Transcript of a published teaching by David K. Bernard, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
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Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
The composite picture: one figure under several names
- The question: the Bible offers descriptions of this person in several passages, under several names — so what does the Bible actually say about the person we call the Antichrist? His answer: there are references in the Book of Revelation, in 2 Thessalonians, and also some references in Daniel; put them all together and it seems there is an evil ruler who will exalt himself, who will claim to be God or the Messiah, who will set himself up as a false Messiah. Jesus prophesied about this in the olette discourse, as the captions hear the name.
- Under the different names: in 2 Thessalonians he's called the man of sin, the son of perdition (heard 'predition'), the Lawless one; in the Book of Revelation he's called the beast. He's never called the Antichrist in those passages — but the apostle's first letter talks about a spirit of antichrist, already at work in his day, to be manifest in the last times. People picked up that term because it does seem to pretty accurately represent him: a man who will actually be a false Christ, who will oppose himself to the true Christ, who will offer himself as the solution. That term has become the most popular.
Scriptures: Revelation; 2 Thessalonians; Daniel; 1 John
Read as future prophecy: his system, and his end
- If you take all these passages together as future prophecy — reading the Book of Revelation, although highly symbolic, as symbolic descriptions of real events that are going to happen, basically future, basically chronological — you get this picture: in the end an evil ruler will rise who will try to control the world. He won't be fully successful, but he will start implementing his power: economic power and religious power. He'll try to set up an economic system the whole world will have to follow, and a religious system where the whole world will worship him. He will have a false prophet able to do a certain amount of miracles, no doubt by the power of Satan, and he will be in the process of consolidating his power.
- But when Jesus Christ comes back to earth with his saints, he defeats the Antichrist and his armies at the battle heard as 'armadon' — then the millennial kingdom, the last judgment, and eternity are ushered in. So the Antichrist appears, under various names and guises, to be an evil ruler — and many believe he will be possessed by Satan, because it is really the devil opposing God. He will set himself up as a false Messiah, a false Christ in opposition to the true Jesus Christ, trying to get worship to himself instead of to Jesus, and to establish his reign on this world and control it for his own evil purposes.
Scriptures: Revelation 19
The timing debate — and the main point regardless
- When the rapture of the church — the catching away of the saints, to use the more biblical phrase — will happen is a debate for another podcast, which they've had. Probably most think it will occur before that time; some think the church will go through part of the time when the Antichrist is operating, which is called the tribulation; others believe at the end. In any case, the main point is this: Jesus Christ will come back, defeat the Antichrist, and establish his kingdom on the earth.
Signs to watch for — and why guessing names is a mistake
- The host asks what the signs of that person will be — not guessing who the Antichrist is going to be, but what should we be on the lookout for. His answer: it's a mistake to try to guess. People have tried throughout history — back in the early 20th century, the dictator rising in Rome itself seemed to fit ('Bonito musolini', as the captions hear the name); then the dictator who actually had a plan much as described — he tried to kill all the Jews, and he tried to control the world; later, communism, and leaders such as Stalin. Ultimately none of them turned out to be the one — though maybe you could see them as forerunners, or prefiguring it.
- The profile instead: probably a charismatic person, who can attract a lot of acclaim, and he won't be perceived as evil. Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light; they'll say peace, peace, and there will be sudden destruction. So he'll probably come as a deceptive figure: seen as an enlightened ruler, a wise ruler, bringing peace and prosperity, very likable, very charismatic. But it will be by the power of Satan — a discerning person will be able to discern the false spirit behind it and see the evil intention: underneath that peaceful surface, a ruthless desire to control the world. Even an unsaved person with discernment should be able to discern that underlying desire for power, ruthlessness, deceit. And then when he starts doing things like trying to make peace with Israel, then reestablishing the temple, and ultimately trying to demand worship in the temple — if it wasn't revealed before, his true intentions would be revealed at that time. Any attempt by a world leader to gain control of the economy and of the religious system: those are warning signs.
Might he be alive today?
- Asked whether the Antichrist might be alive today, or whether that's baseless speculation: it's possible. If we really believe the coming of the Lord is soon, if we believe the events of Revelation could happen in our lifetime — yes. The Antichrist may not be a public figure at this point; he could be a child, or a young person, or someone working in obscurity. We've seen other people rise to prominence almost overnight.
- And the culture itself is conducive to it: we live in a media-saturated culture where someone can become a media celebrity not for anything accomplished substantively — very popular figures can seem to be almost media creations, with no real accomplishments, who check the boxes of what the media wants: eloquent of speech, charismatic in personality, fitting a profile popular culture is wanting. It's more like choosing an image rather than the person; people may not even know what their underlying philosophy is, but a media campaign can make them popular overnight. He's not identifying any individual — he's saying we are now in a culture where we could wake up tomorrow, or in a few days or weeks, and this person nobody really knew, who hasn't even done anything, is now the most popular person in the world. The culture is conducive not only to the gradual but maybe even to the sudden emergence of a figure who could become the Antichrist.
Scripture index: Revelation; 2 Thessalonians; Daniel; 1 John; Revelation 19.
Transcript
well as you mentioned there there are references in the Book of Revelation in 2 Thessalonians there also some references in Daniel when you put them all together it seems there is an evil ruler who will exalt himself who will claim to be God or Andor the Messiah who will set himself up as a false Messiah Jesus prophesied about this in the olette discourse um and and so you find in 2 Thessalonians he's called the man of sin the son of predition the Lawless one in the Book of Revelation he's called the beast he's never called the Antichrist in those passages but uh first John talks about a spirit of antichrist which was already at work in his day but would be manifest in the last times and so people picked up that term because it does seem to pretty accurately represent here is a man who will actually be a false Christ who will oppose himself to the true Christ who will offer himself as solution and so that term has become the most popular now if you take all these passages together and you basically look at them as future prophecy and you look at the Book of Revelation although it's highly symbolic you you uh if you interpret these as true events that are really going to happen in other words not just very symbolic descriptions of spiritual warfare but symbolic descriptions of real events that are going to happen in the future so if you read the book of Revelation like that basically future basically chronological uh the symbolism representing true people and true events that are going to take place then you come up with a picture that in the end there'll rise this evil ruler who will try to control the world he won't be fully successful but he will start implementing his power and you see economic power and religious power so he'll try to set up an economic system that the whole world will have to follow him and he'll try to set up a religious system where the whole world will worship him and so he will have a false prophet who is able to do certain amount of Miracles no doubt by the power of Satan and he will be in the process of consolidating his power of course in Revelation 19 when Jesus Christ comes back to Earth with his Saints defeats the Antichrist and his armies at the Battle of armadon and then will be the last judgment the millennial Kingdom and then eternity uh will Usher well I guess the millennial Kingdom the last judgment and Eternity will Usher in from that so to answer your question the Antichrist appears to be under various names and guises an evil ruler um and many believe he might he will be possessed by Satan because it's really the devil opposing God but he will try to be to set himself up as a false Messiah false Christ in opposition to the true Jesus Christ and he will will try to get worship to him instead of to Jesus Christ he will try to establish his Reign on this world and control it for his own evil purposes and so that's what's coming up uh now of course it's a debate for another podcast which I think we've had is when will the Rapture of the church happen and probably most of us think the Rapture of the church or catching way of the Saints if you want to use the more biblical phrase will occur before that time some think the church will go through part of that that time where the Antichrist is operating which time we call the tribulation others believe at the end but in any case the main point is this Jesus Christ will come back and defeat the Antichrist and establish his kingdom on the earth so
I think it's a mistake to try to guess because people tried throughout history you know if you go back to the early 20th century um Bonito musolini rising in Rome itself which seemed to fit Revelation he became a dictator uh Adolf Hitler actually had a plan much as we've described and he tried to kill all the Jews and he tried to control the world uh then later communism you you have Stalin you have other leaders so different people ultimately none of them turned out to be the one but maybe you could see them as forerunners or prefiguring it so I think it is going to be probably um a charismatic person that is a person who can attract a lot of a claim and you know he won't be perceived as evil the Bible talks about Satan himself is transformed to an angel of Light and they'll say peace peace and there'll be sudden destruction so he'll come with probably to a sinner uh who doesn't know scripture who's not serving the lord he'll be very deceptive he'll be seen as an enlightened ruler a wise ruler he's going to BR pre peace and prosperity he's going to be very likable very charismatic but I think the signs will be it will be by the power of Satan so uh I I guess a Discerning person will be able to discern the the false Spirit behind it and maybe see the evil intention because underneath that peaceful surface is a ruthless desire to control the world and I'm even even an unsaved person with discernment should be able to discern that underlying desire for power ruthlessness deceit um and then when he starts doing things like trying to make peace with Israel but then coming over there reestablish lishing um the temple and then ultimately trying to demand Worship in the temple obviously if it wasn't revealed before that time it reveal his true intentions would be re revealed at that time but any attempt by a world leader to gain control of the economy to gain control of the religious system that those would be warning signs and it does seem like at times we've had leaders as you mentioned a few that have leaned in that direction it seemed like
you know it's possible I mean if we really believe the coming of Lord is soon if we really believe that the events of Revelation could happen in our lifetime then yes I mean the Antichrist may not be a public figure at this point but it could be a child or a young person or someone working in obscurity we've seen other people rise to prominence almost overnight and uh again I don't NE want to name names but we've seen very popular figures that seem to be almost media Creations so they don't have a lot of accomplishments but they have they check the boxes of what the media wants and maybe they're eloquent of speech or maybe they are charismatic in personality or maybe they fit a profile of what uh the media or popular culture is wanting and so it's more like you're choosing an image rather than than the person well that whole culture we're in a media saturated culture where literally someone can become a media celebrity not for anything they've accomplished substantively and people may not even know what their underlying philosophy is but because of a media campaign they can become popular overnight well I'm not identifying any individual that could fit I'm just saying we are now in a culture where literally we could wake up tomorrow or in a few days or few weeks and this person that nobody really knew that not even done anything is now the most popular person in the world I mean that's the culture we live in so yes I think it's very conducive to the not only the gradual but maybe even the sudden emergence of a figure who could become the Antichrist
Scripture references as spoken: Revelation; 2 Thessalonians; Daniel; 1 John; Revelation 19.