Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Antichrist The Beast Out of the Sea Msg 1213 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

Antichrist The Beast Out of the Sea Msg 1213 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

0:00
Speaker 1: There's a scripture Paul writes in the New Testament that says,
0:05
Speaker 1: let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly with
0:07
Speaker 1: all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in songs and
0:13
Speaker 1: hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts
0:19
Speaker 1: to the Lord that gives a whole new dimension to
0:23
Speaker 1: the ministry of music. As we teach and admonish one
0:28
Speaker 1: another in these ways, songs and hymns and expressions of worship.
0:39
Speaker 1: It was over five years ago that I dreamed of
0:44
Speaker 1: occasions such as this, where there would be a place
0:48
Speaker 1: where this kind of music and this kind of if
0:52
Speaker 1: you will, admonition and instruction would go on, where God's
0:57
Speaker 1: people would have in one hand a copy of the Scriptures,
1:02
Speaker 1: in another hand a hymno. From the scriptures we learn
1:07
Speaker 1: of our faith, and in the hymno from that we
1:11
Speaker 1: sing of it, which carries our heritage all the way
1:14
Speaker 1: back in the passing of centuries of time. Did you
1:19
Speaker 1: know we have Luther to thank for the whole idea
1:21
Speaker 1: of a singing congregation. Till then there was the chanting
1:27
Speaker 1: of the monks in the monastery, and there was the
1:31
Speaker 1: singing of those songs in Latin, known only to the clergy,
1:36
Speaker 1: but in the language of the people. Luther set us
1:41
Speaker 1: free so that we might sing our faith, and he
1:44
Speaker 1: believed that we needed both, and we wholeheartedly agree. And now,
1:49
Speaker 1: in preparation for the second message of the morning, please
1:52
Speaker 1: turn to Revelation chapter thirteen. We're working our way through
1:58
Speaker 1: the book, and we've come to this very interesting and
2:05
Speaker 1: triggering I wanted to say, but I didn't want to
2:09
Speaker 1: sound like a popular term. This dynamic personality called the Beast,
2:17
Speaker 1: who will be the most profound in the sense of
2:22
Speaker 1: his leadership, the most popular political leader the world's ever known.
2:26
Speaker 1: And then, as we'll see in verse eleven, when we
2:28
Speaker 1: get there next time, there will be a second in
2:31
Speaker 1: command who will be a religious leader, and the false
2:35
Speaker 1: prophet working alongside this political leader we'll read about. Now
2:39
Speaker 1: we'll have the world in full sway as the earthlings
2:44
Speaker 1: believe the message that they present. We read in Revelation
2:48
Speaker 1: thirteen to one that the dragon stood on the sand
2:52
Speaker 1: of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up
2:58
Speaker 1: out of the sea. I think ten horns and seven heads,
3:03
Speaker 1: And on his horns were ten diadems, crowns and on
3:09
Speaker 1: his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw,
3:17
Speaker 1: was like a leopard, and his feet were like those
3:20
Speaker 1: of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of
3:24
Speaker 1: a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and
3:29
Speaker 1: his throne and his great authority. I saw one of
3:35
Speaker 1: his heads as if it had been slain, and his
3:39
Speaker 1: fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed
3:43
Speaker 1: and followed after the beast. And they worshiped the dragon
3:49
Speaker 1: because he gave his authority to the beast. And they
3:54
Speaker 1: worshiped the beast, saying, who is like the beast? And
3:59
Speaker 1: who is able to wage war with him? That was
4:05
Speaker 1: given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies,
4:11
Speaker 1: and authority to act for forty two months was given
4:15
Speaker 1: to him, And he opened his mouth and blasphemies against God,
4:19
Speaker 1: to blasphem his name and his tabernacle, that is, those
4:23
Speaker 1: who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him
4:27
Speaker 1: to make war with the saints and to overcome them.
4:33
Speaker 1: And authority over every tribe and people in tongue and
4:39
Speaker 1: nation was given to him. All who dwell on the
4:44
Speaker 1: earth will worship him. Everyone whose name has not been
4:48
Speaker 1: written from the foundation of the world in the Book
4:52
Speaker 1: of Life of the Lamb who has been slain. If
4:55
Speaker 1: anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is
4:59
Speaker 1: destined for captivity, to captivity he goes. If anyone kills
5:05
Speaker 1: with the sword, with the sword, he must be killed.
5:11
Speaker 1: Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
5:17
Speaker 1: You will find your outline for the message in your
5:21
Speaker 1: worship folder. Now join me as we pray. Please, our Father,
5:30
Speaker 1: we acknowledge that you are our mighty fortress, and we
5:35
Speaker 1: have learned, as Peter says, to whom else shall we go?
5:40
Speaker 1: You have the words of eternal life, And so, our Father,
5:44
Speaker 1: we find comfort in our rest in you, in the
5:49
Speaker 1: way that you meet our needs. Take care of us,
5:54
Speaker 1: protect us, watch over are young while we are away
5:58
Speaker 1: from them, and provide for us a way of making
6:02
Speaker 1: a living, by giving us strength in our bodies and
6:06
Speaker 1: minds that work well, that we might think, and we
6:10
Speaker 1: might lead, and we might follow. Thank you, our Father,
6:14
Speaker 1: for all the blessings that come our way, which we
6:17
Speaker 1: so seldom mention. For the breath that we have in
6:23
Speaker 1: our lungs, for the blood that courses through our veins,
6:27
Speaker 1: for the freedom from illness and disease, for good health,
6:33
Speaker 1: for life itself, for family, for memories, for the great
6:39
Speaker 1: holidays that are before us, that will again remind us
6:43
Speaker 1: of your hand of goodness to us. You are not
6:47
Speaker 1: only a mighty fortress. You are a giving and gentle shepherd.
6:52
Speaker 1: Thank you for shepherding us. We're often not very lovely,
6:57
Speaker 1: and we're not gentle in return, and we often are
7:01
Speaker 1: in a stubborn state of mind, and irritable and impatient.
7:07
Speaker 1: And yet each time we come back to you, there
7:11
Speaker 1: you are again to encourage us and lift our spirits,
7:15
Speaker 1: and forgive us and give us new hope to go on.
7:20
Speaker 1: Thank you, Father, for your sovereign hand over us, which
7:26
Speaker 1: not only gives us life, but as you choose, takes
7:31
Speaker 1: from us life. In light of that, our Father, may
7:34
Speaker 1: we whole life loosely. May we remember that the blessings
7:38
Speaker 1: that come from you are not ours to claim forever
7:42
Speaker 1: on this earth. And so in your sovereign hand, as
7:46
Speaker 1: you take one and another from us, remind us that
7:50
Speaker 1: you do all things well. And therefore we praise you,
7:55
Speaker 1: King of Heaven. We lift our voices in our songs today,
8:00
Speaker 1: and we open your word to hear your truth. May
8:04
Speaker 1: it become for us more important than anything of our
8:08
Speaker 1: own opinion. Humble us, quiet us, as we prepare ourselves
8:15
Speaker 1: for the sowing of the good seed. We pray this
8:19
Speaker 1: and now give to you in the name of the
8:22
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus. And everyone said, amen. Answer the following questions.
8:34
Speaker 1: They really all have the same answer, but the questions
8:37
Speaker 1: are different. There's this restaurant that was once popular and
8:44
Speaker 1: well attended by people in the community, certain great food,
8:48
Speaker 1: and people would come not only for breakfast and lunch,
8:51
Speaker 1: but they even sometimes would enjoy dinner there. Now the
8:56
Speaker 1: restaurant no longer has that many people who stop in,
9:00
Speaker 1: and the food isn't really that good, and in fact,
9:03
Speaker 1: it's pretty well going under. What does that restaurant need
9:09
Speaker 1: more than anything else? There's this team, this athletic team
9:17
Speaker 1: put together around a number of good young athletes, and
9:23
Speaker 1: the school has had a long, long term history of winning,
9:28
Speaker 1: and now that's changed. Athletes are still pretty good, but
9:34
Speaker 1: they've lost now for the fourth year in a row,
9:37
Speaker 1: and the crowds are thinning, and there's not that much
9:40
Speaker 1: morale at the school, And well, what does that team
9:44
Speaker 1: need more than anything else? What one thing There's a
9:52
Speaker 1: city that was a thriving metropolis of people moved in
9:57
Speaker 1: there to live there and be a part of the
10:00
Speaker 1: communities of the city. Business was good and climate was great.
10:05
Speaker 1: But now there's been a turn. In fact, the crime
10:10
Speaker 1: rate is greater, and there's no new home section being built,
10:13
Speaker 1: and in fact, people are leaving more quickly than they
10:17
Speaker 1: are coming. What's that city need? What one thing more
10:22
Speaker 1: than anything else? There's this country struck by terrorism. Thousands
10:30
Speaker 1: are killed, Fear is sweeping the country, and panic is
10:35
Speaker 1: setting in. People are pulling in and drawing their blinds
10:38
Speaker 1: and locking their doors and spending no time on the streets.
10:43
Speaker 1: But somehow this country needs to turn around and rally
10:46
Speaker 1: around the flag. What is a country need more than
10:51
Speaker 1: anything else? The answer, by now to all of you
10:57
Speaker 1: is obvious one word. Leadership. It's the most significant ingredient
11:06
Speaker 1: in any movement. Peter Drucker, the guru of management and
11:12
Speaker 1: leadership these days, known for his famous quotations, once said this,
11:17
Speaker 1: if an enterprise fails to perform, we rightly hire not
11:23
Speaker 1: different workers, but a new president. If there's trouble brewing
11:29
Speaker 1: at the bottom, and the trouble continues to brew, chances
11:32
Speaker 1: are good. The real problem is at the top. The
11:37
Speaker 1: restaurant doesn't need necessarily another chef or new servers or
11:42
Speaker 1: even a different menu. Needs a new manager, maybe a
11:47
Speaker 1: new owner. The athletic team doesn't necessarily need to recruit
11:52
Speaker 1: fellows from some other area. That team needs another coach.
11:57
Speaker 1: As we're learning here in Dallas, you lucky dogs able
12:05
Speaker 1: to get home in time to see the game. And
12:07
Speaker 1: we'll go on to the city. What does that city
12:11
Speaker 1: needs and needs a mayor? It needs a group of
12:14
Speaker 1: leaders who will put together a plan that will get
12:17
Speaker 1: that city back on its feet. And the church that
12:24
Speaker 1: was empty and wants powerful in its preaching and strong
12:29
Speaker 1: in its music, that is failing, probably needs another pastor.
12:36
Speaker 1: Same for a country. We found that out on nine
12:41
Speaker 1: to eleven. Without the right leader, there's no rallying of
12:48
Speaker 1: the citizenship. What is true in all these realms for
12:55
Speaker 1: good is also unfortunately true in the realm of wrong
12:59
Speaker 1: and evil. We shall not be at all surprised to
13:03
Speaker 1: read and to learn that the great usurper of this world,
13:09
Speaker 1: the Devil himself, when he makes his final move to
13:14
Speaker 1: conquer and to hold full dominion over the earth, uses
13:21
Speaker 1: a leader, a very carefully chosen and prepared vessel of
13:28
Speaker 1: his to possess. To do his evil work through he
13:36
Speaker 1: needs someone who will become for him the dictator leader
13:41
Speaker 1: of the world. All of us have lived long enough
13:45
Speaker 1: to remember dictators who ruined countries Stalin in Russia, so
13:52
Speaker 1: Sesquieu in Romania, Hitler in Germany, Edie I Mean and Uganda,
13:59
Speaker 1: Paul Potter to Cambodia, and most recently Sodom Hussein in
14:05
Speaker 1: the great country of Iraq. Evil leaders, dictators who determined
14:12
Speaker 1: they would answer to no one as they pushed the
14:16
Speaker 1: country in the realm of Rome to satisfy their own
14:20
Speaker 1: arrogance and game plan. Interestingly, when we meet this individual
14:28
Speaker 1: in Revelation thirteen, verses one to ten, we find that
14:32
Speaker 1: he is called not by some human name, but by
14:37
Speaker 1: the name of a wild animal. Theyrion is the Greek
14:41
Speaker 1: word theyrion means wild beast, which describes as nature. Well,
14:49
Speaker 1: this isn't the first time Scripture has told us of
14:52
Speaker 1: this individual. He's just called him by another name. John
14:56
Speaker 1: in his First Letter Chapters two and four him out
15:01
Speaker 1: and out Antichrist Paul calls him, and second Thessalonians to
15:07
Speaker 1: the man of Sin, or accurately the Man of lawlessness.
15:13
Speaker 1: So we've seen him before, but he's never set for
15:16
Speaker 1: a portrait, not until now understand when he will come
15:21
Speaker 1: on the scene. It will be yet future when the
15:24
Speaker 1: world is that it's chaotic, most chaotic moment, longing for
15:29
Speaker 1: and needing a leader who will give them a reason
15:32
Speaker 1: for going on. When wrong will have taken over and
15:36
Speaker 1: judgment will have fallen, the people will long for anyone
15:40
Speaker 1: who can help sign that peace pact between Israel and Palestine,
15:45
Speaker 1: who can come in with charisma and remarkable popularity, fame
15:51
Speaker 1: and fortune, and persuade the people that he has a
15:54
Speaker 1: plan that's worth following, and it is clearly against God.
16:01
Speaker 1: Dwight Pentecost and his book Prophecy for Today writes this.
16:05
Speaker 1: The scriptures reveal that this conflict between good and bad,
16:09
Speaker 1: between light and darkness, is going to come to its
16:11
Speaker 1: climax when Satan brings his great masterpiece, the Man of Sin,
16:16
Speaker 1: the lawless One, the Beast, on this world scene as
16:20
Speaker 1: the head of a great confederation of nations. This world
16:24
Speaker 1: is headed for a coming worldwide dictatorship, under whom all
16:29
Speaker 1: nations shall be consolidated into one great world empire that
16:34
Speaker 1: will center in the worship of Satan. This system will
16:38
Speaker 1: be characterized by lawlessness, godlessness, and absolute authoritarianism. It will
16:46
Speaker 1: be the aim of this dictator to exterminate every believer
16:50
Speaker 1: in Jesus Christ and to outlaw God from this universe.
16:58
Speaker 1: He comes on the scene rather in ouously. In the
17:00
Speaker 1: Biblical text, chapter thirteen, we find a dragon walking along
17:05
Speaker 1: the seashore. Now, if you were reading and had never
17:09
Speaker 1: read before in Revelation, you'd imagine an animal with four
17:13
Speaker 1: feet dragging himself along with his tale, swishing back and
17:17
Speaker 1: forth near the seashore. But we know from our study
17:21
Speaker 1: of Revelation twelve that the dragon and also Revelation twenty,
17:26
Speaker 1: is none other than Satan. So it's a symbol of Satan,
17:30
Speaker 1: the devil himself. In apocalyptic literature, especially in the Book
17:36
Speaker 1: of Revelation, the sea often refers to gentile nations, not
17:45
Speaker 1: the Jews. So this causes most students of prophecy, who
17:50
Speaker 1: take the scriptures literally and are conservative in their theology,
17:54
Speaker 1: to claim that this one will come from among the
17:57
Speaker 1: gentile nations. The political leader of the future will not
18:03
Speaker 1: be a Jew, You'll be a gentile. Satan is standing
18:09
Speaker 1: on the sand of the seashore. It's a picture of
18:13
Speaker 1: his being in the midst of the nations of the world,
18:16
Speaker 1: as if they were his rightful possession. They're not, since
18:20
Speaker 1: he is a usurper who seeks the world's worship. But
18:25
Speaker 1: Satan is moving about looking for his man, and he
18:30
Speaker 1: finds him. He emerges from the sea. We read in
18:35
Speaker 1: verse two, and as we read in verse one, and
18:38
Speaker 1: as we read of him, we will see his source
18:42
Speaker 1: of power is none other than the devil himself. John writes,
18:46
Speaker 1: I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.
18:53
Speaker 1: In our terms today, if we were to read it
18:55
Speaker 1: in the Dallas Morning News, it would be reported that
18:58
Speaker 1: an individual urged out of a certain country or is
19:03
Speaker 1: coming on the scene out of a particular nation. Biblical
19:07
Speaker 1: literature refers to it as a beast coming out of
19:10
Speaker 1: the sea. We know he has authority because he is
19:13
Speaker 1: said to have ten horns, seven heads, and on those
19:18
Speaker 1: horns were ten diadema. It's the word for crowns. This
19:24
Speaker 1: is a picture of royal authority or governmental authority. The
19:29
Speaker 1: horns most often in New Testament prophetic literature refer to rulerships,
19:35
Speaker 1: so these are probably the ten nations that will be
19:39
Speaker 1: drawn together to follow him. The seven might refer to
19:45
Speaker 1: the seven original consecutive world empires, beginning with Egypt and Assyria.
19:54
Speaker 1: Then you have Babylon and Medo Persia, followed by Greece
19:59
Speaker 1: and Rome, and then the Antichrist's own evil empire. The
20:06
Speaker 1: shift to seven crowns may well refer to governmental authorities
20:11
Speaker 1: that will be prominent. Then, quite likely the ten national
20:16
Speaker 1: leaders who cooperate with this leader in his rulership over
20:20
Speaker 1: the world is portrayed in these ten diadem and ten horns.
20:27
Speaker 1: Please observe they are all anti God, because the end
20:32
Speaker 1: of verse one tells us they had blasphemous names, their work,
20:39
Speaker 1: their persuasion, their philosophy of life. Their motive is all
20:43
Speaker 1: about blaspheming the name of the living God. Verse two
20:51
Speaker 1: describes something of his authority and his style of leadership.
21:01
Speaker 1: The beast which I saw was like a leopard. His
21:06
Speaker 1: feet were like those of a bear. His mouth was
21:10
Speaker 1: like the mouth of a lion. If you remember prophetic
21:17
Speaker 1: literature from your previous years of study, you know that
21:21
Speaker 1: Daniel seven includes such creatures as a leopard and a
21:26
Speaker 1: bear and a lion. This is an opposite order from
21:31
Speaker 1: the way Daniel seven refers to them. Nevertheless, this probably
21:36
Speaker 1: has reference to a composite empire resembling those powerful, vast
21:43
Speaker 1: empires of ancient years. And just imagine what they would represent.
21:47
Speaker 1: They would incorporate all the characteristics of these previous powers. Brutality, ferocity, swiftness,
22:00
Speaker 1: strength of military might, craftiness, determination, cruelty, deception. One writer
22:11
Speaker 1: sums it all up in these words. Here John sums
22:15
Speaker 1: up all the brilliance of Greece, all the massive ponderousness
22:20
Speaker 1: of power of Persia, all of the absolute autocratic royal
22:26
Speaker 1: dominion of Babylon that the Gentiles have ever known. The
22:30
Speaker 1: point being no human force by now will be able
22:35
Speaker 1: to withstand him. Don't miss the final sentence of verse two.
22:40
Speaker 1: It puts a chill up your back. The dragon gave
22:45
Speaker 1: him his dunamus, his thronos, and his excusiam megaline, his dynamic,
22:55
Speaker 1: his charisma, and his promotion revealed in the word transliterated
23:02
Speaker 1: in English, has thrown throw on us. He's promoted to
23:07
Speaker 1: a place of authority, he's elected into into power, or
23:11
Speaker 1: he's appointed there with the people, and with that comes
23:14
Speaker 1: influence that is great. Please notice it all comes from
23:19
Speaker 1: the dragon. Now, a person with this kind of authority
23:25
Speaker 1: and this kind of power must make an impact on
23:28
Speaker 1: the world. An interesting way he does it to grab
23:31
Speaker 1: the attention of the world. Yet Future John says, I
23:35
Speaker 1: saw one of his heads as if it had been slain.
23:41
Speaker 1: Some teach that this creature, this individual literally is assassinated
23:47
Speaker 1: and comes back from the dead, and in his resurrected state,
23:53
Speaker 1: he now has the has the amazement of the people.
23:57
Speaker 1: We read here that the whole earth was amazed as
24:02
Speaker 1: they followed after the beast with the wound that had
24:05
Speaker 1: been healed. It may be that an attempt is made
24:09
Speaker 1: on his life. It may be that someone attempts to
24:12
Speaker 1: assassinate him, or some conspiracy. But I tend to think
24:16
Speaker 1: it's a phony death. I think it's a fate assassination.
24:23
Speaker 1: I think it's all a setup to get the people
24:25
Speaker 1: of the world to believe him. I think it's staged,
24:31
Speaker 1: and as a result, they follow him believing that he
24:36
Speaker 1: is a he has been raised from the dead. What
24:40
Speaker 1: kind of authority would that bring? One writer writes this,
24:45
Speaker 1: perhaps Antichrist will explain his extraordinary powers by claiming to
24:51
Speaker 1: be the reincarnation of the Christ spirit. Certainly in a
24:57
Speaker 1: world where New Age pantheism and Eastern mysticism are extremely popular,
25:08
Speaker 1: more people would be inclined to believe in a reincarnation
25:14
Speaker 1: than a resurrection. Whatever Antichrist's seeming invulnerability to death will
25:22
Speaker 1: win him greater, more widespread acclaim. Stay with me through
25:29
Speaker 1: this as you walk the journey. That's a very unusual
25:33
Speaker 1: path in this man's resume. The earth is aching for leadership.
25:40
Speaker 1: The need is enormous as the people many are dying
25:44
Speaker 1: under the judgments. There is a great calling among humanity
25:50
Speaker 1: for a voice of authority, for some persuasive leader to
25:56
Speaker 1: say we'll go this way, or we'll go against that power.
26:00
Speaker 1: And he comes on the scene with that kind of message,
26:04
Speaker 1: and he sweeps the people off their feet with this remarkable,
26:09
Speaker 1: albeit deceptive method. And do they follow? Verse four is
26:15
Speaker 1: the answer? Talk about an amazing appeal. They worshiped the
26:22
Speaker 1: dragon because he gave his authority to the beast. And
26:27
Speaker 1: then they worshiped the beast, saying, who is like the
26:33
Speaker 1: beast who is able to wage war with him? You
26:38
Speaker 1: may not know it, but that's lifted from Exodus fifteen,
26:41
Speaker 1: as it was there used for the praise of the
26:43
Speaker 1: living God, and now they apply it to a man
26:48
Speaker 1: and to the source of his power, Satan himself. The
26:51
Speaker 1: world by now is willing to believe anything and will
26:56
Speaker 1: be willing to follow anyone who has this kind of
27:01
Speaker 1: persuasive style and technique and charisma. Some have taught that
27:09
Speaker 1: this is a resurrected nero. There's no reason to embrace that.
27:14
Speaker 1: Some have said it's Judas come back from beyond again
27:18
Speaker 1: that carries no weight. Some have said it's the death
27:21
Speaker 1: of the Roman empire that will be revived. But this
27:24
Speaker 1: is speaking of a man, not an empire. This is people.
27:29
Speaker 1: This is a person that people are following. This isn't
27:32
Speaker 1: a nation or a philosophy of a nation. Whether it's
27:37
Speaker 1: death is real or fake isn't clear. The point is
27:40
Speaker 1: that people will believe it's real, and they will They
27:46
Speaker 1: will bow and worship before him. Now the activities are
27:53
Speaker 1: enough to keep you awake at night. Verse five, there
27:58
Speaker 1: was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words. Now
28:02
Speaker 1: I want to interrupt here. It's not like a radio announcer.
28:05
Speaker 1: Let me interrupt this broadcast to bring you some information.
28:08
Speaker 1: But even though it's technical in nature, I think it
28:10
Speaker 1: will help you appreciate how possessed he is of Satan.
28:16
Speaker 1: Theyon is a Greek word that is neuter, neither masculine
28:21
Speaker 1: nor feminine. So truly, the pronoun that would modify this
28:26
Speaker 1: particular name of the beast would be newter. It would
28:32
Speaker 1: be it, not him, not her. And that's literally the
28:39
Speaker 1: way this could have been rendered, because it's a man.
28:41
Speaker 1: The translators have correctly rendered it, but I think it
28:45
Speaker 1: emphasizes something in the reference of five through eight. Four
28:50
Speaker 1: times the same identical phrase appears in the original. Let
28:56
Speaker 1: me give it to you exactly as it is. Look
28:59
Speaker 1: at verse five. There was given to it a mouth.
29:06
Speaker 1: There was given to it authority for forty two months.
29:10
Speaker 1: Verse seven. There was given to it to make war,
29:16
Speaker 1: And there was given to it authority over every tribe, people, tongue,
29:21
Speaker 1: and nation. The beast is Satan's man. He really would
29:29
Speaker 1: have no message without Satan. He would have no sense
29:33
Speaker 1: of strategy without the brilliant strategy of Satan himself. He
29:38
Speaker 1: is a puppet of Satan. All of you know that
29:46
Speaker 1: one of the conferences that Cynthia and I say yes
29:49
Speaker 1: to is a conference up in westernmost Virginia where we
29:54
Speaker 1: go almost every year to minister to the people of
29:58
Speaker 1: Capitol Hill and the from the Pentagon, the flag officers.
30:02
Speaker 1: In this gathering at Winter Green Conference Ground, we have
30:05
Speaker 1: the opportunity to minister four times, once on Friday evening,
30:11
Speaker 1: twice Saturday morning, and then again on Sunday morning before
30:14
Speaker 1: we fly back home. That means Saturday night is left
30:18
Speaker 1: a little free for some fun and these people enjoy
30:22
Speaker 1: Folks from DC need more fun, and so Saturday night
30:26
Speaker 1: it's always a fun night and it's delightful time. This
30:29
Speaker 1: last conference, we had the best ventriloquist on the planet.
30:34
Speaker 1: He was fabulous. He had four dummies he travels with literally,
30:40
Speaker 1: and he gives them life and he uses them and
30:43
Speaker 1: they do everything but sing in harmony. Wonder does I
30:46
Speaker 1: watch it? Is he possessed? Anyway, he's able to do
30:48
Speaker 1: this kind of thing and they talk back and forth
30:51
Speaker 1: and he hardly moves his lips. David Pendleton is a
30:54
Speaker 1: master at this, and he uses the audience in people's
30:58
Speaker 1: names from the audience as he has the four creatures
31:00
Speaker 1: sitting there, and you find yourself wanting to talk to
31:03
Speaker 1: the dummies. In fact, he does interviews with people and
31:06
Speaker 1: here are the four star generals, answering this dummy as
31:09
Speaker 1: he goes back and forth, answering, Well, that morning, in
31:12
Speaker 1: the middle of the busyness of the morning, I really
31:14
Speaker 1: had to go to the bathroom. And so while everybody
31:17
Speaker 1: was in the conference, this ties together, trust me, all
31:20
Speaker 1: they everybody stayed for the question answer station. I slipped
31:24
Speaker 1: out to go to the bathroom. Well, I walked in,
31:27
Speaker 1: and while I was in there, I thought, this is
31:29
Speaker 1: the nicest men's room I've ever seen in my life.
31:32
Speaker 1: All these booths, there's nothing out in the open. Men
31:35
Speaker 1: just don't have it like this, which told me I
31:40
Speaker 1: was in the wrong restroom. And I finished, And of
31:46
Speaker 1: course the great concern, really, you have two great concerns,
31:50
Speaker 1: is anyone else in here? And second, will anybody see
31:54
Speaker 1: me leave through this door? Well? I made it by
32:00
Speaker 1: and like you, I told them what happened, and they
32:03
Speaker 1: just broke into Great lad Well. That night, David Pendleton
32:06
Speaker 1: has this old lady who is a part of his
32:10
Speaker 1: four dummies, and she's looking all around the audience, and
32:13
Speaker 1: she looks over at me and he says to her
32:17
Speaker 1: do you know him? Yes? And he said, where did
32:20
Speaker 1: you see? I made him? In the wister. This morning,
32:26
Speaker 1: Pendleton has a fantastic presentation. In the middle of his
32:30
Speaker 1: fun stuff, he says, let me show all of you something.
32:34
Speaker 1: We all got quiet, And he picks up one of
32:36
Speaker 1: these creatures and it kind of hangs over nothing, and
32:44
Speaker 1: he puts his hand up behind, and suddenly the head
32:47
Speaker 1: pops up, and he gives this little creature of voice,
32:52
Speaker 1: and he gives us little creature of personality. And you
32:56
Speaker 1: find yourself amazed. You don't even look at David anymore
33:03
Speaker 1: as you see these little creatures he gives life to.
33:06
Speaker 1: He uses it as a wonderful presentation of the Gospel.
33:10
Speaker 1: Without Christ, we are nothing. But when He comes into
33:13
Speaker 1: our life, he gives us the whole purpose for being,
33:18
Speaker 1: even our personality. That's the beast. That's the beast. But
33:26
Speaker 1: the awfulness is that the power comes from the source
33:33
Speaker 1: of the worst kind of evil and the most brilliant
33:39
Speaker 1: of plans, and the most persuasive of speeches, and the
33:45
Speaker 1: most believable of concepts. Verse five says there was given
33:54
Speaker 1: to it a mouth, meaning a message. Not surprisingly, because
34:01
Speaker 1: Satan is arrogant, he will speak arrogant words. And because
34:04
Speaker 1: Satan is blasphemous, he will speak blasphemy, and the people
34:08
Speaker 1: will hear it, and the people will believe it, and
34:10
Speaker 1: the people will love it. Furthermore, he will have there's
34:14
Speaker 1: our word Ecstasya again. He will have authority, and it
34:17
Speaker 1: will be given to him for the last three and
34:19
Speaker 1: a half years of this dreadful period. Yet future, the
34:24
Speaker 1: last era of this time, when all hell will have
34:27
Speaker 1: broken loose, and he will come on the earth to
34:31
Speaker 1: have that kind of persuasive leadership. And we read he
34:35
Speaker 1: opened his mouth and blasphem. He's against God. Why, of
34:38
Speaker 1: course Satan has done that since he was, since he
34:41
Speaker 1: arose in his own pride in the heavenlys and he
34:45
Speaker 1: blasphems his name and his tabernacle and those who dwell
34:49
Speaker 1: in heaven. He takes delight in turning against the things
34:54
Speaker 1: of the Lord, and turning the people away from spiritual
34:57
Speaker 1: things and away from angelic work and even the world
35:00
Speaker 1: of the church. It was given to it to make
35:03
Speaker 1: war with the saints. You better believe it. The only
35:06
Speaker 1: ones not following him are the people who are following Jesus.
35:09
Speaker 1: By now, those who had been left behind when we're
35:12
Speaker 1: taking off the earth. Many of them have come to
35:15
Speaker 1: realize that there was a messiah, there was a savior.
35:19
Speaker 1: And my friend who told me about this Christian message
35:22
Speaker 1: was true and told me the truth. And now they believe.
35:24
Speaker 1: And so there are these who follow Christ. And therefore
35:28
Speaker 1: they will not worship this one who will have such
35:31
Speaker 1: persuasive leadership and power. And we read that he will
35:36
Speaker 1: make war with the saints, and the goal is to
35:38
Speaker 1: exterminate them, as we read, to overcome them. And again
35:42
Speaker 1: authority over. He was given authority over every tribe and
35:45
Speaker 1: people in tongue and nation will be It will sweep
35:49
Speaker 1: the world. There will not be a television broadcast without
35:53
Speaker 1: the mention of his name. There will not be a
35:55
Speaker 1: significant event on world affairs, at least politically, where his
35:59
Speaker 1: name does not come up and his image is not
36:02
Speaker 1: on the face of the television. He will be a
36:06
Speaker 1: household name across the around the world, around the globe.
36:10
Speaker 1: He is Satan's pawn, speaking arrogant, blasphemous words, and the
36:15
Speaker 1: scope will be among all the nations and people and
36:18
Speaker 1: tongues and tribes and talk about loyalty. Verse eight. All
36:25
Speaker 1: who dwell on the earth will worship him. That is,
36:30
Speaker 1: everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation
36:34
Speaker 1: of the world in the Book of Life of the
36:37
Speaker 1: Lamb who has been slain. Who's that Wow, that's the
36:42
Speaker 1: Christian That's that pocket of uncooperative believers. As in the
36:51
Speaker 1: Nazi regime, that would be those who hid the Jews,
36:56
Speaker 1: that would be those who didn't give Hitler their loyalty.
37:04
Speaker 1: And these people are seen as turncoats. Even fellow citizens
37:08
Speaker 1: will hate them. Those who follow the beast will carry
37:13
Speaker 1: the credit cards that allow them to buy and will
37:17
Speaker 1: have the ability to sell and to live under their
37:20
Speaker 1: own roof. These will probably be without homes to live in, destitute, afflicted, tormented. Now,
37:33
Speaker 1: for the last part of this message, I want you
37:35
Speaker 1: to imagine yourself in a small pocket of believers in
37:39
Speaker 1: this period of time. You've survived the first three and
37:43
Speaker 1: a half years. Now you see emerging this leader. You're
37:51
Speaker 1: alone with two or three others, hiding in a cave
37:54
Speaker 1: or some distant wilderness. Somebody had enough forethought to bring
37:59
Speaker 1: along a new Testament, and you turn to Revelation thirteen
38:05
Speaker 1: nine and you realize God's talking to you. If anyone
38:13
Speaker 1: has an ear, let him hear. And now the believers
38:19
Speaker 1: of that era are given instruction. Since the persecution has
38:23
Speaker 1: now reached a maddening level. If anyone is destined for captivity,
38:30
Speaker 1: to captivity, he goes, what does that mean? Well, I
38:36
Speaker 1: go back to Cory ten Boom and her being a
38:39
Speaker 1: part of the hiding of the Jews. Remember when they
38:42
Speaker 1: came and they fore found out and the Nazis appeared,
38:46
Speaker 1: they didn't fight them. They went into captivity. They trusted
38:52
Speaker 1: in their Lord and his providence to preserve them. This
38:55
Speaker 1: was not a time to retaliate. This was a time
38:59
Speaker 1: to cooperate. You're sunk, you can't make it alive, so
39:05
Speaker 1: go in. Go with them doesn't mean you follow their teaching,
39:08
Speaker 1: means you go into captivity. Look further, If any kills
39:13
Speaker 1: with the sword, you can expect death and return. You
39:18
Speaker 1: resist when surrounded by those aggressive armies, You're finished. You
39:25
Speaker 1: trust the Lord to hold you clothes. Here is the
39:29
Speaker 1: perseverance of the faith of the saints. You say, you
39:34
Speaker 1: know what, I'd be a part of the resistance party.
39:38
Speaker 1: I don't believe in ever doing something like that. Really,
39:43
Speaker 1: you've already forgotten First Peter too, where it speaks of
39:47
Speaker 1: Christ who, though he was reviled, reviled not again when
39:53
Speaker 1: he suffered he threatened not but committed himself to him
39:56
Speaker 1: who judges righteously, who his own self bore our sins
39:59
Speaker 1: and his own body on the tree, that we, being
40:01
Speaker 1: dead to sin, should live into righteousness by whose stripe
40:06
Speaker 1: we are healed. It was a non resistance, it was
40:11
Speaker 1: a submission. They didn't murder him. He gave up his life.
40:19
Speaker 1: They didn't look around have to fight him. As he
40:21
Speaker 1: was running, he said, I've told you all along I
40:24
Speaker 1: am he so the some of the soldiers fell back,
40:27
Speaker 1: hardly able to believe their ears that he wouldn't run
40:30
Speaker 1: or he wouldn't fight. He even rebuked Peter for cutting
40:33
Speaker 1: off an ear of one of the soldiers. Remember, he's
40:37
Speaker 1: telling these believers in the future, you live for Christ
40:43
Speaker 1: one day after another. You trust him, and if he
40:47
Speaker 1: find you and bring you into captivity, you go because
40:52
Speaker 1: if you killed with the sword, you'll be killed in return.
40:58
Speaker 1: Here's the perseverance and faith the saints. Now I realize
41:05
Speaker 1: some of this stuff is enough to keep you up
41:07
Speaker 1: every night from now on. You're just gonna not sleep anymore.
41:09
Speaker 1: Having heard this, you think maybe I'm living next door
41:12
Speaker 1: to the beast, or uh hm, maybe it is Clinton
41:19
Speaker 1: after all? I don't know really, no, no, don't don't
41:23
Speaker 1: go there. Or maybe maybe it is you know the
41:27
Speaker 1: name some guy over there in some gentile country, and uh,
41:31
Speaker 1: maybe we need stop stop that. Yes, I believe he
41:36
Speaker 1: could very well be on the Earth scene. Yes, I
41:39
Speaker 1: believe he could be born and could be growing up
41:42
Speaker 1: right now. Yes I could. I believe the time is
41:46
Speaker 1: so short. I think he could maybe be in his
41:48
Speaker 1: college years going through training right now. I don't I
41:54
Speaker 1: don't know that he knows that this is his role.
41:56
Speaker 1: I don't know that that's fallen into place yet, but
41:58
Speaker 1: I believe it is that real. Well, how do I
42:02
Speaker 1: how do I? How do I go on? Let me
42:07
Speaker 1: give you two or three realities that I want you
42:10
Speaker 1: to remember. This is the part I don't want you
42:12
Speaker 1: to forget. The other stuff is interpretive and you've got
42:15
Speaker 1: to come to terms with some of it on your
42:16
Speaker 1: own study. But this, you can take this to the bank.
42:20
Speaker 1: Here are three realities, and each of the three ends
42:24
Speaker 1: in something that's not known at the time. It isn't visible,
42:28
Speaker 1: it isn't audible, it's behind the scenes. Here's what I mean.
42:33
Speaker 1: Number one. Satanic wonders are often impressive, but they are
42:39
Speaker 1: always deceptive. Satanic wonders are often impressive, but they are
42:48
Speaker 1: always deceptive. Keep that in mind, will you, when you
42:57
Speaker 1: come across information about certain so called miracles or certain
43:04
Speaker 1: wonders and signs, be careful don't gravitate in that direction.
43:11
Speaker 1: Not only will you be misled, you will be deceived.
43:18
Speaker 1: They may be wonders, and they may be miraculous, but
43:22
Speaker 1: remember God is not the only source of the miraculous.
43:27
Speaker 1: Satan is a supernatural power. He can do miracles, but
43:33
Speaker 1: in God's miracles there is never anything deceptive. It's what
43:37
Speaker 1: it is, and He gets all the glory for it.
43:41
Speaker 1: Here's a second reality. I don't want you to ever forget.
43:45
Speaker 1: Wherever anything or anyone other than God is worshiped, Satan
43:55
Speaker 1: is pleased. Wherever anything or any one other than God
44:02
Speaker 1: is worshiped, Satan is pleased. Remember, the enemy's goal is
44:13
Speaker 1: to keep us from worshiping the Lord. He will have
44:16
Speaker 1: you worship anything just so it isn't God. And the
44:23
Speaker 1: list is pages long. I love the third one because
44:30
Speaker 1: it's full of hope. When Satan's power is at its worst,
44:35
Speaker 1: God's providence is at its best. That wonderful when it
44:42
Speaker 1: seems all is lost. God is doing his best work.
44:49
Speaker 1: I think it was Churchill who said of Hitler, let
44:52
Speaker 1: him do his worst, we will do our best. We
44:56
Speaker 1: saw the best of Britain during the blame. It's Kreeg
45:00
Speaker 1: and the loofed wall that bombed that great country almost
45:07
Speaker 1: into oblivion. But the spirit never die. Now you say,
45:11
Speaker 1: you know, Chuck, I hear you. But I need I
45:21
Speaker 1: need to have something really powerful in return to stand
45:27
Speaker 1: against the enemy. No, you don't. As a Christian, you
45:33
Speaker 1: have that power. Greater is he who is in you
45:37
Speaker 1: than he who is in the world. The name of
45:40
Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ is a name before even the
45:44
Speaker 1: demons will bow and back off. The blood of Christ,
45:49
Speaker 1: from the lamb of God is the most powerful of
45:53
Speaker 1: all authorities heaven and earth. You can rest in that.
45:58
Speaker 1: Let me give you a simple technique, and I'm copying
46:01
Speaker 1: it from Paul. Whatever you do in word or deed,
46:05
Speaker 1: do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever
46:09
Speaker 1: you do when you get up in the morning, do
46:11
Speaker 1: it for the glory of God. When you carry out
46:14
Speaker 1: your word, carry it out for the glory of God.
46:17
Speaker 1: When you are with your friends, be with them to
46:20
Speaker 1: glorify God. To make the most of the moment in
46:24
Speaker 1: his name. I read this past week of a traffic
46:29
Speaker 1: gem over North Carolina. The driver in front of this
46:34
Speaker 1: man suddenly slammed on his brakes to keep from hitting
46:37
Speaker 1: the car in front of him. The guy behind him
46:40
Speaker 1: who had to hit his brakes, and it threw him
46:42
Speaker 1: into the steering wheel. Everything on the front seat fell over,
46:45
Speaker 1: and the kids in the back were almost thrown up
46:47
Speaker 1: against the front And so the guy in the second
46:49
Speaker 1: car behind rolled his window down and yelled out the window, Hey,
46:54
Speaker 1: what in God's name are you doing? And the guy
46:58
Speaker 1: in the car in front, who happened to be Billy Graham,
47:01
Speaker 1: stuck his head out said I do everything in God's name.
47:08
Speaker 1: What a great answer. Whatever you do, whatever you do,
47:16
Speaker 1: do it in His name. Whatever you worship, worship for
47:22
Speaker 1: his glory. However you spend your time or your money,
47:26
Speaker 1: keep him in mind, let him be magnified. It's not
47:32
Speaker 1: about you, It's about him. That's why worship is always
47:38
Speaker 1: so satisfying. We were created for that, and when it
47:43
Speaker 1: finds it's fulfillment in the Living God, there is no
47:49
Speaker 1: power that can eclipse that. So tonight, when it gets
47:55
Speaker 1: dark and you hear a bump. Not to worry. Don't
48:02
Speaker 1: run fear, don't run afraid of the dark. Don't start
48:06
Speaker 1: concerning yourself over sounds in the attic. Don't let your
48:11
Speaker 1: imagination run away from you. The enemy loves it when
48:14
Speaker 1: you're run scared. You have nothing to fear, unless, of course,
48:22
Speaker 1: you don't know Christ. And if you don't know Christ,
48:26
Speaker 1: it could be a demon. But don't let it bother you.
48:32
Speaker 1: I just thought of that, and I thought i'd throw
48:34
Speaker 1: that in you know what. Let me tell you, I'm
48:38
Speaker 1: gonna lay it straight. It had scared the beijeeber out
48:43
Speaker 1: of me if I didn't know Christ. Honestly, there are
48:46
Speaker 1: people that read this kind of stuff.
48:48
Speaker 2: You know.
48:49
Speaker 1: This is the sun Bible prophecies coming true. There it is.
48:55
Speaker 1: Saw a lady at the grocery store the other day
48:57
Speaker 1: bought four not of these, but the one about the
49:00
Speaker 1: two headed snake that this guy gave birth to, and
49:05
Speaker 1: on and on. Stay away from that nonsense. This is ridiculous,
49:10
Speaker 1: you're kidding. I can hardly wait. Well, who that's why
49:21
Speaker 1: we are given a copy of the scriptures. Because you
49:26
Speaker 1: don't run into any snakes unless it's a symbol of
49:30
Speaker 1: something you need to know about, and then God will
49:32
Speaker 1: tell you what that is. We got a confused world
49:35
Speaker 1: going on around us, folks. Doesn't mean we're proud and
49:38
Speaker 1: smug breaks our hearts, means we care very much about
49:43
Speaker 1: those who hear bumps in the night and can't sleep,
49:46
Speaker 1: and you worry when they're all alone it's dark, and
49:51
Speaker 1: they see all these films and all these games they
49:53
Speaker 1: play with demonic influence, and they're scared. You know, the
49:58
Speaker 1: only good thing that their fright will lead them to
50:03
Speaker 1: their knees, come to the Savior. That's about again. Maybe
50:10
Speaker 1: you've never in your life heard a message quite like this.
50:16
Speaker 1: Maybe it's just enough to tweak your interest to open
50:20
Speaker 1: the other sixty five books, but you need Christ to
50:26
Speaker 1: have him help you make sense of it, to keep
50:30
Speaker 1: you in balance, to guard you against foolish extremes and
50:34
Speaker 1: needless fears. You know the good news. He's available, he's willing.
50:43
Speaker 1: He's not willing that any should perish. He doesn't want
50:45
Speaker 1: anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. That's
50:50
Speaker 1: got your name all over it. We exist to help
50:55
Speaker 1: people just like you, and I gave you my word.
50:58
Speaker 1: Nobody'll ever put you down on his stonebrier, because you
51:02
Speaker 1: made a mess of your life. We've all made a
51:05
Speaker 1: mess of our lives. Thankfully Christ rescued us. Wouldn't you'd
51:14
Speaker 1: like to know someone who accepts you just like you are.
51:18
Speaker 1: Give him your life guarantee a ticket to glory. Free
51:23
Speaker 1: yourself from all of the terrible things. Yet future, talk
51:29
Speaker 1: to us, connect with us, write us, communicate, let us
51:36
Speaker 1: hear from you. We'll guard your privacy and we'll help
51:42
Speaker 1: you get back on your feet. I want to thank
51:48
Speaker 1: you today, Lord, for the truth that you have so
51:52
Speaker 1: carefully preserved. Thank You for devoted and quiet, yet great
51:59
Speaker 1: hearted men and women, some of them scholars, some of
52:05
Speaker 1: them not. Thank you for faithful peasants, for simple people
52:13
Speaker 1: who just realized that the truth is God's truth. And
52:19
Speaker 1: as we look back into our heritage, we just see
52:21
Speaker 1: a whole row of them. We thank you for saving
52:25
Speaker 1: them and then leading them to teach us so we'd believe.
52:32
Speaker 1: Deliver us, our Father, from the chaos of panic and
52:37
Speaker 1: the numerous fears that drive people nuts these days. Help
52:42
Speaker 1: us in the peace we find in Christ, to grow
52:45
Speaker 1: in our passion for those who don't know you, and
52:49
Speaker 1: give us courage to tell them graciously about the Savior.
52:56
Speaker 1: I pray for anyone who's hearing these words right now,
52:59
Speaker 1: that you'd reduce them to submission, bring them to a
53:04
Speaker 1: place of humility. Well, they have acknowledged that they're lost,
53:09
Speaker 1: and they'll turn to you and your son. It's in
53:12
Speaker 1: his name we have met. It's Him we worship, and
53:17
Speaker 1: it's because of Him we pray. Even the name of Christ,
53:21
Speaker 1: our Lord. Everybody's said amen.
53:27
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Antichrist the Beast Out of the Sea
53:31
Speaker 2: was copyrighted in two thousand and three, two thousand and six,
53:35
Speaker 2: and twenty twenty four, and the sound recording was copyrighted
53:38
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four by Charles Rswindahl, Inc. All rights
53:43
Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
53:48
Speaker 2: is strictly prohibited. In the preceding message, Charles Arswindahl, Inc.
53:53
Speaker 2: Is grateful to Moody Publishers for permission to quote from
53:56
Speaker 2: the book New Testament Commentary Revelation in twelve through twenty
54:01
Speaker 2: two by John MacArthur, copyrighted in two thousand by John
54:05
Speaker 2: MacArthur Junior,