What is the Antichrist's Role in the End Times?

What is the Antichrist's role in the end times? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. Our phone lines are open right now, and you can call us with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts. You can watch us right now on YouTube and send us a message that way, and you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com.

Well, first up today, let's go to a voicemail that we received from one of our listeners. I was wondering, everyone says, if it's good enough for Paul, it's good enough for me, but Paul put a curse on anybody in the church that doesn't preach the gospel that he preaches in Galatians, and he repeats it twice, quoting from Deuteronomy, saying God is testing you, and he says in Acts 28, the gospel that he preached was the gospel of the kingdom, and that Jesus is the Messiah. I don't hear anybody talking about the kingdom and the Messiah. They're all, like Joe, witnesses the kingdom, or they're talking about Jesus only, and all that stuff for the kingdom is not necessary.

Can you comment on that? Yeah, I appreciate that question. So it sounds like you're thinking, what is the relationship between the gospel and the preaching of the gospel and the kingdom of God? And of course, when we look at the gospels and those early proclamations from John the Baptist and Jesus himself, they both talk about the kingdom. Paul, as you mentioned, talks about the kingdom of God. Mark 1, verse 14 says, Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.

And so it does seem like these are things that are related. The kingdom of God, there's a sense in which we sometimes say the kingdom is already, that is, there's a way in which we experience it now, and it's still not yet. There's a future aspect to the kingdom of God, the already and the not yet. The not yet is, when we think about God's kingdom and its fullness, it's the fully realized sort of new heavens and new earth, where the redeemed are joined in the new creation with the angels around God's throne, worshiping him where he rules and reigns forever. That's what we're looking forward to. Oftentimes, Paul will talk about inheriting the kingdom of God.

That's what we're looking forward to, the new creation. But there's also a sense, I mean, Jesus said it there in Mark chapter 1, there's a sense in which the kingdom of God is here now, Jesus said, in our midst. And that is through the work of Jesus, through the ministry of the word. When you go to church on a Sunday morning and you hear the word of God being proclaimed, and we are praying together and joining in song, in one sense, the kingdom of God is breaking in on this present age, on this present evil age through the ministry of Christ in preaching and teaching. And so churches here on earth today are these sort of gospel kingdom outposts.

That's why being a part of a church is so important. It's here that the kingdom of God is manifested in the context of the local church in a very real way for the world to see. And we are sent out as ambassadors of Jesus Christ, representatives of that kingdom. And so the kingdom is God's rule and reign, ultimately over all things, but now currently manifested in the church. And one day it's going to come in fullness at the final judgment at the last day. And so a really important concept, obviously something that Jesus spoke about, that Paul spoke about, but you're right, oftentimes we sort of skip over discussing the kingdom.

But that's what I would say about it. So thank you for that question, brother. You know, Adriel, I love that metaphor of us as ambassadors of the kingdom. You think about that role of the ambassador to represent his president or his king or his nation to other people who may not really know much about it. And that's one of our key roles as ambassadors of God's kingdom here on earth.

Yeah, it really is such a high calling. I mean, each one of us have been, if you're Christian, you've been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God has placed his name on you.

And I mean, there are implications to that. And at least one of those implications is you're called to represent him. You're called to be a representative of the triune God, to spread the aroma of Jesus wherever it is that you go.

And so it really is this wonderful calling that each of us has in our lives to represent the God who saved us, who loved us, who redeemed us. And let's always be ready to have those answers as we read what Peter says and do it with gentleness and respect. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And by the way, if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, our phone lines are open right now for the next 15 minutes or so. You can call us at 833-THE-CORE. We'd love to take any question you might have about the Bible or the Christian life. 833-843-2673.

Let's go to Val in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Val, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hello, Pastor Adriel. My question is in regard to speaking in tongues. I know absolutely nothing about it. Is it for real or are these people faking this?

And if it is for real, what's the purpose? Yeah, there are some Christian churches that believe that the gift of tongues is a gift that is still given today, that it is real. I mean, certainly when you read in the New Testament, yes, you had this miraculous sign gift that was given to the apostles and to others. You think in particular of the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two where the Holy Spirit fell upon the church and they began to speak in other tongues, declaring the mighty works of God. And as a result, Peter had an opportunity to preach the gospel to all the people that were gathered together there for the Pentecost feast.

And the crowd, they responded, what should we do? And Peter says, repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And so tongues, I believe, was a gift, a gift of the Holy Spirit that was given in particular, especially in that early stage of church history, as the church was launching off, as the gospel was beginning to advance. And it was a sign, really, of God's redemptive work. It was also a sign of judgment, Val, in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, beginning in verse 20. Listen to what the apostle Paul said in just some context. Paul is writing to a group of Christians in Corinth who are really excited about spiritual gifts, and he's trying to help them sort of put things in perspective. The chapter before this, 1 Corinthians 13, is all about love, the preeminence of the importance of love.

He says, this is what you really need to pursue. But he's also trying to help them understand the goal and the purpose of spiritual gifts, namely the building up of the body of Christ, edifying one another. And in that context, he says in verse 20 of 1 Corinthians 14, brothers, do not be children in your thinking.

Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. And the lot is written, by people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord. Thus tongues are a sign not for believers, but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers, but for believers. If therefore the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? And he's talking about how these unknown tongues, as people heard them, it was a sign of God's judgment actually on certain people.

And so it's sort of an interesting application there. You also think about the scene way back in the book of Genesis where you had the Tower of Babel and God confusing the languages. You kind of have a reversal of that in Acts chapter two in the day of Pentecost where God gives people this gift of tongues. So you have all these things that are going on primarily when we think about redemptive history, what God was accomplishing for us throughout the church. You have this picture of what God had done, pouring out the Holy Spirit on the church, a sign of judgment, also a sign of new creation, a sign of salvation. And as I said, there are Christians who disagree with me on this. There are some who say, no, that gift of tongues is still around for us today. And you see different churches applying that in different ways. But Paul's very clear. He says, look, if somebody shows up at your church and everyone is speaking in tongues and nobody really understands what's going on, aren't they going to say you're out of your minds? That's not how the gift was meant to operate. It seems like there were some abuses going on in Corinth in particular.

And so that's, I think, sort of the best way to approach this. But another thing for us to remember is sometimes, Val, people will say tongues are the sign that you really are filled with the Holy Spirit. And that's concerning to me because Paul makes it very clear at the end of 1 Corinthians chapter 12 that not every believer is gifted in the same way. Not everyone speaks in tongues. So that even if tongues was still being given today, not everyone would have that gift. The real sign of the Spirit in your life, I believe, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience. That's what God is working in us by the grace of his Spirit. And the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given primarily for the building up of the body of Christ. It's not about making myself great. It's not about exalting yourself.

It's about serving one another. And that's Paul's entire point in this section of 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 12 through 14. So thank you for your question, brother. That's a confusing issue to a lot of Christians, Adrielsa. I'm glad you spent some time clearing that up. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Sam in Columbia, Missouri. Sam, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Thank you for taking my call. There was a group who came to Jesus once and said the lady's husband died, she married the brother, he died, she married the brother, and he died. The question was, who's going to be her husband in heaven? And Jesus, in essence, said there won't be marriage given in heaven. So the question is, will we have husband and wife relationships in heaven? If the answer is yes, what about the person who had more than one biblical marriage on earth?

If the answer is no, then what about all those songs and poems and sermons we hear about, you know, seeing our mate in heaven and strolling across heaven with them? Yeah, I have to be very careful how I answer this question, Sam, because I think my wife is listening, and I know that she, her and I, have had this conversation thinking about the passage of Scripture that you're talking about. You're referring to a discussion that Jesus had with the Sadducees, and the Sadducees were a group of religious teachers in the time of Jesus. Often, you know, they would get into debates with the Pharisees. They differed on a number of theological issues, and one of those issues was the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.

They also only embraced the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, as inspired by God. And so they're trying to stump Jesus in the context of the discussion that they're having with him in Matthew 22, verses 23 through 33, and they're saying, look, as you said, a guy has all these wives, and then they die. Well, which one of them are going to be this guy's wife in the new creation, in the resurrection, if you will? And Jesus' response is, in verse 30, for in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And so it seems as if, you know, in the new creation, we're not going to be having wedding ceremonies, that kind of a thing. Now, what is our relationship going to be like with the people we knew on earth? In particular, our spouses?

Well, to be honest, I'm not 100% sure. We're going to have probably, in one sense, an even more intimate relationship, because there's going to be no more sin. It's going to be better, even, than it was here on earth. But how that looks entirely, you know, the Bible doesn't necessarily spell that out with clarity. There is one marriage that is going to be the focus of the new creation, and that is the marriage of Christ and his church.

That's the focus. I mean, when you read the book of Revelation, when it talks about the new creation and, you know, the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven as a bride adorned, you know, that kind of a thing, that's the sort of the marriage that God sets our eyes on in the new creation, the marriage between Christ and his bride. That's what's going to be celebrated.

That's what we're going to enjoy. But again, you know, even if we don't know exactly what our relationships with our spouse on earth are going to look like in heaven, I think that we can say with confidence that it's going to be better than it was here on earth because it's going to be the new creation, and there's going to be no more sin, nothing hidden. It's going to be perfect love, and so that's something that we can look forward to with our family in Christ and with our spouses in the Lord. So thank you for your question, Sam. You know, Adriel, my wife is looking forward to the day when I am glorified and have no sin. Yeah, we all are, Bill. We all are looking forward to that day for you. So no, I hear you.

And like I said, I was teasing. Me and my wife have talked about this, and she says, look, you're not allowed to, you're still mine in heaven. So watch out.

I love it. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We'd love to get your questions about the Bible and the Christian life, and our phone lines are open right now for the next 10 minutes or so. So hop on your phone and give us a call, 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Well, summer is practically here, and most kids will be out of school for a few months. And just in time for summer, we have a great free resource for families.

Yeah, get a hold of this resource. It's 10 verses to memorize as a family this summer. And I've looked at the 10 passages of Scripture, the 10 verses that they've put together. These are really, really, I think, important texts of Scripture, the kinds of passages that we should all store away in our hearts that fix our eyes on Core Christianity, on the core truths of the Christian faith that we really want to instill in our own hearts and also in the hearts of our children.

And so I said it yesterday when we were talking about this resource. There's really fewer better things you can do than memorize the Word of God together with your family this summer. And so make sure you get a hold of this resource, 10 verses to memorize as a family this summer. Just head over to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to download 10 verses to memorize as a family this summer.

And as you read through these passages, let us know how they're impacting your family. Here's the number to call if you want to ask for that resource by phone. It's 833-843-2673.

Again, 833, the core. Well, let's go to a voicemail that we received about an interesting topic, the Antichrist. Yes, sir, I was just wondering if you could explain some of the Antichrist and what's going on in the political world as far as these two presidents that were going up for election. Of course, Israel doesn't have a temple right now, because Jesus and the Father God is the living temple. That's funny.

Thank you very much. Yeah, no, I appreciate the question. I think it's not necessarily helpful to speculate about current world leaders. Is this person the Antichrist? Is that person the Antichrist? John, the apostle, said in 1 John chapter 4 that there are already many Antichrists in the world, and he was writing that thousands of years ago. The spirit of the Antichrist is already at work in the world today, and that spirit has been at work in the world since the days of the apostles. 1 John chapter 4, beginning in verse 1, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For 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. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. John, right there, is warning the church. He's saying, look, the spirit of the Antichrist is already working, moving in the world today.

You know what he's trying to do? He's trying to confuse you about who Jesus is. John says, you need to, we need to test the spirits. A lot of times people today think, so long as you're spiritual, it's great. Whatever you want to believe about God, that's fine. You have your own religion, you have your own beliefs, those work for you. I have my own beliefs, so long as you're sincere, so long as you care about spirituality, that's all that matters. Friends, that's not true.

John makes that absolutely clear. He says, look, not every spirit or spirituality out there in the world is going to help you. Some of them are going to destroy you. There are deceptive spirits. The spirit of the Antichrist that's at work in the world right now, and what he wants to do is he wants to confuse you about who Jesus is. There is no more important question that you could answer for yourself than, who do I say Jesus is?

If you get that wrong, that has eternal consequences. That's what the spirit of the Antichrist is trying to do, confuse people about the identity of Jesus, that he is the eternal son of God, as well as the work of Jesus, that he came into the world to deliver us from our sins, to save us from our sins by means of his atoning work and his resurrection from the dead. Now, although the spirit of the Antichrist has been at work in the world since the very beginning, since the days of the apostles, we are told in 2 Thessalonians 2 that there is going to come a sort of ultimate Antichrist, one figure who's going to be there right before the very end, right before the second coming of our Lord Jesus. This is what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2, beginning in verse 1.

Listen to this. Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed either by a spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, the Antichrist essentially, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. And so Paul says, look, we know by virtue of God's revelation to us as the apostles that there is coming a day where this false, wannabe Christ, if you will, comes, proclaiming himself to be God and even greater than God, taking a seat in the temple of God.

Now, I think that that's probably a reference to the church. You have this sort of great rebellion, this great apostasy that Paul talks about. He also mentioned it in 1 Timothy 4, verse 1, when he said, the spirit expressly says that in the latter day some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and the doctrines of demons.

And so you have this great rebellion, this great falling away, this great turning from Jesus and embracing false beliefs about Christ, about the word of God. And so the role of the Antichrist in the last days, in the end, is he's there right before the second coming of our Lord. And actually, Paul goes on to say there in 2 Thessalonians that he is going to be destroyed. It says in verse 8, 2 Thessalonians 2, 8, and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. And so he doesn't stand a chance against Jesus, but he's there in one sense as this figure trying to dethrone God, trying to deceive others, to point them away from Christ and from the Gospel. And so we have to be on guard and watchful against the spirit of the Antichrist. But more than anything, our eyes shouldn't be focused on certain political rulers to try to determine, is that person the Antichrist?

Is he the Antichrist or is she the Antichrist? Your eyes need to be fixed on the true Christ, on Jesus himself. And as you fix your eyes upon Jesus and his word in the Gospel, and you can be comforted in knowing that you're in a safe place, he's going to keep you. And so that's a great comfort that we have. And thank you for that question, brother.

I mean, obviously, one of those questions, people get really upset about, scared about even when they think about the Antichrist, but we as believers who are in Christ and kept by the true Christ have no reason to fear. Thanks so much for your question. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. We have some folks viewing us right now from Denmark on YouTube. Thanks for joining us.

You can watch us internationally on our YouTube channel. Here's a question that came in from Kristin via YouTube. She says, How do you respond to a Christian who expects unbelievers to ask them questions about Christ because they do not live like the world but are not always willing to initiate conversations?

Yeah. Well, you know, I think that sometimes we're talking here about evangelism, and certainly each one of us, we're all called to share our faith with others. And for some people, that comes really easily. For others, it's a lot more difficult.

We struggle, you know, to find the words, to know what to say. This is why, again, it's so important, Kristin, to know Scripture, to know what we believe and why we believe it. And Peter says something really interesting in 1 Peter 3 verse 15. He says, Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. And so Peter seems to assume that the way you live your life as a Christian, in the midst of a world that rejects you, that doesn't love you, the way you respond to evil, the way you respond to suffering, the way you respond to persecution, should cause people to look at you and to say, Oh, there's something different here. How is it that you're, or why is it that you're continuing to love these people who revile you, who persecute you? And that's what Peter says, because the church that he's, the people that he's writing to were experiencing persecution there in the first century. And that's where a believer is able to say, let me tell you about the hope that I have.

Let me tell you why I can remain hopeful, confident, even though I'm suffering in this way. And I think that is a great example for all of us. But we also have to be careful that we don't use that as an excuse to never initiate those kinds of conversations with people. Certainly our lives should reflect the love and goodness of Jesus, but we also pray that the Lord would give us opportunities to talk about the gospel, to share the gospel with the people that he's brought into our lives. And so I think that we do both. Our lives have to line up with what we teach and what we preach, what we share with others.

And hopefully through that, I mean, it's just the case. God uses that to reach others for his son, Jesus. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833, the core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.