guises of the Deceiver

The Word for today:
Psalms 52, 53, 54

mark this: Psalm 53:1 --
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity.


Psalms 52 through 55 contain shadowy references to the Antichrist, a person (1) who will appear and deceive the nations in the days just before the return of Jesus. This person will lie to the people about God and about Christ--exactly as Satan, appearing as a serpent, lied about God to Eve in the Garden of Eden. Satan's lies and deceiving schemes have never changed.

Through God's Word in the Old Testament, we knew a great deal about Christ before He appeared in person. Just so, the spirit of antichrist, now abroad in the world, is proclaiming Antichrist's doctrine prior to his actual appearance. His word and works are already on display, for all to see.

The spirit of antichrist (2) is just what it sounds like--a pervasive force opposed to Jesus Christ. Persistent and powerful voices in media, government, education, commerce, religion, so-called science, philosophy, law, and the arts are wed in conspiracy to deny God:
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity. (Psalm 53:1)

He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. (1 John 2:22)

We will consider more about this matter when we look at Psalm 55 tomorrow. In the meantime, the Bible student should familiarize himself with the following references from 1 and 2 John. The upper and lower case instances of 'A(a)ntichrist' should be visually noted:

(a) Antichrist, the person, has not yet appeared. He is denoted with the upper-case 'Antichrist' in 1 John 2:18.

(b) The spirit of antichrist, now in the world, is denoted with the lower-case 'antichrist' in 1 John 2:18, 4:3 and 2 John 1:7.

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