We handed out a lesson this week as we have every week. The lesson this week incorporates some of the things in the lesson last week. So if you brought last week's lesson and you're ready to fill in those blanks, just put it aside because all those blanks are on the front page of this week's lesson. So they're just gonna stand alone and we're gonna continue talking about the Antichrist and in fact about two other persons or participants in what's sometimes called a counterfeit trinity or a satanic trinity. So let's take a look at our notes. Just a reminder, the Day of the Lord and then Daniel's 70th week, seven years we call the Tribulation, and the end-time Antichrist the exposure of the end-time Antichrist, all converge at that moment around the rapture. We can't dogmatically say the rapture is what causes them. It's just that in God's timetable, all of those prophecies, the prophecies to Daniel, the prophecies to all the Old Testament prophets, major and minor, about the day of the Lord being a time of judgment on the nations of the earth, and a time of preparing by conviction, preparing by repentance, the nation of Israel to finally receive her Messiah, and then this personage who in that seven-year tribulation period is going to come to a zenith of power and then expose himself as the enemy of God and determined to be worshipped by people on earth, the Antichrist. So all of those, if we had a timeline and we just independently put Day of the Lord, we'd start it at a certain date. If we put the Rapture, we'd put that. If we knew the date, we'd start it at a date. And if we put the exposure or the revealing of the Antichrist, we'd put that. And all of them would have started at the same time. So that's what we meant by convergence. The commencement of the Day of the Lord coincides with Daniel's 70th week and the Antichrist. And we're going to find a lot of the information about the personality and powers of the Antichrist and his cohorts in the book of Daniel, as well as Revelation. In fact, there are many times that someone teaches, we didn't choose to do that now, but someone actually teaches perhaps a course of study, perhaps an online course, perhaps in a Bible college, perhaps a series a pastor teaches, Daniel and Revelation, because they're sister books, they're connected together in the timeframe and much of the content. So we're going to be in Daniel. We're going to be in Revelation today and take a look at several things. One more important event converges, I mentioned. This was on the outline last week. And that was the event of the rise of Antichrist. So if you recall, the word Antichrist is used in the Bible in 1 John. And it's used without a capital A. It's used without a single person. It's used for all those individuals, whether famous or not, but all the individuals during the church history, during these centuries now since the resurrection and ascension of Christ, all the individuals who have striven to fight the power of God, to fight Messiah, to fight the Evangel, the good news, to work against Christ, anti-Christ. But when we say end times anti-Christ, we realize that all of that comes to a focus on one particular person. And we're not here today to say who that person is. It would be foolish to declare that, we don't know. It would be foolish to say that he's going to begin his rise on such and such a date, on November 1st, 2020, because we don't know. But I mentioned last week that in thinking through if this end times or tribulation Antichrist is ready whenever the rapture occurs, ready to propose a lie, according to 2 Thessalonians, ready to say, here's where all those Christians went, and to bring together, to coalesce the various forces, religious forces, political forces, military forces, on earth as a reaction, then every generation has had someone in the fringe ready to do that, because Satan doesn't know when it's going to happen. So he's been preparing individuals for centuries to be able to take that position. It would be foolish to decide who that is without first knowing exactly when the rapture is going to occur, And who is to say that there's only one prepared? Satan may be preparing several people, and then among them, one will emerge, and we'll see that a little bit today. The instantaneous, underneath that third diamond, where it says the fourth ominous event is the rise of the end times Antichrist, in Revelation 6-2, The instantaneous removal of all living believers, that's rapture, right, is a mystery which can't be overlooked. The world's not gonna be able to just claim it didn't happen because people all over the globe get saved. I read a figure at least a half dozen years ago. So this figure would be outdated and probably has been met and exceeded over and over, and that's that in China, okay, a country of over a billion people, but in China, that 10,000 folks were coming to Christ every day. Now, compared to the total population, that isn't a big thing. But compared to what we think of as folks getting saved, that's a huge number. That's a huge number. Those that get saved are gonna be raptured, just like us, amen? So there's gonna be a hole in China of all those Christians who may be secret, who may have kept their identities secret for safety, and raptured. There are going to be raptured people in Africa, throughout Asia, and Europe, and America, and South America, and suddenly, they're all missing. It's gonna be a big lie. It's gonna have to be a crafted line. It's gonna have to be really thought through for other folks to accept that. But I do think we can see now that mankind is being prepared over all the world. We don't think in just national terms anymore, do we? We think in global terms. Oh, there's a movement. Well, it's all over the place. It's in Mexico, it's in South America, it's in Europe. and it has an effect on America. That might be the movement of fentanyl or a movement of a disease. We just came through all that. You're familiar with lots of comments on COVID, but we have been prepared to think of things in a global sense. And in a global sense, the rapture is gonna require an explanation because all over the globe, different cultures, different populations, different cities, different economies are all going to be affected. The instantaneous removal. Since the justification of the disappearance cannot admit that the true God is real and that this is at his hand, that God has done this, then by definition the lie has to have an immense magnitude. And that's where 2 Thessalonians says, and for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. The Lord's going to allow this. Now next week we're gonna talk about some mighty things that God does during the tribulation because I want you to realize that tons of people, ton is a great number, right? Tons of people are going to be saved during the tribulation. So the tribulation is not a darkness without any hope, but tons of people are gonna be saved, they're gonna be endangered, they're gonna face obstacles that we don't, but God's going to have a victory even in the tribulation. And the victory ultimately is going to be his nation Israel actually yields to the truth that Jesus, the Nazarene, is Messiah, and they beg Him to return. So that's coming up. Next week, we're gonna talk about the positive things that God is doing. But right now, we're still on the man of sin. Little arrow, Paul calls this deceiver the man of sin and the son of perdition. John calls him the beast in Revelation and the Antichrist in 1 John. Well, let's go to Revelation 13. Revelation 13, we're gonna start. If you didn't fill it in last week, the fill-in, the deceiver is the man of sin and the son of perdition. And I need to remind myself to enunciate those fill-ins, because a lot of you come up to me afterwards and said, I know you said something there, but I didn't get it, I didn't get the word. Okay, so I'm gonna try to be better at that. So we're going to go to Revelation, and chapter number 13. Revelation chapter number 13. Scripture says, and I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast, so there's John's description through the Holy Ghost of this Antichrist, rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and 10 horns, and upon his horns 10 crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him power, and his seat and great authority. So now we have the beast, and we have another word that's just been introduced, the dragon. Looking at our notes, the Antichrist is called the beast, and we read that he comes up out of the sea, The sea seems to be a metaphor or a symbol of mankind as a whole, a sea of humanity. He just comes up out of the, he's amongst all human beings, what is it, right now, seven to eight billion people on the face of the earth. So if the rapture were to occur in the next day, Then Antichrist is prepared, where is he? Well, we have some hints we're going to see today, but as far as the world knowing who he is, he's just one of the folks called human. But when he emerges, he's going to be very quickly recognized for his stature, for his accomplishments, for his abilities, and those abilities are hand in hand with the dragon. So he comes from the sea representing the unnamed masses of humankind. And the events of the rapture, which I've described several times now, they give him an opportunity. It's the opportunity to step forward. You know, whenever there's a terrible tragedy, whenever there's a horrible event, sometimes it's a time when leaders suddenly step into the gap. when good leadership comes. When suddenly we didn't realize that a mayor or a governor or a president, a premier, a prime minister, we didn't realize what they were really like. In the Ukraine, okay, the president of the Ukraine ran for office and he was, in his prior vocation, an entertainer. And folks said, yeah, a comedian. And folks said, what's he doing running for office? He doesn't have any skills. Well, I don't know what they were thinking when they elected him. I have no idea. Didn't follow it, didn't know. But one would have to say that in the events of the attack on Ukraine, he has stepped forward with strong leadership skills. Has he made all the right decisions? Don't pretend to know. Have I been there? No, I haven't. Are there different sides to look at it? Certainly there are, and there are probably different opinions even in this room. But we have to say that the president of Ukraine has shown some leadership skills. Who would have known a comedian could address the United Nations? Actually, when I think of that, there are a lot of comedians in the United, anyway. Okay, so, but people step forward. The Antichrist steps into the gap of needed leadership. And he offers, deceptively offers, and there's a blank there, so we have the beast, and we have a blank, offers a peaceful, stable solution. A peaceful, stable solution. solution. He offers an answer to what happened. Now, this is an opinion. The Holy Spirit didn't write out, quote, and the Antichrist offers an answer to the great lie of the… This is, as we read prophecy, we're trying to imagine, and through the exposure to other Scriptures, piece together, like a picture puzzle, piece together how this could work. And what I'm presenting, of course, is an opinion. I'm not the only one to hold it, but an opinion. And that's that the Antichrist is going to provide the stability. He's going to provide an even personality. He's going to provide confidence. And folks in the world are going to grab that, say, he's the guy. This is fantastic. Isn't he wonderful? He ascends, so we're gonna talk about his character and his abilities from what we can gather in two different books, Daniel and here in Revelation. And so, first of all, Daniel chapter seven, let's go there. Daniel chapter seven, verse seven. Hold your place at Revelation somewhere in there, chapter 12, chapter 13, because we'll be coming back there now and again. But the Old Testament, Daniel chapter 7, verses 7 and 8. Daniel chapter 7, verses 7 and 8. And this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and horrible and strong exceedingly, It had great iron teeth, it devoured and break in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it. It was diverse of all the beasts that were before it and it had 10 horns. Didn't we just read about 10 horns in Revelation? And I considered the horns and beheld, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man. in a mouth speaking great things. I would propose to you that the Beast of Revelation is connected to the passage in Daniel 7, connected through the word imagery, and connected in this way. The descriptions in chapter seven have to do with interpreting a dream, and the interpretation had to do with kingdoms. The kingdom of Babylon, the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians, the kingdom of Greece, and finally, the Roman kingdom. So these were kingdoms that didn't yet exist. Well, Babylon did. and the Medes and the Persians were in their early stages, but Greece and Rome did not exist as empires, and so in Daniel's time, that was forecast, future. And from the description of that fourth kingdom, we have a parallel description of the beast in Revelation. But I'm not living in the Roman Empire, am I? Actually, there are those that have chosen to describe Our lifespan right now, civilization-wise, if you were to take Mrs. Boyle's Western Civilization course, you find out that the United States, Europe, has in its cultural past and present the identification Western civilization that goes back to Greece and Rome. So some have called the age in which we live the revived Roman Empire, that is, the age from which the beast will rise. Revived Roman Empire. We might call it something else. We might call it Europe. He ascends from the fourth empire of Daniel's vision. My blank says from Europe. So we're trying to piece together a biography from different places in the scripture. He, the next one, Daniel 8, verse 23, Daniel 8, verse 23, we're going to get several things from Daniel 8. In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce continents and understanding dark sentences remember that phrase later, we'll mention it later without coming back to the verse, shall stand up and his power shall be mighty. But not by his power, no, it's gonna be the power of Satan. So, I wrote, he intimidates. He's a king of fierce countenance. He intimidates others. You know, some folks get work done by working together cooperatively. Whatever you thought, I'm old enough to remember the days of President Jimmy Carter, and whatever you thought about him as president, we have to say that he was courteous, that he was honest. I think we have to say that. If you disagree, well, that's okay. You can be wrong. Now, we might not agree on what he accomplished, but what I'm saying is his personality and his methodology was quite civilized, was quite honorable, was trying to take into account other people's ideas and all this sort of thing. And we probably have learned more of that after he left office and seeing the last decades of his life and what he accomplished privately. But we don't think of President Carter as an overbearing, bullying kind of president, do we? I didn't live in Teddy Roosevelt's day, but his reputation is a little different. Now, he may have accomplished things that I approve of. I may even think honorably and say, boy, that was a great presidency, I could do that. But his methods were pretty overwhelming. This Antichrist with fierce countenance, that means when he was close to you and looking you face to face, what I picture is, He was a bully. He could get it done because you were afraid. And why were you afraid? Because he had mighty power. Wow. Fierce countenance. He associated privately, we're in Daniel 8, verse 23, Daniel 8, verse 23, in understanding dark sentences. He is associated privately with the occult. understanding dark sentences. In the 20th century, Adolf Hitler was very strongly involved with the occult. And the sense of dark sentences, incantations, rituals, occult worship. Occult doesn't have to do with Satan, yes. And pastor, am I right to say that you think the dragon that is empowering Antichrist is Satan, yes I do. We'll see that in a little bit. But the drag, yes I do. So he's involved with the occult, the worship of dark sentences, dark being unholy, dark being wicked. So he's involved with the occult, and he has unusual power, and his power, verse 24, shall be mighty, but not by his own power, and he shall destroy wonderfully. Interesting word. In our way of saying things in the 20th century, we don't talk about destroying wonderfully. Because when we talk about destroying, we don't think it is a good thing. And this doesn't mean it was a good thing. It means that he was the operator, he was the dispenser that would cause you to say wonders, which we might say has to do with miracles. If you were in the court of Pharaoh and were watching Moses, so let's go back in our imagination. Here's Moses in the court of Pharaoh, and what was Moses able to do? Well, he threw his staff down, and it turned into snakes, right? Do you think your draw would drop at that? I think mine would. That's wonderful, it causes wonder. It causes me to stop and observe and perhaps to be fearful because I can't explain it. What happened next? Pharaoh had his magicians do the same thing. Whose power allowed the magician's staffs to turn into snakes? Satan's power. Satan can perform wonders, and that wonder doesn't mean it's a good thing, it just means it stops us, gets our attention, we wonder what is that about. So Satan, the Antichrist is able to destroy wonderfully, in such a way that folks are astounded. And that destruction power comes from the one he worships. He's associated with the occult with unusual power. Although a secular human, go with me to Daniel 11. We're in Daniel 11, verse 37, because we're gonna pick up According to chapter 11, verse 36 and onward, we're gonna pick up some more information about this little horn that we read about just a couple minutes ago earlier in Daniel. Verse 36, and the king shall do according to his will and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every God and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished, for that he that is determined shall be done. Verse 37, we're going to right now. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers. Notice the word God is capitalized. That's the true God. The Antichrist is not going to regard the God of his fathers. This is in the Old Testament. a time when very consistently the Holy Spirit in writing through the ancient prophets, when it talks about the God of fathers, it's the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God of the patriarchs, the true God. So this says that he is aware of the God of his fathers, but he does not regard the God of his fathers. On your sheet, I suggest this. Although a secular European, there are many secularists who are religious, who come from a religious background. There are secularists whose parents and grandparents were Christian by faith. They're no longer Christian. They've turned to a secular approach to life, logic, rationale, science, et cetera. There I'm sure are Muslims who have a Muslim background, but in their generation have turned to secular attitude. They're not involved with a religious attitude. Again, they've turned to science and they've turned to philosophy and they've turned to education. And I think there are secular Jewish people. Jewish by lineage to Abraham, but not Jewish by faith in the God of Abraham. And that's where I see this leading. Although a secular European, he will likely have Jewish ancestry. Secular, but with Jewish ancestry. Because he intentionally disregards the God of his fathers. Now, does it make sense? that in a time of trouble, in a time of confusion, in a time following the rapture, in a time when apparently wars and other things are on the table or are imminent or have been started, a time when Israel and anti-Semitism is rising. Oh, wait a minute, hold it. Dr. Brown, wait a minute. That sounds a lot like now. I would warn us not to get on a bandwagon that right now, these events have been occurring at different times in history. But certainly, a situation like we have unfolding now, greater and greater anti-Semitism, stronger and stronger talk of pushing Israel into the sea, in America, by Americans. Stronger and stronger identities around the world. Openly, leaders openly condemning Jewish people. Say, no, they're condemning a state. Listen, I'm not sure where to draw a line between condemning an action of a country and condemning the God for whom that country exists. Up till this point in our history, I think America's been pretty good, at supporting Israel. And yes, it's political, and yes, it's military, and yes, but on the basis of there is a spiritual connection with God's people, with God's chosen people through Abraham. So let's go back to the outline, okay? Let's go back to the outline. So I think he may have a Jewish heritage, but certainly is not worshiping as a Jew or acting as a Jew. Daniel 11.37, Daniel 11.37 says this, neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any God, for he shall magnify himself above all. On the second page, your second page at the top, he will not be attracted to women. Now if you said that in 1823, folks would say, well, What do you mean by that? I mean there's no leader on earth that is so perverted that they are homosexual, or non-sexual, asexual, or bisexual, or fluid sexual, or all those words that are just flowing out of our press every day now. Are there folks in leadership around the globe that are no longer monogamous and heterosexual? And the answer is yes. There are folks in power who are the first elected such and such. Name one of those titles other than heterosexual. So I don't see, in the future, I just don't see that this would prevent him in any way from having power. In fact, it may enhance him to have power. Oh, he's so progressive. Oh, he understands. He's so empathetic. He's lots of things. He will not be attracted to women. Yes. I think you may have something there, Bill. not just that he's not attracted to women, but actually to the extreme of narcissism, that he's not interested in anybody except his own power, except his own identification with Satan, except his own obsession with worship and being worshiped. The next one, he will approach diplomacy as if he is a conquering king. Back in Revelation chapter six, let's go to Revelation again. Back in Revelation 6, we have four horsemen. There's some different ideas about that horseman, and I'm not concentrating in Revelation 6 to explain them all at all. But in Revelation 6, we have verse number two. In verse number one, John is called to look. In verse number two, when I saw and behold a white horse and he that sat on him who had a bow, and a crown was given unto him. So he's recognized as a leader, a powerful leader. And he went forth conquering and to conquer. And what happens from that? War, famine, pestilence, death. So the majority opinion of folks like us who take the Bible and try to understand it from what it says of itself is that that is not the Christ. So why would you say that to start with? Because the Reformers, the Reformation theology would tell us that may be Christ, the conquering Christ. No, this is the one who goes forth with power, but he's going forth with evil power. So on your outline, I suggested he will approach diplomacy as if he were a conquering king. Remember he has fierce countenance. Remember he's powerful. He approaches diplomacy as if he's a conquering king. He'll have a record of successful diplomacy and use it in Daniel 9.27. We were in Daniel, I should have stayed there with you guys, but Daniel 9.27. Let's see. 927, he will confirm the covenant with many for one week. The covenant is thought of as a diplomatic treaty. It's a diplomatic treaty that's supposed to cover seven years. Interesting, Daniel's 70th week. So he creates a covenant, a treaty, that's supposed to last for seven years, And in the midst of the week, that's three and a half years, he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease for the overspreading of abominations. So let me go to my notes and I'll try to explain some things in the time we have. A successful diplomacy, and he's gonna use his diplomatic abilities and bullying, perhaps, and connections to cause to broker a deal, that's the blank, to broker a deal. The previous blank was a conquering king in Revelation 6-2, to broker a deal in the Middle East. But he's more concerned, as Bill pointed out, with worship of himself and his God, Satan, than anything else on a personal or physical or social level. Now, the power from the beast is from a a personage called the dragon. Revelation 13, four, it's on your page. And they worshiped the dragon which gave the power unto the beast. Well, who is this dragon? Well, he's called in Revelation 12, four, the old serpent called the devil and Satan, excuse me, in 12, nine. So Satan is the power behind the Antichrist beast. And he controls, according to Revelation 12.9 and 12.4, he controls a third of the angelic host who turn from allegiance to God to allegiance to Satan. That turn was done way back in Genesis. It's not pointed out exactly when, but in Genesis 1.31, we find that God looks upon all he created and it was very good. And in Genesis 3, that very good no longer exists because Satan, Lucifer becoming Satan, is now tempting Eve. So that angelic host became allied with Satan. The war in the heavenlies that's talked about in Revelation 12, 9, the war in the heavenlies casts out Satan and his demons to the earth, located to the earth. Right now, Satan and his demons have a greater scope. We know from Job that Satan met with God in the heavenlies somewhere. Now he's going to be, according to Revelation, he's going to be cast down to the earth. His scope and power is limited to the earth and through the beast. So he will wage war on the earthbound brethren, not his brethren, our brethren. The Antichrist will become increasingly blasphemous and yet continue to bring apparent prosperity to the world until the midpoint of the 70th week. And we just read that in Daniel 9.27, the covenant. In Daniel 11, we read about prosperity. So he's brokered a deal, the world's at peace, everyone's getting along, prosperity's growing, he's a hero. And having done all that, one other thing happens. He allows the construction of a new temple. We're told today, we're told today from folks who've actually, from folks associated with our Christian faith, with being born again, that in Israel, the materials for a new temple have already been set aside. That folks, credible folks have seen them. They're already in storage. They're waiting the construction of a new temple. Right now, as you recall, On the Dome of the Rock, the Muslim mosque is at the top, where Abraham was to have, we believe, went to sacrifice his son Isaac, and God spared him, and that Muslim temple is there, and to remove that temple and replace it again, a Muslim mosque, and replace it with a temple would mean war. That's what everyone says, it would mean war. Hey, you've got a powerful deal broker. And apparently, that temple is rebuilt because at the three and a half year mark, when it's all ready to be dedicated, how nice. Everyone's been happy, three and a half years of peace, contentment, prosperity, glory. And the Antichrist arrives to dedicate the temple, in my imagination. I can picture him arriving, but we know this. He doesn't dedicate the temple. He instead declares himself God. And with a third person, dragon, Antichrist, second beast, or false prophet. With a third person, the false prophet, all the earth is called upon to worship the Antichrist. What a surprise. Do you think the Jewish people that thought peace was there and that temple worship was going to continue, that everything was working so wonderfully under this leader, that would be a shock, wouldn't it? And that's the shock where Jesus says, when the abomination of desolation, that's the term he used about this defilement of the temple, when that happens, start running. When that happens, leave the field and run. When that happens, come down off the roof and run. Oh, you're in bad shape if you're pregnant. And Israelites are suddenly being hunted. And so are born-again Christians that have been saved during the tribulation. Let's look at the outline again, just a moment. The second beast comes forth to war against Jews and Christians. This war is on a spiritual level. The blank there is the false prophet. The blank in the previous paragraph was midpoint of the 70th week. But the false prophet directs worship of the beast. Having rebuilt the temple over three and a half years, Satan declares himself God. A new world religion requires idolatrous worship of a statue of Antichrist with execution of citizens who fail to take a biological mark. That's what we typically call the mark of the beast. The reference for that is Revelation 13, verse 16 and 17, the mark of the beast. You can't purchase, you can't work without the mark of the beast. and there will be folks who resist, and if so, they are in the crosshairs of the Antichrist. They are the opposition, and that's Christians who refuse to worship a statue, it's Jews who refuse to worship a statue. Some of them may be believing, some of them may just be traditionalists, But if you worship the beast and take his mark, it's an evidence that you do not believe on Messiah. Execution of citizens who fail to take the biological mark. The last blank there is unholy trinity. The dragon, the Antichrist, and the false prophet, sometimes called the unholy trinity. Let me talk about that biological mark for a moment. Folks are in the hallway and we're four minutes over, but let me talk about that. In 1977, in 1978 and 1979, I served on a staff of a church in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm on the outer perimeter, 285 bypass, and I'm looking up and I see a billboard. How many years ago is that? Over 40. And the billboard says that such and such a bank, such and such a bank is moving to help you make deposits automatically by putting a chip in your forehead. That billboard was up about two weeks, and it was pulled down. And the bank said, oh, no, no, no, no, that wasn't true. Someone just made that up. Well, today you could almost believe it, right? No one was talking about chips in dogs. No one was talking about chips locating people. No one was talking about taking their card and swiping it. No one was talking about facial recognition. All that stuff is contemporary. Would it be any problem at all to embed a mark in you in your hand or forehead? At all. So I thought it was gonna be a tattoo of any kind. So what was, this is hard to believe, is now like, wow, this is easy to believe. We'll continue next week.