Pastor John MacArthur has warned that the world is now "perfectly suited for the Antichrist" to come.
MacArthur, who is the senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California highlighted the Coronavirus pandemic, and the global chaos that has ensued as creating the perfect environment for the Antichrist's arrival.
The pastor said this week, "Now we are a global world. And that is a setup that we've been waiting for through redemptive history since the Lord promised that there would come, in the future, an Antichrist who would have a global government."
"We literally have such power over people globally that we can shut them down so they can't function," he said. "This suits the world of Antichrist. As you look at the book of Revelation, there's the mark of the beast, the number, and if you don't have that, you don't buy, you don't sell, you don't exist.
"Everything about you, they know — the people who have access to all your data. They know all of it. You can go out of existence virtually any moment [and] somebody decides that.
"This is the kind of world that appears to be perfectly suited for the Antichrist to come, bring a certain amount of peace, [and] the world falls at his feet."
Pastor MacArthur added, "And of course, all hell breaks loose, and in that time of the Great Tribulation, God's judgment comes, at the end of which Christ returns."
He continued, "The Bible says in the End Times there will be lawlessness. And there is lawlessness [today] and an escalating lawlessness and an effort to create more lawlessness by taking restraints away.
"This is a world that could find itself in such absolute chaos that the right satanic leader who promises to fix everything could be given the title of king of the world. That Antichrist, aided by the false prophet, is what we see in the book of Revelation.
"We have the kind of weaponry that could destroy a third of the population, a fourth of the population, as you see in the book of Revelation.
"We have the kind of technology that can literally erase people out of existence. So, it's just up to us to be sure that we're looking at the signs of the times."
Pastor MacArthur's church has clashed with local authorities after it was decided the church would continue in-person services, despite California public health and court orders to the contrary.
Speaking out against threats of fines and even imprisonment for violating Covid-19 restrictions, MacArthur said, "If they want to tuck me into jail, I'm open for a jail ministry. I've done a lot of other ministries and haven't had the opportunity to do that one. So bring it on."
