Season of the Anti-Christ — E.A. Johnston

The Falling Away and the Season of Antichrist

All you have to do, friends, is look around today at our sin-soaked society and our God-hating world and see that it is the season of Antichrist. The Bible speaks of a falling away in society before the appearance of this man of sin.

Spiritual Decline in Society and the Churches

Let me ask you, friends, is there a moral falling away today? Is there a spiritual falling away today in our churches? Oh, why never in my lifetime have I ever seen such a cesspool of filth and perversion spill out upon society.

And never in my life have I ever witnessed such a spiritual downgrade in our churches. The sad spiritual declension is startling. You can't tell the Christians from the pagans today. And our pulpits are full of these young potty-mouthed pastors who have to joke and cuss and have no regard for God or anything holy.

Why, it's as if the Antichrist has already appeared. For all hell is breaking loose in our world today. The title of my message this evening, friends, is Season of the Antichrist. And my text can be found in 2 Thessalonians.

You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We'll be in chapter 2 and in verses 1 through 4. Let me read us this striking passage of scripture at this time. For it talks about the very time that we're in right now.

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a fallen away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

Our text declares, friends, that the Lord Jesus Christ will not return until there is first this fallen away. Let me ask you, friends, especially you older saints, have you ever seen a time in your life where there's been such a great falling away in both our land and in our churches?

The Church's Responsibility for Moral Decline

Our young people today are given entirely over to the devil. They're addicted to drugs and booze and sex, and 13-year-olds are addicted to these vices as well. I don't place the blame for a moral downgrade in this country.

I don't blame the White House, and I don't put the blame at our schoolhouse. I place the blame at the door of the church house, because we preachers have quit preaching against sin. Old-time preachers like Sam Jones and Mordecai Ham had scores on them from being physically whipped by the liquor crowd.

Sam Jones was beaten about the face by a man with a cane, and Mordecai Ham was pistol-whipped and almost hung from a tree by a rope for his preaching against Elkin Hall. The church today, friends, fears man more than God, and God help us because of it.

Antichrist's Rise Amid Global Economic Collapse

When the Antichrist appears, he will rise to international prominence quickly. He will be a man of great winsomeness and personality and popularity. People will listen to him, for he will have solutions to our world's troubles.

I believe that this man of sin is in the shadows right now, ready to appear on the world stage. I believe his instant fame will come about from a world that is economically bankrupt. All of the nations of the world, friends, at this very hour, are at the point of economic collapse, including the United States.

The world nations are lined up like dominoes, ready to fall. You watch what happens when the European countries begin to go into default. We're facing an economic tsunami like we've never seen before.

When nation after nation becomes financially insolvent, you will see the man of sin appear suddenly with a solution that will seem to fix everything. The world will follow this international celebrity who has great power and wisdom and authority, and this is the kicker, friends.

The Mark of the Beast and Worldwide Submission

The mark of the beast will be taken by hundreds of millions of people willingly, because what is one more tattoo to an already tattooed society? And you cannot buy and sell without that mark. This Antichrist will control both your bank account and your brain, because he will control the internet.

You won't be able to have a cell phone without his approval. All will now worship this problem solver and international leader, who appears to have all the answers to the world's dilemmas. But a falling away must occur before Antichrist appears.

This man of sin will demand to be worshipped like old Nebuchadnezzar of old, and it'll be death to all who refuse to take his mark and bow down to him. Are you prepared, friend? Do you know? Do you know your Lord?

Readiness for Persecution and Faithfulness to Christ

Do you know? Do you know your Bible well enough that, if you're thrown into prison for your testimony in Christ Jesus, that you have the Word of God hidden in your heart to get you through that tough time?

Are you prepared for the perilous times which are fast approaching? Are you prepared for intense hot persecution against Christians? Are you willing to lose it all for Christ and the Gospel if necessary, even to the point of laying down your own life?

Living for God and Eternity

It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, and Christ comes back for his bride. These are serious days, friends, and a time to stop all foolishness and worldliness and live for God and eternity, while we still have a chance.

Let us pray.