00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
As we look at the future unveiled,
Revelation 13 and verse number 11. I don't know about you, but
my cup is running over. I tell you, I'd rather be here
in any place I know. Well, it's been good tonight.
It's been good. Revelation 13 and verse number
11. John says, "...and I beheld."
That means he's continuing to view the vision that began several
chapters ago as we're in a parenthetical section in the book of the Revelation. And of course, John from his
vantage point is seeing what is happening on the earth. I
remind you that you need to know where you are in the book of
the Revelation. There are different vantage points.
At one minute, John's in heaven and he's viewing scenes in heaven.
And then from the next vantage point, he's watching what's going
on on the earth. And it's important to remember
that while the wrath of the Lamb is being poured out on planet
earth, the worship of the Lamb is taking place in heaven. And
when you come to this parenthetical section, John is helping us to
understand and giving us needed information to fill in the blanks.
It doesn't really move the chronology of the book. As a matter of fact,
when you get to chapter 15, you're almost to the end. And so as
we're looking here, we're catching information about what's going
on in the middle point of the tribulation period that will
be a prelude to the end, the final bold judgment that we'll
look at in chapters 15 and 16 that will begin the movement
of the book to Armageddon and then on from there. He said,
And I beheld, I continued to gaze and watch. another beast
of the same kind, a beast of the same kind, of the same nature
as the first beast coming up out of the earth. And he had
two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth
all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth
and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose
deadly wound was healed. And He doth great wonders, so
that He maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the
sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the
means of those miracles which He had power to do in the sight
of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that
they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound
by a sword and did live. And He had power to give life
unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should
both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the
image of the beast should be killed. And He causeth all, both
small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark
in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might
buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the
beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that
hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is
the number of a man, and his number is six hundred, three
score, and six." Let's pray. I ask God to help us. Father,
thank You for the sweet Spirit. the good music, the great time
that we've had together in the house of the Lord. Father, thank
you for making our time thus far with you sweet and precious
and drawing us close to you and to each other. And Lord, I pray
that Christ will be real to us tonight as we study these verses
together Lord, we learn of end-time events. And God, I'm glad that
You're the Alpha and the Omega. You're the beginning and the
ending. You're the one who began it all and You're the one who
will consummate and bring everything in Your time to a conclusion.
That we, as the people of God, may not get headline hysteria
and worry about these things because, Lord, You're sovereignly
in control. And Lord, that our only purpose
and task right now is to do Your business to You come as Your
servants. Help us to be faithful as we
learn these truths and let them be motivational in our lives
to win those that we love to Christ. Lord, that they don't
face this awful time known as the tribulation period. And we'll
thank You for that that You do for us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. The first part of Revelation
chapter 13 details the advent of the Antichrist. And just as
Jesus has His advent, His coming, so the Antichrist has his. John
saw a beast rise up out of the sea, out of the chaos and the
turmoil of the Gentile nations, and here a Satan inspired a Satan
The old ruler will rise to power and rule the nations. But then
when you come to chapter 13 verse 11, you meet a second beast.
He said in verse number 11, And I beheld, as I continued to gaze,
another beast coming up out of the earth. And it's important,
and he's one like and kind of the first beast. That lets us
know that we're not talking about some kind of monster. We're not
talking about some kind of beast that we would think of as a monstrous
animal. No, it's a man of beastly character,
base in nature. He is depraved beyond depravity. There are the sum total of wickedness. And these two individuals will
be key players on the earth during the tribulation period. One of
them, you're going to find, will be a political ruler. The other
is going to be a religious leader who will, in time, bring worship
and unite the world in worship to the Antichrist. whereas the
first beast comes up out of the seas, out of the chaos and turmoil
of the nations. This next one, named the false
prophet, will come up out of the earth, alright? And there
we're talking about in symbolic, possibly he could be of Jewish
nature, could be, but we know that he'll be some type of religious
leader. This second beast is the agent
of the first beast. Now, I have no idea what your
notes look like. So, back there, guys, you're
just going to have to guess at it until I get to the outline,
okay? Alright? And so, I know I made it, but
I can't remember, okay, what it looks like actually, you know,
between my notes and your notes. So, just hang with me, and if
you don't fill in the blanks, we'll try to get them filled in for
you, okay? The second beast is the agent of the first beast.
He carries out his wishes. He executes his authority. Look at verse number 12. And
he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him. And
so his is a delegated authority or power from this political
ruler to this religious leader who will actually be his sinister
minister of propaganda. I want you to notice as we look
at this beast out of the earth, his deceptive appearance. His
deceptive appearance. Look again at verse number 11.
He said, And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth,
and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. Now
notice the Bible said he's like a lamb. Do you realize that Revelation
is called the Lamb Book of the Bible? That the word lamb is
used 27 times in the book of the Revelation, and in every
time, every case, every instance, it's used of the Lord Jesus Christ
except here. Because He is the Lamb of God.
And so, you're going to find that this individual comes like
a lamb. He's meek like a lamb. He's a
religious type leader. Matthew 7, 15, Jesus said, Beware
of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly are ravening wolves. He's going to come in the guise
of a lamb. He's going to be meek and mild.
Boy, the first beast is a charismatic, powerful leader. This second
beast will be a soft-spoken, meek, kind, I mean gentle, but
boy, I tell you what, you're going to find that there's deception
in his voice. There's deception in this man.
He outwardly is like sheep, but like a lamb, he'll come in the
guise of a lamb. He'll be meek and humble and mild. But friend,
he has a mouth like a dragon. Notice the Bible said that he
spake like or spake as a dragon. And we know the dragon, as we
learned in chapter 12, is symbolic of Satan himself. He looks like
a lamb, but he speaks with the voice of the devil. Notice he
has two horns. Two horns. The first beast has
ten horns. Alright? Ten horns. And we find
that he is a political leader. The second man, the second beast,
alright, has two horns. Two in the Bible is the number
of testimony. Those ten horns speak of territory.
Two horns in Bible prophecy speak of testimony. One is a political
leader. The other a religious leader. Let me remind you, Jesus said
this in John 8, verse 44, It tells us something about the
voice of Satan. When he speaketh, he speaketh
a lie, for he is a liar and the father of it, the originator
of a lie. Can I tell you, friend, that
Satan has never told the truth. Did you know that? Friend, every
time he opens his mouth, it's a lie. It's a lie. You can't
believe anything the devil says, but you can believe everything
Jesus says. Amen? And we find that he's speaking the lie. And
therefore, this man who speaks with the voice of Satan, that
means he's empowered by the devil, that he's a great deceiver, he's
a worker of falsehood. He's once spoken of in Scripture
as the false prophet. Do you realize that all false
prophets that have come throughout the centuries of time will give
rise to this false prophet. He will be the sum total of deception
as he seeks to deceive men and dupe men to worship Satan, Superman,
the Antichrist. Hey, the world's calling for
a man. The world's looking for somebody, some leader, somewhere
to rise up and to bring peace and bring prosperity and bring
the world out of the chaos and the problems that it has. And
friend, can I tell you, the world is turned away from the Lord's
Christ and so they'll receive the devil's antichrist. This
man completes the dragon's unholy trinity. The dragon or Satan
is anti-God. Anti-God. The beast, the antichrist. is anti-Christ. Where the dragon
or Satan is the direct opponent of God the Father, so the anti-Christ
is the adversary of God the Son. But then this false prophet is
anti-Spirit. He is the adversary of the Holy
Spirit. Just as God has His Trinity,
Satan has his. Do you realize Satan's never
had an original thought? Never has. He's a counterfeiter.
He counterfeits everything God does. Do you know that God has
his angels? The devil has his. God has his
preachers? The devil has his. God has his
book? The devil has his. Sure. God has his gospel? The devil has his. It's a false
gospel. It's a gospel of works. Hey,
the devil doesn't care if you're religious. He just doesn't want
you to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Matter of fact,
he uses religion to deceive men, and he gives them a taste, a
false hope, a false impression or idea that everything's going
to be alright and they're right with God because if they can
just do enough religious deeds and enough religious works, and
if you can just be devout enough in your religion, you'll get
in. For nothing can be further from the truth. Religion never
saved anybody, but a relationship with Jesus Christ saves anybody
that calls on Him. Satan's program is a total counterfeit
of God's program. This man is deceptive in his
appearance. But notice, secondly, he is dynamic
in his appeal. He is a dynamic individual. The
work of the false prophet will imitate that of the Holy Spirit.
He is anti-spirit. Look again, if you would, verse
12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before
him, and he causeth the earth and them which dwell therein
to worship the first beast, whose deadly Wound was healed. And
just as it is the office work of the Holy Spirit of God to
make Christ precious to us. See, the Bible said, Jesus said,
now when the comforters come, He'll not talk about Himself.
By the way, do you know that's what's wrong with the charismatic
movement today? the Pentecostal movement of our day? You know
why? Because it elevates the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit
didn't come to witness to Himself. Jesus said when He comes, He's
not going to witness to Himself. He's going to point you to Me.
And friend, you can know the Holy Spirit's at work when Jesus
Christ is elevated. And He's lifted up because the
Holy Spirit doesn't talk of Himself. He doesn't elevate Himself. And
by the way, do you know that's what charismatic in the Pentecostal
movement? It elevates man. And the Holy Spirit will never
elevate a man. He'll always elevate the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so we find that that was
the work of the Holy Spirit. So it will be the office work
of this great counterfeiter to make the Antichrist, the man
of sin, attractive to men. One of the things I pray every
Sunday morning is this. before I preach. I say, Lord,
today, help me to preach in such a way that the Holy Spirit can
make Christ attractive to men, women, boys, and girls, that
they would desire Him. I believe that's a right prayer.
And just as the Holy Spirit seeks to make Christ attractive to
men, to desire Him, to want to have a relationship with Him,
so the False Prophet will draw men to the Antichrist. He will
not speak of Himself. He will not promote Himself.
He will not glorify Himself. He will cause the earth and them
that dwell in to worship the first beast. And you know what?
When men are worshiping the Antichrist, this first beast that we met
in Revelation 13, They are in reality worshipping the dragon
or the devil who gave him his position, his authority, and
his power. They are worshipping the devil
himself. Do you realize that in countries
around the world, and when I was in Guyana, South America, when
I was in Trinidad, you see Hinduism in its real light. And by the
way, if you want to see Catholicism in its true light, leave America
and you'll see it. It's watered down here. But when
you go to Central and South America, they make no bones about it that
they worship idols. That these statues of the saints
that you see in their churches, in their cathedrals, that they
worship them. that they're filled with idolatry.
And friend, can I tell you that that is Satan's lie, to cause
men to worship an image of God rather than God Himself. And
Satan's work in doing that, and here's what God says, is that
when a person is worshipping an idol, they're in reality worshipping
Satan who's behind the idol. And boy, you never see such grotesque
and demonic-looking idols until you go to Hinduism and their
500 million gods. When a Hindu comes to Christ,
they come from the total darkness into bright light. It is far
different from somebody in the South that's heard the gospel
all of their lives getting saved. Totally different. Their commitment
level is unbelievable. Because all their lives they've
been worshipping some dead idol that has eyes but it can't see
and ears that it can't hear and a mouth that it can't speak.
It's got legs that can't walk and hands but they can't do anything.
And it's never answered their prayers. It's never done anything
for them. If anything, they're in bondage
and darkness and misery. And then they come to the Lord
Jesus Christ and they're set free. And that's true for everybody
that comes to Christ. But boy, in these darkened countries,
it's like anything you've ever seen. And Satan wants to put
people in darkness. The devil isn't opposed to worship.
He thinks worship is fine. Witchcraft, the occult, astrology,
New Age thinking, the false religions of the world. Listen, all of
that tells us of Satan's desire to be worshipped. And when man
refuses to worship the true and the living God, the God who became
man, they will in that day, during the tribulation, be tricked into
worshipping the man who claims to be God, the Antichrist. But not only do I want you to
see his deceptive appearance, not only do I want you to see
his dynamic appeal, but thirdly tonight, I want you to see his
deadly approach. Look at verse 13. And he doeth great wonders, so
that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the
sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the
means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight
of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that
they should make an image to the beast which had the wound
by a sword, and did live." So how will this man, this false
prophet, go about making his scheme of deceit, attracting
the men and causing them to worship the Antichrist? Well, let me
give you three ways and I'll be done tonight. First of all,
he will be a master of miracles. He will be a master of miracles. What I mean by that is he's going
to do wonders. Notice verse 13, and he doeth
great wonders. That word wonders means signs.
They're going to be supernatural in character, as He will cause
fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men. I believe
He will imitate the miracles of God's two witnesses that we
met in Revelation 11. God has often revealed Himself
by fire, and this deceiving prophet will do the same, because as
I said before, Satan is a great counterfeiter. He's seeking to
counterfeit the work of God and deceive men. Matthew 24, 24.
Jot that down in your notes, would you? This is the Olivet
Discourse, Matthew 24, 24. Jesus says this, talking about
the end time events. For there shall arise false Christs
and false prophets, and shall show great wonders, insomuch
that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect.
This man will have such persuasive power. He will be like a master
magician. He will be like a great man of
bringing illusion to men and seemingly a master of miracles.
And He will be so persuasive that if it were possible, He
would even deceive those who know the Lord. But the good news
is, He can't deceive them because they know the truth. They know
the truth. And the more you... Let me tell
you something. You're great. Somebody says, boy, I want to
study all the cults. So I know, friend, the best thing you can
do is study your Bible. It is. The more I know the truth, the
easier it is I can spot a lie. Now I'm not saying it's wrong
to understand cults and study other religions and know how
to witness to people. I'm not saying that's wrong.
But the best way to detect a lie is to know the truth. And that's
why you need to be a person of the Bible, a person of the book.
That's why you need to be in this book every day and letting
God speak to your heart and learning the truth of God because it will
keep you from being deceived. It will. How important that is. Let me say a word about Matthew
24 and 25. And just put this in your mental note, okay? Matthew
24 and 25 is pure prophecy. The church is not in Matthew
24 and 25. Let me show you something real
quickly. Can I do that? I think this is
very important because when people get in Matthew 24 and 25, they
make a grave mistake in dealing with their context and you can
make some pretty major blunders in preaching that creates some
confusion in people's minds. The church, it's not even been
born yet. It's still prophecy. It's the
position of this pastor, this church, our Bible college, where
we are. The church did not begin in the
Gospels. It began on the day of Pentecost
in the book of Acts. Okay? And I don't fall out with
people that see things different. They can be wrong if they want
to. Okay. But I've got good reasons why.
Okay? And I'm not going into all that. That's a whole different
message. But just suffice it to say, that's where we stand
as a church. Matthew 24 and 25, the disciples are asking Jesus
a question about end time events as it relates to the nation of
Israel. The key to understanding Matthew
24 and 25 is to realize that it is pure prophecy and the church
is not here at all. Okay? Not even mentioned. Why?
Because during the tribulation period, we're already in heaven
when all these events take place. The rapture takes us to glory. Okay? Now, the rapture does not
begin the tribulation period. Doesn't begin it. Alright? It actually closes out the age
of grace, but it doesn't start what we know as tribulation period.
I'll tell you why. The tribulation period begins with the peace
treaty being signed, according to Daniel chapter 9, verses 26
through 28, with the Antichrist. Alright? So there could be a
period of time after the rapture takes place of build-up. Okay? I don't think it'll be hundreds
of years or thousands of years, but it could be 20 years, 25
years, especially if you believe that Babylon has to be rebuilt.
If you believe, and we're going to get there, we're going to
talk about Babylon that is in modern-day Iraq. And if you believe
that Babylon has to be rebuilt, well, it's not been rebuilt.
And for it to be in chapter 18, for it to be a thriving city,
there's going to have some things to take place, alright? Or either
Babylon's not going to be rebuilt. So there's some questions there.
I'm not trying to confuse us all, but we're going to get there
in Revelation 18, and you understand what I'm talking about, okay?
So there's possibly some time lapse from the time the church
is taken to heaven and the saints of God are raptured out and the
actual signing of that peace treaty. Don't know how long.
Could be a decade. Could be a year. It might be
immediate. I have no idea. And by the way,
I don't care because I'm going to be in heaven. Amen? Alright? But the church is not mentioned.
The rapture is not here. The church isn't here. None of
that is in Matthew 24. Alright? Now let me just show
you something real quick because this is very important. I harp
and harp and harp on this to our guys in preaching class and
all of that because it's important. Because here's what I think happens.
I think many times preachers take second coming verses and
apply them to the rapture. It's not the same event. The
rapture is Christ coming for its two aspects, okay? The rapture
is Jesus coming for the saints of God, and we go up. Alright? The second aspect of the second
coming is Jesus Christ coming to the earth in glory, and we
come back with Him seven years later. Okay? You following me?
Alright? From that time. So, we need to
see that. Now, I want you to look, if you
would, at verse number 40. I couldn't tell you how many rapture messages
are preached from these verses. And it doesn't have anything
to do with the rapture. Nothing. And I'm going to show that to
you. Look at verse 40. Then shall two be in the field, the one
shall be taken in the other left. Well, there it is, preacher.
There's a rapture. Well, hang on. Verse 41. Two women shall be
grinded at the mill, the one shall be taken in the other left.
Watch therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord doth
come. Well, that's got to be the rapture,
preacher. Well, it's not, and I'm going to tell you why. Let
me show you the context. Look, if you would, in verse
number 37. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the
coming of the Son of Man be." Alright, so now we're making
a comparison. Alright? He's comparing the days
of Noah to the Son of Man. That's right, preacher. I mean,
they were wicked and vile and ungodly and wicked things was
happening, and God had to destroy them all. That's the way it's
going to be at the rapture. That's not what he's saying. Now, that
may be true, but that's not what he's saying. Okay? Notice in
verse 38 what he's actually saying. For as in the days that were
before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark." You
know what 38 is? That's business as usual. They
were just going on about life. That means Noah for 120 years
preached about a flood, and the people didn't listen, and they
didn't care, and they went about the routine of life, until guess
what? The flood came and took them all away. In judgment. Look what happens in verse 39,
"...and knew not." until the flood came and took them all
away." Took them out in judgment. Who was left? Noah, his sons,
Noah's wife, and their wives. So watch this, in this judgment,
alright, this is judgment, the rapture is not judgment, it's
deliverance. Saved people are taken out, unsaved people are
left for judgment. Are you following me? This is
important, you've got to catch it. Alright? Now, watch this. Then shall two be in the field,
the one shall be taken, and the other left. Within the context,
do you realize what's happening? One's taken out not in deliverance,
but judgment. The other's left to go into the
kingdom. The millennial kingdom of Christ.
Verse 41, two women shall be grinded at the mill, the one
shall be taken in judgment. Because when you study the context,
and you see he's making a comparison, and the flood took away a generation
of people in judgment. And do you realize that right
before the kingdom takes place, that Jesus sets up his thousand
year millennial reign, every unsaved person on planet earth
will be removed off of planet earth in judgment just like the
flood. Do you know who's going to be
left? Saved people to enter into the kingdom. You following me? And so it's a second coming verse,
not a rapture verse. Alright? And so it's important
that we understand that. And when we look at Matthew 24
and 25, because if you don't, what you're going to do is you're
going to put the church here, and you're going to move stuff all the way around,
and all it is is a table of contents. It's a chapter of chronology
that teaches us about end time events. And that way it keeps
us from being... crossed up in our proper understanding
of end-time events. And so, when we come at the rapture,
all the saved people are taken out in deliverance. We are delivered
from the wrath to come. Tribulation period. But guess
what? Everybody else is left here to face the judgment of
the tribulation period. And friend, here's the good news.
The good news, if you're saved tonight, you don't have to worry
about a thing I'm preaching on. But if you're not, you'll be left
here to face every bit of it. And Jesus said, For there shall
arise false Christs and false prophets. The tribulation will
be known as a time of great deception, and shall show great wonders.
Insomuch, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect,
that there is going to rise up this false prophet." Listen,
that's why we need to be careful that we don't get headline hysteria
and that we're looking for signs. Some people get so caught up
in signs, they forget about the Scriptures. Friend, don't do
that. Not only will this man be a miracle
worker, but letter B, he's going to be a maker of an image. A
maker of an image. Look at verse number 14. And
to see to them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles,
and have power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them
that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which
had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to
give life unto the image of the beast, and the image of the beast
should both speak, and cause as many as should not worship
the image of the beast should be killed. All right? And so how important is he's
going to be the maker of an image? The false prophet will deceive men
by making an image, an idolatrous image, of the Antichrist. It
will give it, and will give it the semblance of life. It won't
be alive, but it'll have the semblance of life. This image
is mentioned seven times in Revelation, four times in chapter 13. It
is some kind of talking statue. It'll have all the substance
of life. but yet it won't really be alive.
It'll be centered, the worship of that day will be centered
in this image. Some believe it could be a television
image beamed around the world, sort of like a computerized image
that can talk and it looks lifelike and real. Others believe it could
be some type of robotic type thing that's made. Now, you know what? Our forefathers
couldn't even imagine that. But you know what? That's not
really hard. Matter of fact, I know that there's
ladies, you're right now waiting on that robot that comes in and
washes the dishes and takes care of the floors and, you know,
does all those things. I know, you know, you're waiting
on your child to be the one to make that thing to solve that
problem. But even now, I just watched this afternoon, them
talking to some kind of little thing that they made. Amazon
has one. All the... I think Google has
one. And you just talk to it and it answers your questions. IBM has one. You know what I'm
talking about? That thing is smarter than I
am. It scares me. I mean, they've got talking elevators
now. I mean, walk on an elevator and say, hello. It talks to you. I mean, they even have cars that
talk to you. You know? And, you know, it's one thing
he tells you, turn the light off, get gas, slow down. I mean,
it's rough enough. Your wife's saying, hey, slow
down. Turn here. Asks for directions over there.
But now your car does it. That's why my wife won't let
me have, she won't let me use the GPS when we're in the car
together. She said, you don't need two women telling you what
to do. And so, we won't do that. It's amazing the technology in
our day. that can make this a reality. And do you realize that there's
much of the world that would still... They don't have any
idea of the technology that we have today. They don't. And it would not be hard to deceive
the masses in third world countries that don't understand what's
going on. But you say, Preacher, it won't deceive me. That's okay.
It didn't have to deceive you. They'll force you. There won't be a choice. Do you know that there's computers
that have the storage capacity of 10 trillion humans? 7 billion people could easily
be controlled by such an all-knowing monster. Somebody said the more
machines act like men, the more men will act like machines. Letter
C, he will be an enforcer of a mark. Look at verse number
15. And he had power to give life
into the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should
both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the
image of the beast should be what? Killed. You'll worship
one way or another, willingly or unwillingly. And He calls
with all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,
to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, that
no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark, or the
name of the beast, or the number of his name. Now I want you to
look at that word mark. Verse 16, he will receive a mark. Verse 17, save he that had the
mark. That word mark means to brand. All kinds of questions about
what this mark is. Many times we've preached it
being some kind of computer chip implanted in the right hand or
the forehead. I tend not to believe that. Because the verses tend
to remind us that it's visible, you can see it. Now, I'm not
going to tell you that the commerce, the banking, and the controlling
that takes place could be a microchip. By the way, they're talking about
stuff like that now. That's not anything new. They
won't put it in dogs, children. Why not? I mean, goodness, chances
are nobody's going to hit me over the head if I don't have
cash. We go to a cashless society. You won't get mugged, robbed.
You know, all of my banking health information and all of that.
By the way, global markets. Have you ever noticed everything
is a push for globalism? Now there's some resistance right
now going on in the world toward that. The Brexit vote where they
came out of the EU. Germany had a big vote here lately
and they really made a big push there toward what we would consider
nationalism. Pulling back from that globalism. No borders. No borders. George Soros is a big proponent
of globalism and no borders. That is a big progressive agenda
that moves us to globalism. That doesn't mean that all of
these people understand what I'm talking to you. I'm just
saying that that mindset is already in our world and we're not that
far from it. That's why I think that even
in America there's a sense of nationalism coming back. You
don't want to give in to that too much. But anyway, what's
going to happen in that day, there won't be any choice. I
believe the mark here, and we'll talk about this microchip, I
believe that has to do with the commerce and the banking and
the buying and the selling, but I believe the mark is, I'm just
going to tell you what, I believe it's a tattoo or a brand. I do. And here's why. Because
that's exactly what that word meant in John's day. In John's
day, soldiers would be branded or they would be tattooed with
their legion that would show their allegiance to Rome and
to the armies that they were a part of. Slaves would be tattooed
in the Roman Empire or branded that would show their allegiance
and their loyalty and the ownership of their master. There is such
a tattoo craze in our day that even Christians are getting sucked
into it. I had some folks get upset and they're no longer here
because I preached on this, but that's okay. I like filling churches
up, not emptying them. Amen? But that's not going to
stop me from preaching the truth. And I'm just going to tell you
now, God says this, that we're ought to be marking and cutting
up our flesh. Okay? Now listen, what a person
does before they get saved, or maybe in a carnal state, Can
I tell you, aren't you glad one day God's going to clean us all
up? Amen? He sure is. And we're going to love people
no matter where they are, what they're at, who they are. We're
going to love them. But you know what? There's no business of
a Christian being in a tattoo parlor. Well, I put Jesus on my arm.
Why don't you just live for Him with your life? I mean, you know,
that's like people's got Jesus bumper stickers and they've got
road rage. That makes you want to go to
church with them, don't it? See, I can wear a Jesus shirt and
a Jesus hat, and I can put Jesus all over me, but if I don't live
right, it don't mean a thing. Much more powerful when my life and
my lips match, amen? And I'm not going to quit preaching
on that, and by the way, I'm not going to quit preaching on
social drinking either. I'm just going to go ahead and put that
out there. You say, how did you stick that
in there? I don't know, the Holy Spirit just stuck it in, so there we
go. And without it, listen, without this brand and without this mark,
you don't buy, you don't sell. There'll be no living, only dying
without the mark of the beast. You know when you're saved, you
receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. God marks you as his
own. He puts his Holy Spirit in your heart. and it's evidence
you belong to him. Because the Bible says if any
man have not the spirit of Christ, he's none of his. So we get saved,
we get the Holy Spirit, and that's the mark, the ownership that
we belong to the Lord lives in our heart. Do you know the devil's
going to mark his children with the brand of the beast? It'll
be put on all people and make them part of the world economic
system. It speaks of a coming cashless society which Antichrist
will use to control every person on the globe. It seems so simple,
so reasonable, so necessary. No one will carry cash. Just
go in the store, make your selection, run your hand under the scanner.
It'll be so easy. No balancing, no cheating, no
stealing. We'd all be for it if we didn't
know Bible prophecy. Notice, if you would, the number
of verses. Let me say this and I'll be done. I'm going to talk
about this number and I'm going to be finished. You say, preacher,
I'll tell you what. I'm just going to wait this thing
out and Jesus comes, rapture takes place, I'm going to get
saved. Well, number one, there's no guarantee you can. But secondly,
if you could, there's no guarantee you will. Well, I'm not going
to receive that mark. Can I tell you that it'll be
harder for you to not take that mark, or a person to not take
that mark than anybody could ever imagine? Can you imagine
watching your child starve because you can't buy formula and baby
food? And it's a little belly pooching
out, crying for hunger, and all you've got to do is take a mark. It will amaze us what people
will do when they don't have another choice. Because you know
what? It's built into us to survive.
And the only people that will escape this system are those
who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life in heaven, those
saved during the tribulation period, and they will seal their
testimony in their own blood because He's going to turn this
world into a vast concentration camp and He will hunt down Jewish
believers and Christian believers. We're going to call them Christian
believers, okay? They're tribulation saints. They're
a different group in the sense that they don't belong to the
church, okay? We're in heaven. But that group right there, they're
going to be hunted by the Antichrist. And this man right here, the
false prophet, will have the Gestapo, whatever you want to
call them, that their sole job is to hunt out those who won't
receive the mark and either coerce them to receive it or die. And
that's their choice. And there will be a vast amount
of martyrs during the tribulation period that will seal their testimony
in their own blood. You thought the Nazi Holocaust
were terrible. Six million Jews. that lost their
life at the hands of Hitler. By the way, do you know what?
They received a number in their arm from Hitler. They didn't
have a name anymore. They got a number. And they hunted
them down based on that number. And they killed them. Atrociously. And I'm going to tell you something.
What the Antichrist will do will make what Hitler did look like
a walk in the park. Let's talk about his number and
we're done. Verse 18. Here is wisdom. Let him that
hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is
the number of a man, and his number is six hundred, three
score, and six. Six, six, six. I remember I went to work as
a high school teenager and I worked for a place and they paid me
$6.66 in an hour. I said, Preacher, what did you
do with that check? I cashed it. That's what I did. Don't get hysteria about the
number. All kinds of superstition surrounds
it. You know, there's 14 different people listed that somehow through
number crunching and doing all this, they come up that somehow
their name fits 666, like Hitler, John F. Kennedy, Henry Kissinger,
Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, I mean, down the line. But let's
replace the superstition with Bible thinking, okay? God says
something about this number. He said it's the number of a
man. Man was created on what day? Sixth. It's the number of
a man. Seven in the Bible is the number
of God. Six, six, six, or three sixes,
is man pretending to be God. This is the best man has to offer.
But let me just promise you this, a six will never become a seven. This man tries to be God. He
pretends to be God. He wants to be God, but friend,
all he is is a cheap imitation. And that day when the Antichrist
is in power, it won't matter whether it's a billion dollar
deal or a loaf of bread, no sale. But folks, we need to understand
that this man, try as he may, will never be God, and God has
His number. And God is sovereign. And this
man is never mentioned in Scripture that you don't see. this man's
destruction. Let me show you their end and
we're going to close up in prayer. Turn to Revelation chapter number
19. Look at Revelation 19.10. What a glorious day this will
be. And the devil that deceived them,
talking about the people on the earth, was cast into the lake
of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet
are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. The
seven took care of the six. Friend, listen. You know what
that means? That when you know Jesus Christ, you're on the winning
side. Amen. I'm glad I'm on the winning side tonight. What about
you? Now, you say, preacher, how does this impact my life
right now? How in the world can what we're preaching on make
any difference? Number one, God said, when I read and study this
book, that He's going to bless me. That's at the very beginning
of the book. So anytime we read and study the Bible, especially
the book of Revelation, God has promised a special blessing to
the preacher and the church that preaches and teaches and reads
and keeps and understands and knows the truths of this book
right here. God said, I'm going to bless you. Number two, it
ought to motivate you. I've got people that I pray for
that if Jesus were to come tonight, they would have to face this
terrible time. And I need to try to win them.
And I need to pray for them. And I need to get a burden for
them. Isn't that true? Sure. And it also should move us tonight
that if you've never been saved, you need to come to Christ before
it's too late. Let's bow our heads in prayer.
The False Prophet
Series Anticipating The End Times
| Sermon ID | 109161918338 |
| Duration | 42:50 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Revelation 13 |
| Language | English |
Documents
Add a Comment
Comments
© Copyright
2026 SermonAudio.