HOW Can the ANTICHRIST TRICK the Very ELECT ?

The first ancient trick foisted upon GOD’S people is recorded in Genesis: 

Yea, HATH GOD SAID . . . ?

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD GOD had made. And he said unto the woman, 

Yea, hath God said,

 

Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:1

The first line of attack

against GOD’S people

is to defraud them of the plain and clear Word of The LORD.

By the hand of certain scholars and translators,  THE SCRIPTURES themselves have been turned to undermine the historic Christian doctrine of the antiChrist. 

The historic doctrine of the antiChrist has been under attack by the Ecumenical movement for years, helped along --- either unwittingly or with the support of --- certain scholars translating The Scriptures. 

Thus, the doctrine of the Great IMPOSTER, the antiChrist, has come under both open and subtle attack at the hand of such translators as Westcott and Hort in the 1880’s. 

This doctrine of the antiChrist has also been undermined in the past few decades by the Nestle-Aland / United Bible Society scholars, Wycliffe’s Summer Institute of Linguistic scholars and teachers,  and the committees of scholars “renovating” the New Testament in our numerous modern versions. 

At the hands of these scholars --- from Westcott and Hort onward --- the antiChrist Scriptures have been changed to OMIT the concept of a FALSE CHRIST.

How did they do that ?  Simply by neglecting the FULLER meaning of “anti-” .

One of the meanings of anti-  is “instead of” or “ in the place of.”  That is not a RARE understanding of  anti-. The use of anti- is found in other Scriptures to mean “a replacement” or “instead of”, as in Luke 11:11, for instance.

  

If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

The GREEK is “anti iXthuos” ἀντὶ ἰχθύος,

for a fish or in place of a fish.

Another well-known passage which uses “anti-“ as a prefix meaning “substitution” or “in the place of” is found in 1 Timothy 2:6.  

Who+ gave HIMSELF+

a Ransom ( antiLutron, αντιλυτρον)

 for all, to be testified in due time.

1 Timothy 2:6 

However, modern translators have chosen to translate the antiChrist Scriptures to reflect anti- in a more limited sense, as simply one who opposes CHRIST JESUS. 

Historically, Christianity has proclaimed the antiChrist as a vicious REPLACEMENT for the real LORD JESUS CHRIST. 

Signs and wonders will be done by the antiChrist and his precursors in order to have the people of GOD run after someone OTHER than CHRIST JESUS, deceiving the very elect. 

The antiChrist will be a FALSE Christ, an IMPOSTER, a USURPER. He was known in other Scriptures as “the man of sin.”  This has always been the teaching of the Early Church apologists.

Here is the age-old teaching of Christian apologist IRENAEUS, 130-200 A.D., bishop of Lyons and associated with Polycarp. This excerpt  is taken from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, Irenaeus Against Heresies, (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers Inc., , 1995 2^nd Printing,) Book 5, chapter 25, section 1, page 553.

IRENAEUS - CHAPTER 25

 THE FRAUD, PRIDE, AND TYRANNICAL KINGDOM OF ANTICHRIST,

 AS DESCRIBED BY DANIEL AND PAUL

1. And not only by the particulars already mentioned, but also by means of the events which shall occur in the time of Antichrist is it shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious  to be adored  as  God;

And that, although a mere slave, he wishes himself to be proclaimed as a king.

For he (Antichrist) being endued with all the power of the devil, shall come, not as a righteous king, nor as a legitimate king, [i.e., one] in subjection to GOD, but an impious, unjust, and lawless one; as an apostate, iniquitous and murderous; as a robber, concentrating in himself [all] satanic apostasy,

and setting aside idols to persuade [men] that he himself is GOD, raising up himself as the ONLY idol, having in himself the multifarious errors of the other idols.

This he does, in order that they who do [now] worship the devil by means of many abominations, may serve himself by this one idol, of whom the apostle thus speaks in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians:

“Unless there shall come a falling away first, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called GOD, or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of GOD, showing himself as if he were GOD.”

The apostle therefore clearly points out his apostasy, and that he is lifted up  above all that is called God, or that is worshipped — that is, above every idol — for these are indeed so called by men, but are not [really] gods;and that he will endeavor in a tyrannical manner to set himself forth as GOD.

Most modern versions happily print that  ANTI-  means simply “ against” or “ in opposition to” CHRIST. That is most certainly TRUE as far as it goes . . . but it does not fully encompass the character of the antiChrist as an IMPOSTER, a FALSE CHRIST. 

Disregarding the Lexicons and Dictionaries which point out that another equally-good meaning of anti- is REPLACEMENT OR SUBSTITUTE, today’s modern versions ignore the ancient Christian definition of “antiChrist”.

HOW SERIOUS is this ?

Here’s an example of the SERIOUS DIFFERENCE in the use of anti- . 

At His+ Return, The LORD JESUS CHRIST is going to reveal His+ OPPOSITION to the antiChrist. In no way, however, will The LORD be a “replacement” or substitute for that man of sin.

It is true that the antiChrist WILL indeed oppose CHRIST JESUS . . . but not for long ! HE+ will slay him with the brightness of His+ Coming. . .

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom The LORD shall consume with the Spirit of His+ mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His+ coming:

2 Thessalonians 2:8

+  +  +

“Unless there shall come a falling away first,

and the man of sin shall be revealed, 

the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called GOD, 

or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of GOD, showing himself

as if he were GOD.”

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4

+  +  +

This is WHY Ecumenism is being pushed today. Ecumenism prefers the doctrine that there is no “man of sin” known as the antiChrist, an imposter. 

No, rather, there are simply those who OPPOSE the LORD JESUS CHRIST, according to Ecumenism.  Thus Ecumenism is setting up the Flock  to be devoured.

Thus, the Flock of GOD is unprepared to recognize the Wolf coming in sheep’s clothing, as a COUNTERFEIT.  Counterfeits are able to come into the Flock to devour it. The coming antiChrist is a COUNTERFEIT “Christ” , not just someone who is hostile to HIM+.

ECUMENISM  has been promoted heavily  by certain church leaders, including translators who met with and found favor with the Roman Catholic Pope of their eras.

Men like Westcott and Hort, Tischendorf,  Kurt Aland, William Cameron Townsend of Wycliffe Bible translators,  Eugene Nida of the American Bible Society, and Bruce Metzger of Princeton have all worked to produce New Testaments that would be approved by the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

Each one of these men have worked to make an “ecumenical” Bible that would be non-offensive and well-received by the Vatican, in the spirit of ecumenism.

Thus, the TRUE doctrine of the antiChrist has been muted in these modern, “ecumenical” New Testaments.

Various Popes have been presented with special edition “ecumenical” Bibles from these various translators.  

The Vatican, for its part, receives these “ecumenical” Bibles as a step of reconciliation between the Roman Catholics and the “Separated Brethren”, as they term non-Roman Catholic Christians. 

This information is well-documented.

See documentation for Bruce Metzger’s participation in the ecumenical Bibles, with two Popes, at http://textus-receptus.com/wiki/Bruce_Metzger .  

See also https://www.wayoflife.org/database/biblesocieties.html

  

See Chris Pinto of Adullam Films , the producer of the historical series called “A Lamp in the Dark.” There are 3 documentaries in this series; all are quite informative and substantiated by historical record

They are available on YouTube or at his website, CHRIS PINTO'S DOCUMENTARIES.

The third documentary in his series points out the Ecumenical "program" of the translators, "BRIDGE TO BABYLON" at   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukRCVDmiAts 

Unfortunately, Ecumenism is also being promoted by  antiChrist men, the precursors to the man of sin .  These precursors are purposely paving the way for the world to receive the “ONLY” IDOL, the antiChrist , lifting himself up to be worshipped as GOD.

       

The antiChrist is an IMPOSTER, as Scripture teaches.

Neglecting the ancient, traditional, Scripture-backed definition of “antiChrist” places the modern versions into DIRECT CONFLICT with the traditional Christian doctrine of the antiChrist established for 2,000 years.  

Additionally, today’s modern versions ignore the warnings in some of the earliest of the Early Christian apologists who wrote about the antiChrist. 

They refuse to bring their modern New Testaments into line with Ancient, Scriptural Christianity. 

Here is an excerpt from Hippolytus, 170-236 A.D., a disciple of Irenaeus and an over-seer ( bishop) in the Early Church.

HIPPOLYTUS

PART 2

DOGMATICAL AND HISTORICAL TREATISE

ON CHRIST AND ANTICHRIST

This excerpt  is taken from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5 , The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus, (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers Inc., , 1995 2^nd Printing,) page 206, chapters 5-6.

5. But as time now presses for the consideration of the question immediately in hand, and as what has been already said in the introduction with regard to the glory of God, may suffice, it is proper that we take the Holy Scriptures themselves in hand, and find out from them what, and of what manner, the coming of Antichrist is; on what occasion and at what time that impious one shall be revealed; and whence and from what tribe (he shall come); and what his name is, which is indicated by the number in the Scripture; and how he shall work error among the people, gathering them from the ends of the earth; and (how) he shall stir up tribulation and persecution against the saints; and how he shall glorify himself as God;

and what his end shall be; and how the sudden appearing of the Lord shall be revealed from heaven; and what the conflagration of the whole world shall be; and what the glorious and heavenly kingdom of the saints is to be, when they reign together with Christ; and what the punishment of the wicked by fire.

6. Now, as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied of under the figure of a lion, on account of His royalty and glory, in the same way have the Scriptures also aforetime spoken of Antichrist as a lion, on account of his tyranny and violence.

For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so Antichrist is also a lion; Christ is a king, so Antichrist is also a king. The Savior was manifested as a lamb; so he too, in like manner, will appear as a lamb, though within he is a wolf.

The Savior came into the World in the circumcision, and he will come in the same manner. The Lord sent apostles among all the nations, and he in like manner will send false apostles.

The Savior gathered together the sheep that were scattered abroad, and he in like manner will bring together a people that is scattered abroad. The Lord gave a seal to those who believed on Him, and he will give one like manner. The Savior appeared in the form of man, and he too will come in the form of a man.

The Savior raised up and showed His holy flesh like a temple,and he will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem.

In thus ignoring the historical doctrine of the antiChrist, the modern teachers, translators, and version committees FAIL to prepare the flock for the COUNTERFEIT CHRIST, the Great Deception. 

Is there any wonder that there will be a Great Falling Away ? Is there any wonder that even the VERY ELECT will be tricked ?

The LORD JESUS CHRIST warned us that it would happen. 

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible,

they shall deceive the very elect.

Matthew 24:24

For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

Mark 13:22

+  +  +