The Spirits of Antichrist

II Jn.7 - For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This a deceiver and an ANTICHRIST.
I Jn.4:3 - And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is the spirit of ANTICHRIST, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
I Jn.2:18 - 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.

There is coming, and maybe is alive today, a man who is called the Antichrist. But never think that until he comes the spirits of antichrist do not roam the earth deceiving millions, who deceive others, who all lose their souls. I believe that when the Antichrist(man of sin, son of perdition) reveals himself, he will be inhabited by Lucifer himself, who actually is THE Antichrist.
Antichrists are spirits. They are strong and deceptive spirits that emanate directly from Lucifer himself. These spirits are not sent to tempt men to lust, or steal, or lie, or any other sins of the flesh. No, these demonic spirits are sent to attack the core of our faith. They blaspheme the Son of God Himself, and they attempt to subtly lead men to embrace a loving, caring, wise, rich, but false christ. They are intelligent and love to seduce the mind of men, which man idolizes. If they can't get men to outright reject the true Jesus, they lead them to create, from their own well meaning designs, new oxcarts in which to present the true Christ. In so doing we have created a host of followers of the oxcart and not followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if you are wondering about the oxcart reference, read II Samuel chapter 6 and see that God had commanded His ark to be carried by the Levites with stakes, above the earth, not on an oxcart no matter how well intentioned. The obvious analogy is that we must present the Lord Jesus with the stakes of His own Word, and not the earthly oxcart of "enticing words of man's wisdom"(I Cor.2:4).
Let us not kid ourselves, these spirits are extremely vicious and their goal is to spread a theological venom that kills the soul and enlarges the mouth of hell. They operate without much opposition in this present world, and since the church by and large has long since stopped "trying the spirits" they have infiltrated the church. Like a chess match gambit they sacrifice activities, buildings, growth, popularity, and other facets of many evangelical churches to concentrate on their primary target - THE MESSAGE! They present themselves as conservative politicians, relevant preachers, ecumenical priests, false prophets of the health and wealth movements, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Scientists, Moonies, and thousands of other insidious movements that unknowingly espouse "doctrines of devils". Many of whom "promise them liberty", but in so doing we now have an incredible mixture of professing believers whose love for the things of this world engulfs any real Spiritual appetite for cross bearing sacrifice, and whose time is spent primarily on getting and enjoying things at the expense of getting alone with the Master and Savior they verbally profess. Most professing believers spend more time going to the bathroom than with Jesus. And to add to the heart breaking scenario, Jesus still waits and calls for us with an unrequited love.

I Tim.3:13 - But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

When you examine all the categories I mentioned concerning these spirits of antichrist, what common thread emerges? They all have changed or watered down the Scriptures and furthermore they don't even realize it. That's the nature of deception. They are deceived and are deceiving others, teaches the apostle Paul. And immediately following that statement Paul teaches Timothy(and us) the preeminence of Scripture in verses 15-17.

I Tim.3:15-17 - And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Tampering with the Scriptures, and by connection Jesus who IS the Word, is the spirit of antichrist. These spirits go throughout the world whispering the serpent's question "Hath God said?". Now we have seen the obvious work of these seducing spirits in the cults and the denominations that have wandered from believing the Word of God, but there is an emerging group of believers who are becoming alarmed at the deception that now has a foothold in evangelical churches. Some of these people and preachers love Jesus, but they have been deceived into believing that you bring God's Word down to your life instead of your life up to God's Word. They take "their audience" into focus as they prepare their message, contouring their words to go out in the parameters of the culture, rather than adhering to the only admonition they have from the Lord - PREACH THE WORD. This movement in its many shapes is mostly heralded by young preachers who have little or no historical reference points by which to compare and test the Scriptural direction of their method, however sincere. In today's ecclesiastical community, Moody, Finney, Calvin, Wesley, and most of the former men of God would never be called to pastor one of these churches. Their messages would not minister to our American culture.
Let me humbly explain generally how it works. Hypothetically a lost person asks " Do you mean Jesus is the only way to heaven? I don't believe that.". The relevant preacher answers, "Yes, but you don't see the whole picture. Jesus can help you with your life. Money problems, marriage problems, addictions, Jesus can help you with all those problems in your life. Now, do you want to accept him into your life?" And many times the lost person replies "OK", and then is led in a prayer. No mention of sin, repentance, judgment, hell, followship, or count the cost. And to top it all off, after the man mumbles a "sinner's prayer", we immediate assure him of his eternal destiny. On the basis of a few repeated sentences we speak for the Holy Spirit and pronounce him "saved". Wow. And we criticize the priest for pronouncing the person "forgiven" in the confession booth. I know because I am guilty of it, and I know I will see people at the Great White Throne judgment who, as they are cast into the lake of fire, will be able to look at me and say "You told me I was saved!".
Now I know that is an oversimplification, but I believe it accurately depicts much of the way Jesus and His salvation is presented. And we are so used to it we do not even recognize the breathtaking deception inherent in such a witness. I have many, many times used a similar presentation to lost people both one on one and in the pulpit for the expressed purpose of getting people to "get saved". I have come to believe that this is the spirit of antichrist at work and I also reject any spirit of self righteousness that Lucifer wants me to embrace. The only, and I mean THE ONLY, reason I see any truth is by God's grace. Left to my own devices I would have, in the words of the father in Mary Poppins, "a ghastly mess!".
My heart is heavy both for the growing deception I see and the indictable disproportion between what I see and the dearth of appropriate Spiritual repentance on my part. I really believe the massive, attractive, insidious, and organized deception of the spirits of antichrist cannot be overstated. They have been dispatched to cover the earth with the admonition from Lucifer "Hurry, our time is short". You might think that this is some kind of melodramatic fiction, but it is more real than you and I could ever imagine, and these spirits by the tens of millions are everywhere. They will be in the church you go to this Sunday no matter where you go. "How come I never hear about them"? Because preachers don't even know they are there! Charismatics see demons under every rock and Baptists don't see any, all while the inconspicuous angels of light move around undetected. I also contend that no one can see the full extent of what is happening, and we are all under some of the unseen influence of this last days assault. Here is what I believe these spirits are trying to accomplish in those who DO see a Scriptural shift:

They try and create a spirit of superiority. There are being somewhat successful.
They get us to talk a lot more than pray. They are being enormously successful.
They get us to feel antagonistic to other believers. They are being successful.
They get us to disproportionately look at others and not ourselves. They are being enormously successful.
They get us to read the Scriptures looking for more evidence to substantiate our contentions rather than for personal reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. They are being enormously successful.
They get us to sacrifice the love of God on the altar of truth. They are being successful.

Oh yes, these spirits of antichrist are working ever minute of every hour of every day. How many hours of every day are we praying? You don't think you are deceived? That in and of itself is a layered deception. Here is a challenge that I have agreed to let the Lord do in my life. For the first month of 2006 I want the Holy Spirit to completely cleanse me of "all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord"(II Cor.7:1). There are four things that must happen for the Lord to be able to do that in my life. First, I must sacrificially set aside hours to pray. Early, late, whatever time. It has to be daily and sacrificially(which means cutting way down on entertainment, etc.). Secondly, I must consume the Word, sacrificially. I have read the entire book of Philippians in less than 1/2 hour and so can you. That's just a glimpse into what I should be able to consume daily. Thirdly, I must fast. Jesus, OUR MASTER, said that after He went back to His Father we should fast. We should - we must - I must. Can you guess what the fourth thing is? My tongue. The Scripture clearly teaches that whoever doesn't control his tongue, his religion is useless. Hopefully the first three will give the needed power to accomplish the fourth.
I never want to get to the place that as God opens my eyes to the deception of the spirits of antichrist in others, I neglect to see that in me! So let us continue to expose these wicked spirits as they infiltrate the church, but at the same time let us lay ourselves on the altar of Almighty God and under the mighty Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, may we die to anything that is not Christ and daily rise to newness of life.

May our Savior break open the alabaster box of our lives and permeate the kingdom of this darkness with the saving fragrance of His Dear Son!