My beloved spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ God,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
"THE ANTICHRIST WILL BE LIKE CHRIST"
Superficially, Antichrist will be like Christ, yet in reality, he will be His very antithesis. Appearing to be god, Antichrist will in fact demonstrate the inverse of godliness. "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and LYING WONDERS" wrote Saint Paul (2 Thessalonians 2:9).
Satan AS THE FATHER OF LIES, as Jesus said, for "THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM" (John 8:44). As Lucifer’s protege, Antichrist’s entire existence will be a monstrous lie which might be stated succinctly as "Jesus is not God, but I am", or, as turn-of-the-century Russian mystic Vladimir Soloviev suggested in his "A Short Narrative about Antichrist," "Christ came before me; I appeared next, but that which appears later times is, in reality, first. I shall come last a the end of history exactly because I am the absolute and final savior." Saint John the Theologian anticipated this: "Who is a liar but HE WHO DENIES THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST? HE IS ANTICHRIST WHO DENIES THE FATHER AND THE SON" (1 John 2:22).
Antichrist WILL NOT BE Satan incarnate, but A MAN FOR ONLY God has the power to become incarnate in human flesh. Yet, he will be thoroughly DEMON POSSESSED, ALLOWING SATAN TO OPERATE FREELY THROUGH HIM, as Blessed Theodoretus said: "BEFORE CHRIST’S COMING THERE SHALL APPEAR IN THE WORLD THE ENEMY OF MAN, THE OPPONENT OF GOD, VESTED IN HUMAN NATURE."
Even as a man, Antichrist will possess the most concentrated accumulation of wicked traits possible to human nature. "The Antichrist is to be the Archrebel among men even as Satan is the Archrebel among the angels," wrote Miceli, summarizing the teaching of Saint Irenaeus. "In the Antichrist will be summarized and brought to plenitude all the iniquities and impostures that have taken place from the moment of the fall of man, comprising the evils perpetrated by the generations before Noah and the flood, the evils perpetrated by the perverse generations that crucified Christ, those against His Church right up to and including the flood of crime THAT WILL BE USHERED IN BY THE ARRIVAL OF THE ‘MAN OF SIN.’ In other words, the Antichrist WILL BE THE CULMINATION AND RECAPITULATION OF ALL EVILS CHOSEN IN ANGELIC AND HUMAN HISTORY."
Every aspect of Antichrist’s life will serve to copy, yet mock, God. For example, the lineage of Christ is preserved in the Holy Scripture as am exam[e of HOLINESS nurtured, preserved, and passed along in order to produce the Virgin Mary, who in turn gave birth to God the Logos/Word.
The genealogy of Antichrist, on the other hand, will reveal instead the nurturing of generations of vices. Belyaev speculates, "One may assume that innate and acquired evil, accumulating gradually in the long line of Antichrist's forbears, transmitted to each new generation, will ultimately attain the strongest degree which human nature is capable of containing, manifesting and sustaining in the person of Antichrist himself. In HIM THE EVIL WHICH LIVES IN THE HUMAN RACE WILL REACH THE APEX OF ITS DEVELOPMENT."
THE SEVEN-YEAR REIGN OF ANTICHRIST
[The Last Week]
The Holy Scripture offers the consolation that Antichrist’s "public ministry" will be brief. "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" (Revelation 12:12).
Satan knows that Christ WILL ULTIMATELY TRIUMPH AND THAT HIS OWN DEMISE IS FOREORDAINED. But he doesn’t care, for he is utterly incorrigible. And he knows that though his period of absolute power will be short, it will nevertheless be long enough to ensnare many people.
The First Half Week
Antichrist will consolidate his power by entering into covenant relationships with many individuals and groups, offering them favors in order to gain their support…
The first half week, consisting OF THREE AND ONE-HALF YEARS will be delineated by the extraordinary ministry of Enoch and Elias: "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days [three an a half years] clothed in sackcloth" (Revelation 11:3).
The first half week wiill end WITH THE MURDER OF ENOCH AND ELIAS. Once these witnesses for God’s Truth are gone, Antichrist will exercise UNLIMITED POWER, BRINGING TO DARK FRUITION ALL THE DEMONIC DREAMS OF THE CENTURIES. "And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for FORTY TWO MONTHS [THREE AND A HALF YEARS)" (Revelation 13:5).
The Second Half Week
Being a deceiver, Antichrist will nto honor his agreement with the Jews. He will fiercely turn against those who looked to him for protection."He has put for his hands against those who were at peace him; he has broken his covenant" (Psalm 55:20).
The breaking of the covenant will be followed by a monstrous sacrilege–Antichrist will force the Jews to stop worshipping God with "sacrifice and offering," and will at the same time proclaim HIMSELF god! "In the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering, and on the wings abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation" (Daniel 9:27).
This is the abominations which Jesus warned of—a man posing as divinity in the "holy place" of the Lord’s House: "Therefore when you see the "abomination of desolation," spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the holy place’ (whoever reads, let him understand) Matthew 24:15).
The desolation of the Temple WILL MARK THE MIDPOINT OF Antichrist’s SEVEN-YEAR REIGN…The second half week IS TO BE THE MOST DIFFICULT TIME THAT HUMANITY HAS EVER EXPERIENCED. ALL possible negativity AND GODLESSSNESS WILL DELUGE THE EARTH, DESTROYING PEOPLE SPIRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY. Our Lord spoke of the unmitigated horror of this period when He said, "For then there will be GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS HAS NOT BEEN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL THIS TIME, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE" (Matthew 24:31).
That Christians WILL BE UNDER ATTACK FOR THE THREE AND A HALF YEARS OF THE Great Tribulation is indicated by the following passage: "But leave out the court which is outside the Temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy.city underfoot for forty-two months." (Revelation 11:2). Archbishop Averky explained this cryptic verse that the Church for the course of forty-two months signifies that at the coming of Antichrist THE FAITHFUL WILL BE PERSECUTED FOR THE COURSE OF THREE AND HALF YEARS". (Source: Ultimate Things. An Orthodox Christian Perspective on the End Times)
_____________________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
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