Who Is Antichrist?1
What is Antichrist, and who is Antichrist? The Apostle John tells you: “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” (1 Jn 4:3). But shall Antichrist deny Christ to have come in the flesh in so many terms? No. He shall not deny the incarnation of Christ, for he shall sit in the temple of God.
How then shall Antichrist deny Christ to have come in the flesh? He shall set up such a worship as was in place before Christ came in the flesh.
As in the time of the Old Testament, before Christ came in the flesh, there was an outward, glorious and pompous worship; so shall Antichrist have.
As in the time of the Old Testament, before Christ came in the flesh, there was a temple, a great cathedral; so shall Antichrist have.
As in the time of the Old Testament, before Christ came in the flesh, there was a high priest and priests and Levites; so shall Antichrist have.
1This is an extract, with editing, from The Works of William Bridge, vol 3. Though Bridge does not explicitly say so, he is clearly pointing to Rome for the answer to the question posed in the sub-title of this piece.
As in the time of the Old Testament, before Christ came in the flesh, there were copes and ephods and linen coats; so shall Antichrist have.
As in the time of the Old Testament, before Christ came in the flesh, there were candles and tapers and music in the temple; so shall Antichrist have.
As in the time of the Old Testament, before Christ came in the flesh, there were altars; so shall Antichrist have.
And as in the time of the Old Testament, before Christ came in the flesh, there were sacrifices; so shall Antichrist have his unbloody sacrifices.
As then they turned to a covenant of works, so shall antichrist also do.
Thus, the more legal, and of an Old Testament stamp, your worship is, the more antichristian it is. Now is it not a dangerous thing to have antichristian worship for our worship in these gospel days? William Bridge