Let me pray for us and then we'll start. Gracious Father, I want to thank you for watching over our church just even the last three days, Lord God, as through various works and studies, you've sustained us. And we thank you, Father God, that even just day to day, just your Holy Spirit and your word just guiding and leading.

And we know, Father, that just even in the mundane things, Lord, how you are always gracious to us. Help us to open our eyes to see the blessing that we live under, so that our hearts may not be filled with grumbling, but always thankful, Lord, for the salvation that you've given.

Help us to glean from your word and to be sober and alert that each one of these things that we are learning, Father, would cause us to have a greater insight of who you are and the spiritual struggle, Lord, that is constantly going on. So we pray for your anointing.

We pray for your blessing in Jesus name we pray. Amen. All right. So this is a quick review. Just starting last week, we talked about how chapter 11 ends with the seventh trumpet and there is a a it's not a pause, but chapter 12 through 15. It kind of gives us a setup for the real severe judgment that's coming in chapter 16, the bold judgments.

So the bold judgments are the most severest out of the seven different segments of judgments that we've had. In chapter 10 and 11, it talks about the three woes. The two woes have already been spoken and the worst of the three woes is waiting for us in chapter 16.

So chapter 12, 13, 14, and 15 is kind of a setup to explain all that's going to happen in chapter 16. So is chapter 12 through 14, 15, was that meant to be taken completely chronologically? Is it kind of telling us chapter 12 happened, chapter 13 happened, chapter 14 happened?

Is that how we're supposed to read that? No, we talked about that last week. Okay, so it's not what's happening, what's unraveling for us is talking about human history, redemptive history as a whole. So there are some elements of it that's talking about the future. There's some elements that's talking about the creation and the fall.

There's some elements about Israel's history. So when you read it, you can't just simply read it chronologically. You understand? Okay, so if you try to read it chronologically, it's not going to make sense because it's just not going to fit. So it's not meant to be read that way.

In fact, as we study it, you're going to see what I'm saying if you don't know what I'm saying now. Okay, so chapter 12, the setup was this conflict between this woman and the dragon. Who do we say the woman was? Yeah, most likely talking about Israel. There's certain language there that probably it's not.

In fact, most commentators don't believe that this is talking about Mary. It's talking about probably, again, it's not 100%, but an educated guess as it's referenced to Israel giving birth to the Messiah. So the Messiah clearly is Jesus, right? So the conflict is between Jesus and who? The dragon, right?

And who's the dragon? Is the dragon the Antichrist? Some response. Is the dragon the Antichrist? No, he's not the Antichrist. Who is the dragon? Satan himself, right? So he's the dragon is Satan himself. So we learned last week that Satan, because of his rebellion against God, he gets kicked out of heaven.

He takes a third of the stars with him and the stars represent what? The angels. So the fallen angels, a third of them are taken with him. And then there is this conflict between the dragon and his angels and who else? Archangel Michael, right? Archangel Michael and the other angels versus the dragon and his angels.

And this conflict happens, right? And Archangel Michael wins. So this is not like, oh, this is what happened. And so therefore, you know, this is when this happened. So you can't read it like that. This is just kind of telling us in redemptive history in totality that this is what's happening.

So we go to chapter 13 and he's referring to two separate beasts, right? And so we're going to find out the identity of these beasts and who they are and what they are doing and what purpose they serve. And hopefully we'll gain some insight as to what is happening here.

Okay. So let's look at the first one, the first beast. All right. So the first beast, the identity of the first beast. First, we want to clarify that the beast is not the dragon, but a servant of the dragon, right? The beast is not the dragon, but the servant of the dragon.

In verse four, it says, and they worship the dragon for he had given authority to the beast. So they're distinct, right? So the beast and a dragon are two separate entities. The first beast represents a person and it is also symbolic of a demonic kingdom. So if you look at the language, there's clear reference to the beast as being an individual, a particular person.

But if you look at the details of this description, he's talking about the 10 horns and seven heads, all in reference to authority. It is also symbolic of a kingdom. So the reference to the beast is in reference to his kingdom and the personhood, both at the same time.

And it's hard to separate the two. The first piece is most likely in reference to what we often call the Antichrist, mentioned in other places in the Bible. I didn't mention it here, but in the Old Testament, there are passages where they called son of Belial or daughter of Belial or Belial himself.

And the reference to Belial oftentimes is in reference to or similar in reference to the Antichrist in the New Testament. I think I have some. So the various verses, and I could have chosen a bunch of them, but these are some of the verses that we have in 1 John 2, 18 says, "Children, it is the last hour.

And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, so now many Antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour." So in John, he talks about Antichrist is coming, but many Antichrist has already come. So the spirit of the Antichrist has already come, but there's a particular Antichrist, the person himself.

He hasn't fully been revealed, but the work of Antichrist through his minions, it has already started from the time of Christ. "Who is the liar, but he who denies that Jesus Christ, Jesus is the Christ. This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son." Again, the work of Antichrist is not simply at the end, it's already started.

"Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already." So in the early church, clearly from John's writings and Paul's writings and other epistles, that part of the early church teaching was about the coming of Antichrist.

So we typically think, you know, when Paul and Peter and John, when they went and preached the gospel, you know, they taught about Christ, his identity, his death, his resurrection, and the church, and those are the main doctrines that we typically think that they probably spent 99% of the time talking about.

But if you read the epistles carefully, you find that the talk of the end times was actually a very vital part of the gospel spreading. So remember when Paul went to Thessalonica, he was only there for about three Sundays, possibly a little bit longer than that, but during that period, a big chunk of his teaching was about the end times.

So if you remember in 2 Thessalonians, he's talking about, "Remember when I told you that the man of lawlessness is going to come?" So the three short period weeks that he had, one of the main part of his teaching was about coming of the Antichrist, and that's why he says, "Remember when I was with you, I taught you about these things." So again, it's a reminder to us just how significant and important is this to our spiritual life, that from the very get-go that this was part of the teaching in the early church, right?

So they spread the gospel, but along with spreading the gospel, there was teaching about the spiritual warfare and Antichrist and what he's doing, right? Which makes sense. If you have spiritual children and you have demonic forces who are actively working to scheme and to destroy the church, you want to make sure that at least they know about it, they hear about it, and that's exactly what Paul does.

Paul and the other apostles do. Second, John verse 7, "For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is a deceiver and the Antichrist." So again, most of these, if not all of these passages, are about 1 John and 2 John, but we see teachings of this in Christ's teaching in the book of Matthew.

We see this in Paul's writings in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. We see it in Peter's writing. So it is not just John's writings, even though those are the verses I've chosen to pick, right? So the idea or the teaching about being careful or being watchful about the coming of the Antichrist was a vital part of the early church teaching.

B, description of the beast. The identity of the beast clearly is the Antichrist. So he's a servant of Satan, right? Description, how is he described in this passage? In contrast to the second beast, that rises out of the earth, the first beast rises out of the sea, right? The significance of this, again, this is an educated guess and I think this was the best explanation that I read in the commentaries, is that the contrast may be stating that the first beast is coming out of the sea and the second beast is coming out of where?

The earth. And the contrast between the two is that the first is the Antichrist and we're going to talk a little bit more when we get to the second beast. The second beast is obviously distinct from the first beast, right? And the second beast is, it serves the, the second beast serves the first beast, okay?

We're going to get to that when we get to the second beast, okay? So the more significant work is Satan is above the first beast and the first beast is above the second beast. I'm getting confused, okay? Let me say that again. Satan is, is the top, under him the servant is the Antichrist, the first beast, and then the second beast serves the first beast.

You get that? Okay? So here he identifies and says that the first beast is coming out of the sea and then later on if you read the, the coming of the second beast in verse 11 he says he's coming out from the earth and the best explanation I heard from that was to come out of the sea meaning that it came from a distant place, right?

Coming up from, from under the earth meaning that he was in their midst and I'm going to explain that when we get to the second beast. So the Antichrist is coming where they don't expect him. He's not in their midst. That the Antichrist, not the spirit of the Antichrist, but the, the Antichrist is going to come from somewhere else.

It's going to come from afar, right? But the second beast is, which I'm going to explain a little bit later, is probably in reference to false, false prophets or maybe a false prophet and he's going to be in the midst of them and I'll, again I'll explain a little bit later.

So that's the distinction between the first beast coming out of the sea and the second beast coming from the earth. Follow? Okay, so if you read it hopefully you know what I'm referencing to. It's pretty clear that the beast is mimicking the dragon. Even in his description it says he has 10 horns and 7 heads, right?

Where did we see that before? The red dragon, right? In chapter 11 says he has 10, 10 horns and 7 heads. All of this in reference to his authority, right? The dragon gives the beast his power, throne and authority over the nation. So in verse 4, so there's clear hierarchy, right?

You have, you have Satan and then the Antichrist and Antichrist is carrying out the work of the dragon, okay? This is all going to make sense, more sense later. It says that he has a blasphemous name written on his head in verse 1 and I saw the beast rising out of the sea and 10 horns and 7 heads with 10 diadems on his horns and blasphemous names on his head, right?

So basically blasphemy is anything that is defaming by word or action against the name of God. That's the official definition of blasphemy. So blasphemy can be by action, blasphemy can be by words, right? But at the core of blasphemy is something that's opposing God and it's directly opposing God, right?

So can I blaspheme against you? Technically no because you're not God, right? I can make fun of you, I can rip on you but I can't blaspheme against you because specifically blasphemy is in reference to opposing God, right? So the heads represents authority or power so that so these powers exist to oppose God.

So the identity of this Antichrist, just like the word says, is to go against Christ. His whole purpose is to go against Christ. Even it's even written on his forehead, blasphemy against God, right? His whole intent, purpose, existence is to oppose God and his work. He is described physically as a leopard with feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion.

Now we see the same vision that John sees here in the book of Daniel. I'm going to take us to that passage, right? So Daniel chapter 7 through to 7, the same description of this beast is recorded in this about the end times. Here there's four but the leopard, the bear, and the lion are also mentioned here, okay?

Some of you guys may remember this from King Nebuchadnezzar's vision and he sees these four beasts, right? He sees the he begins with the lion and then the bear and then the leopard, right? So let me read it real quick. "And four great beasts came up out of the sea different from one another.

The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. Then as it looked its wings were plucked off and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold another beast, a second one like a bear, it was raised up on one side.

It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth and it was told arise devour much flesh. After this I looked and behold another like a leopard with four wings of a bird on its back and a beast had four heads and dominion was given to it. And this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast terrifying and dreadful and succeedingly strong.

It had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces stamped what was left with his feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it and it had 10 horns." Okay so he sees this vision of these four beasts and each one devoured each one consecutively and then the fourth one devours all of them.

Okay now some of you guys may or may not have if you have ever studied the book of Daniel. One of the interpretations of this is in this is in reference to the four different kingdoms during the time of Israel's history before the coming of Christ. Right so typically this is interpreted as the lion being the Babylonians and then the bears being the Persians and then the leopards being the Greeks.

And then the fourth would be what? The fourth one that devours all of them. What comes after the Greeks? Huh? Romans. Okay so the Roman Empire. So again whether that's true or not that's typically how this you know in some circles how this is interpreted. Whether it is or it is not we see again this is where the revelation so John's vision of this beast is not new.

This is a vision that Daniel also saw about the end times. Okay let me go back. Okay and here's where things get interesting. Okay I asked you last week that it wasn't one of your questions but to try to find how much of the satanic work mimics Christ's work.

Right remember me asking you that? It wasn't on your paper but I asked you that. I asked you to look for you know whatever you see in this chapter that looks or sounds similar to the work of Christ. Well if you took some time to read through it you should have found a bunch of them because so much of what's happening in chapter 13 is mimicking the work of Christ and this is where we begin.

So first of all it says one of the seven heads seemed to have mortal wounds. It doesn't say it died it said it seemed to have mortal wounds but it's healed. This miraculous healing caused people to be amazed and then they end up following him and then worshiping him giving homage and honor right.

What does that kind of remind you of? Here's this anti-Christ and he they think he has mortal wound but he gets miraculously healed basically comes back from the dead and so people are amazed by this miracle and as a result of that he gets a huge following. What does that sound like?

Christ his death and resurrection right that he he dies then after three days he resurrects and people are amazed by the resurrection and that's the beginning of Christianity. So this anti-Christ is mimicking what Christ is doing right. So the mortal wound and his healing seems to be a mimic of his death and resurrection right.

Turn your bibles I have this passage I think I have this passage okay yeah second Thessalonians 3 2 chapter 3 to 12. So if you have your bibles just turn there with me I want you to know that passage because Paul mentions this as a warning okay so I have the passage up here but I want you to go to that passage and know this passage well because it it was again as I mentioned in the beginning he was Paul was only in Thessalonica for a very short period of time and he was very aware that satanic attack was going to come and so as he was preaching the gospel he also warned them about the end times and the devil scheming and so this is what he says let no one deceive you in any way for that day will will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction and referring to the anti-Christ who opposes and exalts himself against every so called god or object of worship in other words he's challenging everything that's being worshipped because he wants to be worshipped so that he takes his seat in the temple of god proclaiming himself to be god right so his deception is he's going to fool people to think that he is god so you see the work that he's doing Jesus is declared to be god right remember Thomas after he meets the resurrected Christ he's the first one who bows down and says my lord and my god so Thomas is known as known as the doubting Thomas but Thomas actually is the first one who recognizes his deity and says my lord and my god right so we see satanic work the first thing that is it tells us is he pretends to have a mortal wound and then he comes back and as a result of that he gets worshipped right do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things and you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way okay meaning god himself is restraining the main power so his spirit that opposes god and mimics god is has already been there from the beginning but the antichrist the the man of lawlessness has not been revealed in right for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he uh who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way and then the lawless one will be revealed whom the lord jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by appearing of his coming the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of satan with all the power and false signs and wonders right so everything that christ has done he's going to mimic it and he's going to fool people by saying that he is christ that he is god and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved so the ones who are being deceived are the ones who have not fully embraced the truth right so who is he deceiving who are the first ones that going to be that's going to be deceived probably nominal christians right because that's where it's going to begin because he's going to come as an angel of light so the people who are falsely following christ the nominal christians are the first ones because they refuse to love the truth therefore god sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false so god allows this in order that all may be condemned who do not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness right so in other words all of this is god ordained so everything that is happening in chapter 13 is because god is allowing it to happen so the spirit of the antichrist has has been here from the beginning but the antichrist he's being restrained until that time comes right and his primary target first and foremost is going to be the church the nominal christians who are going through the motion who do not love the truth will be the first to be deceived okay let's go back so the beast by mimicking the death and resurrection of christ seems to be presenting himself in the place of christ so let me go back to isaiah 14 14 says i will ascend above the heights of the clouds i will make myself like the most high so remember when we are studying through isaiah right this is talking about the fall of satan and and how he desires to be in the place of god and and it seems like the antichrist is beginning to work to fool people so that he can receive the honor and glory that only the father deserves right that's how he has described his activity satan is worshipped as a result of the beast so the whole purpose of this beast is to gain attention and glory and ultimately as a result of that it says the dragon is going to get the glory right what does that sound like to you the work of antichrist is ultimately to to bring worship and honor to the dragon what does that sound like to you he is the antichrist sounds like christ right jesus says that i did not come in my own accord right to bring glory to himself but to the father right so the whole purpose of jesus was to come to magnify his father and the father says he magnifies the son and so if you look at this relationship between satan and antichrist satan gives him all authority right he has the same he has a 10 horns seven heads and a diadem just like satan but he is he is working to bring glory to the dragon right so you see the mimicking there so even the way he does it by by he says seemingly having a wounded head and then coming back to life and then all of a sudden people give him glory and then and then the satan himself gets the glory so as the beast mimics the dragon the dragon seems to be seems to try to mimic god meaning that he's doing the same thing the father did with his son but now he's doing with antichrist okay you following right if you are falling asleep on this i don't know what's going to keep you awake right it's so interesting that that this is this is how redemptive history is is happening that as god is working there is an undercurrent work constantly working against him right mimicking the same things that god is doing to oppose him right and that's why the devil's work is called scheming because it is not the red team and the blue team right it's god is working and the other side of that he's working against him so you can see how easily you can fall into the scheme because he's mimicking god right revolution 13-4 says they worship the beast saying who is like the beast and who can fight against it right even the language that is used to to worship satan in exodus 15 11 is says who is like you oh lord among the gods who is like you majestic and holy awesome and glorious he is doing wonders so even in the way that that the dragon is being worshipped the same language who or who is like the beast and who can fight against it right so everything that the beast is doing is mimicking god right but to bring glory to himself it was given a blasphemy words words against god his name and his dwelling along with all those in heaven for 42 months again remember that 42 months keeps reoccurring time times and a half a time right or three and a half years so this period that is being described with the anti-christ is being released for three and a half years it is intense but it is temporary meaning that just as he was released right and at the end of three and a half years when his work is done he's going to be bound so even in his rebellion even in everything that he is doing god is allowing it to happen for that period of time to serve his ultimate purpose for those who did not love the truth that he is allowing them to be deceived right remember we're studying that in the book of romans in chapter 11 that how god gave them a spirit of stupor right they had eyes and could not see but hearts and they could not feel ears and could not hear god is allowing that that allowing their hardening and rebellion to take its full course and so that's basically what god is doing he's allowing satan to do its work and the spirit of anti-christ has always been working but when the anti-christ is released he's allowing it to take the full course right so if you've been rebelling against god he's gonna he's gonna let you go as you've been chasing after the world 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 period of intense period our identities are going to be clear right so you know i'm one of the struggles that we have in a post-christian culture is who is and who's not a christian and it's very difficult for us to say because you don't want to be judgmental right but yet if we don't identify who's in a christian then how do we disciple them do we share the gospel so jesus says right in the church only god's going to do that at the end time he's going to divide the wheat and the tares but during before then we're not going to be able to know we're not going because we're not god but during this period god is going to separate beating the wheat and the tares and he's going to allow the anti-christ to do his full work so if you have been going through the motion and your faith hasn't been wasn't real he said then when the persecution and the trials come it's going to be revealed and then and then he's going to describe what's going to happen to the true believers right and we'll talk about that so this beast was given permission to wage war against the saints and conquer them so you notice here all the non-christians what are they doing during this period up to this point what did what did we just say what what what is the world doing with the beast right now do they hate him do they recognize him they worship him right so all those who don't worship him the true saints of christ are going to be they're going to wage war against them okay so in other words during this period anyone who does not have the mark of the beast is going to go under heavy attack by anti-christ and his followers the saints being conquered is not referring to them losing salvation it's pretty clear that that's not what he's talking about this is a prophecy that the christians will physically be harmed but ultimately spiritually be saved right so imagine the language that all this time there's promises of god's restoration and protection but during this period he says the christians are going to be conquered right i mean think about how intense this is that the language in the bible says christians are going to be conquered by demonic power right so clearly it's not in reference to losing our salvation but that's how intense the physical persecution is going to be for the church i mean i think i have verses here so romans 8 38 to 39 clearly it's not talking about some losing our salvation because it says for i am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor death nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of god in christ jesus our lord so nothing not satan nothing is going to separate us from the love of christ but to be conquered by satan so clearly is not saying that it's going to be separated from god's love but if that's not the case it's talking about physically that's physical harm is going to come to christians during this period second corinthians 4 4 in their case the god of this world was blinded the mind of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel the glory of christ who is the image of god so second corinthians 4 4 describes satan as the ruler of this age right so he was given authority over all creation and we're not just talking about the end times he's talking about the whole period that of human existence satan's the one who is in charge the work of antichrist has not been released yet right satan's influence has always been working and still working now but the intense period where the antichrist the man of lawlessness is going to be released and he's going to declare war against the saints is not yet because he's being restrained right until the last part of three and a half years and as a result the whole world will worship the beast right and again the passage that we looked at in philippians 2 8 through 11 right talk in description of christ and being found in human form he humbled himself became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross therefore god has highly exalted him bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of of god the father so we see even the work of satan right and the beast said in the end right he pretends to be have have a mortal wound he comes back and he's healed the whole world comes and he is exalted and worshiped just like christ right and then the section finishes if you look at chapter 13 and the middle section before we get to chapter 13 11 look with me in verse 10 first ten it says if anyone is to be taken captive to captivity he goes if anyone is to be slain with the sword with the sword must he be slain here is a call for endurance and faith of the saints so what does it mean if anyone's to be taken captive to captivity he goes what does he mean by that so if anyone's to be slain with the sword with the sword must he be slain so captivity and martyrdom is ordained god is saying it's going to happen right he's not saying if you if you're captive you're not going to come out if you're going to be slain you're going to be slain right so he's basically saying when satan wages war and he targets christians during this period those the three and a half years or 42 weeks that is described is going to be intense and that's why he ends with here is a call for the endurance and the faith of the saints right in other words hold on to your faith to the end that's exactly what it says in matthew 24 he who endures to the end shall be saved right this is part of the reason why i told you kind of like post you know post rapture view um i kind of lean toward that i'm not i'm not strong on it but i kind of lean toward that because the language that i see in the scripture describes a church going through intense period right if you're a pre-trib view preacher viewers will say that the most of the church is raptured and only the christians who became a christian during the first three and a half years of the tribulation they're the ones who are being targeted that's how they'll describe this but again it to me it seems like the church itself is going to be going through this tribulation right so during that period every christian's faith is going to be tested with severity if that when when and if that happens so you notice you know like the first beast and how it's kind of mimicking christ and how satan is mimicking god and it's the whole purpose is to bring glory to themselves right he that's why he's called the anti-christ he's going against christ the second beast it's even more clear its identity may be in reference to false prophets who assist in the work of the first beast the anti-christ so if you remember the first piece is coming out of the sea which is away from them from a distant place but the second beast rises from the earth from where they are right so in other words the false prophets are going to be or whether it's one or many they're going to be in their midst in fact the way that the second beast is described it has two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon right so it says his appearance was like a lamb but what comes out of his mouth is just like a dragon like is demonic this seems to be an accurate description of false prophets where on the surface they come as an angel of light but the actual content of their words is venomous is satanic this is a description of false prophets okay i'm gonna go to the passages okay so second corinthians 11 14 to 15 it says and no wonder for even satan disguises himself as an angel of light so it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness their end will correspond with their deeds okay let me come back to that okay the scripture tells us to test and prove the prophets from god because from the very beginning from the old testament from the time of christ and all this period and especially at the end times he says that the false prophets are going to come so satan sends and the antichrist antichrist mimics the work of jesus and brings glory to the dragon and then if you notice that the false prophets are going to function like the holy spirit okay and let me explain okay i'm going to come back to these passages okay he exercises the same authority as the beast right so the beast exercise the same authority as as the dragon satan and then the second beast exercise the same authority as the first beast the antichrist he seems like a beast but his work is demonic he makes the world worship the first beast mimicking the holy spirit in the trinity remember jesus says it is better for him to go because until he goes the holy spirit cannot come and he says when the holy spirit comes what did he say he's going to bring to remembrance everything that i have taught you so the whole goal of the holy spirit is to point back to christ and everything that he has done and he said the second beast is going to come to do the same to bring worship to the beast he says he makes fire come down from heaven verse 13 so 13 13 it performs great signs even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people where does that happen what scene does that remind you of the pentecost when the holy spirit comes they speak tongues of fire right they speak tongues of fire so they notice fire so fire and the holy spirit oftentimes go hand in hand so he says that the second beast is going to come and he's going to perform these these miraculous signs and again it mimics the work of the holy spirit okay his ultimate goal is to deceive the world to worship the beast in contrast the goal of the holy spirit is to convict the world of truth right so the whole goal of the of the false prophets is to deceive and to bring glory to the beast the whole work of the holy spirit is to bring to remembrance the truth the conviction of truth to repentance to bring them to christ in verse 15 it says it gives breath to the image of the beast verse 15 and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain holy spirit is oftentimes described as the as breath itself in hebrew the word for spirit is rock which means air in motion or also breath and sometimes understood as life right so the holy spirit itself is described as giving breath or or life itself and the holy spirit is he who gives life to the image of god so this false prophet is performing signs and is giving life fake life to the image of the beast right and he says exactly the opposite what the holy spirit does the holy spirit is deposited in us right and and to restore the image of the creator in us do you see how each one of what they're doing is mimicking the trinity it says it gives the mark of the beast on all the people and number six six six why is the number of this b666 god's number is 777 everything he does is mimicking right everything that satan does is mimicking he's not quite there he satan was the highest of the angels and he's using his power to get as close to god as possible so god is 777 the number of completion the number of man is six right and so even in his number he's trying to mimic god the holy spirit is a mark of a genuine believer so there there is no christian who say who can say that they're christian if they don't have the mark of the holy spirit evidence of the holy spirit in them so you see how everything that the dragon the first beast and the second beast everything that they're doing is mimicking god the father the son and the holy spirit and so that's why he's called the antichrist and everything he does is to oppose the father and to by deception false teaching false miracles by mimicking what god is doing he's trying to get people to come to him instead of the father and god is going to allow that for a period remember he said that the deception is going to be so great that even the elect if that was possible would be deceived that's how powerful the deception is going to be that it's going to be very hard to distinguish between somebody who's coming from god and somebody who's coming from satan right that that's how god describes it during that period that's how strong the deception is going to be and again why over and over and over and again the bible tells us to stay alert and stay sober right because it's not obvious satanic work is not obvious go back to some of the passages so from the even from the old testament god gives clear guidelines as to how to tell because false prophets existed from the very beginning right so this work of antichrist and satan where he releases antichrist for a period the man of lawlessness there's a specific time where god's going to allow that at the end but his general work of antichrist to mimic god and to bring confusion and division and to scheme to thwart god's work has always been working so from the very beginning false prophets have coming so if if one prophet comes and says god wants you to do this there's always the anti-prophet that would come and say no god did not tell you to do this so there every time god moved there was an anti-movement because that's exactly how satan is described beginning from the garden of eden god said do not eat and he says surely did god really tell you this right so from the very beginning he was challenging god if you look at the jesus at when he was um he's in the desert he's like did god if you're really god well the bible said this if you jump off that he's going to come and protect you so every movement of god there's an anti-movement so from the beginning deuteronomy 13 1 to 5 it says if a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder so a dreamer is in reference to somebody who is fortune telling okay he's talking about divination so somebody who is practicing divination and saying that they are prophesying and gives you a sign right and he's performing these sign and wonders that tells you to come to pass and if he says let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them so in other words even if he is performing many miracles if he's not bringing you to the true god he's not from god right even though he's performing many of these miracles you shall not listen to the words of the prophets or that dreamer of dreams for the lord your god is testing you to know whether you love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul in other words god says he's going to allow the deception to happen just like he allowed israel's hearts to be hardened because they kept on hardening their heart hardening their heart so he says he releases them so he's testing the nation of israel and he's allowing these false prophets to be among them you shall walk after the lord your god and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice and you shall serve him and hold fast in but that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has taught rebellion against the lord your god who brought you out of the land of egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery to make you leave the way in which the lord your god commanded you to walk so you shall purge the evil from your midst so again this is from the very very beginning of israel's history as his laws were going out false prophets were coming and contradicting the true prophets jeremiah 23 as israel is being taken into captivity that false false activity was was very rampant during that period thus says the lord of hosts do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesied to you filling you with vain hopes they speak visions of their own minds not from the mouth of the lord they say continually to those who despise the word of the lord it shall be well with you and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart they say no disaster shall come upon you for who among them has stood in the council of the lord to see and to hear his word or who has paid attention to his word and listen behold the storm of the lord wrath has gone forth a world whirling tempest it will burst upon the head of the wicked the anger of the lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished his intents of his heart in the latter days you understand it clearly i did not send the prophets yet they ran i did not speak to them yet they prophesied but if they had stood in my council then they would have proclaimed my words to my people and they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds so again these prophets are coming warning the nation of israel to repent because judgment is coming and then the anti-prophets right the spirit of antichrist was coming and said no god is not angry with you and they were constantly trying to comfort them instead of bringing them to repentance so you see the work of antichrist mimicking god constantly opposing his servants right and so this is the spirit of the antichrist it has always existed matthew 7 15 beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves and that's the danger of the spirit of antichrist because he does not come he doesn't have a separate garb that says antichrist antichrist always comes in sheep's clothing right where you'd surprise like really he would say that right that's why when false prophets are are finally revealed many people would have a hard time believing they're false prophets because they look like true prophets and that's how the bible describes them second peter 2 1 but false prophets also among rose among the people just as there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies even denying the master who brought them who bought them bringing upon themselves with destruction right remember the early church had people who physically saw jesus's resurrection they had disciples who walked with him and false prophets were so prevalent they say no jesus did not resurrect from that there's people who actually saw his resurrection and false prophets were going and they were so convincing that by the second and third generation there was a whole group of churches already fallen out right from the get-go first john 4 1 beloved do not believe every spirit but test the spirit to see whether they are from god for many false prophets had gone out into the world right again for every movement of god there's an anti-movement right and the thing that should really keep us sober again when you confess christ as lord and savior we've crossed that line that we don't live with this world's worldview we don't believe that this world is it that there is a spiritual battle going on right ephesians chapter 6 tells us that we're not fighting against flesh and blood that there are spiritual dark forces that are always at work now the the portion of what we started is talking about intense period where everything that is already going on is going to be intensified at the at the end times right but it is already here right paul says in second thessalonians he says is the stat spirit is already here so if you look at if you look at the seven churches that the book of revelation begins with now there's two churches where there isn't clear rebuke and then they obviously there's some churches who are experiencing intense persecution but for the most part the problem with the churches were one was they've forgotten their first love there's another one where there's sharp rebuke where they have the reputation of being alive but they're dead and then the most severest rebuke is going to the laodicean church where they were lukewarm they were neither hot nor cold they're only second third generation removed from the resurrection of christ and they're already lukewarm they're already forsaking their first love they already have a reputation but it's not real right so if there is a spiritual battle going on which we believe to be in the state of lukewarmness right and not to be passionately following christ is no different than a soldier who walks into the battlefield doesn't know that people are shooting at him so how dangerous is it to be not be focused as a christian right a lukewarm christian is somebody who has forgotten who he is a lukewarm christian is somebody who has forgotten that this is not our home and we we are trying so hard to make this place our home when this is not our home so demonic work has caused us to fall asleep why the book of revelation is so important for our christian walk because our primary battle here is lukewarmness is it not isn't that the struggle that's a struggle of my heart constantly and have to constantly remind myself to stay sober because i'm not from here right i'm a soldier and are just passing by my home is not here so the moment i forget that the temptation just creeps in i don't have to go after it just creeps in so we have to fight to stay sober that these things are realities that causes us to pray that causes us to passionately seek god to tell other people this sense of urgency so when we read this in faith it should cause us to have a sense of urgency in our life right and i think you'll all agree right but if if if there is satanic work not just in the church not just in the bigger realm but in your life to distract you right mimicking the things of christ to distract you from true worship of god and worshiping idols right how prevalent is that in our life and i asked you that last week to take some time to discuss that and i can honestly confess i see it all the time and it is not coming in a form of horror movies and and you know the reason why i mentioned that last week is because it desensitizes us to demonic things and we shouldn't be desensitized to that because it's real right it should keep us sober there should cause us a sense of urgency so the discussion question for today number one what is the primary work of the two beasts and what is their method to accomplish their purpose this is basically review of what we went through today number two what are we are exhorted by paul in ephesians 6 10 through 20 to put on the full armor of god because of the spiritual battle we are in what way does each of these armors help us in our spiritual battle against the schemes of the devil so talk about each one instead of talking about the generally you know the helmet of salvation breastplate of righteousness all of these things like specifically how does that affect our battle our spiritual battle okay and then third in what way does our generation think too much of the devil or too little of him what is the danger in either extreme okay so take some time to discuss that in your group and then uh let me pray for us and then we'll finish heavenly father we want to thank you for your word we thank you for the fellowship of christians and we pray father that during our time of discussion that you would speak to us help us lord god to remain sober to not to love the world that all that is in the world lord god is not from you help us lord to live true to our confession help us lord god that the word that you've implanted in us would bear fruit help us to see it the world through your eyes that we would not fall in despair that we would not allow grumbling to dominate our hearts help us lord god to be affected by your work and your love that all that we do may be a reasonable response so i pray for your blessing over the time of small group in jesus name we pray amen