I want to post this, because I see many posts saying this is the antichrist here or there, i.e. the new pope, etc. especially if their name adds up to 666 in numeric terms.
The spirit of the antichrist has been around ever since Jesus resurrected. How do we know this? John tells us.
1 John 2:18, “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”
1 John 2:22, “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.”
1 John 4:3, “but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”
2 John 1:7, “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
And in Revelation, the one most quoted… Rev 13:18, ” This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[e] That number is 666.” The “E” here says the word man can also mean “humanity’s number” or the number of man, not a man. 7 is God’s number, and 666 can also mean as close as you can get to God, but falling short.
The point I am making here is this, anyone can have the spirit of the antichrist. If they authorize (want) it, it will live in them. They will do his bidding, and they think it is their own bidding because he is the great deceiver. He gets souls to work for Him and they don’t realize it, they don;t see the evil they are doing. Either way they don’t have Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or God in them, and they blaspheme even if its covert or overt. They do not declare him as Lord, and they in fact deny him. Even John knew that spirit was around him at times, in people, back then, and there have been plenty of lives with the antichrist in them, famkus and not famous, over the centuries since, Hitler, etc. So to say the new pope is THE one and only foretold antichrist, is simply inaccurate. He may very well have that spirit of the antichrist in him, only God knows the heart of a life. Jesus said, out of the heart, the mouth speaks. We will watch his words/actions and discern his spirit. If he continues the global view of Francis who preceded him, then we know he is not of God, but does have the spirit of the antichrist. The prophecy of Fatima was clearly playing true with Francis for he promoted many ideas and lifestyles that are clearly not scriptural and Godly, clearly apostasies and perversions. Jesus said “I am the sheep gate”, the one way to the Father. Francis promoted all religions as being true, therefore making what Jesus said not true. Francis held that all Catholic parishioners should worship the church, and not Jesus. He said “it was dangerous for a person to have a direct relationship with Jesus”. He said and held many other views that are not Gospel, and assumed that he could make a law that would supersede the laws of God. Is anything else needed to conclude the apostasy that was foretold? No I say, no indeed.
Then there is Matthew 24: 15, “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation…” Many historians say that may well have already happened in 70 AD when Jerusalem was sacked. There was the city of Pella that they all escaped to. They did flee in haste, and did not look back like Lot’s wife. I suggest here that everyday Catholics flee the Catholic church in the same manner. When the Vatican bank cannot pay its bills, and the pews are empty, the voice of God will be heard, and their wronging will be on display for all to see. More than that, when it falls, and the archives are investigated, and published, so much more wrong doing will be exposed that it will be painful for Catholics to admit being a part of at one time, and eternally glad they left when they did.
Final word on this is this, we all have enough work and effort and focus on our hands to walk the life Jesus asks to walk, and we should focus all our prayers on that, pleasing the Father with who we are and what we do and think. Prophesy can be a big distraction. Some say it should strengthen our faith, but they are the click baiters and the “hopiums”, always looking for the exciting, the horrible, the breaking news adrenaline pumps. When we should constantly be in prayer, seeking His peace in us, loving Him and others. Leave the prophesy fulfillment to Him, for you can do nothing about it, and you are not qualified to even guess at it, yes even you the scholar that thinks he knows the bible inside and out. To them I say, how many times have you honestly tried to predict a date by which something would happen, and even say it, and it doesn’t happen that way. And yet, you forget that post, and post another prediction more spectacular, just to have your voice heard, just to serve and feed your hungry pride.
Matthew 24: 24, “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. True prophets are appointed by God alone. Don’t try to be one. God will let you know if He needs you for that purpose and service to Him, until then remain silent. Pray, surrender all, be humble, take the seat in the back, until He calls you forward.
