Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #16213 - The Antichrist - 1 John 2:18 & Revelation 13:1-10

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#16213 - The Antichrist - 1 John 2:18 & Revelation 13:1-10 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Amen.
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Open your Bibles to 1st John chapter 2 and Revelation chapter
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13, First John chapter 2 and Revelation chapter 13, and I've
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entitled our Bible study, the Antichrist, The Antichrist.
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Notice with me in verse 18 of First John chapter 2, little
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children, it is the last hour as you have heard that the
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Antichrist is coming. If you have a new King James
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Bible in your hand, you'll see this and maybe in some other
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versions, but especially in the new King James, you'll see this
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capital A. This is referring to one person,
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capital A, and that's the translators want us, wanted us
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to see that. And he says the Antichrist is
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coming. But even now many antichrists
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have come by which we know it is the last hour and the day in
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which we're living is a day of decision.
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What we're seeing in our generation, we're living in
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amazing times. And what we're seeing in our
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generation, no other generation has ever seen.
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No other generation have seen what we are seeing and what's
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known as the end times, the last hour, evil times.
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John is writing about this in chapter 2 in the 1st century.
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So how much closer are we here 2000 years later to the coming
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of the Lord? We learned in our study last
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time that many antichrists have entered into the world, many a
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culture, many people being used by the enemy of God to bring
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Antichrist decisions and laws and all sorts of things in our
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culture today we learned that anti means two things in place
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of and against, and we see many things today in place of Christ
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and against Christ. And yet today I want to share
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with you and introduce to you from the Bible this person known
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as Antichrist Capital A. So turn with me to Revelation
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chapter 13 as we're introduced to a man who comes on the scene
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actually at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.
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So chapter 13 of Revelation actually is reintroducing and
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expanding upon this Antichrist person.
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He came on the scene at the beginning of Revelation in
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chapter 6, riding a White Horse, just coming on, already
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pretending to be someone that he was not.
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The Antichrist is known as Satan's Messiah, the devil's
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imitation of Jesus Christ. The Antichrist will usher in the
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New World Order, the one world government that's used for
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control during the Great Tribulation period.
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And although we don't know his exact name, throughout the Bible
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there are some 50 different titles given to the Antichrist.
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Son of Perdition, Wicked One, Seed of the Serpent, and on and
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on that list goes. The Antichrist is a real person
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who will be welcomed, embraced, and bring peace on the earth.
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And some make fun of this, spend their whole life trying to
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figure out who he is exactly. We're not going to spend any of
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that time laying out names and people that are big.
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We're not going to take anybody's name and break it down
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into some number to see if it all adds up to 666.
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I don't want to minimize the reality of this person.
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And personally, personally, I don't care who the Antichrist
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is. I'm not looking for the
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Antichrist. I'm looking for Jesus Christ.
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That's what the that's what the Bible teaches us as believers,
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to look for the blessed hope, the soon return of Jesus.
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I don't have the time to try to figure out.
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I'm not studying people. I'm not looking at people in the
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eye. Is it you?
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Is it you? Is it you?
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We are to be about the Father's business, and the Father's
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business is the gospel. Even as we were praying today,
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do you know there is power in the gospel?
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Nothing else. There's no power in any
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philosophy of man, any opinion of man, any story of man.
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Only the Bible, the gospel, has the power to change a life.
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That's what changed your life. You heard of God's love for you
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and His sacrifice for you. You saw your life in the mirror
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of perfection and you cried out to Jesus to save your soul.
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And I believe the church and we as believers are in grave error
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when we waste our precious time looking for the Antichrist or
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over emphasizing him. We are never instructed to look
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for him. If you want to jot it down in
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Titus chapter 2 in verse 13, looking for the blessed hope,
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the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus
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Christ. So come with me, Revelation
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chapter 13. Let's learn a few things about
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the Antichrist Christ. When John says in first John
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chapter 2 verse 18 that Antichrist is coming, this is
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who he's Speaking of. He's not Speaking of all of the
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things happening in the government.
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He's not Speaking of the culture and the atmosphere of we're
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leaving that we're living in. When he speaks of the Antichrist
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capital A, this is who he's Speaking of.
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Notice verse one of Revelation chapter 13.
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Then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up
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out of the sea, having 7 heads and 10 horns, and on his horns
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10 crowns, and on his head a blasphemous name.
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So #1 let's learn about his appearance.
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His appearance. Chapter 13 in Revelation
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continues the symbolic look at end times, people giving us
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pictures and types and language to help us understand or see
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clearly who the Antichrist is. Notice with me if you want to
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market that the Antichrist is typified as a beast, and this
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describes a wild, untamed, ferocious beast.
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He's actually a weird looking monster here with 7 heads, 10
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horns, and 10 crowns. Very similar to the dragon being
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described in Revelation chapter 12.
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And by the way, for a Bible study like this where we're just
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dropping into Revelation, it would be very helpful for you if
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you jotted down these passages and read them later to get the
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context. And even going through
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Revelation, if you haven't read in a while, it's a very easy
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read in terms of time. And you don't have to read
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Revelation to try to figure everything out.
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Just soak it in. Just allow the Holy Spirit to
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use it and understand the things that you do understand.
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So chapter 12, we saw the we learned of the dragon in
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Revelation 12. But the beast is a very good
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description for who he really is.
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The world won't see this. Unbelieving men and women that
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are alive when the Antichrist presents himself will actually
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see the opposite. He will be welcomed as the one
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that will finally bring peace to the issues of the world.
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Believers see the truth isn't? Isn't this a frustrating part of
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your life at times where you can see something but people around
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you can't see it? Now, I'm not talking about, you
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know, being able to see things in the invisible or, you know,
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pulling out, but you just have discernment from the Lord.
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God gives you the ability supernaturally to see the
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difference between right or wrong.
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Or you sense something's not right or your Holy Spirit alarm
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is going off. But maybe you're at work with
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someone and they're an unbeliever.
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They don't see what you see, the believers.
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We have understanding of the Scriptures, and God is very
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clear in letting us know that the Antichrist will rise up, but
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he's really just a beast. As one commentator put it, and I
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quote, he will be an insolent intimidator, devious, possessing
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a power that's not his own, a fierce destroying of his
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victims, and so arrogant that he will dare to even oppose the
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Prince of Princess who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
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In Revelation 6, he came on the scene on a White Horse as a
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hero. That's how he'll be perceived by
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the world, as a hero, peace and prosperity.
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The people will see him as a lamb, but he's not.
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He's a beast. Notice #2 and verse 2.
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Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet like
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the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion.
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And the dragon gave him his power, his throne and great
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authority. Now the dragon, because we're
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dropping in on chapter 13, the dragon is the devil.
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We would learn that in chapter 12, the dragon is giving him as
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a power. This is where some say that the
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Antichrist, a human being, is actually Incar, is the devil
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Incarnate, that he is possessed by the devil himself.
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But John sees an interesting vision.
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He has seven heads, 10 horns, 10 crowns.
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Crowns always speak in the Bible of authority.
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And with 10 crowns, world authority, global authority.
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I want you to understand something as we go through this.
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If I was teaching this Bible study 50 years ago, some of this
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stuff would be totally foreign to you.
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To think that a world ruler would come on the scene and have
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control a world government, control a world monetary system,
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and just be able to to with freely be welcomed by those in
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every tribe, every tongue, everywhere, every nation
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welcoming the beast 50 years ago.
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But we lived through COVID, did we not?
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Church made it through, didn't we?
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The Lord showed himself faithful, didn't he?
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Didn't matter what happened, what the world tried to do, God
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showed himself faithful. And what did we learn very
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upfront? That it doesn't take much for
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the world to join together, even for things that there's
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disagreement over. Now, I know there's those little
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small pockets of disagreement, but the world and its leaders
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primarily came together. It's very quick and very easy.
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Now notice with the Antichrist, he also sees him inclusive of
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three separate wild animals, a lion, a bear, and a leopard.
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And I told you we're going to be in Bible study.
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Go back to Daniel because this you Bible students, this may
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remind you of Daniel. So come back with me to Daniel
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Chapter 7 and let's notice here the word that God gives to the
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prophet or to Dan in Daniel, Daniel Chapter 7.
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Let me get there with you, Daniel Chapter 7.
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Notice in verse 4, Daniel, he also sees Daniel speaks and he
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saw him. He says, I saw in my vision.
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Verse 2 actually pick up and nigh and behold, four winds of
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the heaven were stirred up, stirring up the great sea.
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Verse 3 and 4 great beasts came up from from the sea, each
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different from the other. And the first was like a lion,
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and had an eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were
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plucked off, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to
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stand on 2 feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it.
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Verse 5. And suddenly another beast, a
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second like a bear, it was raised up on one side, and had
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three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.
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And they said, Thus arise devour much flesh.
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Verse 6 And then I looked, and there was another like a
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leopard, which had on its back 4 wings of a bird.
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The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
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And after this I saw in the night visions, behold a fourth
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beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong.
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It had a huge iron teeth, devouring, breaking in pieces,
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trampling the residue with its feet.
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It was different from all the beasts that were before it.
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And it had 10 horns. And I was considering the horns.
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There was another horn, a little one.
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This little one is the Antichrist, coming up among
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them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by
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the roots. And there in this horn were eyes
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like the eyes of a man and the mouth speaking pompous words.
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Daniel receives a very interesting vision with similar
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animals. And as he was thinking about it,
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he was given the interpretation. The lion represents Babylon, the
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bear represents the medal Persian Empire, and the leopard
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represents Greece. Then there's the Roman Empire.
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And what Daniel saw in Daniel 7 was a succession of world
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empires that look like animals. It's each new world dominated
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dominator comes on the scene. John coming back to Revelation
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now sees a similar vision but in reverse.
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As he looks backward, not forward, he sees of them in one
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the horns of the Antichrist head represents 10 nations that will
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form an end times confederacy. And wrapped up in this leader
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are the ingredients of all these ruling empires put together.
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Now let me just say the benefit of being in a church that
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teaches through the Bible verse by verses I've already taught
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through Daniel. So you can go back to the web or
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on the app. And if this is something that
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interests you, we went through Daniel 789, all of it.
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And you can dig in and see what our point of view is, what our
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biblical view of this is. But for enough for us today to
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reference that these visions are very similar.
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Again, in Daniel chapter 8 verse 25, it says through his cunning
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he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule and he shall
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exalt himself in his heart. Isn't that where it always
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begins? Isn't that where it always
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begins in your life? Now I know I'm not calling you
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the Antichrist, but I do know this.
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Pride always starts in the heart, and pride is an
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exaltation of self over someone else.
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That is the essence of pride. Now if you don't check pride,
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eventually pride will. You will try to exalt yourself
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to be above God and you won't even receive godly counsel.
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You won't receive insight from God, you won't receive from the
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word, but it always begins in the heart.
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Because the issue of the heart is so important.
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The Bible says guard your heart, protect it, for out of it issue
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the out of it come the issues of life.
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Everything about you is the heart, the heart, not just the
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emotion, but the seat of who you are, who has your heart and your
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devotion and your commitment and your obedience.
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The Bible says that none of us can serve 2 masters.
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We can't have competing love in our heart.
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We can't. We can't love God and love
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ourselves. Or what do we learn in our study
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last time? You can't love the world and
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love God. If you love this world, then the
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love of the Father is not in you.
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Well can I have this? If you love yourself, the love
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of the Father is not in you. There is that need to sacrifice
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yourself. So he starts the Antichrist in
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his heart. It makes sense, and it then it
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says in again in verse 25, He shall destroy many in their
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prosperity, and he will rise up against the Prince of Princess,
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and he shall be broken without human means.
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The reality of this description from Daniel and from John in
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Revelation 13 is that the Antichrist will rule and reign
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upon the whole earth. Not just some little region of
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the earth, but the whole earth. Although he will be in one place
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at one time. He will have authority over all
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willingly, and those that don't give it to him willingly, He
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will conquer. He will have far.
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The Antichrist will have far reaching impact on the globe.
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I didn't find the article, but I remember, you know, during that
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time of COVID, I remember reading an article where the
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leaders that were gathering, you know what they were crying out
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for? We need one person.
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They, I have the, I have it safe somewhere.
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One person. They, they were in a place,
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whether they set it up or not, I don't know.
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But it, it made the press. We need one person to lead us.
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I mean, these are world leaders themselves, those that that have
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their own countries, their own responsibilities, their own
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corporations crying out this is so bad.
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And perhaps, you know, there's some deviousness behind it as
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well to take advantage of the world at the same time.
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But that one world government give us the world.
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I mean, look around the world, look around what's happening.
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Terrorism, global chaos, Islamic radicalism, the technological
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advancements that we haven't seen in any other generation, it
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gets eclipsed so much faster. Remember, Daniel said in the end
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times, knowledge will increase. Well, guess what?
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Knowledge is increasing pretty rapidly, whether it be the
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knowledge of prophecy, as some people, hey, we're understanding
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prophecy a lot more now, Amen. But also just in a general
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sense, in a general sense, the amount of knowledge that's
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proliferating is unbelievable. You think back, and this is
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where it was so important for us, I had to really spend some
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time thinking back to those hard years of COVID and what I
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believed as a leader of God's church that he called me to do.
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And if you were around during that time or you're just joining
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us, I can tell you what God called me to do the same thing
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he always called me to do, keep the church's eyes on the Lord.
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That was what I was called to do, keep everyone's eyes on the
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Lord. Just do as much as you can to
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keep everyone's eyes on the Lord.
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And it's easier said than done because I was a wild time.
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It didn't matter what decision we made, somebody was mad at us.
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Somebody accused us of being false.
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Somebody accused us of not loving God the way they love
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God. If you speak to any pastor, lead
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pastor, assistant pastor of that time, they have, we have our war
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stories of that time because you couldn't make anyone happy.
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But if pastors, I believe, and we spent a lot of time speaking
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into pastors lives to the to those that wanted to listen to
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us. We spent a lot of time just
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really wanting to disciple and help them.
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And that was you don't want to make anyone happy.
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You want to make the Lord happy. And that was a good lesson to
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learn. You just have to understand that
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this is the way it is. It doesn't matter what era it
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is, but but what a time where you think of the COVID era and
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what God did and whatever was happening, whatever decisions,
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whatever nefarious, evil, wicked stuff was happening in the
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world, God was still at work above it all.
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And what he did for the church, for anyone that wanted their
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eyes open, He opened your eyes spiritually to see a very
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important truth. As if you were walking with
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Jesus because you know how you wish.
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I think I in my own life when I'm reading the gospels, I wish
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I had the time to hang out with Jesus, at least at a distance,
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just to hear him for a day or watch him or be a part of it.
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It would be been so cool. But I didn't have that.
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I wasn't born in that era. I was born in this era.
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That's what God has for me now. But one of the things we learned
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back then with God peeling back, we learned a biblical lesson
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that Jesus taught first hand with our own eyes.
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You know what it was. I mean, I bet you we could do a
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quiz here. I'm not going to ask you to say
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it out loud, but I'll tell you. One among many, but the one that
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went to the top is this. The harvest is ripe and plenty.
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The harvest. You go.
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What? Did you see that, Ed?
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Oh, yeah, I saw that in the chaos and the confusion of the
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world and how so many churches went sideways, left, right, up,
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down, taking on other things that have nothing to do with the
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gospel. Whatever closing, not opening,
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whatever it is. I hear Jesus saying, Ed, I want
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you to look out. And we were talking about it
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today because there were a couple of services where we
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closed for a little while. And I stood right here on Easter
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of all days, and I preached the gospel to an empty room four or
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five times. I don't remember how many was.
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We had a whole team up here, I remember.
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And so I wasn't looking to the room, although I could see
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there's a picture that we walk by in our hallway of this empty
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room and me standing in a suit. So, you know, it was an Easter
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or Christmas. It was Easter and it wasn't
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looking into the room as much as.
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And I want you to look beyond what everyone's seeing right
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now. And I just want you to know the
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harvest is ripe. It's plentiful that this will be
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a moment of monumental importance for the Gospel.
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That was just one thing. And Can you imagine Jesus
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looking out and he's like, I want you to see all those
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people. He's I just want you to see them
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the way I see them. I want you to see the world the
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way I see the world. I want you to be so laser
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focused with all the pressures that you're going to get.
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And, and again, I'd God didn't sit me down and say this, but I
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can look back now with 2020 vision and I can see it.
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It was hard to see day by day because it was hard enough to
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keep my own eyes on the Lord. It's like get my eyes on the
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Lord. Then I got to help you get your
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eyes on the Lord and all. And we had so many complexities
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here just like you did. And you know what?
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The Lord got us through. The Lord got us through.
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But COVID showed us a lot of things.
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That whole thing, it showed us a lot of things.
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And one of the things you have to see is not just the gospel
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side of it, but the practical side, which is also biblical.
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And that is God says, I want you to see how easy it is for the
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world to come together and and rule together.
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They go, oh, we saw that. We saw that very quickly.
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All that's really missing in a world that's chaotic is
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leadership. That's all that's really
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missing. And we see that in our own
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country every four years, every eight years, we see it in our
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own. We see that leadership vacuums
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and people upset. I want this leader.
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I want that leader. There's just something in us
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that we want to say. And we've been, we've been
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taught, you know, we get to say and who's our leader.
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But there's coming a time during the great tribulation period
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where everyone's going to get a say and they're going to pick
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the wrong guy. And yet God's going to use it.
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He gets his power from the dragon, from the devil himself.
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You'll remember back in Luke chapter 4 and verse 6, the devil
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came to Jesus and said this. He tempted him and he said, all
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this authority I will give you, and their glory for this has
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been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
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Therefore, if you will worship before me, all will be yours.
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A careful reading of Luke, you'll see that Jesus didn't
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talk him out, didn't say no devil, you don't know what
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you're talking about. He just quoted the Scriptures to
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him. So the devil says I can give it
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to whoever I want. Guess who he gives it to?
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The Antichrist. He gives it all to the
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Antichrist. Jesus refused that temptation,
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but the Antichrist will gladly accept it.
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Verse 3. Making great progress in 13
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verses, aren't we? But we'll get there.
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Third thing I want you to see, it's his amazement.
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So far we've seen his appearance, his authority.
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Now his amazement. Verse three, I saw one of his
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heads as if it had been mortally wounded and his deadly wound was
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healed and all the world marveled and followed the beast.
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This person, this man will be the masterpiece puppet of Satan,
25:18
and he will be able through lying signs and wonders, be able
25:22
to marvel the entire world. There will be a spiritual
25:26
component. That's why when you think of
25:29
taking the mark of the beast, this is not just some barcode on
25:33
your forehead or on your hand. This is a spiritual decision to
25:36
rebel against God. It will be the temptation to
25:40
align yourself, to align yourself with following the
25:45
Antichrist and the beast and the Dragon's authority and their
25:51
ruling of the world. And no true believer will take
25:55
the mark. No true believer will take the
25:58
mark. It won't even be a temptation
26:00
for you. You'd rather starve than follow
26:03
the Antichrist. But I believe that we'll be gone
26:06
by then. But just in case, you're a fake
26:09
believer right now, and you're going to be here after the
26:11
rapture, Get saved. Take the mark of Jesus, his
26:15
blood upon your life, receive the forgiveness of your sins.
26:21
But here the Antichrist seems to be have received an
26:25
assassination attempt, or perhaps even a real one.
26:29
This man that's being idolized, he's mortally wounded.
26:33
And when you jump to verse 12, notice in Revelation 13, verse
26:38
12, he exercises all authority of the first beast, causes the
26:42
earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose
26:45
deadly wound was healed. This is a personal wound, and it
26:51
shocks the world and puts them into mourning.
26:54
Zechariah Chapter 11, verse 17. Woe to the worthless shepherd
26:59
who leaves the flock. A sword shall be against his arm
27:02
and against his right eye, and his arm shall completely wither,
27:06
and his right eye shall be totally blinded.
27:10
And I believe it's all a setup, a clever trick of Satan himself,
27:15
because at just the right time the Antichrist gets up this
27:18
wound, this phrase, deadly wound, is the same phrase that's
27:22
used in Revelation chapter 5 and verse 6 to describe the Lamb as
27:27
it had been slain. So there's disagreement on
27:29
whether he really dies or not. Nonetheless, it's a part of a
27:32
sham whether he did or not, a counterfeit that fools the
27:36
world. And even in the deception, God's
27:39
voice isn't is not silent. Again coming back to since the
27:46
first time I thought this message was pre COVID.
27:48
Coming back to the post COVID era.
27:51
Just understand even when things seem completely out of your
27:55
control, God is never silent. And God hasn't abdicated his
27:59
control. God it's voice is still speaking
28:02
even right now. It may be something smaller for
28:04
you, something out of your control, something you have no
28:07
control over. It's troubling you, it's
28:09
worrying you. God's voice is not silent, to
28:14
which many will have a resistance to what I just said.
28:18
And I understand because pain will do that to a person.
28:22
Fear will do that to a person, worry will do that to a person,
28:25
and it might be some resistance to the truth here.
28:28
Let me just say for those of you that go ahead, God hasn't spoken
28:31
in a while. I haven't heard God's voice.
28:33
I don't know what's going on. Open your Bible and read your
28:38
Bible and receive the voice of the Lord.
28:41
Yeah, but you don't understand. It's not speaking to my
28:43
situation. No, God is speaking to
28:44
everything about you. Just receive it.
28:48
Just grow in it. Go to the book of John and read
28:52
the Gospel of John because the Gospel of John was written so
28:56
that you might believe and God has began to fan the flames of
29:00
your faith. Don't read the book like a
29:03
textbook in college. Read the book like a love letter
29:08
from God. Follow Jesus.
29:11
You know, sometimes I know some of you are so deep students and
29:15
you love to go deep and, and I commend you for that.
29:18
I think it's wonderful. I think you should go as deep as
29:20
you want to go deep as long as you don't talk yourself out of
29:23
things because you can go so deep and you start talking
29:25
yourself out of the simple things.
29:27
Well, you know, this Greek word and this Hebrew word and you
29:30
know, if you put the letters and flip them around and then you go
29:32
like this and you look upside down, you know, I don't know,
29:34
like don't go so deep that you talk yourself out of the things
29:38
of God. But you can set aside that deep,
29:41
deep study for just a study of love and just read it.
29:46
In the beginning was the Word. Man, that's cool.
29:50
You're the Word. You're the logos.
29:53
I remember that word. The word became flesh and dwelt
29:57
among us. You came for me, Lord.
29:59
The Word became. You left glory for me.
30:02
And just begin to think of how. Yeah.
30:05
Yeah. I remember now.
30:05
Lord, you're so good to me. You're so faithful.
30:08
You're so reliable. Even in deception, even in
30:12
difficulty, God's voice isn't silent because during this time
30:17
you, you read in, back in Chapter 11, during this
30:21
difficult time, there are two witnesses giving forth the word
30:26
of God performing awesome signs. The devil's performing fake
30:31
signs. The two witnesses are performing
30:33
awesome signs. During this time, angels are
30:36
flying around with the truth of God's word.
30:39
There's the dragon pushing forth lies, but the truth is going for
30:43
and the world doesn't marvel at God, it marvels at the
30:48
Antichrist and they're amazed by his fake resurrection.
30:53
Let's look at the fourth thing is adoration verse 4.
30:56
So they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast.
31:02
If you like to write in your Bibles just so you'll never
31:04
forget this, this is devil worship.
31:07
It exists today. Why?
31:08
Because many Antichrist has already gone into the world.
31:11
Devil worship is real. It is a real phenomenon that you
31:19
and I are to avoid at all costs. To avoid all of the dark arts,
31:25
all of the horoscopes, all of the weird stuff.
31:28
We don't want the Ouija board. I bought it at Target.
31:31
Throw it away. The devil can do all sorts of
31:35
things as you present yourself to him.
31:37
You're a believer, for goodness sake.
31:39
Don't be dabbling in that stuff. Devil worship is real.
31:43
You don't want to be messing around with it.
31:45
You've been saved out of darkness.
31:47
Why would you go back to it? You were in darkness, now you're
31:50
in the Kingdom of his light. Don't go back.
31:53
Don't minimize that stuff. Devil worship is real.
31:55
We see it. They worshipped the dragon.
31:58
They're going to and they do now.
32:00
It says who is like the beast verse four, who is able to make
32:03
war with him and then jump to verse 8 and all who dwell on the
32:08
earth will worship him whose names have not been written in
32:11
the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
32:16
world through his life, the dragon receives worship and
32:19
that's what he's wanted all along.
32:22
You can jot it down in Isaiah chapter 14.
32:25
He wanted to be greater than God.
32:28
That was his downfall. The devil in heaven was under
32:34
God and he didn't like that. He wanted to be on top, worship
32:38
and adored. And ever since he's kicked out
32:41
of heaven, he's wanted to climb the ladder and be first in the
32:44
hearts and minds of men. So the people's amazement turned
32:48
to adoration and worship. And it's here, in fact, that
32:53
many believe the Antichrist will be the incarnation of the devil
32:57
in human flesh. The devil's not satisfied.
32:59
As with attention, he wants worship.
33:03
He wants to kill, steal and destroy, and he will take as
33:08
much as he can. Any territory you seed, he will
33:12
take it. I mean, ultimately he wants to
33:14
end our lives. He wants us to be so despairing
33:18
of life and so caught up with the difficulties of life that we
33:21
don't see God anymore and we become suicidal with suicidal
33:26
ideations. Thinking about it, you never
33:28
thought about that before, but you just know you're in the
33:31
battle. It's a spiritual war.
33:34
It's not a physical war, it's spiritual and that you can stand
33:37
fast with the armor of God, even against those thoughts that you
33:41
can take every thought into captivity to the obedience of
33:44
Jesus Christ and he will rescue you even from the pit, the pit
33:49
of darkness that comes to so many.
33:52
See, the devil's not satisfied with attention.
33:54
He wants worship. He wants to take the place of
33:57
Jesus in your life. He wants you to your eyes not to
34:02
be on him. He wants you to believe the lie
34:07
again. Let's turn over to 2nd
34:08
Thessalonians for a moment with me.
34:10
That's going to be to the left. Second Thessalonians, chapter 2.
34:17
2nd Thessalonians chapter 2. He says Now brethren, concerning
34:24
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering
34:27
together to him, we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or
34:32
troubled either by spirit or word by letter, as if from us.
34:36
There were liars to the church in Thessalonica saying that
34:39
Jesus had already come, and he says, as though the day of
34:42
Christ had come. Verse three.
34:44
Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not
34:48
come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin
34:51
is revealed. The son of perdition, who exalts
34:55
or reposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or
34:59
that is worship, so that he sits in the throne of God in in the
35:04
temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
35:11
Do you not remember that I was with you?
35:13
I told you these things. So in the short time that Paul
35:15
was with the church in Thessalonica, he taught them
35:18
eschatology. Eschatology is the fancy word
35:20
for the study of the end times. And so he talked to them about
35:24
the coming of the Lord. He talked to him about the
35:26
rapture of the church. He talked to him almost like he
35:28
condensed what God, what God had given John in revelation to the
35:32
church in Thessalonica. And he says notice in verse 6.
35:36
Now you know what is restraining that he may be revealed in his
35:39
own time. What is the restraining force on
35:41
the earth today? The church.
35:44
The church. Can you imagine how bad it is
35:46
right now? You don't need to imagine that
35:47
you live in this world. Can you imagine without any
35:50
restraint from the church? This.
35:53
This world will go haywire, man. They just go wild.
35:56
Who would stand up for the unborn?
35:58
Only the church. Who would stand up for the
36:01
orphan? Only the church.
36:03
Who will help the widow? Only the church.
36:05
You go. Wait a minute.
36:05
There's a lot of organizations that that do that.
36:08
And for that we're grateful. But organizations don't withhold
36:11
evil. They don't hold back.
36:14
See, when you help a widow, it's different than some
36:16
organization. You know that right?
36:18
Because you're helping a widow in the name of Jesus Christ.
36:22
When you step into the foster care system, it is more than
36:24
just caring for kids. Although I am grateful that
36:27
there are families that would care for children in the foster
36:30
care system. You know what happens when a
36:31
believer steps into the foster care system?
36:33
They not only care for children, they love them with agape love.
36:38
Believers are the only ones capable of loving a child with
36:41
the gospel only once. When When you give, when an
36:46
organization gives charitably to build some building or to make
36:49
something, they do that as phalan.
36:52
You know the word philanthropist, but you do it as
36:58
you give a cup of cold water in Jesus name.
37:02
There's a difference. There's a big difference between
37:07
how the world does things and how the church does things.
37:11
When the church is raptured, that which is restraining the
37:15
presence of the Holy Spirit in the church, then the Antichrist
37:19
will be revealed. We don't know exactly how soon
37:23
we're not going to be here. We don't know if it's going to
37:25
be a day, a week, a month. We're not sure about the timing
37:27
exactly. But we do know after the rapture
37:30
of the church, it's going to be a very interesting time.
37:36
You don't want to be here. You don't want to be here for
37:40
the great tribulation friend. You don't want to take your
37:44
chances. Somebody tell you the Bible was
37:47
a myth fairy tale. You might even be heading home
37:50
right now. You walked out of the service,
37:52
you're heading home fairy tale myth now you're mistaken.
37:56
This is the true Word of God from the one true God.
38:02
And even if we have some of the pieces and of the puzzle,
38:06
eschatology may have a missing piece here, a missing piece
38:09
there. The things that we do understand
38:11
are very clear and that there is a capital, a Antichrist, who
38:17
will attempt to replace Jesus in the hearts and the minds of
38:20
those alive during the great Tribulation period.
38:24
And the sad thing is, many will follow Him and worship Him and
38:28
adore Him. Coming back to Revelation in
38:34
verse 4, they asked the question and don't they?
38:36
Who is like the beast? That sounds familiar.
38:41
It sounds a lot like the worship God's people gave to him in
38:44
Exodus. They're going through the Red
38:45
Sea. Who is like our God?
38:47
Great deliverance. And now in the great Tribulation
38:50
period, by the way, in Exodus, Exodus 15 verses 11 through 13,
38:55
Psalm 35 verse 10, Micah Chapter 7 verse 18, what the Antichrist
39:00
is receiving is false worship that is based upon the true
39:03
worship of God by his believers. And now in the great tribulation
39:07
period, who is like the beast? Daniel says something very
39:11
interesting about this man in Daniel Chapter 11, verse 37.
39:15
He shall regard neither the God of his father's, nor the desire
39:18
of women, nor regard any God, little G, for he, he shall exalt
39:23
himself above them all. Daniel wrote that thousands of
39:27
years earlier, and here we are in Revelation.
39:29
It's happening and it hasn't happened yet.
39:32
Still yet in the future in verses 5:00 and 6:00, we'll look
39:36
at the fifth thing, his accusations.
39:38
He's accuser just like the devil with his mouth.
39:41
He was given a mouth speaking great things and what does your
39:43
Bible say? Blasphemies for he was given
39:46
authority to continue for 42 months.
39:50
So I don't care who's speaking, who's teaching, what video
39:53
you're watching, what clip you're watching, what doesn't
39:55
matter where you're receiving your information.
39:57
Remember this test all things. And hold fast to what is good.
40:02
I don't care if the whole world's worshipping.
40:04
I don't care if the whole world's going some way.
40:06
I don't care if that's the video that got 1,000,000 views, 10
40:08
million views. It does.
40:10
If a celebrity said it, a pastor said it.
40:12
This is what the Bible says. Test all things.
40:16
Hold fast to what is good. And the only way that you can
40:18
hold fast to what is good is to know what is good.
40:23
And so you read your Bible and pray every day, don't you?
40:26
You invest your life like you do right now in the teaching of
40:29
God's Word. It was so great on the radio
40:31
today. One of the callers called from
40:33
Memphis, TN. She called in and she had the
40:36
accent and everything. She I just found this station
40:39
and it's been on the air for a long time.
40:41
So that's radio by Grace, our friend in Amarillo, TX.
40:44
That's the station that they oversee, Grace Church Pastor
40:48
Bill Gimm. And she was sharing how I love
40:51
this Christian music station. I love this Christian music
40:54
station, but this station is different.
40:58
And it is because the station that we provide to Colorado and
41:02
Nebraska and Wyoming and the stations we're on with Calvary
41:06
Live, we're dedicated to the teaching of God's Word.
41:12
Because music is great and you have to have edifying music and
41:14
it's great. But didn't you pray tonight that
41:17
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for those who
41:21
believe, For the Jew 1st and also the Greek, there's power in
41:25
the Word of God. And so just because someone says
41:28
something or it sounds intriguing, or it was put
41:31
together and it caught your eye, caught your ear, hit you on a
41:34
bad day, whatever it might be, test all things.
41:38
Because if someone has the worship and adoration of the
41:41
whole world and are speaking blasphemies, you only have one
41:45
choice. Reject them.
41:47
They have not been sent by God. They have not been sent by God.
41:51
He's a blasphemer. The Antichrist makes sense.
41:54
The Antichrist will have Antichrist words.
41:59
That's really profound. You might want to write that one
42:01
down, but it shouldn't surprise us.
42:03
Everything about the Antichrist is to replace Jesus and to
42:07
undermine him and come against him in our lives.
42:10
Notice verse 7, his aggression, it was granted to him.
42:15
Well, verse 6 again, he opened his mouth and blasphemy against
42:18
God to blasphemy his name, his Tabernacle and those who dwell
42:22
in heaven. So you're even included.
42:24
You're going to be blasphemy because that's where you're
42:26
going to be. They're going to make fun of
42:28
everything related to God. Now today, when we face those in
42:33
our lives that might mock or blasphemy, we are still living
42:36
in the age of grace. And so we still have opportunity
42:40
depending on how close we are to someone in sharing the gospel
42:43
with them. But that's the goal.
42:46
That the goal is to see people get saved.
42:48
That's that's what changes a family.
42:50
That's what changes a neighborhood that that's what
42:52
changes a city. That's what changes a country.
42:55
That's what changes that the gospel of Jesus Christ.
42:58
So you know, you don't go to work tomorrow and somebody
43:00
blasphemy is God. I reject you.
43:03
What's your problem, bro? Won't Pastor told me to do that.
43:06
Now I'm telling you not to do that.
43:07
I'm telling you to find a way around where that person is.
43:13
But if they come and go, you know, I just got back from
43:15
church and you know, I'm, I'm taking classes at school and I
43:19
know all this stuff. And then they're blaspheming God
43:21
in their voice or their life. You don't need to receive that
43:26
test. All things God has direction for
43:29
your life. It's in the word of God.
43:31
The word of God is greater than any pastor, any teacher, any
43:35
church. I am not more important than the
43:38
word of God. I'm only valuable in your life
43:42
as I exercise the gift of pastor teacher and I serve you and love
43:45
you and teach you truth that you test all things church know the
43:51
truth follow the Lord and so notice now the last thing is his
43:56
aggression in verse 7. If you're taking notes.
44:00
We started with his appearance, his authority, his amazement,
44:07
his adoration, his accusations, and now finally his aggression.
44:11
It was granted to him, verse 7, to make war with the Saints.
44:14
And you go, wait a minute. If the church was raptured, who
44:16
are the Saints? These are known as tribulation
44:19
Saints. There's 144,000 sharing the
44:22
gospel. There's two witnesses sharing
44:23
the gospel. There are angels.
44:25
I mean, Can you imagine the angels?
44:27
That must be unbelievable in all that's happening in the last
44:31
half of the great tribulation period now.
44:33
And by the way, the great tribulation period is 7 years,
44:37
not 3 1/2 years. It includes all of the time, not
44:42
just the 70th week of Daniel is the 70th week of Daniel.
44:46
Don't let anybody go. Oh, you know, the great
44:47
tribulation period is just the second-half.
44:49
The second-half is far worse than the first half.
44:52
But I'm telling you, the first half is ruled by the Antichrist.
44:55
I think that'd be a pretty bad time to be alive, don't you?
44:59
Who's your leader? The Antichrist?
45:01
And we love him, man, He's great.
45:04
We were just out worshipping him and his in the image of the
45:06
beast. You know, like again, this is
45:10
where going through the Bible, we went through all of this in
45:12
depth, Daniel and Revelation. Even though it's been a while,
45:16
those are still solid Bible studies and I know that God will
45:18
use them. But he makes war against the
45:20
Saints. These are tribulation Saints.
45:22
People are getting saved during that time and resisting taking
45:26
the mark. They're going to be martyred for
45:30
their belief in the great tribulation period.
45:33
He's coming against them to overcome them.
45:35
And authority was given him verse 7 over every tribe, tongue
45:39
and nation. Again, not a regional area
45:41
around the whole world. It says in verse 9, if anyone
45:45
has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity
45:47
shall go into captivity. He who kills with the sword must
45:50
be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the
45:53
faith of the Saints. All who dwell on the earth will
45:59
worship him. The Antichrist will come
46:01
violently against anyone who worships the true and living
46:04
God. And you remember back in
46:07
Revelation chapter 6, there are souls under the altar.
46:11
They're crying out for vengeance.
46:14
Well, vengeance for what? I believe they're crying out for
46:19
vengeance for the war of death that the Antichrist comes
46:23
against them. Daniel says in Daniel 7 verse 25
46:29
that the Antichrist will speak pompous words against the Most
46:32
High and shall persecute the Saints of the Most High and
46:37
shall intend to change times and laws.
46:39
And then the Saints shall be given into his hand for a time
46:43
and times and a time and 1/2 that phrase shall be given means
46:46
to be delivered into the hands of a government or the idea of
46:50
police arrest. It will be OK during that time,
46:53
the great tribulation period, to persecute and kill those that
46:57
call on the name of Jesus. They will be far outnumbered
47:00
more than what? We're outnumbered today in the
47:02
world. And what's the restraining force
47:05
on the earth today? The presence of the Holy Spirit
47:08
in the church. You as the light of the world,
47:13
the salt and the light are a restraining force just by your
47:18
presence, just by being on the earth.
47:21
How much more when you step into your divine destiny and exercise
47:25
your gifts and all that God has given you in every corner of the
47:29
world, You don't outnumbered because God can win with one or
47:33
1000. You're not outnumbered because
47:36
one with God is a majority. God will have his way while the
47:43
church is on the earth, and God will have his way during the
47:46
great Tribulation period. Because just like the
47:47
crucifixion when they thought the devil thought he won, ha ha,
47:50
guess what? I rose again.
47:53
Here I am fulfilling all righteousness and prophecy.
47:59
Jesus Christ is the real deal. I have the privilege of
48:03
declaring to you today, and you might be this might be your
48:06
first time. Here you go, man.
48:07
Why are what kind of church is this A church that believes the
48:11
Bible. And if you will just open your
48:14
eyes, you will see. You may not see it all.
48:18
You don't need to say it all. You don't you don't need to
48:19
figure it all out. You don't need to go, what is
48:22
this? What is this?
48:23
You can just see the few things. Just see the few things that are
48:28
available to you today. Just simple common sense matched
48:32
with the sense of the Holy Spirit will give you the ability
48:37
to see things in the spiritual realm that you've never seen
48:39
before. Like, oh, now I see, now I
48:44
understand. I don't believe we're going to
48:46
meet Antichrist Capital A, but put this study together with
48:50
last week and our next one, and you'll see God's heart for us
48:54
living in the last days. God's heart for us is to see
48:59
that truly the harvest is ripe on the fields are ripe on the
49:04
harvest. Remember what Jesus said.
49:07
Pray, pray that we send more laborers into the harvest.
49:14
And so as we end tonight, I want you to pray for more laborers
49:18
into the harvest, but I want you to pray this way.
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I'm going to ask you to, You don't have to, but I'm going to
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ask you to pray for yourself as a laborer to be sent into the
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harvest. Ask God to open your eyes.
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Ask God to show you what you can't currently see.
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Ask you to understand. When John says the Antichrist is
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coming, he is 100% accurate as you lay out the things.
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We may not know exactly how it's all going to go down, but we've
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seen glimpses of it that no other generation has ever seen.
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None. And here we are.
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We're alive, right? Because we were born for this
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day. I promise you.
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How do you know it? Because you're here and you're
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alive in 2026. This is your day, believers.
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This is the time. This is the last hour.
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So keep your eyes on the Lord, follow him passionately, and
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live for him obediently. All right, so let's pray.
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Remember, pray for yourself. I'm going to pray as well and
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pray that you as a laborer will go and pray that God will open
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your eyes. So, Father, I pray for our
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church as we head out tonight that you will send laborers into
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the harvest and even begin to show and reveal what that means,
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what that looks like, and our families into our workplace, at
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the ball game, fishing, you know, at the lake, the
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reservoir, wherever we are, Lord, send us into the harvest.
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We are those laborers. We are Lord.
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And open our eyes that we might see the seriousness of the day.
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God, we're not looking and help us.
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We're not looking for the Antichrist.
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We're looking for you to return. Jesus, our eyes are on you.
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And if maybe we made a mistake during COVID and our eyes
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weren't on you, OK, you're giving us another chance.
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Let's get our eyes back on you. Looking unto Jesus, the author
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and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him
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endured the cross, despising the shame, sat down at the right
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hand of the Father. Endurance, faithfulness.
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Lord, pour that out on your church today in Jesus name,
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Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study, delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer, call us at 87730
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Grace that's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.