The Last Days and the Antichrist

Praise God, Church. We're going to be starting our service, and this is our first time here, so we're still figuring things out. Before we start, I just want to say thank you to everyone who put your time. Your finances, your help, to remodel the the building outside, to to clean all this up, to set everything up. We had this put on our heart. I'd say maybe three, four months ago, and it came to be. And thank you, Church, for all your help. And those who are watching us online, I know a lot of people came to help. I want to say thank. You, from the bottom of my heart, that today we can gather here and praise our God because He is worthy. It says in Psalm 9: I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart. I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You. I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. And friends, over here, King David, he's saying these powerful words: "I will praise you, O Lord, with my whole heart." And maybe today, we came with a happy heart. Maybe today, we came with a sad heart. But the Lord wants to be praised this morning. May we give him that praise? He's looking to be praised, and not just through words. Worship, but through our life and friends we have gathered here together to learn. Lord, how can we praise you? How can we love you? How can we serve you? How can we follow you? And that is what the church is for—to teach us and to help us when we are down. When we are down, and friends, let's all stand up. We're gonna pray. And during the worship, let's praise His name with our whole heart. Lord God, we thank you, Lord Jesus, for this beautiful morning that you have blessed us with. God, we praise you, Lord. We praise you, and we give you all glory and honor, Lord Jesus. This is your house, Lord God. Lord, may you cleanse our hearts, Lord God. Lord, you see each heart here this morning, God. Maybe some people came with a a joyful heart. Maybe some people came with a sad heart, Lord God. But I pray touch each heart, touch. Touch each heart, Lord God, and may we praise you this morning because you are worthy, God. You are Creator. You created this whole thing for us. You created this whole universe for us, Lord God. And we're gonna praise you this morning in Jesus' name, Amen. And all together, we'll be singing, "I worship you, Almighty God." I worship you, Almighty God. There is none like you. I worship you, O Prince of Peace. That is what I long to do. I give You praise, for You are my righteousness. I worship You, Almighty God. There is none like You. I worship you, O mighty God. There is none like you. I worship you, O Prince of peace. That is what I long to do. I give you praise, for you are my righteousness. I worship You, Almighty God. There is none like You. I worship You, Almighty God. There is none like You. I worship you, O Prince of Peace. That is what I long to do. I give you praise, for you are my righteousness. I worship you, Almighty God. There is none like you. And for our second song. Be singing, shine, Jesus, shine, Lord, the light of your love is shining in the midst of the darkness. Shining, Jesus, light of the world, shine upon us. Set us free by the truth. You know, bring us shine on me, shine on me, shine, Jesus, shine. Fill this land with the Father's glory. Place, spirit, place. Set our hearts on fire. Flow, river, flow. Flood the nations with grace and mercy. Send forth the word. Lord, and let there be light. Lord, I come to Your awesome presence, from the shadows into Your radiance. Find the blood, I may enter Your brightness. Search me, try me, consume all my darkness. Shine on me. Shine on me, shine, Jesus, shine. Fill this land with the Father's glory. Bless, be, replace. Set our hearts on fire. Flowers, river, flow. Flood the nations with grace and mercy. Send forth your word, Lord, and let there be light. As we gaze on your kingly brightness, so our faces display your likeness, ever changing from glory to glory. Mirror, hear, let our lives tell your story. Shine on me, shine on me, shine, Jesus, shine. Fill this land with the Father's glory. Bless, Spirit, bless, set our hearts on fire. Flow, river flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy. Send forth the word, Lord, and let there be light. Praise God. Okay, we're going to call up our Sunday school students and our Sunday school teacher. We're going to pray for them. So this this next two weeks, we're doing our podcast series on the last days. Is the service is a bit different for those who are new. We usually want to give the most we can to our speakers. And therefore, everything else, kind of, we move to the weeks after that. But Sunday school has started this week, and we're going to pray for our kids. So the kids and the teachers can come up, please, and we'll pray for you guys while they're coming up. We're going. I'm going to read from Ezra chapter seven, verse ten. For Ezra. Had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. Over here we see this man Ezra, and it says that he had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord. So first of, Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord. He was a student. In the beginning, but look at this, and then it says, "and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel." Like I said multiple times, the best teachers are also the best students. The best teachers are the ones who continue to learn, and then they are passing it down to teach. And so, my wish is that for these. Students, one day become those teachers that also teach the Bible, and we're gonna also pray for the teacher that whatever comes out of her mouth may it be a blessing to the kids when they hear it. So let's all stand up and pray for them. Lord God, we thank you, Lord, that you brought these kids, Lord, this morning to us, Lord, and we just pray for blessing upon. Upon them, Lord, we pray for God. Blessing upon the kids and upon the teacher, Lord God. May the power of the Holy Spirit guide them, guide them, and teach them Your statutes, Lord, and how to love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, Lord God. May You bless them that the word that's going to be taught may enter into their hearts and produce good fruit and a good seed, Lord. That one day these students also will become teachers like Ezra, Lord God. May Your name be praised and glorified. In Jesus' name, Amen. And while we're taking our seats, we're going to set the stage, so you guys can take your seats. We're gonna set the stage. Gentlemen, can can you guys please help? And while they're setting the stage, let's open up to to the Book of Revelation, chapter twelve. The Holy Spirit. Chapter twelve, and we're gonna do chapter twelve and thirteen. So while they're setting the stage, if you guys need a Bible, there's Bibles there. We can maybe bring them to you if you raise your hand. But while that's happening, we're going to be setting the stage. The stage is here. Breeze, it's it's a series on the last days, and we would like to have our guest speakers to come up, please. She cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. Have our guest speakers to come up, please. Sorry, this this stage is smaller than I thought. There's a lot going on. We'll figure something out. We'll figure something out, Church. Yes. Okay. We'll get some waters. So is okay. Here's mics for everyone. So you guys can introduce yourselves. Introduce yourselves from from left to right. Okay. Well, I hope everyone knows me. So I'm Henry Babichenko. Yeah, I guess that's the Henry Babichenko, actually. So, but mostly we we know each other. Yeah, my name is Ben Bibikov. This is my first time being at this Sunday morning service. But you know, I'm a preacher in our church and sing in choir and do other things and and so. I'm here to participate with our brothers in this discussion, and hopefully that this discussion will be something that will benefit all of us, including myself, because it is a question that that we're going to discuss today is very difficult question for all of us. But hopefully, with the help of the Lord, we can you know grasp this a little bit better together. I think a lot of you guys know me too. I'm Bladjarits. My main ministry here is an usher, and then sometimes I help out with the word. And today I was invited to join this panel. Usher and teaching, yes, that's the main ministry. Usher and teacher. So, is everybody open to the Book of Revelation? That's the last book in the Bible, and we're going to be reading from chapter 12. But we're going to have an audio Bible read for us. It was a little bit funner than me reading it. So please turn on Revelation chapter twelve to start off our topic. Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labour and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them from heaven. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born. She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and his throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days. And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail. Nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent the old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth. And his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. Now, when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nursed for a time, and times, and half a time, in the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw. Was like a leopard. His feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marvelled and followed the beast. So they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast. Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity. He who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast. Whose deadly wound was healed? He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand. Or on their foreheads that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six, six, six. Okay, so we just read Revelation, or we just heard Revelation chapter. After 12 and 13 to set the stage for our topic, and our our topic for the next two weeks is the last days AI 666 and the Antichrist, and we know that over here the beast is also his number is 666, so we'll be talking about that as well. There's there's a lot of different beliefs and. There's the pre-tribulation, post-tribulation beliefs, and there's a lot of things going around where the they say that Christ's bride, the Church, it is not going to be in the tribulation, meaning that in the hardships that are facing the whole earth, which is from Revelation chapter six all the way to the last chapter of Revelation. So my question to to our guests, and maybe we'll start with our senior pastor Henry. Is the church going to be during the hardships that are facing the entire earth, or is it going to skip out? Well, as the way we understand and in teaching is that George will be here during the tribulation. Like Pastor Tim said, that there's a different understanding, understanding of trib. Pre-tribulation rapture, mid-tribulation rapture, and post-tribulation rapture. But the main question between most commentators is: it the pre-tribulation rapture or post-tribulation? So we believe that church will be rapture, post-tribulation. Therefore, church will stay during the tribulation here on earth. And the scripture that very, I would say. Openly talks about it. Where Apostle Paul talking to Second Corinth, Second Thessalonians, chapter two, and he starting like this. Now we request you, brothers, with regard the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him. So now he's talking about tribal rupture. That you not be quickly shaken from your composure, or be disturbed either by spirit or a message. And then he goes on: Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lovelessness is revealed, the son of destruction. So, now he's right into your church. Do not think that a rapture comes before a lawlessness, or the man of destruction will come. So we know the man of destruction is Antichrist. And then he explains that the Jesus Jesus Christ comes after the Antichrist will come to this earth. What are Your thoughts, Ben? Do you do you agree? Well, basically, you know, the position in our church, and it is a classical, traditional position, that you know, churches for for all the ages, they they taught the same thing: is that it's going to be a post-tribulation period. And the reason is, is when we we just read apostles, their letters in general. If we just look at this topic generally, each church in each period they went through their own tribulation. And some of the, you know, some of those periods were very severe, but the church had to go through those tribulation periods. So, the question, I guess, for the modern churches that believe in the pre-tribulation is what makes us special that we would escape this period. What makes us special? And there's nothing in the Bible that we find that would say, "Well, what makes us special is that we are so holy and that we are so that we don't need any cleansing." Because tribulation is a period of sort of a cleansing. It is a period of a test that the church has to go through. And each, like I said, each period, each age, the church went through those days. And and the last in the last days, which the Bible says the Lord the day of the Lord, you know the the church will have to go through that period. And when Apostle Paul writes to Thessalonians, as Pastor Henry says, the pivotal scriptures that that that day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed. That's man of sin here. It's talking about the Antichrist. There are other terms the Scripture uses for Antichrist. It is the man of lawlessness, the son of perdition. Are other names for Antichrist, and obviously the Scripture also talks about the spirit of Antichrist, but it also talks about this person that will come at the end of the age, Antichrist. And so, the tribulation cannot happen before that. And people who pre- who teach pre-tribulation, they they essentially teach secret tribulation. That that's another thing we have to understand. Yes, a secret rapture is is what I mean. That's what they teach. It's that's it's it's supposed to happen in secret. It's going to happen. Nobody's going to notice it, and then like the life will move on. And the only people that will enter tribulation, according to to those. Teachers, is that it's going to apply only to Israel, not the church? But when we see Apostle Paul writing to Thessalonians, he's he's writing to a Gentile church. He's not writing to to the Jews. He's writing to to the church. And Thessalonians, being very vigilant and and people who studied the Word of God, and they were interested in this topic. And so Apostle Paul tells them that. You know, not to be concerned. First of all, that that that period hasn't arrived yet. And he's telling to the Gentile church that yes, this this time will come to the church. And so he is talking to the church, not to the people of Israel. And this is another distinction we have to make. The post-tribulation that the Scripture teaches, it doesn't teach a secret. It doesn't teach a secret rapture. It teaches that this rapture is something. This is going to be one of those events that the world will see. It's not going to pass them by. It's not going to be something that's going to happen and people are going to wonder. Well, did the tribulation happen or not? It's going to be an event like the Bible says that everyone will see the Son of Man coming. It's going to be something that the entire world will see. And I think, and I think this is one thing that we have to understand. And what I think, like. Like you can agree or disagree, but let me hear your opinion. Well, I come from from same, you know, belief system, so definitely. I mean, deeply. As the brothers already covered. One thing I would add that. The way that those who believe the rapture happens, you know, it's you hear that it could happen any moment, at any time, like you don't even know. I think if rapture was to happen now, I think church would be in trouble. The state of Christendom today, you know, I would. Say it's it's not as strong as it has been through centuries, so tribulations. That's how God cleanses church. That's how God prepares church. So if He was just to come and have that event, don't know how many people would actually join. So tribulation, as much as it's you know scary, as much as it is intimidating. The same time, that's how God prepares. Church, that's how God will get us ready for when He does come for His bride. Okay, and Vlad, to you the next question is: Are we living in the last days? Okay, since since we understand that okay, the church is going to be in the seven year time period of hardships, of persecution, of for God's name torture. Then the question is: Are we living in this last day, or is it somewhere? Far to be. Well, through the history of church, it's been last day since the day of Christ, right? That's when that started. You know, I believe there's many times that Christians thought maybe that the events of revelation that were coming. You know, through a lot of like world wars and stuff like that. The way I see it, that we're definitely closer to that because the technological advancements that are happening now. I think they are. A lot of these events would have not been possible that we read in in in special. When we talk in topic of AI, it's really it's really opening up right now. So I do feel that we're definitely closer. I do feel that we are, you know, in those days. Although I understand that previous generations also thought. And there's gonna be there's gonna be a lot of confusion, and there's gonna be a lot of false teachers in in the days who gonna who will confuse people because we've. Every time, right? Year 2000 came. A lot of people were saying, "Oh, this is the time." There's a lot of confusion, and there's been other people predicting certain events who, you know, doing counting when they think Christ is coming. But the more this deception will come, I think there'll be more of these false teachers that we'll see, and there's going to be a lot of confusion amongst the believers. Those who are not not walking with Christ, they will get they will get deceived. Okay, I want us to read so so we kind of understand what the church will be facing. It's actually in Matthew chapter twenty-four, verses four to fourteen, and these are the words of Jesus. And I'm going to read on the screen because it's a more simpler version that we put down. And it says, "This Jesus told them, 'Don't let anyone mislead you. For many will come in my name, claiming I am the Messiah. They will deceive many, and you will hear of wars and threats of wars. But don't panic. Yet these things must.'" Must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. So notice, but the end won't follow immediately. We hear wars, rumors of wars, but the end won't follow like immediately. Nation, nation will give to war against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all of this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. Don't we see that right now? Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. How do we see that right now? This is, this is wow. Like we see that in our time. Right now, but the one who endures to the end will be saved, and the good news about the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it, and then the end will come. And I personally don't know a nation that hasn't heard the word of God, because even the most closed nations—the reason why they're closed is because they don't want you to spread the word of God, because they already heard it. So we can see over here the words of Christ. He's already kind of sharing what the church is going through, like we talked about. The church is going through in this seven-year testing period, and we Jesus warns us about that. So it is actually not a secret. But I want to. Continue. We have about twenty minutes left. Did you guys want to add to to Vlad or that Bible verse or anything? Well, I do want to add to that the seven year of Antichrist time. It's not seven year of tribulation, so we have to understand that. So, it's only going to be at three and a half years of tribulation, as we just heard in. In chapter 12, that the church will be in tribulation or hidden for time, times and a half a time. For us to understand, time is biblically it's a one year. Times it's two, so one plus two equals three and a half time. Three and a half times. So first three and a half years, Antichrist will deceive many nations. And he will deceive them by bribery. But when people, Jews and Christians, will actually start resisting him, then he will start ruling by force. And that's the last three and a half years of difficult time, tribulation. Again, another thought I want to place is that. The tribulation, if we look in the Bible, it's not a tribulation and difficult time for entire earth. Actually, it is written that He will give many gifts to the people that will serve Him. It's the difficult times for people that do not worship any. Christ, it's the time when we heard from brothers, where God cleanses His church to meet Him, and He cleanses the nation of Israel to be transferred into the Millennium Kingdomship, which is going to be a thousand years. So, there's a two reasons for tribulation: to cleanse the church to meet Christ, and to prepare the hearts of Israel to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Actually, and to this I want to add that when we're talking about the end of days, like Tim posed the question, what does the Bible mean by the end of days? It's you know to us it may mean like are we living in the day that Jesus Christ is supposed. To come, but when the Scripture teaches on the last days, it actually teaches it as a period of time that began with Jesus Christ himself. When Jesus Christ came on this earth, the Bible said that it's the beginning of the end of days, right? And and we can even find support in Scripture for this when it says, like when we read Hebrews, in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son. So we find that this period, what that we call the end of days, it actually began with the coming of Jesus Christ when He was born on this earth and He began His ministry. And then, even Apostle Peter, in his preaching, when he preaches to the five thousand men after the pouring of the Holy Spirit, he quotes Prophet Joel, where he says, "In the last day, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and people will, you know, see visions and prophesy, and so on and so forth." So, Apostle Peter, when speaking on the last days, he speaks of it as a period of time, or what we call the age. And it was the beginning of the end that began with Jesus Christ. Now, for us, the question is: Are we at the end of this period? Are we in this period that the Bible calls? And I and I and I think when the Bible says speaks about the end of the end, or the end of the age, it uses a little bit different terms to to tell us. It it says. It's the day of Christ, for example. Are we at this period that precedes the day of Christ? And that's the question that we are concerned with today. Are we living in this period that the events that are written in Matthew chapter twenty four are unfolding? So, what we see is we see this timeline that in the last of days we have Jesus Christ coming. Then it is the age of the church. And I think this is the age we're in right now, where the gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached all over the world. Yes, the church—it feels, you know—it has its own periods of persecution. It has its own periods of deception, apostasy. It all exists, and it existed throughout the history of the church. But then, you know, in Matthew 24, as we've we read the scripture, it says that there's going to be intensification of that. It's going to intensify. The apostasy will intensify. The then Antichrist will come. Persecutions will intensify. Wars, rumor of wars, all of these are going to happen. And even in that period, Jesus Christ says, "This is not yet the tribulation. This is just the beginning of what's going to come." Going to be worse, and so the question for us is to identify where are we in this timeline, and and of course maybe some of us may may differ in this idea, but but I think we're still in the in the period of the church where yeah obviously the tribulation hasn't started, but we are in this period where it it is being intensified where Jesus Christ is talking about that the pains the pains of birth are beginning. Well, we're talking about the Antichrist. And like you guys mentioned, the Antichrist, the Antichrist, and I want for our audience to understand who is this Antichrist. Who is this Antichrist? Who we are referring to? Who the Bible refers to? Who we're talking about? So the next question to to the the speakers is, who is the Antichrist, and what will he actually do? Pastor Henry, he kind of already. Talked a little bit about it, but I want to to hand it over to Brother Vlad, and then we'll go to Brother Hen or Pastor Henry, and then to just just to see if you guys like who is the Antichrist. Well, I don't know who he is. Well, I couldn't tell you. Not yet, right? Yeah. I don't know. I mean, we know that he's. It says that many Antichrists already came, right? It's written in the Bible that there have been people in the past and. Antichrist. I mean, somebody that instead of Christ, right? He's okay. So, like, so that's what I wanted to hear from. So, can you say that again? The the Antichrist. Antichrist. Yeah. He's gonna be not that in against, but in in place of. Okay. So that's how I see it. So, Brother Vlad just said the Antichrist is not the one who's gonna be necessarily going against Christ. He's gonna call himself Christ. He's gonna try to replace Christ. Is that what you're saying? Yeah. And and that's why we read about right the expectation of. Worship. Be expecting those who don't worship. That's where the persecution comes. For those who against which which church. Okay. Pastor Henry. I actually opposite to that. I see Antichrist, but that's fine because that's very accepted. And so I see Antichrist is someone going to be against the Christ, and I see that Antichrist is someone. And I know there is a main belief that Antichrist will represent. Him as a Christ, and personally, I came to the understanding that Antichrist will be nothing like Christ. Actually, he's going to be a man of sin, lovelessness. He will not give glory to any God, and so he's going to be like an atheist in a way. Well, he will place himself as God, as. God actually, he will say, "You worship me. There is no one other to worship me, and to worship other people or other gods actually." And so, and maybe this is something new for our congregation. But yeah, I did came in. It's a long process to go through. But the false Christ, when Jesus Christ said that there is going to come false Christ and. False teachers, yet it's going to be people who going to present themselves as I'm a Christ, I'm a Christ. But antichrist, it's not a false Christ. It's something against Christ, and but he will go against Christ and against people that follow Christ actually. But will present himself that people should worship him actually. But that's my belief, which is maybe that's something new for some people. And if if you decide to explore on that side, that's a good topic too. Also go through the Bible, but it's. I think it's a total separate topic. What about you, Ben? Well, my position. I think it depends on the context. I think. Well, Henry made a. I think very good points on this. Because when the Bible says that, for example, the Antichrist is a man of lawlessness, this right there puts him against Christ. This right here puts him, like, on the opposite spectrum of Christ. Because when we read about Jesus Christ, we we see that he is the man who fulfilled the law. So Jesus Christ is not someone who is was lawless in the way he acted. He fulfilled the law. The man of lawlessness, well, obviously he's the guy on the opposite side of the spectrum. He doesn't care about the law or fulfilling of the law. He places himself against Christ in in this regard. And obviously, we also, when we look at Jesus Christ, we find that Jesus Christ is the one who came down from earth. He humbled himself and put himself in servitude to people. But when we read about Antichrist, he does the opposite. He exalts himself above all men and he demands worship to himself. Whereas Jesus Christ has not demanded that. Now, and I think this is what places him opposite of Jesus Christ in every regard. He is opposite. But when it comes to like as a replacement or substitute of Jesus Christ, well, I think to the world or maybe even to the Christian Church, there there is something to see here because he will he will offer himself as a solution to the human condition. Because Jesus Christ, right now, He is the one that if you want to be saved, if you want to receive the blessings, if you want to be, you know, be free from from the bondage of sin and all of these things, you come to Christ and you receive all of these things. And I think Antichrist will position himself as a man who will offer you similar solution. But of course, he's not going to offer you any freedom. But he will offer you like bread. He will offer you power. He will offer you miracles. He will offer you these things, which a lot of people will probably feel that you know by receiving all of these things, you know my life cardinally changes. And I think this is why a lot of people will will jump on the bandwagon of Antichrist is because he's going to produce things for for the people. He will do things that will sort of change the world, and they will feel like this is the man who actually brought peace to the world. He is the man who finally he solved all of the problems of the world. That Jesus Christ was not able to to do, and and that that would probably be the the argument. At least that's the way I see it. So I I think I see him as a sort of a substitute in one sense, and I see him as you know there's a lot of biblical verses that describe him as opposite of Christ. And since I already mentioned, I do wanna I do wanna have a Bible. Yeah, I guess I guess the power just the power just went up. Okay, okay. Since we already said that antichrist might be someone that against Christ, it's a man of sin, and again, we want to make sure false Christ is different. False Christ, when Jesus talking about in Matthew twenty four, yeah, those people who gonna say I'm a Christ, I'm a Christ, and we should not fall for it. Antichrist also, if we read Second Thessalonians, Says, man of sin, be revealed, man of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God. So he actually opposes himself against God, Most High. He will touch evil against God, Most High. But I do want to agree with brothers and and kind of. But where did we got an idea that he will actually? Be imitator of Christ. Well, because Satan himself wanna imitate the Trinity of God, where Satan actually is is like imitating God the Father, the Antichrist imitating Christ, and the false prophet will imitate the Holy Spirit. So he wanna Trinity, but he will say that Trinity you should not worship. You should worship us because we're gonna win. That's the only way. That he will kind of imitate God himself, but he will be something opposite to God, and he will say that that side will lose and our side will win at the end. And I've heard that from many Satan worshippers because I told them, Hey, how do you guys worship Satan if you know the end of times? And they told me, Well, we'll see who's gonna win at the end because Satan is a deceiver and he wanna deceive people by telling that our side gonna win actually. Yeah, I mean, I think another point I want to make is that that what makes Antichrist dangerous is not that he will come and he will present himself as you know I'm Satan, you know worship me. I think he will. Come from the side of deception. Obviously, this is why. This is the reason why the Word of God it shrouds this entire period as the greatest deception that that mankind will face. So obviously, people will be deceived by who Antichrist is because in the beginning he will present himself as something as as very attractive. Because he will offer people peace, order, and all kinds of solutions, justice. Under his reign, everything will seem, you know, rosy and beautiful. But it's at the at at this period of three and a half years, the Great Tribulation, that he will actually reveal himself who he is. That he is the one who wants to be worshipped, the one who stands against God, and who wants to exalt himself even above God. All of these things will come. But I think he will kind of make his way in through deception. This is why the Bible and he is going to come in in in on world stage. Like the Bible says, through lawlessness, when there's going to be reign of lawlessness and chaos, so he is the child of chaos. He comes as a result of chaos in the world, and we may not be living in this period yet. I think we're living in a period of rumors of wars, and then all of these things are kind of coming into play. But when there's going to be total chaos in the world, this is when Antichrist will come and offer himself as a solution to all of these problems. Um. No, I. I mean, I see like what Henry was saying, that point, and you know, and kind of what I covered on. So there's there's definitely it's a topic to diving deeper into, absolutely, and it is important. And as it's written that you have to have wisdom to understand, right? And that's why it's important that we're doing this talk, and it's important on individual level for everybody to. This is the time to dive in that book, to study, to look at Daniel, to look at Revelation and other prophets, and to really understand understand what's coming and to be ready. We we already ran out of time, and we'll continue next week with the topic. And I'll just finish off with this Bible passage. It's in Revelation chapter three, verses nineteen through. Twenty-two. It says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and be with him. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne." There's a lot of stuff going on. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So, if if we still in our life right now are living. Just this, I would say, lukewarm lifestyle, very cold lifestyle. Jesus says, "I'm knocking at your door. I'm knocking at your heart. Open up. This time is coming. This time is coming. But if you open to me, I will come into your life." And I will be with you through this time. Through this time, I will be with you. And if there is anybody here this morning that wants to give his life to God, you can do that. Lord Jesus, I repent. I repent. I'm tired of my lifestyle. I want to accept you. There's a hard time coming, and I want to go through this life with you. So, if anybody wants to do that, you can do that in the prayer, or you can come up after service, and myself and Pastor Henry will pray with you and will guide you into the prayer of repentance. Let's all stand up and pray. Lord God, we thank you for this topic. Lord God, and what your word says, and how your word, God, it prepares all of us. Lord God, for the time that is coming, Lord, and everything we're seeing here, Lord Jesus, you said, don't be surprised. It's gonna come. It's gonna come. It's gonna get even worse, Lord God. And Lord, how you say to those who open the the door to you, those who open their life to you, Lord, that you will not leave us alone. You will guide us, and you will be with us. Like through these hardships, Lord, you will be the one giving us the strength and the wisdom to walk in faith and without fear. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation.