Revelation 13
Notes
Transcript
A Terrible Time
A Terrible Time
(The Beasts and Their Actions…)
Good morning my friends, I am blessed to see you today.
I hope you’ve had a good week.
I am excited, today is a great day, we get to witness and be a part of the journey of faith for several new believers as follow the Lord in believer’s baptism.
So this morning what a joy we have with these dear children and adults, to share this with them.
Truly we serve a great God…
So now, this morning lets go and find Chapter 13, of the book of Revelation.
Chapter 13 begins a look at the beasts that Satan will bring to this world in a effort to defeat those who love God and hinder the work of God.
So lets consider this first thought today...
1. The First Beast....
We have seen the progression of the Satan’s work in an effort to hinder and stop the work of God in this world.
And today, a new character is brought to the scene. The Beast!
Lets look at the first 4 verses.... Rev 13:1-4
1 And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”
John says that he saw a beast rising out of the sea. Now this beast is unique, lets examine what what is being said here.
Remember from the last verse of chapter 12, the Dragon, (Satan himself) was standing on the sand of the sea.
As he is standing there, a beast arises from the sea… Now that’s important. Remember in the past, the word “sea” can mean water, but it can also refer to the Gentile nations…the populace that are Gentiles.
I will tell you more about this thought in a minute.
So this beast arises from the sea… And look at it...
The beast has 10 horns, an the horns have 10 diadems or crowns. And the beast has 7 heads and each of the heads had blasphemous names upon the heads.
And then if you look at verse 2, we see a better description of the overall image of this beast. John says its body was like that of a leopard, its feet like a bear and its mouth like that of a lion.
This beast has arisen from the gentile nations, this beast is powerful and mighty, it was raised up by Satan himself, the Dragon.
So here is the truth about this beast, this beast is the Anti-Christ, the false Christ, the false Savior of the world. This is the devil’s servant..
And think of this my friends, the church, believers are gone from this world, they are in heaven with the Savior and this word is in chaos, it is desperate and in need of help.
Remember from Chapter 6, the Anti-Christ will come on a white horse, a bow with no arrows, He will be able to take control of the world and will become powerful, and he will bring peace to this world for the first time since the church was raptured...
Now if Satan was an angel of light, we can only assume that the Anti-Christ will will be one that is acceptable to the world, His looks, His teaching and leadership will make sense and he be able to draw people to himself and is work in this world.
This beast, the Anti-Christ will be powerful… He has ten horns and 7 heads....
In the Bible, horns are always a symbol of power and might, and he has 10, most likely representing 10 nations.
He also has 7 heads, and on each his are blasphemous names, names that slander and opposition to God.
Now we know from Daniel and now John, these 7 heads represent 7 kingdoms that John could identify.
From Daniel to John, we see the Kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persian, the Greeks, and now Rome.... but that is only 6, one is yet to come…and we are not told who this nation will be...
But Satan himself will give his throne, this power and authority over to the beast, the Anti-Christ.
Why will he do this?
Well the Anti-Christ is his son. Greg Laurie said if Satan could have a son, it would be the Anti-Christ.”
Technically, Satan is a spirit being but I believe he is powerful enough to influence, invade and possess, influence and bring up a person to be his servant, as the Anti-Christ.
But be mindful, the Anti-Christ is not revealed until after the coming of the Lord Jesus to take his church. So our job is not looking for the Anti-Christ but to be looking for the coming of the Lord Jesus.
But he will be powerful, swift and able to broker peace during a time when there is no peace and people will be astonished for this… they will treat him like a deliverer, a modern day blessing. They will exalt him over the one true God...
And remember we talked about the the word sea referring to the Gentile world, the Anti-Christ has arisen form the Gentile word, so he himself is a gentile.
This man will be strong and powerful, charismatic and appealing to those who see him. But suddenly tragedy befalls him. Look at verse 3 again..
3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast.
Now there are a couple thoughts here, The first is this, He (Anti-Christ) will lose power, like being removed from power, throne or office, perhaps placed in exile or prison, but then something happens to restore him. He is brought back to his place of power and authority.
But I really think something else takes place. I really think something else happens, I think if he is supposed to be the son of Satan, I think then that he is killed or in some way dies. But he returns to life, he is resurrected.
Why do I think that? Well I think Satan wants what God has done and experienced with his own son, like a copy. God has a son so Satan wants a son. Jesus was put to death and rose from the dead on the third day. I think this is a copy, Satan wants his son to have that type of fame and prestige, So naturally his son, the Anti-Christ is killed and he raises from the dead.
And this “so called miracle” will draw people to him and they will follow him, but sadly verse 4 says they will worship him as well. But there is even more, they will worship the Dragon as well, they will worship Satan.
The world will be deceived, and they will worship them both… but we knew he was good and deceiving people, he has been doing it since Adam and Eve.
Friends, remember God will always lead you to the truth, toward what is good and right. He will never violate his Word or lead you toward sin or temptation. God leads us toward life.
Satan will lead you toward darkness, toward sin, toward fulfilling self over serving God. He will lead you toward death...
Secondly this morning,
I want you to see a Blasphemous Mouth
2. A Blasphemous Mouth...
We know without a doubt, Satan hates God the Father… And because of such there are three notable activities that we can witness from this old adversary, the devil.
He will blaspheme against God, he will attack God’s people and he will seek to deceive the world, to leading people away form God to worship Him.
Lets look at verses 5-10 Rev 13:5-10
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.
Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.
During the second half of the Tribulation, 3.5 years, 42 months, 1260 days, we have seen those numbers repeatedly, the Anti-Christ who initially brought peace will break it...
He will blaspheme against God..Daniel said in Dan 11:36.... "And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods.”
He will speak terrible things against the God of heaven my friends. His slander will be powerful but I would remind you it is only for a season.
Still yet, He will speak against God, against his people and even those in heaven...
Now lets move on… Notice that he will wage war against the children of God. For 3 and a half years he will wage a cruel war against everyone, both Jew and Gentile who have come to faith in Christ and are saved during the Tribulation. If you notice a little lower down, verse 15, He will even kill some...
Now for those who are not saved, he doesn’t bother them, and why should he, they are of no threat, they are not in the game.
He has already deceived them and led them away from God… and they are there sadly, doomed.
And finally here in these verses it says He will cause many to worship him. They will not only follow his the Anti-Christ, but they will worship him.
Satan wants to lead people away from God. He has attempted to do that from the beginning. He deceived Adam and Eve and brought sin into the world. And now, he deceives the nations.. He knows the commandments of God, The very first commandment is “You shall have no other gods before me..” ( Ex 20:3…) And he wants the world to worship and lift him up,
These poor non believers, they are lost and Satan wants to ensure they are led to death and judgment.
Sadly, verse 8 tells us that those who worship the Anti-Christ, their names will not be found in the Lamb’s book of life.
They have heard but even in these last days they have not believed, instead they have allowed their hearts and minds to be led astray..... and at death we see their names were never recorded in the Lamb’s book of life.
My friends, that book is the single most important record book in the history of mankind. for it records the names of the redeemed, those who have given their hearts, their life over to Jesus.
You see salvation is the most important action a person can participate in, salvation is the act of God whereby he calls us, speaks to us and calls us to come to him and receive the gift of life, eternal life, the pardon of sin, the gift of grace.
And when we say Yes to Jesus, our name is written in His book. It shows we are his. My name was written down on August 21, 1983.
But to miss God, to miss Jesus and the free gift of Salvation, will mean your name was never recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. And sadly to die without your name there ensures one terrible truth, eternal hell, eternal damnation, the punishment of your sin.
God’s desire is for you to be saved, yet God will allow you to make the decision.
Today, do you know that you are saved or not?
Now, lets finish this chapter and look at the last thought today...
3. A Second Beast....
We have a surprising moment as we open the text, there is not just one beast, but there is a second one as well.
Lets begin by looking at verses 11-14 Rev 13:11-14
11 Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. 13 It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, 14 and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
So verse 11 tells us that another beast comes upon the scene, this one rises out of the earth and all that is says sounds like dragon.
So what can we observe from this person? He is different than the other beast, since he rises out of the earth…
It says that he has two horns, like that of a lamb but his speech gives him away since he sounds like the dragon, Satan himself.
Now while he is doing the work of his father the devil, this beast is not as powerful as the first beast… we know this because this beast only has 2 horns, while the first beast had 10 horns.
So far we have see the Dragon which is Satan, then we have seen the first beast which is the Anti-Christ and finally this one, the second beast is referred to as the false prophet..
So what we can identify where is the unholy trinity. The dragon, the first beast (anti-christ) and the second beast who is the false -prophet.
The false prophets work is three fold…
First He leads people to worship the anti-christ,
Secondly, he deceives the people of the land. He does many sign and wonders even calling down fire from heaven.
Thirdly, verse 14 says he leads those he has deceived to make an image of the first beast that was slain and brought back to life.
And suddenly, a second of God’s commandments is shattered… Let me remind you of the 2nd commadment, it is listed in Ex 20, verses 4-6
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Man was to make no image, nothing of any kind that man might worship instead of the Lord our God.
But isn’t that what Satan desires that our worship be moved away from God toward him and his unholy Trinity
Now look at verses 15-18 Rev 13:15-18
15 And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
This false prophet has done many signs, deceiving the nations and in an effort to convince more people to abandon the one true God, he makes it appear as though the image has come to life.
But look, if you fail to worship the false god this image that appears to have come to life, well he will speak and give orders to kill those who fail to worship the beast.
You see it is like the time of Daniel chapter 2, if a person fails to fall down and worship the beast or its image, they will be put to death.
But there is another way to control the masses. He will control all the commerce of the world. It says that every person, no matter if who they are if they want to buy or sale, it they want to eat and thrive, well they have to posses the mark of that beast.
A mark either on their right hand or their forehead, and what does it do… this mark identifies that you have surrendered your life to the beast.
Because listen to what it says in verse 17 Rev 13:17
17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.
The mark bears the name of the beast or its number, and we know what that number is, it is the number of man, 666.
Now there are two questions that people want to know when we talk about the “Mark of the Beast.”
They want to know… what is the mark… is it a mark, is it a device, perhaps something planted on a person or under their own skin?
In the last couple of weeks, Whole foods has said that hopefully by the end of the year they will have palm scanners in place… They tie your payment information to the unique qualities of your own palm and the way its name, it is already in 200 stores.
Secondly, there are those who are willingly implanting chips and devices that are scan-able, and can hold financial information, medical, life etc… it can all be placed there.
But it may be something totally different...
The whole point is that the devil will seek to uses any means possible to draw people, manipulate people and bring them to worship him and him alone.
The devil wants to kill, steal and destroy, breaking peoples lives up so that they accomplish nothing for God and are left empty and broken.
Listen my friends, the church may not be here but we better be about our Father’s business while there is still time..
Hell is and will be a terrible place and I want to keep people from going there is I can help them see how much God loves them and wants them to come to him.
Friends, A. Do you know Jesus?
B. And not only do you know Him, are
you living for Jesus, if not repent and
turn back to him.
Be certain that you are His and you
are living right.
C. Do you need prayer?
Come today