We are in the middle of the spring storm season here in my state. Having just stayed up half the night and early morning listening to sirens screaming out tornado warnings, I sat thinking about some of the destructive reports from that line of storms. —That, and anticipating another round of severe weather building to our west in Oklahoma, in an area known as “Tornado Alley,” the origination point of the most devastating twisters on the planet.

When that news finished blaring those reports, I then switched to one of my favorite early-morning programs: Dr. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist of Dallas—Pathway to Victory.

He is in a series waxing eloquent on end-times prophecy. As part of the message that aired that particular day, Dr. Jeffress made some thought-provoking comments regarding the Rapture of the Church and what might be the attempted explanation for the millions of people instantaneously disappearing when Christ shouts, “Come up here!”

I have, myself, often waxed not-nearly-so-eloquently on that very topic, in sessions at churches and prophecy conferences across the nation and even out of the country. My firm belief, of course, is that we as a generation are in the times like they were in “the days of Lot” in Sodom, as forewarned by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

I have said and written frequently that I believe America might well have been the nation on the Lord’s mind when He gave the prophecy recorded in Luke 17:28–30:

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

The United State is the apex nation of history, in terms of human achievement and material wealth. This is in keeping with the biblical description of Sodom, where Lot lived. Sodom and Gomorrah were cities of greatest wealth.

Also like Sodom of Lot’s era, America is perhaps the most wicked geographical area of its time, exporting every sort of vileness, such as pornography, and embracing such evil as the murder of millions of children in their mothers’ wombs. Homosexuality is now at the heart of our nation, with LGBTQ, etc., ruling the roost under a presidential administration and leftist government that allow such Sodom-like behavior to bloom and control.

Thinking on the possible destruction effervescing on the day the thunderstorms were building to our west and listening to Dr. Jeffress talk about the coming destruction following the Rapture and the possible explanations for it, I considered a point I might have missed with regard to Jesus’ words about the days of Lot.

Dr. Jeffress conjectured that when the Rapture occurs, it could possibly be at a time of great catastrophe. That is, the Rapture could coincide with something such as nuclear war erupting at exactly the same moment, with missiles flying. This would provide those trying to explain the millions vanishing. For example, it might be said to be a physiological reaction and interaction within human bodies, with such unprecedented thermodynamics taking place.

I have believed and expressed that, like when Lot and his family were removed from Sodom by the angels, then Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed that very day, America, for example, will suffer great destruction when Christians leave in the Rapture. This scenario certainly seems to fit all things, like economy, societies, and everything else crashing at once and bringing a great cry for someone to rescue the world, to bring things back to the way there were before the destruction. This would be a perfect storm allowing Satan to bring his man of sin onto the stage of history.

Dr. Jeffress’ engendering the thought that the Rapture could take place during a great calamity caused me to consider Paul’s words as recorded in 2 Thessalonians 2. The prophecy tells us that God, Himself, will send “strong delusion” to those left behind after the Rapture. And God does that so all who wouldn’t accept His truth during this Age of Grace, and who will not do so following the great disappearance, will “believe a lie.”

The lie will no doubt include that the people who left were removed for reasons Antichrist and his regime will explain. We’ve examined before that UFOs might have a part in this great lie.

So, sudden destruction, like the sudden destruction of Sodom, certainly might take place at the same time the Church goes to be with Christ in the clouds of Glory.

Many of you might already have concluded this on your own, before my epiphany. But it’s an alteration, of sorts, to my thinking on these last of the last days.

It all fits better than my previous thoughts—that America, as one example, might suffer a more or less slow-motion collapse and eventual crash of the economy and of our national existence following the catching-up of the Church. Regardless, my original contention—that the Rapture will cause the great collapse of America and the world into chaos—remains unchanged. Dr. Jeffress’ TV presentation offers the real possibility, even the probability, that the great disappearance will take place at the same time of national and worldwide collapse in sudden destruction, exactly like in Jesus’ prophecy of Luke 17:28–30.

In any case, you don’t want to be on earth when whatever is going to happen happens. It will bring destruction far greater than any storm of nature one can imagine. Here is how to escape that coming time that will be like the day Lot and his family left Sodom and the city was obliterated. You can be within the safety of Christ’s arms forever, whether you’re entering Heaven through the portal of death or go to Him while you’re still alive at the time of the Rapture.

That if you will confess with your mouth the lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10: 9-10)

Many within the Pre-Trib Rapture belief camp understand that the Rapture is dealt with in Jesus’ Olivet Discourse. My dear friend, the late Dave Hunt, gave an excellent session on the subject, which he was assigned to address at a conference.

However, in his uncompromising, straight-ahead way of exposition, Dave changed the title of that session early on the morning of December, 1998, at the Pre-Trib Study Group gathering in Dallas from “Is the Rapture in the Olivet Discourse?” to “The Rapture Is in the Olivet Discourse.” He told us who were in attendance that he just couldn’t see how the Rapture of the Church was not in that tremendous prophetic teaching the Lord Himself gave as an answer to His disciples’ question: “What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world [age]?”

I have both the transcript and the audio of that session; they are treasures I pull out every once in a while to bolster my understanding of God’s Holy Word on the profound matters involved in the pre-Trib Rapture of believers.

Jesus, in the discourse, gave a number of signals that would be prevalent at the time of His return to earth in the Second Coming. Mixed within His description of coming back in the Second Advent was the first phase of that return to the earth.

The first things He said to look for were deception and deceivers. He went on to say there would be great upheaval among the populations of earth. There would be, He said, great ethnic strife.

He further said there would be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. There would be pestilences and an increase of earthquakes in many places, He said; eventually, these terrible things going on would get so frightening that people’s hearts would fail them when they look at what is coming their way.

He stated that the entire world of rebels against God and His order would increasingly come to hate both the disciples—who, of course, were Christians by this time—and the Jewish people. The people with reprobate minds (Romans 1:28) would think to kill both classes of those who are associated with God. For unbelieving Israel, the Jews of the seven-year Tribulation era, persecution by the one who will become Antichrist, the world’s final great dictator, would eventuate in the most terrible time in human history. It would be the same for those, both Jews and Gentiles, who will have accepted Christ for salvation during that horrendous time. Most of these would be martyred—many beheaded—for their belief. For those accepting Antichrist’s satanic mark (Revelation 13:16–18), the wrath and judgment of God would be even worse than for the martyred saints.

So we come to Luke 21:28. Jesus commanded all who are alive when these signals become obvious to do the following:

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

With this great commandment by the Lord Himself to look for these signals of His return in the first phase of His Second Advent–that is, when they begin to come to pass—we must consider whether we’re now witnessing the pre-Trib trigger points to the Rapture of the Church.

The things we’ve seen “coming to pass” for quite some time include the following:

• Deception in every direction we look. Just the political deception alone is in our faces daily. But the lies coming even from governmental institutions, attempting to change America into anti-God mindset, cannot be missed.
• The seas of humanity are roaring; there is great ethnic upheaval. Protests are no longer peaceful, but are turning into physical battles, especially among the young on the campuses of higher education. Much of this turmoil is being fomented by the very professors who are supposed to be teaching the young.
• The hatred of the Jews is on the rise as it was in the late 1930s of Nazi Germany, bringing to mind our Lord telling about the hatred that would eventuate. Zechariah’s words (Zechariah chapter 12) are being borne out. Israel and Jerusalem are becoming a “cup of trembling” and a “burdensome stone” for the entire world.
• Additionally, we see the stage being set for Antichrist controls once the Rapture takes the Church to Glory. Artificial intelligence, fused with demonically inspired acumen, will give Satan’s man of sin godlike powers in the eyes of those left behind on earth to suffer under Antichrist’s rule.
• And, of course, there is the unmistakable pre-Trib trigger point of looming globalism storming upon the world scene in preparation for that son of perdition. Antichrist will take over when the Restrainer resident within the Christians who are with the Lord in the Rapture no longer holds back evil. Antichrist’s dictatorship is even now in its late stage of development, as the following analysis indicates.

Planetary Emergency

Over the last couple years, the phrase “planetary emergency” has become increasingly used by the United Nations and aligned organizations to describe their belief that the planet is passing from various states of crisis to emergencies from which humanity might not return, unless drastic action is taken. We have even seen the release of opinion pieces calling for “a formal declaration of a ‘planetary emergency’ by the UN General Assembly at the Summit of the Future in September and the activation of an ‘emergency platform.’”

The calls for declaration of an emergency have also reached the White House. Last week, Bloomberg reported the Biden administration is considering declaring a climate emergency.

“White House officials have renewed discussions about potentially declaring a national climate emergency, an unprecedented step that could unlock federal powers to stifle oil development,” Bloomberg wrote.

White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez told Bloomberg that Biden “has treated the climate crisis as an emergency since day one.” (“UN 2.0 Coming This Fall—Setting the Stage for Global Government,” Derrick Broze, Activist Post, May 1, 2024)

All we must do is observe the anti-Semitism—the growing, worldwide hatred of Jews—to know we are very late in the final hours of this Age of Grace. I believe that soon Jews in America will become so fearful as to want to move to Israel, where God’s Word says all of Israel will eventually accept their Messiah. Now, of course, that means only the prophesied remnant of Israel will believe and be saved to go into the Millennium under the King of all kings. But the things that are coming against Jews of America at this very moment look to be something that will only grow worse in the prophetic sense. Likely this movement to Israel in total won’t happen until all Christians have gone to be with Christ. Few defenders of Israel will be left once the Rapture happens. And all the pre-Trib trigger points seem to be in place for that to occur very, very soon.

Whether Jew or Gentile, here is how to go to the Lord Jesus Christ when He calls all believers to Himself, thus fulfilling His promise of Revelation 3:10:

That if you will confess with your mouth the lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)

Radio talk show host Dan Bongino, as of late, has been declaring something to the effect: “There’s a spirit of some kind active in the world. I don’t know… Can’t say what it is… But it’s evil and has the world in turmoil…”

Bongino goes through all that’s going on daily, dealing mostly with politics but including deep dives into cultural issues and the insanity he sees happening. He attributes it to some spirit –a zeitgeist of this strange time– in which everything is upside-down – filled with evil.

He has claimed many times on air to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord, all the while a Catholic. And I don’t doubt he is a true believer. This is not to judge him in this matter but rather to point to the fact that he does seem to have at least some insight into what the evil might entail that he and others believe they observe and sense is going on in this world.

Bongino says consistently that many express to him they sense the same existent of an evil spiritual influence that is taking humanity down a destructive pathway. And this is what I would like to try to address in this commentary –thus the title Assessing the Antichrist spirit.

John, the apostle who was perhaps closest to Jesus in brotherly relationship while the Lord was in physical flesh on Earth, was inspired to write the following.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 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” (1 John 4:1-3).

That evil spirit that concerns Mr. Bongino and many of his friends and colleagues is made manifest by John’s Holy Spirit-inspired revelation. The spirit of Antichrist is as prevalent as in the apostle’s time of writing about it.

Bongino says that wickedness he senses is “spiritual.” I don’t believe he knows that it is of the same “spirit” or spirituality of which John forewarned, however. Like so many secularists, he sees it as some spirit of the age, a zeitgeist ideological force from the human intellect that bubbles up from time to time to come against human rationality and interaction.

The evil within humanity, I think he and others of the non-Holy-Spirit-influenced mind believe, is born out of those among us who want all others to come under their self-centered control. These seem to think it is out of some form of mental illness –a psychosis of some inexplicable description—that sets in motion the insanity that desires to inflict authoritarian madness.

They are not far from wrong about it being an illness. It is a spiritual illness, the same disease that its first infected carrier deliberately accepted in place of God’s Perfect Order. Lucifer’s 5 “I wills” of Isaiah chapter 14 have brought forth the iniquity infecting and affecting the human race since he looked admiringly at himself into that mirror of iniquity.

Here are a few news excerpts of proof that the Antichrist spirit wafts wickedly as ever among today’s inhabitants of Earth.

Haiti warlord ‘Barbecue’ orders gangs to ‘burn every house you find’ & storm presidential palace amid bloody coup fears. HAITI’S capital has been rocked by a fresh wave of violence as warlord Barbecue ordered his thug army to “burn every house you find.”…

Ben Bergquam Reports: Columbia Professors Come Out in Force to Support of Anti-Israel Protesters – Refuse to Condemn Hamas Killers…

Pro-Palestinian, Anti-Israel Protests Spread to Yale, UMichigan, NYU, and Across America. Several days of protests, assaults on Jewish students, and chaos at Columbia University in New York City have now spread to other American college campuses…

‘This Is 1938’: Dozens Arrested At Yale, Columbia Pauses In-person Classes Amid Rising Anti-Semitism…

PARENTAL WARNING: Popular Kids TV Show Introducing “Lesbian Moms.” If you’re a parent or grandparent, you probably know about the kids TV show “Bluey”… Since its debut in 2018, Bluey has become a critically acclaimed show, gaining popularity worldwide after its addition to Disney+ in 2019. So what do you do when you’re widely loved by parents and children alike? You use that fame to push the LGBTQ agenda, of course!…

WATCH: Houston Police Union Issues Warning That the Texas City is ‘Not Safe’ as ‘Many Suspected Murderers’ Are Walking the Streets. The Houston Police Officers’ Union has issued a warning that the Texas city is “not safe” and “many suspected murderers and capital murderers” are walking the streets on bonds.

The spirit of Antichrist is most observable at this moment through rising anti-Semitism. Satan’s hatred for the people God calls “chosen” is an Ephesians 6:12 globalist agenda thrust from every direction upon the horizon of Prophetic progression. The so-called intellectual institutions of America –the elite higher education institutions– are particularly a collective focal point in considering just how powerfully influential is that spirit that will ultimately eventuate in the worst tyrant of all human history inflicting death and destruction upon humanity of the Tribulation era.

Assessing the spirit of Antichrist at this moment leaves no other conclusion. The world is on the very edge of that man of sin, the son of perdition, the Antichrist himself being almost ready to step from the shadows of obscurity and onto the stage of man’s final years leading to Christ’s Second Coming.

You can avoid facing that hideous creature from the Abyss by doing the following –thus going to Jesus Christ when He calls believers to Himself in the Rapture.

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

–Terry