back to indexWed Bible Study - Revelation Lesson 17
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Gracious Father, I want to thank you for watching over our church just even the last three days, 00:00:16.320 |
Lord God, as through various works and studies, you've sustained us. 00:00:22.240 |
And we thank you, Father God, that even just day to day, just your Holy Spirit and your 00:00:26.960 |
word just guiding and leading. And we know, Father, that just even in the mundane things, Lord, 00:00:31.920 |
how you are always gracious to us. Help us to open our eyes to see the blessing that we live under, 00:00:36.960 |
so that our hearts may not be filled with grumbling, but always thankful, Lord, for the 00:00:41.120 |
salvation that you've given. Help us to glean from your word and to be sober and alert that each one 00:00:46.880 |
of these things that we are learning, Father, would cause us to have a greater insight of who you are 00:00:51.680 |
and the spiritual struggle, Lord, that is constantly going on. So we pray for your anointing. 00:00:56.480 |
We pray for your blessing in Jesus name we pray. Amen. All right. So this is a quick review. Just 00:01:02.160 |
starting last week, we talked about how chapter 11 ends with the seventh trumpet and there is a 00:01:07.760 |
a it's not a pause, but chapter 12 through 15. It kind of gives us a setup for the real severe 00:01:15.040 |
judgment that's coming in chapter 16, the bold judgments. So the bold judgments are the most 00:01:20.320 |
severest out of the seven different segments of judgments that we've had. In chapter 10 and 11, 00:01:30.080 |
it talks about the three woes. The two woes have already been spoken and the worst of the three 00:01:34.240 |
woes is waiting for us in chapter 16. So chapter 12, 13, 14, and 15 is kind of a setup to explain 00:01:42.080 |
all that's going to happen in chapter 16. So is chapter 12 through 14, 15, was that meant to be 00:01:49.440 |
taken completely chronologically? Is it kind of telling us chapter 12 happened, chapter 13 happened, 00:01:54.720 |
chapter 14 happened? Is that how we're supposed to read that? No, we talked about that last week. 00:02:00.960 |
Okay, so it's not what's happening, what's unraveling for us is talking about human history, 00:02:06.640 |
redemptive history as a whole. So there are some elements of it that's talking about the future. 00:02:11.040 |
There's some elements that's talking about the creation and the fall. There's some elements 00:02:15.040 |
about Israel's history. So when you read it, you can't just simply read it chronologically. 00:02:20.080 |
You understand? Okay, so if you try to read it chronologically, it's not going to make sense 00:02:24.320 |
because it's just not going to fit. So it's not meant to be read that way. In fact, as we study 00:02:28.400 |
it, you're going to see what I'm saying if you don't know what I'm saying now. Okay, so chapter 00:02:32.240 |
12, the setup was this conflict between this woman and the dragon. Who do we say the woman was? 00:02:38.240 |
Yeah, most likely talking about Israel. There's certain language there 00:02:43.520 |
that probably it's not. In fact, most commentators don't believe that this is talking about Mary. 00:02:48.880 |
It's talking about probably, again, it's not 100%, but an educated guess as it's 00:02:53.600 |
referenced to Israel giving birth to the Messiah. So the Messiah clearly is Jesus, 00:02:58.800 |
right? So the conflict is between Jesus and who? 00:03:12.800 |
Some response. Is the dragon the Antichrist? No, he's not the Antichrist. Who is the dragon? 00:03:22.720 |
Satan himself, right? So he's the dragon is Satan himself. So we learned last week that Satan, 00:03:32.720 |
because of his rebellion against God, he gets kicked out of heaven. He takes a third of the 00:03:37.200 |
stars with him and the stars represent what? The angels. So the fallen angels, a third of them are 00:03:43.040 |
taken with him. And then there is this conflict between the dragon and his angels and who else? 00:03:49.520 |
Archangel Michael, right? Archangel Michael and the other angels versus the dragon and his angels. 00:03:58.000 |
And this conflict happens, right? And Archangel Michael wins. So this is not like, oh, this is 00:04:05.680 |
what happened. And so therefore, you know, this is when this happened. So you can't read it like 00:04:10.160 |
that. This is just kind of telling us in redemptive history in totality that this is what's happening. 00:04:15.120 |
So we go to chapter 13 and he's referring to two separate beasts, right? And so we're going to find 00:04:22.320 |
out the identity of these beasts and who they are and what they are doing and what purpose they serve. 00:04:27.840 |
And hopefully we'll gain some insight as to what is happening here. Okay. So let's look at the 00:04:33.280 |
first one, the first beast. All right. So the first beast, the identity of the first beast. 00:04:51.600 |
First, we want to clarify that the beast is not the dragon, but a servant of the dragon, right? 00:04:59.360 |
The beast is not the dragon, but the servant of the dragon. In verse four, it says, and they 00:05:03.520 |
worship the dragon for he had given authority to the beast. So they're distinct, right? 00:05:08.480 |
So the beast and a dragon are two separate entities. The first beast represents a person 00:05:17.440 |
and it is also symbolic of a demonic kingdom. So if you look at the language, there's clear 00:05:23.200 |
reference to the beast as being an individual, a particular person. But if you look at the details 00:05:30.480 |
of this description, he's talking about the 10 horns and seven heads, all in reference to authority. 00:05:35.040 |
It is also symbolic of a kingdom. So the reference to the beast is in reference to his kingdom 00:05:43.840 |
and the personhood, both at the same time. And it's hard to separate the two. 00:05:52.480 |
The first piece is most likely in reference to what we often call the Antichrist, mentioned in 00:05:58.560 |
other places in the Bible. I didn't mention it here, but in the Old Testament, there are passages 00:06:03.360 |
where they called son of Belial or daughter of Belial or Belial himself. And the reference to 00:06:09.600 |
Belial oftentimes is in reference to or similar in reference to the Antichrist in the New Testament. 00:06:15.680 |
I think I have some. So the various verses, and I could have chosen a bunch of them, but these are 00:06:22.640 |
some of the verses that we have in 1 John 2, 18 says, "Children, it is the last hour. And as you 00:06:28.640 |
have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it 00:06:33.520 |
is the last hour." So in John, he talks about Antichrist is coming, but many Antichrist has 00:06:40.320 |
already come. So the spirit of the Antichrist has already come, but there's a particular Antichrist, 00:06:46.400 |
the person himself. He hasn't fully been revealed, but the work of Antichrist through his 00:06:53.520 |
minions, it has already started from the time of Christ. 00:06:56.800 |
"Who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus Christ, Jesus is the Christ. This is the Antichrist, 00:07:04.800 |
he who denies the Father and the Son." Again, the work of Antichrist is not simply at the end, 00:07:11.280 |
it's already started. "Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit 00:07:20.080 |
of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already." So in the early 00:07:25.200 |
church, clearly from John's writings and Paul's writings and other epistles, that part of the 00:07:32.560 |
early church teaching was about the coming of Antichrist. So we typically think, you know, 00:07:37.280 |
when Paul and Peter and John, when they went and preached the gospel, you know, they taught about 00:07:42.800 |
Christ, his identity, his death, his resurrection, and the church, and those are the main doctrines 00:07:47.840 |
that we typically think that they probably spent 99% of the time talking about. But if you read 00:07:52.880 |
the epistles carefully, you find that the talk of the end times was actually a very vital part 00:08:00.240 |
of the gospel spreading. So remember when Paul went to Thessalonica, he was only there for about 00:08:06.720 |
three Sundays, possibly a little bit longer than that, but during that period, a big chunk of his 00:08:13.200 |
teaching was about the end times. So if you remember in 2 Thessalonians, he's talking about, 00:08:17.760 |
"Remember when I told you that the man of lawlessness is going to come?" So the three 00:08:21.760 |
short period weeks that he had, one of the main part of his teaching was about coming of the 00:08:27.600 |
Antichrist, and that's why he says, "Remember when I was with you, I taught you about these things." 00:08:32.240 |
So again, it's a reminder to us just how significant and important is this to our 00:08:37.920 |
spiritual life, that from the very get-go that this was part of the teaching in the early church, 00:08:44.320 |
right? So they spread the gospel, but along with spreading the gospel, there was teaching about 00:08:49.200 |
the spiritual warfare and Antichrist and what he's doing, right? Which makes sense. If you have 00:08:55.280 |
spiritual children and you have demonic forces who are actively working to scheme and to destroy 00:09:02.880 |
the church, you want to make sure that at least they know about it, they hear about it, and that's 00:09:07.440 |
exactly what Paul does. Paul and the other apostles do. Second, John verse 7, "For many deceivers have 00:09:15.600 |
gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a 00:09:19.840 |
one is a deceiver and the Antichrist." So again, most of these, if not all of these passages, 00:09:25.520 |
are about 1 John and 2 John, but we see teachings of this in Christ's teaching in the book of 00:09:31.120 |
Matthew. We see this in Paul's writings in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. We see it in Peter's writing. 00:09:38.160 |
So it is not just John's writings, even though those are the verses I've chosen to pick, right? 00:09:44.400 |
So the idea or the teaching about being careful or being watchful about the coming of the Antichrist 00:09:52.720 |
was a vital part of the early church teaching. 00:09:55.280 |
B, description of the beast. The identity of the beast clearly is the Antichrist. So he's a servant 00:10:07.040 |
of Satan, right? Description, how is he described in this passage? In contrast to the second beast, 00:10:14.240 |
that rises out of the earth, the first beast rises out of the sea, right? The significance 00:10:19.760 |
of this, again, this is an educated guess and I think this was the best explanation that I read 00:10:25.440 |
in the commentaries, is that the contrast may be stating that the first beast is coming out of the 00:10:32.400 |
sea and the second beast is coming out of where? The earth. And the contrast between the two is 00:10:43.920 |
that the first is the Antichrist and we're going to talk a little bit more when we get to the second 00:10:47.680 |
beast. The second beast is obviously distinct from the first beast, right? And the second beast 00:10:53.840 |
is, it serves the, the second beast serves the first beast, okay? We're going to get to that 00:11:01.680 |
when we get to the second beast, okay? So the more significant work is Satan is above the first beast 00:11:09.840 |
and the first beast is above the second beast. I'm getting confused, okay? Let me say that again. 00:11:16.560 |
Satan is, is the top, under him the servant is the Antichrist, the first beast, and then the second 00:11:24.000 |
beast serves the first beast. You get that? Okay? So here he identifies and says that the first beast 00:11:32.320 |
is coming out of the sea and then later on if you read the, the coming of the second beast in verse 00:11:37.680 |
11 he says he's coming out from the earth and the best explanation I heard from that was to come out 00:11:43.840 |
of the sea meaning that it came from a distant place, right? Coming up from, from under the earth 00:11:50.400 |
meaning that he was in their midst and I'm going to explain that when we get to the second beast. 00:11:55.840 |
So the Antichrist is coming where they don't expect him. He's not in their midst. That the Antichrist, 00:12:03.280 |
not the spirit of the Antichrist, but the, the Antichrist is going to come from somewhere else. 00:12:08.560 |
It's going to come from afar, right? But the second beast is, which I'm going to explain a little bit 00:12:15.280 |
later, is probably in reference to false, false prophets or maybe a false prophet and he's going 00:12:23.120 |
to be in the midst of them and I'll, again I'll explain a little bit later. So that's the distinction 00:12:28.480 |
between the first beast coming out of the sea and the second beast coming from the earth. Follow? 00:12:34.480 |
Okay, so if you read it hopefully you know what I'm referencing to. 00:12:39.440 |
It's pretty clear that the beast is mimicking the dragon. 00:12:45.040 |
Even in his description it says he has 10 horns and 7 heads, right? Where did we see that before? 00:12:55.040 |
The red dragon, right? In chapter 11 says he has 10, 10 horns and 7 heads. All of this in 00:13:00.800 |
reference to his authority, right? The dragon gives the beast his power, 00:13:08.880 |
throne and authority over the nation. So in verse 4, so there's clear hierarchy, right? You have, 00:13:15.840 |
you have Satan and then the Antichrist and Antichrist is carrying out the work of the dragon, 00:13:23.200 |
okay? This is all going to make sense, more sense later. It says that he has a blasphemous name 00:13:31.680 |
written on his head in verse 1 and I saw the beast rising out of the sea and 10 horns and 7 heads 00:13:38.800 |
with 10 diadems on his horns and blasphemous names on his head, right? So basically blasphemy 00:13:46.480 |
is anything that is defaming by word or action against the name of God. That's the official 00:13:52.320 |
definition of blasphemy. So blasphemy can be by action, blasphemy can be by words, right? 00:13:59.120 |
But at the core of blasphemy is something that's opposing God and it's directly opposing God, 00:14:10.720 |
Technically no because you're not God, right? I can make fun of you, I can rip on you but I 00:14:18.640 |
can't blaspheme against you because specifically blasphemy is in reference to opposing God, right? 00:14:24.480 |
So the heads represents authority or power so that so these powers exist to oppose God. So the 00:14:34.880 |
identity of this Antichrist, just like the word says, is to go against Christ. His whole purpose 00:14:41.280 |
is to go against Christ. Even it's even written on his forehead, blasphemy against God, right? 00:14:48.320 |
His whole intent, purpose, existence is to oppose God and his work. 00:14:54.480 |
He is described physically as a leopard with feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion. 00:15:03.600 |
Now we see the same vision that John sees here in the book of Daniel. I'm going to 00:15:10.880 |
take us to that passage, right? So Daniel chapter 7 through to 7, the same description of this beast 00:15:19.520 |
is recorded in this about the end times. Here there's four but the leopard, the bear, and the 00:15:27.600 |
lion are also mentioned here, okay? Some of you guys may remember this from King Nebuchadnezzar's 00:15:33.680 |
vision and he sees these four beasts, right? He sees the he begins with the lion and then the bear 00:15:41.120 |
and then the leopard, right? So let me read it real quick. "And four great beasts came up out 00:15:47.040 |
of the sea different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. Then as it 00:15:51.680 |
looked its wings were plucked off and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on 00:15:56.320 |
two feet like a man and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold another beast, a second 00:16:01.120 |
one like a bear, it was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth and 00:16:05.760 |
it was told arise devour much flesh. After this I looked and behold another like a leopard with 00:16:10.960 |
four wings of a bird on its back and a beast had four heads and dominion was given to it. 00:16:16.000 |
And this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast terrifying and dreadful and 00:16:21.760 |
succeedingly strong. It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces stamped what 00:16:27.600 |
was left with his feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it and it had 10 horns." 00:16:32.800 |
Okay so he sees this vision of these four beasts and each one devoured each one consecutively 00:16:41.040 |
and then the fourth one devours all of them. Okay now some of you guys may or may not have if you 00:16:47.120 |
have ever studied the book of Daniel. One of the interpretations of this is in this is in reference 00:16:55.120 |
to the four different kingdoms during the time of Israel's history before the coming of Christ. 00:17:01.680 |
Right so typically this is interpreted as the lion being the Babylonians 00:17:10.480 |
and then the bears being the Persians and then the leopards being the Greeks. 00:17:19.600 |
And then the fourth would be what? The fourth one that devours all of them. 00:17:29.360 |
Huh? Romans. Okay so the Roman Empire. So again whether that's true or not that's typically how 00:17:39.200 |
this you know in some circles how this is interpreted. Whether it is or it is not we see 00:17:45.280 |
again this is where the revelation so John's vision of this beast is not new. 00:17:50.560 |
This is a vision that Daniel also saw about the end times. Okay let me go back. 00:17:56.880 |
Okay and here's where things get interesting. Okay I asked you last week that it wasn't 00:18:13.280 |
one of your questions but to try to find how much of the satanic work mimics Christ's work. 00:18:21.520 |
Right remember me asking you that? It wasn't on your paper but I asked you that. I asked you to 00:18:27.920 |
look for you know whatever you see in this chapter that looks or sounds similar to the work of Christ. 00:18:34.640 |
Well if you took some time to read through it you should have found a bunch of them 00:18:40.000 |
because so much of what's happening in chapter 13 is mimicking the work of Christ and this is 00:18:45.760 |
where we begin. So first of all it says one of the seven heads seemed to have mortal wounds. 00:18:51.200 |
It doesn't say it died it said it seemed to have mortal wounds but it's healed. This miraculous 00:18:57.120 |
healing caused people to be amazed and then they end up following him and then worshiping him giving 00:19:02.400 |
homage and honor right. What does that kind of remind you of? 00:19:23.360 |
and he they think he has mortal wound but he gets miraculously healed basically comes back from the 00:19:32.720 |
dead and so people are amazed by this miracle and as a result of that he gets a huge following. 00:19:39.760 |
What does that sound like? Christ his death and resurrection right that he he dies then after 00:19:49.360 |
three days he resurrects and people are amazed by the resurrection and that's the beginning of 00:19:52.880 |
Christianity. So this anti-Christ is mimicking what Christ is doing right. So the mortal wound 00:20:02.720 |
and his healing seems to be a mimic of his death and resurrection right. Turn your bibles I have 00:20:08.880 |
this passage I think I have this passage okay yeah second Thessalonians 3 2 chapter 3 to 12. So 00:20:17.280 |
if you have your bibles just turn there with me I want you to know that passage because 00:20:21.520 |
Paul mentions this as a warning okay so I have the passage up here but I want you to go to that 00:20:27.840 |
passage and know this passage well because it it was again as I mentioned in the beginning he was 00:20:36.080 |
Paul was only in Thessalonica for a very short period of time and he was very aware that satanic 00:20:42.560 |
attack was going to come and so as he was preaching the gospel he also warned them about the end times 00:20:48.240 |
and the devil scheming and so this is what he says let no one deceive you in any way for that day 00:20:53.600 |
will will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed the 00:20:58.400 |
son of destruction and referring to the anti-Christ who opposes and exalts himself against every so 00:21:04.720 |
called god or object of worship in other words he's challenging everything that's being worshipped 00:21:09.600 |
because he wants to be worshipped so that he takes his seat in the temple of god proclaiming himself 00:21:14.240 |
to be god right so his deception is he's going to fool people to think that he is god so you see the 00:21:21.200 |
work that he's doing Jesus is declared to be god right remember Thomas after he meets the resurrected 00:21:28.640 |
Christ he's the first one who bows down and says my lord and my god so Thomas is known as known as 00:21:36.800 |
the doubting Thomas but Thomas actually is the first one who recognizes his deity and says my 00:21:42.640 |
lord and my god right so we see satanic work the first thing that is it tells us is he pretends to 00:21:49.600 |
have a mortal wound and then he comes back and as a result of that he gets worshipped right do you 00:21:55.200 |
not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things and you know what is restraining 00:21:59.760 |
him now so that he may be revealed in his time for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only 00:22:05.360 |
he only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way okay meaning god himself 00:22:12.320 |
is restraining the main power so his spirit that opposes god and mimics god is has already been 00:22:20.400 |
there from the beginning but the antichrist the the man of lawlessness has not been revealed in 00:22:25.920 |
right for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he uh who now restrains it will do 00:22:31.760 |
so until he is out of the way and then the lawless one will be revealed whom the lord jesus will kill 00:22:36.800 |
with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by appearing of his coming the coming of the 00:22:41.920 |
lawless one is by the activity of satan with all the power and false signs and wonders right so 00:22:48.320 |
everything that christ has done he's going to mimic it and he's going to fool people by saying 00:22:53.440 |
that he is christ that he is god and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing 00:22:58.560 |
because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved so the ones who are being deceived are the 00:23:04.000 |
ones who have not fully embraced the truth right so who is he deceiving who are the first ones 00:23:09.600 |
that going to be that's going to be deceived probably nominal christians right because that's 00:23:15.360 |
where it's going to begin because he's going to come as an angel of light so the people who are 00:23:20.240 |
falsely following christ the nominal christians are the first ones because they refuse to love 00:23:25.040 |
the truth therefore god sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false 00:23:29.840 |
so god allows this in order that all may be condemned who do not believe the truth but had 00:23:35.280 |
pleasure in unrighteousness right so in other words all of this is god ordained so everything 00:23:40.240 |
that is happening in chapter 13 is because god is allowing it to happen so the spirit of the 00:23:44.800 |
antichrist has has been here from the beginning but the antichrist he's being restrained until 00:23:51.040 |
that time comes right and his primary target first and foremost is going to be the church 00:23:57.360 |
the nominal christians who are going through the motion who do not love the truth will be the first 00:24:01.920 |
to be deceived okay let's go back so the beast by mimicking the death and resurrection of christ 00:24:09.840 |
seems to be presenting himself in the place of christ so let me go back to 00:24:18.240 |
isaiah 14 14 says i will ascend above the heights of the clouds i will make myself like the most 00:24:22.800 |
high so remember when we are studying through isaiah right this is talking about the fall of 00:24:28.080 |
satan and and how he desires to be in the place of god and and it seems like the antichrist is 00:24:35.760 |
beginning to work to fool people so that he can receive the honor and glory that only the father 00:24:41.280 |
deserves right that's how he has described his activity 00:24:51.760 |
satan is worshipped as a result of the beast so the whole purpose of this beast is to gain attention 00:25:01.360 |
and glory and ultimately as a result of that it says the dragon is going to get the glory right 00:25:09.920 |
the work of antichrist is ultimately to to bring worship and honor to the dragon 00:25:28.560 |
sounds like christ right jesus says that i did not come in my own accord 00:25:36.080 |
right to bring glory to himself but to the father right so the whole purpose of jesus was to come to 00:25:42.720 |
magnify his father and the father says he magnifies the son and so if you look at this relationship 00:25:48.640 |
between satan and antichrist satan gives him all authority right he has the same he has a 10 horns 00:25:56.480 |
seven heads and a diadem just like satan but he is he is working to bring glory to the dragon 00:26:04.720 |
right so you see the mimicking there so even the way he does it by by he says seemingly having a 00:26:11.200 |
wounded head and then coming back to life and then all of a sudden people give him glory and then 00:26:15.600 |
and then the satan himself gets the glory so as the beast mimics the dragon the dragon seems to be 00:26:22.960 |
seems to try to mimic god meaning that he's doing the same thing the father did with his son 00:26:28.880 |
but now he's doing with antichrist okay you following right if you are falling asleep on this 00:26:38.560 |
i don't know what's going to keep you awake right it's so interesting that that this is this is how 00:26:45.920 |
redemptive history is is happening that as god is working there is an undercurrent work constantly 00:26:52.960 |
working against him right mimicking the same things that god is doing to oppose him right 00:27:00.080 |
and that's why the devil's work is called scheming because it is not the red team and the blue team 00:27:07.440 |
right it's god is working and the other side of that he's working against him 00:27:14.480 |
so you can see how easily you can fall into the scheme because he's mimicking god 00:27:20.960 |
right revolution 13-4 says they worship the beast saying who is like the beast and who can fight 00:27:29.120 |
against it right even the language that is used to to worship satan in exodus 15 11 is 00:27:37.680 |
says who is like you oh lord among the gods who is like you majestic and holy awesome and glorious 00:27:42.640 |
he is doing wonders so even in the way that that the dragon is being worshipped the same language 00:27:48.240 |
who or who is like the beast and who can fight against it right so everything that the beast 00:27:53.600 |
is doing is mimicking god right but to bring glory to himself 00:27:58.480 |
it was given a blasphemy words words against god his name and his dwelling along with all those 00:28:08.160 |
in heaven for 42 months again remember that 42 months keeps reoccurring time times and a half a 00:28:16.000 |
time right or three and a half years so this period that is being described with the anti-christ is 00:28:24.240 |
being released for three and a half years it is intense but it is temporary meaning that just as 00:28:31.360 |
he was released right and at the end of three and a half years when his work is done he's going to 00:28:36.560 |
be bound so even in his rebellion even in everything that he is doing god is allowing it to happen 00:28:44.240 |
for that period of time to serve his ultimate purpose for those who did not love the truth 00:28:50.640 |
that he is allowing them to be deceived right remember we're studying that in the book of 00:28:56.320 |
romans in chapter 11 that how god gave them a spirit of stupor right they had eyes and could 00:29:01.760 |
not see but hearts and they could not feel ears and could not hear god is allowing that that 00:29:07.360 |
allowing their hardening and rebellion to take its full course and so that's basically what god 00:29:12.880 |
is doing he's allowing satan to do its work and the spirit of anti-christ has always been working 00:29:19.680 |
but when the anti-christ is released he's allowing it to take the full course right so if you've been 00:29:25.680 |
rebelling against god he's gonna he's gonna let you go as you've been chasing after the world 00:29:30.240 |
he's gonna let you go right if you if you didn't love god he's just gonna let you go so during that 00:29:36.080 |
period of intense period our identities are going to be clear right so you know i'm one of the 00:29:42.320 |
struggles that we have in a post-christian culture is who is and who's not a christian 00:29:46.160 |
and it's very difficult for us to say because you don't want to be judgmental right but yet if we 00:29:50.880 |
don't identify who's in a christian then how do we disciple them do we share the gospel so jesus 00:29:55.760 |
says right in the church only god's going to do that at the end time he's going to divide the 00:30:01.280 |
wheat and the tares but during before then we're not going to be able to know we're not going because 00:30:06.960 |
we're not god but during this period god is going to separate beating the wheat and the tares and 00:30:13.520 |
he's going to allow the anti-christ to do his full work so if you have been going through the motion 00:30:19.360 |
and your faith hasn't been wasn't real he said then when the persecution and the trials come 00:30:24.640 |
it's going to be revealed and then and then he's going to describe what's going to happen to the 00:30:28.560 |
true believers right and we'll talk about that so this beast was given permission to wage war 00:30:38.720 |
against the saints and conquer them so you notice here all the non-christians what are they doing 00:30:44.800 |
during this period up to this point what did what did we just say what what what is the world doing 00:30:56.560 |
with the beast right now do they hate him do they recognize him they worship him right so all those 00:31:04.560 |
who don't worship him the true saints of christ are going to be they're going to wage war against 00:31:10.800 |
them okay so in other words during this period anyone who does not have the mark of the beast 00:31:17.360 |
is going to go under heavy attack by anti-christ and his followers 00:31:22.480 |
the saints being conquered is not referring to them losing salvation it's pretty clear that 00:31:29.840 |
that's not what he's talking about this is a prophecy that the christians will physically be 00:31:34.320 |
harmed but ultimately spiritually be saved right so imagine the language that all this time there's 00:31:44.240 |
promises of god's restoration and protection but during this period he says the christians are 00:31:50.240 |
going to be conquered right i mean think about how intense this is that the language in the bible 00:31:58.160 |
says christians are going to be conquered by demonic power right so clearly it's not in 00:32:04.000 |
reference to losing our salvation but that's how intense the physical persecution is going to be 00:32:08.480 |
for the church i mean i think i have verses here so romans 8 38 to 39 00:32:15.120 |
clearly it's not talking about some losing our salvation because it says for i am sure that 00:32:20.640 |
neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers 00:32:25.200 |
nor height nor death nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the 00:32:28.720 |
love of god in christ jesus our lord so nothing not satan nothing is going to separate us from 00:32:34.080 |
the love of christ but to be conquered by satan so clearly is not saying that it's going to be 00:32:39.040 |
separated from god's love but if that's not the case it's talking about physically that's physical 00:32:47.360 |
harm is going to come to christians during this period second corinthians 4 4 in their case the 00:32:52.960 |
god of this world was blinded the mind of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light 00:32:57.200 |
of the gospel the glory of christ who is the image of god so second corinthians 4 4 describes satan 00:33:04.000 |
as the ruler of this age right so he was given authority over all creation 00:33:09.920 |
and we're not just talking about the end times he's talking about the whole period that 00:33:17.200 |
of human existence satan's the one who is in charge the work of antichrist has not been 00:33:22.560 |
released yet right satan's influence has always been working and still working now 00:33:29.040 |
but the intense period where the antichrist the man of lawlessness is going to be released 00:33:33.920 |
and he's going to declare war against the saints is not yet because he's being restrained right 00:33:41.120 |
until the last part of three and a half years and as a result the whole world will worship the beast 00:33:48.560 |
right and again the passage that we looked at in philippians 2 8 through 11 right 00:33:56.960 |
talk in description of christ and being found in human form he humbled himself became obedient to 00:34:01.600 |
the point of death even death on a cross therefore god has highly exalted him bestowed on him the 00:34:06.240 |
name that is above every name so that at the name of jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on 00:34:10.800 |
earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of of god 00:34:15.440 |
the father so we see even the work of satan right and the beast said in the end right he 00:34:24.560 |
pretends to be have have a mortal wound he comes back and he's 00:34:28.320 |
healed the whole world comes and he is exalted and worshiped just like christ 00:34:32.560 |
right and then the section finishes if you look at chapter 13 00:34:37.040 |
and the middle section before we get to chapter 13 11 look with me in verse 10 00:34:54.320 |
first ten it says if anyone is to be taken captive to captivity he goes 00:34:58.080 |
if anyone is to be slain with the sword with the sword must he be slain here is a call for 00:35:04.800 |
endurance and faith of the saints so what does it mean if anyone's to be taken captive to captivity 00:35:16.720 |
if anyone's to be slain with the sword with the sword must he be slain 00:35:28.560 |
so captivity and martyrdom is ordained god is saying it's going to happen right he's not saying 00:35:39.280 |
if you if you're captive you're not going to come out if you're going to be slain you're going to 00:35:44.000 |
be slain right so he's basically saying when satan wages war and he targets christians during this 00:35:52.560 |
period those the three and a half years or 42 weeks that is described is going to be intense 00:35:58.240 |
and that's why he ends with here is a call for the endurance and the faith of the saints 00:36:02.880 |
right in other words hold on to your faith to the end that's exactly what it says in matthew 24 00:36:08.400 |
he who endures to the end shall be saved right this is part of the reason why i told you kind 00:36:15.040 |
of like post you know post rapture view um i kind of lean toward that i'm not i'm not strong on it 00:36:21.840 |
but i kind of lean toward that because the language that i see in the scripture describes 00:36:26.720 |
a church going through intense period right if you're a pre-trib view preacher viewers will say 00:36:35.040 |
that the most of the church is raptured and only the christians who became a christian during the 00:36:39.120 |
first three and a half years of the tribulation they're the ones who are being targeted that's 00:36:42.800 |
how they'll describe this but again it to me it seems like the church itself is going to be going 00:36:49.200 |
through this tribulation right so during that period every christian's faith is going to be 00:36:54.720 |
tested with severity if that when when and if that happens 00:36:59.120 |
so you notice you know like the first beast and how it's kind of mimicking christ and how satan 00:37:12.560 |
is mimicking god and it's the whole purpose is to bring glory to themselves right he that's why 00:37:18.800 |
he's called the anti-christ he's going against christ the second beast it's even more clear 00:37:26.800 |
its identity may be in reference to false prophets who assist in the work of the first beast the 00:37:33.600 |
anti-christ so if you remember the first piece is coming out of the sea which is away from them 00:37:39.120 |
from a distant place but the second beast rises from the earth from where they are right so in 00:37:46.000 |
other words the false prophets are going to be or whether it's one or many they're going to be in 00:37:53.440 |
their midst in fact the way that the second beast is described it has two horns like a lamb and spoke 00:38:03.280 |
like a dragon right so it says his appearance was like a lamb but what comes out of his mouth 00:38:11.200 |
is just like a dragon like is demonic this seems to be an accurate description of false prophets 00:38:18.960 |
where on the surface they come as an angel of light but the actual content of their words is 00:38:24.560 |
venomous is satanic this is a description of false prophets okay i'm gonna go to the passages okay 00:38:32.640 |
so second corinthians 11 14 to 15 it says and no wonder for even satan disguises himself as an 00:38:38.560 |
angel of light so it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants 00:38:42.800 |
of righteousness their end will correspond with their deeds okay let me come back to that okay 00:38:54.320 |
the scripture tells us to test and prove the prophets from god because from the very beginning 00:39:02.640 |
from the old testament from the time of christ and all this period and especially at the end times 00:39:08.640 |
he says that the false prophets are going to come so satan sends and the antichrist antichrist 00:39:15.600 |
mimics the work of jesus and brings glory to the dragon and then if you notice that the false 00:39:22.800 |
prophets are going to function like the holy spirit okay and let me explain okay i'm going 00:39:33.200 |
to come back to these passages okay he exercises the same authority as the beast right so the 00:39:44.080 |
beast exercise the same authority as as the dragon satan and then the second beast exercise the same 00:39:51.200 |
authority as the first beast the antichrist he seems like a beast but his work is demonic 00:40:02.480 |
he makes the world worship the first beast mimicking the holy spirit in the trinity 00:40:17.360 |
remember jesus says it is better for him to go because until he goes the holy spirit cannot come 00:40:24.160 |
and he says when the holy spirit comes what did he say he's going to bring to remembrance 00:40:28.080 |
everything that i have taught you so the whole goal of the holy spirit is to point back to christ 00:40:34.080 |
and everything that he has done and he said the second beast is going to come to do the same 00:40:39.040 |
to bring worship to the beast he says he makes fire come down from heaven verse 13 00:40:47.840 |
so 13 13 it performs great signs even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people 00:40:56.000 |
where does that happen what scene does that remind you of 00:41:01.280 |
the pentecost when the holy spirit comes they speak tongues of fire 00:41:08.480 |
right they speak tongues of fire so they notice fire so fire and the holy spirit oftentimes go 00:41:13.520 |
hand in hand so he says that the second beast is going to come and he's going to perform these 00:41:18.000 |
these miraculous signs and again it mimics the work of the holy spirit 00:41:25.220 |
his ultimate goal is to deceive the world to worship the beast 00:41:35.120 |
in contrast the goal of the holy spirit is to convict the world of truth 00:41:38.320 |
right so the whole goal of the of the false prophets is to deceive and to bring glory to 00:41:45.440 |
the beast the whole work of the holy spirit is to bring to remembrance the truth the conviction 00:41:51.040 |
of truth to repentance to bring them to christ in verse 15 it says it gives breath to the image 00:42:00.960 |
of the beast verse 15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image 00:42:08.000 |
of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast 00:42:12.400 |
to be slain holy spirit is oftentimes described as the as breath itself in hebrew the word for 00:42:22.560 |
spirit is rock which means air in motion or also breath and sometimes understood as life right 00:42:30.720 |
so the holy spirit itself is described as giving breath or or life itself 00:42:37.280 |
and the holy spirit is he who gives life to the image of god so this false prophet is performing 00:42:45.200 |
signs and is giving life fake life to the image of the beast right and he says exactly the opposite 00:42:52.000 |
what the holy spirit does the holy spirit is deposited in us right and and to restore the 00:42:58.320 |
image of the creator in us do you see how each one of what they're doing is mimicking the trinity 00:43:06.240 |
it says it gives the mark of the beast on all the people 00:43:10.960 |
and number six six six why is the number of this b666 00:43:16.240 |
god's number is 777 everything he does is mimicking right everything that satan does 00:43:27.520 |
is mimicking he's not quite there he satan was the highest of the angels 00:43:32.080 |
and he's using his power to get as close to god as possible so god is 777 the number of completion 00:43:39.520 |
the number of man is six right and so even in his number he's trying to mimic god 00:43:45.120 |
the holy spirit is a mark of a genuine believer 00:43:53.680 |
so there there is no christian who say who can say that they're christian if they don't have 00:43:58.080 |
the mark of the holy spirit evidence of the holy spirit in them so you see how everything 00:44:03.280 |
that the dragon the first beast and the second beast everything that they're doing is mimicking 00:44:08.720 |
god the father the son and the holy spirit and so that's why he's called the antichrist and 00:44:14.640 |
everything he does is to oppose the father and to by deception false teaching false miracles 00:44:21.600 |
by mimicking what god is doing he's trying to get people to come to him instead of the father 00:44:26.080 |
and god is going to allow that for a period remember he said that the deception 00:44:30.000 |
is going to be so great that even the elect if that was possible would be deceived that's how 00:44:37.840 |
powerful the deception is going to be that it's going to be very hard to distinguish between 00:44:42.640 |
somebody who's coming from god and somebody who's coming from satan right that that's how god 00:44:48.480 |
describes it during that period that's how strong the deception is going to be and again why over 00:44:54.320 |
and over and over and again the bible tells us to stay alert and stay sober right because it's not 00:45:01.600 |
obvious satanic work is not obvious go back to some of the passages 00:45:16.960 |
so from the even from the old testament god gives clear guidelines as to how to tell because false 00:45:22.480 |
prophets existed from the very beginning right so this work of antichrist and satan 00:45:27.280 |
where he releases antichrist for a period the man of lawlessness there's a specific time where god's 00:45:34.480 |
going to allow that at the end but his general work of antichrist to mimic god and to bring 00:45:40.400 |
confusion and division and to scheme to thwart god's work has always been working so from the 00:45:47.200 |
very beginning false prophets have coming so if if one prophet comes and says god wants you to do 00:45:52.320 |
this there's always the anti-prophet that would come and say no god did not tell you to do this 00:45:56.960 |
so there every time god moved there was an anti-movement because that's exactly how satan 00:46:02.320 |
is described beginning from the garden of eden god said do not eat and he says surely did god 00:46:08.720 |
really tell you this right so from the very beginning he was challenging god if you look at the 00:46:14.960 |
jesus at when he was um he's in the desert he's like did god if you're really god well the bible 00:46:23.040 |
said this if you jump off that he's going to come and protect you so every movement of god there's 00:46:27.520 |
an anti-movement so from the beginning deuteronomy 13 1 to 5 it says if a prophet or a dreamer 00:46:33.200 |
of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder so a dreamer is in reference to somebody 00:46:38.320 |
who is fortune telling okay he's talking about divination so somebody who is practicing divination 00:46:45.040 |
and saying that they are prophesying and gives you a sign right and he's performing these sign 00:46:50.960 |
and wonders that tells you to come to pass and if he says let us go after other gods which you have 00:46:55.840 |
not known and let us serve them so in other words even if he is performing many miracles if he's not 00:47:00.800 |
bringing you to the true god he's not from god right even though he's performing many of these 00:47:06.000 |
miracles you shall not listen to the words of the prophets or that dreamer of dreams for the lord 00:47:09.840 |
your god is testing you to know whether you love the lord your god with all your heart and with 00:47:13.760 |
all your soul in other words god says he's going to allow the deception to happen just like he 00:47:19.120 |
allowed israel's hearts to be hardened because they kept on hardening their heart hardening 00:47:24.080 |
their heart so he says he releases them so he's testing the nation of israel and he's allowing 00:47:30.240 |
these false prophets to be among them you shall walk after the lord your god and fear him and 00:47:34.560 |
keep his commandments and obey his voice and you shall serve him and hold fast in but that prophet 00:47:39.520 |
or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has taught rebellion against the lord 00:47:43.120 |
your god who brought you out of the land of egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery to 00:47:47.280 |
make you leave the way in which the lord your god commanded you to walk so you shall purge the evil 00:47:51.840 |
from your midst so again this is from the very very beginning of israel's history as his laws 00:47:58.160 |
were going out false prophets were coming and contradicting the true prophets jeremiah 23 as 00:48:05.280 |
israel is being taken into captivity that false false activity was was very rampant during that 00:48:11.840 |
period thus says the lord of hosts do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesied to 00:48:16.000 |
you filling you with vain hopes they speak visions of their own minds not from the mouth of the lord 00:48:20.640 |
they say continually to those who despise the word of the lord it shall be well with you and 00:48:24.640 |
to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart they say no disaster shall come upon you for who 00:48:30.320 |
among them has stood in the council of the lord to see and to hear his word or who has paid attention 00:48:35.200 |
to his word and listen behold the storm of the lord wrath has gone forth a world whirling tempest 00:48:41.760 |
it will burst upon the head of the wicked the anger of the lord will not turn back until he 00:48:45.840 |
has executed and accomplished his intents of his heart in the latter days you understand it clearly 00:48:51.280 |
i did not send the prophets yet they ran i did not speak to them yet they prophesied 00:48:55.680 |
but if they had stood in my council then they would have proclaimed my words to my people 00:48:59.680 |
and they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds so again 00:49:05.760 |
these prophets are coming warning the nation of israel to repent because judgment is coming and 00:49:10.240 |
then the anti-prophets right the spirit of antichrist was coming and said no god is not 00:49:15.200 |
angry with you and they were constantly trying to comfort them instead of bringing them to repentance 00:49:21.840 |
so you see the work of antichrist mimicking god constantly opposing his servants right and so 00:49:29.920 |
this is the spirit of the antichrist it has always existed matthew 7 15 beware of the false prophets 00:49:36.240 |
who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves and that's the danger of the 00:49:41.760 |
spirit of antichrist because he does not come he doesn't have a separate garb that says antichrist 00:49:47.840 |
antichrist always comes in sheep's clothing right where you'd surprise like really he would say that 00:49:56.000 |
right that's why when false prophets are are finally revealed many people would have a hard 00:50:02.720 |
time believing they're false prophets because they look like true prophets and that's how the bible 00:50:07.600 |
describes them second peter 2 1 but false prophets also among rose among the people just as there 00:50:13.440 |
will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the 00:50:18.000 |
master who brought them who bought them bringing upon themselves with destruction right remember 00:50:25.360 |
the early church had people who physically saw jesus's resurrection 00:50:34.320 |
they had disciples who walked with him and false prophets were so prevalent 00:50:40.800 |
they say no jesus did not resurrect from that there's people who actually 00:50:45.280 |
saw his resurrection and false prophets were going and they were so convincing 00:50:48.960 |
that by the second and third generation there was a whole group of churches already fallen out 00:50:54.080 |
right from the get-go first john 4 1 beloved do not believe every spirit but test the spirit 00:51:01.520 |
to see whether they are from god for many false prophets had gone out into the world right again 00:51:07.840 |
for every movement of god there's an anti-movement right and the thing that should really keep us 00:51:16.240 |
sober again when you confess christ as lord and savior we've crossed that line that we don't live 00:51:26.240 |
with this world's worldview we don't believe that this world is it that there is a spiritual 00:51:30.640 |
battle going on right ephesians chapter 6 tells us that we're not fighting against flesh and blood 00:51:37.600 |
that there are spiritual dark forces that are always at work now the the portion of what we 00:51:43.280 |
started is talking about intense period where everything that is already going on is going to 00:51:48.240 |
be intensified at the at the end times right but it is already here right paul says in second 00:51:54.800 |
thessalonians he says is the stat spirit is already here so if you look at if you look at the 00:52:03.360 |
seven churches that the book of revelation begins with now there's two churches where there isn't 00:52:11.920 |
clear rebuke and then they obviously there's some churches who are experiencing intense persecution 00:52:17.280 |
but for the most part the problem with the churches were one was they've forgotten their 00:52:23.680 |
first love there's another one where there's sharp rebuke where they have the reputation of being 00:52:28.480 |
alive but they're dead and then the most severest rebuke is going to the laodicean church where they 00:52:34.320 |
were lukewarm they were neither hot nor cold they're only second third generation removed 00:52:40.480 |
from the resurrection of christ and they're already lukewarm they're already forsaking 00:52:45.840 |
their first love they already have a reputation but it's not real right so if there is a spiritual 00:52:52.560 |
battle going on which we believe to be in the state of lukewarmness right and not to be passionately 00:53:01.120 |
following christ is no different than a soldier who walks into the battlefield doesn't know that 00:53:06.640 |
people are shooting at him so how dangerous is it to be not be focused as a christian right 00:53:14.320 |
a lukewarm christian is somebody who has forgotten who he is a lukewarm christian is somebody who has 00:53:21.200 |
forgotten that this is not our home and we we are trying so hard to make this place our home 00:53:27.920 |
when this is not our home so demonic work has caused us to fall asleep 00:53:32.800 |
why the book of revelation is so important for our christian walk 00:53:38.400 |
because our primary battle here is lukewarmness 00:53:45.840 |
is it not isn't that the struggle that's a struggle of my heart constantly and have to 00:53:51.440 |
constantly remind myself to stay sober because i'm not from here right i'm a soldier and are just 00:53:58.160 |
passing by my home is not here so the moment i forget that the temptation just creeps in i don't 00:54:04.160 |
have to go after it just creeps in so we have to fight to stay sober that these things are realities 00:54:12.560 |
that causes us to pray that causes us to passionately seek god to tell other people this 00:54:17.280 |
sense of urgency so when we read this in faith it should cause us to have a sense of urgency in our 00:54:24.640 |
life right and i think you'll all agree right but if if if there is satanic work not just in the 00:54:34.240 |
church not just in the bigger realm but in your life to distract you right mimicking the things 00:54:41.600 |
of christ to distract you from true worship of god and worshiping idols right how prevalent is 00:54:49.040 |
that in our life and i asked you that last week to take some time to discuss that and i can honestly 00:54:53.760 |
confess i see it all the time and it is not coming in a form of horror movies and and you know the 00:55:00.320 |
reason why i mentioned that last week is because it desensitizes us to demonic things and we 00:55:05.760 |
shouldn't be desensitized to that because it's real right it should keep us sober there should 00:55:11.840 |
cause us a sense of urgency so the discussion question for today number one what is the 00:55:24.080 |
primary work of the two beasts and what is their method to accomplish their purpose this is 00:55:28.160 |
basically review of what we went through today number two what are we are exhorted by paul in 00:55:32.880 |
ephesians 6 10 through 20 to put on the full armor of god because of the spiritual battle we are in 00:55:37.680 |
what way does each of these armors help us in our spiritual battle against the schemes of the devil 00:55:42.080 |
so talk about each one instead of talking about the generally you know the helmet of salvation 00:55:46.800 |
breastplate of righteousness all of these things like specifically how does that affect our battle 00:55:53.360 |
our spiritual battle okay and then third in what way does our generation think too much of the 00:55:57.280 |
devil or too little of him what is the danger in either extreme okay so take some time to discuss 00:56:03.760 |
that in your group and then uh let me pray for us and then we'll finish 00:56:06.400 |
heavenly father we want to thank you for your word we thank you for the fellowship of christians 00:56:15.120 |
and we pray father that during our time of discussion that you would speak to us 00:56:21.200 |
help us lord god to remain sober to not to love the world that all that is in the world lord god 00:56:27.520 |
is not from you help us lord to live true to our confession help us lord god that the word that 00:56:35.520 |
you've implanted in us would bear fruit help us to see it the world through your eyes that we would 00:56:41.840 |
not fall in despair that we would not allow grumbling to dominate our hearts help us lord 00:56:48.240 |
god to be affected by your work and your love that all that we do may be a reasonable response 00:56:53.760 |
so i pray for your blessing over the time of small group in jesus name we pray amen