http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=30736

I thought Henry Kissinger was the antichrist.

http://ctpatriot1970.com/2014/08/30/henry-kissingers-plan-for-the-anti-christ-world-government-he-wants-us-dead-videos/

Seriously, you pretty much suck at picking them out for real. Here's a long list of wrong picks

http://www.raptureready.com/rr-antichrist.html

So I'm going with no he's not and I'll buy a membership for the first person that proves he is. That's a pretty safe bet.

None of this trying-to-predict-when-the-world-will-end stuff has anything to do with the Bible if we are to believe what Jesus, Paul, and Peter taught:



As to "The Antichrist", there are many antichrists, and they've been around for a long, long time:



An antichrist is simply what John said it is, one who denies the Father and the Son. As John said, such men were in the world even in his own day. As we can see by taking a look over at GD, such men still abound in our day.

So I guess my question when this sort of question gets asked is, why all the concern about when Christ returns and the world ends? Why do people put so much thought and effort into trying to figure out what Jesus Himself told us we cannot know? Seems like a better use of that time and effort would simply be listening to what God has to say through His inspired word, the Bible. For those of us who are in Christ, the end of the world really isn't that big of a deal.

When reading the Bible, it's all about context, context, context.
You are very mistaken if you think those verses mean you can't or shouldn't try to figure out when the second coming will be.
All of Matt 24 is Jesus answering the question of “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
To say it is unknowable is mistaken.
In context,
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

So, the world didn't know when the flood would be, but Noah and his family most certainly did.
If you read the book of Daniel, you will see Daniel begging to know when the events described to him would happen.
Daniel 12
8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?”

9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.


1 Thess 5
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

As to your questions
So I guess my question when this sort of question gets asked is, why all the concern about when Christ returns and the world ends? Why do people put so much thought and effort into trying to figure out what Jesus Himself told us we cannot know? Seems like a better use of that time and effort would simply be listening to what God has to say through His inspired word, the Bible. For those of us who are in Christ, the end of the world really isn't that big of a deal.

You need to reread matt 24. Jesus specifically addressed people like you.
"For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand."


Jesus didn't say we can't know when he was returning, he said no one knows the day. He said it in the present tense no one knows, he didn't exclude people from knowing in the future. If he had, his statements about watching for the signs would be silly.

What I have always found  interesting is that satan doesn't know when the end is gonna play out.  So there has to always be an antichrist  here on earth ready to step in and fill the role as THE antichrist.

Ha! That's an excellent point!

Wat?

The Greek verb here translated to "know" is oiden, which is in the indicative perfect tense.

It indicates a present and ongoing reality.

Greek.  It matters.

Again, you are cutting one word out of context.
The context of the passage is that no one has seen it yet, so you need to get prepared and try to perceive the time of the coming.
Look at his examples.
Noah,
100 + years building the ark, Months stocking it, God brings all the animals to him. He knew the day to enter the Ark, because he prepared and could see the signs.
The rest of humanity though, they didn't perceive or prepare and were taken by surprise.
The master of the house, had he been watchful, would have stopped the thief, but he wasn't so he was robbed.

Consider some of the other prophecy in the Bible.
Jeremiah was told exactly 70 years of captivity. Daniel knew the exact year the captivity would end and approached Cyrus about it.
Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy revealed to the day the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. That's why Jesus wept over the city and said"
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Do I know the day or the hour? No ,I absolutely do not. I make no claims to.
Nevertheless, we have been commanded to prepare and watch for the signs given to us.
If we fail to do that or think he is delaying, then we run the risk of ending up like those outside the Ark or the master of the house, robbed of what belonged to him.

No, I'm not missing the context, you made a patently false claim and I'm bringing facts into the discussion.

Now you're plugging in assumptions to make the text say something in clearly doesn't.

How did Noah know about the coming flood?  Special revelation - God told him.
How did Jeremiah know about the 70 years?  Special revelation - God told him.
How did Jesus know that he was fulfilling Daniel's prophecy?  He was God.

Jesus makes it clear, God has not made knowledge of when the end will come public knowledge.  Therefore no one will ever know before hand.

So how does one prepare for "the thief coming in the night"?  By having a current active faith in Christ right now, that way when He comes, you're ready.

The idea that there's some special knowledge out there for people who are just smart enough to figure it out is very Gnostic in nature.

Thank you for proving my point.
God showed all of those men beforehand when the prophesied event would be happening.
Why would you think he wouldn't do the same for those who will be there at the end of the age? Considering the the chapter we are discussing is all about the questions "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
I'm not claiming some super secret squirrel knowledge, like the Gnostic's. I'm saying read the Bible and see what info God gave us to go by.

Because he said so.

The disciples asked to know when the end would come, jesus said only God knows, you just be ready.

Since I converted to Orthodoxy I had forgotten about Protestants trying to uncover the secret of the "end times".  I don't understand why this is so complicated.  Jesus said no one knows and he even said that when someone says Christ is in the desert NOT to go looking, because it would not be Him.

I think Protestants have mangled the Revelation of John and have taken centuries of tradition and understanding of the letter to such a level.

What I question, now, is if you believe in the rapture then why are you even worried about all this?  You won't be here to experience it, anyway.  

Just for clarification, I'm being sarcastic, because I do not believe in the man-made illusion of the rapture.

Glad to see a like minded person here.  There are a lot of verses people assume are talking about a rapture that need to be reread.  And it's not an interpretation thing...they just need to be read.

People tend to get way to wrapped up in the idea of antichrist's possible meaning of "the opposite of Christ" i.e. some Damien-like figure of suprement evil.  

Antichrist can also mean "in lieu of", and given the state of the world, this is far more likely - a person, people, or things that take the place of Christ in people's lives.  A failure to obey the first commandment.

The world has been doing that for centuries, although it has admittedly gone off the damned cliff more recently...

No man knows the hour or the day, but we can know the season.  There are remarkably few items left on the prophetic "calendar" prior to the Tribulation, these must be fulfilled first.  Jesus listed other signs, some of which you quoted above.  I believe the final sign (before the Tribulation) will be the Rapture, and for many it will be too late.  Time for them to live through the Tribulation and hopefully understand what they missed.

Sort of a hijack...but please tell me why you think there will be a rapture prior to the tribulation....I do not see that in the Bible.  In fact that is a modern idea....as in the last 100 or so years.  I'm not saying you are wrong, just want to see where you get this.

Uhboy! Now you went and did it!






BTW, you're right. The Rapture is not Scriptural, at least not the pre-Tribulation rapture so accepted by many Evangelicals...

A few years ago I know some people that were saying Javier Solana was the antichrist. They said the end times had something to do with him and the EU.

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This is in front of a EU office. Supposedly the beast and harlot.



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This is a coin allegedly minted by the EU for Greece.

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Apparently I suck at posting pics.

I agree with KD5TXX and ZAPHOD, there is no scriptural basis for the "rapture".  If I remember correctly, where the word "rapture" is used it was referring to the resurrection.  

I bought into that whole "rapture" thing when I was a Protestant.  Then when I found out a little girl with a fever was hallucinating and a preacher wrote down her babble and the fact no one believed that until then...I had to let go of it and realize we are supposed to prepare ourselves and be ready.

http://www.gotquestions.org/antichrist.html

At least that is logical.  Everyone has tried to identify him.  I'm guessing the point is what difference does it make, because he will be identifiable, without a doubt and since it is prophecy then there is nothing we can do to stop it.  Soooo, I guess we best spend our time preparing our own house and be prepared for this.

Satan is not present on earth defacto, only his evil spirit, just as God isn't present buy the Holy Spirit is, the comforter. Satan will be kicked out of heaven when the 6th trump sounds and I can promise you one thing. Nobody will have to ask "is this the anti christ",  everyone will be believing he is the true Jesus and he is going to lead many into this false belief. This isn't my idea it is exactly what the Word of God says. Read Matt. 24

When I was in 9th or 10th grade my youth pastor told us that those of us in high school would never graduate because The Lord would return first.  Well, He didn't.  It was a scare tactic to get kids to the altar call.  

Whenever someone talks to me about the bad guy dujour being the Antichrist (Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, Benny Hinn, Obama) I always ask this.  Every single generation of Christians have thought they we the last one, they were all wrong.  What makes you right?  What if Christ doesn't return for 10000 more years?  

No one has answered me with anything better than calling me an apostate.

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 - 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death."  21 You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?"  22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

When someone makes some spectacular claim about the end times, I quote this passage and ask them, when they're proven wrong, can I beat them to death with a rock?

No takers thus far.

Ha ha ha, this is some great stuff.  Let us know if you ever do get a taker, LMBO!!

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows,,.......
I recently learned That happens on the Hebrew calender once a month as it is a lunar calender and when there is no moon no one knows the day or hour...
Just saying

Excellent points. Hmmm... a political figure with global religious authority of an organization which has existed in some form or another over several millenia,  who claims to perform his duties "in lieu of" Christ.

Curious description indeed.

So, are the letter to the churches in Rev. 2-3 both actual churches of the time and a prophetic chronology of the church age?

I think so. Without any doubt, one of the best presentations on the 7 churches is a 10 hour exposition (.mp3 format) by Dr. Walter Bramson. He'll throw in some bad jokes and dry puns just to make sure you're paying attention. In addition to being written to churches that existed in what is now Turkey, and prophetic time line of church history, the 7 letters seem to correspond to the 7 Kingdom parables.

One church gets a predictable lambasting by Jesus: the seeker-friendly churches of Laodicea. One devastating prophecy that may surprise many is what is written about the church of Sardis which corresponds to protestant/denominational churches.

Ephesus
Smryna
Pergamus 1 of 2
Pergamus 2 of 2
Thyatira 1 of 2
Thyatira 2 of 2
Sardis 1 of 2
Sardis 2 of 2
Philadelphia
Laodicea

Listened to Sardis; he's pretty good. I take it he's from Calvary Chapel with his references to Costa Mesa.



 

Not that others here don't have good and interesting things to say, but I find kd5txx's observation here the most profound and Biblical of all in that we are flatout told we don't know and we are flatout told to be ready.

The devil, as always, takes the teachings of God and twist them to his use; thus the devil doesn't know the time and the devil must therefore always be "ready".

It doesn't matter who the antichrist is.

He's going to fail.

None can stand against God Almighty. The Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end.

I take comfort in that.