. Can you tell me when and how you received notification of Part 1? Thanks
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I was notified in my email, started reading it the same day but got interrupted and finished it later.
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Okay, Thanks. I’m glad to know all is working properly. Have a great day.
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Beware of anyone who loves the microphone. I am suspicious of bloggers who give themselves a “like” (knowing it’s very easy to inadvertently hit that button sometime). I have been on search committees for both a pastor and a college president as well as interviewing staff in growing a business. Finding out how much control a person wants is directly related to “weak and vulnerable” spots in one’s character. God knows those spots as well as the deceiver… Advantage goes to the deceiver if one is blind to their own weaknesses. I’ll quit before I ramble on…
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Well said, Gary. I appreciate your experience in this matter. As you know, the Lord arranged things in the Early Church is such a way that He would remain in control by delegating His authority to several in each local group and never, or at least very rarely depending on the circumstances, to single individuals. It is why the early groups were led by a group of elders instead of a single “pastor” which has long since become the traditional norm. A group of mature and humble spiritual men are quite effective in keeping a single leader coming to power simply because they know the Lord Jesus is already in power and each of them are merely disciples under His authority, not at all different from the Lord and His twelve. After the Lord ascended to heaven the twelve (eleven) remained but the Lord was still in control though in the Spirit.
For some reason this is an extremely hard concept for “Christian leadership” to grasp but I think it’s mainly due to what you stated in that those who desire greater control are a red flag. The NT teaches that we are all ministers and each real believer has a ministry purpose. This is what each should want control of in order to fulfill one’s calling. But each must also work as part of the overall group with one another which is what Community is all about. In other words, THE LORD JESUS MUST BE IN CHARGE and the rest of us go by His leading. When we get this right the Lord has great spiritual success and we have dynamic spiritual groups as they did in the beginning.
I think the biggest red flag is wanting control over people and eventually over increasingly greater amounts of people.
Thanks again. Feel free to “ramble” here though I call it partaking of more of your wisdom and experience. Later
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I enjoy reading the comments as well RJ, as if we are in a bible study group. This is a subject that needs to be talked about. Where as most folks are being divided these days, it seems like to me. Seeing the division happen more and more from politics to Christianity. Maybe because they have more information at their fingertips with the internet. But, sometimes it seems so easy for folks to follow anything they see or read about on the web, tv, etc. That again, they find it hard to believe what they can’t see but must feel within them, what is written on our hearts, that feeling for me overrides all other things that cross my path. Makes it easy to turn off the outside world.
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Thanks Sandra. I appreciate this because there is so much to learn from everybody. I have been blessed with some excellent readers who add a lot to this site by providing meaningful and edifying material that is a blessing to all. Good dialogue is very necessary to Christian growth and development but is sorely lacking in most official Christian venues. Every Christian has a voice that must be heard but there are very few places in which this can happen. Sadly, Christians in general are conditioned to believe that the thoughts and voices of most are not good enough to qualify for official recognition. The extremely very few who are “qualified” end up with the lion’s share of recognition but often do not necessarily arrive at that status through the Lord’s means but for other reasons not supported by the Lord’s teachings. The Lord Jesus is for EVERYBODY and this means every Christian’s voice must be heard. It is why the many venues that exist now such as WP which allow for Christian free speech are such a Godsend.
Keep up the great work over there! Blessings
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Thank you RJ.
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This was very well thought out, and it was a great reminder/warning! I especially appreciated the following,
“In the final analysis, since a Christian must vet ministers, it proves he or she must also be a minister (and also be subjected to proper vetting). And this in fact is what the NT teaches in that every real Christian is a minister of the Gospel”.
Wow! Very sobering, and you’re right, how many Christians aren’t aware of the need to use discernment because they too are ministers of the Gospel? We need to be in the Word & use the Holy Spirit to guide us to truly be the body of Christ.
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Thanks Amber. I appreciate your input. This is an important responsibility that every Christian has, both to keep from being deceived but also to keep other Christians from being deceived. It is no great revelation to know that the enemy uses false Christian ministers to subvert the Gospel. Yet it is also the case that sincere Christians get it wrong at times and must be corrected. The New Covenant writings illustrate how this should be done. Correction should obviously be done in love. However, since the many small home-based communities of Christians in the first-century Early Church were overseen by spiritually mature groups of elders rather than single “pastors” they kept on eye on one another. They made sure to especially insure that the Lord Jesus was always in charge, was recognized as such (and which the elders honored by subjecting themselves), and also that His pure and entire curriculum was taught. This process kept false ministers from arising and gaining authority or it exposed them if they already had. It also made necessary corrections. We see then, that we all must obey the Lord regarding this subject, keep our lamps filled with oil, and become increasingly more knowledgeable of the written Word. Blessings
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Well, I’m a johnny-come-lately on this series. Hoping to catch up 🙂 I do agree with what you have said here. Since Jesus returned to heaven, there has been a plethora of people representing the spirit of antichrist. These people still abound. Some of them are cult leaders that manage to establish themselves quite well, financially. Something I’ve witnessed personally, over the years, is the rise of mega-churches led by “The Big Man” aka pastor, who becomes a ruling authority figure to his congregation. This was not the intention, in the New Testament–for one man (or woman) to rise to a point of complete authority in the lives of the people. I’m thinking of one who encouraged his people to consult him on every issue of their lives: Should we have a baby? Where should we go on vacation? Can we buy a new car? How should we respond to people who don’t agree with our beliefs?
Sadly, some of these big name “pastors” have fallen into sexual sin, some even claiming “executive privilege” in doing so. This, I believe, is the spirit of antichrist.
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Thanks Linda. I appreciate you taking the time to read and comment. These are all good points and illustrate what can happen without the proper accountability structures within and upon the leadership of Christian ministries. Far too many ministers approach their jobs without regard for the simple fact that every real ministry is an extension of the Lord’s ministry. This means in real Christian ministry the Lord Jesus always holds the top leadership position and is always in overall charge. This also means anyone under His leadership follows His lead and does what He says.
Now, we know that in much ministry if not likely most, this does not actually take place, which proves the Lord is not in charge which further proves the ministry is actually not even connected to the Lord. This means the ministry is a creation of the one or ones in charge who only claim association with the Lord Jesus but do not actually serve Him. Such explains why so much Christian ministry looks nothing like the Lord’s original and why many ministers get in trouble because they are not subjected to the Lord’s oversight or perhaps any oversight at all.
This is why the antichrist spirit can have a field day in such ministries because there is no Lord Jesus in charge. Also, since the leadership thereof is not subjected to Him it lacks the ability to fight against such bad spirits.
We must remember, though, that the antichrist spirit is specifically and foremost ANTI-CHRIST which means it stands in opposition to Christ as the Messiah, meaning it refuses to acknowledge the Lord Jesus as the promised Messiah who came to save humanity and take His place as the only King of His Kingdom which all real Christians are a part of as His subjects.
Therefore, putting John’s references to the antichrist in context, he was referring to a specific entity that not only allowed for and welcomed the antichrist spirit but in essence worshipped it. We may wonder how this could happen but it stems directly from those who rejected the Lord Jesus as Messiah in the first century AD. They refused to honor Him and continued with the false structures they had created and/or taken over which stood as a large bulwark against the Lord and His people. It was from these rebellious people that the majority of Christian persecution arose. We see this clearly throughout the Book of Acts.
Nevertheless, the Lord had managed to save a Remnant of Israelites which was a central part of His mission: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” [Matthew 15:24] (See also Matthew 10). John was writing in the early 60s AD right before the outbreak of the great Jewish Revolt in the summer of 66AD which began the major events of the Lord’s Olivet Prophecy he gave over thirty years prior.
Therefore, every real Christian knows the first thing they need to do as a new Christian is submit themselves fully and completely to the Lord Jesus otherwise they cannot be saved and they must maintain this relationship. One would think it to be no different with any Christian group, ministry, church, etc. in that all and everything must be submitted to the Lord. And just as one can see the initial evidence that someone has become a real Christian in that their life changes dramatically for the better due to the presence and leadership of the Lord in their lives so must it also be with any Christian group, ministry, church, etc. We see this clearly demonstrated in the Lord’s initial ministry and then also in the Acts accounts. By this we know what the evidence must be that shows the Lord is in charge. The overall ministry of the first-century AD Church Community was an extension of the Lord’s initial ministry which has continued since to the present.
Those in league with the antichrist spirit have also continued to the present.
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