They're going to get religion, and in a big way, too. Soon and very soon, after the rapture, the Antichrist is going to come forward, and the whole world will follow him. (Rev 13:3).
The. Whole. World. Christians won't be fooled, of course, the ones left behind and converted to the Truth post-rapture. The Light will have opened their minds and they will have full faith in Jesus.
But the rest of the world whose minds are now and will still be blinded by satan (2 Cor 4:4), whose minds are closed, and who have the spirit of antichrist in them (1 John 4:3), they will follow the Beast. They will worship. They will be agog, mouths open, astonished at his seeming power, and they will cave. Atheists too, cave right in like big poofy marshmallows. All the supercilious, condescending reasoning they put forth as their foundation for refusing to believe they ever do anything wrong, that is, sin, will fall away at the first false miracle the Beast fools them with.
There is a reason they will follow the Beast. Because Jesus convicts us of our sins, people who are not saved writhe against this conviction. Here is what the bible says about it:
"And this is the condemnation: Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." (John 3:19-20).
The world, including atheists, will follow the beast because their minds are already blinded and in witnessing a few false miracles (2 Thess 2:9) they will have their "proof." They will have their "evidence." And best of all, this (false) messiah will not convict anyone of their sins. He will not even mention sins! It will be a sin-free, do as you please, go for it kind of religion. The Beast will even blaspheme God (Rev 13:5) and that will tickle the people even more. 'Now here's a god we can get behind!' they will say.
So who is this Beast that they will follow?
He is known as the Antichrist, but he has many more names than that. As I mentioned, Beast is one (Rev 11:7), and it is one that is used more frequently in the bible than any other. About thirty times in Revelation the antichrist is called the Beast. It is nomenclature that is in Revelation for a reason. It is evocative of the thorough nature of the man. The synonyms for beast which is defined as crude, savage person, is "animal, beast, cannibal, creature, critter, degenerate, devil, fiend, lout, monster, ogre, ruffian, sadist, savage, swine, wild animal." Pretty well sums up the guy.
And make no mistake, the antichrist is a man. One person. Other names he is called, from the Old Testament are Man of Perdition, The Lawless One, The Assyrian, and many other names. (2 Thess 2:8, Isaiah 10:5; 12 etc).
The attributes of the antichrist are of interest as much as his many names. Foremost, the coming antichrist will be proud. The world hates the meek, the humble, and they will exalt the antichrist for his proud words. The antichrist will exalt himself even more. (Dan 11:36; 2 Thess 2:3-4). He will speak great things and swelling flatteries. The people will buy it. Rev. 13:5,6; Dan. 7:8,25). So he will be proud and a blasphemer, his name suggests he will be vicious and brutal. He will also be skilled in flattery, ambiguous speech, and in intrigue (Dan 8:23).
All this is coming. Of the people who fall for his lies, they will be thrown in the lake of fire in the end, where the worm does not die and they will be looked upon with contempt by one and all. (Dan 12:2; Rev 14:11).
But you can have hope! You can always have hope in the glorious light. God's good guidance is Light itself. "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalms 27:1). In Him there is no darkness at all! (1 John 1:5). Do you wonder why you're never satisfied, despite having a good job, a good hobby, good children, good everything? You wonder why you still feel empty? That emptiness is where Jesus wants to fill you with His Light, waiting to pierce the blind darkness of your mind and blast away the heavy crust of sin that imprisons you. Admit you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive them. Make Him your LORD. He is the Dove, not the Beast. His yoke is gentle. (Mt 11:30). "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 1:29)
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