The Crown Of Righteousness And Who To Watch For

Then You MIGHT be the Antichrist

By Jack Kinsella

It seems that everywhere one turns, one finds somebody who has diligently searched the Scriptures for clues to the identity of the antichrist, and claim that they have finally discovered it.

It reminds me of the Jeff Foxworthy “you might be a redneck’ skits. “If your name adds up to 666 and you are a liberal, you might be the antichrist…”

The Scriptures identify five different crowns that believers can earn. Some are more expensive than others, (the martyr’s crown leaps to mind) but the relevant crown reward in this instance is the ‘crown of righteousness’ promised in 2nd Timothy 4:8

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, BUT UNTO ALL them also that love His appearing.” 

Personally, THAT is the crown I am shooting for. My passion for understanding Bible prophecy is driven by my love for His appearing. That is to say, I believe that this is the generation of His appearing, and I am awestruck at the prospect that I have been blessed to live in this generation.

I want to use the study of Bible prophecy, and the understanding it yields, to teach others how to love His appearing and to anticipate it — without fearing its hallmarks, like earthquakes and famines and wars.

Those signs, given unto this generation to the exclusion of all others, prove that God remains on the throne and intimately concerned with the affairs of men. What’s not to love?

Among those signs is the revival of the old Roman Empire in advance of the antichrist’s appearance on the world scene. And the development of the various tools that the antichrist will use on his rise to power.

The centralized propaganda machine represented by the media. The ever-centralizing global economy. The cry for global government. The global willingness to place themselves in subservience to such a government.

The world’s sudden preoccupation with religion, and particularly with religious fundamentalism, setting the stage for some future, all inclusive, global religion of the antichrist and false prophet.

But I am not looking for signs of the antichrist. Let me scandalize you for a second;

When it comes to the antichrist, I plead both ignorance and apathy. That is to say, as far as who he might be, I don’t know. And I don’t care.

A lot of prophecy teachers claim that they know. Many others scour the Scriptures, seeking clues to his identity. They miss the point.

The central message of Bible prophecy to the Christian on this side of the Rapture is to know when His coming ‘is near, even at the door’ — not the antichrist’s. Trying to identify the antichrist is, to the Christian in the Church Age, an exercise in futility. We’ll never know if we guess right anyway.

It does sell books, but it does so by sensationalizing something that is of no consequence to the Church. The coming of the antichrist is the evidence, not the substance, of the Blessed Hope of the Church Age. Scripture and fulfilled prophecy are spectacular enough on the surface.

The Bible promises a crown of righteousness for those who love His coming. Not for watching for His enemy. Looking for the antichrist misdirects the focus away from the Lord’s return — an event that must occur first.

That is the mid trib and post trib rapture views’ fatal flaw. Their proponents are looking for signs of the antichrist, and expect Christ later. But the Crown of Righteousness is for waiting for HIS appearing, not the antichrist’s.

The two are inconsistent positions. Indeed, they are more consistent with the Jewish view of the Messiah showing up at the end.

They put their faith in signs, like the antichrist, and expect Christ to come later, looking for (and fearing) the rise of antichrist, instead of looking for the coming of Christ for His Church.

And that is, after all, the mechanism the Scripture says the antichrist uses to fool the world. They are looking for the wrong Messiah.

It is important to understand the difference. Knowing that the antichrist is waiting in the wings is a sure sign of the soon coming of the Lord for His Church.

On the other hand, knowing for sure WHO the antichrist IS — well, that’s an even surer sign you missed it when it happened.