2."Who
is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist
who denies the Father and the Son."
1John 2:22
3."And
every spirit that severs Jesus, is not of GOD, but is of antichrist
of whom you have heard that he is coming, and now is already in the world."
1John 4:3.
4."For
many deceivers have gone forth into the world who do not confess Jesus
as the Christ coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist."
2John 1:7.
There you have it. Antichrist is mentioned
only four times in Scripture and only in two Epistles of Saint John. Antichrist
is not mentioned at all in the book of Revelation, as some seem to believe.
In those four verses Saint John tells us not only who Antichrist
is, but also who he could not be.
Elucidation:
1.
At the time of writing of John's Epistles, many antichrists
already existed,
1John 2:18.
Heresies existed from the very beginning and with them were the heretics
who lied, deceived, and severed Jesus. Two of the main heresies in the
first century were the Simonians who denied the humanity of Christ, and
the Cerenthians who denied the divinity of Christ. In the second century
more than 14 new heresies sprang up, further severing the Body of Christ.
As the centuries wore on, older heresies died out and new ones sprang up
to take their place. There have been heresies in every century and some
are recycled such as Jehovah's witnesses who again deny the divinity of
Christ.
2.
Antichrist is a liar and denies that Jesus
is the Christ, and he also denies the Father and the Son,
1John 2:22.
Yes, as I have pointed out in the first item, there was the denial of Jesus
in His divinity, and in His humanity. Over the centuries, there were some
denials of both by a single heresy.
3.
Antichrist is the one who severs Jesus,
1John 4:3.
As previously discussed, but the severance of Jesus today is worse than
ever, as we shall see shortly.
4.
Antichrist is a deceiver who denies that Jesus
is the Christ and has come in the flesh,
2John 1:7
It is happening today in a big way.
In summary:
There are many antichrists, even in the time
of Saint John, and they are liars, and deny that Jesus is the Christ. They
sever Him. They deceive and deny that He came in the flesh. There is another
word which fits all of these parameters perfectly. It is the Heretic the
fomenter of Heresy.
Conclusions:
1.
Antichrist could not possibly be the Pope
since he meets none of the qualifications. The Pope has never denied that
Jesus is the Christ, has never denied the Father and Son, and he has never
severed Jesus.
For those of you who say the Pope is antichrist,
the onus is upon you to prove what you charge, and you must provide genuine
historical documents to back up what you say.
Therefore, just who CANNOT be antichrist as
shown by Holy Scripture?
2.
Now, anyone who calls Jesus Christ a liar, has denied Him, 1John 5:10.
Anyone who does not believe what He said, therefore, denies Him, as they
have called Him a liar. What He said is recorded in Holy Scripture as we
all know. Take a look here and you will see many
verses in Scripture which are denied by non-Catholics today. The statistical
evidence is there; it cannot be denied. Therefore, you tell me, Just
Who Is Antichrist?
3.
Now who severs Jesus? He commanded that there be one fold and one shepherd
in John 10:16. How many deny these words of His and sever His Body into
ever smaller pieces? In 1981 there were about 20,780 splits in the Body
of Christ among non-Catholics. Today there are over 33,800 non-Catholic
ecclesial communities, as documented in the World Christian Encyclopedia,
April 2001 edition. That is an increase of 65% in the severing of the body
of Christ in just 20 years. That works out to a rate of over 125% increase
every 40 years at the present rate of splitting.
Here are the very words of Jesus, "He who is
not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters."
Matthew 12:30
What could Jesus have said to be more clear than what He said here? The
severing of His body tens of thousands of times is certainly not "gathering"
is it? So He says to "gather",
but non-Catholics are scattering by their incessant creation of yet more
and more splits of His Body. It is all too obvious that scattering is "against
me" as He said, and being against Christ is the purest definition
of Antichrist.
"Has Christ been divided up?" 1Corinthians
1:13.
Yes, drastically, and the evidence is overwhelming that it is divided by
Protestantism, and not by the Papacy or the Catholic
Church.
Therefore, you tell me, just Who Is doing the severing?
It is Protestantism with its never ending creation of new sects, severing
Jesus into ever more and ever smaller pieces.
The answer is so obvious as to just who is clearly the Antichrist.
4.
Now just who is the deceiver and the denier of Jesus come in the flesh?
The deceiver is anyone who does not speak the truth,
just as Satan deceived Eve in Genesis 3:5. The denier, as I have already
shown, are those who do not believe
the words of Jesus Christ.
A Final Note:
According to what Holy Scripture has clearly told us, Just Who Is
Antichrist?