1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,680 Good morning. Well we always like to open our Sundays by first saying welcome to 2 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:12,440 anybody that is joining us here for the first time in our room or if you're 3 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:15,640 joining us online. We're so glad to hear you're here to worship with us so 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:21,660 welcome to Hosanna. I am Pastor Nathan and this morning we are going to be 5 00:00:21,660 --> 00:00:26,880 continuing our study through the book of Revelation looking at the beast from the 6 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:32,400 land or the beast from the earth. Seen in Revelation chapter 13 verses 11 through 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:37,200 18 we will also be taking communion today as it is the first Sunday of the 8 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:41,200 month so if you did not get your communion cup as you entered the room 9 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:46,560 today just raise your hand right now and hold it up until the elders get to you. 10 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,240 If you did get your communion cup today don't raise your hand we got you covered 11 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:55,560 and then I'm gonna go ahead and continue on with our intro here. But again we are 12 00:00:55,560 --> 00:01:02,400 looking at the beast from the land who is also known as the false prophet. We're 13 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,360 also going to be looking at the work that he does during the tribulation 14 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:12,440 period to point to or to enforce worship of the Antichrist but I wanted to read 15 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,320 to you guys a quote and I want you to think about where this quote may have 16 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:21,780 come from. It goes like this the streets of our country are in turmoil. The 17 00:01:21,780 --> 00:01:26,080 universities are filled with students rebelling and rioting. The country is in 18 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:33,960 danger. Yes danger from within and without. We need law and order. Without law and 19 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:39,200 order our nation cannot survive. Now as you're thinking about that you might be 20 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:44,040 thinking well who said that? Pretty powerful words right? For some of us 21 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:48,080 especially here in our country we might hear a lot of truth to those words and 22 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:51,520 we might think you know maybe someone like a presidential candidate said that 23 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:58,920 or a concerned citizen. You guys have any guess as to who said these words? 1932 24 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:05,840 Adolf Hitler said those words before his rise to power in Germany. You know 25 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:14,280 dictators rarely take over by force. Almost always they start by engaging in 26 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:19,480 peaceful endeavors during times of turmoil, during times of difficulty and 27 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:24,400 tribulation. And often throughout history when someone comes along who solves the 28 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:29,920 catastrophic societal problems that can happen on a national scale or even a 29 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:35,560 global scale people will tend to lift up such an individual in veneration. They 30 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:40,720 will even go so far as to make statues and images of such a leader so they can 31 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,940 direct their honor and allegiance to them. You know back during the Roman 32 00:02:44,940 --> 00:02:51,200 Empire the emperors of the empire came to be worshiped as gods. As Rome was 33 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,000 conquering many other nations and expanding the empire these nations that 34 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:00,180 they conquered became indebted to Rome. They became indebted to Rome and they 35 00:03:00,180 --> 00:03:04,480 were very thankful for the law and the order and the stability that Rome 36 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:10,120 brought to nations that had been ruled locally by petty tyrants for a long time 37 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:14,760 and so the Roman rule that that came over them was considered a privilege by 38 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:19,800 many at the time. Many of those nations would thank Rome for what was called 39 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:25,800 Pax Romana which means Roman peace. So grateful for the stability that they 40 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,760 brought in, so grateful that they came in and fixed the problems and solved the 41 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:34,400 issues that people were having. In Asia Minor which is modern-day Turkey the 42 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,640 people were so thankful and the thankfulness was so enthusiastic that in 43 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,480 Asia Minor they actually started to worship the Roman Empire as an entity. 44 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:48,280 They worshiped it and lifted it up to deity but because it's difficult to 45 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,680 worship something abstract like a governmental entity they actually 46 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:59,160 created the goddess of Rome, a god named Roma that represented the whole empire 47 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:04,480 so that they can direct their worship to a persona. Unfortunately that didn't 48 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,720 really catch on substantially and what they found that it was much more 49 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:14,600 successful to worship the Roman emperors who were representatives, leaders of this 50 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:19,680 empire and as we read back in chapter 2 of Revelation in the city of Pergamos 51 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:25,640 there was actually a whole temple to the Caesars built there and a statue ruins 52 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,600 of which you can still see today a statue to the Caesars that were a place 53 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:35,480 where the worship of Rome and the Roman emperors was focused. Now interesting as 54 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,840 I was preparing for this I found out that initially the Roman emperors 55 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:46,040 didn't like to be worshiped as gods. In fact it was the Roman Senate that 56 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:50,800 convinced the Roman emperors that the people worshiping them as gods was a 57 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,080 good thing because it was a unifying thing for the empire because 58 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:59,840 after all Rome was becoming this multilingual, this multicultural melting 59 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:04,080 pot of peoples and cultures as the empire was expanding and what a way to 60 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:08,400 unify the empire under the Roman rule and the Roman thought in the Roman way 61 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:16,080 than to have them worship its leader as a god. So by AD 100 it was mandatory 62 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:22,080 throughout the entire empire to worship Caesar as God and this was accomplished 63 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:27,560 and enforced by Imperial cult religious leaders, false prophets if you will, who 64 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,760 would stand in front of the Caesars, the statues to the Caesars and all the towns 65 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:38,400 where everyone was required to come and declare out loud that Caesar is Lord. Now 66 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:42,640 you might be thinking I came to church why are we having a history lesson, right? 67 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:47,840 Well the reason is because history is doomed to repeat itself. What happened in 68 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:53,080 Rome has repeated itself in microcosm from then all the way up until our 69 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:58,360 modern area in different places and it will happen again one last major time 70 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:03,120 during the tribulation. This morning we're gonna look at the antichrist's 71 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:09,680 sidekick, the false prophet, who he is, how John sees him in this vision and how he 72 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,880 works but before we get into all of that we're gonna pray we're gonna spend 73 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,640 some time worshiping God because he is God, he is almighty, he is worth our 74 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:23,000 worship, he is worthy of our worship, he is our Savior and we love him amen. Let's 75 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:27,920 pray. God we're so thankful Lord for your work in our lives, we're so grateful for 76 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:32,760 the salvation you've given us Lord. God we're so thankful for the Holy Spirit 77 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:38,080 who lives in the world today within us, the believers. God we know that as you 78 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,840 were here on earth for three years Lord you were here physically just just 79 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:46,400 showing us who the Father was but God Jesus you died on the cross and then you 80 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,400 rose again on the third day Lord and then you ascended to heaven and now it's 81 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,680 the Holy Spirit who is with us here today ministering in us working in and 82 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:59,920 through us God but pointing us to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior and so God 83 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:03,720 we're so grateful for all you've done we're grateful for how you work and 84 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,640 we're grateful Lord for the truth and the clarity you bring into our lives 85 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:11,600 through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We know it's because of your death on 86 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,960 the cross God that everything changed, salvation, forgiveness, grace, mercy, it's 87 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:20,760 all possible through you and we're so grateful for that but Lord today as we 88 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:25,840 study and look at this counterfeit to the Holy Spirit Lord this one who 89 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:30,240 wants to point to the Antichrist and demand that people worship him God that 90 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:34,000 again we would learn the devices of the devil the tools and the schemes and how 91 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,160 he works Lord that we would be wise we would be people with eyes wide open to 92 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:44,560 how the devil works because Lord even today he works to confuse and deceive 93 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:50,120 people to get them to worship everything but Jesus Christ. So Lord encourage us 94 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:54,560 speak to us teach us Lord we even invite you to rebuke us if that's what we need 95 00:07:54,560 --> 00:08:00,040 today so that God we would become more like you to be representatives of 96 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,400 representatives of you in this world to shine the light of the gospel to those 97 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:09,200 that don't yet know you we love you so much we worship you now it's in Jesus 98 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:15,960 name we pray amen. We are in Revelation 13 verses 8 or verses 11 through 18 and 99 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:20,760 these verses say they show us that the Antichrist is not alone in his work but 100 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:27,640 he has an accomplice he has a sidekick who helps in his rise to power although 101 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:33,080 the Antichrist is a very powerful influential political leader he will 102 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:38,520 need the help of a powerful religious leader in his domination of earth 103 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:44,200 specifically as part of and through the middle of tribulation which is where the 104 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,480 abomination of desolation takes place that moment where the Antichrist goes 105 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,440 from being a peaceful governmental leader to sitting into the temple 106 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,720 demanding worship of himself as God. So what we're gonna see today is five 107 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,760 characteristics of this religious leader known as the false prophet seen in the 108 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,440 verses we're looking at and the first characteristic is his authoritative 109 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:11,720 position. Read with me in Revelation 13 verse 11 John says then I saw another 110 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:17,120 beast coming up out of the earth it had two horns like a lamb but it spoke like 111 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:24,800 a dragon it exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf. So at 112 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:30,480 this point in Revelation 13 John has already seen a beast coming up out of 113 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:35,520 the sea in this really strange and interesting vision that he is 114 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:40,920 observing but here John says I saw another beast that's a very specific 115 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:46,920 word in the Greek in the Greek it's the word alos it means another of the same 116 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:53,280 kind not necessarily a carbon copy or a duplicate but one with the same nature 117 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:59,120 or the same characteristics meaning that this second beast that John sees here is 118 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:07,240 also a deceiving monstrous wicked evil creature just like the first however 119 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:11,800 there are differences. You'll notice he says he saw this beast coming up out of 120 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:17,360 the earth the first beast came up out of the sea. Now again because this is all a 121 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:22,720 great symbolic display all of these things have symbolic meaning and so you 122 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,720 might ask well if the sea that we looked at earlier in Revelation was a picture 123 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:31,480 of the sea of humanity what is the earth here? Well there's a couple different 124 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:38,440 ideas because the word earth we see in the CSB is translated the land in other 125 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,640 translations I believe in the New King James it says that he saw this beast 126 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:48,400 coming up out of the land. Now that word earth in the original Greek is a word 127 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:53,560 that can refer to the actual land right like the ground it's a word that can 128 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:59,600 refer to a group of people it's also a word that could refer to a region or a 129 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:05,560 country so there's some different ideas on what this means symbolically it could 130 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:11,280 simply be another way to refer to the whole of humanity right we saw earlier 131 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:16,200 in Revelation pictures of an angel having his foot set on both sea and land 132 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,800 and it was a picture of the totality of the creation there but there are some 133 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:25,120 who interpret this because of the interpretation of this word earth as the 134 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:30,000 land they see that as a reference to the land of Israel and so they see that this 135 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:35,240 beast this false prophet could be a Jewish individual from the nation of 136 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:39,840 Israel who was apostate and working with the Antichrist I believe it could go 137 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:44,360 either way we're not exactly sure but as he sees this beast coming up out of the 138 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:50,840 earth the first thing he notices is that it has two horns like a lamb but it spoke 139 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:56,240 like a dragon and this is where this beast differs from the first beast it 140 00:11:56,240 --> 00:12:02,640 has the same authority of the first beast the same desire to deceive right 141 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:09,600 the same monstrous nature right another of the same kind but the first beast his 142 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,960 characteristics as if you if you remember there was that he was this 143 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:19,080 monstrous grotesque creature with seven heads and ten horns and ten crowns and 144 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:23,760 those crowns were speaking to his political authority as we looked at him 145 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:27,880 being not only the beast representing the Antichrist as his governmental 146 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:32,200 leader but also this worldwide government that will then take control 147 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:36,880 in the end times the second beast however it has characteristics of a lamb 148 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:43,600 a cute little lamb right horns like a lamb if you look up a picture of a 149 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,280 little lamb you'll see that it has these cute little nubby nubs right there on 150 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:54,480 its head and you're like oh how adorable how gentle how kind looking no crowns 151 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:59,880 it doesn't have political authority but it still has horns and if you remember 152 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:08,640 horns biblically symbolically spink of strength and authority and so this lamb 153 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,940 here has an authority but it's a different type of authority than the 154 00:13:12,940 --> 00:13:18,200 first beast it's not a political authority it's a spiritual authority as 155 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:23,680 we will see in his work in the subsequent verses but his authority is 156 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:29,600 not aggressive or domineering per se like the first beast it's subtle it's 157 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:36,760 crafty it's almost gentle like a little lamb now so when you see this picture of 158 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:40,880 the horns of the lamb it's this idea of when this person comes on the scene the 159 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:47,840 world's gonna be like oh how cute that can't possibly be harmful but then as 160 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,960 you may have seen in cartoons before where the little lamb opens his mouth 161 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:56,240 and raw sharp teeth and speaking like a dragon right that idea of speaking like 162 00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:01,760 a dragon means that as this almost innocent gentle person comes on the 163 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:07,000 scene when he talks he's still speaking the words of hell fearful words words 164 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:15,200 of damnation deceptive lies words that are harmful while sounding helpful and 165 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:19,800 this is very similar to the image that Jesus described false prophets as if you 166 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:26,480 remember Jesus said false prophets are wolves in sheep's clothing so it's that 167 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,920 picture of this gentle outside but there's still this horrific danger 168 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:36,560 underneath now in Revelation 16 13 we see a picture of this beast working 169 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:41,680 alongside the first beast and with the dragon that's in Revelation 16 13 where 170 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:45,960 it says then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the 171 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:50,880 dragon's mouth from the beasts mouth and from the mouth of the false prophet and 172 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:56,200 that's where we get the title for this second beast as the false prophet now 173 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:02,560 the word prophet refers to one who speaks the mind of God speaks the truths 174 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:07,760 of God that's what a prophet is and that's exactly what this person claims 175 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:15,360 to do but he's false and so is the God that he speaks of and points to and so 176 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:19,720 when he speaks the words of a dragon he's literally speaking the words of 177 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:25,840 the dragon Satan himself this individual is also called the false prophet in 178 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:31,280 Revelation 19 20 and Revelation 2010 there where we see the picture of his 179 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:37,200 defeat as Jesus Christ defeats him and the Antichrist and Satan but again this 180 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,560 paints a picture we've referenced a couple times in our study of Revelation 181 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:45,160 that's very interesting Revelation 12 you have this dragon the 182 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:49,520 seven-headed dragon that it tells us very plainly there represents Satan and 183 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:54,360 then in Revelation 13 we see this beast coming up out of the sea representing 184 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:59,120 the Antichrist this political ruler who who came in peaceful and then was 185 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:02,640 apparently fatally wounded and then that wound was miraculously healed and he 186 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:06,920 came back demanding to be worshiped as God and then we see this beast out of 187 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:11,400 the land or out of the earth which is the false prophet this religious ruler 188 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:16,360 who is gonna point everybody back to the Antichrist and this is the 189 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:20,840 counterfeit Trinity this is a mockery of the Trinity the Godhead that exists 190 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,840 between the Father the Son and the Spirit biblically we know that Jesus 191 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:29,880 always pointed to the Father right he said if you've seen me you've seen the 192 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:34,560 Father what I find very interesting is that the first time Jesus came on the 193 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:40,320 scene the Jewish people wanted him to be a political leader they wanted him to 194 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,360 overthrow the government of Rome and take over and set up the Messianic 195 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,760 Kingdom but that's what not what he was there for the first time so the 196 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:53,400 Antichrist in mockery of this points to the dragon he points to Satan and then 197 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:58,800 as the Holy Spirit points to Jesus the false prophet points the world to the 198 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:03,960 Antichrist the false prophet is gonna say worship him worship him just as the 199 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:09,200 Holy Spirit does towards Jesus today and that is the authoritative position that 200 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:14,860 this beast from the earth has in Revelation verse 12 we see the second 201 00:17:14,860 --> 00:17:19,760 characteristic of this individual his his system of false worship it says in 202 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:24,680 verse 12 of Revelation 13 it exercises all the authority of the first beef 203 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:30,360 beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship 204 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:35,920 the first beast whose fatal wound was healed so there's no ambiguity on who 205 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:40,280 the first beast is right it's the one we just talked about the one who had the 206 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:45,280 fatal wound that was healed so this second beast he heads up a universal 207 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:51,760 worship system to really enforce the lies and the deceptions verse 14 it 208 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:56,120 specifically tells us that the second beast deceives those who live on the 209 00:17:56,120 --> 00:18:01,480 earth now that is really the entire MO of the devil and all of his lackeys 210 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:09,120 deception that that's his entire plan that's his entire tactic he's a liar 211 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:14,440 Jesus told us that the devil is the father of lies he's told lies from the 212 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:19,720 very beginning he tells lies about our origin he tells lies about our future 213 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:26,080 lies about ourselves lies about God lies about our needs the need for salvation 214 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:32,880 he just lies and he loves to tell us you know you're you're good you're fine you 215 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:39,440 you don't need to come to Christ you you don't need him there are many ways if 216 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:43,080 you're if you want to be spiritual there's many ways to heaven just pick 217 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:49,440 one and he just lies and lies and scripture tells us that as time marches 218 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:54,440 forward and the end comes closer and closer that there's gonna be more and 219 00:18:54,440 --> 00:19:00,960 more false prophets and false Christ's as we get closer to the end times there's 220 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:05,840 gonna be more and more people coming on the scene that say I speak for God not 221 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:10,960 the one of your Christianity but but this other one Jesus himself said in 222 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:16,800 Matthew 24 verses 4 & 5 he said watch out that no one deceives you for many 223 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:22,080 will come in my name saying I am the Messiah and they will deceive many and 224 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:27,960 then in Matthew 24 11 he said many false prophets will rise up and deceive many 225 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:33,240 and so this was predicted this is happening this will continue to happen 226 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:38,680 and it will culminate in the ultimate false Christ the Antichrist and the 227 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:44,200 ultimate false prophet this beast from the earth now we touched on this last 228 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,760 week with the Antichrist and some of how he goes about doing what he does and 229 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:53,000 it's through words his persuasive speech you know words are very very powerful 230 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:58,840 and speaking is one of the main tools of the Antichrist and this false prophet 231 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:03,720 the first beast it told us earlier in Revelation 13 was given a mouth to utter 232 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:09,440 boasts and blasphemies against God his name his dwelling the people who live 233 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,880 there and he was given authority to do this for 42 months which is the the last 234 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:18,360 three and a half years of tribulation the second beast it then tells us speaks 235 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:25,280 like a dragon while saying he exercises all of the authority of the first beast 236 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:31,160 on his behalf so he is like a forerunner if you will a herald pointing back to 237 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:36,200 the Antichrist and so the first and second beast they're really like an 238 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:42,240 oratory tag team they're working together to blaspheme the real God and 239 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:47,440 then to say worship this false God instead that is the work that they have 240 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:54,280 as they're going about the world now Nathaniel Hawthorne said this words so 241 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:59,480 innocent and powerful as they are standing in a dictionary how potent for 242 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:04,840 good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them and 243 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:10,760 the false prophet he's gonna be an expert in combining words together to 244 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:15,000 sway the people on the earth right if you notice back there in verse 12 it 245 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:21,280 says he compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the beast that 246 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:26,440 word compel means to to create a state in being in somebody to force a state of 247 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:32,720 being in someone else what that tells us is is he's gonna bring together all of 248 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:39,000 the world's religions under one one world religion he's gonna bring together 249 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:44,960 apostate Christianity which I think involves progressive Christianity and all 250 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:50,320 these weird wacko offshoots he's gonna bring together dead Catholicism he's 251 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,640 gonna bring together dead Protestantism he's gonna bring together the adherence 252 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:59,320 of Islam people who are adherence of Hinduism he's even gonna bring those 253 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:04,360 that are under traditional Judaism that reject the Messiah reject Jesus as 254 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:07,560 Messiah and he's gonna bring them all together he's gonna bring them together 255 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:13,080 under one banner breaking all of the barriers between them somehow somehow 256 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:17,880 through his speaking to to compel to bring these people together and unite 257 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:23,960 them under one universal worship system so as as much as the political 258 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:28,600 governmental system will require a strong figure to unite all these nations 259 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:33,860 and to unite the world under this this governmental banner so will the religious 260 00:22:33,860 --> 00:22:38,240 systems of the world require this false prophet this powerful religious leader 261 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:43,240 and the false prophet fits the bill perfectly and he's gonna rally the world 262 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:49,440 and the world will indeed rally under his one world religion and then again in 263 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:53,960 case you think it's a bit far-fetched to think that our secular world is 264 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:58,440 suddenly on a global scale gonna get religious and want to worship this guy 265 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:03,320 you have to consider that during the tribulation period people will be 266 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:09,960 looking for a deliverer as we've studied there will be so many catastrophes so 267 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,760 many global disasters that have struck the earth in this short period of time 268 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:19,720 they will be open to anybody coming along to save the day they will be open 269 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:23,920 to answers even such that they've never even entertained that maybe there is a 270 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:29,240 God who can save us and to stop all this and so when the Antichrist rises he's 271 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:34,800 gonna solve so many problems and bring apparent peace and and ease so many of 272 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:41,720 the fears but then he's gonna do the unthinkable and claim to be God and the 273 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:49,960 greatest false prophet ever possibly the greatest speaker ever will speak and he 274 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:55,720 will mold minds and persuade thoughts with skill and with gifting and he'll 275 00:23:55,720 --> 00:24:01,920 say things well isn't he God look at what he's done look at all the impossible 276 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:08,420 things he's accomplished just in three and a half years this individual has to 277 00:24:08,420 --> 00:24:12,880 be divine he has to be God and then I mean come on you guys saw him killed and 278 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:21,040 he rose from the dead his wound was healed you should all worship him verse 279 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:27,520 13 we get to the third characteristic of this man his attesting signs it says it 280 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:32,640 also performs great signs even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth 281 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:37,200 in front of people it deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs 282 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:42,960 that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast so the false 283 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:49,720 prophet doesn't just speak he is a great speaker but he does great things it says 284 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:57,760 here he performs great signs and again consider the state of earth during the 285 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,760 tribulation consider the state of mind that the people on the earth are 286 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,360 experiencing during tribulation we've already looked at the the first seven 287 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:11,280 seals we've looked at the first seven trumpet judgments right as all these 288 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:16,040 disasters have fallen upon the earth it's been catastrophe after catastrophe 289 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:21,800 falling upon the earth disaster after disaster and all in a period of a few 290 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:27,520 years can you imagine like we have a little bit of rain here in California 291 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:33,400 and it is DEFCON 1 right people were already buying up all the toilet paper 292 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:39,520 and it's like it's just raining a little bit people but imagine like when I mean 293 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:44,480 it's gonna there's gonna be violent global earthquakes celestial happenings 294 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:49,840 right the Sun going dark the moon going red how do you explain that there's 295 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:55,360 gonna be asteroids falling bloody hail and fire falling upon the earth from the 296 00:25:55,360 --> 00:26:00,840 skies volcanic eruptions by this point in tribulation one-third of the trees 297 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:05,680 have been destroyed all the grass is burned up one-third of the oceans and 298 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:10,600 the sea creatures and the ships on the oceans are destroyed one-third of the 299 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:15,840 freshwater sources the rivers are gone the Sun's illumination had been 300 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:20,340 diminished and then on top of that you had these weird locust like creatures 301 00:26:20,340 --> 00:26:25,760 swarm the earth stinging people causing pain to such a degree people would want 302 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:30,420 to die but they couldn't and then after that there's this demonically led army 303 00:26:30,420 --> 00:26:37,400 that goes across the earth and kills one-third of mankind all in a few years 304 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:45,480 people will be desperate crying out for some meaning for some purpose for some 305 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:51,840 hope in the midst of all of this tragedy and the false prophet Wow he will dazzle 306 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:57,040 people with his apparent miraculous ability he will dazzle the masses and 307 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,760 all those people who have ever said you know what I need to see a miracle before 308 00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:09,280 I'll believe in the supernatural well here's the guy here's the guy now he 309 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:14,160 says it performs great signs and then it specifically says even causing fire to 310 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:17,360 come down from heaven it's interesting why point that out that's a very 311 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:22,400 specific detail and I think this is why if you go back through scripture and you 312 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:27,760 look at the the different stories of God showing himself powerful on the earth 313 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,840 you might think of Sodom and Gomorrah when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah 314 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:37,480 how did he do it fire from the heavens in Elijah's story there was a time where 315 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,480 Elijah was surrounded by the ambassadors from a king who came to arrest him and 316 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:47,800 it tells us that fire came from heaven three times and and so people who had 317 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:51,280 grown up reading the Bible or knew the Bible or heard these stories they're 318 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:55,800 they're gonna remember these things these stories about how God demonstrated 319 00:27:55,800 --> 00:28:00,640 his his reality through through fire from heaven was how his judgments came 320 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,400 and then on top of that you have these two witnesses that we read about who 321 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:08,000 had been on earth at this point for three and a half years the first three 322 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,800 and a half years of tribulation preaching Jesus Christ and if you 323 00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:17,320 remember it said in Revelation 11 5 if anyone wants to harm them fire comes 324 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:22,120 from their mouths and consumes their enemies if anyone wants to harm them he 325 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:25,920 must be killed in this way so so here's these two guys that are saying we 326 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,240 represent God we're preaching Jesus Christ and people are like shut up we're 327 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:36,600 gonna kill you and and people die if you're like whoa so you have fire from 328 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:40,080 heaven you have fire even from the mouths of his servants all of this 329 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:46,840 already known to be some type of authenticating sign of God's power but 330 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:51,320 at the midpoint of tribulation God allowed those two witnesses to be killed 331 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:58,880 by the Antichrist and so here the false prophet performs a very specific sign a 332 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:06,040 sign that is meant to indicate that his power is from God now not not not the 333 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:12,160 God of those two witnesses no my guy my God the Antichrist the one I'm telling 334 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:17,480 you to worship not the God who judged Sodom not the God who protected Elijah 335 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:22,360 but but this beast this guy worship him and how do you know that I'm credible 336 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:30,040 well look at the miracles I'm performing now verse 14 it says it is permitted to 337 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:35,960 perform signs this is has the same possible meanings that we discussed when 338 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:40,960 we looked at the fatal wound of the first beast right there's there's a few 339 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:45,280 different interpretations of what it means that he was permitted it could be 340 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:53,400 that God is allowing the false prophet to perform actual real miracles now some 341 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:57,640 go well no God wouldn't do that why would he empower a deceiver to deceive 342 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:03,540 and you know the the rebuttal to that is well we have the story of Pharaoh in the 343 00:30:03,540 --> 00:30:07,560 Old Testament where Pharaoh refused to believe God and this is God hardened his 344 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:12,080 heart so the idea was is when people say I don't want to believe the truth I want 345 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:16,280 to believe the lie we see this picture where God said okay I'm gonna not only 346 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:20,120 let you do that but you want it so bad I'm gonna enforce it in a sense and so 347 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:24,520 in that way God may be allowing the false prophet to perform these miracles 348 00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:30,560 it could be an indicator that Satan himself has the ability to engineer 349 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:34,440 miracles of some sort but then again some people say well if Satan could 350 00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:38,040 engineer miracles why isn't he doing it all the time right why isn't he doing it 351 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:42,440 all the time to wow people and then again there's the idea that well maybe 352 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:48,400 God is permitting him to do so only at certain times for specific reasons 353 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:52,800 according to God's plan that's one of the ideas and then the third idea is 354 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,920 that he was permitted to perform signs is just simply the idea that he was 355 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:02,600 manifesting fake miracles some fabricated miracles something that looked 356 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:08,320 like a miracle but that wasn't I'm not sure exactly you know it could be could 357 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:13,100 be one of those but the idea is that these signs were performed and they 358 00:31:13,100 --> 00:31:18,800 wowed the people and it says these signs were were deceptive what was deceptive 359 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:22,440 about these signs was the message that they were pointing to so it's not so 360 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,560 much how he performed them it was what these signs were were communicating 361 00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:31,800 right that word sign simply means miracles and a miracle is a marvelous 362 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:37,520 event that manifests as a supernatural act of a divine agent but it's 363 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:42,160 interesting the definition of this word in the Greek says a miraculous event 364 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:47,480 that manifests as a supernatural act of a divine agent often with an emphasis on 365 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:53,840 communicating a message so it's not just a miracle for the sake of a miracle we 366 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:57,560 might call that a magic trick but it's something meant to communicate a 367 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:01,600 message and so what we see through this is that the the world is indeed on 368 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:06,880 schedule earth is on schedule to be deceived by miracles and signs and 369 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:12,280 wonders that either don't come from or don't speak towards the truth of God but 370 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,560 instead speak towards the counterfeit Jesus the Antichrist and his false 371 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:23,640 father Satan and sadly those who refuse the truth of God and therefore want 372 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:30,560 to be deceived will be that's what we're seeing here the fourth characteristic of 373 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:36,440 this false prophet is is his toys his animated statue look in verse 14 again 374 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,400 it goes on to say telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the 375 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:45,840 beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived it was permitted to give 376 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,760 breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could both speak 377 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:56,160 and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed now that 378 00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:01,960 word image there in the original language it means a statue or a likeness 379 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:09,880 now that's a fairly broad range of possibilities okay but it says that the 380 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:16,940 beast told those who lived on the earth to build this that word telling that it 381 00:33:16,940 --> 00:33:22,160 has there it means he ordered them or commanded them to just in the same way 382 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:26,280 where he compelled them to worship the beast he is now ordering them to make an 383 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:31,520 image of this beast and you might go well why well as we've been seeing the 384 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:35,300 people of the earth have dedicated their allegiance to the Antichrist by this 385 00:33:35,300 --> 00:33:39,160 point they are worshiping him and following him and it already told us 386 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:43,320 that the false prophet exercises all the authority of the Antichrist on his 387 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:48,160 behalf so he has the authority to order and command people and he likely does it 388 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:53,880 on pain of death now this whole idea of ordering a statue to be built for 389 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:58,720 worship there's precedent for this in the Bible back in Daniel chapter 2 which 390 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:03,360 we've referenced a couple times here already in our study of Revelation we 391 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:08,040 read the story of King Nebuchadnezzar having a dream about a statue and Daniel 392 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,460 comes and interprets this dream for him and basically the gist of the dream is 393 00:34:11,460 --> 00:34:14,840 like look you're the head of a world empire but it will be toppled and 394 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:18,840 replaced with other world empires as history goes on well the following 395 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:22,080 chapter in Daniel we see what Nebuchadnezzar does with that information 396 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:27,760 he says uh-uh and so in defiance of that dream and defiance of what Daniel told 397 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:32,480 him he meant it meant he goes on to build a 90 foot tall gold statue he has 398 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:37,020 people build this statue and he demands by law that everybody in Babylon bow 399 00:34:37,020 --> 00:34:41,760 down and worship the statue now a lot of you may be familiar with that story 400 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:46,720 because that's where we read about three Jewish youths named Shadrach, Meshach, and 401 00:34:46,720 --> 00:34:52,020 Abednego who refused to bow and worship the statue because loyalty and worship 402 00:34:52,020 --> 00:34:56,640 was for God alone right we don't have time to get into their story but there 403 00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:00,760 is precedent for world leaders having statues built images likenesses of them 404 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:06,660 built and demanding that people worship it as a way to be worship of them so 405 00:35:06,660 --> 00:35:11,980 it's a statue or likeness but it's it's animated somehow right he says it's 406 00:35:11,980 --> 00:35:16,680 given breath so that it could speak and cause those who don't worship to be 407 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:22,040 killed that word breath is the word Pneuma it's a word in the Greek that 408 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:29,440 means wind breathing it also can mean spirit or that which animates or gives 409 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:34,480 life so it's a very broad word to apply here and so you know we we've all seen 410 00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:40,240 animatronics in our world right some of we have seen the the demonic beastly 411 00:35:40,240 --> 00:35:44,440 creations at Chuck E Cheese that are horrifying we've seen those things right 412 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:49,120 or what used to be the bear jamboree at Disneyland you know terrifying things 413 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:53,960 right but they're they're actually animated statues right and incidentally 414 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,880 they're animated by things called pneumatics which comes from this word 415 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:02,880 Pneuma right it's air control but then in our modern world we know that 416 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:07,960 technology has brought a deceased Michael Jackson and a deceased Tupac back 417 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:13,440 to perform on stage as holograms we see that as likenesses of people one of the 418 00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:16,400 conversations today is what is this image of the beast gonna be is it gonna 419 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:20,760 be AI right that's a popular conversation right now which is 420 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:27,320 interesting because just recently in Geneva there were nine AI controlled 421 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:32,760 robots that were fielding questions from a room full of reporters and they were 422 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:37,320 answering these questions on the fly it was AI and it was really kind of creepy 423 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:40,960 because you had two robots disagreeing with each other over the questions that 424 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:44,600 these reporters were answering them and then of course there was in the past 425 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:47,920 this story I believe it was Google working on their own AI's and they 426 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:52,480 actually created two AI's to talk to each other and then those AI's rapidly 427 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:56,160 invented a language that the programmers couldn't understand and were like what 428 00:36:56,160 --> 00:37:00,000 are we talking about they pulled the plug right then of course you know many 429 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:03,240 of us are familiar with the movie Terminator where the AI becomes sentient 430 00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:07,640 and launches the nukes and wipes out humanity which is interesting because it 431 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,720 says the image here could cause whoever does not worship the beast to be killed 432 00:37:10,720 --> 00:37:16,000 so we don't know we don't know what the image of the beast is but it's gonna be 433 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:22,200 something that is convincing something believable something that is considered 434 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:27,000 lifelike something that has access to be able to cause people to be killed who 435 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:32,000 don't worship it nobody knows for sure it's really all guessing and so we don't 436 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,320 know exactly what it is and every generation in the church has tried to 437 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:39,400 identify this you know same thing with the mark of the beasts right every time 438 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:44,400 new technology comes out there's someone going ah that's it you know it was bar 439 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:50,320 codes then is the strips on the back of credit cards well it's the internet 440 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:59,640 today it's AI we don't know like I said Chuck E. Cheese is pretty demonic so 441 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:04,160 maybe it's gonna be one of those statues no not slamming Chuck E. Cheese for those 442 00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:09,680 who like Chuck E. Cheese but the idea is that it could even be something that 443 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:13,680 hasn't been invented yet some technology we don't understand but the point is is 444 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:18,400 that the false prophet made an idol that's the point he made an idol an idol 445 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:24,000 is an image used as an object of worship and people are forced to worship it and 446 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:28,280 that worship is enforced through threat of death just like King Nebuchadnezzar 447 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:32,120 and his statue just like the statues of the Roman Empire's during the Roman 448 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:35,960 Empire and this is incidentally something that is forbidden in Scripture 449 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:42,360 right 1st John 521 little children guard yourself from idols and then one of the 450 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:46,640 ten commandments in Exodus chapter 20 verse 4 it says do not make an idol for 451 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:50,000 yourself whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the 452 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:54,280 earth below or in the waters underneath the earth do not bow and worship of them 453 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:59,280 and do not serve them so again we see the idea here of worship of the beast 454 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:03,720 and worship of God are mutually exclusive you can't do both you can't do 455 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:08,280 both and then the fifth characteristic of this leader his administrative tactics 456 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:14,000 verse 16 and it makes everyone small and great rich and poor free and slave to 457 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:18,160 receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead so that no one can buy or 458 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:23,840 sell unless he has the mark the beasts name or the number of its name this 459 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:27,720 calls for wisdom let the one who has understanding calculate the number of 460 00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:34,360 the beast because it is the number of a person its number is 666 and thus many 461 00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:37,960 heavy metal albums were written 462 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:47,280 this false prophet will require some type of identifying mark that is used to 463 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:50,680 separate those who are worshipers of the beast from those who are not 464 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:56,680 worshipers of the beast this mark will be it says they're the beast name or the 465 00:39:56,680 --> 00:40:01,280 number of its name and then it tells us that this mark will be on the right hand 466 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:06,200 or on the forehead and and this mark this identifying thing will be used to 467 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:11,800 force compliance to force worship to force the people to make the image that 468 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:16,240 is being worshiped and you know markings like this there there's similar things 469 00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:21,760 that have happened throughout history slaves were marked with the names or 470 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:26,800 the number of their master by through having them tattooed on them soldiers in 471 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:30,500 different countries have been tattooed or marked in some way to identify their 472 00:40:30,500 --> 00:40:34,240 allegiance to the country or the unit they belong to or who their commander is 473 00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:38,600 then of course in in in modern days people that are in various cults 474 00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:42,640 especially some of the weird sex cults that are out there they always want to 475 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:48,440 brand people or mark them of some kind as a way to identify allegiance the this 476 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:52,480 mark here that it's talking about it's not just a mark of allegiance or worship 477 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:57,040 it is that but it's also economic it specifically points out that people will 478 00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:00,360 not be able to buy or sell without it and so again people go what's the mark 479 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:06,360 of the beast right well it says it's the number of the beast it says it's the 480 00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:11,800 number of a person and then it says the number is 666 right before that it says 481 00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:16,360 this mark is either the beast name or the number of its name and so there you 482 00:41:16,360 --> 00:41:23,000 go that's the answer nobody knows nobody knows exactly everything is conjecture 483 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:29,120 guessing and speculation whatever it is it will be something that represents the 484 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:32,360 beast something that identifies the beast and it will be used to identify 485 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:37,440 one's allegiance to him through them being marked with it again over the 486 00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:40,640 years people have been barcodes that's going to be the mark of the beast 487 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:47,080 microchips sub-durnal tattoos biomarkers implants and on and on and on and a lot 488 00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:51,640 of those things are used today by companies to identify employees they're 489 00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:57,080 used in in different ways to to you know keep track of people you know the chips 490 00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:01,960 in the hand and all this type of stuff and with the global internet and GPS and 491 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:07,040 apps and always connected smart devices sure the concept of tracking and 492 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:11,000 identifying and limiting and controlling through technology is a is a very 493 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:16,560 compelling idea and and kind of makes sense in a lot of ways even as far back 494 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:20,800 as the 90s our own Congress was trying to pass bills that would require 495 00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:25,400 injecting a microchip into every newborn this is back in the 90s when Congress 496 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:29,320 our Congress was considering this and sure people go that would make so much 497 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:33,200 sense right I mean if people were chipped you could track criminals you 498 00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:37,840 could track your kids you could you know you could keep track of spending what a 499 00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:42,920 great way to control the population by controlling not just their worship but 500 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:48,120 their ability to eat live and survive I read a quote from a man in Bulgaria and 501 00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:53,440 he said you cannot understand you cannot know that the most terrible instrument 502 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:58,000 of persecution ever devised as an innocent ration card you cannot buy or 503 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:02,040 sell anything except according to that little card if they please you can be 504 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:05,840 starved to death if they please you can be disposed and dispossessed of 505 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:10,120 everything you have you cannot trade you cannot buy and you cannot sell without 506 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:17,040 it so there will be a compelling reason to take this mark during the end times 507 00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:20,960 because if you want to eat if you want to live if you want to pay your bills if 508 00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:24,740 you if you want to survive you'll have this compelling reason to take it now 509 00:43:24,740 --> 00:43:28,280 one of the other questions people say is can can we take the mark of the beast 510 00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:33,320 today right my company wants to chip us am I gonna go to hell if I do that well 511 00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:38,080 I would just encourage you to ask yourself this unless you're taking 512 00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:44,900 something some mark that specifically identifies the Antichrist a global 513 00:43:44,900 --> 00:43:49,760 governmental political ruler and taking that mark is forced by a worldwide 514 00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:54,120 religious leader who is leading a one-world government and you're taking 515 00:43:54,120 --> 00:43:59,000 it for purposes of declaring worship and allegiance to the beast unless that is 516 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:02,880 what characterizes whatever this mark is you're not taking the mark of the beast 517 00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:09,000 okay now again you have your own convictions about stuff you know I don't 518 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:12,720 like people injecting anything into me for any reason so I'm not telling you to 519 00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:16,240 do it or don't do it but as far as the mark of the beast is concerned it's very 520 00:44:16,240 --> 00:44:21,120 specific some ideas on interpreting this mark it says it's a number of a person 521 00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:27,520 and the or the number of its name it gives us this very clear 666 it very 522 00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:30,880 clearly tells us it's identifying a person right it's not identifying a 523 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:36,360 date it's not identifying the WWW of websites it's not anything else it's a 524 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:40,360 person that this mark identifies and so some people look at that and they go 525 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:45,320 well in the in the Hebrew alphabet and I think in the Greek alphabet as well the 526 00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:50,440 numbers in those alphabets also had a numerical value assigned to them and so 527 00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:57,720 what they see in the 666 is this idea that it's it's the first middle and last 528 00:44:57,720 --> 00:45:02,640 name of whoever the Antichrist is and then so they say it's it's a way to 529 00:45:02,640 --> 00:45:09,760 summarize his name like we know who JFK is right we know who that individual is 530 00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:14,800 by the letters of his name so or some people go the six is the number of 531 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:17,720 letters in each name so the first middle last name is each gonna have six 532 00:45:17,720 --> 00:45:21,920 letters because it's the name of a person it's the number of his name 533 00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:27,880 possibly some say well just as the number seven biblically is kind of like 534 00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:32,080 the number of God and represents completeness and totality what we do see 535 00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:36,560 throughout scripture is the number six seems to be the number of man right man 536 00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:41,800 was created on the sixth day when people were bond slaves they would work for six 537 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:46,320 years and then be freed on the seventh man is commanded to work six days and 538 00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:49,440 rest the seventh and so there's this idea throughout scripture that six is 539 00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:55,480 the number of man and so 666 is just a symbolic way to say that the Antichrist 540 00:45:55,480 --> 00:45:59,440 is like the ultimate man right man man man he's the ultimate man you know in 541 00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:05,520 that sense but I don't know I don't know I would not waste a lot of time worrying 542 00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:09,280 about it specifically because if you know Jesus Christ today you won't be 543 00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:18,760 here when this happens okay yeah praise God for that but again out of love and 544 00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:25,600 compassion if you do think we're gonna be here when this happens well he says 545 00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:29,480 this at the end he goes this calls for wisdom and he says let the one with 546 00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:32,360 understanding calculate the number I think when he says have wisdom and 547 00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:35,960 understanding what I just do think that means is that during the time of 548 00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:39,640 tribulation the people who are here living during the time of tribulation 549 00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:45,120 will be able to understand and calculate who the Antichrist is right 550 00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:48,020 it'll be it'll be obvious is what I believe is referring to there when it 551 00:46:48,020 --> 00:46:51,560 says this calls for wisdom and let those who have understanding calculate 552 00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:55,680 is that that those who are here on the earth during that time and we know that 553 00:46:55,680 --> 00:47:00,520 there will be people who get saved during tribulation they'll be able to see 554 00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:04,120 it and understand what his system is and what it means to be involved with his 555 00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:08,000 system and identified with his system and it'll be obvious to them in that 556 00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:11,680 sense where because they're saved God will grant them wisdom so much so that 557 00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:16,320 some will take the mark and some will refuse to take the mark but again it is 558 00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:19,600 very clear that taking the mark at that time means that your name cannot be 559 00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:25,160 possibly written in the book of life so the focus of the false prophet his 560 00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:30,600 authority his system of worship his attesting signs his his animated statue 561 00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:35,640 his administrative tactics all of it works towards elevating and adulating 562 00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:41,960 and adoring and promoting the Antichrist as God in the flesh the Savior of 563 00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:47,680 mankind the one worthy of worship he points to the Antichrist just as the Holy 564 00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:53,680 Spirit points us to Jesus Christ now I don't know about you but after spending 565 00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:59,400 the last few weeks focusing on these foul disturbing monstrous gross beasts 566 00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:03,800 called the Antichrist and the false prophet I feel like I need a spiritual 567 00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:10,600 bath and so we're gonna close today focusing our eyes on the real authentic 568 00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:18,120 God in the flesh the real Savior of mankind our Savior Jesus Christ the one 569 00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:23,880 who is worthy of worship the only one worthy of worship now and forevermore 570 00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:29,240 and we're gonna do that in the taking of communion and so I know that's an 571 00:48:29,240 --> 00:48:35,720 abrupt abrupt shift but wasn't sure how to get there from here so all of you 572 00:48:35,720 --> 00:48:37,960 should have one of the communion cups here in the room if you're watching 573 00:48:37,960 --> 00:48:41,440 online and you don't have your communion emblems yet I do encourage you to get 574 00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:45,200 those now but for those of you in the room if you've never seen these cups 575 00:48:45,200 --> 00:48:48,380 there's two little tabs on the front there's this really thin plastic tab and 576 00:48:48,380 --> 00:48:52,160 then a thicker one if you go ahead and pull back the thin tab first it's gonna 577 00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:58,120 reveal the the cracker on the top here you know communion is is a time of 578 00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:03,800 remembrance it's time of remembrance when Jesus took the bread we read in the 579 00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:09,240 Gospels that it says he took the bread and he broke the bread and he gave it to 580 00:49:09,240 --> 00:49:17,400 his disciples and he said this is my body do this in remembrance of me you 581 00:49:17,400 --> 00:49:22,540 know and we we observe communion because we want to remember Jesus and what we 582 00:49:22,540 --> 00:49:26,520 what he did we want to think about why he did it you know during the tribulation 583 00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:33,520 period many on earth are gonna be given over to self exaltation many on the 584 00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:39,800 earth are gonna continue to forget the depth of their own depravity and sin and 585 00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:45,240 they're gonna turn to worship the one who represents everything they are and 586 00:49:45,240 --> 00:49:50,040 they want to be the one who is full of pride and indulgence and lack of 587 00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:53,800 restraint and denial of accountability and responsibility and full of excess 588 00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:57,360 then the people during the tribulation time are gonna turn to worship this guy 589 00:49:57,360 --> 00:50:01,120 because what he's gonna tell people is you don't need forgiveness because you're 590 00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:08,120 righteous in and of yourself the devil is trying to get people to believe that 591 00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:13,720 today and this is why we do this this is why we partake of communion to remember 592 00:50:13,720 --> 00:50:19,680 Jesus to remember what he did for us what we're seeing during tribulation here 593 00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:24,120 in Revelation all these judgments being poured out on sin they're not being 594 00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:29,720 poured out on those who have been covered by the blood they're being poured 595 00:50:29,720 --> 00:50:33,240 out on those who say no I don't want that I demand to pay my own price for 596 00:50:33,240 --> 00:50:39,880 sin and that is what God's judgments are he's judging sin in communion Jesus 597 00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:45,120 wanted us to remember that he's already paid the price for us he already paid 598 00:50:45,120 --> 00:50:53,120 our price he took the full wrath of God for our sin my sin for your sin he took 599 00:50:53,120 --> 00:50:59,920 it upon himself in our place that through faith in that and his broken 600 00:50:59,920 --> 00:51:04,000 body the wrath being poured out his body just being devastated in the in the 601 00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:08,640 scourging and on the cross and all that he went through that we would never 602 00:51:08,640 --> 00:51:15,960 forget that we are forgiven that we are set free from the power of sin and death 603 00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:21,960 that that we are made safe from his wrath to come that we would never forget 604 00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:27,960 that he did it because he loved you so much and he loved me so much he he bled 605 00:51:27,960 --> 00:51:35,000 he suffered he died that we might be forgiven through our confession of faith 606 00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:41,200 on what he did for us on the cross the Bible tells us that it's by his wounds 607 00:51:41,200 --> 00:51:47,960 that we are healed it's by his sacrifice we are pardoned and so when we think of 608 00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:55,120 the body of Christ that was given for us laid upon the altar that our salvation 609 00:51:55,120 --> 00:52:04,920 would be secured Wow praise God let's pray father we're so grateful to you 610 00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:11,960 for giving yourself on the altar for our sin Lord as we already seen in 611 00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:18,480 Revelation you were the lamb who was slain you were the sacrifice given that 612 00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:24,480 we would be forgiven and God we don't deserve that we know we don't deserve 613 00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:30,560 that but God you didn't do it because we deserve it you did it because you love 614 00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:38,640 us and so God you just then ask Lord that we would live lives of obedience 615 00:52:38,640 --> 00:52:42,240 that we would choose obedience to you God because of what you did for us Lord 616 00:52:42,240 --> 00:52:47,360 and and God as you remember your body given for us Lord may we never forget 617 00:52:47,360 --> 00:52:54,720 the great cost that our sin created and may we live every day God in gratitude 618 00:52:54,720 --> 00:53:03,720 of that by doing everything we can to obey you to say no to the sin nature to 619 00:53:03,720 --> 00:53:07,680 say no to those those sins in our lives which were the very things that caused 620 00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:16,000 you to go through what you went through Lord we remember what you did for us and 621 00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:20,520 we remember that because of it we are saved from the wrath to come and that is 622 00:53:20,520 --> 00:53:25,240 the Holy Spirit works in our lives to point us to you the one true God who is 623 00:53:25,240 --> 00:53:30,920 worthy of praise we say thank you thank you for dying for us Lord let's partake 624 00:53:30,920 --> 00:53:33,200 together 625 00:53:40,160 --> 00:53:45,440 if you have the cups in the room very delicately pull back the thicker tab 626 00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:50,500 and that'll reveal reveal the juice in the cup here for you you know that same 627 00:53:50,500 --> 00:53:55,400 night when Jesus was instituting communion with his disciples after the 628 00:53:55,400 --> 00:54:03,560 bread he gave them a cup and he said take this cup and he said this cup is 629 00:54:03,560 --> 00:54:10,880 the new covenant in my blood and then he repeated do this in remembrance of me 630 00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:17,280 you see because it wasn't just the sacrifice on the altar that blood was 631 00:54:17,280 --> 00:54:21,000 then collected and that blood went to the mercy seat and it was sprinkled on 632 00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:30,520 the mercy seat the payment paid for sin and when Jesus's body went to that altar 633 00:54:30,520 --> 00:54:33,840 and was laid on that altar and was ravaged for us it was his blood that was 634 00:54:33,840 --> 00:54:39,280 shed that washed us clean it was his shed blood being sprinkled on the mercy 635 00:54:39,280 --> 00:54:46,120 seat of God that paid the price for our sin once and for all forever past 636 00:54:46,120 --> 00:54:51,760 present future you're forgiven you were forgiven yesterday you were forgiven 637 00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:59,600 today you will be forgiven tomorrow hallelujah yes we stumble yes we fall 638 00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:05,400 why do we need to remember the blood because when we fall down the deceiver 639 00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:09,680 and the liar jumps right into our head and says what are you doing how dare you 640 00:55:09,680 --> 00:55:15,720 call yourself a Christian look at what you just did look at what you just said 641 00:55:15,720 --> 00:55:21,960 but as a Christian who has put their faith in Jesus Christ we get to say no 642 00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:29,040 I messed up but God already knew that was gonna happen and 2,000 years ago he 643 00:55:29,040 --> 00:55:33,640 shed his blood to pay the price for that sin and I plead the blood of Jesus 644 00:55:33,640 --> 00:55:39,000 Christ I am forgiven I am saved and the devil just gets mad and goes away and 645 00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:44,560 gets ready to come back next time and this is why we do this over and over to 646 00:55:44,560 --> 00:55:48,880 remember to never forget the price that was paid for us that he shed his blood 647 00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:54,560 permanently for all of us that in these moments we remember that we were stained 648 00:55:54,560 --> 00:55:57,680 by sin and there was nothing we could do to wash it away in ourselves there was 649 00:55:57,680 --> 00:56:00,720 no good works we could do because every time we did a good work we did ten bad 650 00:56:00,720 --> 00:56:07,680 works we were just fallen people but he's the one that atoned for our sin and 651 00:56:07,680 --> 00:56:10,760 he's the one that washes clean that the stain of sin in our lives would be 652 00:56:10,760 --> 00:56:17,280 purged forever that is the truth it's not that we are righteous people in no 653 00:56:17,280 --> 00:56:21,560 need of a Savior no it's really that we are wicked people desperately in need of 654 00:56:21,560 --> 00:56:29,480 a Savior and we have one and he died for us and now we walk in the victory of 655 00:56:29,480 --> 00:56:35,320 that we walk in the freedom of that praise God and how do we live in 656 00:56:35,320 --> 00:56:39,880 response to what he's done for us same way we do with the bread and gratitude 657 00:56:39,880 --> 00:56:43,760 and thanks God I want to live to just proclaim your glory I want to share your 658 00:56:43,760 --> 00:56:46,800 name with all who would hear it I want to tell everybody about you because you 659 00:56:46,800 --> 00:56:54,920 saved me if you saved me I know you could save everyone let's pray father 660 00:56:54,920 --> 00:57:02,160 we're so grateful God for your shed blood on the cross we're so grateful 661 00:57:02,160 --> 00:57:05,800 Lord that your spirit continually points us back to remember these things Lord as 662 00:57:05,800 --> 00:57:08,760 we are gathered here is the body of Christ and your spirit is among us 663 00:57:08,760 --> 00:57:14,460 pointing us to you God we know that because we have been washed clean by 664 00:57:14,460 --> 00:57:17,960 your shed blood we are renewed and restored and redeemed we are clothed 665 00:57:17,960 --> 00:57:23,760 with your robes of righteousness and because of that we worship you and you 666 00:57:23,760 --> 00:57:34,080 alone Jesus we know you are God Almighty the only Redeemer the only Savior the 667 00:57:34,080 --> 00:57:40,040 only Messiah the only lamb of God who was slain there is none other and there 668 00:57:40,040 --> 00:57:48,800 will never never be another we thank you God for our salvation help us Lord to 669 00:57:48,800 --> 00:58:05,640 walk in all that that means let's partake together well I pray that God 670 00:58:05,640 --> 00:58:11,200 will bless your life abundantly that as you go about your days and you just seek 671 00:58:11,200 --> 00:58:18,680 him every day that you listen for his voice as as elder Rick was telling us to 672 00:58:18,680 --> 00:58:22,880 hear him speak to you and encourage you and console you and guide you and direct 673 00:58:22,880 --> 00:58:28,520 you that we learned to listen to the one who purchased our lives by his own blood 674 00:58:28,520 --> 00:58:32,720 that we learned to listen to to what he wants us to do and to live how he wants 675 00:58:32,720 --> 00:58:39,160 us to be that we would be everything he's created us to be to be people who 676 00:58:39,160 --> 00:58:45,440 shine the glory of God into a world that so desperately needs it and yes that 677 00:58:45,440 --> 00:58:51,040 even means going into a world that says we don't need him and still telling them 678 00:58:51,040 --> 00:58:57,560 about it with love with kindness with compassion but with confidence and 679 00:58:57,560 --> 00:59:03,080 boldness because as we've been studying we know that the clock is ticking on 680 00:59:03,080 --> 00:59:09,680 mankind the end is coming quickly and we're seeing pictures of the culmination 681 00:59:09,680 --> 00:59:14,180 of of the groundwork that Satan is already laying now and we are called as 682 00:59:14,180 --> 00:59:19,720 God's people to redeem the time for it is short I pray God's spirit would fill 683 00:59:19,720 --> 00:59:25,880 every single one of you with a zeal to tell people about Jesus this track thing 684 00:59:25,880 --> 00:59:30,240 we're doing now we're providing the tracks for you nobody could say I can't 685 00:59:30,240 --> 00:59:34,600 afford the tracks yes he can because they're free take them hand them out 686 00:59:34,600 --> 00:59:39,400 find a way to share your faith with people and trust that the God who 687 00:59:39,400 --> 00:59:43,400 redeemed your soul is gonna fill you in that moment and and help you say the 688 00:59:43,400 --> 00:59:48,080 right thing and and and to just show the love of Christ because that's what we're 689 00:59:48,080 --> 01:00:15,240 about amen all right let's worship guys God bless you