1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Let's go ahead and open up to Revelation chapter 13. 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,200 Revelation chapter 13. 3 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:16,520 It's hard to believe that. 4 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,080 We're already in the 13th chapter. 5 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:21,840 It feels like we just started, huh? 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:27,920 Check, check. 7 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:28,740 Oh, that is on. 8 00:00:28,740 --> 00:00:29,720 Okay, sweet. 9 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:31,600 Sorry for everybody watching online. 10 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:35,440 All right, Revelation chapter 13. 11 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:36,720 As we start this chapter, 12 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:38,500 it's really important for us to remember 13 00:00:38,500 --> 00:00:40,820 how the last chapter ended. 14 00:00:40,820 --> 00:00:42,160 So if you have your Bibles there, 15 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:45,520 make sure you look at the end of Revelation chapter 12 16 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,640 and just pay attention to specifically verse 16, 17 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,040 where it says that the earth came to the help of the woman 18 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:55,960 and the earth opened its mouth 19 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:57,040 and swallowed up the river 20 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,680 that the dragon had poured from his mouth, verse 17. 21 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,080 Then the dragon became furious with the woman 22 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,980 and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring 23 00:01:06,980 --> 00:01:10,000 and on those who keep the commandments of God 24 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:12,120 and hold to the testimony of Jesus. 25 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:13,920 And then here's the important part. 26 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,640 And he stood on the sand of the sea. 27 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:21,440 Now, we said that he's standing on the edge of the sea 28 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,720 because he's anticipating calling an ally from the sea. 29 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:26,560 So it makes sense. 30 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,120 He's standing there on the edge of the sea 31 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,440 and he is about to call forth an ally from the sea 32 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,360 to help him as he wars against God and his people. 33 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,040 It's a really dramatic scene. 34 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,840 It seems almost like something out of 35 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,000 like a Marvel movie these days. 36 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:45,560 You know, you've got this dramatic bad guy 37 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:46,640 rising up out of the sand. 38 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:48,920 I mean, it was actually in a Marvel movie recently. 39 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:53,360 There was, I think it was Black Panther II. 40 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:55,400 The big bad guy was Namor. 41 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:56,540 If you don't know who Namor is, 42 00:01:56,540 --> 00:01:58,800 he's just Marvel's version of Aquaman, right? 43 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,080 So he's got all Aquaman's powers. 44 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:03,880 And there's one scene where all the Atlanteans 45 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,360 are charging Wakanda, they're waging war. 46 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:08,720 And in the height of the battle, 47 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,920 you just have this really slow dramatic scene 48 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:14,120 of Namor rising out of the sea. 49 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:15,920 And it's like, oh no, here's the big bad. 50 00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:17,720 He's about to put an end to all this stuff 51 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:18,920 going on right now. 52 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:22,400 And that's what you get here in Revelation 13. 53 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:23,840 You have this dramatic scene. 54 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,600 There's this war going on that we're reading about 55 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:28,760 that's ongoing here on earth. 56 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,120 And then very slowly and dramatically, 57 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:35,680 here comes this big bad guy rising out of the sea 58 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,280 to come and help wage war against God and His people. 59 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:40,440 And I want you to notice what it says, 60 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:42,760 beginning in verse one of chapter 13. 61 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:48,120 It says, and I saw a beast rising out of the sea 62 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,920 with 10 horns and seven heads, 63 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:55,240 with 10 diadems on its horns and blasphemous names 64 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:56,920 on its heads. 65 00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:00,580 Now, there's some people who we've said before, 66 00:03:00,580 --> 00:03:02,560 they like to interpret the book of Revelation 67 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,360 literally the entire way through, right? 68 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,560 So they've been trained that you just read the Bible 69 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,040 the same way, no matter which book of the Bible you're in, 70 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,300 which doesn't always work, because I tell you all the time, 71 00:03:14,300 --> 00:03:17,080 you should always interpret the Bible literally 72 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:19,800 when it's meant to be interpreted literally. 73 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:22,760 So for instance, when the Bible says God has wings, 74 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,880 do we need to interpret that literally? 75 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,360 No, that's poetic language, we get that, right? 76 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,240 And so when you come to a passage like this, 77 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,160 it's not necessary to interpret it literally. 78 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:34,840 And for those who would, I would just say, 79 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:36,200 maybe stop going to the beach 80 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:37,720 and taking vacations to the beach, 81 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:42,080 because at any point a beast could come from the sea 82 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:43,440 and start waging war on you. 83 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,080 So it doesn't need to be interpreted literally. 84 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,160 And in fact, the first readers of Revelation, 85 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,800 they would not have interpreted this literally. 86 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,480 You have to remember that these were people who were steeped 87 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,000 in the writings of the Old Testament. 88 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,600 And in Hebrew thought, as we've said last time 89 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:01,800 we were together, in Hebrew thought, 90 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:06,800 the sea was the place of chaos and evil. 91 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,920 In other words, the sea was the place that gave birth 92 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,600 to all forms of chaos and evil here on earth. 93 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,240 So when John told them about a beast rising from the sea, 94 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,120 they naturally would have understood that 95 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,440 to mean that something evil and menacing 96 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,320 was coming into this world. 97 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,080 And they would be right, right? 98 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:28,880 Yeah, absolutely they'd be right. 99 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,520 Notice this, the beast is connected to the dragon 100 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:33,920 that we read about in chapter 12. 101 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:35,200 Y'all remember the dragon? 102 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,280 He is Satan, that ancient serpent. 103 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:39,640 And he's connected to him by their similarities. 104 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,200 Notice this, you look at the description of the dragon 105 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,600 in Revelation 12, 3, and then the description of the beast 106 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:48,440 in Revelation 13, 1. 107 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,040 And you'll notice that both of them have 10 horns, 108 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:56,560 they both have seven heads, and they both wear diadems. 109 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:01,560 However, whereas the dragon wears the diadems on its head, 110 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,440 the beast wears them on his horns. 111 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:05,400 So there's a difference there. 112 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:08,080 The dragon has the crown on his head, 113 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,280 the beast has the crowns on his horns, 114 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:13,880 and some have understood this rightly, I think, 115 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:18,880 to mean that the dragon is the king of the evil empire, 116 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,960 and the beast is the military arm of the evil empire. 117 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,040 In other words, it's through the beast 118 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,840 that the dragon wages war against God and his people. 119 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:33,880 And I want you to notice how John is describing the beast 120 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:35,280 as he rises out of the water. 121 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:37,320 We're gonna pay attention to this very closely 122 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,080 because you'll notice he starts with the heads, right? 123 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:44,560 He's got all these heads and horns and things like that. 124 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:46,640 And that's exactly what you would see first 125 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:48,880 if something was rising out of the water, right? 126 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,960 You would first see its head, or in this case, many heads. 127 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:55,480 So he's literally depicting this thing coming out of water 128 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,520 and he's describing it as he sees it, first as the head, 129 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:01,960 and then he goes on to describe the rest of the beast 130 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:03,960 as it continues to rise. 131 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,320 And it's interesting that the beast is also similar 132 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:10,600 to the four beasts that we read about in the book of. 133 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,280 We're gonna make me do the whole, come on now. 134 00:06:24,280 --> 00:06:25,920 Daniel, there we go. 135 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,280 I was thinking, how am I gonna do that stall though? 136 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:31,240 Anyways, the book of Daniel, good job guys. 137 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,360 I just wanted to see me try to spell out all the letters, 138 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:34,200 right? 139 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,960 So Daniel, and Daniel chapter seven 140 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:39,280 talks about four different beasts, 141 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:43,280 and ultimately it's representing four kingdoms 142 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:45,520 that are gonna rise to power, 143 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:49,480 but ultimately they are supplanted by the kingdom of God. 144 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,040 The kingdom of God will triumph over all. 145 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:53,800 And you look at this and you have to notice 146 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,440 that the heads, the horns, and the diadems of the beast 147 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:02,440 symbolize that he is coming with power and rule and authority. 148 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,320 But here's an important distinction. 149 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,920 Whereas Daniel's four beasts that he mentioned 150 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,120 refer to four literal kingdoms to come, 151 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,840 the beast of Revelation chapter 13 152 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,440 represents the persecuting power of Satan 153 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,560 embodied in all nations and governments 154 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:23,240 throughout human history. 155 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:27,200 In other words, Satan's power becomes visible in the beast. 156 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,520 And I want you to notice what it says here about him. 157 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,880 In the end of verse one it says that he has 158 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,360 blasphemous names on its head. 159 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,280 It's a reference to the false claims of nations and rulers 160 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:42,360 throughout all of human history 161 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,400 who have tried to claim for themselves 162 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,000 what is meant only for Christ. 163 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:50,320 That's what it means when it says that he has 164 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,400 blasphemous names on his head. 165 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:55,440 For instance, in the first century, 166 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,080 and even beyond then, the Roman emperors had titles 167 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:04,080 such as Lord, Savior, Son of God, and Lord God. 168 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:10,480 And the Roman emperors made people worship them as gods 169 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,480 and offer sacrifices to them as gods. 170 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:16,880 Those are blasphemous names. 171 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:17,720 Do what? 172 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,360 Yeah, he was a crazy guy. 173 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,720 He was absolutely loony. 174 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,000 Yeah, he went into the temple and he did a whole bunch 175 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,800 of stuff that he should not have done 176 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:29,800 in the temple. 177 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,480 I believe it was a Caligula who put the shields 178 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,520 with the emperor's face, yeah, put shields 179 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:38,880 with the emperor's face in the temple, 180 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:40,680 and that was a big no-no. 181 00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:42,920 And he thought, oh man, Caesar's gonna be really happy 182 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:44,800 with me because I did all this. 183 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,520 And turns out that was not the right move at all 184 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:48,920 because that made the Jews angry, 185 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:53,080 and so that caused all sorts of problems for him as well. 186 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:57,400 But notice that these emperors had placed upon themselves 187 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,720 names that led people away from the one true God 188 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,840 and tried to get them to worship and submit to a false God. 189 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,680 Now you might think, well, okay, that was first century Rome. 190 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:11,640 Good thing we don't see that anymore today, right? 191 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:14,720 I feel like we mentioned these guys a lot 192 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:16,840 in our study of Revelation, but it's just 193 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:18,640 because it's so fitting. 194 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:19,840 Think about North Korea. 195 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:23,600 Think about the Kim dynasty. 196 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:25,840 The Kim dynasty in North Korea, 197 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,160 they are literally deified. 198 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,840 They portray themselves as being gods, 199 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,680 and you are supposed to worship them as gods 200 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:38,360 and believe that they are deity. 201 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,480 So there's a human ruler who has placed 202 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,320 blasphemous names upon himself. 203 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:46,840 What is that except the spirit of the beast? 204 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,160 So yeah, the beast was present and active 205 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,040 in first century Rome, but you have to understand, 206 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,680 the beast is still present and active today. 207 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:57,040 The spirit of the beast is at work in the world today. 208 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,000 Now again, the people of God, when they read this, 209 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,720 they would have said, well, the beast is Rome. 210 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:04,040 Would they have been right? 211 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,800 Yeah, absolutely, the beast was Rome. 212 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:12,400 The beast was, the spirit of the beast was at work in Rome, 213 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,280 but the spirit of the beast continues 214 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,600 throughout all of human history. 215 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,480 Every nation and ruler and king and authority 216 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,040 who seeks to take the place of God 217 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:29,040 has the spirit of the beast at work in him and his country. 218 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:31,720 But I want you to notice how the description continues. 219 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:32,720 Look at verse two. 220 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:38,120 The Bible says, and the beast that I saw was like a leopard, 221 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:40,080 its feet were like a bear's, 222 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,000 and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. 223 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,560 And to it, the dragon gave his power 224 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:48,120 and his throne and great authority. 225 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,640 Now, the important thing for you to just make a note of here 226 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:54,000 and write down for later study 227 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,560 is that the three animals mentioned here 228 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:59,720 are the exact three that Daniel mentions 229 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:03,400 in Daniel chapter seven when he sees the four beasts. 230 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,560 And so the point is to connect them, 231 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:08,320 but also to show that it is the dragon 232 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:12,480 who is imparted to these beasts, power and authority, 233 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:14,080 and the ability to rule. 234 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,360 But then something very interesting happens. 235 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,800 Look at verse three, this is the really interesting thing. 236 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:24,800 It says, one of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, 237 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:28,080 but its mortal wound was healed 238 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:33,080 and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 239 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:35,680 Now, I posted about this earlier, 240 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:38,680 so at least Edith has seen it, 241 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:40,240 but it might be a surprise for the rest of you, 242 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:42,840 but there's a lot of fun word play going on here 243 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:47,000 in this verse that is hidden in English. 244 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,040 And this is why you should all learn Greek 245 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:50,120 and I'd be happy to teach you. 246 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:54,280 But really important to focus on a few words here, 247 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,320 because the whole point of this verse 248 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:02,320 is the Bible is portraying the beast as a counterfeit Christ. 249 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:04,480 That's the whole point. 250 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:06,920 The beast is being portrayed as a counterfeit Christ. 251 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:07,960 You might be thinking, well, 252 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,320 how is that possible here in this verse? 253 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,760 Well, if you circle words in your Bible, 254 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:17,400 you could circle the word wound in that verse in particular. 255 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:19,760 It's a really interesting word. 256 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,560 Basically what this is trying to do in this verse 257 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:27,560 is the beast is going to seek to mimic and imitate Jesus 258 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,760 so as to lead people away from Jesus. 259 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:33,120 And I want you to notice a few things. 260 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,680 The Bible says in Revelation 1912 261 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:40,680 that Jesus has a royal diadem that he wears. 262 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:42,680 What's the beast wearing here? 263 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:45,920 Royal diadem. 264 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:47,560 So he's imitating Christ. 265 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:50,560 The Bible also says in Revelation 1912 266 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:55,560 that Jesus has a name, a worthy name, written on him. 267 00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,120 And what does it say about the beast here? 268 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:01,040 He's got blasphemous names written on him. 269 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,120 So he's, again, imitating Jesus. 270 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,560 The Bible tells us in Revelation chapter seven 271 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:11,600 that Jesus saves people from every tribe, tongue, nation 272 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:12,440 and language. 273 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:15,400 And chapter 13, verse seven is gonna go on to say 274 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:17,240 that the beast has authority over people 275 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:21,120 from every tribe, tongue, nation and language. 276 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:22,880 Jesus is worshiped as God. 277 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,440 And the Bible tells us here in Revelation 13.4 278 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:27,960 that the beast gets people to worship him 279 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:29,640 as though he was God. 280 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,080 And so you see every single place so far is saying, 281 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:37,240 here is Jesus and here's this counterfeit. 282 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:39,200 Which one are you going to follow? 283 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,920 Which one are you going to give your worship to? 284 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,400 But then as I said, what really is interesting here 285 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,120 that you don't get to see in English 286 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,840 is this idea of the mortal wound on the head. 287 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:53,840 It says that the beast has this mortal wound on his head 288 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,880 and is ultimately healed and people marvel at the beast. 289 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:02,360 And what this is, is actually he is seeking to imitate 290 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,600 the death and resurrection of Jesus 291 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,000 so that people will worship him as God. 292 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,000 As I told you to do, circle that word wound 293 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,080 because the word used there for wound 294 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,080 is the Greek word sphozo. 295 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,680 And it's already been used in Revelation. 296 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:22,840 Except the first time it was used in Revelation, 297 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:25,080 it was used for Jesus. 298 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,520 In Revelation 5.6, the Bible says, 299 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:30,800 in between the throne and the four living creatures 300 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:35,520 and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing 301 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:40,520 as though it had been sphozo, slain. 302 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:46,800 The word used for slain there is the exact same word used 303 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,640 to describe the beast's mortal wound that is upon his head. 304 00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:56,400 Just as Jesus was slain, so too the beast was slain. 305 00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:00,800 Furthermore, Revelation 13.14 says this about the beast. 306 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:04,840 And by the signs that it is allowed to work 307 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:06,080 in the presence of the beast, 308 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,320 it deceives those who dwell on the earth, 309 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:10,880 telling them to make an image for the beast 310 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:15,880 that was wounded sphozo by the sword and yet lived. 311 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,880 Now, if you circle words in your Bible, go to verse 14 312 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:21,720 and circle the word wounded 313 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,960 and also circle the phrase, yet lived. 314 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:26,560 That's a really important phrase there, 315 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:31,320 that the phrase, yet lived, it's a xio in Greek. 316 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:34,040 And this is virtually identical 317 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,000 to what is said of Jesus in Revelation 2.8. 318 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:41,680 The Bible says, into the angel of the church in Smyrna, right, 319 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,720 the words of the first and the last, 320 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:49,720 who died and xio came to life. 321 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,760 The exact same phrase is used in the Greek. 322 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:57,680 It's the same word for saying the beast, yet lived, 323 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:02,120 is the exact same word as saying Jesus came to life. 324 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,040 In the Greek, they are identical. 325 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,200 So do you see what it's doing here? 326 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:11,480 Everything that has already been said about Jesus, 327 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:13,760 they're now saying about the beast, 328 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,760 because the beast is seeking to imitate Jesus. 329 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:22,280 He is portraying himself as though he were Christ, 330 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,960 because he wants to lead people to him rather than Christ. 331 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:28,800 He is a counterfeit Christ. 332 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,360 And just to really bring this full circle, 333 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:33,000 I don't know if you paid attention to this 334 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:34,280 or thought about this. 335 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,880 It says that the beast has this mortal wound. 336 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,980 Where's the mortal wound on its head? 337 00:16:40,980 --> 00:16:43,020 Why is the mortal wound on its head? 338 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:46,920 Anybody think about that? 339 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:52,880 Yes, absolutely. 340 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,320 Genesis 3.15, the Bible says, 341 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,080 I will put enmity between you and the woman 342 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,480 and between your offspring and her offspring, 343 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:04,360 and he shall bruise your head, 344 00:17:04,360 --> 00:17:05,720 and you shall bruise his heel. 345 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:10,720 And so at the cross, Jesus crushed the head of Satan. 346 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,320 And so Satan's empire was crushed, 347 00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:19,640 but God allows Satan to continue here on earth 348 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:21,200 until the appointed time, 349 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:23,580 where he will be thrown into the lake of fire 350 00:17:23,580 --> 00:17:24,840 for all of eternity. 351 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:26,760 Where he will not rule, by the way, 352 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,040 contrary to movies and TV shows, 353 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:33,320 Satan will suffer just as everyone else suffers in hell. 354 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:34,640 And so the Bible is saying here, 355 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,360 it looked as though he had this mortal wound 356 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:41,440 that was sure to kill him and put it into him, 357 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,520 but yet Satan continues on in the world today. 358 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,680 He's still active in the world today. 359 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:50,220 The beast is still active in the world today. 360 00:17:50,220 --> 00:17:52,720 You still see evil all over the place today. 361 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,960 And so this is enough to make people look at Satan 362 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,640 and the beast in their evil kingdom 363 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,760 and go, well, hey, he deserves my worship. 364 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:04,640 Not even God can defeat him. 365 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,640 And this is exactly what's led to satanism in our world 366 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:11,280 and satanic cults. 367 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,040 I mean, as a Christian, that never made sense to me. 368 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:17,120 I'm like, why on earth would people worship Satan? 369 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:20,840 He was created by God. 370 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:22,200 He was defeated by God, 371 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:24,000 but the reason is because they say, 372 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,340 well, he's clearly still active today. 373 00:18:26,340 --> 00:18:28,200 They say, I've talked to demons. 374 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:29,560 I've communicated with them. 375 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:31,040 We know that Satan is real. 376 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,520 We know that he's active and he is still alive today. 377 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,280 And so if God himself could not even kill Satan, 378 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:41,320 then maybe Satan deserves my worship rather than God. 379 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,680 And so they've turned to satanism and satanic cults. 380 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:49,880 And you see, that's exactly what happens in verse four. 381 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:54,200 It says that the people behold that this wound was healed 382 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:56,680 and they worship the dragon, 383 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:58,520 for he had given his authority to the beast 384 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:02,600 and they worship the beast saying, who is like the beast? 385 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,480 And who can fight against it? 386 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,160 That's exactly the satanist's response today. 387 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:08,520 Who can defeat this guy? 388 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:09,360 He's awesome. 389 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:11,080 Let's worship him. 390 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,300 And listen, it's not even just satanists. 391 00:19:14,300 --> 00:19:16,360 You might think this is something you'll never come across 392 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:17,600 because you're like, I don't know anybody 393 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:18,800 in a satanic cult. 394 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:20,400 I've encountered this personally 395 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:21,940 when I was working at Lowes. 396 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:24,880 I was working with a guy 397 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:26,440 and we were having a conversation one day. 398 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:30,120 I still remember, it used to be aisle 39 back then, 399 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:32,480 the rug aisle, I don't know what it is today, 400 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:33,920 but we were putting away rugs 401 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,360 and he just out of the blue said to me, 402 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:38,320 evil is stronger than love 403 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:43,440 because you see more evil in the world than love. 404 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,080 I was like, well, that doesn't mean it's more powerful 405 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,380 or stronger, it just means it spreads quicker like a disease. 406 00:19:51,380 --> 00:19:55,240 And he said, well, your Bible tells us 407 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:59,400 that Satan is the reason there's so much evil in this world. 408 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:04,280 And I see more evidence of his work than God's work. 409 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:07,480 And so it seems to me that he's more powerful than your God. 410 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:11,400 He's not a satanist. 411 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,080 He's just an onlooker seeing what's going on in the world 412 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,040 today and he's saying the exact same thing 413 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:18,840 that the people are saying here. 414 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:20,000 Look at the beast. 415 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:22,860 Who can fight against him? 416 00:20:22,860 --> 00:20:25,320 How wonderful he is. 417 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,280 You see, this is why this passage matters. 418 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:30,920 You have to remember the whole purpose 419 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,240 of the book of Revelation is to get us to see, 420 00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:39,240 to open our eyes to the unfolding of Revelation all around us. 421 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:41,920 In other words, this isn't just stuff 422 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,400 that all happened in AD 70. 423 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:46,760 If you think that Revelation is just all about 424 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:49,880 what happened in AD 70, you're mistaken. 425 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:51,360 If you think it's all about something 426 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:53,960 that's gonna happen in the far all future, 427 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:55,000 you're mistaken. 428 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,120 Some of this happened in AD 70. 429 00:20:57,120 --> 00:20:59,160 Some of it's gonna happen in the future. 430 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:00,640 But let me tell you something, folks. 431 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,200 It's happening all around us right now. 432 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,880 You see the unfolding of the book of Revelation 433 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,600 in our midst today. 434 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:12,000 People today are being swayed by the deceptions 435 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,280 of the counterfeit Christ. 436 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:16,200 They are being drawn to him. 437 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:17,200 They're worshiping him. 438 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:18,400 They're following him. 439 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,240 They're marveling at his power. 440 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,080 They're submitting to his authority. 441 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,520 And they are seeking to live their lives 442 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:29,520 in accordance with his will rather than the will of God. 443 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,120 And this beast, he demands total allegiance. 444 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:34,840 I want you to look at verses five through eight. 445 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,000 It says, 446 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:38,040 And the beast was given a mouth uttering 447 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,960 haughty and blasphemous words. 448 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:45,400 And it was allowed to exercise authority for 42 months. 449 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,400 It opened his mouth to utter blasphemies against God, 450 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,160 blaspheming his name and his dwelling. 451 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,480 That is, those who dwell in heaven. 452 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:55,520 Also, it was allowed to make war on the saints 453 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:56,880 and to conquer them. 454 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,120 And authority was given it over every tribe 455 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:00,640 and people in language and nation. 456 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,240 And all who dwell on earth will worship it. 457 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,720 Everyone whose name has not been written 458 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:10,120 before the foundation of the world 459 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:13,880 and the book of the life of the lamb who was slain. 460 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:18,520 You see, the beast is not satisfied with appalls 461 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:19,600 or admiration. 462 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:24,480 He demands worship and total allegiance from all people 463 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:27,000 in every corner of the earth. 464 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,640 And understanding this really helps us to identify 465 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,160 the spirit of the beast in our world today. 466 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:38,800 Anytime people begin to look to something other than Jesus 467 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,640 as the solution for everything in life, 468 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:46,640 they are being drawn by the spirit of the beast today. 469 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,880 Many people do this with governments. 470 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,320 There are even some in our own country 471 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:57,320 who look to the government as the solution 472 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,320 for everything in life. 473 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,960 If you've got a problem, the state is the answer. 474 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,520 A guy I really respect, a theologian and philosopher, 475 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,000 Vern Poitras said this. 476 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:16,080 He said that Satan wants people to look to the state 477 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:17,680 as if it were the Messiah. 478 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,400 When the government is set forth as the remedy 479 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,680 for all ills, economic, social, medical, moral, 480 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,480 and even spiritual, then the idolatry of the state 481 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,200 usurps the place reserved for God alone. 482 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:35,960 And you don't need me to say this to you, 483 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:37,720 but I will anyways. 484 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:42,240 The state is not the answer for the problems we face in life. 485 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:47,480 No matter what issue we face, 486 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,480 we need to understand that the underlying cause 487 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,040 of all our problems in the world is sin. 488 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,640 And sin is a heart issue. 489 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:00,160 And again, you don't need me to tell you this, 490 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:01,480 but I'm going to. 491 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:05,440 The government can do nothing to fix a heart issue. 492 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,880 They can put a bandaid on the problem of sin, 493 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,960 but they cannot heal the problem of sin. 494 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:16,760 I mean, for instance, the state, they may condemn racism 495 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,680 and they may say racism's wrong 496 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,040 and they may even try to offer a few solutions 497 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:22,960 about how to solve racism, 498 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:27,280 but the problem is racism is a sin problem. 499 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,760 And it comes from a heart issue 500 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,240 and the state cannot fix a heart. 501 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:33,600 Only Jesus can. 502 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,480 And so if you want to solve racism in the United States, 503 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,760 you do not turn to a president or a government, 504 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,160 you turn to Jesus. 505 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:44,920 That's the only way racism's getting solved in this country, 506 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:46,280 which is why people need the gospel, 507 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:47,840 not another social program. 508 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,600 That's another sermon for another day. 509 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:52,080 The state may think the best way 510 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,080 to make people feel included and accepted 511 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:59,160 is by approving and promoting the LGBT agenda, 512 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,800 which they do, by the way. 513 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:05,360 But let me remind you that sin needs to be confronted, 514 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:07,040 not accepted. 515 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:08,280 That's the problem. 516 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,800 Our world doesn't want to call sin sin. 517 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,520 They want to accept every form of sin. 518 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,720 And so they say, if we can just get everybody to accept it, 519 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:17,960 we'll be on the same page and we'll all get along. 520 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,200 Sin must be confronted, not accepted. 521 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,280 It was sin that sent Jesus to the cross 522 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:25,840 and nailed him there. 523 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:30,280 How dare we as a people accept and approve of something 524 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,040 that killed our savior? 525 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,560 This is why we're not lax on sin. 526 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:40,240 People may say, well, you're a bigot. 527 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,440 You're too hard on sin. 528 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:43,280 It's not popular. 529 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:44,160 I understand that. 530 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,720 You're not going to be popular taking a stand for God. 531 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:51,400 But how dare we as God's people be cowardly and refuse 532 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:56,720 to condemn the very sin that nailed Jesus to the cross? 533 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,320 God help us all if we do that. 534 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:02,000 Many people today, they do this also with candidates 535 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,640 for presidents. 536 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:09,160 Many people think, if my God got elected, 537 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:10,520 all the problems would be solved. 538 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:15,800 We have this bad habit today of thinking 539 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:17,920 that the next presidential candidate 540 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:23,520 is going to be a messiah who saves our country. 541 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:25,240 And I'll just say this to you now. 542 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,720 I don't know who you're voting for. 543 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,680 You vote however you want to. 544 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:31,720 Your guy is not going to save this country. 545 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:39,080 He is not worthy of that level of submission. 546 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:43,080 And he is not worthy of that expectation. 547 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:46,880 You cannot put something on a human candidate that 548 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:49,440 is only meant for Jesus. 549 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:53,360 So if you find yourself given allegiance to a candidate 550 00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:56,160 in such a way that he is the solution to all the problems, 551 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,160 my friends, that's being drawn away 552 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:00,000 by the spirit of the beast. 553 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,080 That's turning away from the true Jesus. 554 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,000 I was incredibly disheartened by this 555 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:06,320 when we went to Indianapolis. 556 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,480 I kid you not, we went outside on lunch 557 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,360 during the second day we were there. 558 00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:16,640 And we were on our way to a lunch at one of the hotels. 559 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,040 And there are some protesters outside, 560 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,520 which you get used to because at every annual meeting, 561 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:22,520 there's protesters. 562 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:24,960 And it was mostly women this time saying, 563 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,200 silencing women is silencing God and things like that. 564 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,840 And they had their bull horns and TikTok videos and stuff. 565 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:35,200 But there was one guy who was there on the corner, 566 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:40,000 and he had this huge, I mean, huge banner. 567 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:43,240 And it said, Trump is the Messiah. 568 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,360 He is the second coming. 569 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:50,840 Go watch this YouTube video that proves it. 570 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:55,440 I wish I was making that up. 571 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:57,360 That'd be a great preacher story to make up. 572 00:27:57,360 --> 00:27:59,440 You can ask Jordan, it's 100% true. 573 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:02,000 And he wasn't doing it as a joke. 574 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,360 That guy was out there and he legitimately believed 575 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:09,840 that Donald Trump was the second coming of Jesus Christ. 576 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,840 Folks, again, you vote for whoever you want to. 577 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,120 I can't tell you otherwise. 578 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:18,760 I'm telling you, no matter if your guy is Trump 579 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:22,280 or Biden or anyone else, they aren't Jesus. 580 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:28,280 And they do not deserve your submission and your worship 581 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,760 that should be only reserved for Christ. 582 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,320 Presidential candidates cannot save you. 583 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,480 Christ alone is the answer. 584 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,600 He is the solution for all the problems we face in life. 585 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:42,720 He is our hope. 586 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,680 We cannot be drawn away by the beast 587 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:45,940 or fall for his deceptions. 588 00:28:45,940 --> 00:28:50,360 We need to keep our knees down and our eyes on Jesus. 589 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:51,400 Don't be distracted. 590 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:52,440 The Bible is telling us here 591 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,640 that we must persevere in the faith 592 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:56,920 through all of the beast's deceptions. 593 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,680 That's what the Bible tells us in verses eight through 10. 594 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:01,960 It says, and all who dwell on the earth 595 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:03,800 will worship the beast. 596 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:05,560 Everyone whose name has not been written 597 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:07,320 before the foundation of the world 598 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,280 and the book of the life of the lamb who was slain. 599 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,520 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 600 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,000 You have ears? 601 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:16,760 You should listen, okay? 602 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:17,600 This is what he says. 603 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:19,240 This one's a hard one. 604 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:24,240 If anyone is to be taken captive to captivity, he goes. 605 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:28,800 If anyone is to be slain with the sword, 606 00:29:29,660 --> 00:29:32,760 with the sword, he must be slain. 607 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:39,560 Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. 608 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:43,520 So notice what the Bible's doing here. 609 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,000 It's depicting a pretty horrible world. 610 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:47,880 Can we all agree on that? 611 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,040 It says, here's this counterfeit Christ. 612 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:50,880 And guess what? 613 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,400 He's got authority and power and rule 614 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:56,520 in every corner of the world, 615 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,320 over every tribe, tongue, nation, language and people. 616 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,520 And every single person on earth 617 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,600 whose name has not been written 618 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:07,440 in the lamb's book of life 619 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:11,640 is going to follow him and worship him. 620 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,480 And he's gonna persecute the world. 621 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,520 He's gonna persecute the saints. 622 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:17,680 And he says, many people are gonna die. 623 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:22,320 And it says, even so. 624 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:25,040 Persevere in the faith. 625 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:26,880 Even so. 626 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:31,240 So the question then is, well, how can we do that? 627 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,520 How can we persevere in our faith 628 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,640 in that kind of a world? 629 00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,840 And I want you to just, a couple of things here. 630 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,400 The first way is by knowing that our salvation 631 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:44,600 is eternally secure. 632 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:50,080 It's pretty easy to be willing to go to war 633 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,320 when you know the war has already been won. 634 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:56,440 And the Bible is saying here, hey, listen. 635 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:01,160 Before God ever laid the foundations of the world, 636 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:07,280 he wrote your name in blood in the lamb's book of life. 637 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,400 And that blood cannot be erased. 638 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,760 When God wrote your name in that book, it's there forever. 639 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:16,800 Nothing can be done. 640 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,280 Neither the dragon nor the beast 641 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:23,200 is able to take your salvation away from you. 642 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,800 No amount of persecution, no amount of temptation 643 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,560 can rob you of that which Christ has secured for you. 644 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:32,200 Jesus has secured it. 645 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:33,720 And let me tell you something, folks. 646 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,000 He is going to preserve it all the way to the end. 647 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:38,840 That's the perseverance of the saints. 648 00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:40,680 Those who have faith in Jesus 649 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,640 will never lose their faith in Jesus, 650 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,640 not because of how hard and how strongly 651 00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:48,360 you are holding on to God, 652 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:52,000 but it's because of how tightly God is holding on to you. 653 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:54,680 Isn't that encouraging? 654 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,000 I mean, I remember when Judah was small enough 655 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,200 to let me hold him, we used to do this game all the time 656 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,000 where I would just act like I was going to drop him 657 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,680 and I'd catch him, you know, it was a lot of fun. 658 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:07,440 And if I ever did it too fast 659 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:09,200 or he dropped a little too quickly, 660 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,600 he would just grab on and he was so scared 661 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:14,560 that he was gonna fall. 662 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:16,800 And I told him, buddy, I was like, hey, listen, 663 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:18,400 the reason you're not gonna fall 664 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,280 is not because you've got a hold of me. 665 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:22,800 The reason you're not gonna fall 666 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:24,440 is because I've got a hold of you. 667 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:27,760 That's our faith in God. 668 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:29,980 That's encouraging because I know 669 00:32:29,980 --> 00:32:31,480 that I've got weak faith sometimes. 670 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:33,720 Anybody else, just me? 671 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,760 I know that I'm tempted to walk away. 672 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,360 I know that I battle doubts and discouragement 673 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:41,200 and I've got pretty weak faith sometimes. 674 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:43,720 And if my salvation was dependent 675 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:45,880 upon the strength of my faith, 676 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:48,560 I'd be in a whole world of hurt. 677 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:49,640 I'd have reason to worry, 678 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,840 but I know that my salvation is secure 679 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:54,960 because my father will never let go of me. 680 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:57,080 And so the Bible is saying here, 681 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,760 hey, you can persevere even in a world like this 682 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:02,600 because your salvation is secure, 683 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:05,080 no matter what happens to you, you cannot lose it. 684 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,540 And God has a hold of you through everything. 685 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:10,040 The other thing I want you to notice here 686 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,920 is that we persevere by trusting 687 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:15,540 in the sovereignty of God. 688 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:17,560 Now, listen, that doesn't mean 689 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:19,320 that things are always gonna go well for us. 690 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,240 I think we can agree that life is pretty hard sometimes. 691 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:26,520 Tragedy happens in things that we hoped and prayed 692 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:28,520 that we would never have to experience. 693 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:33,520 But the Bible says here that you are called to trust 694 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:35,680 that God knows what he's doing. 695 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,000 I know we like to complain sometimes and say like, 696 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:40,960 hey, my way would have been better, right? 697 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:42,760 Like I had this idea for my life 698 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:43,720 and I think it would have been better. 699 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,920 God, you know how arrogant that is to tell the God 700 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,760 who is always and eternally existed, 701 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:52,840 who is infinitely wise that you somehow, 702 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:55,680 you speck of dust from the earth, 703 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,660 somehow know better than the Almighty. 704 00:33:58,660 --> 00:34:02,120 We are called to trust that God knows what he's doing 705 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,120 and his will will be done. 706 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,320 And not only that, you're called to trust and know 707 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:13,320 that everything God does is for your good and his glory. 708 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,200 Even the hard things, as hard as that is to hear, 709 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:20,680 even the tragedies, even the persecution 710 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,240 and the opposition, even those difficult times 711 00:34:23,240 --> 00:34:24,800 when you don't know how you're gonna make it, 712 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:29,360 the Bible says God is doing all things for your good 713 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:32,600 and for his glory, which is why it's hard here 714 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:36,600 where the Bible says, hey, if you must go to captivity, 715 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:40,760 you go to captivity trusting in God's sovereign plan 716 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:42,360 for your life. 717 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,560 If you were to be slain by the sword, 718 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:53,040 you must be slain, trusting that your death is not in vain, 719 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:57,640 that even your death was according to the counsel 720 00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,920 of God's will for your good and his glory. 721 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:04,440 Might not make sense this side of eternity, 722 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,360 but in eternity, when we see Jesus face to face, 723 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,040 it's all gonna make sense then. 724 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:10,840 It'll all be worth it. 725 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:12,560 You can't control your destiny, 726 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:17,280 but you can trust in the one who does control your destiny, 727 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:18,680 even through the difficult times. 728 00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:21,200 And then lastly here, very quickly, 729 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,680 we persevere by knowing that the victory 730 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:26,440 has been won already. 731 00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:29,720 And that's encouraging, is it not? 732 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:33,440 No matter how out of control this world gets, 733 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,080 no matter how much it looks like the enemy 734 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:38,680 is winning in this world, 735 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:41,280 we must remember that Christ has already won 736 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,040 the victory for us. 737 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,440 The enemy's gonna deal some blows. 738 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:48,360 We might lose some battles from time to time, 739 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:50,520 but the Bible says the war is over. 740 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,280 He's just a defeated enemy who's kicking and screaming 741 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:55,080 and throwing blows left and right, 742 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,800 trying to hurt someone, but the victory has been won. 743 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,080 And as a Christian, you get to live every single day 744 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:05,440 of your life in the victory of Jesus. 745 00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:07,040 And let me tell you something. 746 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:10,640 We will spend every single day for all of eternity 747 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:13,360 living in the victory of Jesus, 748 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:16,240 getting to celebrate that victory forever, 749 00:36:16,240 --> 00:36:18,560 which is why the Bible calls us here. 750 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:20,520 It even ends verse 10 by saying, 751 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:22,960 here's the whole point of this passage. 752 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:26,200 It's a call for perseverance, 753 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:30,840 for endurance and faith of the saints. 754 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:34,120 Keep your knees down, keep your eyes on Jesus 755 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:36,160 and trust that God knows what he's doing. 756 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:38,720 All right, Don Cruz, 757 00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:41,320 how about hitting us with a word of wisdom as we close? 758 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:46,320 Thank you.