Prophetic Interpretation Page 7: Anti-Christ Versus Antichrists

So just because some prophecies may indeed be fulfilled in part throughout history, it doesn’t mean that the ultimate fulfillment has happened.  Is that not what is implied in 1 John 2:18?  “Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.”  The idea behind this scripture is that many people will come along that will have similar characteristics to the Anti-Christ.  The US may show similarities to the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision, but we must be careful not to jump to the conclusions that it is the exact fulfillment of scripture.  The idea is that if someone is displaying characteristics of the Anti-Christ then it is safe to conclude that this person is acting like an antichrist.  If the US nation is doing things that are against Christ then it is safe to conclude that the nation as a whole is acting like an antichrist nation.  It may fulfill prophecy to some degree, but the ultimate fulfillment is yet to come.

How then can we be certain when the actual Anti-Christ, or the nation that will put him into power, has come?  What difference does it make?  Whether this man or that man is the actual Son of Perdition is not for us to judge.  Let us live our lives as we know to be right and true.  If a man is acting like an antichrist then let us not do things to elect that type of man into any kind of power.  Let us instead work to keep that man from power.  However, while doing so, let us be careful not to label him an antichrist or THE Anti-Christ.  Let us instead show love to the man, as Christ would show love to His enemies while they beat Him and hung Him on the cross.  Let us instead say nothing evil against him.  We might say that what he stands for is wrong.  We might say that what he is doing we don’t approve of, but let us be careful not to label him as the epitome of all evil.  In this way, if we show him love, would we not open the door to potentially save the man’s soul and draw him to repentance? 

For what if you are wrong!  What if you label a man an antichrist and evil but he is not?  If you call a man evil then he will become defensive towards you.  No man wants to be called evil.  He will think you are evil if you call him evil.  If you are wrong, you have lost all hope of winning that man’s soul for Christ.  However, if you do not label the man but show him love and respect, if he is not THE Anti-Christ, then you may win his soul for Jesus.  You may not, of course, win his soul for Christ, but should you decide beforehand that his soul is unsavable?  Is this not judging?  Likewise, let us be careful not to label people as evil and abominations or whole nations as nations of evil and abominations.