Is the Spirit of the Antichrist in Turkey?

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:2-4)

In the early church the spirit of the antichrist was very evident in Rome. Emperor Nero systematically rounded up Christians and put them to death in very grotesque and very public executions. The Christians were shunned and marginalized in Roman society because their beliefs did not fit in with mainstream Roman culture. This identity given to Christians as being less of a person and a person to be ridiculed made it easy for them to become the emperor’s scapegoat. The dehumanization of the Christians in Rome made it easier for the Roman citizens to accept and participate in these horrible acts committed against their own brothers and sisters of Rome.

You see in the summer of AD 64 approximately three quarters of the city of Rome had burned. The prevailing suspicion was that Nero himself had ordered the arson in for his own amusement, or for his plans of revitalizing Rome, buy getting rid of the slums of Rome. Either way, the citizenry was up in arms, and Nero needed to deflect the attention from himself. He therefor pointed the finger to the Christians. After all they were the ones who claimed that Rome was wrong in its Idolatry, sexual immorality, and in many other ways they just didn’t fit in with aspects the liberal Roman society. Public announcements were made. Christians were the enemy of the state. Historian Cornelius Tacitus (56-120 BC) wrote in The Annals concerning the Great Fire of Rome.

44.2. Yet no human effort, no princely largess nor offerings to the gods could make that infamous rumor disappear that Nero had somehow ordered the fire. Therefore, in order to abolish that rumor, Nero falsely accused and executed with the most exquisite punishments those people called Christians, who were infamous for their abominations.

44.3. The originator of the name, Christ, was executed as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius; and though repressed, this destructive superstition erupted again, not only through Judea, which was the origin of this evil, but also through the city of Rome, to which all that is horrible and shameful floods together and is celebrated.

44.4. Therefore, first those were seized who admitted their faith, and then, using the information they provided, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much for the crime of burning the city, but for hatred of the human race. And perishing they were additionally made into sports: they were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime lamps.

44.5. Nero gave his own gardens for this spectacle and performed a Circus game, in the habit of a charioteer mixing with the plebs or driving about the race-course. Even though they were clearly guilty and merited being made the most recent example of the consequences of crime, people began to pity these sufferers, because they were consumed not for the public good but on account of the fierceness of one man. (Westmont.edu, n.d.) (Clayton, 1947)

1. Christians in the Roman Empire were ostracized from society by:
2. They were accused of atheism because they did not accept emperor worship, nor polytheism.
3. The were generally form the poorer sections of society
4. Christianity was put on the list of illicit sects a little after 50 AD
5. Christianity was declared illegal in 64 AD
6. They were accused of secret immoral worship ceremonies that included cannibalism, incest, and bestiality

They were considered social radicals because their beliefs were at odds with acceptable Roman practices and indulgences

This edict of Emperor Nero started 120 years of open, socially acceptable, state sponsored terrorism on Christians. This would include the martyr of many Christians. Some estimate the number of Christians martyred to be up to 2 million. This would also include the martyrdom of the apostles Peter and Paul.

Just as Rome made a step-by-step approach to the eventual attempted genocide of Christians for political purposes, in the past; we see modern day Turkey using the Christians as a means of attempting to reestablish the Caliphate. In a purposeful process Turkish Christians are being used as a scapegoat for failed governmental policies and actions. “Turkey’s Christians are becoming a welcome scapegoat for Ankara. Erdogan has miscalculated on various fronts in Syria and Libya and is now looking for someone to serve as a distraction.” (DW, 2020)

This is the spirit of the antichrist. It is spread all across the globe. Even in America we see that recently a nominee for the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska was persecuted by Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Kamala Harris, D-California whose questioning reasoned that a Christian could not hold a public office. Fox news reported that on campuses throughout the United States, Christians are openly ridiculed with hate speech and false accusations by academics, social groups, and organizations. (Ingle, 2019)

Christians are being accused of being insensitive, hypocrites during the COVID-19 pandemic because of issues with church closures, preaching of condemnation from sin, judgement from God and other twisting of Christian values and ethics.  Christians who meet in in-person services are blamed in the media for the furtherance of the spread of the Corona Virus. Christians in America have been marginalized as church services and ministry positions have been deemed unnecessary and non-essential.  Church member have been fined and pastors arrested for acting within their 1st amendment rights. The 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg-ing the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (Constitution Cente)  No law is supposed to be made to prohibit the free exercise of religion, curtailing the freedom of speech, or the right of peaceable assembly. Moreover, it is the right of the people to request the government to account for overreach of authority.   But these things are to come. We know this because we were told of these things by Jesus Christ himself. Jesus said in this world we would have tribulation.

Today we have gotten to far away from that. We have dropped our spiritual guards as it were. Our eyes have stopped looking to God. Our lips do not open for our afflicted brethren. Instead we pray for a new car, or a new house. Maybe we pray for God to let our favorite team to win the game. How superficial are our prayers? Our knees fail to bend to the Lord God. We no longer seek the will of God in our lives, but our will in Gods. We have lost our salt. Instead of being a good and faithful servant who wisely invests the resources and time of his master, we have become selfish, and lazy. We seek our own comfort over the mission to which we have all been appointed to by Jesus Christ. We are to be his ambassadors and to speak of his name at every opportunity, boldly declaring his mercy. We know the signs. We know that the time of salvation is now. We know that as it draws closer to the end of the age, that persecutions will get worse. I wish to encourage you though.

The Lord God is over all of creation. He is infinite. That means that he is totally self-existing. He has no beginning. There is no point in which he did not exist. Because of this, he has no ending. There will never be a point in which he does not exist. He is before all things and holds all things together (Colossians 1:17) God is immutable. That means that he never changes. Since God never changes that means that who he is never changes. His love never changes. His righteousness never changes. His WORD never changes. He simply IS who he IS. He himself said, “I the LORD do not change.” (Malachi 3:6) Because God never changes, he is ever faithful. So when scripture says that the mercies of the Lord endures for ever; that is what He does. (Psalm 16:1; Psalm 136)

He remembers our lowly estate. He remembers that we are created by him. He remembers that we are broken because of sin. He remembers that we are not as faithful as he is. He remembers that we have limitations to our endurance. He remembers that way to often we are weak and self-centered. Yet his mercy endures. He commands his love towards us. That means despite it all, he chooses to love us each day, each moment. It is his grace that is sufficient for us; not our own working. His love does not depend of who we are, but who he is. He gives us of himself. He gives us victory over the world and over the antichrist. God told us through the writings of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:18, “I will be a father to you, and you shall be the sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”  John says, “See what king of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1) This special honor is for those who believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as savior and as Lord. (John 1:12) By this truth we have already overcome the world and the antichrist.

We must remember that the Lord is ever present, and that he is always by our side. He is not estranged from our afflictions, nor unaware of the presence of our enemies; for our enemies are his enemies. In fact, they are our enemies because we are his.  So, it is not that he assumes our enemies for us. Instead, his enemies assume us as enemies. That means that he is obligated to respond on our behalf. This brings us to an awesome point in scripture, “For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4) Even more we know that we are overcomers because all temptation is common to mankind. There is no new temptation of trial that a man has not ever endured before. God will not leave you to be tempted beyond what your capable of handling; instead, he provides a way to escape it. This gives us another advantage in enduring. (Philippians 1:29)

Here is a secret. You who are believers in the death, burial, and resurrection already have everything you need to have this victory. Read what John wrote, “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:1-4) Paul again tells us in Romans 8:1, “Thee is therefor now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Faith in Jesus is our secret to eternal life. Faith in Jesus is our secret to overcoming the world. Faith in Jesus is our secret to enduring trial, tribulations, and persecutions.

We can see that (1) Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ (Son of God) is come in the flesh is from God. (2) Those spirits who do not confess Jesus Christ (Son of God) are from the Antichrist, not God. This includes Muslims, Hindus, Atheist, Gnostics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and more. (3) We were for warned that this evil spirit would come and that it was actually already here. This would probably be better to understand is we said that the spirit of the antichrist is already here and will continue to be here, gaining influence and power. (4) We are the children of God – see point one. (5) Because we are the children of God we have already received victory through our faith in Jesus – see point one. (6) The Spirit who resides in us is bigger, stronger, and of more authority and might then the spirit that is in the world (spirit of the antichrist-see point two).  

Our duty is to seek the Lord on their behalf. We are to send them relief. We are to provide them the resources that they need to endure. They need food, water, clothes, bibles, financial and legal support. These are things we can do. These are totally biblical things we can do. How can we say that we love them and not assist them? Paul went on a circuit from gentile church to gentile church bringing money and other resourced gather from the route back to the persecuted church at Jerusalem. This was not a church tax, it was a benevolence given to the saints in Jerusalem that would have starved without it. Many of the Mediterranean churches members gave sacrificially to this relief effort.

We can get involved with the political and legal processes available to us, especially here in the United States. Paul himself used his Roman citizenship, his Jewish standing, and his legal wit to advance the gospel and to curtail the efforts of the overreach of local authorities and even governors and kings.   We have the right to exercise our votes in the House of Representative, and the Senate at state and federal levels. We need to get involved and ask candidates for the President of the United States, Governor, and even the Mayors office how they will represent us as Christians. We need to know where they stand on abortion, or on sexually immoral practices, the role of the judge and their view of the division of powers in the Constitutions of our States and the United States of America. We need to know how their policies on policing, foreign aid, and humanitarian relief for Christians throughout the world.

We also must not forget that this battle is a spiritual one. So we must be educated on the Word of God in order to know the will of God. The will on God is not a feeling, or a dream of vision that came to us in the middle of our routine eyelid maintenance. The will of God is that none should perish, but that all should have everlasting life. We must be active in evangelism, the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the education of the disciple. We must pray without ceasing. By that I mean real heartfelt prayer for believers, leaders of government, missionaries, pastors, deacons, and more.

Bend you knees, lay prostrate before the God who is above all. Plead with your heart for this and the other nations of the world. Pray for those who are now locked up in cells for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Pray for the conversion of those who oppress our brothers and sisters. Have joy knowing that you are an overcomer. Have joy that the God who created the universe hears your prayers and listens intently to the sorrows of your heart. He has an open ear for your prayers because you love his Son, Jesus Christ. He can hear you because of your faith. Your faith in Jesus had accounted you as a righteous believer. He hears you. You are victorious.

Bibliography

Clayton, F. W. (1947). Tacitus and Nero’s Persecution of the Christians. Classical Quarterly, 41, 81-85. Retrieved 7 16, 2020, from http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_s0009838800026082

DW. (2020, June 23). Opinion: Christians a Welcome Scapegoat in Turkey. Retrieved from DW.COM: https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-christians-a-welcome-scapegoat-in-turkey/a-53918937

Ingle, D. K. (2019, February 27). Opinin: Christian Persecution not just happening overseas — many in us targeted for their faith too. Retrieved from Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/christian-persecution-not-just-happening-overseas-many-in-us-targeted-for-their-faith-too

Westmont.edu. (n.d.). Tacitus and Piney On the Early Christians . Retrieved from Westmount.edu: https://www.westmont.edu/~fisk/articles/TacitusAndPlinyOnTheEarlyChristians.html