There's an interesting phrase in Luke 1:17: that John the Baptist came “…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
And scripture indeed attests that when Jesus came, the hearts of those who had responded to John’s message were ready to hear and respond to Jesus, The Truth.
We know satan loves to imitate God’s ways. Could it be that in the run-up to his greatest spiritual counterfeit he is “preparing a people” for the Anti-Christ: a people whose hearts have been made ready to hear and accept satan’s ultimate Lie ?
Jesus’ hallmark teaching in Matthew 24 about “the end of the age” and His return REPEATEDLY warns His people not be “misled” by, or “believe,” or “follow,” the increasing crowd of deceivers active at that time (an increase we see around us today). And it's certain those who don't heed Jesus' warning will end up misled by the deceivers: and fully prepared to receive satan’s Lie incarnate, the Anti-Christ ?
Many Christians study prophecy in the thought that they’ll be able to recognize Anti-Christ when he comes, and reject him. But I think we have to consider the possibility that some, “even the elect,” may have so thoroughly trained their hearts to believe the lies of Anti-Christ’s “forerunners” (such as those we have today) that they’ll be completely PREPARED to accept satan’s counterfeit “Messiah"...and unable to reject him.
"Unable" because God Himself will set the full force of His Own spiritually-determinative power against them:
"...because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved...God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false." II Thessalonians 2:10,11
I beg all who read this to Always LOVE The Truth, and FOLLOW The Truth. Amen !!